For this edition of our weekend Reviews Spotlight, we hit up all types of genres, from action and fighting to rhythm and arcade games. We’ve got more opinions on Assassin’s Creed 2, Uncharted 2, and Modern Warfare 2. We also get a peek at the licensed game for one of the holiday’s biggest films (or so James Cameron hopes), Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, and Band Hero. We finish with a little Batman, pinball, and some bloody fairytales.
Let’s get to it!
An Assassin’s Creed 2 Review Where I Forgot about Space
By Redmond Carolipio
Assassin’s Creed 2 is a great game that could be defined as modern-day steampunk. The title successfully mixes Renaissance Italy with scientific fantasy and the legends of the Knights Templar. In Redmond’s opinion, “Despite its flaws, Assassin’s Creed 2 is one of the most enthralling tales you’ll find on any system.” Too many games in the genre force players to do a ton of quests that have nothing to do with the actual story. Not so with Assassin’s Creed. “One aspect of the game I enjoyed more than even da Vinci’s impact was the sheer abundance of story-related tasks Ezio had to perform.”
Uncharted 2 Is Among Greatness
By Michael Burridge
Although the hype has died down as people beat the game, Uncharted 2 continues to be a contender for this year’s top game. In this review of Nathan Drake’s latest death-defying feats, Michael says, “The developer, Naughty Dog, has created a lead so likable — especially compared to gaming’s meatheads — that I cheered him on, even despite his unrealistic survival rate.” The expansive story is one of the things that people are most excited about in this game. “Uncharted 2 is, unlike most action-adventure games, willing to advance the genre.” Definitely a good thing for fans of the single-player campaign mode in action games.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review
By Sean Monahan
Continuing the positive vibe started by Michael’s review, Sean says, “Naughty Dog took a model proven to be successful and improved on almost every aspect of the game.” Fans of the original game, rejoice! “All of the traditional gameplay mechanics, like the gunplay, puzzle-solving, and controls, are back but have been revised to perfection.” Multiplayer is an important aspect to any new game. How does Uncharted 2 fare in that department? “The multiplayer is an excellent extension of the fantastic single-player and not just a mode that was tacked on to simply add value.” Looks like Naughty Dog has indeed knocked the ball out of the park all around.
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game Review
By Jack Morphy
As every gamer knows, games based on games are often junk. About James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, Jack says the obvious: “Avatar is trying to break the mold of movie-based games that are usually the crap of the crap.” But does the game succeed? “The combat is fast-paced and fun.” While gameplay is important, graphics are just as important for a film that has been touting its visual effects. Does the game match the film’s awe-factor? “The draw distance is fairly shoddy, and pop-in is very noticeable, which are again things that should not be problematic with the amount of power coming from the consoles.” That’s a good sign for a game that will be judged against a (hopefully) beautiful film.
Modern Warfare 2: A Late Review
By Michael Bradley
Another (heavily debated) game-of-the-year contender is Infinity Ward’s sequel to one of the most well-regarded FPSes ever made. Michael’s review seems to say Modern Warfare 2’s story mode is not flawless. “Where Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare thrilled you with scripted events at every other turn, Modern Warfare 2 shoves them in your face so frequently that they become stale.” The developer attempted to multiply the excitement factor, and even Michael says they succeeded. He has almost the same feeling toward multiplayer: “It’s obviously a masterpiece — I’m not denying it of that — I just feel like Infinity Ward got a little overzealous trying to outdo the first game’s multiplayer, just as they did outdoing the single player campaign of Modern Warfare…..”
For What it’s Worth: Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
By Ryan Conway
The Tekken franchise has enjoyed enormous success over the years despite staying very true to the gameplay that debuted in its first installment. One aspect of these games that always improves with each incarnation is graphics. Ryan’s complimentary about Tekken 5’s visuals: “In one word. Outstanding. The characters and backgrounds are flawless.” We expect that, but how does the game feel to play? “The gameplay is incredibly smooth. The game mechanics have the same level of complexity for which the Tekken series is known.”
Band Hero: It Doesn’t Suck at All!
By Jake Johnson
The Hero games started as an excellent example of what the music-rhythm genre is all about, but sales have fallen off as this corner of gaming has saturated. Jake says that Band Hero has more “mainstream” acts and may appeal to a larger crowd, but that’s not the only change from the formula Rock Band created for this genre. “Another alteration is the ability to change things during a song. Specifically, you are able to drop in and drop out during play as well as adjust difficulty and change instruments.” Sounds like they knew what made games like Rock Band successful and have tweaked it enough to make this game its own monster — a definite plus for rhythm game fans.
Batman Arkham Asylum Review
By Juan Letona
Juan gets right to the point: “In video games, the Batman property has a less than stellar history.” As we’ve read in previous reviews, though, Batman: Arkham Asylum bucks the trend. Juan agrees with that assessment: “All games have multiple layers of gameplay, graphics, and story, yet Batman: Arkham Asylum thickens all of them evenly. The title does not feel imbalanced as other license-based games do.”
The Pinball of My Childhood: Pinball Fantasies
By Brenden Kurima
Pinball may have mostly died in the arcades, but the love of the game is still very much alive. Brenden talks about the PC game Pinball Fantasies that recently made its way to the iPhone and PSP. He says, “All of the tables included realistic ball physics and true-to-life table parts.” Read on to see how Brenden’s lack of money growing up cemented his love for this electronic version of metal balls and plungers.
Fairytale Fights in 300 Words (Xbox 360)
By Jazz English
This could very well be the bloodiest rendition of fairy tales ever seen. “Using an array of fun weapons such as swordfish, broken shards of candy, and musical instruments, you can bash and slice armies of wolves, dwarves, and gingerbread men to pieces.” So it’s got tons of carnage, but how are the graphics? “Fairytale Fights looks pretty and uses the Unreal 3 engine well but is seen through a terrible camera.” Sounds like a bit of a contradiction. Read Jazz’s full review to find out if this game is worth the $50 price or if the game should have been offered via Xbox Live Marketplace.