Trekkies beware! In this week's Reviews Spotlight, a bond of brotherhood is forged between Star Wars fans the world over, and we're prepared to take what's ours! If you stand in our way, prepare to feel the wrath of a thousand plastic swords.
Luckily, Lucas fanboys are gentle folk, so several other games are allowed to spend some time in the Spotlight.
The Force Unleashed Series Has Turned Me to the Dark Side
By Matthew Polen
Like me, Matthew has spent some time in the closet. For fear of antagonization, we've both managed to tiptoe around the subject of Star Wars, lest we expose ourselves as fanboys. But enough is enough! I'm proud of the dozens of expanded universe novels I own, the figurines I've collected, and the girlfriends I've neglected in favor of rewatching the original trilogy.
What we're not proud of, however, is the unhealthy obsession we've cultivated for the franchise. It's tough saying "no" to the ones you love, but alas, it must be done. Is The Force Unleashed 2 worthy of Matthew's praise, or will he simply ignore its existence, like we all did with the prequel films?
Valkryia Chronicles 2 Review
By Andrew Wilson
For those unfamiliar with the strategy role-playing game genre, Andrew highlights one of the category's most important franchises: Valkryia Chronicles. SRPGs incorporate traits from conventional RPGs as well as combat strategy titles. In particular, Valkryia Chronicles takes inspiration from the tumultuous history of 20th-century Europe, staging a contintent-wide war between the ominous East Europan Imperial Alliance and The Principality of Gallia.
If alternative history is your thing, or if you simply want to kick some Europan ass, check out Andrew's full review.
Review – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
By Darry Huskey
Here we have yet another Bitmobber willing to admit that he's read some expanded universe Star Wars novels — our numbers are steadily growing. Fear us.
Moving away from the plot by Star Wars fanboys to take the website over, Darry has some thoughts he'd like to share concerning The Force Unleashed 2. For once, can fans expect a quality title from LucasArts, or has the developer failed us for the last time?
The Force Unleashed 2 Suffers Some Sequel-itis
By Bryan G. Schultheiss
Spend enough time around video games and one thing becomes painfully clear: Sequels are rarely what they aspire to be. Knowing this, the folks at LucasArts did their utmost to steer The Force Unleashed 2 away from the Sarlaac Pit and toward success. At their disposal was an entire library of expanded canon — trouble is, they used all of it.
Classiness is often an understated quality, and Bryan would agree that shoehorning every major Star Wars icon into TFU2 is definitely not classy. At this point, could all the tuxedos and dry martinis in the world couldn't salvage this game's sense of style? Only Bryan knows.
Late to the Party: Persona 3 Portable
By Michael Edwards
For the uninitiated, the Persona series focuses on teenage demon summoners who brutally commit suicide to complete each summoning ritual. Sound fun? Well, now you can take the fun anywhere with you.
With the traditional battle themes replaced with J-rap, a new female protagonist, and modified menu systems, Persona 3 Portable asks its fans to tolerate a lot of changes. Are these changes worth suffering, or is the core gameplay not worth it?
Review: Explosionade
By Louis Garcia
For a measley 80 Microsoft Points (or $1), you can get your hands on Explosionade, a mech-based game which promises to put Front Mission Evolved to shame.
As a fat, incompotent mech pilot, its your job to venture down into the sewers beneath your base and sabotage the many plans hatched by those devious aliens. Exploisonade plays like Metal Slug, looks like Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, and seems to be a blast of fun. You know you're interested. Check out Louis' review.
