Super Mario 3D Land - Nintendo 3DS Game Review

As a Nintendo 3DS owner I feel like my money has been spent on the future rather than the present. The majority of games that made me excited for the 3DS have either been held back by Nintendo or set back for later release dates. Kid Icarus Uprising is the main reason I chose to purchase the latest Nintendo Handheld, however with that pushed back to somewhere in early 2012 hopefully, my choices have been few and far between. Mario is the mascot of Nintendo and always provides fans with great games from every genre, I was extremely thrilled when Super Mario 3D Land was announced, as well as Mario Kart 7. As we look forward to some of the big titles that will be hitting the 3DS I finally start to feel like this was a good investment and 3D Land is definitely the way to kick things off.

Killzone 3 Playstation 3 Game Review

Killzone 3 is arguably the most anticipated Playstation 3 game of the year, fans expectations and the hype surrounding the games release are at an all time high, will it live up to the hype or disappoint fans ?

There have been many First Person Shooters in recent years but not many manage to make you feel like you are the person behind the gun, allot of the time it just feels like you are turning a camera angle. Killzone 2 made players feel as if they were actually in a warzone, weight made every gun, every movement, and everything in Killzone 2 feel as real as it possibly could in a video game. Combine this with a futuristic Sci-Fi setting and gorgeous visuals and you get one of the best FPS's of all time. Killzone 3 improves on some of the technical issues Killzone 2 had and adds some fantastic new additions to make the gameplay feel fresh but familiar.

Dead Space 2 Game Review

Dead Space 2 is not a game for the light-hearted, it's full of scary, intense, action-packed moments that will have your heart racing. Everything that made it's predecessor great is back and improved upon, to make one of the best games of 2011. Dead Space is by far the best horror franchise to grace the next-gen consoles, it's the modern-day Doom and one of the best gaming experiences on the market to date.

Even though it has been three years since the events of the first game, our protagonist Isaac Clarke is still having a rough ride. At the beginning of Dead Space 2 he awakes on a space station known as The Sprawl. He finds the station overwhelmed with an outbreak of reanimated corpses called Necromorphs. The action is right in your face from the get-go and it never gives you a chance to rest, even when enemies are nowhere to be seen, the game makes you feel like every corner, hole, or shadow could be hiding a deadly secret.

ilomilo Game Review XBOX Live Arcade

The first thing you will notice about ilomilo is that it is possibly one of the most adorable and cute games ever to hit the XBOX Live Arcade. The bizarre, yet extremely beautiful patchwork world of ilomilo is reminiscent of games like LittleBigPlanet, but manages to retain it's own unique feel and art direction. The two little stars of the game are ilo and milo, adorable little plush creatures who want nothing more than to be reunited. These two delightfully cute little guys always seem to end up stranded apart from each other and it's your job to reunite them, solving the puzzles and using the strange gameplay mechanics to successfully reach this goal. This is a wonderful little game full of charm and fun.

As i previously mentioned, the goal here in each level is very simple, reunite ilo and milo. The characters will begin at opposite ends of the cubic maze and you can switch back and forth between the two, controlling one at a time. The game begins cheerfully with it's cute adorable charm, but soon begins to get extremely difficult. You can manoeuvre various types of blocks around the environment and they will create new paths and ways to reunite you with your missing friend. Special carpets can be used to walk over the edges of cubes, changing the direction of the cubic maze, and the maze itself is filled with pesky critters who want nothing more than to get in your way. The key here is planning ahead, to solve these challenging puzzles you will need to visualize your next move three steps ahead, to work out how to get where you need to be.

TRON: Evolution Game Review

TRON is a movie franchise that should have great video games, however, the usual tie-in movie games with the release of a big budget film have disappointed gamers in recent years so what can we expect from TRON: Evolution.

TRON: Evolution fills the gap between the original 1982 film and the upcoming sequel. You play as a system monitor who is trying to stop Clu's rise to power. It's a third-person action adventure game with allot of Parkour (just think of Mirror's Edge) and combat. Although it's not as good as any of these games it's sort of a mix between Mirror's Edge, Assassin's Creed, and Prince of Persia, but glow-in-the-dark. If you are a big TRON fan then you might find the story rather interesting considering it explains what happened to Flynn and expands on the TRON universe while answering a few questions, but it's nothing ground-breaking. Also the very sexy woman from House MD "13" does all the voice work, that was the thing i enjoyed most about this game to be honest.

Red Dead Redemption Game Review

The American West is the setting for many great movies and novels, but when it comes to video games this setting has been ignored or overlooked. Rockstar, the team behind the phenomenally successfully "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, have decided to give this setting the time and credit that it truly deserves by offering fans a Grand Theft Auto-like experience in the wild west. Red Dead Redemption sets the standards extremely high for future westerns, no developer has approached this time period in the video game industry with as much passion and heart as Rockstar clearly have and this is the reason we are looking at the best western game ever made.

One of the main achievement's Rockstar has managed to pull-off in Red Dead Redemption is the authenticity of America's history. Allot of delicate modern-day issues like racism, immigration, federal government power, and personal freedoms are in Red Dead and Rockstar has an uncanny ability to hold a mirror up to society and remind us all that these issues are deep within the history of America.

Rather than preaching politics to you, Red Dead Redemption places you in the shoes of the fairly neutral John Marston. Marston, a former outlaw gone straight has found out that history has a way of catching up with you. Those who were once his friends have now become enemies, leaving Marston alone in these cruel, harsh, lawless lands to fight for his and his family's survival. While this may sound slightly cliché, the game is anything but cliché and provides one of the most enriching stories and plot twists you will ever see in a video game.

Nail'd Game Review

Nail'd is an off-road arcade style racer which focuses on speed and chaos rather than real physics. We have seen this in recent racing games like Pure and the Motorstorm franchise, but the majority of modern-day racing games focus on realistic physics and arcade racing fans have been left with little to cheer about. Nail'd is the latest arcade-racer to hit the market and although it's not perfect, it's extremely fun.

The games setup is very simple, the main focus is on Career Mode, where you can race with either an ATV or MX Bike where you can race through several leagues and courses in quest of winning the Nail'd Championship. Most races consist of 3 laps around a course, however, Nail'd will sometimes mix the action up a bit, "mutators" add quirks such as infinite boosts, or no collision with other drivers to races. Or there are Stunt Challenges were you will have to complete tracks within a specific time while performing some of the many impressive tricks to gain a high score. There is a great deal of variety with the tricks, however, something as stupid as running another player off a track can be considered a trick which is a bit strange. The game also contains multiplayer racing for up to 12 players at one time, this will likely be the portion of the game which will hold players interests for a long time.

Splatterhouse Game Review

The development of Splatterhouse was originally given to Mark of Kri developers Bottlerocket Entertainment back in 2007. Namco snatched the title away early last year and gave it to the team behind 2008's Afro Samurai game. After 4 long years we can finally play Splatterhouse, but was it worth the wait ?, no.

Splatterhouse starts off more or less the same as the classic 80's arcade hit original, protagonist Rick is lying in a pool of his own blood as Dr. West drags his girl friend Jen away. An ancient mask offers Rick a deal, put on the mask and destroy Dr. West and all his creations, if this is done Rick will save his girl friend Jen. From then on the game is pretty much a bad VHS horror movie gone wrong from the 80's.

Splatterhouse rolls around in Lovecraftian themes that feel pretty tired in 2010, but the games slightly goofy sensibility takes the edge off of this somewhat. The game does nothing new and feels standard at best. The game follows the basics for a traditional third-person action game, light and heavy attacks, upgrades and better combos, quicktime kill moves, and hordes of pawn-like enemies followed by one oversized tougher enemy. This is the standard layout for a game like this and Splatterhouse doesn't even attempt to add it's own unique feeling or twist on this traditional layout for a third-person action game.

MotionSports Kinect Game Review

With a less than impressive line-up for the launch of Microsoft's Kinect, a system which uses motion sensing technology, MotionSports Kinect is just one of many games which fails to impress. Ubisoft's MotionSports features six different sports that are broken down into various challenges. The big problem is MotionSports fails to deliver the accurate, engaging, and enjoyable experience that Kinect Sports provides.

In MotionSports your real body movements are mapped onto your on-screen character, using the Kinect technology. You'll compete in various challenges, set in a variety of sports such as football, skiing, soccer, boxing, hand gliding, and horseback riding. The list of sports contains some familiar well-known sports, but there are some strange additions here. Even stranger is how the challenges in each sport don't seem to represent the sport very well. For example, playing football (American) will consist of you running down a pitch avoiding tackles and throwing the odd pass, rather than actually playing a game of football.

Majin and The Forsaken Kingdom Game Review

The one memory you will likely take from Majin and The Forsaken Kingdom, is the abysmal voice work for the loveable monster protagonist. While the game it'self is rather fun and provides a fair deal of variety, the constant child like phrases that you have to listen to, become repetitive and annoying.

The games story is told through beautifully designed 2D cut-scenes, it begins with Majin who has failed to fulfil his duties as a protector. A hundred years ago, Darkness infected the kingdom's leaders and plagued the countryside., causing the death and destruction of almost everything and everyone. You play as a young thief in the present day who has the ability, much like Dr. Doolittle, to communicate with Animals. You meet Majin in a sad way, tied up and left to starve in a castle, the nameless thief rescues Majin and the pair team up to take on four Dark Generals and the King, with the hope of restoring the land to the way it was.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Game Review

The Assassin's Creed franchise has been extremely successful since the first game was released in 2007. Assassin's Creed II followed up on it's predecessors success, improving on everything we loved about the first game and replacing what we didn't enjoy. Now fans have a new experience to look forward to, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. This is a continuation of the story in the second game and while fans might be disappointed that they will have to wait a little longer for Assassin's Creed 3, Brotherhood delivers yet another fantastic experience with multiplayer to keep fans happy for now.

Brotherhood might have a harder time proving it's worth, it's not set in a different time period and continues the story from Assassin's Creed II. One of the thing's i love about AC games is exploring for the first time and getting to see these beautiful cities. So when i am playing in a setting i spent countless hours on not that long ago, it makes everything feel slightly less astonishing. In Brotherhood the action shifts it's direction towards the capital of Italy, Rome. Like previous titles there's also a modern-day component. The game is once again framed by the on-going battle between the Templars and Assassin's, and players are actually assuming the role of Desmond who lives in the present day and is able to experience the memories of his ancestor Ezio using a device called the Animus. The game switches between the two time periods with the bulk of the action taking place in past-time, renaissance Rome.

SingStar Dance Game Review

The SingStar franchise is well known throughout the Playstation community, with it's simple concept appealing to many of us around the world. You buy the game, along with a microphone and begin you're karaoke dream in you're very own living room. You can try to fill in pitch and timing bars with you're voice to earn points, but we all know the only reason to buy this game is to blast out you're favourite tunes along with a group of friends and feel like celebrity's for the night.

The SingStar franchise has always been about singing, however, now they have taken advantage of the Playstation Move's motion sensing technology and added dancing to the mix. Now the 30 songs also have dance routines and this certainly adds much more value to the content. As always the singing part of the game is fun and great entertainment in a party environment, the dancing however, is just a frustrating mess.

The Undergarden: Xbox Live Arcade Game Review

There is no doubting the fact that The Undergarden is an adorably beautiful game, it is cute, brightly coloured, and really satisfying to view. When you read the description of this game and realise it's all based around underwater gardening, you might make the mistake of brushing this game aside. This is a game made with the intention to please and relax whoever is playing. It's not hardcore, you can't kill people with a mini RC car or stab someone in the back, but you can appreciate the beauty this game has and find enjoyment in many other way's.

The Undergarden is unlike most games we see today, it focuses on creating rather than destroying. You play as some sort of underwater Monkey fairy with one goal, create a beautiful underwater garden of plant life. You navigate through dark caverns, brightening them up with the glow of you're vibrant plants. You can never die or fail in this game, however if you get stuck at any of the obstacles along the way, you can re=load you're last checkpoint.

Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem

The Donkey Kong and Mario rivalry has been responsible for some of the most enjoyable hand-held puzzle games over the past few years, and Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem is no exception. This fantastic little puzzle game for the Nintendo DS is fun, colourful, and fans of both franchises will be delighted with the final result.

The plot is very simple, Donkey Kong has made off with Mario's girlfriend (Pauline) again, and Mario will require the help of Mini-Mario toys to get her back. This is just a simple set-up for what is an awesome puzzle game. You won't care too much about a story when playing a puzzle game but it's nice that they have added something for fans.

Much like the plot, gameplay is extremely simple and straightforward, get the Mini-Mario's from point A to point B (B being the exit area). You never get to control the toys directly, you use you're stylus to set them in motion and provide a safe passage way through any obstacles in their way. If you have ever played the classic game "Lemmings" then this will feel reminiscent of that, just simplified. The game starts off fairly easy giving players only one job, place and replace the red girders we all know from the original Donkey Kong. With each new world, comes new tools for you to exploit, such as warp pipes, conveyor belts, and ladders. The trick here is to use what you have at you're disposal intelligently. You are only given a limited supply so you must choose the correct time to use one of you're valuable tools, otherwise you might find one of you're little Mario's in a pit of spikes.

Dance Central Kinect Game Review

So far Kinect has been less than impressive with a string of prommissing launch titles, crippled by Kinect's poor motion sensing technology. Dance Central is the first family-friendly Kinect party game from the people at Harmonix. This game will require you to do more than just tap you're feet in sync, you will use you're whole body when playing this game and it will take allot out of you at times. You will need a happy attitude to play this game with friends or family because the game is only fun when you play it in a group. The game is far from perfect, but if this is what you are looking for then you will likely have allot of enjoyment here.

Dance Central uses Kinect's motion sensing technology to read player's body movements, movements which should be in sync with the on-screen prompts for you're dance to be successful. These "flash cards" each represent one move, and that move can range from a simple shuffle step to an advanced series of upper body motions. There are more than 30 songs in the game providing a great deal of variety for every taste. There are new hits (Cascada - Evacuate The Dance Floor) and old classics (Jungle Boogie) so there is something here to get everyone up on the dance floor. Each track has three different difficulty settings which must be unlocked in order.

Final Fantasy XIII Game Review

The Final Fantasy franchise has stood tall above any other Japanese role-playing game for years now. With fantastic characters, emotional storytelling, and outstanding visuals, it's one of the most recognised video game names in the world. Surprisingly, Final Fantasy XIII (13) abandons allot of the well-loved features Final Fantasy games are known for. The game is much more linear and straight-forward compared to previous titles and this has left allot of fans sceptical. Let go of any concerns you may have, i can honestly say this game is outstanding, it manages to provide characters with unique personality's, in a story and world worth experiencing.

The lead role of Final Fantasy XIII has been given to Lightning, a beautiful but deadly woman who fits the Final Fantasy world perfectly. She is one of six characters you will be able to control. Although the game does stress the fact that Lightning is the primary heroine, it is much like VI in the sense that you control different characters frequently. This multi-story approach, as well as flashbacks, is not only clever but creates a strong structure and a story which will have you on the edge of you're seat at times.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Game Review

The Call of Duty franchise has grown ridiculously fast over the past few years into the Hollywood blockbuster game we know and love. The game which truly addicted fans to the series was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It took the series from a World War II setting into the modern battlefields we see on the news every day. Treyarch's latest instalment to the franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops, has had fans anticipating something big and although it doesn't do anything really new or unique, it provides fans with yet another COD experience.

You begin the campaign as Alex Manson, a soldier who is being interrogated for information he can't remember. You play through Manson's memories in search of the information. The story has some twists which will catch you off guard, the middle does seem to loose track but unlike Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops gives you the big finale you would expect. The story is definitely the strong point this time around which is quite a welcomed surprise.

Sonic Colors Wii Game Review

Back in the early 90's there was only one king on the SEGA Genesis, Sonic. The little blue mascot was praised with every instalment the franchise produced. It's hard to understand what went wrong with Sonic, the 3D era of gaming saw him drastically fall from grace. A few games showed potential (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle) but none truly captured what made Sonic our childhood hero back in the 90's. From slow boring games to fast games ruined by werewolf stages, we lost all hope. However when 2010 hit we were blessed with two of the best Sonic games since the early 90's. First was Sonic All-Stars Racing, an unexpected hit to the arcade racing genre which was reminiscent of games like Mario Karts. Next up for Sonic fans was the return to Sonic's traditional 2D roots with, Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. This was an absolute masterpiece in the eyes of Sonic fans, recapturing the glory days with new HD visuals to impress everyone. It might be hard to comprehend that SEGA has saved their best for last, but they have. Sonic Colors is a phenomenal game with vibrant, unique, imaginative stages which all Sonic fans will appreciate.

Sonic Colors takes place on a bizarre interstellar amusement park, created by Dr Robotnik, or Egg Man for anyone who didn't experience Sonic's golden day's. Dr Robotnik has enslaved alien creatures called Wisps, chaining their planet (and others) to his space station. SEGA have been very smart with the story here, it's cute, smart, and with a new voice cast, very easy on the ears.

Kinect Adventures Game Review

Kinect Adventures places you in the boots of a typical adventurer, with a variety of games and challenges to complete and explore. Players will use Microsoft's Kinect motion sensing technology to compete in these beautiful and colourful events which are fun for the first few hours, then thing's start to feel repetitive. There is allot here for players to enjoy but this mainly feels like a small package of games showing off Kinect's potential.

Kinect Adventures is a bunch of mini games packed into one family friendly package, it comes with the Kinect device itself and provides a taste of what you can expect in the future from Microsoft which is great. You play as a fun-loving adventurer who travels the world in search of new challenges. This all sounds promising, but once you realise the "adventurer" of Kinect Adventures is actually just a man repeating the same 5 mini games over and over, you begin to feel less adventurous. If you're looking for a full game experience then look somewhere else, as previously mentioned this is nothing more than a few mini games showing Kinect's potential, the charm will wear off fast.

Kinect Joy Ride Game Review

Joy Ride was originally going to be a free download for everyone on Xbox Live but Microsoft decided to make it one of their main launch titles for the highly anticipated "Kinect", which uses motion sensor technology. I'm sure everyone has pretended to drive some sort of imaginary vehicle with their arms at some point in their life, i personally used to do this at McDonald's drive through with friends, but the point is Joy Ride finally makes this a reality.

Joy Ride drops players into the world of casual arcade racing powered by Microsoft's motion sensing system, Kinect. The game is full of vibrant beautiful colours and lots of challenges, providing a very fulfilling package for anyone who chooses to give it a test drive. The game is designed to feel approachable for anyone, it feels like it has something to keep everyone happy but the only problem is the controls, Kinect just seems to ruin what would otherwise be a fantastic Xbox Live Arcade title.