There’s nothing quite like a Rube Goldberg machine. Perhaps my days of playing Mousetrap when a wee little Ophelea, or The Incredible Machine during college have endeared me to the concept, but the idea of making the simple complex just gets me all tingly inside. There have been a few PC games over the years that have tickled my fancy, but the Nintendo DS is the perfect platform for this type of puzzling and fun. Mechanic Master is perfect for getting in a little puzzling, learning a little physics or for satisfying those cravings to squoosh aliens.
Dear Nancy: It’s about time someone developed a game worthy of your literary acclaim. Reading your books as a child, I never thought I would someday be solving your mysteries from a computer screen instead of a paper page. You age well, and The Haunting of Castle Malloy stands as one of the best Nancy Drew games I’ve played in my short career of reviewing.
Sniper: Art of Victory is a first-person shooter set in World War II. Notice I don't say "just another" shooter set in World War II. Yes, the shelves are full of them, but Sniper: Art of Victory has breathed some new life into an old genre. This game isn't focused on large battles or even squad-level tactics. You play a lone sniper moving through enemy territory using your tools and skills, including patience, timing and stealth, to dominate the area and complete your mission. An advanced physics model is used for sniping that takes into account trajectory, wind and breath. When you make a clean headshot, you are rewarded with a brief cutscene that shows the flight of your bullet to the enemy's head. Constant shortages of ammunition make rapid firing suicidal, not to mention that it tends to attract enemy soldiers. Finally, plenty of hide sites are available that are great for staying concealed while engaging targets at a distance, with the best of them marked on the minimap.
Some say superb and at a fault, almost aggravating amounts of alliteration absolutely agitates any and all associated around or in the area. I always thought that an explosively colorful language can articulate a point perfectly and illustrate an image in magnificent ways not possible without unique and a nuanced sense of interesting dialogue. And yet others would love to dance around the English language in such obtuse ways as to create a labyrinth of such complex or fanciful phrases, any party lucky enough might feel blessed enough to spread the verbal joy in a relative manner. After playing Wacky Races: Crash and Dash on the Wii, however, I think the English language can jump off the highest cliff while I hand it the wrong backpack for a “safe” landing.
Pipe Mania is a remake of Empire Imperative’s title Pipe Dream, published in 1989 — with more game modes, more themes and a story to go through. The goal is simple. Lay a network of pipes to direct the flow of sewage ... er ... flooze, an amalgamation of fluid and ooze, from the source to the drain. Master plumber Alfonso Senior, is retired now and living like a fat cat on his private island, the Isle of Ducts. Life should be hunky-dory, but no ... cowboy plumbers are on the loose, and the baddest of them all, Buffalo Bonzo is wreaking havoc on the island’s plumbing. It is up to Alfonso’s children Junior and Fawcett to end these shenanigans and put the plumbing back in order. Thus, your journey begins.
It’s been a while since James Bond has graced the videogame world with his presence. The last entry in the franchise was From Russia with Love in 2005 and was notable for its use of Sean Connery’s likeness and voice. Over the years, the James Bond videogame series has gone through the regular ups and downs, but it hit a pinnacle with GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64. Combining stealth elements with a first-person shooter and a phenomenal multiplayer mode, it achieved a level of success that developers and publishers have been trying to replicate ever since.
Previously, I have written that adventure games can hypothetically get one into trouble — predominately by sending people to the Betty Ford Clinic for kleptomania. Well, why bring this up is probably what you are thinking. Because this is another adventure game review, as you’ve probably guessed by now. And surprisingly, it is rather solid despite some flaws. What is the name of this game? Welcome to the world of Outcry, folks.
I used to be a pretty hardcore gamer, but ever since I started grad school, I’ve scaled back my gaming. Last year, I missed out on some of the bigger games despite buying them. Stuff like Halo 3 went relatively unplayed, despite being regarded as one of the big hits of the holiday season. My time was dedicated to the occasional game of Madden and things that I had to review. When I saw the roster of upcoming games in 2008’s holiday swath of games, I expected this season to be similar. What was going to get left out, what was going to get a little bit of time and what was going to be the occasional game I got to actually play completely through? Originally, I expected Fallout 3 to fall in the second category, especially with the World of Warcraft expansion hitting shortly after Fallout 3 dropped. Instead, Fallout 3 created a totally different category for me — one that can best be described at “Jeez, is it already 4 a.m.? I need to be up at 7 ...”
Poor little Wall-E; he never had much of a chance. As a baby-bot, he got the short end of the robot opportunities stick and was delegated to collecting trash. Adding insult to injury, he’s forced to navigate his way through mountains of compactable trash for your enjoyment ... and it’s not even that fun.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice is the latest installment in Nippon Ichi’s tactical role-playing series Disgaea and the first to be released on the PlayStation 3. With the inaugural title making its first appearance on the PS2 in 2003, the series has since won over a supportive fan base, captivated by its quirky design and immersive gameplay. Disgaea 3 happily retains these laudable elements but is ultimately marred by its visuals, which are truly lackluster considering the capabilities of a next-gen console. However, with a light-hearted comic storyline and engrossing gameplay, the pros outweigh the cons.
I have a confession to make: I am not a Star Wars fan. Not on any level. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the original trilogy when I was growing up. To deny the power of Star Wars is like saying that The Beatles were just a band and that Bob Dylan was a stoner with a guitar. To deny Star Wars influence is missing out on all of the ways it has influenced recovering addicts’ perception of God, spirituality, television, movies, novels and even video games (if you missed the Star Wars vibe in Final Fantasy XII, then you are truly missing out). So imagine my surprise when I was sent a copy of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for my PlayStation 2. Is it any good, or is it as bad as most critics say? It is a little bit of both but mostly the former. Read on to learn more.
Given the obvious popularity of crime shows on television, it makes sense that more and more crime-solving games are appearing for the Nintendo DS.
Unsolved Crimes is set in New York in 1976 (though it could be about any big city and just about any decade from what I’ve seen so far). When I have the time, I generally enjoy watching a good crime show, so I was looking forward to playing Unsolved Crimes and solving some of those cases for myself.
I missed the first TouchMaster. This is something of a shame because titles like these have nearly every quality I prefer in my portable games: inexpensive, single-cart multiplayer, short games, lots of games and something my kids can play, too. Alladania’s review of the original was pretty glowing; TouchMaster 2 won’t be much different.
I am not a big fan of adventure games. Usually they have you pixel-hunting all over the various screens, solving obscure puzzles within the game’s own “twisted” logic — sometimes intriguing but often clichéd plots — and they have you acting like a kleptomaniac. You know: the stuff that might land you in the Betty Ford Clinic for drunken misconduct. However, I do admit that I loved playing Syberia because the game is grounded purely in logic. If you couldn’t figure the puzzle out, either you hadn’t explored the area well enough or the solution hasn’t clicked in yet. And then there’s everyone’s favorite dog and rabbit Sam and Max. Sure, the game can be a pain to play at times — especially during the first season. But the dialogue is so well-written, it was worth the effort. So, how does a murder mystery weekend in an abbey sound to you? Enter the Adventure Company’s game Murder in the Abbey. So, is it worth the energy to explore? Read on to find out.
I admit it. I am not a big fan of puzzle games — especially those that revolve around building lines or directing water. I really have no clue why people think I should enjoy them. Perhaps it is because at the last picnic I attended someone had the bright idea of hiring an actor who wears a pink anthropomorphic rabbit suit for a living ... I beat the guy down with a lead pipe. (In my defense, the guy looked like he belonged at the Lake View Amusement Park from a certain forbidden hamlet.) And then there is the fact that my father is a master of “indoor plumbing.” (Read: urologist.) Anyway, back in the late 1980s, one of those “flowing” games was known as Pipe Dream. The game’s premise was rather simple: Direct the sewage from part of the screen to the other by laying down pipes. Now, nearly 20 years later — and after an appearance in BioShock — this game has been remade and is now known as Pipe Mania.
Dr. Derek Stiles is back for more in Atlus’ sequel to 2005’s Trauma Center: Under the Knife. We were first introduced to our aforementioned protagonist in the original — when he was just a rookie doctor — and watched as he gradually became the savior of the human race by the end of the game. While the plotline of the original game was ludicrous, it was definitely worthy of an absurd admiration every time it dared to reach new comical heights of insanity. For fans of the original, you’ll be happy to know that not much has changed. Other than a slight character redesign, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 still carries the same addictive gameplay and strong — but at times ridiculous — storyline that made the original so much fun.
Tennis. What a beautiful sport. It combines the physical, the mental, grace and elegance. In the past, tennis video games adopted an arcade style approach by putting an emphasis on simple controls and the action of the sport. Top Spin 3 for the Xbox 360, developed by PAM Development and published by 2K Sports, takes an entirely different approach. With the goal of simulating reality, the game contains a completely reengineered control system that is refreshingly innovative. With several gameplay modes, detailed design functions and online capabilities, PAM Development has pushed video game tennis in the right direction with Top Spin 3, chalking up another notch in the genre’s evolution.
It always pains me when I can see the value in a game, yet it completely and totally doesn't click with me. Such is the case with Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. It's a turn-based strategy. It's quick but nuanced. It's simple to grasp and incorporates “light” elements from many turn-based and even real-time strategy war games. It's easy to link up and play other people. What's the problem, here? I think it's my background, really. I like deep strategy games. I like pretty much all of the Matrix Games I've played thus far. It's the very complexity in these games that attracts me, and thus, a fun, streamlined game like Days of Ruin comes across as something of an unsatisfying appetizer.
Anne’s Dream World is one heck of a place. Anne, our host, recently moved from her small village to a new place where she is bored out of her mind. Napping on the sofa, Anne’s excellent imagination spins a tale to keep her mind busy. In the dream, her quaint village is attacked by an army of jelly monsters. They set fire to huts, scare the locals and steal all the livestock.
I have been dreading and looking forward to writing this review for many weeks now. To write would mean that I would have to pull myself away from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES longer than I usually go without playing. And yet, it would allow me to digest fully of everything I have seen. I am brimming with thoughts and ideas. This game is beautiful, emotional and full of life. It is also, dark, twisted and disturbing. How many games make this claim?
