ActionBastard

First, let's talk about what's good: The graphics are acceptable, as is expected from an unreal engine **** color palette is good (but slowly worsens and turns bland over the course of the game.) Depending on who you are, the ease of play* can be a selling point. Virgil's voice actor put out a good performance. Finally, I think that the art-direction for the game environments was very good in some places, although the level design itself was bland. Now, the bad. Where can one even begin? This game is an abortion (you see what I did there? Nice shot, Virgil. har har) when it comes to being a Devil May Cry game. Seemingly everything that was well loved about its namesake- challenging enemies and incredibly deep combat mechanics- has been thrown out. Instead, we are presented with shallow, repetitive "gameplay" that was seemingly added on as an afterthought and is only there to serve as a vehicle to move the juvenile, fanfiction-quality plot forward. We are shuttled from one un-interesting cutscene to the next by annoying, glitchy platforming. Sometimes, these glitches cause one to die- prepare to acquaint yourself with the loading screen. However, dying has little consequence, as save-points are everywhere. This **** what little tension was left out of the "gameplay." I put quotation marks around the word gameplay for the following reason: From some point at the middle of the game, actual combat gameplay is completely overshadowed by the narrative. In one particular mission, now infamously known as the "baby killing level," absolutely no combat is required at all. Why is this game a reboot of a series known for its combat when it is nothing like the others? Why is it named "Devil May Cry"? On that note, let's turn our attention to another problem with this game: The characters. Dante is no longer a happy-go-lucky action-hero caricature that eats strawberry sundaes. Instead, he's a foul-mouthed teenybopper who smokes cigarettes in his high school bathroom and has a problem with authority. The supporting cast, particularly Dante's brother, has also seen significant changes for the worse. Finally, I want to talk about the attitudes of this game's creators and the gaming media which is too quick to come to their defense. From the very first showing of this game, Devil May Cry fans have been told that what they enjoyed about the previous games were wrong. In spite of this, the enormous amount of negative attention which the game received cowed the developers into making certain changes. However, none of the issues which fans have brought their protestations against have been met with maturity or decency. DmC's creative director and Ninja Theory talking head Tameem Antoniades has gone out of his way to appear callous and loathing towards fans of the series, repeatedly calling those who have questioned his "artistic vision" as "haters," borrowing a phrase currently in vogue with suburban twelve year olds and phoney media outlets. Antoniades' actions have alienated much of the original Devil May Cry fanbase, who learned quickly that this game is not marketed towards them. If they will not buy the game, that means that a new market must be found. Enter CAPCOM's marketing blitz. Virtually every "genuine" review of DmC up until release lauded immense praise on the game, skimming over multiple faults and plainly ignoring the fact that it is, in some ways, a resoundingly mediocre gaming experience. Each media outlet has been very consistent in ending their reviews, whatever their wording might be, with extremely high numerical scores. Something stinks. CAPCOM, faced with several financial (if not critical) failures like Resident Evil 6 is banking on this game succeeding. Therefore, they have turned the media hype machine to eleven. Every review must shine, and pay no mind to the advertisement for the game in the banner ads... ahem... In closing, this game is a stain upon its lineage and the bizarro idolization of it by the media only solidifies the divide between gaming "journalism" and reality in the minds of gamers everywhere. The irony isn't lost on us, you know: A game whose story is centered on corporate mind control and evil media, being forced down the throats of gamers by a sleazy corporation and corrupt gamer "journalism" that is about as impartial as a toy commercial. Ninja Theory: In the words of Dante from DmC, "You're an ###hole." I give this corporate shlock and the media noise-pollution surrounding it a 3 out of 10 for "awful".

First, let's talk about what's good: The graphics are acceptable, as is expected from an unreal engine **** color palette is good, (but slowly worsens and turns bland over the course of the game.) Depending on who you are, the ease of play* can be a selling point. Virgil's voice actor put out a good performance. Finally, I think that the art-direction for the game environments was very good in some places, although the level design itself was bland. Now, the bad. Where can one even begin? This game is an abortion (you see what I did there? Nice shot, Virgil. har har) when it comes to being a Devil May Cry game. Seemingly everything that was well loved about its namesake- challenging enemies and incredibly deep combat mechanics- has been thrown out. Instead, we are presented with shallow, repetitive "gameplay" that was seemingly added on as an afterthought and is only there to serve as a vehicle to move the juvenile, fanfiction-quality plot forward. We are shuttled from one un-interesting cutscene to the next by annoying, glitchy platforming. Sometimes, these glitches cause one to die- prepare to acquaint yourself with the loading screen. However, dying has little consequence, as save-points are everywhere. This **** what little tension was left out of the "gameplay." I put quotation marks around the word gameplay for the following reason: From some point at the middle of the game, actual combat gameplay is completely overshadowed by the narrative. In one particular mission, now infamously known as the "baby killing level," absolutely no combat is required at all. Why is this game a reboot of a series known for its combat when it is nothing like the others? Why is it named "Devil May Cry"? On that note, let's turn our attention to another problem with this game: The characters. Dante is no longer a happy-go-lucky action-hero caricature that eats strawberry sundaes. Instead, he's a foul-mouthed teenybopper who smokes cigarettes in his high school bathroom and has a problem with authority. The supporting cast, particularly Dante's brother, has also seen significant changes for the worse. Finally, I want to talk about the attitudes of this game's creators and the gaming media which is too quick to come to their defense. From the very first showing of this game, Devil May Cry fans have been told that what they enjoyed about the previous games were wrong. In spite of this, the enormous amount of negative attention which the game received cowed the developers into making certain changes. However, none of the issues which fans have brought their protestations against have been met with maturity or decency. DmC's creative director and Ninja Theory talking head Tameem Antoniades has gone out of his way to appear callous and loathing towards fans of the series, repeatedly calling those who have questioned his "artistic vision" as "haters," borrowing a phrase currently in vogue with suburban twelve year olds and phoney media outlets. Antoniades' actions have alienated much of the original Devil May Cry fanbase, who learned quickly that this game is not marketed towards them. If they will not buy the game, that means that a new market must be found. Enter CAPCOM's marketing blitz. Virtually every "genuine" review of DmC up until released lauded immense praise on the game, skimming over multiple faults and plainly ignoring the fact that it is, in some ways, a resoundingly mediocre gaming experience. Each media outlet has been very consistent in ending their reviews, whatever their wording might be, with extremely high numerical scores. Something stinks. CAPCOM, faced with several financial (if not critical) failures like Resident Evil 6 is banking on this game succeeding. Therefore, they have turned the media hype machine to eleven. Every review must shine, and pay no mind to the advertisement for the game in the banner ads... ahem... In closing, this game is a stain upon its lineage and the bizarro idolization of it by the media only solidifies the divide between gaming "journalism" and reality in the minds of gamers everywhere. The irony isn't lost on us, you know: A game whose story is centered on corporate mind control and evil media, being forced down the throats of gamers by a sleazy corporation and corrupt gamer "journalism" that is about as impartial as a toy commercial. Ninja Theory: In the words of Dante from DmC, "You're an ###hole." I give this corporate shlock and the media noise-pollution surrounding it a 3 out of 10 for "awful".

If you're after a decent economy, a great selection of weapons and a fully fleshed out sandbox RPG, Fable 2 might just be the game for you. Graphically superior to Fable 1 and Superior in every field to Fable 3, I always come back to it every year to play through again. You can also train up your dog, build statues of yourself, buy potions which give you experience points, buy shops, rent out properties without having to maintain them. Additionally, the player can make money even when the game isn't switched on. Every hour, the money the player makes through a rented property gets added on regardless of whether the game is on or not. Also, One of the demon doors in the game provides the best jump scare in a game ever.

It's like a Paul Verhoeven version of Aliens with Lovecraftian elements and inspired by thrash metal. YOU ARE HUGE. THAT MEANS YOU HAVE HUGE GUTS. RIP AND TEAR.

Open FPS RPG that doesn't feel like either side is tacked on. Nice dystopian cyberpunk atmosphere and some sweet music. A few balance issues and terrible voice acting.

Taking the classic Metroidvania formula into 2.5d, Shadow Complex's high points shine through, but so do it's faults. The game allows to player to move in only 2 dimensions, but provides 3 dimensional interaction. Enemies will assault players from both the foreground and the background, and players can let the game aim for them, or use the right stick to aim themselves. The shooting controls are not without fault, and can seem clumsy and imprecise to new players. Where the game shines however, is it's level design and progression. The game makes very good use of space, allowing several paths to be taken through most encounters. There are also more than a few pickups that require exceptional skill and forethought to obtain. The progression through the game is absolutely sublime, players go from a poor schmuck way in over his head to a veritable super soldier, the early gameplay does well to compliment this as well, with plenty of light stealth until a better weapon is found. Players are armed with a flashlight from the beginning, which, like the X-ray visor of it's predecessor inspirations, allow you to see the weaknesses of objects. Unfortunately the music is a forgettable score of chord swells and harmonies, and the story resembles putting Nathan Drake of Uncharted fame into a project heavily inspired by Kojima's Metal Gear series. Bland characters fall to the far background and a forgettable antagonist that tries to be sinister lives in the shadow of his impressive and massive complex.

This is, by far, one of the most fun RTS games on the PC. The gameplay isn't balanced for competitive play, and the graphics are getting dated, but the great 40k lore and loads of interesting units more than make up for its shortcomings. If you can find a used copy somewhere, or it happens to be on sale on steam, grab this game ASAP.

You are a Hunter. You fight Monsters. It is hard. It is fun. It is everything to me. ... Oh, I guess this review is required to be at least 150 characters.

This is one of those games that few people know about, and that's unfortunate. It makes unique use of the PS2's pressure sensitive buttons to create a new kind of music and rhythm game: one where you are the conductor of a ragtag orchestra. The characters are a cute and a bit bizarre; your orchestra pit features instrument playing lions, robots and other misfits. The game provides little re-playability outside of the music sessions, and the story is a bit thin. The gameplay, however, is addicting and difficult. If you find this game in a bargain bin, give it a home. You may be surprised at how fun it is.

This game was a pleasant surprise. For only ten dollars, it has provided me with hours of entertainment in what has otherwise amounted to a decade of vapid, funless, press-X-to-win video games created by **** mega-corporations. There is greatness hidden here, and I am looking forward to the sequel immensely.

Perhaps one of the most unfortunate games in existence, both because it could never stand up to the expectations of fans and because it was played off by its creators and dozens of invested parties within gaming journalism as the second coming of Christ. It is a mediocre sequel and a disappointing finale to a well-loved series. Most unfortunate of all, however, is the way in which it and several other big-name titles of the last few years have come to represent the baldfaced corruption and lack of integrity within the video game industry. Games should judged as good based on their own merit, not on how many reviewers the publisher can manage to bribe. I give this game a four, for "bad." I would have given it an "average" of 6, but I subtracted one point for the paid-for reviews and one point for the way Bioware instructed journalists to attack their more critical fans. I regret having to look beyond the game itself and into the murk that surrounds it, but as the games industry continue to make video games less about games and more about the surrounding hype and media buzz, I have no choice but to add those factors to my score. Rent and return.

A great game often overlooked by many. This game upholds the tradition of great Japanese gaming classics: the gameplay is satisfying and never bogged down mid-level. The controls are wonderfully responsive, and despite the mayhem on screen it's never difficult to understand what is going on. In terms of presentation and story, it improves on its predecessor in every way by introducing even more likeable characters, bigger levels and more of the same great, electrifying big band jazz BGM. Despite the limitations of the PS2 hardware which resulted in occasional frame-rate drops this game delivers a satisfying experience and an enjoyable story full of likeable characters. Despite being shallow in some aspects, I was nevertheless able to glean hours of fun from this game by replaying the story and bonus modes. Moreover, it did all of this at the price of a budget title. This is a must play if you own a PS2.

This game, despite being somewhere between resoundingly mediocre and offal, was foisted onto the gaming community by a clueless industry and corrupt, bribe-accepting "journalists." If you like RPGS, don't play this. If you believe in journalistic integrity, don't play this. If you like video games and want the industry to improve, don't play this. I'll give this game a 3, because it's prequel was excellent and it held much (squandered) potential.

These games are- in numerical order- good, not so good, and great. This is worth a look if you like action games with good game play and aren't picky about a schlocky story.