Dyskresiac

I'm gonna make this short: There's a LOT more to this game than screenshots lead you to believe. I'm 7 hours in and not even a fraction of the way through the content. This game is a rabbit hole, and you WILL be **** in.

I give the game a 8/10. My kids give it a 10/10. So 9 sounds good. The addition of Gotham City is one that really sets this game apart from others. There is so much to do and find, they could just play and ride the roller coaster or play games at the carnival (in Gotham) for hours. My biggest complaint is the split screen in this mode (missions are no problem)... though to be honest 16:9 really doesn't give you much to work with. It splits the screen down the middle. Mathematically it makes sense. However, it gives you absolutely ZERO peripheral vision. Finding things is all but impossible. Perhaps they should have adjusted the FOV when in this mode to allow for more peripheral. Kids don't care. It bothers me.

Consider it the irony of all ironies. On its surface, there's nothing special about The Secret World. Classic MMO with a change of setting. But the deeper you go, the deeper it feels. The character (ability) customization is second to none. The varied playstyle between the multiple "decks" (classes) is very wide. And Investigation and Sabatoge quests bring incredibly unique elements to the MMO genre. The problem is this: If you don't give TSW a long enough chance to really sink your teeth into it, it's very easy to just pass over and I don't feel like Funcom really gives you a good enough idea of what the game is about until a few hours in. Granted, this isn't FFXIII where you need 40 hours of patience. Just a couple. Try out a few of the investigation (Green) quests and the Sabatoge (Yellow) quest in the starting zone. Look across all the decks of all the classes. You will see just how deep the rabbit hole goes. I didn't plan on playing this game past GW2- but I might end up playing both. I am very pleased with how TSW is turning out.

I am not sure if most people are either really lazy and broody, or the critics didn't get a full featured game. MOST of the problems people have with the controls can be fixed in the options menu. There are multiple control schemes, and the sensitivity can be adjusted on the X Axis when you're on the ground. (95% of "control" issues.) Then you're off to an excellent game. It does take getting used to, but it's not really all that bad. People just love to complain. It's a great game, don't let all the negative sentiment about the controls bother you. If you have a 3DS, get it.

Think Portal. I could end my review there. Incredibly short? Yes. Worth it? Oh hell yes! As others have said, it's an experience tough to put into words. It's less a "game" than it is an "experience." And I feel that Journey (like Portal) contained more plot, more memorable moments, than most full-length games. If you're the kind of person who shys away at colors other than grey and brown, and cringe at the thought of any story outside of "blow the guy in front of you up" then by all means, skip this one. If you're sick of games that had little to no thought put into it outside of the engine, then this is definitely the game for you.

People need to calm down. A 0 score based off graphics for a decent looking game? Skyrim looks worse, did you rate that a 0? Likewise, the 10's are a bit much. Was Arkham City a good game? Yes. I enjoyed it. GOTY? I honestly cannot see that argument. Aside from being a larger sandbox, it actually was much more empty than its predecessor. The highs weren't as high, but the lows weren't as low. There were no scenes or fights that you'll remember a few months from now (unlike the Scarecrow scenes from AA.) But you won't be groaning every time you had to fight the same enemies.... AGAIN (unlike all the Bane-wannabes in AA.) While it started out strong, it felt incredibly rushed at the later 1/3, making the environment incredibly hostile to any exploration. It felt like an MMO, simply telling me to run to talk to/fight the next NPC and come back. Ultimately, I'd give the first 2/3 of the game a 8 or 9 out of 10, and the later third a 5/10. Thus, the 7.

I loved this game at first, but the linearity and lack of progress kind of ruled out the whole RPG aspect of it. It started out great, but eh.... fell flat eventually.

RENTAL SCORE:10/10. SINGLE PLAYER SCORE: 5/10 My wife and I are really enjoying this game. With a lot of disappointments lately in the genre (Daggerdale, Hunted) perhaps our standards were lowered, but this is everything we wanted it to be and more. The one thing I have to say, though, is that it seems that the AI of your party members is somewhere between the intelligence of a rabbid raccoon and a stump. Sometimes we even forget we have a third party member. That said, if you make the third member the warrior.... good luck. Fans of the genre will love it. People who want Reskinned Generic Shooter:Modern Warfare 8 look elsewhere.

First off, let me say that Skylanders for 3DS does not have anything that makes Skylanders for 360/PS3/Wii any good and it is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE MARIO 64! It's much closer to Crash Bandicoot 1. 1)There is no plot, and while the original game's plot wasn't exactly stellar, it did provide many moments of amusement, and starred incredible voice actors and writing. 2)There are really no upgrades for your characters. The only bonuses you get are from leveling- and you level INSANELY fast. 3)The game is incredibly short (3-4 hours) with very little replay value, again unlike the original. 4)No Multiplayer 5)Many of the unique play mechanics of the first one are gone such as Stealth Elf's invisibility and Spyro/Sonic Boom's flying abilities. All in all, it's really not worth your money. Buy the console version instead. It is infinitely better.

I have a 3 year old girl and an 8 year old boy. Screw them! I bought this game for me. They're just my excuse. The game itself is a very good platformer, and the toy combo is perfect. Nostalgia has taken a lot of Spyro Fans too much that they forget that the original games were equally as childish- they were just younger back then. I would hate on Activision if I could, trust me. They're my #2 worst publisher. But they hit it out of the park. The figures are actually quality, and the game is fun. Be careful, though, because the 3DS version is NOT multiplayer. Which was, in my opinion, Activision's biggest mistake. Other than that, I can say so far it's a major hit with each person controlling their characters and we switched out as necessary. For people who have kids, this game is a GODSEND. An $8 character will completely renew interest. So fanboys took one for the team. It's still a great game.

Call me a naysayer. I hated Demon's Souls. It wasn't the difficulty (Because Dark Souls is surely more difficult.) It was just that once you looked past the difficulty, the game felt... bland. Dark Souls, on the other hand, feels a lot more refined. A true sequel that built upon the foundation of the first game to deliver what I felt Demon's Souls SHOULD have been. This game does lose .5 point for its tutorial and worthless manual. Okay, so a bad tutorial makes the game difficult, since you don't know what you're doing, but even once you do know what you're doing it's still hard. It's just FAR less frustrating. Such as:Tap B twice to jump WHILE sprinting. Once I got my bearings straight, I've been sailing. And by sailing I mean dying. But they've been legitimate deaths. Each enemy knicking away my health bit by bit, forcing me to refine my tactics to save my potions for the big fights. Get completely destroyed in a single blink from an ambush. Which brings me to the other half of a point lost. The boss fights aren't "difficult" so much as they are poor design. Horrible camera, juggling, and invisible walls make boss fights more irritating than difficult. Especially when the boss jumps, you try to roll under them, and it somehow throws you off a cliff because the game uses cylinders for placement. Fortunately, there aren't too many of them like this. So I can't dock off too much for it. All in all, it's the ideal game to bring you to the November Gaming Marathon that surely awaits you coming 11/14/11.

Space Marine (Or as the Orks say it, "Spice Marine") is a good game to pass the time, but surely by no means worth $60, at least for the singleplayer. Considering it can be beaten in 2 sittings, I HIGHLY suggest renting it. It's a fantastic rental. But this game will be down to $30-$40 rather quickly. It's good, but it's just not great. Otherwise, you'll enjoy it, beat it, shelf it. And I can't stress this enough. It's REALLY short.

I go through video games like I go through cans of Red Bull. Play, Enjoy (or not), then forget. NEXT! A good game is a good game, but it still gets thrown in the closet. Bastion is an exception. When I played it at PAX East, I was worried about the narrator getting annoying, or the combat getting stale. Neither happened, and for those people who it did bother- giving it a 0/10 on that alone is a bit absurd and should be ignored. I will give people who are curious about the game a tip. 1)Play through the game 2)Pick the "Bad Ending." 3)Play through New Game Plus 4)Pick the "Good Ending." That's all I can say without spoiling anything. Anybody who has beaten Bastion knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

FINALLY! A game that is intended for adults. And no, I don't mean the Bulletstorm "12 year olds pretending to be adults" demographic. REAL adults. It's not just the subject matter, either. The game is hard, as in you actually have to think. You WILL die, you WILL struggle. And that'll only make you that much more determined to find the solution and climb. And that's the beauty of it that has been missing from so many games for so long. Most of us grew up on games that made us start over when we shut it off, and while Catherine doesn't go that far, it still pushes you to use your noggin, as a good puzzle game should. I realize the Puzzle Genre isn't for everyone, but the game market has been virtually dead outside of Tetris/Bejeweled knockoffs (Which are a different kind of puzzle game.) It's a welcomed change, and it's enjoyable. In addition, Catherine hits on the simplicity of games in the past. Like a good, perfectly cooked steak. It's not fancy. It doesn't try to woo you with inedible garnishes and sauce smeared on your plate. Catherine is, at its core, a fantastic puzzle game. Pushing boxes, but delivered in a method that you wouldn't expect. There's a reason why ATLUS games have the highest price retention out of any other publisher. Persona 4 is still $35 at Gamestop and it's a PS2 game. ATLUS makes quality games that people won't want to give up. Catherine will be no different.

*NOTE:THIS GAME CAN BE PLAYED WITH A CONTROLLER* Words cannot do this game justice. Not because it's ultimately superior, but just because it's just different. It's a tad short, but it has plenty of replay value and unlockables. It's a great game for all ages, and all levels of experience. If you are unsure and wary about spending the money, I saw a game called "Q3" at Gamestop that's down to about $13 now that is a 3-pack that contains "REZ HD", the predecessor of Child of Eden. Pick up REZ HD and if you like it, Child of Eden will blow your mind. (The bigger the TV and sound system, the better.)

I'm only giving this game a 10 to offset the petty 0's. I'd normally give it an 8 or 9. First off, hats =/= DLC. I find it insane someone would pay $.50 for a hat, let alone $5... but if they want to pay for it, let them eat their cake. It really is much ado about absolutely nothing. I am surprised at the amount of kids (presumably) throwing temper tantrums about something so trivial. Everything else about the game is excellent. It's exactly what Portal fans wanted. Longer story, multiplayer, expanded SDK. But I feel the same way I felt about Starcraft 2 and Fallout:New Vegas. It wasn't different enough to warrant a party, let alone cake.

I think people are being a bit tough on DA2. When compared against Bioware Standards, it is indeed their worst product to date. But that's like saying the smallest diamond in the mine- I'll take it. When compared to other games that have been released lately, DA2 was a good reprieve. I think it suffers from Apple-ification. Origins was slow, clunky, half the skills were worthless, half of the characters had no personality (Sten, Lelianna, Oghren Pre-Awakening? Really?), the dwarf area... ugh. The dwarf area... Dragon Age 2 tried to streamline all of Origins' flaws. Battles were quicker. Travel was quicker. Quest Markers were visible from far away. Not every conversation involves 6 soliloquies. Unlike most people, I actually rather enjoy the plot. Everything that was changed sounds like it SHOULD be better it just... it kind of plays itself- and you're along for the ride. Like the Matrix. The first had a few action scenes that were intense because of the lack of action scenes elsewhere. The second was almost entirely action scenes, and by the end you were ready to fall asleep. I think developers should look at DA2 and see what happened, what went wrong. I think a lot can be learned at what happens if you oversimplify and over-streamline your game. There is something to be said about requiring a bit of effort before the reward... otherwise it quickly loses its appeal. I can't give DA2 less than a 6. Because it IS all good stuff. But what it lacks is what is missing between said good stuff.

This may be the hardest ame to review. Cataclysm's gem comes for free. Get Vanilla, get to level 60 a few times, find another game. You will love every minute of it. 60-70 was like getting teeth pulled, and 70-80 dragged on towards the end. Cataclysm (strictly speaking) 80-85 content was wonderful. Wonderful, but disgustingly short. It can be done in just a few hours. Imagine a roller coaster where you get to the bottom of the first hill and- woop, ride's over. Not horrible, but not exactly what you were expecting after waiting out that long line. It's not worth the torture of 60-80 to play 80-85 content, but 1-60 was great, first second and third time.

There used to be a flavor of Campbell's Soup at Hand that tasted like a Taco. Your first sip, you got really excited. "Wow, this really DOES taste like a taco." And as you drink it, you start to realize that drinking a taco is basically the same thing as **** up all the grease and fat from the bottom of your pan. Bulletstorm goes out, and hits you in the face with this stylized killing mechanic that makes the game feel very unique. The way the plot is set up is thrilling. And it excites you. Yet, you eventually find yourself going through the motions just as you would in any other shooter. Then everything else turns into a crude Gears of War with worse dialogue and plot- and that's not a fanboyism. It doesn't even try to be anything other than a clone. Yes, the kill system is unique. It could have been executed so much better had it not been your average "Only one way to go, keep going forward, just shoot everything" shooter. I'm amazed at how many reviews talk about how unique this game is. Chances are they made the review the day they go it and before it started collecting dust on their shelves. Oh well. I didn't buy it. (Thank god.) Rented it. I suggest you do the same.