cbeers2513

Detective Grimoire was one of my favorite online mystery games. Not only was the mystery intriguing, but the characters were all memorable and unique, offering dozens of conversation topics and realistic interrogations. However, my greatest enjoyment of the game came from the fact that you felt in the driver's seat. You were the one who found the clues, pieced them together, and made your deductions with no help from a **** narrator or omniscient plot-spoiler. That being said, I was elated to find Detective Grimoire on the App Store, since I assumed that the trailer I had seen years ago never came to fruition. So, is Grimoire's spiritual successor a worthy sequel or a lackluster app? For starters, when I first saw the design of the app I didn't know what to think. The backgrounds and atmosphere looked unbelievable, with a beautiful color scheme and that perfect blend of abstraction. My problem was with the minimalistic designs of the characters. Unlike the relatively more realistic models of the original game, this Grimoire has an overwhelmingly cartoonish and simplistic approach to the characters. Very little shading or detail is done on the models, which I assumed would be a major letdown considering a majority of the gameplay involves talking with the characters. However, I was surprised at how much I grew to love the design and fluid animations each character possessed, as well as the top-notch voice work that accompanied each one. Edwyn Tiong, a moderately famous voice in online gaming, flawlessly voices Grimoire, possessing a delightful mix of sarcasm and cluelessness that made the character memorable in the original. In fact, the entire cast is stellar, each providing life and emotion to their characters, no matter how insignificant their role is to the narrative. This, along with a mesmerizing, yet haunting, score creates the perfect atmosphere for the mystery. The gameplay is also top-notch, though lacks the intuitiveness of its predecessor. You still play the role of the detective, interviewing witnesses, finding clues scattered about the dilapidated swamp, and piecing together deductions until the murderer has revealed itself. However, in this game you are much more restricted in your detective work. There is no way to fail and the game always tells you where to go next, unlike the original where you explored until everything you needed had been found. Additionally, the mystery is much less perplexing than in the original game. Once you encounter the villain, you know it's going to be the villain simply because none of the other suspects had the motivation for murder. While in the original game there were tense relationships between suspects, bitter feuds, and backstabbing that left no one safe from interrogation, people are eliminated after mere seconds into their conversations due to the sheer improbability of them committing a crime. There are other minor flaws, such as game freezing and bugs, but none significantly detract from the experience. Despite these let-downs, interrogation and discovering clues are still a blast due to the incredibly witty dialogue and Grimoire's undeniable charm, keeping the gameplay fresh from your first steps off the boat to the mysterious cliffhanger. In the end, Detective Grimoire's first iOS experience is a success. Despite the occasional bug and the freedom that made the original game so memorable, Grimoire's beautiful atmosphere, addictive detective work, and incredible voice-overs make it a necessity for any gamers longing for an engaging mystery. 8.2/10

Arkham Origins is a troubled game. It possesses a fantastic story that establishes the perfect foundation for the Arkham universe. In fact, this is probably one of my favorite Dark Knight tales out there, creating a thrilling back story that flawlessly demonstrates the excitement and repercussions of Batman's first encounter with the Joker. The gameplay is still solid in most regards, inheriting the same fluid fighting mechanics that made the Arkham games some of the best action games ever made. Boss battles have been fine-tuned to perfection, making each fight gripping and challenging, sharply contrasting those in the previous two Arkham titles. Even the acting is great, with fantastic performances by both Roger Craig Smith as the Caped Crusader and Troy Baker, the best voice actor of 2013, portraying a younger, volatile, and deliciously psychotic Joker that even rivals the work of Mark Hamill in the original games. With all this praise, it seems like Origins would be another stellar Batman experience. But it's not. Origins is a good game marred by repetitiveness and unwelcome additions that hold it back from being a truly memorable experience. For instance, the combat features the new Shock Gloves, along with all of your favorite old gadgets. These new weapons can destroy any shield or break any barrier standing between you and your foes, causing you to ridiculously overpower anyone who stands in your path. In Arkham City, each fight against a new foe, such as the ninjas from the League of Shadows, required planning and different combos in order to take down the opposition. Here, you can mash the square button once the gloves are powered, quickly ruining any enjoyment or challenge to the campaign by giving you a practically automatic victory. The fighting feels much shoddier in this game as well. While City's battles felt like I was establishing a rhythm with each broken bone, Origins' fights are a struggle just to connect Batman's fists to the skulls of the street thugs. Not only do punches consistently miss their marks, but rooms can also become packed as well. In one of the later fights, enemies start randomly spawning at exponential rates, making it nearly impossible to focus on the fight, as well as causing the game to lag. Arkham Origins' Gotham feels like a hollow version of Arkham City's masterful open world. Not all grappling points are functional, forcing you to think of alternate routes to seemingly accessible locations. What's worse about traversal, though, is the fact that you have to cross a long bridge when journeying from one end of the map to the next. This becomes extremely frustrating, since the game offers a fast-travel system via the Batwing that allows you to skip over these segments. Arkham City's world was fun to explore and full of secrets, making you want to soar over rooftops and plunge into alleyways to search for every last Easter egg. Here, the world is barren, featuring no incentive to explore or enjoy the near clone of the original open world, which is a striking missed opportunity. Overall, the greatest sin Arkham Origins commits is the fact that it's not an entertaining experience. Aside from the engaging plot, nearly everything that made Arkham City a masterpiece has been unnecessarily edited to fit the canon or just flat out dropped altogether. Riddle trophies and puzzles have been replaced by randomly scattered extortion packs, which require little to no skill to obtain and are extremely disappointing. Similarly, most of the side missions are copied and pasted from City, swapping the villains that are involved to make it seem novel. Even Detective Mode, which on the outset looked like an intuitive new gameplay feature to compliment the blood-pumping combat, is a monotonous quest searching for red triangles instead of legitimate investigation. When all is said and done, Arkham Origins is a game that should be played. The narrative is intense and occasionally unbelievable. Sadly, however, it doesn't receive the solid gameplay accompaniment it deserves. Too often I found myself wondering about what the game could have been, rather than enjoy the campaign I was playing. Fighting is fresh, but new additions cause the experience to feel much more hollow and less rewarding than in prior games, making you feel more like a player than the actual Dark Knight. While the flawless story, voice acting, and boss fights soar, the rest of Arkham Origins holds the game back from becoming the Batman prequel that the gaming industry truly deserves. 6.5/10

Injustice: Gods Among Us has the potential to be one of the greatest fighting apps ever made. However, even with the creativity in character designs and arenas, there is nothing to really get engaged in. Like most of the DC apps, the game gets repetitive within the first hour of playing, using delays between fights to coerce fans into buying upgrades and boosters. This game is the biggest example of greed hidden in design. Once you reach a certain point in the game, it becomes impossible to win fights simply because of the unfair tiers for the different characters: gold, silver, and bronze. The higher level is significantly better off than the lower ones, and normally too expensive to buy. So, unless you want to repeat the beginning levels for hours to gain coins and eventually buy a useful character, there is really no point to playing this game. Once again, DC ruins a potentially addictive fighter due to their own selfishness. As a fighter, it's fun and the characters each feel unique and stylized. But the game is too repetitive, and too focused on profit over content, to forgive. 5/10

Clash of Clans is incredibly addictive but loses its freshness after a few days in. The concept of world-building and interactions with other players is fantastic and fully realized, and I loved tearing apart enemy forts with my legions of barbarians. However, the problem the game is not in the gameplay, but in the time. After a certain point, it takes multiple days to build or upgrade necessary structures, therefore making it impossible to progress without tediously waiting for your builders to finish their tasks. This is clearly a marketing ploy for the player to buy gems which can be used to hire more builders and speed up construction. Advertising as blatantly obvious as this really ruin the enjoyment of the game and prevents me from constantly coming back to my kingdom. Instead, I buy the upgrade and ignore the game until I get notified days later that the construction was completed or my fort had been decimated by a much more powerful player. In the end, Clash of Clans is definitely worth the download and will undeniably **** you in. However, any lasting impression or immersion is lost as soon as the time increments between building projects rise, making the app more focused on profit than the actual experience. 6.5/10

Device 6 could be the strangest thirty minutes I've ever spent on an app. Never before has a game provided such an illogical premise with an ending that snaps every piece of the puzzle in perfect harmony. The game is unique in both presentation and control, producing a shockingly realistic atmosphere by using the narrative as your guide through the world. There are many puzzles throughout the game that require both intelligence and creativity to solve, one of which left me stumped for a good ten minutes until the answer almost slapped me in the face. While extremely short, Device 6 is one of a kind. No other game can match its mystery and innovative design, making it one of the best apps of 2013 and one of the most thought-provoking experiences you'll ever come across. 9/10

All That Remains is a welcome return to the Walking Dead universe but not the one I necessarily wanted. The added emphasis on Clementine and the references to your struggles as Lee really bridge the gap between seasons. The shocking opening and nail-biting conclusion, as well as several horrifying feats of survival, really make the game worth it. But in many areas the first episode feels like a missed opportunity. The gameplay is not refined and many awkward swiping motions led to unnecessary deaths. The graphics feel off in plenty of areas and the game is perpetually laggy throughout the hour-long journey. However, All That Remains definitely shows promise for future success. I enjoyed most of the new characters and I see plenty of potential conflicts for nail-biting decisions in the coming months. While Clementine's first spotlight isn't a masterpiece, her story and evolution is more than worth the price of admission. 7.5/10

Bioshock Infinite is a fantastic game and one of my favorite experiences of 2013. The floating city of Columbia, with its extremely vibrant artistic design and old-timey feel reminiscent of Disney World's Main Street, is one of the most memorable video game worlds to explore. I loved walking down the street listening to a barbershop quartet and watching the different floating islands weave throughout the clouds in all their majestic glory. The story is also nearly unrivaled in all of video games, starring Troy Baker as the lovable yet mysterious Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton agent tasked to finding and retrieving a girl named Elizabeth to repay an old debt. While the chemistry doesn't come close to matching that of Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, both lead characters are extremely memorable and leave a lasting impression long after the credits roll. Elizabeth herself is a technical marvel, interacting with the environment to not only instill an incredible sense of realism, but also aid you in your journey by providing vital ammunition and health kits when your inventory runs dry. This trick is unbelievably useful to the player during tough fighting sequences, along with Elizabeth's special power of opening tears into other dimensions and pulling in useful allies or new weapons to manipulate. All of these benefits make Elizabeth one of the greatest sidekicks ever conceived, especially when considering her charming innocence but surprising cleverness, as seen by her philosophical quotes and lock picking abilities. By establishing two incredible leads, Irrational Games has crafted an experience that warrants multiple playthroughs, especially when the ending puts the entire narrative into a whole new perspective. The graphics also look gorgeous, but more of on an artistic level rather than a technical. Again I find myself comparing the game to the Last of Us, whose superb facial animations and movements cannot be beaten. On the downside, Bioshock Infinite has noticeable flaws. While the combat is engaging, it does get extremely repetitive during the midsection of the story. It feels like your standard formula of walking to a room, shooting up enemies, rinse and repeat. The skyline system, which was intended to spice up gameplay by changing combat locations and offering new shooting locations, are nauseating to use and make it impossible to lock onto your targets. In addition, I found myself rarely changing guns or Vigors, drinks that offer special combat powers, as the ones provided for me in the beginning were powerful enough to get me through the game with ease. Instead of enjoying the gameplay, I tried rushing through levels just to advance the incredible story. While there are several other nitpicks (not being able to fight the massive Songbird, overwhelming numbers of foes with little ammunition, a repetitive overall soundtrack, background characters that ruin the immersion by repeating their actions) I could focus on, none of them truly detract from the experience. Bioshock Infinite is a game that needs to be seen to be believed. The atmosphere is unparalleled, the lead characters are unforgettable, and the ending will leave you begging to return to Columbia for another adventure. While some aspects of the game need fine-tuning (especially in the gameplay department) and it falls short of the high upper class of gaming, it is still one of the best adventures I've ever played in a long time. There's definitely a better game awaiting in the sky. 9.4/10

There are some moments in gaming where you just know right off the bat that you are in for an incredible experience. No doubt is in your mind as you take your first step into the great unknown of a new adventure. When Mass Effect's title screen first appeared, and I heard the beautiful galactic overture that now rests on my iPod whenever I need it, I knew that I was in for an unbelievable ride. Mass Effect is an amazing game from start to finish and quite possibly my favorite RPG of all time. You play Commander Shepard, a military hero who has just been promoted to an elite group of crime-fighters known as the Specters. Your first mission is to find a rogue agent named Saren, not only uncovering his diabolical plans for the Citadel but also establishing faith in the human race. The greatest aspect of the game is the way your decisions impact the narrative. Every conversation and choice you make impacts the way your crew views you, as well as the rest of the galaxy. You can be a peace-seeking hero who resolves conflicts with words before fists or a ruthless renegade who decimates anyone or anything in his path. While it would have been nice to have a middle ground (it is imperative that you choose one side or the other in order to unlock crucial conversation options) or even a system of conversing where the good and bad options weren't spelled out for you (like in the Walking Dead), Mass Effect makes you feel in the driver's seat. This is YOUR story, and your friends will live or die based on your decisions. Combat is engaging and fully functional. There are very few fighting bugs ad each battle, whether it be drones or reanimated human corpses called Husks, is a blast. One of the greatest features of the game is the amount of depth in its customization mode. Everything you own, from your armor to your weapon to the bullets that you fire, can be changed and traded based on your personal preference. While tedious at times, the result is an added sense of immersion that makes you feel like you are your own unique soldier. In addition, your interactions with your allies are impeccably done. Each character feels real in its own right and each difficult choice you make throughout the game has a visible impact on each one. You can even romance one of your crewmates in genuinely touching scenes of affection, all of which carries over into the next installment. Despite all these incredible features, Mass Effect does carry drawbacks. Side missions and planetary exploration on your little rover is incredibly dull and repetitive. Each base is a carbon copy of the last and there is little variety between each mission. In addition, the system of currency in the game is beyond broken. Since you keep each individual piece of equipment you come across, you can sell a majority of your inventory for an easy profit, thereby allowing you to buy the best weapons in the game early on. On top of all this, the characters themselves are, for the most part, bland. Apart from Garrus, Tali, and Liara, the rest of the game's characters left no impact on my expedition. In fact, during one scene I had to choose between two of the characters who I felt no attachment to, feeling like a missed opportunity since it could have featured an extremely difficult decision rather than a flip of the coin. Also, the PS3 port has strange graphical problems such as awkward textures and downright bizarre facial animations. Nearly all of these bugs are excusable when you see the finished result. Mass Effect is a timeless space odyssey that will make you really think about the impact you want to leave on this world. The choices you make travel throughout the rest of the trilogy, so each saved life and bullet fired means a lot in the long run. So be prepared when boarding the Normandy. You are in for a journey that lives or dies with you, and never before has the weight of the galaxy rested on your shoulders. Good luck. 9.3/10

Those blue shells... Mario Kart Wii is a fun game that uses the Wii's motion control well to a certain extent. The race tracks are varied and colorful and offer plenty of death-defying jumps and game-changing turns. But, beneath the vibrant environments that Mario Kart has to offer, the experience as a whole is both short and shallow. Each track loses its spark after a race or two and there is just no reason to keep playing the campaign unless you are a completionist who needs to have every trophy in his possession. There is no clear advantage or disadvantage to any one racer, feeling like a wasted opportunity. In addition, no customization or skill points for one's Miis is a considerable letdown. But Mario Kart's worst offense is its perpetual frustration in regards to enemy AI. This game is one of those few titles that a player can deem "cruelly unfair." Once you go deeper into the game, the competitions no longer depend on skill or driving ability but how lucky you are in regards to the number of blue shells blowing up in your face. The last race I played before discarding Mario Kart for a long time had me in first place mere feet from the finish line. A string of three shells fired at me in rapid succession dropped me from a first place victory to a 10th place embarrassment, and serves as a lasting reminder of my experience with the game. Mario Kart Wii is hit or miss, but is guaranteed to frustrate even the most skilled of drivers. There are genuinely enjoyable co-op moments and a few incredible tracks, but the difficulty spike is just too infuriating to overcome. 6/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Lights, Camera, Pants has the potential to rival the Mario Party franchise and reinvigorate Spongebob multiplayer games. However, in order to do so, the games need to be as fun and energized as the early Spongebob cartoons. That being said, this game fails not because of technical hiccups or bugs, but solely due to a lack of originality that could have been exploited from such a rich subject material. The game spans several different themed worlds that each possess three mini-games. The player who earns the most points at the end of this competition wins the coveted role of the super-villain in the new Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy show. The concept is great and allows for a variety of famous locales to be explored. The first four regions are where the game shines, as it features frantic fun flipping Krabby Patties and fighting off Plankton's creations and jamming out to a rock solo with Spongebob's electric guitar. These games work because they are fast-paced and exciting to play with friends. After this point, however, the game falls fast and the creativity soon dies out. Repetitive and simplistic games ruin the rest of the experience, either being too easy to win (one game involving soccer I won 38-0 because of the laughably bad opponent AI) or too frustrating to enjoy, such as a barnacle **** game that involves spamming the square button until your fingers fall off. Overall, I really enjoy the concept of Lights, Camera, Pants. Done right, this idea could have the potential to challenge any other party game on the market with unique Spongebob themed challenges. However, until the games can be consistently fun and addictive as their source material, Lights, Camera, Pants will remain in the shadows. 5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

The main reason the sequel to one of my favorite Lego games fails is because it commits the cardinal sin of movie license games: it doesn't remain true to its source material. Indiana Jones 2 is awkwardly spread out amongst the four movies, bearing little to no resemblance to the films and containing barely finished levels that take mere minutes to complete. The game can be finished in an hour and there is little incentive to find all of the collectibles scattered throughout the world. In perhaps one of my least favorite video game boss fights ever, Indy has to fight the ants from Crystal Skull. Only this time, with "creative licensing", the ants transform into a Godzilla-like form that towers overhead, making me scratch my head and wonder what Indy would say if he saw what his adventures were being turned into. There are some fun moments, but a broken single player campaign, a poor create mode, and too much emphasis on an open world feel makes Indiana Jones 2 the lowest member of the LEGO franchise. 3.5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

I don't know what was supposed to be reloaded in this game, but if this was supposed to be an improvement over a previous game, then I am frightened to see its source material. GoldenEye 007 Reloaded as all of the elements to be a great Bond game. The controls are surprisingly spot on and all of the missions seem pretty well-thought out. But there are so many things wrong with the game; sometimes it's annoying to play, other times its downright unplayable. The voice work is awful, and it is obvious that both Craig and Dench were forced by their companies to act this out and tried to phone their performances in as best as possible, ending up with robotic voice overs that seriously impact your sense of immersion. The gameplay is faulty in many areas other than the gunplay. Awkward grenade indicators cause extreme confusion and lead to countless unnecessary deaths. In addition, the level design is extremely poor, either holding your hand along the yellow brick road, or placing you in a war zone against hundreds of enemies. One level I had to give up on because I died ten times in a row. Ten times. The level provided no sufficient cover, and every time I tried to hide and regain health, I was greeted with an onslaught of unavoidable grenades which caused a truck, which was the only possible cover, to explode, instantly killing me. On top of this, the game is unbelievably repetitive, making you feel like you're playing the same level over again with a different backdrop to hide its similarities. But perhaps the game's greatest fault is that I never felt like James Bond. Unlike Uncharted 2, which allows you to play though incredible scenarios, GoldenEye plays its most exciting moments in cutscenes, forcing the player to take a backseat while the real Bond does all the dirty work. This is a monumental letdown and a testament to the wasted potential that this game has to offer. In short, the target is in sight but there's no way to reach it. The good Bond game is there and I love the polished controls and some gunfights. But the repetitiveness, lack of immersion, and infuriating gameplay segments cause 007 to fail the mission and never truly reach his potential. Agent down. 5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Dead Space is dark, edgy, and has a fantastic atmosphere. You truly feel in the shaking boots of Isaac Clark as he struggles to maintain his sanity and survive the doomed starship, fighting off terrifying and gory creatures. On paper, the concept seems flawless. On the TV screen, it's not. Dead Space is not a game for everyone and, unfortunately, not an adventure for me. I loved the tense moments but so many aspects of the game held me back from truly enjoying the journey as a whole. The gameplay felt extremely rigid and every movement was wrong, almost as if Clark was wearing a straightjacket inside of his space suit. In addition, the entire game felt repetitive and ultimately lost my interest about three hours through. There is very little to mix up the occasional jump scares and shoot outs, and I felt extremely tired by the halfway point, which may be a first for me. So in the end, your opinions on Dead Space are entirely based on preference. Many critics and players alike enjoyed the dark and depressing mood, as well as the sense of containment that the ship had to offer. However, I just didn't find the game to be that fun, and since that's the main purpose of a video game, I personally can't say I enjoyed the experience. If it were me, I'd find an escape pod. 6.5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Beautiful, long, and immersive, Final Cut is successful as both an engrossing mystery and an addictive puzzle game. While some areas feel repetitive and some of the voice work is laughably bad, the game still shines with breathtaking graphics and that feeling of discovery that accompanies a good Scooby Doo cartoon. Overall, a must-play. 8.7/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Running With Friends is a Subway Surfer clone that tries to emulate the formula but fails in most regards. Nothing really new is added to the game, the gameplay feels extremely rigid when compared to its inspiration, and overall the amount of fun to be had is significantly less. Overall, this is a mediocre game that remembered to copy the style of Subway Surfer, but forgot to include its spirit. 5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Why is Arkham Lockdown a disappointment? Simple. It lacks everything that made the console Arkham games the greatest superhero games ever created. There is no engaging story to keep the player invested in the game, and it feels like a rushed set of fighting stages hastily thrown together. The minions are practically identical and the gameplay gets tiresome after the first half hour, unlike Arkham City's unparalleled combat mechanics. In all honesty, while Asylum and City felt like large amounts of time, effort, and devotion were put into them, Lockdown feels like an easy money-maker. If you like Batman, buy this game just as an experiment. But for anyone else, Lockdown will be forever regarded as the Batman and Robin of Dark Knight apps. 4.5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

For such a short experience, 400 Days packs an extraordinary punch. While I feel like I'll never bond with these characters the way I did with the likes of Clementine and Lee, this campaign provides me the potential to. Each character is likable in his own way, and each 10-minute story is full of suspense, heart-pounding moments, and the impossible decisions that The Walking Dead has thrived off of. It's amazing to see the transition of each character from their respective story to the group of the survivors in the epilogue, as you feel that the choices you made has made a clear impact on their survival tactics. Couple this with resonating choices from the original five episodes and the guarantee that these choices will impact future events, and you've got a standout add-on to an already incredible game. While it won't last more than an hour, it's one unforgettable ride that provides everything that I wanted and nothing more. 8.5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

It takes time for one to register the pure, unbridled ingenuity that The Room 2 provides. As a sequel to my favorite App Store game, it seemed impossible that it could live up to the overwhelming expectations its predecessor set. But, once again, I was treated to another three hours of gaming bliss, discovering uncharted worlds, solving intricate puzzles, and having my mind blown time and time again. Not only is The Room 2 the greatest app ever made, it is quite possibly the greatest puzzle game ever conceived. Like The Last of Us, this game leaves me in a state of blissful confusion, unable to accurately portray the unbelievable experience that I just took part in. In short, The Room 2 is not a recommendable game. It is a necessity. Anyone who misses out on this cinematic, atmospheric, and downright beautiful journey through a mind-boggling landscape is doing themselves a disservice. Believe me when I say, this game redefines the genre, and the player that enters will never be the same as the player that leaves. 10/10 Follow me on twitter @cbeers2513.

The Silent Age promises to be one of the App Store's best new puzzle adventures, combining solid gameplay with a perfect eerie atmosphere to create a truly unique experience. While the game does feel repetitive in some areas and it isn't too long, this game has endless potential and reveals just enough of its interesting story to make players beg for more. 8/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Badland is a beautiful app with addictive gameplay and interesting puzzles. Every level is fun to play and the game always provides a decent challenge. Despite a noticeable lack of variety in gameplay, Badland is a great purchase for anyone looking for a easy-to-play, visually engaging survival game. 8.5/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

When I first got my PS3 I was initially disappointed by the lack of games I could play. At the time I was only interested in sports games, and MLB The Show quickly grew tiresome after a week. My console came with a bundle, featuring a strange game called Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. With nothing else to do, I inserted the game and decided to see what happens. For 12 hours my mind was blown, and I continued to play the game over three times in a row just to relive some of its epic moments. This was the first PS3 game that really left an impact on me, and still holds up today alongside its gigantic sequels. The story is reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie. Fortune hunter Nathan Drake is on the search of the coffin of his supposed ancestor Sir Francis Drake, with the funds of journalist Elena Fisher. Things soon turn sour as pirates sabotage their journey to find El Dorado, the fabled treasure referenced in Drake's journal. After betrayals and gunfights, Nate and Elena end up separated on a lost island full of cutthroat pirates and thieves, and Nate goes on a perilous journey to get her back and escape the clutches of his rival fortune hunters. The closer he gets to gold, however, he realizes that Drake's treasure isn't all what it seems, and the secrets of the island perhaps were better left buried. The story is a thrill ride from start to finish, featuring lush and vibrant environments to explore and flawless voice work from Nolan North and Emily Rose. On top of that, all the characters, from the relatable lead to his cigar-smoking mentor Victor Sullivan, are complex characters whose actions feel real. The more you play the game, the more you bond with Nate and Elena and the more you are concerned when they are faced with extreme peril. The gameplay also shines, featuring climbing mechanics and third person shooting reminiscent of the Lara Croft series, polished to near perfection. The game feels great to play, whether you're gunning down enemies in a truck racing through the jungle or trying to maneuver your way up a rock wall, dangling hundreds of feet above a rocky surface. As if this all weren't enough, the soundtrack and atmosphere are phenomenal, with Greg Edmonson providing the score for the game. One of my favorite moments in the entire trilogy was just taking a moment between gunfights to stare out at the sunset, as a beautiful jungle-like orchestra played in the background. This is one of my few moments of pure gaming bliss, one that is nearly impossible to recreate. The game does falter in some areas. There is very limited ammo in the game, which does provide a nice challenge but also occasionally poses insurmountable challenges. Since the enemies come in hordes, the gameplay does feel formulaic and overwhelming at times. Also some of the gameplay does feel stiff during some climbing segments and gunfights, leading to several frustrating deaths as you try to navigate up walls and swing from building to building. One scene in the game I had to replay five times in a row not because of the enemies, but just because the lag in the jumping caused me to die during the same leap each time. Despite all this, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a fantastic game that appeals to my inner adventurer through death-defying leaps, a riveting Indiana Jones-esque story, and my favorite video game protagonist of all time. Despite a few hiccups in gameplay, the game is virtually flawless. The world is beautiful and full of secrets to find, making everything seem like a realistic uncharted island. The characters are memorable and the acting is truly unbelievable, making the player really feel attached to each unique personality the game has to throw at you. Drake's motto engraved on his ring says "Sic parvis magna", which means "Greatness from small beginnings." When referring to this PS3 masterpiece, as well as the entire Uncharted franchise as a whole, I couldn't agree more. 9.4/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Spongebob games are usually either extreme successes or miserable failures, with very few coming in between. Yet Creature from the Krusty Krab breaks this pattern, a game that is too repetitive and inconsistent to be called good and too full of good ideas and gameplay design to be called bad. The gameplay is decent, everything feels the way it should and all three characters have responsive controls. The game is full of great ideas and levels, but they are executed poorly. One level features Patrick in a comic-book themed dream, which should lend itself to many creative possibilities. Instead, it's just your typical formula of mashing the square button to take down enemies, move to the next room, rinse and repeat. On top of that, the world looks dirty and depressing, with a darker tint that is not pleasant to look at, a sharp contrast to the vibrance of Battle for Bikini Bottom. In the end, Creature from the Krusty Krab is a wasted opportunity. The ideas and gameplay are both there, but it lacks originality or the entertainment value necessary to be a standout game. Being neither a perfect dream nor a nightmare, Creature from Krusty Krab settles for a space in the realm of mediocrity. 6/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

The Harry Potter movies have not gotten the treatment they deserve the world of video games. Both Deathly Hallow games were overwhelming failures, and the rest of the series seems to be characterized by subpar gameplay and an overall mediocre experience. That is, except for one. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the best Harry Potter game ever made, as well as possibly one of the greatest movie licensed games ever produced. But how could a video game series that seemed to have no ambition or critical success produce this PS2 masterpiece? For starters, the game plays like Zelda. You target object to and enemies with a button and then pick one of three spells to cast, with a grand total of around ten that can be swapped interchangeably. Using a Zelda formula is a fantastic idea and pays off when Harry is exploring Hogwarts and conquering dungeons that lie within certain classes. Unlike other games in the series, Chamber of Secrets has great gameplay and a fluid control system. In addition, the castle is, for an early 2000s game, enormous. This is the definitive video game Hogwarts, featuring all seven floors with secret passages, flying books, and an endless amount of secrets. The magical world feels alive just like the movie and there's always something to do when you're exploring the castle for quest items or lost belongings of your fellow Gryffindors. Even the dungeons are incorporated nicely, putting a Harry Potter spin on a typical Zelda level, lending itself to some engaging spell fighting (even though it is kind of horrific to think that a school forces children to go through a deadly catacombs full of evil creatures, gigantic spiked balls, and pits of fire just to complete a 2nd grade class). I also loved how detailed the game was, from complete texts to read in the library to 101 wizard cards to collect and trade, allowing for a lot of replayabilty once the main storyline is finally completed. Couple this all with some colorful graphics, a beautiful soundtrack, and an amazing sense of magical realism, and you have yourself a stellar experience. However, there are some flaws spread throughout the game but don't hinder the experience too much. For instance, jumping feels extremely awkward when in the middle of a dungeon. Like Zelda, when you reach the edge of a platform you automatically leap in that direction. However, this becomes frustrating when you're trying to get your bearings in a tight room and you end up falling from a ledge to either a health-depleting drop or back to the start of the level, forcing you to start all over again. In addition, there are so many loading screens in this game that it almost takes you out of the amazing Hogwarts atmosphere. I promise you that you will be met with a loading screen after you open a maximum of two doors in succession. I know it's a limitation of early PS2 technology, but it ruins the feeling of being a wizard in J.K. Rowling's universe. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a fantastic game that should serve as a benchmark for all movie-licensed games to come. The atmosphere is incredible, the gameplay is fun and relevant to the magical world, and every aspect of the game is almost perfect. Despite a few minor complaints, this game will forever be one of my PS2 classics, and is a must buy for anyone looking to relive that sense of nostalgia that only a good Harry Potter game can provide. 9.2/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Layton Brothers: Mystery Room is one of the most underrated games in the App Store. The graphics are beautiful, investigating crime scenes is easy to pick up and engaging to play, and each case is more riveting than the last. But where the game shines the brightest is in its narrative. Both Layton and his sidekick are likable characters with great chemistry. With each case, the player is forced to go deeper into Layton's twisted mind and eventually force him to confront the past event that caused his multiple personalities to arise. It's a brilliant set up that pays off with a challenging and thrilling conclusion. While The Mystery Room can be too easy at times, it is a fantastic app for anyone who loves Scooby-Doo cartoons, or just good puzzle games in general. With a vibrant art style, complex and relatable protagonists, and a gripping story throughout its 4 hour campaign, The Mystery Room is a gem. Cased closed. 9/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Infinity Blade II is a perfect sequel, correcting all of the mistakes of its predecessor to make a truly memorable gaming experience. The graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay all hit bullseyes, and each battle feels more intense than the last. On top of that, that number of different pathways your character can take has been doubled, forcing you to try and find all the different bosses in order to reach the final fight. Even the story, which was practically nonexistent in the first game, is decently executed, as you play a hero trying to save a fallen warrior from his confinement. Despite the inevitable repetitiveness of fights after beating the game, as well as the same lack of incentive to keep playing once the final boss has been vanquished (except for overpriced weapons and armor), Infinity Blade II is an addicting adventure game from start to finish, correcting the flaws of the original in order to make a lasting impression. 8.7/10 Follow me on twitter. @cbeers2513

Infinity Blade is undoubtedly a good iOS game. The action is great and every battle feels suspenseful with its fantastic soundtrack and crisp animations. Unfortunately, it wasted the potential to be a truly unique game. After two half-hour playthroughs there is little to replay for, and the battles quickly become stale once you realize there's nothing left to fight for. Along with that, there is only one location you'll end up at every time, which hinders your sense of exploration. Infinity Blade is definitely a game worth downloading, but if it featured a better incentive to keep playing and enough variety to spice up the near perfect gameplay, it could have been a game worth remembering. 7.4/10 Follow me on twitter @cbeers2513

The Force Unleashed 2 can be summed up in one word: bland. All of the action it promises fails to live up to the hype, quickly becoming tedious button-mashing and easy take downs of the same enemies. Despite a few memorable battles, the game is boring and unforgettable from start to finish, saved only by the thrilling animations accompanying each victory. Couple that with one of the worst final bosses in history, Darth Vader, this Star Wars adaptation falls flat time and time again, and will not be a game long remembered. 5/10

I want to give Skyrim a 10. It is the definitive adventure game of this generation, creating an unrivaled sense of immersion and a world that feels believable without the prescience of your character. Skyrim is a living breathing world with living breathing people, an accomplishment little to no games can boast. It provides limitless entertainment, giving me 200 hours of worth of content and I'm still not even close to finishing all the side missions and quests. But there is one fatal flaw to Bestheda's latest gem: bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. I usually disregard glitches in games. If it doesn't affect the overall experience, such as a texture glitch or the occasional entrapment in a wall or pillar, it doesn't really matter. However, Skyrim possesses many glitches that make quests unbeatable, as well as cause game-ruining glitches that make some of the major missions impossible to complete. With all that said, is the PS3 version of Skyrim a good game worth buying? The story is your typical hero story. You are a hero named Dragonborn who the prophecies foretold to help defeat an evil dragon named Alduin and prevent the entire Nordic race from being wiped out by the return of the dragons. However, the greatest part of Skyrim is the fact that you don't have to follow any narrative or predetermined plot structure. This is YOUR story, and you can do whatever you want. There are seven major story lines in total, meaning that instead of fighting the dragons, you can completely ignore your destiny and join a Thieves Guild or a Dark Brotherhood of assassins. All of these main quests are memorable in their own way, introducing you to a plethora of new characters that all leave their mark on you throughout the adventure. Betrayals are common, allies die in seconds, and all of Skyrim is up to date on your escapades. You couldn't imagine when a trader in Riften congratulated me on my promotion to the group of do-good era known as the Companions in Whiterun, even though the two cities are miles and miles apart. It's amazing how real the game can feel, ranging from the perfect reactions to a murder (all of the guards coming quickly to the scene and even shooting first if you are a notorious criminal) to the anger a family feels when they intrude into their house after hours. Along with all of these high notes, every aspect of the gameplay feels great and rewarding. You level up on how often you use a skill, rewarding you for your persistence and recognizing which skills you value over others instead of making a decision right at the start of the game. In any other RPG, I'd likely have to choose between a warrior or a Mage immediately, without having an opportunity to test out both skills effectively. Also, trading and crafting spice up the hiatus between dungeon exploration and world traveling. You can craft your own weapons, which become more advanced the more you level up your skills with blacksmithing, and add magical perks on top of them, which is also self-acquired throughout the adventure in dungeons. These dungeons are also enjoyable, each of the several hundred feeling fresh and rarely repetitive due to the quests linked with each one. In a sense, you build yourself up from nothing into the hero everyone expects you to be. But in another sense, you live a life. 100 hours into the game, I reflected back on my journey as I sat on a tower chair, staring up at a beautiful starry night. I defeated Alduin in an epic battle. I inherited the Dark Brotherhood and became part werewolf. I also found love, marrying my housecarl and settling down in a large house in Solitude. However, on one quest, she died suddenly and I buried her where she was slain, forced to push onwards. As I stared up at the stars, I realized how far I had come in my life as the Dragonborn, and how far still I had left to go. This stands as one of the most beautiful moments I've experienced in any video game. Despite all of this overwhelming praise I have and an unbridled spirit of adventure to describe, I can't ignore the bugs that lower this game's likability and nearly ruin the experience altogether. First off, during one quest, in the city of Markath, I aided a group of bloodthirsty outcasts to escape a prison. The game glitched during this quest and now I can no longer enter this city without dozens of guards ganging up on me demanding me to go back to the prison from which I escaped. When I try to negotiate, the conversation loops forever until I have no other choice but refuse, leading to a fight with an overwhelming amount of guards. In short, all of the missions involving Markath were rendered unplayable, which really detracted from the game. Also, about 50 hours into the game, I noticed that the game began to lag. Due to Skyrim's awkward save system, the game becomes laggy and almost unplayable after saving 50 hours into the game. The game runs much slower after this point, replacing the smooth animations and gameplay with near immobility. One time I literally stared at a screen for 3 minutes mid-game just to wait for my character to take one swing at a dragon. Once the screen reaches its limit, the game loses its immersion and becomes extremely annoying to play. Overall, Skyrim could have been one of the best PS3 games ever made. Everything is there: perfect immersion, an amazing sense of progression and individuality with a story that revolves around you and you alone, and gameplay that allows you to build yourself up into one of Skyrim's greatest heroes. However, bugs and glitches bring this down, a dark stain on an otherwise flawless experience. Although the PC version is a much cleaner version that for the most part fixes these problems, Skyrim for the PS3 is a great adventure that everyone should experience, transcending its flaws in order to provide one of the most memorable RPGs in recent memory. 8.8/10

This game can be completed in under an hour. There are about 15 mini games hastily strung together, each lasting about 3 minutes long. There is no replayabilty whatsoever. None of the games are fun, and the only enjoyment I did experience with it was taking it out of the console, placing it back in the case, and letting it rot away on my shelf for the rest of time. Battle for Bikini Bottom and the movie game prove that great Spongebob games are possible. But you do need one key ingredient to pull that off: effort. Needless to say, there is no effort in this moldy Krabby Patty **** and I'm sure if Spongebob from the first three seasons of the show saw this abomination, he would be disgusted.

There isn't much to say about the Arkham games that hasn't already been said. They redefine the standards for super hero games and games in general by staying loyal to its source material while putting the player in the shoes of the Dark Knight. They feature top-notch voice acting by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, the definitive Batman-Joker duo. They created one of the best fighting system in gaming, making hordes of bad guys feel more than just typical button-mashing, but an orchestra of perfectly timed counters and takedowns. With all the immense hype surrounding the game, it seems impossible that Arkham Asylum can reach the lofty goals the gaming community set for it. I'm happy to say, however, that this is not only the Batman game The Dark Knight deserves, but it's also the one he needs. The story is riveting from start to finish. The Caped Crusader has just stopped the Joker from committing a routine bank robbery, claiming it was almost as if the Clown Prince of Crime wanted to be caught. Batman takes him back to the asylum where he belongs, only to find that this was the Joker's true intentions all along. With the help of several other of Arkham's most dangerous inmates, he takes over the asylum and traps Batman and the rest of the guards inside. In order to prevent them from wrecking havoc on Gotham City through a complex plan that reveals itself the deeper you go into the story, Batman must take down the Joker and his allies before they escape the island. From the first few minutes, in which the game throws you straight into the action, to each emotionally charged boss takedown, the story and atmosphere hit bullseyes. In addition, despite a few botched lines, the dialogue and voice acting also are flawless. The best part of the game is the action, which makes nearly all of the other aspects of the game feel practically insignificant. Beating up hordes of bad guys never felt better. You create a symphony of punches, kicks, and blocks that makes you feel invincible. However, powerful Titan-fueled giants and armored thugs mix up the gameplay and provide challenge. Stealth mode also shines. In order to take out a room of armed henchmen, you need to use your wits more than your fists. Batman will die if he takes too many bullets, so each room must be prepared for carefully and the environment needs to be manipulated to your advantage to survive the night. For example, two guards might be faced back to back to cover blind spots, so blowing up a wall nearby might be necessary to split them apart and take them down individually. The AI feels incredibly real. I was detected when I was expected to be and when I felt silent and undetected nothing stopped me from delivering a neck-paralyzing punch to a thug. As I was observing the scene from the darkness above on a gargoyle, I realized that I didn't just feel like the Dark Knight. I WAS the Dark Knight. Arkham Asylum is one of the most immersive games ever created, making the player really feel like a hardened vigilante in a prison full of psychopaths. Every moment is fully engrossing and surprising; one shocking me so much I thought my PS3 had crashed and was broken forever. No other game in recent memory provides so many memorable moments that tie in so well with the DC Universe. Despite all this praise, there are downsides. Detective Mode is important to detect bad guys and pathways thought the asylum, analogous to X-ray vision. However, you can't appreciate the scenery and graphics when the game gives you no incentive to turn off this vision since there may be bad guys right around the corner. In addition, the boss battles are downright miserable. Every one feels forced and repetitive, especially the "fight" with Killer Croc, which is by far the worst moment in the game. Even the Joker's fight is wrong, coming as a complete embarrassment to his character. For a villain who relies so much on evil planning and deliciously complex intelligence hidden beneath an apparent madness, his boss battle is just like fighting one of the mindless Titan-infused minions throughout the game, which comes off as a major letdown. Despite all this, Arkham Asylum is a fantastic superhero game and game in general. While the boss battles disappoint and fighting feels rigid in certain areas, everything else in the game is pure, stylized perfection. There are Easter eggs and references for Batman addicts and enough engaging gameplay and storytelling to invite newcomers into the Gotham universe. But the game's crowing achievement, the one aspect that puts all others to shame, is the way it makes you feel like you are behind the cape and cowl, saving the world from the Joker one punch at a time. Welcome to the madhouse.

A game so repetitive, so broken, and so poorly executed that it deserves only the lowest possible recommendation. This game should not be played. Rather, it should serve as a reminder of how not to turn a movie into a game, and how studios attempt to make a quick profit by copying and pasting a popular character onto a shooter that is neither fun nor satisfying. Pure and utter garbage.

Twilight Princess is a difficult game to review. On my first playthrough of the game, I had never experienced Ocarina of Time, one of the most immersive experiences in video game history. While Twilight Princess seemed innovative in design, I didn't realize that nearly every aspect of the story had been borrowed from Ocarina. It seems as though Ocarina was a revolutionary template that Twilight Princess uses, rather than builds upon. That being said, does the game hold its own in the Zelda universe as a stand alone adventure? The story will sound familiar to anyone who has played a Zelda game before. Link, the Hero of Time, must save the land of Hyrule from certain demise by defeating the evil Ganondorf, saving Princess Zelda, and obtaining the Master Sword. Only this time, the twist is that the land is being covered in a darkness known as the Twilight Realm. This world collides with Hyrule, and Link must traverse between worlds to save them both from Ganon's rage. Not only does Link transform into a wolf in the Twilight Realm, he also meets a Navi-esque companion named Midna, who aids Link in his quest. Midna is the best part of the experience, giving the game some life with snarky commentary, a definite change in attitude as the story progresses, and a genuinely heartbreaking farewell. However, Midna is perhaps the only investing part of the game. The rest seems just as lifeless and depressing as the Twilight Realm itself. Hyrule Field is huge in scope and impressive to explore, but there's practically nothing worthwhile to look for, feeling more of a wasted opportunity than an enticing overworld full of mystery. The dungeons suffer from a lack of ingenuity, following a cookie-cutter layout of finding keys to open doors, and offering little excitement in terms of swordplay or puzzle-solving. Even Link fails in this regard. Although it's hard to give a voiceless protagonist personality, the prior Links all were memorable in their own ways. Twilight Link gives off a feeling of perpetual moodiness, making it seem that he isn't even enjoying the game he was put in. Add all of that to a beautiful score hindered by its lack of orchestra and dull graphics that contrast the energized colors of the previous games, and one realizes how this attempt at making the game darker limits both creativity and fun for the player. With all of these flaws, however, there's no denying that Twilight Princess is a good game. Fighting is very fun when done right, and doing somersaults and rolls make battling hordes of enemies feel fresh and fast-paced. While the dungeons do suffer from repetitiveness, the boss battles almost entirely make up for them. There are too many memorable bosses to count, such as one ingenious fight with two parts where one must use the physics of an item to take down a massive skeleton. All of these fights make up for the lack of creativity present throughout the rest of the game. And, while the darker tone does have its downsides, it is nice to see Nintendo try and put a darker spin on the classic franchise, especially in the cutscenes. Fighting on horseback on a bridge to save the life of a child is both thrilling and unique, and is one of several moments that made me want to stand up and cheer. Therefore, while there are many faults with the game, Twilight Princess pulls through with its atmosphere, boss battles, and, most importantly of all, the addition of Midna. While it borrows heavily from the past and contributes very little to the present, the game is an important stepping stone for Zelda games in the future.