All PC Reviews

Left Behind: Eternal Forces (Review)

Nov 28, 2006

Based upon the best-selling religious fiction novels about the aftermath of The Rapture (the End Times event when God takes the Christians to Heaven and leaves everyone else to their fates on Earth), Left Behind: Eternal Forces is not the real time strategy game that most people expected it to be. It is not about gunning down non-Christians in a burst of theocratic wish fulfillment - so really, few folks other than that dude who sued the government over the "In God We Trust" on US money are ...

Legend: Hand of God (Review)

Aug 27, 2008

On the surface, Legend: Hand of God seems like a shamelessly derivative, punishingly unimaginative isometric action/RPG...

Oh, were you expecting a second, more positive part of that sentence? Sorry, no dice - this game is pure surface. ...

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Review)

Jun 3, 2008

How can a game that’s identical to the brilliant LEGO Star Wars in almost every respect not be as good? Simple - the setting. The Star Wars universe is vibrant, colourful and fantastical, while Indy’s real-world ’40s setting is more subdued. This works in the context of the films, but recreated in LEGO it has none of the outlandish flair of Lucas’ galaxy far, far away. ...

LEGO Star Wars (Review)

Jun 22, 2007

You should have seen the new Star Wars films by now, if not to be entertained, then at least for the sense of closure you get from seeing Anakin have that helmet slapped that dried apple head of his. Of course, listening to his woeful cry of “noooooooooo” as he sees what hes become, were suddenly reminded that Lucasfilm should have called it a day right before the Ewok Caravan of ‘Hate and quit while they were ahead. The cutscenes from Lego Star Wars, similarly, give the ...

Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Review)

Sep 19, 2006

Last year, LEGO Star Wars taught us what should have been apparent to everyone from the dawn of the universe - LEGO, Star Wars and video games go together like chocolate, peanut butter and creamy nougat. So it comes as no surprise that this new and improved version of last years kid-friendly darling captivated us from the introductory text crawl (you know... that part where the yellow letters march up the screen telling the harrowing tale of one of the most celebrated trilogies in the ...

Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne - The 1st Throne: The Kamael (Review)

Feb 8, 2008

Wandering in the lands of massively-multiplayer online worlds as often as we have, we always knew this day would come eventually. Nevertheless, Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne takes the prize for making us actually do it. In the course of playing, we actually sat down and worked out exactly how many of a certain opponent we needed to kill to get to the next level. Why? Because we knew that would be all we would be doing until we reached that ...

Loki (Review)

Aug 23, 2007

Aug 23, 2007 For a long while after Diablo II, the action-RPG genre was remarkably quiet, save for the Dungeon Siege series. Then Titan Quest was released, and since then it's seen a bit of a revival, with titles of varying quality being announced. Loki's jump into the arena is noticeable thanks to its mythological settings. Of course, Titan Quest beat it to the post on that score, but Loki does at least provide some refreshing alternatives. Your setting is dictated by your choice of ...

Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth (Review)

Nov 25, 2004

Rarely does a game feel this frustrating. Here's an example: my Rohirrim archer cavalry are piling arrow after arrow into Mordor's dark towers. They sit out of range, laughing to themselves at impotent orcs cut down as the fortifications crumble. Right click, move on to attack the next. Without warning my men rush in to the fray, disobeying my direct orders. They're cut down instantly. Their corpses left to rot in Middle-Earth's mud. Or try this, an early level: the Rohirrim are on the attack ...

Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle-earth II The Rise of the Witch-king (Review)

Nov 29, 2006

A glut of real-time strategy. A surfeit. A plethora even. Thats what 2006 feels like: one crispy, creamy confectionary after another. Well brace yourselves, here comes another, shining the light of Elendil onto an original that hardly needed it. Rise of the Witch-king is such an all-around quality follow-up to this springs The Battle for Middle-earth II that if you missed the original release, the expansion is all the reason youll need to pick up ...

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Review)

May 1, 2007

Setting an MMORPG in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth seems like a blessing and a curse: on the one hand, the meticulously constructed storylines and rich veins of lore; on the other, an ever-growing legion of critical fans who demand perfection. Mercifully, newcomers and long-time devotees alike should recognize this game as a cunningly crafted love letter to the acclaimed source material. The realistic bent of the art direction might not have the cartoony consistency of World of Warcraft, and ...

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (Review)

Mar 10, 2006

There are two kinds of Lord of the Rings fans: film buffs and bookworms. When the popcorn-eaters boot up the real-time strategy contest Battle for Middle-earth II, they'll be delighted to find that the movie's clashes weren't the only ones fought in the war for the One Ring. Meanwhile, the folks who liked the saga before Peter Jackson made it cool will finally get to see some of the conflicts that Tolkien only mentioned in passing. Everybody's in for a treat, since Battle for Middle-earth II ...

Lost Empire: Immortals (Review)

May 5, 2008

If you want to rule the universe, you have no right expecting it to be simple. And Lost Empire: Immortals certainly doesn’t do anything to make it easier for you. Starting in the aftermath of an intergalactic war, your species has to rebuild itself and take over space using economic or military means (as if there’s any other kind) through turn-based resource hogging, world colonising, warfaring and talking to poor 3D models of ...

Lost Planet Colonies (Review)

Jun 4, 2008

Rumored for months thanks to foreign trademark filings and general Internet speculation, Lost Planet Colonies is not a true sequel nor the strategy-focused offshoot that some claimed to be in the works - rather it's an expanded re-release of the original 2007 shooter, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. Call it a Gold Edition, or perhaps just a super-sized Platinum Hit. ...

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Review)

Jun 26, 2007

Third-person action games aren't exactly in high demand when it comes to the PC format. Console ports of third-person action games are even less welcome. Thus, it's a strange feat to play through the PC version of Xbox 360 mega-hit Lost Planet and still feel as exhilarated by its immense boss battles and explosive gameplay as we did the first time we turned it on six months ago. At its core, Planet is an old-school game. Shoot anything that moves, toss a grenade, fling a rocket, hop in a giant ...

Lost: Via Domus (Review)

Feb 28, 2008

Which crash survivor of the Oceanic 815 will I choose to be? Jack? Nah, he’s too boring. Hurley? Hmm, he’s a bit slow. Ooh, I could be Locke... wait, what? I can’t be one of the stars? In fact, I don’t get any choice? I’m an extra?That’s the peril of making an official game for a show like Lost: the show’s canon is so well-protected they’ve had to create a new character. Thus, this is a ...

Lumines (Review)

Jan 24, 2008

Like most puzzle games, this is simple to describe. Squares composed of two colours fall from the sky. Drop them so they make squares and they vanish, the more at once the better. As you play, it all gets faster and faster. Sounds good? Go play it. Goodness, that was an easy review. See you next ...