GamesRadar - PC Reviews

Race 07: Official WTCC Game (Review)

2/10/2007

Oct. 2 2007 Simbin's last effort, RACE, left us feeling a little underwhelmed. After the heady heights of GTR 2, the lesser-powered vehicles and lack of graphical polish felt like a bit of a step back for the developers. But true to the World Touring Car Championship series which it emulates, SimBin are back with this year's version. Complete with the new drivers and tracks featured in this year's WTCC, there's also a whole garage of extra content bolted on. On top of last year's WTCC '87 and ...

Race Driver: GRID (Review)

30/05/2008

“Hello, Bozo.” It’s charming enough when a game greets you every time you load it. It’s even more endearing when you can choose to be called, instead of your first name, a gently satirical nickname like Bossman, or Chief or, indeed, Bozo. The announcer sounds like she’s almost laughing whenever she says it, like it’s our little shared joke. So we’re proud to be a Bozo, and we feel welcomed. ...

RACE On (Review)

7/11/2009

In our first race, we took the corner too fast. As we smacked into the crash barrier, we saw the hood fly up and away. In the rearview mirror, about 20 cars thundered past in a billow of dust, and one of our wheels followed meekly behind them.

A lot of RACE On’s energies are devoted to letting you live your WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) fantasies. ...

Ragdoll Kung-Fu (Review)

15/02/2006

Beat-'em-ups don't work on PC, right? It's all up, down, punch, kick, wish I had a joypad. Wrong. Rag Doll Kung Fu has just reinvented the fighting game on PC, with style, wit, originality and fine mouse play. The only thing this game has in common with other smack-'em-ups is the hitting part. Combat is entirely mouse controlled. The ragdoll characters don't use conventional animation, instead they move with a rubbery, wibbly response to the teasing of a mouse cursor. It's all done a limb at ...

Rail Simulator (Review)

27/11/2007

You want us to make a joke? You think rail simulators are funny? You think the idea of recreating a largely event-free one-dimensional journey is absurd? Why not think of it as Half-Life, without the excellent narrative or the satisfying combat? There you go. That's made you all ...

Railworks (Review)

22/07/2009

What does RailWorks have in common with a Class 57 diesel? Answer: both rely on a lot of recycled parts. The Class 57s – or ‘bodysnatchers’ as they’re known – were built with bits of the long-serving Class 47s. RailWorks is built with bits of 2007’s Rail Simulator.

If you own Rail Simulator and buy RailWorks you’re going to end up with a lot of content you already possess. ...

Rainbow Six Lockdown (Review)

22/06/2007

Its been a whole year since the last Rainbow Six game, Black Arrow, and developers, Red Storm Entertainment seem to have taken a long hard look at things. From the onset Lockdown feels tighter and more intuitive than any of its predecessors and, like the protagonists within the game, have righted many of the wrongs that have gone before. One of the first things youll notice is that command of your three tactically minded comrades has been tightened up. While having fewer commands for your team ...

Rainbow Six: Vegas (Review)

4/01/2007

The terrorists are close. You can hear them through the door, whispering. But there are only two of them, so, feeling action-star confident, you race into the room with your assault rifle blazing. One second and a flurry of lead later, you're dead. Quickly recognizing that you're not the indestructible leading man of most videogames, you turn to your two teammates. They must be standing here for a reason... and two-versus-two sounds like a fairer fight. Ordering them through the very same ...

Rayman Raving Rabbids (Review)

4/01/2007

What if the hero didn't save the day? What if, instead, he was hoodwinked and mocked by his captors? If Rayman Raving Rabbids on the Wii is any indication, the resulting forecast would be partly innovative with a 95% chance of hilarity. However, the PC version - while the same game - ditches all innovation and plays like a mediocre mini-game-a-thon on your rig. Rayman is a prisoner of the insane Rabbids - evil animals that are one part Bugs Bunny, and one part Sloth from The Goonies. He's made ...

Red Faction: Guerrilla (Review)

15/09/2009

The urge to look for a door never quite leaves you. Which is hardly surprising, given that the regular gaming protagonist, carrying an arsenal that would embarrass an army, still can’t circumvent the flimsiest wooden obstruction. Yet in Red Faction: Guerrilla, Alex Mason makes his own entrances. With a hammer.

There is nothing in this game, aside from its mountains, that cannot be smashed to bits. ...

Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 (Review)

17/04/2006

World War II shooter Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 somehow manages to do the impossible: it makes ultra-realism fun. It shoehorns extremely accurate ballistics, vehicle and weapon modeling into a game that requires close teamwork in order to win. The retail price of $24.95 sets it apart even further in the teeming town of WWII Shooterville, and makes Red Orchestra a cant-miss title for fans of team-based shooters looking for something substantially different. With no real single-player game ...

Requiem: Bloodymare (Review)

29/07/2008

Remember those free Cracker Jack prizes, like the magnifying glass too crappy to fry ants with, and the rub-on tattoos that became ugly smudges? Downloading Requiem: Bloodymare (from www.playrequiem.com) is like finding a five-dollar bill in your Cracker Jack box - quite a pleasant surprise!

Despite being free to download and play, Requiem is fully featured, and arguably better than many subscription-based MMOs out there. ...

Reservoir Dogs (Review)

25/10/2006

Before we start talking about Reservoir Dogs, there are a few things you should know. First, you won't saw the ears off any cops - at least not on camera. Second, the game isn't a Grand Theft Auto clone. Third, of all the actors whose careers were jump-started by the iconic 1992 crime flick, only Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde) appears in the game. And fourth, you can't just shoot undercover cop Mr. Orange at the beginning to win the game. Rather than straight-up adapting the film about career ...

Resident Evil 4 (Review)

4/05/2007

In all honesty, we didn't realize they still peddled shit like this. A console port so insultingly cut-and-pasted that its menu systems make you weep, its refusal to recognize even the existence of a mouse makes you incensed with anger and its insistence on showering one of the greatest games of the past decade in noxious shit makes you gag. Yes, we're pissed ...

Resident Evil 5 (Review)

16/09/2009

Every once in a while, you have to reassess what you think you know about something: using animals for medical research, representative democracy, Sinead O’Connor - anything. You have to acknowledge that circumstances can change over time, and that you could benefit by giving things a fresh look. That’s what Capcom did when it decided to renew its efforts to make PC games as if the PC was the only platform it developed for. ...

Rhiannon Curse of the Four Branches (Review)

19/12/2008

There aren’t many games set in rural Wales, which is hard to understand given the area’s lore, but Arbeth Studios have decided this would be the best place to set their new supernatural adventure, Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches. Largely based in and around the farmhouse of Ty Pryderi, a lurking evil must be prevented from exacting a cruel and terrible revenge on those who have wronged it. Exciting stuff! ...

Rhodan: The Myth of the Illochim (Review)

7/07/2008

When you’re driving the bus of British pop culture, you have to be careful. There’s a massive blind spot on the left-hand side, and it’s almost completely filled with Perry Rhodan. Mr. Rhodan is the hero of a slightly camp, heroic sci-fi opera that has been around for nearly half a century. In Germany. The videogame part of this long-running franchise is a traditional point-and-click affair, with an inventory that fills ...

Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War (Review)

14/06/2006

Its not exactly a new idea: take charge of an ancient civilization and lead them into war. Upgrade your soldiers, develop super-weapons and destroy any differently-colored enemy you come across. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War marches a well-worn path, but it tries to do a few things differently along the way. First among those is the hero. Each civilization can summon a hero to fight on its behalf - one that you control. With a simple double-click, you “possess” the leader of ...

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (Review)

19/05/2006

If you cottoned to the history-lite real-time strategy game Rise of Nations, chances are you'll dig the steampunky history-schmistory Rise of Legends too. Not exactly a sequel (it's science fantasy and uses a new 3D engine), it "borrows" elements from several hits to create an extension, but not a reinvention. Take Civilization's borders and attrition rates, mix in the Conquer the World campaign (think Total War only not as deep), then add city districts, a trim two-resource economy and ...

Rise of the Argonauts (Review)

8/01/2009

Rise of the Argonauts tries its best to copy the “modern” Action RPG stereotype set forth by games like Mass Effect and Jade Empire. As King Jason, you travel from place to place in an attempt to find the golden fleece and use it to resurrect your freshly assassinated bride. You’re always be accompanied by two companions. You spend some time killing large volumes of men, monsters and even myths in real-time combat. ...