GamesRadar - PS2 Reviews

D1 Grand Prix (Review)

8/08/2006

Drift videogame racing just isnt like the "normal" kind. Don't believe us? Then simply play D1 Grand Prix. It will take everything you have learned in a lifetime of gaming vehicular competition, crumple it up, throw it on the ground, and stomp it into an unrecognizable pulp - laughing all the while. Heck, it might even insult your momma until you get your act together on the track. The concept of drifting is all the rage in Japan, and is evidently gaining a bit of traction (pun intended) in ...

The Da Vinci Code (Review)

30/05/2006

How's this for a deep, dark conspiracy: we think a secret society seeks to make crappy games out of intriguing book and movie licenses. When we uncover the identities of any of the members, we're going to strap them down and force them to play through The Da Vinci Code for themselves. As in the bestselling book and box-office powerhouse, American professor Robert Langdon and French cryptologist Sophie Neveu stumble into a murder investigation at the Louvre; a cryptic string of clues leads ...

Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Channel Edition (Review)

15/01/2008

Jan 15, 2008 As professional adults, we rarely put much thought to the Disney Channel and its myriad properties aside from discerning whether or not those mass-forwarded nude shots are really of High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens (they are). But for the tween-and-younger crowd, the house that Mickey built has transformed into a bona fide youth star factory, thanks in large part to Hannah Montana and the aforementioned made-for-TV flick. Between the two franchises, millions of records ...

Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 (Review)

8/10/2007

Guitar Hero and Rock Band may be all the rage these days, but the music genre owes its heart and soul to the granddaddy of them all, Dance Dance Revolution. The latest incarnation of Konami's foot-tapping franchise doesn't really bring anything blazingly new to the table but what it does, it does well and there's more than enough here to keep fans, both old and new, busy for hours. The concept behind DDR is simple. Music plays. Arrows move up the screen. You hop around like a dancing fool ...

Dance Factory (Review)

7/09/2006

Let's face it - if you've played one dancing game, you've played them all. The format is pretty standard by now: watch the scrolling arrows, step in the corresponding directions and, in most cases, trip over your own feet and embarrass yourself in front of friends and family. All to a thumping techno beat. This is how it has been since the genesis of the genre and how it will continue to be for the foreseeable future... at least until they program the PlayStation 7 to grow legs and join you in ...

Dancing Stage Supernova (Review)

2/10/2006

High-intensity digital dance-offs might be the only reason anyone sets foot in an arcade these days, but SuperNOVA does an excellent job of bringing the all the competitive, sweat-soaked action into your home. Basically an enhanced version of the same game that recently hit arcades, SuperNOVA offers over 75 songs, new background graphics, and new game modes. Plus, there are a few sweet, PS2-exclusive extras like EyeToy compatibility and a linking feature that lets you share data between the ...

Darkwatch (Review)

22/06/2007

We all make mistakes while trying to make our way through this crazy world of ours. So we can empathize with Darkwatch hero, Jericho Cross when his well-intentioned train robbery goes awry and gets him bitten by a Vampire Lord, turning him into a blood-thirsty creature of the night. It could happen to any of ...

Dawn of Mana (Review)

22/05/2007

Dawn of Mana trades RPG tradition for action, eschewing classic elements in favor of tired double-jump platforming mechanics. Its initial moments are filled with hope, as the colorful characters of Keldy and Ritzia are introduced. The basics of play are explained: knock inanimate objects like barrels, lumber, and boulders into enemies, and those monsters will panic for a few moments while you whack them with impunity. Since only panicked baddies drop upgrade items, and fully-aware opponents can ...

Death by Degrees (Review)

8/04/2005

Nina Williams is awful. She's a vacuous, corpse-eyed pixel puppet with nothing going for her but a big pair of tits. She's the lowest common denominator in character design - a witless, bleached-blonde nonentity completely devoid of wit, charm or charisma. Presumably, the reason Namco have foisted this upon us is those Lara-like breasts. But they've forgotten - Lara Croft actually had personality as well.Look, Mr Developer - if we can't identify with the character under our control we'll have ...

Delta Force Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre (Review)

23/01/2007

Just once wed like to see a squad shooter with a bit of color. Soldiers in rainbow suspenders, terrorists sporting bright turquoise tops. It wouldnt be particularly stealthy, but at least it would catch the eye. While Team Sabre suffers from the same muted palette that many other games of this type are blighted with, at least Sabre is cheap. For around 20 bucks you get a perfectly reasonable shooter, with a streamlined command system that actually works well. Although wed still recommend ...

Destroy All Humans (Review)

24/03/2006

Destroy All Humans is a loving-but-edgy, action game spoof of all those cheesy B-movies about giant space brains descending upon 1950s surburbia... played from the point of view of the invader. It's often funny and comes packing a full variety of worthy gameplay ideas, most of which revolve around gleefully wanton destruction. But in the end, the invasion is just a few death rays short of world domination. As the Furon warrior Cryptosporidium 137, you have been sent to Earth to harvest human ...

Destroy All Humans! 2 (Review)

25/10/2006

The laser toting, insult slinging alien Cryptosporidium 138 returns to make war - not love - in Pandemic's Destroy All Humans! 2. The game takes place during the psychedelic '60s and begins with Cryptos enjoying the spoils of victory from his successful takeover of the American government in the previous title. Horny as ever, Cryptos is just about to break in his newly formed genitalia - thanks to the human DNA you harvested in the previous game - when a Russian missile destroys his mothership ...

Devil May Cry 3 (Review)

16/03/2005

This is it! The game that rights all DMC2's wrongs! And what were those wrongs? Well, it was tentative when it had to be intense and generally limp compared to the springy original. And Capcom's cure for these ills? Making a game that's more challenging than brain surgery. Wearing mittens. In a strong wind.Devil May Cry 3 is a very cruel mistress indeed. This is a game of awkward camera angles, unforgiving restart points and boss battles that'll make you weep. And if those quirks sap the ...

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Special Edition (Review)

21/07/2006

Friday 21 July 2006 Fact: if you haven't played Devil May Cry 3, you don't understand how hard it is. You might think you know - you might even have had a chuckle at people who complain about it - but you just don't get it. DMC was that special sort of hard that doesn't care about focus-testing or everyone seeing all the beautifully-designed later levels. Don't get us wrong, compared to most games, this Special Edition's still harder than Batman - it just won't make you cry any more. The ...

Digimon World Data Squad (Review)

18/09/2007

Sept 18, 2007 When the boundaries between the real and digital worlds break down and digital monsters start kidnapping human children, whom do you call? If you're a fan of the Digimon television series, you'd know the answer immediately: the Digital Accident Tactical Squad (also called DATS), of course! Digimon World: Data Squad is the Digimon series' latest game, and this time, it's in the form of a turn-based ...

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (Review)

16/08/2006

The Milking of… oops…The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII continues with Dirge of Cerberus. An action game starring the dark and mysterious Vincent Valentine, the gun-toting bonus-character from the original FFVII, Dirge unveils new details on the brooding hero and treats fans of the series to some exquisite cutscenes with cameos aplenty. Judged solely on its action, Dirge of Cerberus is average at best. But when you look at it as a form of interactive storytelling catered to the ...

Disgaea 2 (Review)

30/08/2006

The strategy RPG has never been the most accessible or inviting genre out there. You've got pages upon pages of rules to follow, a grid-based map loaded with enemies and troop deployment data to crunch at any given second of gameplay - enough to scare off all but the most hardcore gamers. But Disgaea 2 makes all of it seem easy and fun by wrapping all those thick details around an eccentric cast of demonic warriors and their lone human leader. And yes, it's the cast, the dialogue and the ...

Doctor Who: Top Trumps (Review)

4/06/2008

The flaw in trying to turn a game of chance into a videogame is just that. It’s a game of chance. And nothing is more insulting than watching the computer draw an endless succession of winning statistics. Even when you think you’re near victory, the buggering AI will suddenly hit a ten-card streak. It’s not even slightly entertaining.

Sure, Top Trumps tries to jazz things up by introducing special powers such as Name ...

The Dog Island (Review)

16/07/2008

For something that looks like a Nintendogs rip-off, there’s a lot more on offer here than you’d think. Choose your four-legged bobble headed puppy from a whopping 48 breeds and you’ll begin a surprisingly entertaining adventure. It’s not GTA or anything, obviously, but it’s still quite diverting. ...

Dokapon Kingdom (Review)

22/10/2008

When we first looked at Dokapon Kingdom, we were impressed with its innovative multiplayer RPG concept. Being an RPG player can admittedly get lonely, so anything that brings role-playing fans together for a competitive adventure has to be a step in the right direction, right? Although we desperately wanted to root for this game, it unfortunately fails to live up to its potential in almost every aspect. ...