While the analogy might take a small stretch of the imagination, Orochi 2 is much like ladies’ face cream. Think about it: every five minutes a new and improved rejuvenating goo appears boasting the latest in technology that claims superiority over everything before it. But, in reality, it’s been squeezed from the same ten-year-old tube.
Tecmo Koei’s big-in-Japan Dynasty Warriors series has been spawning sequels and spin-offs for over a decade. From Samurai Warriors to Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, fans of the thumb-blistering franchise have had ample opportunity to pile enemy corpses like cord wood. While the settings and stories have slightly changed with each entry, the core Warriors’ combat has rarely strayed far from its hack-and-slash-heavy roots. In a bid to attract a broader audience, Koei Canada’s Warriors: Legends of Troy gives the series a sword-and-sandal makeover while injecting some strategy into its button-mashing battles...
In 2005, developer Rockstar Toronto expertly transformed the stale 2D beat-‘em-up into a full-blown 3D brawler with The Warriors. The long-forgotten cult flick was immediately revitalized by the superb game, setting off waves of special edition DVD releases, and a rock-solid PSP port a few years later. Fast forward to now, where the game is an easily obtainable, must-buy bargain bin treasure, and we’re baffled.
Watchmen - the comic book - is one of the artistic high points of the form. Watchmen - the movie based on the comic book - is a fairly close reproduction of the graphic novel, with some mostly forgivable divergences. Watchmen: The End is Nigh - the videogame based on the movie based on the comic - is, despite grand production values, the shameless cash-in that fans feared the film would be.
We hated every moment of this second combat-orientated Watchmen game. Bad guys get hit. Lots of bad guys. And then blood flies everywhere, and Rorschach punches people in the groin and, like, Nite Owl breaks arms in half or something. A ‘Rage’ meter keeps track of their anger and makes them go crazy when it’s full.
Ever since we first heard about it, we’ve always loved the concept behind Way of the Samurai – a free roaming adventure where your actions in the game world have a significant impact on how the story pans out. We’ve always loved the setting too, where you play a wandering samurai in rural Japan.
For those short on time, refer to our review of Wanted. It’s the same kind of game – short and bittersweet, poorly made but confident, filled with ideas but none of them strong enough to carry the game.
Wet is as dumb as it always promised to be – fourteen stages of constant blasting with the occasional platforming interlude.
If Vin Diesel wants to turn Wheelman into a movie he’s going to have to stump up a budget of about $5 billion. That should just about cover the hundreds of cars that explode, the thousands of objects that get flattened, and the special effects that allow vehicles to melee attack one another and Diesel to leap between cars travelling at 100mph.
There’s nothing wrong with being a game for kids, and Where the Wild Things Are (the game of the film of the book, no less) is a decent example of finger-fangling fun for the younger player. It’s repetitive and sometimes tedious for those of us who are over ten, but it’s also inordinately charming.
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