Ever seen a fat skateboarder? If you're going to pull off flip tricks and delicate balance moves, being light on your feet helps. That's what makes Tony Hawk's American Wasteland such a paradox - it's gained a lot of heft as a franchise over the years, but now it's starting to be weighed down by its own legacy. Granted, if it ain't broke, don't fix it - the Hawk mantra has always been to extend the skateboarding experience rather than fundamentally change it. And THAW definitely offers ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06

Xbox Review

With Tiger Woods, the question is never “is it any good?” but just “how good is it?” The answer rests broadly on the tweakery in the swing and putting departments. Having the best swing in gaming golf is one thing theyve brought into play here. Youll now pick your fades and draws at the start of the swing by using the right thumb stick and it adjusts the length of putts - although the latter remains an optional exercise which, it must be said, makes things marginally ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

Xbox Review

At times like this, all we want to say is “we hate it” and leave it at that. Then at least wed be able to get on with the important business of sealing it in a bag and throwing it in the river. Well, we should probably explain why. Its a bog-standard brawler – actually, make that sub-standard. Enter story mode and youre plunged into the ‘thick of the action, with a woefully unexciting scrap against three robot alien things that you have to defeat through repeated stabs ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

MVP 06 NCAA Baseball

Xbox Review

Baseball isn't Star Wars - when the bad guys win, no one walks away happy. And in a crappy twist of fate in this new exclusive-license world, the second-rate baseball game won the right to lock out its better competitor. That leaves EA Sports' MVP series trying to soldier on with the NCAA license for college baseball - in other words, praying fans will care about a flavor of their sport that no one watches. So the $30 question is "Does MVP 06 NCAA Baseball serve enough purely delicious baseball ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

187 Ride or Die

Xbox Review

GTA: San Andreas may have led to a lot of moral outrage and criticism of the game industry, but its worst effect might actually be 187: Ride or Die. Apparently, someone thought that the secret to success was to throw young black men into cars, give them guns, and let them run wild. Instant videogame hit, right? No. You're Buck, an up-and-coming gangsta running for a Southern California OG named Dupree. When Dupree says jump, you jump - and when he says "grab a semi-automatic weapon, jump into ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike

Xbox Review

If you dont know what Tom Clancy looks like, one thing to keep an eye out for is a dude with a satisfied grin a mile wide. As if the monstrous success of his books wasnt enough, Clancys immensely profitable venture into videogames has created a genre all of its own. There have been enough Rainbow Sixes and Rogue Spears over the last year to keep fans more than satiated, and with the Ghost Recon series, the Clancy enterprise shows no signs of slowing down commercially. Artistically though, were ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 Mutant Nightmare

Xbox Review

At least there's some truth in advertising with the beat-'em-up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare. This game is someone's nightmare, to be sure. Mutant Nightmare outdoes its predecessors Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus, but this is like saying when you buy the sneakers, they give you the shoelaces for free; the game could hardly be worse. It's also pointed and a bit sad to note Nightmare is outdone in almost every way by Teenage ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

Xbox Review

A quickfire sequel to Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, Earned in Blood has been developed with feedback from the playing community in mind - hence the improved AI (evident both in the enemy and your own squadmates), enhanced multiplayer modes and the increase in urban combat. You play as Sgt Joe ‘Red Hartsock in a story thats part retelling of Road To Hill 30s events (from Reds perspective) but mostly an entirely new story that takes place on D-Day and the days beyond as the 101st ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Total Overdose

Xbox Review

What's the difference between a genre riff and a rip-off? Total Overdose, that's what. Take the gameplay from a few other action games, add some blood and spices, then wrap it up in a flour tortilla, and you've got a burrito of unashamedly derivative gameplay. Mind you, just because it looks, feels, and plays like an inferior cousin of the Grand Theft Auto series is no reason to dislike it. No, the reasons to dislike it stem from an overall lack of polish. The developers got the basics down - ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2007

Ultimate Spider Man

Xbox Review

It's been just over a year since Spider-Man 2 left us jaw-dropped at the impressive recreation of New York, popping superhero fisticuffs and ropey camera work, but as the wall-crawler swings back into view, he feels altogether mintier and freshly scrubbed-up. The Ultimate universe is Marvel's re-imagining of its classic heroes, and just like the comics, the game manages to revitalize familiar characters and locations brilliantly. A lot of videogames look nice, of course, but Ultimate ...
» Read More