GamesRadar - Xbox Reviews

Call of Duty 2 Big Red One (Review)

27/02/2006

When gazing out over the smoking, cratered expanse of World War II shooters, it takes a special title to snare your interest. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One takes a competent perspective on the genre, but, despite some stirring segments through Italy, these tattered soldiers could have used a bit more time in ...

Call of Duty 2 Big Red One (Review)

31/01/2006

When gazing out over the smoking expanse of World War II shooters, it takes a really special title to catch your interest. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One takes a fairly competent bayonnette stab at it, but these soldiers could have used a little more time in ...

Capcom Classics Collection (Review)

22/06/2007

Classic compilations appeal to two types of gamer: the old-school, roughly 30-something player who waxes nostalgic about when these games were new, and the less discerning, volume-conscious gamer who quickly deduces, "$20? Thats less than a dollar a game!" If you dont fit into either category, move along. For those still here, after moving on from the obvious choices (Street Fighter II and a Final Fight that's still fun despite being ravaged by age) and exploring the rest of this sprawling ...

Capcom Classics Collection vol. 2 (Review)

14/11/2006

Retro packs rule when they don't suck. Let's interpret that statement. There are lots of great games from the past, and now that they can be packed together cheaply on a single disc, well, it sounds great! Fire up the presses! The "suck" problem often comes in the quality of translation, or lack thereof. Simply put, a lot of packs aren't worth the discs they're printed on. Other unfortunate retro collections have no games worth remembering, much less replaying. Happily, Capcom Classics ...

Cars (Review)

14/06/2006

Imagine a game like Need for Speed Underground 2, in which you can drive around in a freely explorable city, racing other drivers or just messing around as you see fit. Now, imagine it with talking cars, a tiny desert town and nearly every hint of crime or violence removed, and you'll have a good idea of what to expect from Cars. While it ties in with the Pixar movie, Cars actually picks up where the film left off, with cherry-red racetrack star Lightning McQueen settling into the town of ...

Carve (Review)

17/02/2004

Carve sounds like it ought to be some kind of hack'n'slash adventure, the word being more readily associated with swords, knives and turkey than it is with watersports and 'carving up the waves.' The game's battle for recognition isn't helped by the fact it can't call its vehicles 'Jet Skis' (trademarked by Kawasaki and licensed to Jet Ski Riders) or even 'Sea-doos' (trademarked by Bombardier and licensed to Splashdown), so it's settled for the horribly vague 'watercraft'.Awkward nomenclature ...

Castlevania Curse of Darkness (Review)

28/02/2006

Trading in Castlevania's trademark 2D action for 3D is a fool's bargain. At least, it is if Curse of Darkness is any indication; the body is willing, but the heart is all but missing. The story, a tale of competing vengeances between two of Dracula's henchmen, is serviceable in that it motivates the new hero-in-puffy-shirt, Hector, to hack and slash his fashionably gothic way from one ghoul-filled area to another. But it's the collectible materials dropped by slain monsters, and the items ...

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Review)

15/02/2006

In the ideal world, the perfect prison-break game would involve a high-security slammer solely for highly dangerous rogue Christina Aguilera clones, Britney as the butch-yet-golden-hearted warden, and enforced communal showers. It would be a game where you broke into prison, naturally. The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is, however, like most prison games, a game about breaking out of prison. It's also the prequel to Vin Diesel flick Pitch Black and sequel, The Chronicles Of ...

Cold War (Review)

22/06/2007

After the better part of a days play, we stopped loathing Cold War, and actually started enjoying ourselves. We began to appreciate the horrific menu-obsessed mechanics, which relegate almost every action into a time-consuming bore. We agreed the animation no longer seemed like a slap in the face to anyone who spent money on their cutting-edge game machines, and instead seemed minimalist, thus freeing more memory to be squandered on character-building design ...

College Hoops NCAA 2K7 (Review)

21/12/2006

They may share the sport's name, but otherwise the basketball played in the NBA and NCAA couldn't be more different. The professional game is a grim, 82-game slog played by mercenaries under a cloud of bad attitudes and an often grousing fan base. Conversely, each college hoops season brings with it a joyous romp through a 30-odd match schedule full of ups and downs in front of wildly enthusiastic crowds - topped by the single most riveting championship tournament ever created. Similarly, ...

Commandos Strike Force (Review)

6/04/2006

You and your chums parachute behind enemy lines and ninja your way into a German encampment. Using stealth and improvisation, your small team of commandos strike out at the pulsing heart of the Third Reich in an attempt to cripple it from within. With a little help from the French Resistance, you sink your squad deep within enemy territory and go to work sniping, strangling and sabotaging. Commandos: Strike Force presents an elite team of three professional killers, each with his own ...

Conker Live and Reloaded (Review)

15/02/2006

When one swears inappropriately, starts pissing in public or generally socially misbehaves, do you still laugh? Well, if you're a bloke, of course you do, we're like that... but broadly speaking it's probably a period of your life you left behind at say, the age of 14. If, on the other hand, the laughing-at-fart-and-knob-jokes stage of your life is very much still in full swing, then have we got a game for you. Conker Reloaded is one curse-filled adventure in a filthy fantasy world that ...

Crash N Burn (Review)

23/11/2004

It's a car game where you GET nitros for crashing, smashing up cars until they break, and have to win races. If we're all being honest, now isn't the time to launch an arcade racer after the phenomenal success that is Burnout 3.But there is a rub. The ethos behind Crash 'N' Burn is that you can earn points as you race to unlock upgrades and modifiers for your chosen car, one of a disappointingly few four basic models. Points can be earned both on and off line and there are thousands of ...

Crusty Demons (Review)

27/06/2006

Oh, good, another freestyle motorcross game! That's sarcasm. We've got to think that another extreme action sports game at this point in the Xbox's lifecycle has to be running on fumes. But then Crusty Demons comes along, which runs on something completely different: pure human blood! The titular Demons are a bunch of moto-x daredevils who inconveniently die during a big trick, only to find themselves spared and courted by Satan himself. Pull off gnarly flips, jumps, kicks and handstands and ...