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At GDC this year Nintendo detailed an upcoming game finally coming to American DS systems: Rhythm Heaven. The game was a hit in Japan, and Satoru Iwata seemed confident that it will be a hit in North America as well: he treated everyone who came to see his keynote with a free copy of the game. Unfortunately, the title seems to miss much of what makes rhythm games fun, while also mucking around with what made the WarioWare series so intriguing.
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Guitar Hero has become something of a juggernaut of a franchise—and this is probably going to inspire some hate in the comments—but the more Guitar Hero games Activision Blizzard sells, the more the quality seems to take a nose-dive. We reviewed Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero On Tour in one feature: they both fit under the umbrella of terrible ideas that were sure to make a ton of money. Guitar Hero: World Tour was certainly worth the money, but it can't beat the feature set of Rock Band 2. Guitar Hero: Metallica seems like just another way to cash-in on the hype cheaply, with everyone involved making out like bandits—or so the conventional wisdom would say.
Preconceived notions can go to hell. The game starts with Metallica walking slowly towards the stage, and then you tear into "For Whom the Bell Tolls." The audacity of this move is surprising... there isn't a gentle build as the first song takes you to ten. Crank the sound system, turn the lights down, and invite some friends over: this is the most aggressive, metal, and well-designed love letter to a band you may ever see in gaming.
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I'm sober these days, after making a deal with my wife that I'd give up the bottle until our baby is born. We figure it's a small sacrifice compared to what her body is going through, but the unintended consequence is that reviewing bad games has become very, very bad. It used to be I could slug a scotch or two while trying to fight through a game like Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution, but now I have to stare into the abyss with eyes that are stone sober. This game actually put me in a bad mood.
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Any Grand Theft Auto game on the DS is going to be defined by the hardware, as Nintendo's portable is the least-powerful system on the market. It also sells amazingly well, moving 3 million units last December. That's a customer base that's impossible to ignore, so Rockstar has decided to shoehorn its most popular series into the little money-making machine. What's surprising is just how good the result is and how much care went into the game's design. The motivation may have come from profits, but the execution is pure class.
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The Trackmania series of games has always had a cult following on the PC; the game's solid graphics, addictive "one more try" gameplay, and dedicated following make it quite the impressive racing title. The game was ported to the Nintendo DS quite a while ago in Europe, but Atlus has done gamers a favor by publishing the title in the US. After more than enough time for a full review, we have our verdict: this is a great way to make a fun game portable.
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It's rare to need a break from a game after only fifteen minutes of play time, but that's exactly what happened when I sat down to review MadWorld on the Nintendo Wii. The game can be incredibly numbing—the blood and the f-bombs, the killing and the maiming, and the unrelenting negativity of the game don't offer much in the way subtlety. The game takes place in a black-and-white world, where red splashes of blood are the only color. It can sometimes be hard to see what's going on, but you'll always know what to do: kill.
You play Jack, a swaggering killer who is sponsored by an unnamed company, represented in a voice over by a sinister character called XIII. Your job is to kill people in the most entertaining ways possible, for the viewers of the show you're participating in. This little bit of metagaming gives the ideas behind MadWorld a crazy sort of logic. You get points for your kills because your viewers are grading you. Rending someone with your chainsaw is good for a few points, but why not shove a signpost through them, and then throw them into a bed of spikes? Each level is filled with weapons and environmental threats; finding the best ways to slice and dice your way to big points is half the fun.
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Though it may share some similarities with its Warhammer 40,000-inspired predecessor, Dawn of War II is a completely different game that offers one of the most action packed and highly replayable RTS experiences in recent memory. Relic has uprooted some of the genre's mainstays in a move that has proven to be as controversial amongst fans of the original as it is innovative. But the company's decision to stray from the norm has resulted in a unique and refreshing game that will not only keep RTS fans busy until StarCraft 2, but may even have them forgetting all about Blizzard's upcoming titan.
Much has changed in this second iteration of the franchise, but the core source material is the same. As with the original, Dawn of War II focuses on the unending battle between the factions of the beloved Warhammer 40,000 universe. The ever-vigilant Space Marines are in the midst of a war with the Orks and the Eldar, as the invading Tyranid, a feared locust race of immense power with a taste for galactic domination, enters the fray. The Tyranid are hell-bent on destroying the galaxy, and the locust forces clash with them in the on-going war. As a Space Marine leader, you are charged with the task of restoring the galaxy to order for the Alliance, as the various races vie for control and survival.
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It would have been easy to dismiss F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. The game's settings—including a hospital, school, and underground complex—have been seen before. The weapons are taken straight from the guide book on what a first-person shooter title requires. There is a bullet-time effect that allows you to slow down time in order to more effectively kill your enemies. It sounds terrible on paper.
Luckily, everything is put together so well, with such care and polish to the game's mechanics—basic though they may be—that it's hard not to fall in love with the title. You'll get much more out of the game if you have played previous F.E.A.R. games, as you're dropped into the action without much explanation of prior events, but if you'd like to jump in without going back to the first title you can simply brush up on the story via Wikipedia or some other source. It's worth the trouble, as this is a very enjoyable experience.
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When it comes to the storied Street Fighter franchise, I think the majority of our readers are like me. You played Street Fighter II in the arcades and followed the game through its different incarnations on the consoles, you were aware of the 3D versions of the game but didn't care for them that much, you think it's silly to spend $100 or more on a copy of 3rd Strike for the Dreamcast. So the main question you're now asking is the following: is the new Street Fighter IV something I'd be interested in, or is it more of a game for the smoky arcades filled with inscrutable and talented gods who pump thousands of dollars into the game to master every move?
This review is my attempt to answer that question, and right here at the start let me give away the ending by saying that I have very good news for you: Street Fighter IV feels like coming home. The game employs a brand new, striking art style including 3D graphics and backgrounds, but it's also fast; the Xbox 360 doesn't feel like it's struggling to keep the framerate up at any time. All the moves take place on the same plane, so while the characters are rendered in 3D, the play itself is as two-dimensional as it gets.
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The PlayStation 3 already has a winner of a tower defense game in PixelJunk Monsters, but while that game focuses on whimsical baddies and a bright, almost cute art style, Savage Moon is a brutal, sci-fi based entry into the genre. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a retread, as your $10 gets you a surprising amount of polish and refinement in the already-crowded tower defense world.
If you've never played a tower defense game... you probably get more done at work than those of us who have. You have some kind of base that needs to be defended, you have wave after wave of attacking enemies of some kind, and you are tasked with placing turrets and defenses around the level to fight off the attacking horde. This type of game has been done to death in endless flash and iPhone games, so how do you make yours stand out?
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