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Metareview: Remember Me
A memorable aspect of Remember Me is its soundtrack, available now on iTunes or accessible through Spotify. As for the game, our review tried its best not to repress the whole thing. Edge (80/100): "Schlocky and silly in places, but potent and reflective in others, Nilin's tale has bags of heart to play off against its flamboyant bosses and existential quandaries, all grounded by a charismatic female star." Game Informer (78/100): "The environmental climbing sequences offer some simple fun, but the linear paths diminish any sense of exploration this otherwise would have achieved. Combat is filled with fresh ideas, but that creativity inhibits your capability in combat. Hopefully Dontnod doesn't forget any of the lessons it learned this time around, because a sequel could be truly memorable." GameSpot (70/100): "Remember Me is not the game its world and premise hint that it could have been; rather, it's simply a good third-person action game: entertaining, slickly produced, and flavorful enough to keep you engaged to the end of its six-hour run time." IGN (59/100): "Ultimately, it failed to challenge or excite me as a game, as all of its best ideas are confined to its overarching fiction rather than its gameplay." NowGamer (50/100): "This feels like an awkward first step rather than a finished product. As it stands, Remember Me is a series of mediocre gameplay ideas stapled to a pretty, hollow shell."
Metareview: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Turn your brain off and let Far Cry 3's standalone expansion Blood Dragon bathe you in neon and take you away to a decade long past. Are you thinking about it? No, wrong! What did we say? Brain = off. We called Blood Dragon a "hilarious, accessible dollop of nostalgia, coated in the mechanics that made Far Cry 3 great" in our review. Eurogamer (90/100): "I still don't really know what Blood Dragon is, or how it relates to Far Cry 3, but more to the point: I don't care. If only more blockbusters had this much fun with their legacy." Game Informer (85/100): "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has the potential to alienate people with its crass sense of humor and repetitive one-liners. But if you long for an era when smart-mouthed badasses were more concerned with making things go boom than catering to social sensitivities, Rex Power Colt is your man, and Blood Dragon is your game." GameSpot (85/100): "You don't have to love the decade of Rubik's Cubes and Pac-Man Fever to get a kick out of Blood Dragon. But if you do, then all the better: this action-packed shooter will strike all the right synth-pop power chords." Edge (70/100): "This isn't Far Cry 3 at its best mechanically, but it's definitely the game at its most charismatic. Because as a bunch of well-worn VHS tapes at Ubisoft Montreal undoubtedly prove, the '80s knew how to do personality." Destructoid (70/100): "I'd rather have Blood Dragon exist as it does than not exist at all. A game this delightfully stupid can only make the world a better place, and I sincerely hope this isn't the last we see of Rex Colt."
Metareview: Dead Island: Riptide
Dead Island: Riptide, the pseudo sequel to paradise-gone-wrong simulator Dead Island, shares one clear trait with its predecessor. No, not zombies (but, yeah, those are in there). It's that reviews are all over the place for the game's launch. The original Dead Island entered into a similarly hostile critical climate, but went on to sell 5 million units globally. Our Riptide review will be available later this week. Game Informer (80/100): "Riptide's flaws are many, but they couldn't hold me back from having a blast. Few games nail the visceral feel of melee combat and co-op fun like Dead Island. At its worst, an annoying hiccup breaks the immersion of the grizzly trek through a zombie-infested paradise. At its best, Riptide hits the same high notes as the original." IGN (72/100): "Technically, it's done nothing to build itself into a great game. Rather than fix the graphics and the performance problems that plagued the original two years ago, Techland slightly modified the setting and delivered a new character and more content. It's a fun time, but there are no surprises or killer new features to make it an impressive package." Eurogamer (60/100): "What makes that so sad is that this feels like a series only a few great decisions away from being really good. A better script with a sense of humor, a bit more imagination in quest design, more coherent inventory management and character development... These things shouldn't be unattainable goals for a developer that must be flush from the unexpected success of the first game." VideoGamer (50/100): "On the whole however Riptide is yet another missed opportunity, and just too painfully average, wonky and padded out with filler to truly recommend." Gamespot (40/100): "Riptide is dumb, and mind-numbingly slow, and somehow manages to make the art of zombie-slaying feel like utter tedium. And if slaying zombies isn't fun in a game that's all about slaying zombies, why bother? "
Metareview: BioShock Infinite
It's a good day for the team at BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games, with the game receiving nearly universal praise. Our review couldn't help gushing either, saying Infinite is "undoubtedly the finest game crafted by Irrational Games" and "one of the best told stories of this generation. It simply cannot be missed." Eurogamer (100/100): "BioShock Infinite doesn't blur the lines between your reality and the game's to quite the same extent as its predecessor, but it's a more complete and polished story, and that's the thing you'll remember. " Game Informer (100/100): "Infinite is more than a new setting, story, and characters; those elements are seamlessly integrated with complex themes, a mysterious plot, and entertaining combat to create an amazing experience from beginning to end." PC Gamer (91/100): "Elizabeth herself is nice. I liked her. If you were hoping for something more – perhaps even the fabled Strong Female Character™ – you might be disappointed. When you're together, she's relegated to the role of caddy, limited to passing you a new weapon when you run out of ammo, and only ever using her own abilities when you command her to." Edge (90/100): "Sadly, as the combat opens up, the story begins to slowly unravel. There's no golf club moment, no singular twist around which the tale turns. Instead, Infinite provides a series of revelations that have you replaying earlier sections with a more enlightened, inquisitive eye." VideoGamer (80/100): "It is fascinating, and also boring. It is important, yet forgettable. Its world is enticing and unappealing. It attempts to move things forward, yet is in places stuck in the past. For a game that has the potential to open the franchise up to a multitude of different ideas and interpretations, BioShock Infinite can feel curiously limited."
Metareview: SimCity
Well, it's been two weeks since the calamitous launch of the SimCity reboot and the game currently has a Metacritic score lower than the abysmal Resident Evil 6. A small blessing for developer Maxis? SimCity dodges being the highest profile stinker of this still burgeoning year thanks to the dishonor of the utterly broken Aliens: Colonial Marines. GameTrailers (80/100): "Aside from some issues with its online requirements, bugs, and restrictions on city size, it's still a satisfying and addicting simulator that will grant dozens of hours of entertainment with one well-designed city alone." GiantBomb (60/100): "And while I expect many will fall head-over-heels in love with this SimCity's cooperative design, at its best, the game feels more like a really thoughtfully designed multiplayer mode for a larger, single-player capable game that, sadly, doesn't exist." Gamespot (50/100): "The bugs will probably be fixed, the wrinkles smoothed, and the online problems sorted out. What hurts most, though, is that it didn't have to be this way. SimCity's makers looked to MMOGs for ideas on how to bring players together, but didn't absorb the lessons MMOG developers learned long ago on how to implement practical online play." Eurogamer (40/100): "There was a time, perhaps eight or nine hours in, when I wondered why SimCity was so easy. Nobody ever complained about the air pollution, while using my depot to sell my recycling netted me endless profits. I kept playing because, back then, I kept having fun, I kept trying new things and I kept convincing myself that I was a good Mayor. Now I know that it was never really down to me." Destructoid (40/100): "I wanted to like this game, I really did. At first I started to enjoy it, but soon all I found was frustration. I can't recommend this game to anyone, and I don't want to play it anymore myself because I am afraid of seeing all my efforts lost due to server issues."
Metareview: Ridiculous Fishing
Clone victim Ridiculous Fishing is angling for attention and, as we noted in our review, it is certainly ridiculous. We aren't the only ones who think so. Touch Arcade (100/100): "Ridiculous Fishing is such a complete package that it's an effortless recommendation. It totally captures that gameplay niche of a game you can load up and play for a few minutes while providing a feel of progression that also makes the title suitable for substantially longer play sessions." Edge (90/100): "This is, ultimately, a simple little smartphone title, modest in its ambitions. That isn't to say it's a minor release, merely that it's a much smaller game than the story surrounding it." IGN (80/100): "Ridiculous Fishing could have probably been made even more ridiculous. The four fishing spots don't really feel distinct from one another. The geometric, almost cubist design is absolutely gorgeous, but it contributes to the feeling that you're seeing the same sights repeatedly. Lure and gun upgrades spice up the gameplay somewhat, but they don't really change the fact that this is a simple arcade experience with beautiful audiovisual design." Eurogamer (80/100): "And the moral of the story? A great game design can always be ripped off, sadly, but talent will out in the end. You can't cut-and-paste the artistry and attitude that Vlambeer has brought to this extravagant bit of disposable nonsense. You can't copy a true original - even before it's out."
Metareview: God of War: Ascension
God of War: Now With Multiplayer is what Ascension could have been called. Much like our review, other outlets found the single-player campaign satisfactory. It's in the multiplayer portion of Ascension where opinions begin to differ and scores diverge based on how much importance was placed on this evolution of the franchise. Destructoid (90/100): "God of War has never looked or played better than this. Kratos has never been as deep or interesting as this. They've set the bar so high that I have no idea how they'll be able to follow this one up. Sony Santa Monica should be proud. Series fans should be proud." Gamespot (80/100): "The single-player is where you should spend your time. No, it doesn't quite reach the audacious and rage-filled moments of God of War: Ascension's predecessors, nor does it move the series forward in any way, but it's skilfully put together, and wonderfully satisfying to play." GamesRadar (70/100): "Also somewhat disappointing are the newly added multiplayer features, which are held up by clever level design and strong game modes, but smacked down by uninteresting gameplay. It sounds great in theory, but in practice it turns out there's nothing less fun than being beat up by someone as powerful as Kratos." VideoGamer (70/100): "The multiplayer component is as fresh as the single-player is familiar. Ask yourself what you're after from a God of War game: if you desire only to step into the boots of gaming's most brutish, then you may find Ascension wanting. If, however, you're open to the idea of taking on the mantle of another Spartan hero, you'll find it a limb-lopping, head-popping delight. Just don't tell Kratos, eh?" Edge (70/100): "Consider our expectations defied: this is the star of the show. While this series' singleplayer template is showing its age, there's plenty in Ascension's multiplayer that deserves to survive the transition to PS4."
Metareview: Dead Space 3
Spaceman, I always wanted you to go into space, man. And now that Dead Space 3 is here, you can, again. But is it any good? The Joystiq Chief of the Astronaut Office certainly thought so, deeming the series' third main entry an "exciting, shocking, and mammoth adventure through the ghostly, unvarnished segments of space."But it's a big old universe with plenty of opinions floating about, and not all of them are so positive. Here's a sampling of a few that popped up on the meta-radar. Game Informer (98/100): "Dead Space 3 is still creepy, but this entry is more action-packed than previous games. That's a good thing. Isaac's intuitive new dodge roll makes avoiding the larger nercromorph attacks more manageable." Polygon (95/100): "Visceral hasn't just avoided screwing up its game with co-op - it has made it feel natural and at home, and has done it without impacting the single-player experience in any negative way. That alone would be enough to make Dead Space 3 an achievement. But the new crafting system and bigger, more open level structure join co-op to make Dead Space 3 one of the best action games in years. GameSpot (80/100): "This is a game rife with options and flexibility, building on the strengths of the franchise with clever new ideas that let you tailor the experience to your liking. It hits a few sour notes in its story and struggles at times when it steps away from the core combat, but Dead Space 3 is a thrilling and worthwhile sequel." Eurogamer (70/100): "Dead Space 3 is a contradiction. Gorgeous but scruffy; tightly packed yet stretched too thin; often frustrating, frequently thrilling and bursting at the seams with stuff, not all of which fits comfortably inside the boundaries the series has set for itself. It's certainly not a great game, except perhaps as a poster child for the kitchen-sink development mentality of a console generation in its twilight months." Videogamer (50/100): "Dead Space 3 is a let down because it's not a very good action game, and a really substandard horror game. It is devoid of ideas, hung up on laborious combat and obsessed with making even the exciting seem boring. In truth, it's a bit of a shocker."
Metareview: Ni no Kuni
Level-5's Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch delivers that Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) animation charm like it's tapped into a fascination factory. Reviewers were pulled into the game by its engrossing world, but the gameplay they found there is where things begin to vary. IGN (94/100): "I wanted it to keep going. That's because Ni No Kuni is just that special, and every RPG fan owes it to him or herself to pick it up and see why." Gamespot (90/100): "Ni no Kuni proudly joins that elite group of games providing such an enticing world that you can't imagine never having visited it. The only problem, of course, is that you may never want to leave." Eurogamer (90/100): "Ni no Kuni is rich yet breezy, classic yet modern, exquisitely made and completely sure of itself. Best of all, Level-5 and Ghibli's artists have worked together to create a gorgeous adventure that feels like it belongs to both of them." Game Informer (70/100): "Despite the adrenaline-pumping intensity, the battle system has its frustrations. Sometimes the window to defend passes far too quickly. Not only must you select defend for your character, you must also order the sub-par AI companions to protect themselves as well." Polygon (65/100): "I was charmed, but always by stuff surrounding the gameplay - never by the gameplay itself. Level-5 hasn't created a bad game but an inconsistent one that doesn't seem to understand its own strengths and weaknesses. The flashy look and cheerful tone will pull some people through, but at its core, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is missing a chunk of its heart that's hard to ignore. "
Metareview: Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3 concludes the 2012 holiday review season for big budget games on a high note. Beyond explaining the game's excellence, our review of Far Cry 3 also held a valuable life lesson: "Goats ... are not to be trusted." Eurogamer (100/100): "Far Cry 3 is all the best things about open-world gaming. It's a glorious anecdote factory, where you manufacture brilliant new memories every time you wake up in a safehouse and head out into the jungle. ... And it always lets you play, but it also controls the tempo - sometimes a little heavy-handedly, but always with good intentions." Gamespot (90/100): "Stretches of unpredictable exploration and free-form hunting alternate with challenging pirate confrontations, sometimes culminating with a rocket blast to the helicopter hounding you from above. This is an ambitious and finely tuned adventure that gets better and better as you play." Game Informer (90/100): "After two remarkable but uneven offerings, Far Cry finally pulls everything together in the third installment. The diverse open-world action, compelling story, and an alluring environment that begs exploration are all high water marks for the series. This is an island adventure all shooter fans should experience. " IGN (90/100): "Far Cry 3 is important for the same reason as Far Cry 2. It's a shooter that considers shooters thoughtfully, both in the way they're designed and the way we play them, and then asks us to do the same. Should massacring hundreds be a great way to entertain ourselves? Maybe not. But it is. " Destructoid (80/100): "While riddled with minor gripes, there is no one overwhelming, glaring fault that threatens to drag the whole experience down. With the third installment in the Far Cry series, Ubisoft has managed to deliver a game that provides not one, not two, but three well-crafted experiences that may vary in terms of longevity but all manage to be of uniform quality."
Metareview: Hitman: Absolution
Agent 47 is back on the job in Hitman: Absolution, which we said in our review "abandoned some of the ideals of the original games in the series, but it delivers with its own formula." Let's see if others thought this was a hit, man. IGN (90/100): "Like Dishonored before it, it's actually a true pleasure to play a game that lets you tackle it from multiple angles. After several years of increasingly totalitarian games where you're very much following a pre-determined path, it's nice to have a game that doesn't just encourage improvisation; it requires it." Polygon (85/100): "Hitman: Absolution is a faster, more streamlined game than its predecessors, but that only makes it different, not bad. The dark humor has been toned down, but still peeks through. The same anti-hero menace and professional purpose remains. And more importantly, the core purpose and gameplay that's always driven the Hitman series is still there. It's not as cerebral as Hitman: Blood Money." Eurogamer (70/100): "Reloading some of its best levels, turning off the hints and watching and waiting, it's much easier to remember what it is that makes Agent 47 so special. Hitman is a series to treasure for those moments, even if Absolution isn't its finest hour. Hopefully it won't be another six years before IO Interactive gets another shot at showing us why." Edge (70/100): "Contracts redeems Absolution, but it doesn't absolve it. The game has taken a unique formula and diluted it, allowing the fashionable trappings of other stealth titles to intrude upon a series that has always confidently eschewed convention." Videogamer (50/100): "Occasionally you'll witness flashes of brilliance, glimpses that suggest IO could yet salvage something from this wreckage for its next Hitman game. And then you finish a stage with a tedious quick-time event, snapping the neck of a morbidly obese Danny Trejo-alike in a wrestling match watched by hundreds - astonishingly earning yourself a Silent Assassin rating in the process - and you shake your head sadly and wonder how it all went so badly wrong."
Metareview: Medal of Honor: Warfighter
Thanks to the internet, you don't have to take just take our word that Medal of Honor: Warfighter is a "design-by-committee approximation of 'AAA military shooter." Game Informer (50/100): "The uninspired single-player campaign, uneven multiplayer execution, and rampant presence of glitches undermine Medal of Honor: Warfighter's efforts to join the Tier 1 of military shooters. If Danger Close keeps executing this poorly, this once-loved series may be dangerously close to being put in a casket." OXM (50/100): "You'll also roll your eyes at cloying cutscenes that never bother to introduce a worthwhile villain, and are instead crammed with insulting caricatures of unhappy military wives. We'll acknowledge it takes a rare breed to succeed in the special forces, but the personifications of dutiful male devotion are too one-dimensional to be human, much less heroic." Destructoid (50/100): "Charmless, cynical, and uninspired, Warfighter encapsulates everything wrong with the annual big budget shooter industry. It's really not an awful game, it's just insipid and shallow, a title that exists solely to exist, and squeeze whatever profit remains to be had from serving the same flavorless porridge to the same unadventurous customers. It will make its money, and keep the FPS factories in business for another year." Polygon (45/100): "While the multiplayer's obtuse design decisions are preferable to the campaign's lack of artificial intelligence, decent mechanics, or interesting level design, it's still difficult to find much reason to recommend Medal of Honor Warfighter over the shooters it wants so desperately to resemble. In an attempt to build a bridge across Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty, Danger Close has once again fallen into the hole between them." DarkStation (40/100): "Here's the aggravating truth: Warfighter is bad. Even given the fact that it's functional and competently designed at its base, the game in no way provides a nutritive and compelling addition to the genre it wants so badly to rule. Its core premise, to provide players an "authentic" special forces warfighter experience, never comes within striking distance due to hazy plot development and abrupt, inorganic pacing."
Metareview: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a turn-based strategy game, is getting pretty high marks across the board. We'll let that "turn-based strategy" bit sink in before we continue.... Okay, so, it is a strategy game from Firaxis, the studio behind the accessible Civilization series, which we said in our review "deftly blended management, tactics and the sort of gut-level, throaty encounters usually reserved for fast-paced action games." Edge (90/100): "Charting a course through Earth's imminent destruction is as unashamedly difficult as it was in 1994's X-COM. It's possible, through bad planning and bad management, to doom the planet early on, making the game feel unfair. Get it right, however – survive the stresses of management, and the strains of aliens – and you'll feel like world's greatest hero." Eurogamer (90/100): "So much craft has gone into its atmosphere, into innumerable small details that together add enormous depth and flavour to the world: the occasional conversations overheard while fiddling around in the base; the mission loading screen, which gives you a view of the troops inside the carrier, fidgeting and tapping their feet in transit; the ridiculously cute touch of soldiers acquiring nicknames like 'Longshot' or 'Odin' after a few missions; the memorial room for fallen warriors, with a cork board of photos on the wall, which records their names - and the fact that visiting it triggers, after a few seconds, the sound of a bagpipe march. " Destructoid (90/100): "I was disappointed EU didn't have a great story, at first. But, somewhere along the way, my own story played out through the game's intense missions and grueling decision making back at the base. My story is about an unlikely group of space heroes. After months of waging a seemingly impossible war, my elite squad of XCOM soldiers died." Polygon (85/100): "While tactical, squad-based combat has never felt so effortless and rewarding, the strategy component takes just enough away to make the game as a whole feel like two slightly disjointed halves. One of those halves just so happens to be one of the best and most artfully-designed strategy games in recent memory." IGN (82/100): "Recently Firaxis has been very willing to try new things with its franchises, and it's great to see both the revival of the XCOM franchise and the extension of strategy games on the consoles. You're still likely to want a bit more depth and surprise in the tactical game, but the campaign is full of tense moments that are sure to keep you coming back for more."
Metareview: Resident Evil 6
A human's reaction following exposure to a virus is interesting. Now, if we were to say Resident Evil 6 is a virus, we'd have an apt analogy going on right now. Review scores are all over the place for Capcom's latest installment in the former survival-horror franchise. For our part, we called the series' latest mutation a "fully-featured, sloppy, frequently frustrating attempt to do well by everyone." Game Informer (88/100): "That metamorphosis into insane action is front and center in Resident Evil 6, and bringing a buddy along for the chaos is great fun. The game's minor flaws don't hold back the decadent experience from being an unhinged, flaming rollercoaster ride." Eurogamer (60/100): "This game is blind to imagination and focus. Capcom's uncertainty about the series' identity post-Mikami (and post-Uncharted) is hardcoded into its structure: four campaigns offering different, flawed expressions of that potential. And the inevitable price for this wavering is a lack of coherence." Edge (60/100): "In always trying to offer something more, Resident Evil 6 fails to refine what it has already given you. And whatever else you might say about the game, it achieves something that its predecessor never did: it steps out of Resident Evil 4's shadow and becomes its own game. Sadly, it's a game that redefines the series as a loose collection of action scenarios with a shared theme of mild sci-fi horror." Gamespot (45/100): "The Bad: Loads of bad, overlong quick-time events –Excruciating overemphasis on mediocre set piece events –Ruins the pace by constantly ripping control from you – Poorly executed scripted events lead to unavoidable deaths." Destructoid (30/100): "It's not enough to say that Resident Evil 6 is poor as a Resident Evil game. That alone implies there could be a quality experience if fans can get past their preconceptions and feelings of betrayal. No, Resident Evil 6 is poor by the standards of any game, not just the high ones set by its own legacy."
Metareview: Torchlight 2
The running theme in nearly every Torchlight 2 review is its inescapable comparison to Diablo 3 – heck, even we did it in our glowing evaluation of the game. Given launch proximity and that Runic Games CEO Max Schafer co-founded Blizzard North, creating Diablo and Diablo 2, it's only natural. Even with Torchlight 2's comparison to the behemoth of Diablo 3, with its bottomless budget and army of designers, the $20 title holds its own. GameSpy (5/5): "Oh yes, there's LAN play, and yes, it works perfectly. I didn't even sign up for the Runic account you need to play online until after I'd tested out a couple of hours of four-player co-op (it supports up to six) over the gold old-fashioned LAN. Dropping in on a friend with an open game is as easy as popping open the server browser -- and when I had to leave, the other three guys kept playing as though the host dropping were no big deal." Ten Ton Hammer (93/100): "Easily the richest, lowest wattage, and most fun dungeon crawler experience launched in recent memory, at a third of the box price (and seemingly without the launch frustrations) of Diablo 3. Or just buy the four-pack for the same price of ~$US 60 and introduce or re-introduce someone to this side of PC gaming." IGN (91/100): "Torchlight 2 doesn't do anything radically new, but does everything incredibly well. It fits all the pieces of varied monster behavior, interesting items, excellent skill design and random surprises together into a near-perfect formula, where the action never stops and rewards are never far away." GamesBeat (85/100): "Torchlight 2 is undoubtedly worth the $20 price, and it's high on replay value with new classes to discover. The problems it does have are mostly minor, but it's not for gamers looking for an involved story. And in some places, it could use a little more depth."%Gallery-166151%
Metareview: Darksiders 2
Darksiders 2 is a patchwork of the best in the third-person beat-em-up action genre and that's what makes it comforting. We said in our review that "you're not required to forgive the game's faults," but it does spend more time on the good side than bad. Here's what others thought about their trip with Death. Game Informer (90/100): "One of the most polished aspects of the game is environment traversal. Death can run along walls and leap between pillars much like the Prince of Persia. These platforming-like sequences add an element of verticality to exploration, and are used extensively to unearth hidden areas. The overworld is filled with them (including numerous bonus areas and bosses). A handy fast travel ability makes backtracking painless affair." Gamespot (85/100): "Bigger doesn't mean better, of course, but this isn't a "more of the same, just bigger" kind of sequel. The game uses its expansive geography to cultivate a poetic tempo in which your intellectual triumphs are rewarded with the immediate pleasures of fleet-footed platforming and demonic brutality. In Darksiders 2, Death is not an end, but rather, a portal to a memorable saga of snarling brutes and stolen souls. " GiantBomb (4/5): "The adventure has its rough spots and the technical issues are disappointing, but these are relatively small issues in the grand scheme of things. Darksiders 2 is an exciting and lengthy adventure with interesting characters and a host of items and features that make its mix of combat and puzzle-solving very attractive. It's better if you also played the original game, but even if you didn't, Darksiders 2 is definitely worth looking at." IGN (75/100): "Despite its problems, I was compelled onward in my quest with Death because Darksiders 2 is simply a fun game. The RPG elements and to-the-point action all make for some solid gaming, glitches and all. It's a shame so many glaring issues hold such an ambitious endeavor back from the greatness its developers were clearly aiming for. Still, if you love action adventure games, it's certainly worth checking out - but don't expect it to rival the masterpieces it will inevitably call to mind."%Gallery-162548%
Metareview: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
Only the majestic tone of the illustrious George Takei could sum up Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor's reviews so far: "Oh my!" In our two-star review we retreated back to the Kinect game classic "It's great, when it works," but at least we seem to have scraped some functionality out of the game. Prepare thyself, for only darkness is found beyond here. OXM (75/100): "Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor isn't for everyone. In fact, some people may be more turned off by the potential for error in its Kinect controls than by the Xbox version's overbearing, multi-button controller ... War has never been this intense, and you should try to take part." Destructoid (30/100): "At its core, it's a basic mech game with a "realistic and gritty" feel to it that you've seen a million times before. Maybe at some point, the Kinect requirement can be patched out of it. Until then, piloting these Vertical Tanks even while sober may result in a loss of brain cells." Game Informer (30/100): "The mech-combat genre isn't overflowing with alternatives, but they do exist. Save yourself the aggravation and pick any one of those. You won't do any worse." IGN (30/100): "Heavy Armor might be Kinect's most spectacular failure, but it's precisely because it's so ambitious. ... Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor deserves a lot of credit for sticking its neck out in an effort to craft a fresh videogame experience. It's one of the best ideas on Xbox this year, but ultimately it's also one of the system's worst games." Polygon (10/100): "I was never able to shake the feeling of watching through a window while someone else played Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor as I shouted suggestions and waved frantically, hoping they'd notice me. So, how is Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor as a game? I honestly have no clue. You'd have to ask the guy in the other room."%Gallery-158612%
Metareview: Dragon's Dogma
We had some issues with Dragon's Dogma. Ok, we had more than a few issues, calling it "50 or so hours of mundane drudgery" in our review. That doesn't mean our opinion is the only one that matters. There's a whole internet out there with glowing reviews. Maybe not "glowing," but certainly more accepting. Game Informer (85/100): "Combat feels like a necessary part of the game's design, rather than something that was begrudgingly added to provide interaction between cutscenes. I left the game feeling that I made my mark on Gransys the way I chose to, instead of being escorted from plot point to plot point. When you're talking about an open-world game, I can't think of higher praise." Destructoid (75/100): "Should you play Dragon's Dogma? Yes. The high points are so very worth getting to, and while the main game will be cleared in a number of hours, there are lots of monsters to battle and a dose of end-game content to clear, providing more than enough to rival the Skyrims and Diablos of the world." Eurogamer (70/100): "Expectedly, coming as it does from an action game developer, its jewels are to be found in the dynamic combat, stat-tweaking party-building and defining boss battles. In this way, the game echoes the adventurous, dragon-hunting spirit of its (second- and third-hand) literary influences: that sense of unpredictable peril that could be lurking in every cave and thicket. " OXM (60/100): "Dragon's Dogma has its merits, but for every great idea there's a design fumble that just leaves you scratching your head. Though it's technically sound, the game lacks the spark to elevate it beyond a "sometimes fun, mostly mediocre" experience. Much like the main character's chest cavity, this RPG ultimately feels hollow, with no real heart."%Gallery-155048%
Metareview: Max Payne 3
Max, dearest of all my friends. So good to have you back. You look a little tired, friend. Is it all that leaping and shooting, or is it something more? Sit down, sip a little vodka and look at what they're saying about you. Joystiq feels you make "people die real good." What about everyone else? Take a look... G4 (100/100): "The performances are top notch, the action plays out with unrivaled fluidity, and the multiplayer is deep and rewarding. Silly distractions aside, Max Payne 3 is an action lover's wet dream that also happens to employ some of the slickest direction and transitional trickery this side of a David Fincher box set. Lock and load. It's bullet time...time." Game Informer (93/100): "The same great gunplay from the campaign is replicated in the multiplayer modes, and immense depth is tied to the ranking system (with a level cap of 50) and slew of unlockable guns, skins, and items. Rockstar also provides a crew system that tracks world ranks, kill-to-death ratios, and first place finishes for each crew." Giant Bomb (4/5): "Rockstar has taken a lot of risks in the ways it has reshaped the series with Max Payne 3, and there's something to be said for opting out of the easy route. The aesthetic overhaul is certainly the most noticeable, though there's no understating the impact that certain gameplay modernizations have had on the experience. While fans might have a hard time processing the dramatic change in tone, it's approached with a seriousness and conviction that I respect, and frankly, have come to expect from Rockstar." Edge (70/100): "Max Payne 3 might solve the problem of how you manage to reload when carrying more than one gun, but detailing alone can't change the fact that this is a surprisingly conservative game from Rockstar. Its absorption of cover mechanics makes Payne feel more familiar than he should, but even then his signature tricks are over a decade old. This is a game about a world-weary killer doing the only thing he knows how to, and for all its spectacular action beats there's something apt about Max's fatigue."%Gallery-155342%
Metareview: Fez
Fez is already on track to be this year's indie darling among critics, like Braid, Limbo or Super Meat Boy before it. Heck, it received awards before it ever launched. We called Fez "joyful" and entirely worth its protracted development. We aren't alone. Eurogamer (100/100): "It's during this stage that you'll seriously tackle the game's many secrets - all handily marked, but not at all spoiled, on the head-spinning 3D map screen. Think Miyamoto, Kojima or Schafer at their most impish: treasure maps, invisible platforms, secret messages delivered in unexpected ways, puns and tricks of the light." OXM (95/100): "For an experience that could've drowned in an overreliance on using familiar signposts from what's come before it, Fez succeeds in celebrating the past in a smart, joyous way that has us incredibly excited for gaming's future." Edge (90/100): "Draw lines between distant landmarks; forge connections that reveal the logic of a set piece; untangle the story in short, gleeful bursts. The route you pick through Polytron's floating world is nearly impossible to verbalise, while its puzzles resolve themselves in your mind unexpectedly, in clear, wordless chunks. There's really no language to cover many of the things you get up to in Fez. For a videogame in 2012, that may be the ultimate endorsement." Gamespot (80/100): "Fez goes far deeper than the simple platformer it initially appears as, and figuring out the solutions to the many puzzles is an experience that harks back to a time when games weren't scared of taking off the leash and letting you run wild. Invest time in Fez's colorful world, and enjoy the wealth of incredible ideas buried within. "
