Onelargeprawn
The next installment of Final Fantasy XIII hits us later this month. It’s been a while coming, and it’s always good to catch up story-wise either by replaying the prior games in the series (or playing for the first time, if you’ve not done that yet!), or if you’re lazy, re-reading old reviews. Square Enix has provided a more entertaining way of catching up with the story, though: a 16-bit SNES-style RETRO-spective. Watch it below.
[via YouTube]
If you’ll recall, last year we reviewed XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and we loved it so much we gave it nine and a half prawns. That’s a lot of prawns. The game is back, this time as a standalone expansion pack (ie, you don’t need to own the original XCOM to play it). To prepare for this review, you have some homework—go read the review of the first XCOM game, because much of what I have to say will be covered there; I’m only going to include what’s changed in this review. No need to do things twice, eh? Onward!
Angry Birds is one of those odd things—some might call it a phenomenon, but I think that’s taking it a little too far—that takes the entire world by a series of tropical storms and lets loose. It’s available on practically everything from phones to tablets to computers to consoles. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a version of it appeared for my headphones. It’s spawned dozens of licensed merchandise from toys to books to pyjamas to…well…headphones. Nonetheless, the game, in its Star Wars incarnation, is now out on PS3 and Xbox 360, so I summon the midichlorians and use the Force to find out whether the Force is with this game.
The Call of Duty franchise has been in existence for 10 years now, taking the player through the battlefields of the past, present, and near-future. Like clockwork every November, Call of Duty amasses metric tonnes of money for its publisher, Activision. Modern Warfare 3 has sold over 26 million copies since its release in 2009. Black Ops II in 2012 grossed over $500 million within 24 hours of going on sale, a record for the largest entertainment launch of all time that clung to until September of this year when GTA V took the crown (which, in case you didn’t know, we reviewed over here a few weeks back). And news is that Call of Duty: Ghosts, the latest main installment in the series, pulled in a ego-inflating $1 billion in a single day. That’s not sales to customers though, rather to the stock sold to the retailers. Still, Call of Duty is a very large, hugely-uddered cash cow that seemingly isn’t going to run out of milk any time soon. And I’ve not suckled at its teat…until now (Ed: That’s a very disturbing metaphor you’ve got there). Did the experience leave a bad taste in my mouth? (Ed: You’re not making things better.) Find out after the jump.
Yar, mateys! Tis time to sail the seas, buckle our swashes, and walk the planktons with our jolly rogered crew (Ed: erm…) The assassins have taken to the seas and are getting dressed in their colourful apparel in Davy Jones’ Locker Room. Your trusty reviewer takes up his sword and blunderbuss and goes trawling the seas in search of loot and victims to assass. (Ed: That’s “assassinate”. Oh never mind. I can see I’m in for a tough job editing this review.)
Every now and again, a game comes along defies the genres. A game so mighty and amazing that you wonder where it has been all your life. A game, though based on either a film or a TV series, is so brilliant, so wonderful, so totally mindbendingly stunning, that you wonder what kind of magic brain-boosting coffee the developers were drinking. A game that is so funny it reduces you to tears. So emotional that it leaves you a gibbering wreck on the floor, controller in hand. Plankton’s Robotic Revenge is not that game. However, it does feature Spongebob SquarePants, so there’s that. Are you ready kids? I can’t HEAR you!
Deadpool is everyone’s favourite “Merc with a mouth” and all-around anti-hero. If you’re not already aware of his existence in Marvel’s X-Men universe, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and a lot to look forward to. In any event, Deadpool now gets his very own video game courtesy of High Moon Studios. But is Deadpool all talk and no action? Or vice versa? Or verse vica? Let’s find out.
It’s that time of year again when we faithfully review the latest game in the Naruto series. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is the direct sequel to Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (and not last year’s Ultimate Ninja Storm: Generations, which was more of a filler game). Hope that clears up any minor confusions. I take up my shuriken and kunai, dust off my headband, and head into the battlefield to see what the latest game is about.
Lara Croft is back. Crystal Dynamics, best known for developing Legacy of Kain, were tasked with rebooting the venerable Tomb Raider series. Thanks to their efforts, we see a whole new side to the much-loved Lara Croft, and it’s “M” for mature.
Every once in a while, there comes a game that brings back my faith in a given genre of video games where all else makes that genre look tired, clichéd, and overtroped. If you’re not aware by now, Ni No Kuni is the first non-Pokémon JRPG to top the UK game charts in ten years. I’m going to tell you why. And why—even if you don’t generally enjoy RPGs—you should play this game.