Reviews
Review: Space Invaders Infinity Gene (PSN)
Oct 1st
The first thing you’ll see in Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a carbon copy of Space Invaders, the seminal 1978 black-and-white arcade classic. A swarm of aliens march in neat rows toward the bottom of the screen, where your tiny spaceship with its peashooter cannon fights to repel the alien invasion.
And then everything just goes crazy. The screen flashes to a blank white and this message appears:
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
— Charles Darwin
And just in case that message didn’t establish the game’s purpose clearly enough, it’s quickly followed by this proclamation:
“THE KING OF GAMES STRIKES BACK!”
And really, in a nutshell, that’s Space Invaders Infinity Gene. It’s an attempt to take one of the most important (and old) video games ever designed and to introduce change after change into the formula through a series of “evolutions.” It’s as fascinating to consider from an intellectual perspective as it is enjoyable to play.
Review: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Windows/OS X)
Sep 23rd
Editor’s note: We’re happy to present the first-ever contribution from long-time site reader James Heinichen. When it comes to StarCraft, there’s nobody who I’d trust more than James. Enjoy the review! — Nick
Hello, I’m James Heinichen and I thought that you might want to hear about StarCraft II! If you’re interested at all in any of the following you should read this review: Blizzard, real-time strategy (RTS) games, StarCraft, Jim Raynor fan-fic, cigars (oh yes, there are plenty).
Twelve years after StarCraft first revolutionized the RTS genre, Blizzard has released the long-awaited sequel. As a die-hard StarCraft fan, I have anticipated this game for as long as I can remember. My expectations were high, much higher than they have been for a game in years, probably since Metal Gear Solid 3. Fortunately, they have been exceeded.
Review: Mass Effect 2: The Lair of the Shadow Broker
Sep 20th
There’s been no shortage of Mass Effect-themed entertainment this year. Beginning with Mass Effect 2, the praiseworthy sequel to the series’ 2007 debut, developer BioWare has put out a steady stream of downloadable mission packs, optional weapons and equipment, additional characters and story-related add-ons that all bolster the core Mass Effect experience with varying degrees of success.
While there have been some high and low points in Commander Shepard’s extracurricular activities, this latest supplement, The Lair of the Shadow Broker, is the first add-on that delivers the same level of quality in role-playing, exploration and combat that made Mass Effect 2 such a standout game.
Review: Shank (PSN)
Sep 14th
I vividly remember the first time I played Shank one year ago at the Penny Arcade Expo. It sticks out in my mind not because I was so impressed with its sense of style and good-natured, over-the-top violence, but because something about the game’s presentation tapped right into my old adolescent subconscious. After about thirty seconds of gameplay, I apparently forgot where I was and exclaimed the first thing that came to mind:
“This game is fucking ridiculous!”
To which a group of pre-teens looked at me incredulously and giggled while their father gave me a stern look. Oops.
Though it’s been a full year since I got my hands on Shank (and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’m not fit to be a parent), those few extraordinary minutes were enough to convince me to buy it as soon as it was available for download. But five minutes of creative, celebratory violence doesn’t necessarily guarantee five hours of solid entertainment. Now that I’ve battled a frustrating control system, trudged through fight after protracted fight and experienced a muddled, relatively disappointing storyline, I’m left with a totally different verdict:
This game is fucking ridiculous…but it’s not all that much fun. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Dead Rising 2: Case Zero (XBLA)
Sep 10th
Developers have come a long way since the abysmal, early dark ages of downloadable content. What started with overpriced horse armor has evolved into a product that can defy typical classification.
Is Case Zero a demo for Dead Rising 2? Yes. Is it a prelude DLC package that adds to the full game with character development and carry-over bonuses for the final retail product? Certainly. To the great chagrin of forum-goers and blog posters, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is but the tip of the iceberg for the industry, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the idea.
Welcome to the future of videogame demos. I hope the critics have developed adequate coping mechanisms.
Review: Limbo (Xbox Live Arcade)
Jul 22nd
I’ve tried to keep some distance from the debate over whether games can be — or currently are — art. It’s my belief that art is in the eye of the beholder, so who cares if a few critics (including some critics of another medium entirely) disagree? I’ve had experiences with games that have been as thought-provoking and moving as some of the best movies, books, paintings, songs, and so on.
But if you’re not content to sit by the sidelines and just let Roger Ebert trash-talk games, you’ll find some strong ammunition for your viewpoint in Limbo, Playdead’s debut Xbox Live Arcade title and the first game out the door in this year’s Summer of Arcade series. With its bold, almost suffocating art style, excellent use of sound and subtle yet significant method of storytelling, Limbo is a thoroughly inspired concept that couldn’t be realized in any other medium.
Book Review: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
Jul 21st
Editor’s note: Sometimes — purely by accident — we end up spending our free time on things that aren’t games. In an effort to make the site more useful and to encourage us to write more, I’ve decided to take a stab at a good, old-fashioned book review. In case you’re drawing a blank: books are those things that look kind of like a Kindle but they don’t need to be charged.
John Romero and John Carmack. The rock star and the closeted engineer. The master designer and the virtuoso coder. The gamer and the programmer.
If you’re a human being in the Western world, you’ve heard of Doom, even if you haven’t played it. And if you’re reading this site, you probably know about John Romero and John Carmack, two of the founding members of id Software. But if you’re like me, you only knew the cursory details: the two Johns’ rise to fame, their infamous split after Quake was released and Romero’s failed magnum opus, Daikatana.
David Kushner’s book Masters of Doom does an admirable job of detailing the chronology of each of the two Johns’ rise to fame and fortune from an inauspicious childhood. The entire story is told in a mere 300 pages, which I found myself flying through in just two days. However, the book was researched and written over six years, and features more than 500 interviews with all sorts of industry luminaries and, of course, the original id Software team.
While a narrative about a bunch of awkward game programmers huddled around their desks for months on end might not sound like riveting material, there’s more than enough eccentricity in the characters and drama in the plot to keep the story flowing: Ferraris are bought, rockets are launched, marriages are broken, friendships are severed and money is squandered. But what else would you expect from the guys who turned the industry on its head and got rich on their own terms, all while provoking a national controversy on the role of violence in video games?
I’ve only read a few books about the history of video games, but Masters of Doom stands out as one of the most engaging, compelling, and worthwhile. Even a casual gamer will find something resonant about the story of these two awkward, ambitious guys who defied their families’ expectations and forever changed the course of gaming.
Recommended for
- Anyone curious about the rise of one of gaming’s most infamous studios
- Gaming history buffs who appreciate a thorough, well-documented book
- People who remember the phrase “Doom clone”
Review: Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
Jun 22nd
Don’t let Alan Wake’s fancy genre nomenclature fool you. This “psychological action thriller” is dyed-in-the-wool survival horror, and it’s damned good.
Alan Wake, the name of the game as well as its protagonist, is the story of a novelist whose world becomes literally enveloped by darkness as he writes and lives his newest story. Spooky. The game follows Alan Wake as he confronts his writer’s block only to find that his creativity is, in point of fact, his worst enemy. Set in a sleepy town in the Pacific Northwest called Bright Falls, the story borrows heavily from psychological genre-bending television programs like The Twilight Zone. So great is the homage that television sets can be found throughout the game that present mock episodes of a fictional show called “Night Springs.” These Easter eggs provide much needed comic relief from the dark narrative, a strategy employed once before in Remedy’s previous franchise, Max Payne.
Guest Review: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PS3)
Jun 1st
by Matt Damiano
Editor’s note: We at Silicon Sasquatch have a problem. We don’t get to play every game that comes out simply because we aren’t sent review copies by publishers. However, we have friends who, like us, buy their own games, and these same friends also happen to be competent writers. Mr. Matt Damiano is one of those people, and we’d like to congratulate him on being our first guest reviewer. Let him know what you think of his review in the comments!
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is the follow-up to the 2008 series reboot, Prince of Persia, which didn’t make much of an initial commercial impression despite its generally positive reviews (and my personal favor). Consequently, Ubisoft Montreal opted to return to the original mythos of the Sands of Time games and explore the seven-year gap between Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. Given the studio’s lengthy track record with the Prince, how does Forgotten Sands hold up?
Review: Bayonetta (Xbox 360)
May 3rd
What, exactly, is going on in Bayonetta?
That question has weighed heavily on me throughout the last few months, from the moment I launched the game to the present day, where I find myself in the middle of my third playthrough. And, frankly, that question is a big part of why this review has taken weeks to write.
While I’m still not convinced I’ve distilled the core theme or purpose of Bayonetta, I am confident it can be defined in just a few ways:
- Bayonetta is a stylish, fast-paced action game
- Bayonetta is a dynamic, fluid and intricate combat game
- Bayonetta is a hypersexualized and exploitative commentary on the role of women in games
If you’re considering buying a copy, it’s my firm belief that almost anybody is guaranteed dozens of hours of great entertainment with Bayonetta. Although it might simply look like a prettied-up rehash of a modern character-action game like Devil May Cry or God of War, a few minutes with a controller in hand will prove otherwise. Like Guitar Hero and Wii Sports, it’s the sort of experience where the main appeal rests in the actual, tactile feeling the game evokes; it’s one of those things that can’t be described, but you know it when you experience it. In this case, the player is treated to a surprisingly natural and empowering sense of control over the protagonist that steadily grows in complexity and escalates in lunacy throughout the game’s dozen-plus levels. It’s a wild ride that’s simultaneously brilliant and befuddling, and it’s required literature for anyone with a taste for adrenaline.