R.U.S.E. is a fun and fascinating real-time strategy game, as long as you know which parts of it to invest in and which to skip entirely. It prospers in the competitive arena, putting an intriguing use of bluffs and reconnaissance to good use on expansive maps that will test your ability [...]
Before the discovery and destruction of an ancient alien ringworld, before a teeming parasitic enemy threatened Earth, before a soldier called John-117 made a new name for himself, humanity fought to defend the planet Reach. And though Halo: Reach is a prequel to all the Halo games that have come before, [...]
When you see a stately owl perched on a cragged branch, its dignified demeanor brings to mind intelligence and good grace. Author Kathryn Lasky explored the secret lives of these feathered folk in her Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, which proved popular enough to spawn an upcoming animated film called Legend of [...]
F1 2010 is a fun and faithful re-creation of the most challenging series in motorsports, and while it has some minor issues, it’s a good start for Codemasters’ new franchise. The racing is appropriately challenging, the sense of speed is impressive, and both the cars and the circuits that they race [...]
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a game of contradictions. Its lead character, Gabriel Belmont, finds himself equipped with great combat abilities and more than enough special skills to combat the forces of evil and avenge the death of his love. But for the player, it’s almost overkill–a good portion of Belmont’s [...]
This is how the world will look after the war. The buildings still stand, but they are in a state of ruin. Walls, ceilings, and floors have crumbled away, and the healthy foliage that covers every surface gives the appearance of a thriving ecosystem, though no humans are around to enjoy [...]
Hot Pursuit is a Need for Speed game in name only. This blisteringly fast racer has more in common with developer Criterion Games’ own Burnout series than it does with any previous Need for Speed offering, despite lacking a number of features that are commonly associated with Burnout games. This isn’t [...]
For the greater part of a century, Monopoly has done just fine for itself as a game of abstractions, skillfully avoiding any questions of how a thimble and a howitzer can lead to rubbing shoulders with John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Even its Atlantic City locales have long eluded easy [...]
Though video games have encouraged players to get up in front of their televisions and dance for many years now, the arrival of the Kinect heralds a new controller-free era of movement. And while DanceMasters (titled DanceEvolution in the UK) doesn’t quite take full advantage of the Kinect’s full-body tracking capabilities, [...]
If you’re craving a less kid-friendly experience on the Kinect at launch, then your options are limited to just one game–Ubisoft’s Fighters Uncaged. Sadly, not only does it fail on nearly every level to offer a compelling fighting experience, but its broken motion controls also make it immensely frustrating. Lifeless animation, [...]
