S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Review
By Kevin VanOrd
Posted Sep 23, 2008 7:50 pm PT
Glitches drag it down, but Clear Sky provides plenty of haunting ambience and challenging gameplay.
The Zone isn't a friendly place, and if you played last year's shooter/horror/role-playing hybrid S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, this comes as no shock. Clear Sky offers a few improvements and a number of issues, but the real star of the series--the large, barren wasteland created by a fictional explosion of the infamous nuclear facility in Chernobyl, Ukraine--is still the most impressive aspect of this prequel. This isn't a full-fledged follow-up, but rather a stand-alone expansion set before the events of the original. You're introduced to a new main character and several new mechanics, the most important of which is factional gameplay, which allows you to ally with an AI-controlled group and assault its enemies.Read More
Mount & Blade Review
By Brett Todd
Posted Sep 22, 2008 6:52 pm PT
Mount & Blade has some innovative ideas, but still needs a lot of work.
If all you had to do was fight, Mount & Blade might have been a winner. TaleWorlds Entertainment has come up with one of the most innovative and user-friendly re-creations of combat ever seen in a first/third-person RPG, with exciting battles on foot, mounted on horseback, and at the head of a private army. Unfortunately, this derring-do is only one part of a cheaply stitched-together, single-player-only role-playing game that replaces plot with a sandbox world that leaves you without a clue of what to do or where to go. There is something positive to be said for wide-open RPGs that leave the storytelling up to you, but this game is so incomplete that it'll feel as if you're being asked to script a heroic saga without the benefit of pen and paper.Read More
Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Battle March Review
By Brett Todd
Posted Sep 22, 2008 6:23 pm PT
A new campaign featuring orcs and dark elves is the only noteworthy addition in this expansion for Warhammer: Mark of Chaos.
Do you like orcs? That's the main question you need to ask when contemplating a purchase of Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Battle March, as this expansion-plus-original-game combo package includes no extra content except for one new campaign featuring everybody's favorite green-skinned goons. You get the exact same real-time strategy take on the dark Warhammer fantasy universe released back at the end of 2006, along with an additional dozen or so hours of play tacked on to fill out an epic saga about a war between the religious fanatics of the Empire and the evil Hordes of Chaos. Still, you would expect a little more than just a single new campaign from an add-on hitting store shelves a full two years down the line, and hope for more serious work to address some of the original game's shortcomings.Read More
Crysis Warhead Review
By Kevin VanOrd
Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:03 pm PT
Warhead is a fantastic stand-alone expansion to a superb shooter, and should be played by anyone who likes games with guns.
All of the claims you may have heard that Crysis could only run on nuclear-powered supermachines were greatly exaggerated. But if for some reason you worry that this stand-alone companion to the ultragorgeous first-person shooter will bring your PC to its knees, you should know that it's highly scalable and ran smoothly on a number of machines during our testing. It also looks better, with clear attention given to the game's artistic sensibilities and the lusher, denser environments. But rest assured, developer Crytek has enhanced more than just the graphics engine. Vehicles are more fun to drive, firefights are more intense and focused, and aliens do more than just float around you. More emphasis on the open-ended environments would have been welcome, but a more exciting (though shorter) campaign, a new multiplayer mode, and a whole bunch of new maps make Crysis Warhead an excellent expansion to one of last year's best shooters.Read More
Line Rider 2: Unbound Review
By Tom Mc Shea
Posted Sep 17, 2008 5:56 pm PT
In Line Rider 2: Unbound, you'll experience a love-hate relationship with the Bezier curve.
The deceptively simple Line Rider started as a free Flash game. It was able to move beyond restrictions, such as not having a tangible goal or even the ability to save your hard-earned work, and ensnared a community of creatively inclined ski artists. Unbound, the first retail release of the series, has kept the simple design from the original while adding more track options, a full Story mode, and community features to share all of your work. Patience is still the key to both making your way through the maddening puzzles, as well as crafting your own zany designs to torment the community. The trial-and-error gameplay can be exhausting at times, but the overwhelming sense of accomplishment for finally figuring out a particularly difficult track makes it well worth the initial struggles.Read More
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