Retro Reviews
Review Alice: Madness Returns (PlayStation 3)
The spiritual successor to American McGee's 2000 PC blockbuster, Alice, Madness Returns picks up shortly after the original game, with the protagonist installed in the orphanage of Doctor Angus Bumby
Alice is traumatised by memories of her parent's death, an act which she believes herself responsible for. As Alice battles with her memories, she's...
Review Greg Hastings Paintball 2 (PlayStation 3)
Wanna be a baller, shot-caller?
Paintball takes the online multiplayer fun found in videogames and brings it to a painful reality. Sadly, the sport has seen a rapid decline in recent years due to its high cost to play, expensive insurance cost and field/arena maintenance expenses. Fret not though fellow paintballers (i.e. ballers), because for less...
Review Ninjamurai (PlayStation Minis)
A brutal but trance-inducing platformer, Ninjamurai's breakneck sense of speed and macabre visual-style translate into an ambitious and occasionally frustrating PlayStation Mini with digestible level-design that's well suited to the platform
Open Emotion Studios make some of the most ambitious games on Sony's PlayStation Minis service. The ambition...
Review Duke Nukem Forever (PlayStation 3)
Duke Nukem Forever is a relic
The game feels caught between two opposing design sensibilities, never fully encompassing a throw-back feel because of its modern concessions. There's the glint of a good idea in some of Forever's periphery activities, and the whole campaign is punctuated by some pretty impressive set-pieces — but Duke Nukem Forever...
Review SEGA Rally Online Arcade (PlayStation 3)
Because we can't all afford a Subaru WRX Sti
Remember seeing those giant car-like arcade machines lined up at your local arcade? If so, you've likely already played or witnessed this game in action. Taken from the extremely popular SEGA Rally series of arcade machines, SEGA Rally Online Arcade brings the thrill and action of arcade style racing to...
Review Under Siege (PlayStation 3)
Much harder than Steven Seagal
During a generation in which First-Person Shooter (FPS) titles dominate the market, a genre like the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game can become lost on PS3 amongst a barrage of FPS frags, melees and rat-a-tat-tat firefights. Despite this the system has received some standout RTS games: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3...
Review Armageddon Riders (PlayStation 3)
Armageddon Riders is a couple of features away from "absolutely essential" status
Targem's supremely polished post-apocalyptic racer mixes goofy humour with solid handling mechanics, wrapping the whole affair in a stunning Burnout Paradise-esque open-world environment. The package could have been elevated with an online multiplayer mode, but there's...
Review Hunted: The Demon's Forge (PlayStation 3)
Protagonists E'lara and Caddoc are a metaphor for Hunted: The Demon's Forge
The duo are brash, goofy and amusing, personifying the theme of the game they are featured in. Hunted: The Demon's Forge is not a well devised title — the combat is scrappy, the visuals are hokey, and the voice acting is utterly reprehensible — but for all its faults...
Review No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (PlayStation 3)
We could be heroes
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise isn’t about saving the world. It follows Travis Touchdown, an over-sexed Otaku obsessed with violence, wrestling, anime and games (he has a Mega Drive/Mega CD/32X combo in his room). Travis gets drunk in a bar and meets the head of the United Assassins Association, Sylvia Christel. She offers him...
DiRT2 was one of our favourite PS3 games of 2009
We spent numerous hours with Codemasters' rally sequel, eventually earning the game's illusive Platinum trophy and still secretly longing for more. Codemasters' mix of arcade accessibility and simulation physics created a racing experience that not only felt unique, but also approachable without...
Take no notice of Brink's storyline
We didn't. As much as we adore the game's quirky art-direction, the plot is utter nonsense. You're situated on a water-based city known as the Ark, but there's chaos aboard the warring location as its inhabitants are divided by two factions: the Security and the Resistance. Cut-scenes try to tie the narrative...
Review We Dare (PlayStation 3)
We feel dirty now
We Dare raised more than just eyebrows with its original trailer: the thought of young gamers getting into an array of saucy situations was too much for some, who seized upon the game's PEGI 12+ rating to call it immoral, insulting and downright offensive. Well, they got two right. We Dare's whole reputation as a bawdy party game...
Review LEGO: Pirates Of The Caribbean (PlayStation 3)
It only takes one look at Captain Jack Sparrow sauntering into view to melt your heart
Traveller's Tales appears to have mastered the art of transforming popular properties into thoroughly enjoyable co-operative affairs, and the developer's whimsical take on Disney's somewhat convoluted Pirates Of The Caribbean tetralogy is no different. Set across...
Review SOCOM: Special Forces (PlayStation 3)
Tactics on the Move
SOCOM 2 wasn’t only just one of the best shooters for the PlayStation 2, but many would likely even call it the best on the system. These are big boots for SOCOM: Special Forces (aka SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs in North America) to fill, and now that the online war is back in action from the PlayStation Network outage, we’ve...
Review Sniper: Ghost Warrior (PlayStation 3)
Remember that sniper mission from Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare? Everybody loved it: no game had ever pulled off the satisfying tension of creeping through a woodland in a ghillie suit, carefully and dramatically picking off targets with your hardened commander
Essentially, Sniper: Ghost Warrior is that mission extrapolated across a full campaign...
Review Virtua Tennis 4 (PlayStation 3)
Come out swinging
The PlayStation Move tennis grand slam final between 2K Sports' Top Spin 4 and SEGA's Virtua Tennis 4 is a match-up between two totally different play styles: whereas 2K offered a simulation fully playable with Move, SEGA has stayed true to its series' arcade roots by limiting the motion control to exhibition matches and minigames...
Review WSC Real 11 (PlayStation 3)
Cue de grâce?
PlayStation Move and cue sports go together like balls and baize: PlayStation Network release Hustle Kings has already shown how well the motion controller can work with the sport, and now Dark Energy Digital has responded to VooFoo Studios' break with WSC Real 11. The most obvious enhancement WSC brings to the table is the World...
Review Mortal Kombat (PlayStation 3)
Mortal Kombat is the most comprehensive fighting game we've ever played
It puts its immediate contemporaries to shame with a pool of modes, features and unlockables that have been on the wishlist of fighting fans for some time. What's more, the content is built upon an accessible and satisfying fighting system that's deep enough to hold your...
Review Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HD (PlayStation 3)
Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes is a real pleasant surprise
The game's clever blend of puzzle and RPG action makes for a refreshing downloadable package that's wrapped up in a gloriously vivid visual style. Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes is the video game equivalent of a warm day in England: you don't anticipate it, but when it comes it's...
Review Michael Jackson: The Experience (PlayStation 3)
Bad, and not in a good way!
Last year saw Ubisoft release Michael Jackson: The Experience on Wii, the first video game to feature the King of Pop since Sega's Space Channel 5: Part 2. Essentially a Jacko reskin of runaway chart-topper Just Dance 2, the game shifted 2 million copies and has now landed on PlayStation 3, but has Ubisoft harnessed...
Review Mad Blocker Alpha (PlayStation Minis)
Mad Blocker Alpha mixes traditional puzzle gameplay with an outrageous visual style and haunting soundtrack
The game's bizarre presentation is destined to split opinion, but it also gives the game personality beyond its simplistic mechanics. We hope we're not the only ones that found SEGA's gem-matching puzzle title, Columns, a little bit...
Review Patapon 3 (PlayStation Portable)
Patapon 3's blend of rhythm action and RPG is as potent as ever
Despite being fundamentally familiar, the addition of online multiplayer modes extend the game's re-playability, while bringing fresh ideas to the series. The game can be far too complicating for its own good at times, but a stellar soundtrack and vivid art-style make up for the title's...
Review The 3rd Birthday (PlayStation Portable)
The 3rd Birthday is not a Parasite Eve sequel
Sure, series protagonist Aya Brea is present in all her impossibly pretty glory, but this is still not a Parasite Eve game. Those expecting a long anticipated return to the survival horror origins of the cult Japanese series will be disappointed — The 3rd Birthday is a third-person shooter that bares...
Review Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (PlayStation 3)
Welcome to Gothicus
Beaten, battered and placed away in a dark corner of the cellar, our armour has been sat collecting dust, patiently awaiting a new adventure. Years have passed since the dank smell of dungeon corridors filled our noses, and the blood dripped from the tip of our swords from the slain monsters that lie upon our feet, but that is...
Review Duael Invaders (PlayStation Minis)
Duael Invaders adopts an unusual mechanic that's difficult to master but extremely rewarding
Duael Invaders is a little bit like the video game equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach. It takes an immense amount of concentration to master, but when everything clicks, it makes you feel like the greatest human being alive. If you...
Review MiniSquadron (PlayStation Minis)
MiniSquadron is an enjoyable dog-fighter with a moreish unlock system that's marred by one of the worst soundtracks we've ever encountered in a Mini
What's becoming increasingly evident is how much PlayStation Minis developers are in need of a good composer. Doodle Pool's music was bad, but at least it was original and catchy. MiniSquadron takes...
Review Red Faction: Battlegrounds (PlayStation 3)
Red Faction: Battlegrounds is enjoyable in bursts, but a lack of structure both online and off can make the game's breed of vehicular combat a little too chaotic for its own good
As is becoming customary for all big franchise releases, Red Faction: Battlegrounds is a downloadable taster designed to get us excited for the upcoming retail release of...
Review Chime Super Deluxe (PlayStation 3)
Chime Super Deluxe may just be the best new puzzle game since Lumines
It looks beautiful, it sounds even better, and it's as addictive as Cadbury's buttons mixed with cheese and onion crisps. It doesn't take many minutes to fall in love with Zoe Mode's super-stylish audio puzzler, Chime Super Deluxe. An updated version of last year's XBOX Live...
Review My Fitness Coach Club (PlayStation 3)
Sweaty beauty
While PlayStation Move's motion-controlled rivals are swimming in fitness games, this is only the second such title to reach Sony's black beauty after Get Fit with Mel B. Ubisoft's effort My Fitness Coach Club (known as Fit In Six in North America) comes from a reasonably successful line of fitness titles on Wii, and now with the added...
