Latest Reviews
Review Where Is My Heart? (PlayStation Minis)
Where Is My Heart? is a deceptively intelligent PlayStation Mini, and by extension, one of the best experiences currently available on the platform
As far as gameplay concepts go, Where Is My Heart? is agonisingly slight: a simple puzzle-platformer dressed in a pastel pixel art-style, accompanied by an ethereal chip-tune soundtrack. But once it...
Review Get Up and Dance (PlayStation 3)
Follow the leader
In the past 14 months we've had no fewer than 11 PlayStation Move dancing games, with Ubisoft's Just Dance 3 due to land in December. That swamped market — dancing games make up over 10% of Move's library — gives precious little room to breathe for each new arrival, so can Get Up and Dance make a name for itself? By now you're...
Review GoldenEye 007: Reloaded (PlayStation 3)
Premium Bond?
1998's GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64 was a watershed moment in first-person shooters, and is still held in the highest regard by thousands of gamers who hold every new Bond release up to that 64-bit benchmark. But just as the James Bond film series has moved on, so must its games, with Activision revisiting the original source material...
Review EyePet Adventures (PlayStation Portable)
A deeper emphasis on exploration makes EyePet Adventures a much bigger package than its predecessor, but its underlying longevity comes from the "make your own fun" potential that the game's technology provides
Last year when we reviewed EyePet PSP we explained how elated we'd be receiving the augmented reality experience for Christmas. Fast forward...
Review Hydrophobia Prophecy (PlayStation 3)
One wet and wild ride
Hydrophobia is defined as being an abnormal fear of water. What would a person’s worst nightmare be if they had this phobia? The thought of being on-board a massive boat as it slowly sinks into the ocean’s depths would likely be somewhere near the top of the list, which is exactly the reason why you’re thrown headfirst...
Review PixelJunk SideScroller (PlayStation 3)
Arguably the purest PixelJunk experience since the brilliant Monsters, PixelJunk SideScroller is an enjoyable old-school shooter that's enhanced by some stunning visual design and great audio
PixelJunk SideScroller is certainly a departure from recent entries in Q-Games' downloadable series. It drops a lot of the inventiveness from the free-flowing...
Review The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn (PlayStation 3)
Worth investigating
Hergé’s iconic investigator Tintin, his faithful pup Snowy and a slew of the Belgian series’ most important characters have just made the leap into a CG Hollywood extravaganza courtesy of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. As is the natural order of the entertainment world these days, the young journalist with a nose for a...
Review inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood (PlayStation 3)
But... does it sparkle?
The dark world Cole McGrath is trying to project just got a whole lot darker. inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood takes place during inFAMOUS 2 in the city of New Marais on a special night called Pyre Night, when the citizens celebrate the removal of the twisted and powerful vampire, Bloody Mary. With Bloody Mary reawakened with...
Review Everybody Dance (PlayStation 3)
The real party starter
The wait for a killer app PlayStation Move dancing game seems baffling at times: although Kinect launched with the excellent Dance Central from Harmonix, it took three years for the Wii to really ignite the trend with Ubisoft’s original Just Dance. Here we are, 14 months on since the peripheral first launched and ready to...
Review Dungeon Defenders (PlayStation 3)
Well-built
One of the castle’s gigantic wooden doors creaks open, revealing a swarm of primitively-armed goblins stomping together as part of one monstrous hive mind. On the other side of the hall march similarly stomping archers towards the same target, the Eternia crystals that form the lifeblood of the kingdom. A crash, and an over-sized ogre...
Review El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron (PlayStation 3)
God complex
A confident and creatively crafted action adventure, El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron boasts one of the most striking and varied visual styles we've ever encountered. Its gameplay never quite reaches the dizzying heights of its artistic endeavour, but does a good enough job of contextualising the game's bizarre and intriguing...
Review Wipeout 2 (PlayStation 3)
Wiped out
There’s just nothing quite like watching people getting bashed in the face, unintentionally flipped in the air or taking a hit where the sun doesn’t shine. Some folks claim that laughter is the cure for a broken heart, but witnessing these types of antics can actually make you laugh until you hurt instead. ABC has harnessed this...
Review The Sims 3: Pets (PlayStation 3)
The Sims 3: Pets does nothing to reinvent the social simulation series, but the inclusion of playable pets definitely adds a layer of complexity to the franchise's existing hallmarks
The Sims has always sort of stressed us out. In real-life, time management isn't a particularly challenging task. You can box your life into a series of coloured...
Review Batman: Arkham City (PlayStation 3)
Crisis city
A gluttony of content; Batman: Arkham City takes everything that made its predecessor brilliant and improves upon it. It's really not hard to recall the period before Batman: Arkham Asylum released. At the time, the video game media was embroiled in a discussion about how the promising looking licenced title couldn't possibly turn out...
Review 1000 Tiny Claws (PlayStation Minis)
1000 Tiny Claws doesn't quite live up to the expectations carved out by Mediatonic's previous releases, but it's still a worthy arena-combat title with a handsome visual style and some genuinely laugh-out-loud gags
Given Mediatonic's previous PlayStation Minis titles involved chasing colossal monsters to the precipice of a monumental structure and...
Review Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken (PlayStation 3)
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is an intriguing action platformer that -- despite being laugh-out-loud funny at times -- carries an unusual, sombre tone throughout much of its presentation, resulting in a unique experience intertwined with some clever puzzle design and satisfying combat
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken has already won numerous...
Review FIFA 12 (PlayStation 3)
The beautiful game
Revamped mechanics enhance the authenticity of FIFA 12 and complement a range of new modes and features. It's a package that brims with care and attention, going the extra mile in almost every facet of its presentation. You only need to spend a few moments with FIFA 12 to understand just how much the developers love the sport it's...
Review WRC 2: FIA World Rally Championship (PlayStation 3)
A functional experience, but never a particularly exciting one; WRC 2 manages to replicate the feel of participating in a real rally with its driving model, but somehow manages to squander all of the excitement through drab presentation and a lack of personality
The thrill of slipping around corners at breakneck speed is hard to beat. But it's best...
Review Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012 (PlayStation 3)
Mistaken identity
As the temperature starts to take its yearly dip and the vibrant colours of summer fade unto the pastels of the autumn, it can mean only one thing: it's hunting season. The time has finally arrived to polish up your rifle, unpack your camouflage and trek out into the wilderness to land that trophy buck. Coinciding with the opening...
Review Rochard (PlayStation 3)
Rochard is an engaging puzzle platformer consisting of some quality mechanics and concise puzzle design
The game's let down by an overemphasis on combat and cumbersome controls, but an endearing protagonist and charming visual style make up for its shortcomings. Mining engineer John Rochard doesn't have the best luck. Within the opening moments of...
Review SEGA Bass Fishing (PlayStation 3)
Dat bass!
Deriving from the old arcade classic, SEGA Bass Fishing isn’t a fishing simulator but SEGA’s arcade style, user-friendly take on bass fishing. There’s not a whole lot to this game other than trying to catch the biggest fish possible in a certain amount of time. In Arcade mode, the player will be sent to one of a few different...
Review NBA 2K12 (PlayStation 3)
The legend returns
Last year's NBA 2K11 was a sublime tribute to the league's greatest ever player, Michael Jordan, and one of the finest sports games ever created. This year's follow-up NBA 2K12 takes things a step further, bringing in 14 more legendary players and a host of new game modes. Whereas last year's effort was built around the famous...
Review Speedball 2 Evolution (PlayStation Minis)
Speedball 2 Evolution offers an alternative to the increasingly realistic sporting experiences available elsewhere on the various PlayStation platforms, delivering a futuristic competitive game with a complimentary throw-back core
It's just a shame that the actual gameplay itself is so over-complicated and unbalanced, even if it is impossibly...
Not even slight texture streaming issues can deter from RAGE's technical ambition
With stunning textures and a consistent 60 frames-per-second, id's latest release is one of the best looking titles available on the PlayStation 3. But for as good as the game looks, the experience is marred by a number of inconsistencies. An offensive save system and...
Review X-Men Destiny (PlayStation 3)
A bizarrely involving character customisation system makes X-Men Destiny suprisingly playable, even if it never comes close to reaching its full potential
Not every game needs to be a blockbuster. Developer Silicon Knights has taken that advice to heart with the functional but flawed X-Men Destiny. This is a game brimming with ambition, but it lacks...
Review Child of Eden (PlayStation 3)
Virtuosic viruses
Child of Eden's story involves the creation of a human personality, Lumi, for A.I. system Eden, but when it actually comes down to it the narrative is of no consequence. This is not a game that you play to follow a plot – it's a mesmeric feast, a perfect marriage of sound, visuals and movement designed to flood your brain with...
Review Mercury Hg (PlayStation 3)
Mercury Hg is an endearing little puzzle title with an attractive price-point and some striking presentation
The periodic table's never got us particularly excited. We distinctly remember it hanging on the wall in the science lab at school, surrounded by various drawings and exemplary pieces of work designed to make us feel guilty. We'd often try to...
Review Arkedo Series - 002 SWAP! (PlayStation 3)
Swap is an evocative name
The second title in the Arkedo Series — ported to PlayStation Network by Sanuk Games — is a simplistic puzzle title in which you — that's right! — swap blocks in order to create chains of four similarly coloured squares, and ultimately dismantle a growing tower of primary colours. Like the previous title in the...
Review F1 2011 (PlayStation 3)
While it doesn't quite pack the same punch as last year's entry, F1 2011 is still a tense and satisfying racing experience -- if you're willing to put in the hours required to master the game's merciless learning curve
When F1 2010 released on PS3 last year, it was a revelation. Codemasters breathed new life into the creaky racing genre — earning...
Review Max and the Magic Marker: Gold Edition (PlayStation 3)
Pencil it in
Occupied with a pad of paper and a stack of crayons, Max is minding his own business, making a colourful mess as only a child can. That is, until an unexpected letter drops onto the door mat addressed to him. Curious, Max tears open the envelope to find a brand new marker pen, and it doesn’t take him long to get creative with this...
