Latest Reviews
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...
Review Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters (PlayStation 3)
The second cut is the deepest
Last year's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 saw Move support patched into the game post-release, and although the core game was solid, the Move controls were a letdown. Six months later, EA has brought the Tiger back out of the cage for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, but can it make up for last year's errors? Well, yes...
Swarm is a surprisingly sporadic puzzle-platformer that's let down by some frustrating progression requirements and unresponsive controls
The reality of Swarm is not what we expected. Basing our judgement on screenshots and artwork, we dived in expecting a slow-paced, Pikmin-esque strategy game. We were wrong, but not necessarily in a bad way. The...
Review Dance on Broadway (PlayStation 3)
Mamma mia
Dance on Broadway turned out to be quite a hit for Ubisoft when released on Wii a few years back: riding off the success of its insanely popular Just Dance series, the all-musical soundtrack had a niche all to itself that resulted in big sales for Ubisoft. Now the Move edition has entered stage left, but it barely passes the audition. The...
Review Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime (PlayStation 3)
Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime achieves exactly what it sets out to do, but the game is almost cynically unambitious
There's some fun to be had in multiplayer, but the game's biting repetition is evident online or off. "Great. The cemetery again?" points out our perceptive unnamed Ghostbuster. The statement's intended to draw comic relief...
Review Moon Diver (PlayStation 3)
Moon Diver is a surprisingly moreish button-bashing treat
Alone it lacks purpose, but hook up with three friends and the game starts to make sense. It's headache inducing, but a lot of fun. "Strider. It's like Strider!" our excited co-op partner decided to scream with joy down his Bluetooth headset. His enthusiasm is uplifting. We're...
Review Yakuza 4 (PlayStation 3)
In the five years since the original Yakuza launched on PlayStation 2 the series has changed very little
Released just a year after the wonderful Yakuza 3, the only curve-ball Yakuza 4 throws is not running with Kazuma Kiryu as the game's primary protagonist, instead introducing three new playable characters. Yakuza 4 might be a structurally...
Review WWE All Stars (PlayStation 3)
WWE All Stars gets a bit too technical for its own good, but the game's attractive art-style and over-the-top presentation still make for an appealing multiplayer grappling title
It's just a shame that some irritating technical issues get in the way of the fun. Playing through WWE All Stars taught us an interesting lesson about wresting: the...
Review Yoostar 2 (PlayStation 3)
An offer you can refuse
Acting and singing have a lot in common: plenty of people believe they do them brilliantly, and the speed with which celebrities flit between both disciplines would have you believe they’re easy. As anyone who’s listened to a loved one murder a beloved song at karaoke will tell you, singing is best left to the...
Review PlayStation Move Heroes (PlayStation 3)
Six PlayStation icons Move in together
For the first time in PlayStation's 15 year history, six of its most loved characters have come together to compete in intergalactic games. Featuring the witty wombat Ratchet and his trusty robot friend Clank, sneaky raccoon Sly and tech savvy Bentley, and finally the dark eco-powered Jak and his energy-packed...
Review MotorStorm Apocalypse (PlayStation 3)
Remember the first time you played Ridge Racer on the original PlayStation?
Your family and friends gathered around the television in anticipation of the content about to be streamed from the flashy grey box positioned prematurely on a make-shift table in front of the television. As the polygonal graphics popped onto the screen, the room was filled...
Review Crysis 2 (PlayStation 3)
We hated our first couple of hours with Crysis 2
Initially, the game assumes far too much from the player. It presents you with a catalogue of mechanics but never gives you a detailed explanation on how to use them. It also throws you in at the deep end from a narrative perspective, filling the screen with black-outs, explosions and plot-twists that...
Review Top Spin 4 (PlayStation 3)
Balls in your court
Motion controllers and tennis games have seemed the perfect match ever since Wii Sports put a plastic Remote in your hand and told you to be Roger Federer. Regrettably, since then, few titles — if any — have come close to matching Nintendo's pack-in when it comes to intuitive controls and the all-important fun factor: EA's...
Review Homefront (PlayStation 3)
As the first-person shooter genre shows no sign of dipping in popularity, THQ's Homefront promised more of the same with a new approach
Developed by Kaos Studios, Homefront's emotive story-telling and uncomfortable imagery give the title enough personality to separate it from its nearest peers, even if the game's core mechanics stay true to the...
Review MLB 11 The Show (PlayStation 3)
A home run
Truly, there are only two seasons: winter and baseball. Luckily, MLB 11 The Show's season is year-round. Widely regarded as one of the best sports series this gen, largely in part to San Diego Studios' ability to continuously improve each iteration by leaps and bounds – rather than simply providing an annual roster update – this...
Review The Undergarden (PlayStation 3)
The Undergarden tries hard to jump aboard the zen-gaming hype train, but ultimately settles for the soulless bandwagon
Imagine if PixelJunk Eden got steamy with thatgamecompany's flow and somehow managed to produce a throng of sprogs. One child would be good at sports, the other drawing. The third child would be the super-intelligent one, knowing...
Review StarDrone (PlayStation 3)
The joy of losing
The structure of failure in gaming isn't what it used to be. Limited lives and dwindling continues are dying out, instead making way for ever-replenishing health bars and multiple re-spawn points. Simply put, our video games are getting easier. While some titles certainly stray from this convention, for the most part, streamlined...
Review TNT Racers (PlayStation 3)
The very definition of pre-pub entertainment: TNT Racers is a fun, throw-back multiplayer party game with a vibrant art-style and some quirky power-ups
It's really hard to say "top-down racers" without referencing Micro-Machines, but Keen Games and DTP Entertainment's downloadable racer, TNT Racers, shares more in common with Mario Kart...
Review PixelJunk Shooter 2 (PlayStation 3)
PixelJunk Shooter 2's emphasis on frustrating combat encounters make it hard to appreciate the continuation of the franchise's excellent game design
They do say, "It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye." We very nearly lost a DualShock 3, and it wasn't a pretty sight we can assure you. It was all going so well until we hit the...
Review Killzone 3 (PlayStation 3)
Send them to Hel(ghan)
Eyes peeled wide open, and like breathing, you only blink when necessary. Your heart pounds in your chest at a million miles an hour while anxiety is released with each bead of sweat that protrudes the skin around the Move controller, with its calm faint glow in the peripheral vision. The building that once was shelter has...
