Latest Reviews
Review Kung Fu Rider (PlayStation 3)
Is the ticket worth the ride?
On the surface, Kung Fu Rider comes off as a fun variation on the downhill racing formula, removing the boxcars or skateboards players might expect to ride and switching them out for office chairs and luggage. To make this premise even more wacky, the protagonists periodically perform kung fu moves while riding these...
Review Racket Sports (PlayStation 3)
Turn that racket off
Ubisoft’s Racket Sports ('Racquet Sports' in North America) started life on Wii as Racquet Sports Party, a multiplayer waggle-fest that was one of few games to employ Ubi’s Wii camera to allow controller-free gameplay. Since then it’s received an overhaul in the graphical and control departments, but it’s only a sheep in...
Let's get ready to Tuuumble!!!
When Sony began its marketing blitz for the Playstation Move, the ads focused on how Move differentiates from the competition, namely Kinect and the Nintendo Wii. The Move campaign began with a commercial featuring Kevin Butler as the "VP of Realistic Movements" attempting to persuade the viewer the Move can do things...
Review Start the Party (PlayStation 3)
We rock the party
Start the Party is every core Move owner's worst nightmare: a minigame collection, full of casual, family-friendly gameplay. Although the usual issues that hold back the genre are all present and correct here, it's still not a bad title for families and those wanting a silly but enjoyable introduction to the controller. You won't...
Review Planet Minigolf (PlayStation 3)
Miniature golf, Move style
We've seen our share of minigolf releases of varying degrees of fun and price released on the assorted console download services offering gamers a few choices to make for their miniature golf fix. This obviously leads to the question of what exactly does Planet Minigolf offer up on PSN that sets it apart from the crowd,...
Review Flight Control HD (PlayStation 3)
Please enjoy this refreshing puzzle game
Flight Control HD is as well-travelled as its hand-drawn flight crew, starting life on the iPhone and iPod Touch before making it across to DSiWare and iPad. Now it's available on PSN in Europe (read our interview with Firemint to discover why it's not coming to North America) and fully compatible with Move...
Review Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition (PlayStation 3)
Motion slickness
Let loose in March 2009, Capcom's original release of Resident Evil 5 was received with critical acclaim, but was recognised as having more in common with third-person action games than the survival horror premise of earlier titles in the series. With extra features available in the Gold Edition, gamers have the chance to revisit...
Review Sports Champions (PlayStation 3)
Will it make you want to Move?
When Sony announced it was developing a motion controller for PlayStation 3, it certainly didn't shock anyone to see a collection of motion-controlled sports games to go along with it. While comparisons to Nintendo's Wii Remote and Wii Sports Resort are inevitable, it might be a bit more fair to compare it to the...
Review Top Gun (PlayStation 3)
Touting the involvement of Top Gun's original screenwriter, Jack Epps Jr
, the PlayStation Network toes a line between new and familiar content. The game's not the most cinematic ever created, and as such its plot can be difficult to follow, but it maintains a vibe in-keeping with the source material and defines some exposure for which to fly...
Review Alien Breed: Impact (PlayStation 3)
Alien Breed: Impact is a claustrophobic attempt at revitalising a classic genre
It certainly packs plenty of atmosphere across its five or so hour campaign; but some control quirks, and drawn-out mission design make it hard to stomach in long stretches. Alien Breed is a Team-17 classic. Released on the Amiga in the early-1990's, the game was a...
Review Pinball Heroes: Modnation Racers (PlayStation Portable)
There are some neat tricks in Pinball Heroes' presentation of Modnation Racers, but in all the table is a little flat
Perhaps the neatest part of the Modnation Racers Pinball Heroes table is its nod towards the formers creation aspect. Flipping the ball inside the Mod and Kart caverns changes the background of the table, with different designs...
Review Widget's Odyssey II (PlayStation Minis)
Widget's Odyssey II is a simple little platform game with a decent narrative driving it
Sadly, the game's agonisingly short. What's a couple of quid worth? A pint of beer, perhaps. A ploughman's sandwich. Widget's Odyssey II will last longer than both, but not by much. The game picks up from the last Widget's Odyssey title. The adorably annoying...
Review Pinball Heroes: Fat Princess (PlayStation Portable)
The Fat Princess table in Pinball Heroes depicts the chaos of a stalemate in its source material, but it leads to a busy and complicated experience
One thing Pinball Heroes is good at is providing a pinball experience similar to the source material it's based on. The Fat Princess table carries over virtually every element you'd expect it to. Caught...
Review Pinball Heroes: Wipeout HD Fury (PlayStation Portable)
Pinball Heroes' Wipeout HD table is probably the most accessible of the bunch and it also happens to look fantastic
Wipeout HD is a game that's inherently pretty. Pinball Heroes' Wipeout table therefore, is similarly dreamy. Staying true to the source material, the Wipeout table in Pinball Heroes is all about large blocks of colour. Taking the...
Review Pinball Heroes: MotorStorm (PlayStation Portable)
MotorStorm might be one of the more plain Pinball Heroes' tables, but some great artwork makes up for the limited number of on-screen objects
Many of Pinball Heroes tables opt for complicated, detailed stages with numerous objects from their source material. The MotorStorm table is not like that. There's a truck placed in the mid-section of the...
Clearly inspired by the catalogue of Robert Rodriguez and Streets Of Rage, Shank is a gritty yet childish beat-'em-up romp through 2D plains
The story - which is told through a sequence of flash-backs - is merely justification for the violence; but this is a revenge tale. It's an angry, messy game set to the visual style of a children's cartoon, and...
Review Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (PlayStation 3)
The polarizing rag-tag duo Kane and Lynch return for a notably low-brow outing in Shanghai
Teaming up for a final "smuggling operation", events turn decidedly sour when Kane unwittingly takes out the daughter of a corrupt government official, Shangsi. The plot is littered with some pretty uncomfortable moments, but it primarily takes a...
Review Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter (PlayStation Minis)
Those who persevere with Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter will be rewarded with a satisfying experience, but the methodical pacing and lack of variety will not be to everyone's liking
Originally released for the PC in the last 1990's, Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter cashed in on the burgeoning hunting genre that was exploding at the time. Opting to meander...
Review Fly Fu (PlayStation Minis)
There's a bizarre and creepy charm to Fly Fu's presentation, but repetitive gameplay takes much of the sheen off the game's novelty
Fly Fu is weird. Invictus' side-scrolling brawler uses a combination of doodles and dead flies to make up its graphical style. It's certainly makes for a unique look, and it works better than you might think. Being...
Review PixelJunk Racers: 2nd Lap (PlayStation 3)
By focusing on the underlying competitive nature of PixelJunk Racers, 2nd Lap is worthy add-on that will bring newcomers and veterans alike back to the PixelJunk franchise's roots
Being an early PlayStation Network release, and the first in the PixelJunk franchise, a large proportion of the PlayStation 3's user-base are unlikely to have experienced...
Review Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (PlayStation 3)
Boy meets girl
Boy falls in love with girl. So far, so cliche? Not quite — see, there's a twist to Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers' burgeoning relationship; Scott must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to go on a date with her. Thus ensues the perfect set-up for a seven-stage beat 'em up game moulded around classics such as Final...
Review Earthworm Jim HD (PlayStation 3)
Essentially a re-release of the Mega Drive (/Genesis) version of Earthworm Jim with pretty visuals and a few bells and whistles; Earthworm Jim HD is extremely faithful to its original 16-bit counter-part
Sadly, the original game wasn't brilliant even in its day. The platforming and level design remain second-fiddle, with the game's focus being on...
Review Arcade Darts (PlayStation Minis)
Arcade Darts lacks the tactile response of arrow-throwing that's become a standard on touch screen platforms; but it works with the hardware it's got
You end up with an intuitive arcade sports title with plenty of replay value, even if the learning curve is a bit steep at first. Darts games are hard to make. If you give the player a cursor, they can...
Review Young Thor (PlayStation Minis)
Young Thor's another PlayStation Mini that transcends the quality of its peers
The game's relatively short, and the controls can be fiddly and unresponsive — but the action's rewarding enough to warrant the asking price more than twice over. Playing as Thor, the God of Thunder, you're tasked with the rescue mission of three Norn maidens who have...
Review DeathSpank (PlayStation 3)
Loosely tied together by a plot about as thin as its titular heroes' thong, DeathSpank is a hack-and-slash title written by legendary industry comic, Ron Gilbert
DeathSpank spreads its plot pretty thin, sending you on a lengthy quest in order to recover a mysterious object known as The Artifact. What ensues is a series of fetch quests in which you...
Review Star Hammer Tactics (PlayStation Minis)
Star Hammer Tactics does its best Advance Wars impression with mixed results
The gameplay is solid, but the lack of variety and a downright depressing visual style detract from the overarching experience. Clearly inspired by Nintendo's own flag-ship strategy title, Advance Wars, Star Hammer Tactics is a simple turn-based title for the PlayStation...
Review 5-In-1 Arcade Hits (PlayStation Minis)
5-In-1 Arcade Hits stretches the definition of "arcade hits", but offers enough content to make it an enjoyable way to pass the time
5-In-1 Arcade Hits is not a compilation of Time Crisis, Crazy Taxi, WrestleMania, House Of The Dead 2 and OutRun. Sadly not. It's more a classic games compilation — meh, whatever, semantics. We could get caught up...
Review Everybody's Tennis (PlayStation Portable)
If you've ever wished for an old-school RPG where the battle system's replaced by smashes and strawberries and cream, then Everybody's Tennis will be a dream come true
This is a fun (and surprisingly deep) sports game dressed in an uber-cutesy Japanese exterior. The Everybody's (or Hot Shots if you're an American type) franchise has always been...
Review Singularity (PlayStation 3)
As Captain Renko, a modern-day military operative, you're sent by the US to investigate an unusual Russian Cold War-era research island known as Katorga-12
It's clear bad stuff is going down there, because after a pretty brutal helicopter crash, you find yourself warped from the ruined propaganda-laden halls of the island in the present day, to the...
Review Naughty Bear (PlayStation 3)
Naughty Bear's probably the best PlayStation anti-hero since the God Of War himself, Kratos
The mis-understood plushy just wants to be everybody's friend. But he's constantly ignored by the other bears of Paradise Island, who'd rather laugh at him than invite him to groovy birthday bashes. Naturally, this all results in the scorned super-ted turning...
