XBOX 360

Good science fiction creates future worlds in order to discuss issues important to the present day. Remember Me, an action adventure game set in 2084 Paris, does just this by looking at class disparity through a setting where the rich enjoy access to memory manipulation technology and the poor live in slums haunted by the monstrous cast-offs of this uneven system. This story is the most successful...

Return to the Old west with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Ready? To be honest, I can’t really believe I’m reviewing a Call of Juarez game. I don’t believe it because the last entry in the western FPS series was panned across the board by critics earning itself an abysmal metacritic score of 47/100. But since when has Polish developer Techland cared what critics thought?...

Neocore Games is best known for its King Arthur real-time strategy games. In them the developer blends Arthurian legend with a heavy dose of inspiration from The Creative Assembly's Total War franchise to make something that, while not quite new, is unique nonetheless. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing follows the studio's tradition, combining a distinctive videogame genre — this time an action RPG in the style of...

The inclusion of state-of-the-art realism in modern videogames is a tricky topic with many avenues available to development teams keen to push the envelope. Some will burn through millions of dollars ensuring that the latest and greatest shooter to hit the market has the most ultra-realistic environments available. Others will be content with engineering a lopsided museum of modern art and merely encourage...

Probably the highest compliment that can be paid to Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine is the same that could be given to any of the best entries to the stealth/action genre — that the game is as fun in slow, thoughtful moments as it is when all hell breaks loose. Considering that each of Monaco's missions are comprised of delicate heists where a single slip-up will set off alarms...

Know When to Hold ‘Em When Poker Night at the Inventory was released in 2010, Telltale Games was a relatively unknown developer. The company had a small but loyal following amongst the glorious PC master race due to episodic classics such as Sam and Max and Tales of Monkey Island, yet they were hardly a mainstream player. Things are much different...

Are You Ready For The Rad-ness? The typical kind of DLC gamers expect now is pretty pedestrian; some new skins for characters or weapons, or if you’re really lucky, a new, bite sized adventure that carries on the shenanigans of the core game that was originally purchased. Ubisoft however, have done something unusual; the latest add-on, downloadable content to last year’s Far Cry 3 has absolutely nothing...

There's a certain kind of party where before you've even managed to remove your jacket and shoes you're pretty sure you want to leave. A quick glance around the room and you notice that only one other person (who you don't even like) has shown up. There's no music on and the host is in a bad mood. You've come, though, and it would be...

Finally the school yard arguments can be settled. Who would win in a fight between Batman and Wonder Woman? Could the Flash run circles around Green Lantern? Would Doomsday really kill Superman in a rematch? Injustice: Gods Among Us might not send out the signal through its title to anyone other than the most dedicated DC fan, but this just might be the finest superhero fighting game to ever...

If you haven’t been following the development of Defiance, roughly two years ago the SyFy channel finally got the ball rolling on their dream to create a trans-media event. They made a single universe split down the center of your television screen. Coming in through the cable box is a weekly, hour long science fiction show about a human-alien colony trying to survive in a dystopian version of St....

Minecraft launched a thousand "me too" copycats after its inception -- many of which offer the same experience with slight tweaks, and others still that attempt a unique overhaul in every way. Terraria falls into the latter camp, taking obvious inspiration from Notch's sandbox powerhouse and putting a unique side-scrolling spin on the formula. It evokes quite a few genres and it's an exciting alternative to those who feel...

It’s pretty obvious just by reading the title that Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel is meant to be played with a friend. You and your friend (or AI partner if you decide to go about this game alone) will work your way through each scenario, for the most part, together, and that’s the best part about this game. Playing with a friend is enjoyable; figuring out who is...

Poking The Beehive When Bioshock first landed on consoles many console veterans didn’t know what to expect. PC gamers, on the other hand, expected a dark, moody, atmospheric game that breathed life into its characters via audio recordings, and put players through a gaming experience by turns filled with unique mechanics and occasionally even threw out some scares. What no one expected was the level of uncompromising...

Q-School I may not be the biggest golf fan in the world but the game has certainly been a familiar friend over the course of my life. When I was in my early teens I actually played golf on a regular basis. I was never the best, and it was common for me to turn in scores of 110 or even 120 on the par 72 course....

Going into Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, I had next to no experience with the franchise, aside from a couple brief matches with one of the earlier games in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series. I haven’t ever read the manga nor have I seen an episode of the anime. So I went into this game as a complete blank slate Naruto-wise, and that had me a little nervous....

DarkStalkers Resurrection is a competent re-release and upgrade to a storied, and somewhat neglected franchise. The only real let-down is the lack of the sheer shine of a new title - but, the wait for fans is over, in some sense of the word. It may be something we've played upwards of 15 years ago - but for Morrigan junkies, it's better than nothing. Street Fighter ,...

Gears of War Judgment: An Extraordinary Rendition? Gears of War 3 was a rarity in blockbuster games, in that its ending provided a sense of closure. Epic’s decision to shut the door is understandable; over the course of two sequels, the successful formula was polished, tweaked, and embellished upon until the law of diminishing returns could be staved off no longer. Considering that the franchise seemed to...

New Beginnings Reboots have been a pretty big thing in recent years. They have a singular purpose; taking an established property that is well known—and perhaps a tad too familiar to audiences by this point—and going back to the start. Reboots tinker with origins, change details and subsequently perceptions of the property, hopefully also changing the attitude of the audience, making a stale character seem new, fresh...

One of the prettiest shooter franchises in modern memory is back for another high jumping, car kicking, cloaking good time. Crysis 3 again has players nano-suiting it up as series protagonist "Prophet" returns to New York City 23 years after the events of Crysis 2. It's the city so nice the series has visited twice. This time around the bright lights of the city that never sleeps have been...

Omerta: City of Gangsters is the latest title from one of my favourite simulation developers Haemimont Games best known for their work on the Tropico series. Traditionally, Tropico is rife with political commentary and caricatures of political figures and ideals. Omerta: City of Gangsters on the other hand, is a bit of a different direction for the developer. This time, instead of skewering global politics, Hamimont Games has decided...