After the release of Morrowind GOTY Edition and Star Wars KOTOR, 2003 must have seemed like heaven for Xbox RPG addicts who'd so far been starved for RPG action on the big black and green console. Well now there’s another way to feed the addiction with Dreamcatcher's release of Arx Fatalis. That’s not to say that Arx is better than either of the aforementioned RPGs, however, as it's not, but it more than holds its own and will surely develop its own little fan club. Arx has, however, been ported over brilliantly from … [Read more...]
Contract J.A.C.K.
Contract J.A.C.K. (Just Another Contract Killer) is Vivendi’s stand-alone expansion to the acclaimed hit No One Lives Forever 2, and it’s the third chapter in the NOLF series. It’s no secret that NOLF has quite a large and loyal fan base, and that’s for good reason. The games are fun, have style to spare and are predicated on everyone’s favorite gameplay model: blow stuff up. In Contract J.A.C.K. you take the roll of John Jack, the world’s most over-worked professional killer. John Jack is a gun for hire, and he doesn’t … [Read more...]
I-Ninja
Ahh, another ninja game, they seem to be coming out of the woodwork these days. From Ninja Gaiden to Shinobi, it seems we can’t get enough of the acrobatic "men in black." Now enter I-Ninja from Namco. At first glance, I-Ninja appears to be a simple little third-person action/platform game designed for young kids. But after a bit of time with it, you’ll find that while it does appeal to younger players, it offers a lot of variety for gamers of all ages. In I-Ninja, you play as the aptly (and so creatively) named … [Read more...]
SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
When Zipper Interactive unleashed SOCOM: US Navy SEALs on unsuspecting PS2 gamers just about a year ago, it was a smash title that made everyone stand up and take the PlayStation 2 Online service seriously. Xbox Live might have had the feature set, but Sony had SOCOM, and that was all it took to send gamers running to stores to pick up the nigh impossible to find PS2 Online adapter to play SOCOM online. Unfortunately for Sony, all this squad-based tactical online goodness was quickly spoiled by a flood of cheats making … [Read more...]
XIII
I’ll admit that I’m a huge fan of first-person-shooters. I will also admit that I was never a big fan of cel shaded graphics until I played a little game called Zelda: the Wind Waker that is. From my many wonderful hours with Zelda, I learned that cel shading could be used to produce some spectacular and amazing visuals that may not be possible using the standard "more realistic" graphics. While XIII may not be in the same league as Zelda in the graphics department, it does ooze with a style that fits the game to a tee. … [Read more...]
Battlestar Galactica
Remember when you were a kid and the awe you felt when you saw the incredible special effects as the Cylon Raiders duked it out with Colonial Vipers in the TV series Battlestar Galactica? Remember walking around mumbling "By your command, Imperious Leader" all the time? If you do, then you’ll be glad to hear that Vivendi’s latest game, Battlestar Galactica, brings back all the glory of the old sci-fi series! If you were a fan of the original series (not the watered-down Sci-Fi channel miniseries), you’re going to love … [Read more...]
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
If the most casual gamer around knows about a non-Nintendo series, it’s probably either Grand Theft Auto or Medal of Honor. Where those games are concerned, though, the reasons for their familiarity are quite different. One is a controversial genre-buster, the other is an addictive WWII shooter. You’re smart; you can guess which one Medal of Honor is. The most recent version of the successful Medal of Honor series, MoH: Rising Sun, takes gamers through the Pearl Harbor attack and straight into the heart of Japan. Saying … [Read more...]
XIII: The Best and Worst of Xbox Live
The first time we saw XIII in person was at E3 2003. At the time, whether it was because of the sheer number of games or because the game just stunk, we weren’t exactly impressed. When we got a copy to review, our initial impressions weren’t so hot either. Then we put some time into it, immersed ourselves in the story and style, and we realized the sky wasn’t falling. This isn’t a game you can appreciate immediately. Like a red wine, it needs to breathe a bit for you to appreciate its subtleties. When we hopped onto … [Read more...]
Beyond Good & Evil
Beyond Good & Evil is one of those games that came to us quietly, sneaking in, Sam Fisher-like, under everyone's radar. Gamers were either too immersed in Project Gotham Racing 2 or speculating on the possible release date of Halo 2 to even notice this amazing little treasure. And what a treasure BG&E is, as this is one game that has come to us in the form of an intelligent, visually stimulating multi-genre experience. Simply put, this game is amazing. The planet Hillys is at war with a vicious alien race known as the … [Read more...]
Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde
Let's be honest, real time strategy titles for consoles have been a pretty miserable lot over the past several years. I personally can't imagine a single one worth recommending, so it was with quite a bit of trepidation that I approached Jaleco's latest: Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde. This is Jaleco's first attempt at building an RTS, and amazingly enough; they did a bang-up job with it. It probably doesn't hurt that the Millar brothers of Warcraft and Starcraft fame headed up the development team either. One of … [Read more...]