Category Archive

Reviews

Borderlands 2 | Review

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Joshua Rust

Pandora. It’s been a few years since we last met … my how you have changed. Gone are the dull browns and bleak backdrops. Vanished is the weak storyline. Gearbox didn’t just rest on their laurels and pump out a sequel that is just like its predecessor. No, Gearbox has taken Borderlands shoved it into a metamorphic pod and created a whole new improved animal. A game that takes everything the original was and turns it into something even more incredible. The hardest choice was picking which character to start out with because all four look so great. Maya, the

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LittleBigPlanet Vita | Review

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Jason Bassett

What do you get when you take a humongous game that is based on your own imagination and you shrink it down to fit in your hands? That is LittleBigPlanet for the Playstation Vita. LBP Vita is an original release for the Sony’s newest handheld and one that many gamers have been waiting for and it’s now here to play. So what makes this version of Little BigPlanetVita so endearing to fans is it’s cutesy way of telling a story, it’s simple yet in-depth gameplay that just has a way with you when you play a game like this. If

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NBA 2K13 | Review

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Broken Joysticks

It’s October so it’s probably that time again for Visual Concepts and 2K Sports annual iteration of the NBA 2K series with NBA 2K13. NBA 2K13 was released on October 2nd across all major platforms (360, Wii, PS3, PC, Mobile, PSP & Wii-U) the only system that is not receiving the title are the Nintendo 3DS and oddly the PlayStation Vita. The cover artists for this year’s game are Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. This marks the first time three stars together make up

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Sonic Adventure 2 HD | Review

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Jason Bassett

Oh Sega. You have come a long way since the Sonic the Hedgehog reboot for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. You have been trying your hardest to give us a great Sonic game since those days where you were at your lowest point. With the last games: Sonic Generations and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episodes I and II, it seems as though you’re starting to come back into good graces with the fans. With Sonic Adventure 2 HD and the plethora of other old Dreamcast titles, it seems as though Sega is going back to the past to look

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Dishonored | Review

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Jesse Lord

What would you do with a drunken whaler, What would you do with a drunken whaler, What would you do with a drunken whaler, Early in the morning? High towers rise up, overlooking long-neglected ruins.  Plague runs rampant throughout many of the city’s districts.  Houses and apartments are fitted with reinforced blast doors, the sign of another family lost to the powerful and fatal disease.  Train cars trundle about down the narrow streets, brimming with canvas-wrapped bodies.  Corrupt and power-drunk city watchmen prowl the streets, looking for any opportunity to inflict pain and suffering on the survivors.  Huge whaling ships

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Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron | Review

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Eric Bastelak

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is the sequel to the surprise hit Transformers: War For Cybertron. I managed to miss the predecessor, but thanks to some friends here at Broken Joysticks I got my hands on the sequel. Man does it feel good to be playing a good transformers game. The Transformers franchise has not been treated so well in recent years. With those terrible movies and all, I’m glad to see developer High Moon Studios has such high respect for the source material.

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Persona 4 Arena | Review

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Eric Bastelak

Wait a second an RPG is transcending it’s genre and making the leap to…a fighting game? I couldn’t believe the precedent being created when Persona 4 Arena was announced. I had an even harder time believing that such a drastic leap away from the norm could turn out so well. Yes dear readers P4 Arena is not only a competent fighter, it is also a great one. Can you believe it? This sets the stage so that other fighters could possibly become RPGs or something completely different. Man we live in one exciting time. Well here we go let’s talk

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ClaDun x2 | Review

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Les Major

ClaDun x2 is a fun and portable (if you’re playing the PSP version) adventure in the latest action RPG system from NIS. Much like the PS3 release of Legasista on PSN, ClaDun x2 lets you explore random dungeons, enjoy an unfolding classic NIS storyline and get to know a complex but enjoyable system.

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Dead or Alive 5 | Review

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Jason Fayta

Version tested:  PlayStation 3 Dead or Alive 5 (hereafter DOA5) is now available on consoles, almost seven years after the previous installment, and it doubles as the series’ debut on PlayStation 3. You have to go all the way back to the year 2000 when Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore graced the PlayStation 2 for the last entry on Sony’s hardware. But before I get too far into the review, I want to talk a little about the father of Dead or Alive, Tomonobu Itagaki. Tomonobu Itagaki, creator and former lead of Team Ninja, unceremoniously resigned from Tecmo (now Tecmo Koei)

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Tekken Tag Tournament 2 | Review

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Jason Fayta

Version tested:  PlayStation 3 Tekken returns to tag after a 12 year hiatus from consoles with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (hereafter TTT2), the sequel to, that’s right, Tekken Tag Tournament. 12 years is a long time to wait for a proper follow-up to one of the more popular entries in the venerable Tekken series; does Namco Bandai drop the Tekken Ball or is TTT2 the new King of the Iron Fist? TTT2 is the eighth main installment in the Tekken series and it is a non-canon entry, like the original Tekken Tag Tournament. TTT2 embraces its dream match premise, and in turn

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New Super Mario Bros. 2 | Review

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Les Major

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a true sequel to the original DS title, following a similar flow and feeling to the overall game. If you’ve been eager for more levels to explore in the traditional Mario platformer style, this game is for you. There is a lot of content we’ve come to know and love in Mario games, as well as a mix of new surprises here. There’s red coins to collect in a short time frame, three star coins per level, and invisible blocks scattered about ready to be discovered. Building on that the prominent feature of this

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Madden NFL 13 | Review

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Seung Lee

Just as the sun always comes up in the morning, there’s a new Madden game out every year. Back when Madden NFL 12 was released, I heard some people mutter the words, “another year, another Madden.” Admittedly, I haven’t played a Madden game in a while (in fact, the last game I played was 2005!), but this year’s edition definitely feels like it tries to break the mold that’s built up on the franchise over the years.

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Legasista | Review

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Les Major

If you’re a fan of NIS games and enjoy action RPG’s like Secret of Mana, this is a game you may enjoy. While it doesn’t feature the vast explorable world like Secret of Mana featured, it does have the random dungeons and intense leveling you’ve come to expect from NIS. That being said, you may want to skip this review if you’re already planning to get the game. I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers but due to the gentle learning curve in the game it’s hard to not somewhat spoil the content of the first five worlds you visit.

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Papo & Yo | Review

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Broken Joysticks

How to describe Papo & Yo, a seemingly innocent little platform puzzler currently available on the PSN for $14.99? A small boy and a giant monster running through a dreamscape of South American slums trying to navigate a world of rust and bizarre whitewashed brick, this game is equal parts enchanting and subversive. It gives an impression of childlike innocence at first but gradually it becomes darker in more and more obvious ways, especially when the main character, a 10 year old boy named Quico, ends up getting repeatedly mauled by the large monster who runs around him. I can’t

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