Pads & Panels

Title: 3D Dot Game Heroes

Platform: PS3

ESRB: E

Publisher: Atlus

Developer: From Software

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

It seems telling that my favorite current game on the PS3 is one that is heavily inspired by a nearly 20-year-old Super Nintendo game. It either says something about modern video games or me, but I’d like to think it’s the latter. However, I’ve made no secret my admiration for nostalgia-laden games, so it should surprise no one that I’ve fallen in love with 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Coming across like a bizarro world mash-up of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and any of the countless Lego games, 3D Dot Game Heroes is steeped in old-school elements and references to games from the past. Featuring a nameless hero tasked with the mission of retrieving six mystical orbs from six different temples in order to fight an evil priest trying to glean power from an evil orb. (more…)

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Title: “Drake’s Fortune Multiplayer Pack” DLC for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Platform: PS3

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Naughty Dog

Review by: Bill Jones

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an absolutely fantastic game. It’s so good we gave it the #1 spot on our list of Best Games of 2009. So it’s hard not to want more. And given, it impressed more on the side of its fantastic story integration in the single-player campaign, but its multiplayer mode happens to be a lot of fun as well, so as fans we’ll definitely settle for more on the multiplayer side of the game. “Drake’s Fortune Multiplayer Pack” as its name implies brings gamers back to the first title with two new maps inspired by the first game – The Flooded Ruins and The Facility. The former features the focal point of the Customs House, and it’s smart to keep a vertical eye on enemies. The latter is almost symmetrical, working around a U-Boat in The Bunker. It’s fantastic for elimination games. The $5.99 total package also includes six skins based on characters or variations from the first titles, as well as 12 new Trophies. (more…)

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Title: Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Platform: PS3

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Insomniac Games

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Insomniac Games may have found a piece of success in the crowed shooter market after introducing the Resistance series on the PlayStation 3, but that hasn’t stopped the developer from returning to its classic, cartoony action-adventure series that originated on the PlayStation 2, Ratchet & Clank. The latest installment for the PlayStation 3, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, marks the ninth installment in the series across three platforms. It also marks Insomniac Games finest achievement to date, an amalgamation of everything the company has worked to create since the series was first introduced in 2002 – a masterpiece of its kind. (more…)

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Title: Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood

Platform: PC (Also Wii)

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

After escaping from the belly of a manatee then being a wingman for the same manatee, Guybrush is back at Flotsam Island for the fourth chapter of Telltale Games’ Tales of Monkey Island. He is welcomed with a summons to pirate court for his various crimes during the series. Each crime bears the death penalty, so Guybrush must channel his inner Phoenix Wright to save his neck.

Telltale brings back the slick talking Smilin’ Stan S. Stanman to face Guybrush in the courtroom as well as sell souvenirs outside the courtroom. It is great to see Stan back with his flailing limbs and trademark suit, where the texture stays stationary. (more…)

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Title: Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 3: Lair of Leviathan

Platform: PC (Also Wii)

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

In the third chapter of Tales of Monkey Island, our hero finds himself in inside a giant manatee during his search for La Sponge Grande. Guybrush needs to infiltrate the democratic pirates stranded in the belly of the beast and reconstruct the inner ear of the manatee so he can escape. Telltale Games proves its dedication to the Monkey Island franchise by bringing back another classic character and using him perfectly, with respect to the series. (more…)

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Title: Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay

Platform: PC (Also Wii)

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

Chapter 2 of Tales of Monkey Island kicks off by introducing the new adversary Morgan LeFlay, Mighty Pirate HunterTM. LeFlay makes a name for herself by cutting off Guybrush’s infected hand in order to cash in on the bounty. Guybrush, sans hand, then heads to the Spinner Cay, part of the Jerkbait Islands, to find his fiancée and get his mast repaired. While there the game keeps a good balance of a self-contained storyline for the chapter while keeping the overall arc of the series moving along.

As is usually the case with Telltale Games’ releases, the basic mechanics haven’t changed from chapter to chapter. Gamers control Guybrush as he talks to everyone who will listen, pilfer anything that isn’t nailed down and solve any puzzles along the way. (more…)

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Title: Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

Platform: PC (Also Wii)

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

In 1990, Guybrush Threepwood debuted across CRTs, uttering “I want to be a pirate!” And almost two decades later his dream is still alive. Telltale Games has revitalized the Monkey Island series for its newest episodic adventure series, Tales of Monkey Island. Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal kicks off the series a few years after the events of 2000′s Escape from Monkey Island.

”Launch of the Screaming Narwhal” begins with Guybrush trying out his new voodoo sword on LeChuck to save his wife, Elaine. Guybrush improvises with ingredients and the result turns LeChuck human while it curses Guybrush’s hand with the Pox of LeChuck. The ship explodes and Guybrush washes up on Flotsam Island. This lays the framework for the series as well as the first chapter, in which Guybrush must find a way off of the island. (more…)

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Title: Mini Ninjas

Platforms: 360 (Also on PS3, Wii, PC, DS)

ESRB Rating: E

Publisher: Eidos Interactive

Developer: IO Interactive

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

We all know looks can occasionally be deceiving. Well, that is exactly the case with Mini Ninjas, which will surely be overlooked by older gamers interested only in the latest gore-fest action-adventure or a flashier shooter.

Those who do pass up Mini Ninjas would not be entirely to blame for their mistake, either. The cover art displays main character Hiro and his buddy Futo with little fanfare, but more importantly shows them as approachable, smiling, family-friendly ninjas that parents would be comfortable with their children playing. With the box screaming “kid game,” and tradition dictating those games offer little to no enjoyment for the older crowd, some are going to miss out on the fun Mini Ninjas has to offer. In this case however, the kids luck out with a polished and quality action game brought to gamers by the people behind the Hitman series. (more…)

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Title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Platform: PS3

ESRB Rating: T

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Naughty Dog

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Sometimes innovation comes out of nowhere with a striking new idea that blindsides us and changes an industry. But more times than not, innovation is a gradual effort, where no one thing can be cited as the sole instigator of change. But still, in those gradual instances, there is often a point when that change is realized and credited to the epitome of its ideal.

The original Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune marked an early display of PlayStation 3’s power and Naughty Dog’s interest in bringing their skills to a more realistic (visually) gaming experience. Its story played out like an Indiana Jones movie with a good sense of humor, as Nathan Drake, a descendent of Sir Francis Drake, set about on a modern-day quest to find the legendary treasure of El Dorado. Along the way, Drake teamed up and played betrayal games with a dynamic set of characters, with explosive third-person gun-fighting action every step of the way.

But that’s neither here nor there with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. While fans of the first will have a slight edge and get a little bit more out of its sequel, Naughty Dog smartly creates an entirely new story, relying very little on the first, leaving Uncharted 2 accessible to new audiences, while also expanding on the characters people grew to love in the first installment. (more…)

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Title: Bionic Commando

Platform: 360 (Also on PS3)

ESRB Rating: M

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: GRIN

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

This game once appeared to have promise. Now, it is just a slew of could-have-been-fun moments mixed with downright boring gameplay.

As a sequel to the amazingly good and frustratingly difficult Bionic Commando Rearmed, the aptly named Bionic Commando stars Nathan “Rad” Spencer (voiced by Faith No More singer Mike Patton) in a third-person perspective action/adventure frenzy. Ascension City has been bombed with an experimental nuclear weapon, the population has been wiped out, and the bad guys have moved in, searching for an even more dangerous weapon. Cue the one man who can stop them! (more…)

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