Pads & Panels

Title: “Smasher Pack” DLC for Red Faction: Guerrilla

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB Rating: M

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Volition

Review by: Kevin Haverty

The third round of DLC for Red Faction: Guerrilla expands “Wrecking Crew,” the offline pass-the-controller multiplayer mode. The “Smasher Pack” contains eight new maps and a new play mode called “Behemoth.”

Six of the stages blend in with the stages included on disc and offer more of the same. The remaining two feature some of the hardest to destroy structures encountered in the single-player campaign. Those two maps, “Expansion” and “Imperial,” add an overwhelming feeling. They require strategy and quick wits for the frantic pace of Wrecking Crew. It is a shame that only those two maps stand out. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile

Platform: XBLA

ESRB: M

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Developer: Ska Studios

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai was a surprise favorite of mine that I didn’t discover until last year, but I was glad that I did. Two-dimensional side-scrolling beat-‘em-ups are a personal favorite of mine, which may or may not be a byproduct of the games I grew up with, but I instantly fell in love with the art style and the fast-paced action of Dead Samurai. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Splatterhouse

Platform: 360 (PS3)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Nacmo Bandai Games

Developer: BottleRocket, Namco Bandai

Rating:

Review by: Peter David

The name “Splatterhouse” may conjure a B-movie marathon, or an adrenalin-pumping hard-boiled death trap with no escape. The word takes me back to my childhood. I remember playing the original title on a friend’s console. It was one of the few times when you could play an almost-villain. Yeah, the player had to save a girl, but in the meantime relish pounding the living crap out of everything. It also helped that I had a “Friday the 13th” fetish, so when the protagonist put on a glowing hockey mask, I played him like Jason Vorhees.

That was many moons ago, and with my dark childhood aside, I grew and changed with the industry. But it was with great interest that “Splatterhouse 2010” arrived on my doorstep. After placing the disc inside my beloved 360, I came to the immediate conclusion that…this game is not for children. I cannot emphasize this enough. No one who cannot legally enter an “R” rated film should be allowed to even view this. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Platform: PSP

ESRB: M

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Ready at Dawn, SCE Santa Monica Studio

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

God of War is a series that was never meant for the PlayStation Portable. The series’ characters, stories and environments were all epic in scope from the very start, meant for a big screen, preferably in high-definition, on which Kratos can scale the sides of monstrous beasts, tearing them to shreds to the tune of gallons of blood. That said, despite the handicap of a smaller screen, less disc space and inferior specs, Ready at Dawn has just proven twice in a row that they can use what the PlayStation Portable has got to make a pretty darn good adaptation of God of War on the go. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Fallout: New Vegas

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

There has been much talk of whether or not Fallout: New Vegas is really worth the time, effort and, most importantly, money. It’s been labeled little more than an ‘expansion pack’ by its detractors, and much has been said about Obsidian Entertainment’s inability to get rid of many of Fallout 3’s bugs and glitches in this installment. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Halo: Reach

Platform: 360

ESRB: M

Publisher: Microsoft

Developer: Bungie

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones and Dan Braun

The Campaign

Halo: Reach, Bungie’s farewell to the series, serves as a prequel to the core trilogy. Taking place in 2552, the latest game in the Halo series tells the tale of the fall of Reach, which leads into Halo: Combat Evolved. Or rather, it would do greater justice to the UNSC’s Noble Team to say Reach tells the tale of their heroic last stand.

Reach has served as the heart of UNSC military power, and in many ways is an Earth-like hub for the human race…and home to the elite Spartan forces. The Covenant have launched an attack on the planet unlike any other, however, and this could be the team’s chance to give humanity one final hope. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Mafia II

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: 2K Czech

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

More than three years after the first trailer was released, Mafia II is finally on store shelves. And while Mafia II gets a lot of things right – mostly on the storytelling side – it’s going to leave a lot of people wondering what 2K Czech spent all that development time doing on the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. But despite that, Mafia II still has a few fun tricks up its designer sleeves. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Iron Man 2

Platform: 360 (PS3, Wii, PSP)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega Studios San Francisco

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

Games like Iron Man 2 only reinforce the stereotype that movie franchise games tend to allow for the quality to be completely thrown out the window in favor of getting it on shelves by the time the movie premieres. It also shows that the best of intentions don’t always pan out. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Red Dead Redemption

Platform: 360 (PS3)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Developer: Rockstar San Deigo

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

The Western is a dying genre. Kids aren’t outside playing Cowboys & Indians anymore. Western films have been few and far between, and recent ones haven’t been given wide releases. Unless of course, we count the recent adaption of Jonah Hex, but that crapfest would hurt the case for the Western.

A great reflection of society’s one time love for the Wild West and current disinterest in it could be summed up with Woody’s plight in the Toy Story series. Thankfully Rockstar dug up the Red Dead Revolver franchise and crafted an amazing Western experience with it in Red Dead Redemption. (more…)

 Print This Post

Title: Singularity

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Raven Software

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

I might not be the bravest soul out there when it comes to video games or movies, but if I have to shut it off for the night, the developers must be doing something right. Singularity started getting to me early on, and I must say I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Even though the game’s creepy vibe wore off, Singularity plays out like a compilation of gaming’s greatest shooter gimmicks of all time, and boy is it an enjoyable ride. But we’ll get to that in a moment. (more…)

 Print This Post