Review: TANK! TANK! TANK!

tanktanktankPlatform: Wii U

Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

# of Players: 1 – 4

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

As a launch title for the Wii U, Namco Bandai’s TANK! TANK! TANK! may not look like a system seller, but look past its colorful arcade visuals and initially simple gameplay and you’ll find a fast-paced (and 100% tank focused) party game shooter that owes more than a little credit to Sandlot’s always fun Earth Defense Force series of games. In fact, the game manages to play almost exactly like an arcade version of EDF would, streamlining the experience down to timed stages, random weapon pickups that you can use instantly and a mix of assorted enemies from giant robotic spiders and wasps to some pretty wild bosses that need to be taken down as quickly as possible. Granted, blowing monsters into scrap metal over and over is all you do here in the main game whether playing in solo or co-op, so those seeking something deeper should look elsewhere. On the other hand, given that this is a rather enhanced port of an arcade game that offers much more than the original version, you SHOULD expect and respect the repetitive nature of the game to the fullest by diving in and shooting up the scenery as much as possible.
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey TV Spot 9 (And More To Come, I’ll Bet)…

 

Funny that some people flew all the way around the world to see this flick, but hey – I guess obsession makes one do some strange things. I couldn’t put my mind to doing that at all even if I could afford it, as hell, there’s not a damn thing wrong with the local cinema here. Well, except for it used to be swarming with stray cats (!), but that problem was taken care of years ago. You’d think a film so huge and anticipated wouldn’t need so many ads, but hey, this sort of thing is quite common and has been for a while. Still, I’m waiting for the day when an entire movie is split into a bunch of commercials and all one would need to do is record or download them all and piece the film together like some sort of digital jigsaw puzzle. Oh, it’ll happen eventually – I’m just ahead of the curve again.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Demo Arrives on PSN Tomorrow

Ni_No_Kuni_CoverNice. Namco Bandai is giving PS3 owners and JRPG fans an early holiday gift with the release of a two level demo from the upcoming (and eagerly anticipated) Level-5/Studio Ghibli game. In the demo, players can expect two tough boss battles against the Guardian of the Woods and Moltaan along with a load of absolutely gorgeous visuals and animation guaranteed to bring a smile to just about any face. Seriously – the game looks quite spectacular in screenshots and movies online, but when you see it in motion on an actual TV, it’s quite incredible. The full game arrives next month for the PS3 in North America on January 22nd 2013 and in Europe on January 25th 2013.

Review: Nintendo Land

Nintendo Land_CoverPlatform: Wii U

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo of America

# of Players: 1 – 5 (offline)

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 +)

Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

As a launch title for the Wii U (or more precisely, the included pack in for those of you who are interested in or have very wisely purchased the black Premium version of the console), Nintendo Land is, much like Wii Play and Wii Sports, a collection of mini-games that shows how versatile the new GamePad is. Nintendo’s new system has a controller that’s been misunderstood by some in the gaming press and too many people who hang on every word some of those sites print. Fortunately, the game not only mostly delivers the goods where it should, some of the mini-games here end up being memorable enough that one hopes Nintendo decides to expand upon some ideas on the disc in the near future.

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