Tag Archives: Cover Art

Review: Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2

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Platform: Nintendo DS (also on Nintendo 3DS)

Developer: Cerasus Media

Publisher: Rising Star Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

Match-3 puzzle games have a certain healthy reliability to them and while it adds a few new twists to the formula, Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2 is a pretty solid budget game for entry level to veteran genre fans. While it’s not packing fancy HD visuals or flashy special effects, there’s a nicely addictive feel to the gameplay that makes for a game worth replaying multiple times. Featuring three game modes, 100 levels and an interesting resource gathering mechanic that really needs to be expanded on in any future games in this series, CoE2 makes foe a rather cool gift for puzzle fans of any age.

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Review: Thundercats

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Platform: Nintendo DS

Developer: Aspect Digital Entertainment

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site
Score: C (70%)

There’s a decidedly old-school mentality to Aspect Digital Entertainment’s Thundercats that makes it somewhat compelling despite its flaws. It’s not innovative in any respect, but doesn’t need to be because it works well enough for what it’s aiming for. Then again, if you’re only looking for a side-scrolling beat-em up with timed stages, colorful but straightforward visuals and a ton of unlockable artwork and music, you’ll appreciate what’s here a great deal more than some snooty critic who demands innovation in every modern game they play. What’s here is fairly simple, definitely not for casual players (trust me, it’s a total ball-buster in parts) and packed with plenty of cheap enemies and bosses. while far from gaming perfection, it’s very reminiscent of plenty of quarter muncher beat-em-ups that crowded arcades in their heyday.

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Review: Ragnarok Odyssey

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Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Game Arts

Publisher: Xseed Games

# of Players: 1 (online 1 – 4)

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Another key Vita game hitting stores and PSN at a prime point in a pretty busy year, Ragnarok Odyssey is one of the better JRPGs on the handheld thanks to addictive, fast-paced gameplay, plenty of tough enemies in offline single and online multiplayer modes and lots of lovely visuals and sound to groove on as you play. The game clicks in just about every area and fans of Ragnarok Online and the under-appreciated Ragnarok DS will be pleased to know that the game has enough familiar elements that it feels like a natural extension of those games that can be enjoyed on its own merits. The game is so good that the only major flaws here are some lock-on issues and the lack of a PlayStation 3 version or the ability for Cross Play functionality. The PS3 could use a decent new MMO/Action RPG experience and this would have been superb had GungHo Online and developer Game Arts seen fit to bring the game to that console.

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Import Review: Earth Defense Forces 3 Portable

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Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: SANDLOT

Publisher: D3Publisher

# of Players: 1 – 4

CERO Rating: C (Ages 15+)

Official Site (Japan)

Score: A (95%)

Much more than a straightforward port of the former Xbox 360 exclusive, Earth Defense Forces 3 Portable comes screaming onto the Vita as the game developer Sandlot most likely wanted to make in the first place. The return of Pale Wing and her energy-based weaponry (from EDF 2 on the PS2 and PSP) adds a new way to experience the game, while an up to four-player co-op mode, rebalanced and all-new weapon drops, new enemy types, trophies galore and seven new levels makes this an absolute must-buy for anyone with a Vita. While the import is indeed entirely in Japanese, the fact that the game is coming to the US this winter in English means Vita owners here have a great game in the pipeline that will get plenty of play and replay. For those who’ve played the 360 version to death, there’s definitely enough new content there to get you equally obsessed (and yes, perhaps it’s time to get that Vita if you’ve been on the fence).

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Rockstar Games Collection Edition 1: Instant Gift Idea For The Open World Novice

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Rockstar does it again, folks. With so much content packed onto a single disc, this set is a pretty stellar deal no matter how you slice it. For the price of one game ($59.99), you’re getting FOUR of the company’s biggest titles spanning this current console cycle.  Come November 6, 2012, PS3 and Xbox 360 owners looking to try some great games they haven’t gotten around to just yet (or those who want a great gift for a friend or relative who’s never played an open world game previously) will soon have one of the best deals to date. Here’s what’s in the collection? Just check below the jump for some cut & past action (Hey! it’s late and I need some sleep – been up playing a ton of games again)…

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Silent Hill: Book of Memories Hands-On: The Reliable Chase & Chop Formula Always Rocks

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I was instantly intrigued by Silent Hill: Book of Memories when I first heard about coming exclusively to the Vita. The fact that veteran developer WayForward Technologies got the gig was cool enough, but as soon as I saw early screenshots showing the game was a top-down action RPG hybrid, it went on my radar as something to watch.  Of course, me being so stupidly busy trying to get DAF more noticed and generate some income (hey, I like being a taxpayer!) meant I’d forgotten to check in on things until recently when a demo dropped on PSN. Not too surprisingly, the team has whipped up an extremely addictive action-heavy blast that’s sure to draw in those who crave tightly focused dungeon crawlers in all their knocking off of monsters and gathering of much loot glory.

While the BoM demo isn’t as initially creepy or instantly unsettling as previous games in the franchise, it has enough going for it that promises plenty. In terms of gameplay, it rocks in the manner of the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath and Hunter the Reckoning series. Naturally, some Silent Hill fanatics are raging over this intensely all over the internet, but let me put some sanity into place here by saying the game not only looks and plays well, it works as a Silent Hill game once you get over the fact that it’s the most combat-focused entry in the series history. The game deviates from the SH formula in a few key ways, but it also taps into what makes the series compelling. If you’re familiar with the above mentioned titles and love this type of game, I’ll bet you’re grinning already…

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The Last Story: Great Game, But That Deluxe Packaging Is A Pain

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So, the copy of The Last Story I recently ordered finally arrived today and while I’m pleased as punch about this (the game is running in the background as I type this post), whomever designed the outer sleeve for the otherwise wonderful game packaging needs a spanking or something. The “book” design of the slipcase that protects the game and lovely art book gets an “A” overall, but after than, it’s a bit goofy.

I understand that yes, the “book” should open like a book, but that outer cover protective flap thing? Er, what the what are gamers supposed to DO with it once they open the package? It’s not going to fit inside the box, the two front flaps on the blasted thing stick up like gull-wing doors on a DeLorean and storing it like a book on a bookshelf is a bit of a lame idea (especially if you don’t have a proper bookshelf or like me, your bookshelf is packed to the gills with other games). Hmmm… maybe I should design a case for the case? Eh, not enough time, nor enough patience to fiddle with constructing something like that. Oh well – off to see if this Story is as great as it looks. I like Mistwalker’s games, so I intend to be suitably impressed when it’s necessary.  Back in a bit…

Need Another Reason to Beat Up on Star Wars? Try Installing Knights of the Old Republic On A PC That SHOULD Play It…

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With few exceptions, I haven’t had any major issues installing and running older games on my PC, but every once in a while, I get hit with a problem child. While I’m still using Windows XP, I have more than enough memory, an external HDD and a pretty decent nVidia video card (that runs almost everything I’ve thrown at it  just fine). Overall, I’m pleased with the results (especially as I don’t play many modern shooters or games that demand an annual or biannual update to a new card just to show off nice and shiny stuff but deliver nothing new in terms of gameplay).  Anyway, I finally got stymied big time by of all things, one of my favorite console games I just picked up in its PC incarnation. Worse still, it seems that a lot of other people are having the same (or even more extreme) problems once they manage to install this classic.

Since it was released on the original Xbox back in 2002, I’ve replayed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic at least once a year because it’s a damn good game and like a good book, it deserves a fresh read every so often. After a few years of ignoring the PC port (I was perfectly pleased with digging out the console version), I finally decided to pick up a copy of the PC version mostly to see how it would look at a higher resolution and with whatever improvements any patches added. Turns out, it was Darth Glitchy working the production droids to death in some sweatbox on Dantooine and giving Jabba the Hutt his 70% cut of the profits, as I can’t even get the damned game to install, let alone play…

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Got Kids? Prepare For A Moshi Monsters Moshlings Invasion on DS & 3DS

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If you’ve got wee ones around ages 6 – 12 who are online savvy and enjoy a bit of allowed and supervised social game time, you’ve probably heard of Moshi Monsters, one of the latest (and hugest) virtual pet worlds online today. 65 million registered users is nothing to sneeze and and now Mind Candy is taking the fun to Nintendo DS and 3DS systems on October 30, 2012 with Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park, which looks to be one of those interesting hybrid games that lets players interact offline while also granting them access to new online content through a few fun means.

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Review: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

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Platform: PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)

Developer: High Moon Studios

Publisher: Activision

# of Players: 1 (Online 2 – 12)

ESRB Rating; T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

High Moon Studios swings hard for the fences with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, and while not quite a clean home run (it’s more of a hard rocket shot that clangs off the correct side of the foul pole into the stands), the game manages to be a fantastic follow up to Transformers: War on Cybertron, despite the loss of co-op play and the twin campaign structure.  Previous experience with the last game isn’t really necessary for any player to hop in and have a blast, but A true Transformers fan will tell you that you’ll need to know where the story began before tackling what’s here. It’s definitely going to help in terms of understanding what’s going on in all the chaos, as the game assumes you’re playing it because you’ve been around for the first installment. FoC is also packed with fan service in the form of in-jokes, references to the cartoons and the animated movie and more hidden goodies than you can shake a Minicron at.

(Although, shaking a Minicron would probably not be a good thing to do unless you were really mad at it for knocking over a vase onto that napping cat by “accident” or something…)

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