Alice: Madness Returns (2P Review)

 Posted by at 2:28 pm  2P Reviews, Reviews
Jul 032011
 

Publisher: Electronic Arts / Developer: Spicy Horse / Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Kate: Alice: Madness Returns is a surprise sequel to 2000′s American McGee’s Alice, a game praised by critics at the time for wonderful (though now dated) visuals that made up for the average-to-mediocre gameplay. So how does the new installment stack up?

The gameplay has improved, thankfully. American McGee once stated that he wanted to be “the next Walt Disney, only a little more wicked,” but I’d posit that what he actually wants to be is a wicked Shigeru Miyamoto. He doesn’t quite reach Miyamoto’s level of brilliance, but it’s difficult to ignore how much the 3D platforming in Madness Returns owes to games like Super Mario 64, right down to the occasional rides on long, winding slides that containing lines of “coins” for you to try and collect. Continue reading »

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Brink (2P Review)

 Posted by at 9:19 pm  2P Reviews, Reviews
May 152011
 

Publisher: Bethesda / Developer: Splash Damage / Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Kate: Brink is a multiplayer first-person-shooter that touts a high degree of character customization, a parkour-inspired movement system, and a set of team classes that put emphasis on teamwork and team strategy. In April, Bethesda pushed the release date up a week, stating that production on the game had already wrapped.

This claim has come to seem a little questionable to some, after a release week that involved not one but two patches to fix major issues, and some areas of the game still feeling incomplete or unfinished. It seems that developer Splash Damage focused so much on the aspects of the game that would make it unique (the aforementioned character customization, parkour-inspired movement, and team classes), that they failed to devote enough time to establishing a solid foundation on which to put it all.

But that’s not to say this game isn’t worth your time. Despite several issues, we’ve been generally enjoying the game quite a bit. So before getting into all the things that could’ve been better, let’s talk a little about what they did right. What have you been liking about the game so far, James? Continue reading »

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Portal 2 (Part 2): Co-Op Mode (2P Review)

 Posted by at 10:56 pm  2P Reviews, Reviews
Apr 252011
 

Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software / Developer: Valve Software / Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox360

The following is part one of a two part spoiler-free review. Part one can be found here.

Kate: Any time a game features levels that involve some degree of puzzle solving, and offers both solo or cooperative play, usually one of the two modes suffer. Either the levels were designed with one player in mind and any alterations for two players feels tacked-on, or the levels were designed for two people and the solo mode ends up feeling like an afterthought (such as in the case of Lara Croft & The Guardian Of Light).

Valve’s solution was to simply create two separate games. Which sounds obvious, but it also involves more work. Not only are none of the chambers recycled versions of ones from the other game mode, but even the characters you play as are different, as is the story. Continue reading »

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Hard Corps: Uprising (2P Review)

 Posted by at 11:46 pm  2P Reviews, Reviews
Feb 242011
 

Publisher: Konami / Developer: Arc System Works / Platform: PSN, XBLA

Kate: Hard Corps: Uprising is a spin-off of the Contra series that takes things in a more anime-flavored direction, stylistically similar to developer Arc System Works’ other games, such as BlazBlue and Guilty Gear. Pronounced “hard core,” I can’t think of a more fitting name for a series; this game is definitely aimed at the hardest of hardcore gamers.
Continue reading »

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