Review: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
There are certain things you can expect from a Metal Gear Solid game, or at least I thought you could until now. Five games in and many of the conventions that have defined Heido Kjoima’s iconic series are notably different in his latest title. But different doesn’t mean bad – and the focus on sharp mechanics and unique open world missions creates an astoundingly deep, involving experience with plenty of immersive new traits.
Review: Blood Blockade Battlefront
A space time rift has opened up over New York and the city is now co-inhabited by aliens and humans. This is the premise of Blood Blockade Battlefront, and it’s a set up that works well for delivering the endlessly strange and bizarre encounters that the anime powers through in its twelve episode run. This introduction to Hellsalem’s Lot is a fast-paced and exciting journey into a unique world, and makes for the most compelling anime I’ve seen in quite a while.
Dracula’s Cave is two years old
It’s bad when you forget your own birthday right? Last week Dracula’s Cave turned two, and although I’m a little late to the party hopefully there’s still time for a quick celebration.
Review: Rare Replay
Simply going on quantity Rare Replay sets a new standard for the compilation videogame. The collection is made up of thirty titles spanning a length of time not far off the entire duration of videogame history. Beginning with Jetpack in 1983 and ending with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts in 2008, it moves from retro to modern and strikes an interesting balance between old and new games.
Review: Psycho-Pass: The Movie
Psycho-Pass: The Movie is in two ways an obvious return to form after getting sidetracked in its second series. The film brings back writer Gen Urobuchi and character Shinya Kogami, both who’ve been missing since the events of series one. But its hour and a half runtime doesn’t prove long enough to explore any of the complex issues that have been lingering in the background for a while now, and whilst the film is fun in a conventional way, it doesn’t fully realise the potential of the franchise.
Book Review: Armada
Armada is the story of a high school nerd whos talent at videogames thrusts him into a life–changing adventure full of old pop culture references. If this sounds like the same components that made made up Ernest Cline’s first novel, Ready Player One, it’s because it is. Of course being a near carbon copy of a great book certainly has its merits, but at the same time Armada often ends up highlighting its own flaws by referencing and borrowing from both Cline’s debut and other works so eagerly.
Review: F-Zero GX
F-Zero GX was developed by the video game equivalent of a supergroup. Ten years previously the idea of Mario and Sonic developers joining forces to create the fastest and most intense racing game ever made would have been considered about as likely as Sony and Microsoft teaming up today to end world poverty. Oh, and Namco were along for the ride too. The collective genius of these insanely talented people resulted in a unique and masterful game, and twelve years later it’s still at the top of its genre.
Review: Tales of Hearts R
Although Western support for the PlayStation Vita is at an all time low, the system’s popularity in Japan has resulted in a steady stream of JRPGs and anime style games. This includes Bandai Namco’s effort; an entry in their long running Tales franchise, and a re–imagination (that’s what the ‘R’ stands for I think) of their 2008 Nintendo DS game; Tales of Hearts.
Review: Wipeout Pulse
One of the reasons the Wipeout anthology is so enduring is that it’s very difficult to summarise it with a single definitive title. From the original trilogy made in conjunction with The Designer’s Republic, to the PSP titles and their HD remaster, there’s plenty of room for picking a favourite. But in the history of the series, there’s a certain type of Wipeout experience that Pulse delivers in its definitive form.
Review: Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour
In many ways the karting genre has been forever doomed. That is to say, outside of the original Mario Kart series. No other game has ever managed to step out of the shadow cast by the title that established it, or the sequels that propelled it forward. This in itself is quite odd; no one would call Bioshock a Wolfenstein 3D clone, or dismiss Forza as nothing more than a glamorous version of Pole Position. But most genres have evolved and outperformed the titles that originally defined them, and these originals have ceased to be the influential names they once were. Kart racing is different. Mario is still on top, and like every other karting game ever made, the challenge Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour faces is to define itself as something more than a slightly worse version of Mario Kart.
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