! Exclaim.ca Reviews - Videogames

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Multi-platform

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:02:44 -0400

A Venn diagram of comic book fans and videogamers would show a pretty large community crossover. One of the first efforts to bring these folks together was Capcom's Street Fighter-based 1994 coin-op classic, X-Men: Children of the Atom. After all, what license makes more sense in a fighter scenario than superheroes, a genre rooted in super-powered punch-ups? Fast-forward almost two decades and we now have the other side of the comic-publishing coin with Injustice: Gods Among Us, a 2.5D fighting game that takes the lessons of 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC...Read More

Gears of War: Judgment

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:56:45 -0400

Thanks to the ascendance of series like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, we've come to consider pop culture primarily as sets of trilogies. So where does that leave a fourth chapter when there's more story to be told or, at least, more money to be made? Apparently as a prequel. This, however, makes a particular kind of sense for Gears of War, since the original trilogy was set a decade-and-half or so after Emergence Day, when the evil Locust hordes came up from their nests below the planet Sera to launch their war against COG (the Coalition of Ordered Governments)...Read More

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - 3DS

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:25:49 -0400

If you ever had an older sibling, you know how it can sometimes make you feel invisible, like people don't really care about you, except maybe in relation to that brother or sister. Add fame into the mix, and you're stuck being Ron Howard's brother (Clint), Julia Roberts' brother (Eric) or Mario's brother, Luigi. The sibling plumbers may have been awarded theoretical equal billing since the very first not-yet-super Mario Bros. in 1983, but it's always been his brother's world and Luigi is just living in it. Until 2001, that is, when Nintendo's past-gen GameCube console launched...Read More

Fire Emblem: Awakening - 3DS

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:56:16 -0400

Remember that Star Wars scene when R2D2 and Chewie are playing 3D holo-monster chess (dejarik to the geekier amongst us)? The latest Fire Emblem for 3DS is kinda like that at its root. But rather than just having three-dimensional fighters squaring off on a grid, Fire Emblem also grafts on a fantasy RPG epic and an anime war drama. The 13th entry in this series is a tactical turn-based strategy game, a methodical and deep game genre that's always been a good fit for handhelds. But what has critics tossing around game-of-the-year hosannas with snow still on the ground...Read More

The Cave - Xbox 360 / PS3 / Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:46:18 -0400

As the brains behind LucasArts' '80s computer classics Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert popularized the point-and-click adventure genre alongside former colleague Tim Schafer, who now runs cult studio Double Fine. Well, the band is back together on The Cave, a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer based on a 25-year-old concept from Gilbert and a 2500-year-old allegory from Plato. As with Maniac Mansion, you can play any three of seven possible characters — a time traveler, monk, creepy twins, knight, hillbilly, etc. — who need to work in...Read More

Borderlands 2 - Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:00:15 -0500

Sequels have a bad rap and, as far as Hollywood goes, with good reason. A film like, say, The Matrix comes along, blows mind and then the accountants-that-be demand more, more, more! However, aside from the occasional Empire Strikes Back masterstroke, what we receive tends to be a plot rehash with fancier FX. Game sequels certainly get prettied up, too, but they are far more likely than film to transcend their predecessor. An original game's development time is spent in large part constructing the world, sussing out the game design and balancing the gameplay, so when it comes...Read More

Skyrim: Dragonborn - Xbox 360 / PC / PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:22:38 -0500

Elder Scrolls games feel wondrously endless because of the countless hours that can be whiled away wandering the wilds of Tamriel without ever following the main questline. But that vastness in both landmass and things to do can also be overwhelming — having so many possible options has prompted more than a few gamers to just shove in a shooter. Bethesda has long helped RPGers overcome this feeling by crafting downloadable expansions that open up a new, more manageable territory off the mainland. (Of course, the main reason for these expansion packs is to provide new reasons to...Read More

The Unfinished Swan - PSN

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:13:54 -0500

The Unfinished Swan is like the neck of its titular fowl: thin, beautiful and ultimately twisted. Like its better known PSN compatriot Journey, the downloadable art game basically drops you onto a blank canvas with no instruction beyond "go forth and explore." Except this first-person puzzler offers a literal blank canvas — the opening chapter features a stark white world that can only be seen after you lob black paint balls to bring your environment into view, with splatter-revealing swamps, structures and that blasted bird. Consider it maximum minimalism. The game is a...Read More

New Super Mario Bros. 2 - 3DS

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:39:20 -0400

During an economic downturn, Keynesian economics argues the necessity of a stimulus. But that cash has to come from somewhere ― simply printing more can risk devaluing the money that's already out there. This is the fine line upon which New Super Mario Bros. 2, with its newfound gold obsession, runs and jumps. Coins have always been a part of Mario games ― to the point that the coin-collecting noise alone is enough to induce a Pavlovian response in gamers of a certain age ― but the latest iteration basically floods its levels with bullion as part of a...Read More

Dust: An Elysian Tail - Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:37:49 -0400

Self-taught indie game maker (and illustrator/animator) Dean Dodrill spent the past three-and-a-half years creating, coding, drawing and designing Dust all by himself. Though his original plan was to make an old-school 8-bit platformer, his demo won an Xbox contest making him progressively more ambitious as he went along. Eventually Dodrill got a writing assist and 40 voice actors, but this "tail" (a titular hat tip to Don Bluth's An American Tail) of an amnesiac adventurer with a talking sword remains an intensely individualistic achievement. Though it remains...Read More

Papo & Yo - PSN

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:36:58 -0400

Child abuse and alcoholism aren't the usual inspirations for a videogame, but Papo & Yo (Portuguese for Father and I) isn't the usual videogame. Montreal-based, Brazilian-born game designer Vander Caballero has tried to translate his experience growing up under the yoke of an abusive, alcoholic father into an indie puzzle-platformer about a young boy navigating the favelas alongside a monster who could lose control at any moment. The subtext is barely sub ― though the monster is often a loving companion, its taste for poisonous frogs can set off a berserker rage that...Read More

Gravity Rush - PS Vita

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 17:27:56 -0400

It would be a shame if Gravity Rush were reduced to its ingenious titular game mechanic or its best-Vita-title-yet status, though it's certainly both of those things. Even worse would be if someone bypassed it because of its sadly generic name. Gravity Rush is a comprehensive success in an era where those can be few and far between, bringing together its component parts into a wonderfully satisfying handheld whole. That said, the gravity business is ultimately what sets this new effort by Silent Hill's Keiichiro Toyama apart. For an artistic medium now into...Read More

The Amazing Spider-Man - Multi-platform

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:59:49 -0400

Comic book superheroes have taken over pop culture for seemingly the past forever, but until Batman: Arkham Asylum, there were only few successful videogame adaptations, and even fewer that were movie tie-ins. Spider-Man 2: The Game, tied to the second Sam Raimi Spidey flick, was a rare success. Made by Treyarch, the studio behind the second-string, but still massive-selling Call of Duty games (i.e., Black Ops, not Modern Warfare), it entrapped its prey by offering a free roaming ― or should I say free-slinging ― Spidey sandbox. Both...Read More

Sideway: New York - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:17:56 -0400

At E3 last month, Sony announced their PlayStation Plus paid service would be giving members an instant game library. One of those free titles is Sideway: New York, an indie download that got sprayed over by blockbuster taggers when it came out late last year. Like cult classic Jet Grind Radio, this similarly clever little title is set in the world of graffiti. But this appropriately cartoon-esque puzzle-platformer takes the notion a little bit further. While the city is 3D you are not. As Nox, a graffiti artist turned into graffiti art by an evil tagger named Spray, you must...Read More

Sorcery - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:16:38 -0400

The Playstation 3's Move peripheral was Sony's way of splitting the difference between the Nintendo's motion-sensing Wii-mote and Microsoft's camera-based and controller-free Xbox Kinect. But it felt, well, peripheral ― like a box to check off rather than an intrinsic part of the PS3. This could be why there were subsequently so few games that took advantage of it. Sorcery is the first title, beyond the requisite sports mini-game compilation, to really take advantage of its capabilities. Much like light sabres, magic wands are perfect fits for motion gaming and the Workshop...Read More

Game of Thrones - Xbox 360 / PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:50:27 -0400

Considering its intricate complexities and daunting darkness, it's astounding that George R.R. Martin's sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire series has established such a firm foothold on popular culture. Given gaming's propensity toward medieval fantasy, it was only a matter of time before an RPG adaptation made its way over the Wall. The game's actually been in development for seven years, tying it more tightly to the books (though they use the HBO show for some voice-acting, character models and music). Martin supervised its Westeros-set story, which runs parallel to the books, spinning...Read More

Starhawk - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:49:30 -0400

When Sony released third-person shooter Warhawk in 2007, they pulled the single-player campaign last-minute for fear it didn't measure up to the multiplayer. For this spiritual sequel ― no doubt inspired by countless "dude, this'd be way cooler in space" message board posts ― single-player is one of the main selling points, but still can't compete. The underlying story is a Firefly-esque space western riffing on our ongoing energy crisis and the dangers we subject ourselves to for electricity and cars. But it never does more than riff, reducing the story of Rift...Read More

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:15:17 -0500

Mario may get most of the credit, but Link, the non-titular star of the Zelda series, is equally responsible for Nintendo becoming the creative force we know today. Back when gaming mostly consisted of going from left to right, the original Legend of Zelda's exploratory design provided the real precursor for the immersive game worlds that would follow. The latest Zelda game, Skyward Sword, is the first in the series' timeline, marks the franchise's 25th anniversary and provides the Wii's swansong before Nintendo's next-gen Wii U console arrives later this...Read More

Trine 2 - PS3 / Xbox 360 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:13:54 -0500

The ongoing now-gen revival of side-scrolling platformers continues with this Scandinavian sequel to Finnish studio Frozenyte's 2009 indie download hit. Once again, you make your way through a gorgeously drawn faerie land, battling goblins, witches and monsters while solving a series of physics-based puzzles to cross the level and save the kingdom. The game stars three heroes ― overweight knight Pontius, sly thief Zoya and fusty wizard Amadeus, each with their own puzzle-vital skillset ― who can be alternated between solo players or played simultaneously in local or, now,...Read More

Assassin's Creed: Revelations - PS3 / Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:59:55 -0500

The thing about trilogies – and although this is technically the fourth entry in the studio's flagship franchise, the Florence-based Assassin's Creed 2 and its Rome-set sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, are best considered a single two-part take – is that the final entries often lack the freshness of the debut and the up-and-running excitement of the middle chapter. The narrative requirements of finishing up the tale can also tie the hands of the tellers, and Revelations is no exception. It's even more hamstrung by the intricate complexity of its...Read More

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:58:34 -0500

The Uncharted series has, appropriately enough, always been built of scavenged parts. Its globe hopping, treasure-hunting protagonist owes no small debt to Indiana Jones, itself a franchise mash-up of '30s and '40s Saturday matinee serials, as well as Indy's tomb raiding digital double, Lara Croft. Uncharted is also a puzzle-based action-adventure shooter hybrid that, unlike most of its current-era, triple-A compatriots, has broken no new ground in form or content. Nor does it aspire to. Uncharted simply wants to tell a cracking, interactive adventure...Read More

Driver: San Francisco - Multi-platform

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:04:56 -0400

Old-school racers – y'know, the kind your dad used to sit in at the coin-op arcade – simply circled around tracks. And even their most-realistic modern progeny, like Microsoft's just-released eye-popper Forza 4, still follow the same basic circuitous route. But the original 1997 Grand Theft Auto proved that driving games could head in a different direction by trading racing tracks for urban sandboxes. The 14-million-selling Driver franchise whooshed out of the gates in 1999 (the original is now available as an iOS download), following GTA's...Read More

Dark Souls - PS3 / Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:03:26 -0400

The rapid expansion of the gamer community in recent years has left the hardcore heads battling the casual hordes at the gate. In the wake of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, which rode the popularity of The Lord of the Rings films and sent RPGs deep into the mainstream, most subsequent role-playing games chased after that same broad audience. Dark Souls does not. This spiritual sequel to Demon's Souls may look like a typical fantasy adventure, but it's really a hardcore dungeon-crawler rooted not in hacking'n'slashing your way through a sprawling story, but in...Read More

Gears of War 3 - Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:33:04 -0400

When Gears of War first arrived in 2005, it announced itself as a different kind of shooter. Yes, it was third-person and cover-based, after years of forward-charging first-person POVs, but the real hint of what was to come was the melancholy TV ad that hauntingly juxtaposed a post-apocalyptic alien insect war against the stirring strains of Gary Jules' "Mad World" cover. Yes, you will kill, it seemed to say, but you will also feel. Though it's always been an adrenaline-fuelled action game, small moments, like a rescued soldier's suicide or Dom Santiago's gut-wrenching decision to...Read More

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Multi-platform

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:30:23 -0400

The original dystopian Deus Ex arrived in 2000 and quickly became known as one of the best PC games off all time, mixing Illuminati conspiracy theory with cyberpunk, near-future corporate malevolence and political terrorism. It was basically an interactive William Gibson or Jack Womack novel. This third entry by new studio home Eidos Montreal, which follows through on middling 2003 sequel Invisible War's promise of player-choice and emergent game play, is a prequel setting the stage for the chaos to come. This, of course, includes the super-power augmentations franchise...Read More

Infamous 2 - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:43:52 -0400

As a lifelong comic book fan, I resent origin stories. Every superhero needs one, fine, but these starter tales get repeated ad nauseam to explain the status quo to newbies. Superhero adaptations, from X-Men to Superman to The Dark Knight, tend to do better as sequels. As an original IP, Infamous had no choice but to make the first game about how bike courier Cole McGrath came to control electricity. But with that narrative heavy-lifting out of the way, Infamous 2 can get down to business. Yes, the build-up-your-powers progress process is brought...Read More

Duke Nukem Forever - Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:42:12 -0400

Soon after the 1996 release of 3D Realms' blockbuster first-person shooter, Duke Nukem 3D, the developer announced plans for a sequel, dubbed Duke Nukem Forever. Fans waited with bated breath. And then they just waited, and waited, and waited. Duke Nukem Forever soon became synonymous with "vaporware": announced titles that never make their way out of development hell. After millions of dollars and likely as many man-hours, the game has finally been released thanks to Borderlands-maker Gearbox. However, it fails to meet 14 years of expectations, to say the...Read More

L.A. Noire - PS3 / Xbox 360 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:55:27 -0400

Rockstar Games will always be known as the Grand Theft Auto guys, but the house the Houser Brothers built has always had higher ambitions than the political uproar over dead digital hookers would indicate. Rockstar is actually an auteurist outfit ― almost every game they produce is aesthetic linked and identifiably theirs. In an industry rife with capable but cookie-cutter blockbusters, Rockstar has always forged its own bloody path. Like Quentin Tarantino, they create high art out of low culture while maintaining a distinctive voice despite working with borrowed parts. But...Read More

Portal 2 - PS3 / Xbox 360 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:21:21 -0400

It isn't easy following an out-of-nowhere success like the famously innovative Portal ― basically a tech-demo packed into Valve's Orange Box compilation, which existed to hock Half-Life 2 to console owners ― which became one of 2007's most heralded games. This "first-person puzzler" was set in the Half-Life game world, albeit localized in a new Aperture Science laboratory, and featured a deadpan sense of black humour, a much-loved theme song, "Still Alive," and, of course, its award-winning titular game design. Portal was rooted in the...Read More

The Next BIG Thing - PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:20:16 -0400

Though point-and-click adventure gaming has been enjoying a mini-revival, thanks to iPads and iPhones, the old-school PC version has always retained a following in Europe, led by the likes of Spanish studio Pendulo and their million-selling Runaway franchise. Their latest game is a typically tongue-in-cheek mystery set in an alternate history Hollywood where movie monsters are played by actual monsters. Think of it kind of like Joss Whedon's Angel, but in a retro-futuristic '50s that's also populated by aliens, mutants and robots. Oh, and instead of vampire detectives, we...Read More

Killzone 3 - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:11:32 -0400

The balance of power in first-person shooters long ago shifted from single-player towards multi, and Killzone 3 is but the latest to apply that deathmatch-inspired intensity to its solo campaign. Not that it feels solo, since the single-player campaign accommodates co-op and even if you're friendless, you still fight alongside computer-controlled comrades making your way off the self-nuked planetscape of Helghan. But much like the adrenalized Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games, Killzone 3's narrative suffers greatly from the practically on-rails propulsion, even if...Read More

Dragon Age 2 - Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:10:23 -0400

Once upon a time, a role-playing game involved a pen and paper, some crazy-sided dice and a group of kids in a dingy basement (Rush posters optional). For reals. Watch the Freaks and Geeks finale ― even James Franco loved Dungeons & Dragons (though to be fair, his Franco-ness does seem to love everything). Those days are seemingly past, as digital role-playing games long ago ascended to the throne, for better or worse. But not all videogame RPGs are created equal, and iconic Edmonton developer BioWare, which cemented its reputation on the D&D-licensed...Read More

Dead Space 2 - Multi-platform

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:01:08 -0500

Horror games, much like horror films, appeal to a small, but hardcore, niche. Which is why aliens or zombies ― or, in the case of Dead Space, alien-zombies ― provide a nice entry point for the less horrifically inclined. The first Dead Space became a cult classic, if not quite a commercial smash, and EA banked on its critical reputation as a masterpiece of fright-gaming to catapult the sequel into the black. Our third-person protagonist, Isaac Clarke (an engineer not so subtly named after sci-fi legends Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke) finds himself once again...Read More

LittleBigPlanet 2 - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:00:05 -0500

If you build it, they will come. That was the basic premise behind the original LittleBigPlanet, a side-scrolling platformer, complete with Sackboy mascot, which turned out to be less of a game than a toolset with a social network. Though it shipped with clever levels created by British studio Media Molecule, LBP's bold experiment in DIY gaming was really about creating and sharing your creations. Soon enough, several million levels ― it hit 3.5 million in February ― were being built and passed around by the community, which would seem to make a sequel...Read More

Back to the Future: The Game - PC / Mac

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:46:52 -0500

Back to the Future is such a genius piece of pop filmmaking that it's a mystery why it's taken so much time for a game to continue its legacy. Though set immediately after the third film, the five-episode game begins in the parking lot where Doc Brown first shows Marty McFly the flux capacitor-bedecked Deloreon and soon we're off on another rollicking time-travel adventure, this time to Prohibition-era Hill Valley. While it certainly hits many of the same familiar plot tropes from the films, it is, after all, a time-travel franchise. And it's a blast hearing Christopher Lloyd as Doc,...Read More

Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice - Xbox 360 / PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:45:11 -0500

Tim Schafer is the Joss Whedon of gaming: an immensely talented auteur with a fanatical following who can't quite crossover beyond cult hero. So, if Pyschonauts is his Buffy then consider Costume Quest Schafer's Dr. Horrible, a smaller scale, but still stylized, project that uses a download distribution model to bypass an unappreciative industry. This adorable, Zelda-inspired role-playing game captures Double Fine's quirky sense of humour and style, including more deceptively complex level design, gamer meta-humour and a hand drawn aesthetic created by a...Read More

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:24:43 -0500

If ever there was an argument in favour of videogame sequels, it's Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise. The first iteration was, in essence, a tech demo. Sure, the Crusades-era Holy Land setting was cool, as was the Kristen Bell-assisted sci-fi conspiracy framing device and the parkour-inspired character movement. Oh, and being an assassin (for the legendary Muslim sect known as Hashshashin) waging war against the Christian Knights Templar was pretty rad too. But somehow the game wound up being repetitive and boring. The sequel took what worked and bumped along the timeline to...Read More

Disney Epic Mickey - Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:23:24 -0500

"Epic" and "Mickey" aren't two words often seen together. Maybe Donald's DuckTales nephews had some wild adventures, but Disney's mouse mascot has been pretty blah since basically Fantasia, which is why that 1940 film inspired Warren Spector's unlikely revival, as another Mickey mishap in the home of the sorcerer he once apprenticed for creates terrible consequences. The presence of Spector, the game designer behind such cyberpunk classics as System Shock and Deus Ex, immediately separates this from past Disney games. Epic Mickey isn't as dark as his...Read More

Fallout: New Vegas - Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:07:38 -0500

Taking a page from Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto side-quels, New Vegas is most certainly not Fallout 4. A numeral implies more advancement than offered here. But much like how Vice City and San Andreas used the existing GTA game engine and essential structure to increasingly epic and enthralling ends, so does New Vegas spin a fresh tale that builds upon its predecessor's success without feeling like a carbon-copy. Fallout 3 veterans will be able to play right off the bat, but you'll also notice the differences right away ― for...Read More

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:06:33 -0500

Gaming's "next-gen" may have promised the future, but it has ironically ushered in a renaissance of old-school side-scrolling platformers. This revival can be traced to the comeback of the ever-nostalgic Nintendo and the retro proclivities of the grown-up-but-still-gaming NES and Game Boy generations. The genre that nearly died out during the transition to 3D gaming has also been critically reconsidered, with its once technical limitations now seen as providing structure. A sidescroller may never match world-building wits with, say, Fallout: New Vegas, but it often does seem like a...Read More

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions - Multi-platform

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:48:00 -0400

It's easy to forget that while Batman: Arkham Asylum set a new standard for what a comic book videogame could be last year, Spider-Man 2 had already raised the stakes back in 2004 by transforming NYC into Spidey's sandbox. This latest Peter Parker adaptation takes a more linear approach to its storytelling, sort of. While the action game play is somewhat regressive in its strict linearity, Shattered Dimensions offers up fantastic fan service. Not only does Stan Lee narrate this tale in his inimitable fashion, but gamers can play as four different Spider-Men: the...Read More

Halo: Reach - Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:18:57 -0400

Pop cultural artefacts as big as Halo tend to be mainstream crossovers, but Master Chief never achieved Super Mario ubiquity and the Covenant alien alliance never equalled Darth Vader's Imperial forces. But the franchise's inherent hardcore nature has made it even more popular amongst its adherents over the past decade, many of whom lined up for midnight madness launch events, which put $200 million bucks into Microsoft's coffers. And now the Halo story winds up, or rather, unwinds, with a prequel that departing developer Bungie hopes will rescue the storytelling technique...Read More

PlayStation Move - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:17:57 -0400

Sony's new peripheral is something of an odd fit. Though the PS3 has struggled since launch to recapture the dominant position it assumed 15 years ago with Sony's first PlayStation, it's continued the company's forward-thinking console rep. But the motion-sensing Move is a clear-cut Wii emulator (though technically they came out with EyeToy-based motion gaming back in 2003). Unlike Microsoft's (for better or worse) controller-free Kinect, Move is essentially a Wii-mote with a pretty coloured ball on the end that works in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye Camera for even more accuracy,...Read More

Mafia II - PC / Xbox 360 / PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:59:57 -0400

The Grand Theft Auto series has left such an indelible imprint on gaming that it's like Die Hard: an essentialist ideal that can be applied to any number of settings. That's not necessarily a bad thing; Die Hard worked rather well on a bus, and GTA's open-city, organized crime superstructure works pretty great when relocated from Liberty City's modern metropolis to Empire Bay, a Prohibition-era town under the mob's tight grip. But Mafia II offers a far more structured sandbox, despite its unrestricted ten-square-mile radius. Rather than whiling away the...Read More

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - PS3 / Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:18:57 -0400

Scott Pilgrim may be targeting today's 20-something hipster, but the videogame-inspired book-turned-movie-turned-videogame franchise is embedded with references to creator Bryan Lee O'Malley's late '80s and early '90s youth. So no surprise then that the game adaptation, which follows Pilgrim's epic journey to defeat his manic-panic'd girlfriend Ramona Flowers' seven evil exes plays like an 8-bit homage to the beat-em-ups of yore, like Double Dragon and River City Ransom. It's a little more complicated than the old-school brawlers, with some added RPG...Read More

Transformers: War for Cybertron - PS3 / Xbox 360

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:17:57 -0400

As an '80s baby whose worst-ever Christmas was when I got Go-Bots instead of Transformers (I know, right?) I skipped the Michael Bay blockbusters altogether so as to not sully my childhood memories. Too much crass CGI, not enough epic robot geekiness that made the animated Saturday morning staple such an enduring classic. Needless to say, I came nowhere near the films' game adaptations, either. But there's finally a new Transformers license that is more than meets the eye. Inspired by the iconic cartoon, as well as its comic book and anime spin-offs, Transformers:...Read More

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:17:57 -0400

There's been so much talk lately about "feature creep" — the addition of unnecessary features because gamers demand them, not because the games do — that it's thrilling to play a purist "bullet-hell" title like Star Successor, the follow-up the Nintendo N64 game Sin & Punishment. This sequel to the Japan-only cult classic (revived on Wii's Virtual Console in 2007) adheres to the pure fundamentals of gaming: dodge, shoot, kill. Created by the same dev team, the hardcore-hewing title doesn't have many more bells and whistles than its decade-old inspiration —...Read More

Joe Danger - PS3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:16:57 -0400

Super Mario and Zelda may have gotten more attention, but for those who grew up on Nintendo's original NES console, ExciteBike was equally iconic. Racing a motocross over jumps was awesome — but the ability to create your own tracks, even without being saveable on such a primitive system, was straight-up amazeballs. Joe Danger maintains that sense of exhilaration and wonder by crossing ExciteBike with the physics-based, community-driven, side-scrolling platformer LittleBigPlanet to create an addictive and engaging hybrid. Though not a...Read More

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - PS2 / Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:43:57 -0400

Though this Sakura Wars' first North American release, the alternate-reality franchise set in a steampunk-inspired roaring '20s debuted in 1996. So Long, My Love arrived in 2002, which is why its old-school game play runs on PS2 as well as Wii (purists will want to go PlayStation as it boasts Japanese-language audio) but it's also the first set in America ― a demon-infested New York City. It's an odd game ― part strategy RPG, part dating-sim with game-altering dialogue trees and a plotline about the New York Combat Revue's Star Division, a fighting organization that...Read More

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Wii

editorial@exclaim.ca (Joshua Ostroff) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:38:57 -0400

The sequel to Nintendo's galactic revamp of its plumber-based platforming franchise further redefines its genre though anything-goes perspective shifts. The story is same as it ever was ― Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, though now Mario can toss around asteroids not just fireballs ― but the gravity-unrooted game play and experimental level design has been refined to near-perfection as you leap around and between different planets. Oh, and this time you sometimes get to do it on the back of Yoshi, the fan-favourite long-tongued dinosaur. Nintendo added several new powers and tools...Read More