XBLA
Review: Rock of Ages (XBLA)
I can’t say that Rock of Ages is unique. I can say that Rock of Ages is unique for a video game. The humor and the plot are in the vein of Internet/Gaming/Fantasy/Etc. nerds, while the graphical style and animations are unabashedly reminiscent of Monty Python’s animation genius Terry Gilliam. In that way, it is not unique, because its inspirational sources can be easily and clearly ide...[Read More]
Review: The Baconing (XBLA)
Spanktopia (a totally not-real place that needs to be a totally real place) is being destroyed. DeathSpank, hero of Spanktopia, has become the unwitting cause of its destruction. Donning all of the Thongs from his previous adventure, he inadvertently created an evil clone of himself, the AntiSpank, who has turned Spanktopia into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. DeathSpank must stop his dastardly dopp...[Read More]
Review: Boulder Dash XL (XBLA)
Boulder Dash XL is, for those of you too young to remember, a remake of a classic 80’s game, Boulder Dash. While some remakes can only be linked to their original iterations with very loose threads, and have become something other than what they originally were, other remakes stay true to their original source and present a new game with a classic feel. Boulder Dash XL is definitely one of t...[Read More]
Review: Hole in the Wall (XBLA)
Hole in the Wall, for those of you who can’t figure out how the game plays just by reading the incredibly vague and misleading title, is pretty easily summed up in four words: Hole in the Wall. Hm. I guess it wasn’t as vague and misleading as I thought. Based on the 2008-2009 TV series Hole in the Wall, which was itself based on the original Japanese (of course) TV series Nokabe (trans...[Read More]
Review: Toy Soldiers: Cold War (XBLA)
A day may come when 2011’s XBLA Summer of Arcade ends, when we find that the event is over and the anticipation begins to fade, but it is not this day. A day of woes and lonely MSP, when the year-long wait begins anew! But it is not this day! …It’s Wednesday, and the last charge of 2011’s XBLA Summer of Arcade event is being lead by Signal Studios’ sequel to Toy Soldi...[Read More]
Counter-Strike Returns in CS:GO
I know this will probably lower some opinions of me, but I don’t particularly care for the Half-Life series. The only thing I really appreciate at all about Half-Life is that it served as the base for one of my favorite games of all time: Counter-Strike. Back in a time when I was still on dial-up, I spent many hours (and many dollars) at local LAN/Online game centers playing de_rats, de_dust...[Read More]
Review: Fruit Ninja Kinect (XBLA)
You know, there’s this old (crappy) joke: “I just flew in from (insert city name here), and boy are my arms tired!” Let’s freshen it up for the times, shall we? Hey guys, I just played three days of Fruit Ninja Kinect, and boy are my arms, neck, shoulders, and upper back sore! When I first heard that Fruit Ninja, an iOS game I was very familiar with, would be heading to XBL...[Read More]
Review: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (XBLA)
Calling your game “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” creates an expectation right off the bat. Is the planet shadowy? Is the planet twisted? And most importantly, is the twisted, shadowy planet INSANELY twisted and shadowy? The name alone creates a list of criteria that must be met. Does Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (say that five times fast), the third entry in this year’s Summe...[Read More]
Review: From Dust (XBLA)
2011’s Xbox LIVE Summer of Arcade had a strong opening last week with Bastion. Tomorrow, the second entry in this year’s Summer of Arcade goes live: From Dust, Ubisoft’s “spiritual heir” to Populous. Created by Eric Chahi, creator of early 90s classic Out of This World, From Dust is at its core a strategy/puzzle game, solved by using a first-person god-like perspectiv...[Read More]
Review: Bastion (XBLA)
Bastion is the spiritual successor to ToeJam & Earl. Now, it’s never been advertised as such, and to my knowledge nobody else has made this connection (Google confirms this, which means you read it here first), but it is a statement that I am going to stand by and support with arguments. ARGUMENTS, I SAY! Bastion, developed by Supergiant Games and published by WB Games, is the first XBLA...[Read More]
Review: Lucha Fury (XBLA)
Lucha Fury is a good-looking game, and you can tell that Punchers Impact treated the game as a labor of love. Four luchador wrestlers (who are also slackers) come together to stop a shortage of their favorite energy drink only to stumble upon something more sinister; this is no normal shortage. Ancient Gods are stealing the world’s supply of Pollojo, because they don’t think the human race deserve...[Read More]
Review: Ms. Splosion Man (Xbox 360)
It would pretty much be the perfect action puzzle game if that stupid bitch would just shut the hell up at times.