Reviews 
Amy review: Survival boredom
Video games, in general, require that we suspend our disbelief to some degree. We can forgive the unbelievable or the improbable so long as the experience remains entertaining. Games are full of trivial details that make no sense -- eating food magically heals wounds, a three-foot tall wall is ...
Q.U.B.E. review: Questionable Understanding of Block Extrusion
If someone had told me I'd be spending a peaceful night this week in a stark white room playing with bright blocks, I'd have run before they could wrap the straightjacket around my shoulders and throw me into the back of a windowless van. Instead, I spent a few hours positioning primary-colored ...
NFL Blitz review: All-star team
Nostalgia is, to use the vernacular of Rick James, a helluva drug. We're all addicted to it -- whether it's an old movie, your old stomping grounds or any number of things from your past, we all don the rose-colored glasses from time to time and, on occasion, suffer disappointment. Video games ...
Review: PlayStation Vita (Japan launch model)
Sony released the PlayStation Vita in Japan two months ahead of its worldwide debut. The PSP successor packs an enormous 5-inch, 960x544 screen, a console-like dual analog interface, and 3G/wi-fi functionality, combined with a widespread program of digital distribution through which every Vita ...
Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights Review: Inconsequential Jones
His faithful assistant at his side, Jean-Pierre Lautrec, Doctor of Archeology at the Musée d'Histoire Natural in Paris, scanned the horizon for a hidden fleur-de-lis. Beyond that indelibly French symbol lay a labyrinth, one of countless labyrinths hidden underneath the Parisian streets. ...
Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow DLC Review
Gears of War 3 warranted some pretty enthusiastic adjective usage: "polished," "well-paced," "fantastic," even. I'd go so far as to call it the most refined, well-put-together shooter of 2011. So when the first piece of add-on campaign DLC, RAAM's Shadow, was announced, I was excited for it. More ...
Trine 2 review: Trine to fit the pieces together
The key to any puzzle is the "aha" moment, that moment when everything clicks into place, your brain gets a little jolt of pleasure and you feel just a tiny bit smarter. The final few numbers in sudoku, grasping the bizarre logic of Sam & Max, figuring out exactly where to put the next portal ...
Serious Sam 3 review: Rebel in excess
There is a speck of decency to be found in the unvarnished and churlish Serious Sam. It's right there in the name: despite all temptations and probable pleading from the marketing department, it didn't come out as "Shoot Many Monsters." That's exactly what you do, over and over again, but the ...
Fortune Street review: Occupy Mushroom Kingdom
As soon as you start up Fortune Street, you need to go into the options and turn both "game speed" and "text speed" up to their fastest settings. Then, when you get ready to choose your board and start the game, you must reduce the amount of money required to win by at least half. Even with these ...
Mario Kart 7 review: An exercise in fun/frustration
Mario Kart 7 is, as its predecessors always have been, an exceedingly hateful game. Three laps' worth of perfect corner negotiation, aggressive drafting and creating enough sparks to manufacture a small sun can be overturned instantly, sometimes in sight of the finish line. Who am I kidding? It ...
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