Game Reviews
Latest Reviews
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Latest Reviews
Review: Madden NFL 10 (Wii)
Far from the Madden crowd...
Taking its graphical cues from the recent Grand Slam Tennis, Madden NFL 10 on Wii eschews the hi-def emphasis on recreating every detail of the game, favouring a more stylised - though hardly cartoony - approach to the presentation. Defensive backs are bulky chunks of muscle, wide receivers are gangly running machines and everything’s slightly more caricatured than in..
Review: Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)
A must-play anthology
It took eight years, a group of Texans and a whole new perspective for Samus Aran, space bounty hunter extraordinaire, to return to consoles after Super Metroid. Seven years and three acclaimed games later, Metroid Prime Trilogy puts Samus’ Phazon encounters in one slick anthology that newcomers shouldn’t miss, but does it warrant another go through if you’ve already..
Review: Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii)
You call this archaeology?
Filled with cut scenes and swashbuckling action sequences, The Staff of Kings has the feel of an actual Indiana Jones movie. There are a lot of concepts included here that, if fully realized, could have made for a spectacular movie-style game. Sadly, as it turns out the imagination of the game’s developers exceeded their grasp.Indiana Jones, the world’s foremost..
Review: Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans (Wii)
History? Sort of. Horrible? YES!
If you live in the UK you're probably familiar with the Horrible History series of books from author Terry Deary; featuring illustrations by Martin Brown. They're books aimed at children (mainly boys) between the ages of 8-12 which try to make history fun by discussing the nastier bits of it; using humourous illustrations and a light-hearted style to increase..
Review: Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Wii)
"Are you finished? Save your speeches for Hell!"
This is the fourth in a series of stealth-based action games which have often met with mixed reviews due to control and camera issues. After watching the atmospheric sepia-toned montage of game cut-scenes scored with Japanese opera and playing the game, fans and those new to the series will find that Tenchu: Shadow Assassins delivers one of the best..
Review: Mahjong Taikai Wii (Wii)
A solid straight-up Mahjong game for fans of the real deal.
This is the latest in a series of Mahjong Tournament games which have appeared on previous consoles and handhelds. These are single player games (as with card games Mahjong player have hidden hands, so multiplayer with one screen wouldn't work too well) with virtual opponents; online play would have been welcome, but isn't included in..
Review: Shanghai Wii (Wii)
Sunsoft brings the classic match-two game to Wii.
Shanghai is the name Activision gave to series of simple matching games featuring patterns of stacked mahjong tiles on the Apple Macintosh and later Wintel PCs (other companies have sold the same game with various other names; the game is generically known as "mahjong solitaire" or "mahjong" though it has nothing to do with..
Review: Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward (Wii)
It does indeed invoke hysteria, but not the good kind.
Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward is the latest treat from Oxygen Games for Wii and in a sense it truly does replicate how a hospital nurse must at times feel; overworked, frustrated and at times more than a little tired.The game begins with the player deciding upon the gender and name of their freshly graduated nurse. The action then shifts to..
Review: Wii Sports: Resort (Wii)
Is Wii Sports Resort the worthy sequel fans of the original have been waiting for?
When Nintendo needed a showpiece for the unique motion control system of their upcoming Wii console, their developers came up with the original Wii Sports title that was eventually packed in with the system. Needless to say, it's become one of the most beloved titles for the console and, in all honesty, was the..
Review: The Conduit (Wii)
Does High Voltage's much touted FPS manage to live up to the hype?
The Conduit has been hyped for quite a while. Announced over a year ago, the game saw delay after delay, did not get a publisher until late last year and suffered a few other minor problems. After all this time you'd expect the game to be fantastic, but is it really? The Wii doesn't have much in terms of first-person shooters -..
Review: Monster Lab (Wii)
Something from Eidos that isn't Tomb Raider or Championship Manager and SURPRISE, it's actually good.
Gamers from the PlayStation era may recall Tecmo's answer to Pokémon, Monster Rancher. Creating a monster to send into gladiatorial combat and doing jobs with the chance of getting special items to use was good fun, so seeing a similar game which takes the same concept but provides a better..
Review: Godzilla Unleashed (Wii)
Up from the depths thirty stories high, breathing fire his head in the sky -- Godzilla! Godzilla! Godzilla!
Godzilla Unleashed is the latest in a string of Godzilla games from developer Pipeworks, the same folks that brought us Rampage Total Destruction, another giant-monsters-smash-everything game that is squarely targeted at the Kaiju-loving crowd.The previous Godzilla on the Gamecube, Godzilla..
Review: Rampage: Total Destruction (Wii)
Still Rampaging after all these years...
This game is the latest in a series of Rampage games from Midway stretching back to the mid-80s when Rampage was released in the arcades as the first (and practically only) example of the Giant Monsters Wreaking Havoc genre of video games. To many who grew up watching Godzilla, Ultraman and any number of other Japanese giant robot/monster films and TV series..
Review: Namco Museum Remix (Wii)
Something classic, something new, Namco we love you!
In recent years purveyors old arcade games have seen fit to repackage them into "Greatest Hits" collections. Namco first had their Museum series on the original PlayStation in a series of six volumes (cleverly one for each letter of the name "Namco" and then a Japanese-only Museum R that came with a big album to put the other..
Review: BlastWorks (Wii)
There's a whole lot of blasting going on, but how does it all work?
User-generated content in games goes all the way back to titles like Bill Budge's Pinball Construction set on 8-bit home computers and first-person shooters like Doom and Quake, but it's not something that's ever really been prominent in console games due to both system storage limitations and the lack of internet connectivity for..
Review: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii)
Marvel heroes trapped in a Wiirld they never made!
As the title suggests, this is the ultimate game featuring Marvel super heroes. The storyline resembles many classic Marvel title-spanning events: Doctor Doom has assembled The Masters of Evil to undertake an audacious gambit to assume ultimate power in the universe. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., has assembled the greatest team of heroes the..
Review: Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre (Wii)
Can a last generation port based upon a licensed property possibly be any good?
Rebellion and 2000 A.D. are both British veterans of their respective fields: video games and comics, and like Marmite and potato crisps, both go well together. Unlike Marmite crisps, however, Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre is a winning combination in anyone's book. If you've never read the comic the story is laid..
Review: Deadly Creatures (Wii)
Every arachnophobe's worst nightmare brought to life...
Deadly Creatures got a lot of attention in 2008 due to the novel scenario of putting the player in control of a creepy-crawly arachnid, rather than the usual space marine or swashbuckling hero. Why this hasn't been done more often in the post 8-bit gaming world isn't clear - maybe all the horsepower of newer gaming consoles has reduced the..
Review: Geometry Wars Galaxies (Wii)
A blast from the past!
For those among you who are fond of arcade classics such as Robotron 2084, you might have heard of a little title called Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. It was one of the first premier downloadable titles for the Xbox 360, and was later expanded with the Wii/DS-exclusive Geometry Wars: Galaxies created by British game developer Kuju (now known as Headstrong). The original..
Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Wii)
The world's most famous wizard returns for his second Wii adventure
After being so pleasantly surprised by Harry Potter’s previous Wii outing we approached this latest title with a fair degree of expectation. Promises of realistic potion-making, intense Quidditch matches and generally improved presentation echoed through the office as the disc was slotted into the Nintendo Life Wii. While the end..
