Review Roundup: Crush
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Sony PSP. Tagged with Crush, Review Roundup.
As you may already know if you have read Graham’s review, Crush has the official Sega Nerd’s stamp of approval. However, do the rest of our counterparts feel the same?
- 1up (95/100) - A cognitively rewarding, expertly designed puzzle experience that truly plays like nothing else.
- GameSpy (90/100) - With levels that build on each other in terms of complexity (and, thusly, difficulty), the game inspires that kind of “just one more level” feeling of addiction that may result in you freeing Dan from his insomnia but earning yourself a nasty case in return.
- Total Video Games (70/100) - A highly imaginative experience that walks the fine line between compulsion and frustration that any good puzzler should provide. Further refinement on the concept and level design to reduce the emphasis on trial-and-error gameplay would have resulted in a more appealing experience.
As you can see, the overwhelming majority of reviewers are raving over Sega’s new puzzler, and it currently holds an 87 Metacritic score. In case you didn’t know, that’s the seventh highest-rated game in the entire PSP library.
Yeah, it’s that good. If you haven’t picked it up yet, you should really do yourself a favor and get it at Amazon for $30.
Review Roundup: Armored Core 4
Posted by Chris. Filed under Uncategorized. Tagged with Armored Core 4, Review Roundup.
Now that the U.S. launch of Armored Core 4 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is mere days away, the reviews are beginning to trickle in.
And while it doesn’t seem AC4 will attract many new fans to the genre, those who are already slaves to its gameplay will buy it in droves like they always do. Yeah, you know who you are.
- EuroGamer (80/100) - Armored Core 4 is more accessible than its predecessors; and at its core, beneath the complicated controls and imposing arsenal of body parts, it’s a pretty simple, superfast, graceful and smart mech-combat game, and it deserves your attention.
- Play Magazine (75/100) - This is a game for tinkerers, where what you purchase and equip is every bit as important as how well you play.
- GameBrink (69/100) - Overall the mission design is boring and repetitive, the graphics are so-so, the online is blah, the customization is awesome, and the overall experience isn’t worth the price of admission. Pass.
Currently, Armored Core 4 has a 64 Metacritic score, but since there are only four reviews posted as of now, that number will surely change over the next few weeks.
AC4 hits the PS3 and Xbox 360 March 20 and will finally feature online play for up to eight players. If you want to know more about the game, be sure to check out Warren’s preview.
Review Roundup: Sonic and the Secret Rings
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Nintendo Wii. Tagged with Review Roundup, Sonic and the Secret Rings.
While Sega threw most of us Sega Nerds a curveball by not actually having Sonic and the Secret Rings out on retail shelves on Feb. 20, they have finally released it a day later.
And judging by the early reviews, it looks like our long wait was well worth it, at least for the die hard Sega Nerds, that is.
Gaming Age (83/100) - An encouraging sign that good Sonic games can still be made. I had a tremendous time exploring the different stages and the skill points add a bit of depth to an otherwise straightforward game.
1UP (75/100) - Although Sega deserves praise for Secret Rings’ innovative single-player adventure, the less said about the four-player party mode, the better. It’s another low-budget “Mario Party” rip-off that stretches out a few weak gameplay concepts into multiple multiplayer contests.
IGN (69/100) - Sonic and the Secret Rings offers moments of greatness where I find myself caught up in the intensity of the experience and, oppositely, moments where I want to pull my hair out or throw the Wii remote down because of imprecise control or insulting design choices.
Honestly, I was expecting the game to be doing a bit better at this point (it currently has a 74 Metacritic score), but it still seems like the best 3D Sonic title we’ve seen in a very long time.
Expect a Sega Nerd’s review in the coming days to find out the very true truth about Sonic and the Secret Rings.
Virtua Fighter 5 Reviews are in!
Posted by Ryan. Filed under Microsoft Xbox 360, Ryan, Sony PlayStation 3. Tagged with Review Roundup, Virtua Fighter 5.
Virtua Fighter is one of Sega’s most popular series and we all new it would come out smelling of roses. Reviewers are all over it like it’s still fashionable to like Sega or something! Even without an online mode it still did very well! Still online mode for most of us would have been the icing on the cake but never mind. I’m sure Sega will come around and announce VF5 Evo with online place once we have all bought VF5….
So, Here are the Reviews in order of how smart the reviewers are:
GameSpy: 5/5
EGM: 9.7/10
C&VG: 9.1/10
GameZone: 8.9/10
IGN: 8.8/10
Worth Playing: 8.3/10
GameSpot: 8.1/10
Good news all round!
Review Roundup: Full Auto 2
Posted by Chris. Filed under News. Tagged with Full Auto 2, Review Roundup.
While games like Interstate ‘76 and Twisted Metal have made the vehicular-combat genre pretty popular the last few generations, Sega hopes its newest foray will keep that popularity going.
Full Auto 2, which was released on the PS3 Dec. 7, features 25 vehicles and new weapons and other items for more creative ways of blowing your enemies to smithereens. But does this sequel do enough things different and better than the original to justify your purchase? Let’s find out.
- GameSpy (80/100) - A significant improvement over its predecessor on the 360.
- Play Magazine (70/100) - As a slightly improved sequel to this year’s car-carnage racer on Xbox 360, the Playstation 3-exclusive Full Auto 2: Battlelines looks better, plays better, feels better….just enough to please current fans of the series, yet further bore the haters.
- G4 TV (40/100) - Cars skid for no reason. Frames slow down just as the action heats up. Full Auto 2: Battlelines spins its wheels keeping the same controls and not improving the over all experience.
Currently, Full Auto 2 has a 71 metacritic score, which is barely above its Xbox 360 predecessor which enjoys an equally mediocre 70 metacritic rating. And while it doesn’t seem like Full Auto 2 does a whole lot better than the original, the game may benefit from a lack of decent competition.
Review Roundup: Sonic the Hedgehog
Posted by Chris. Filed under Microsoft Xbox 360, Sonic. Tagged with Review Roundup.
Now that Sonic has turned 15 years old, I was expecting big things from Sega with the next installment in the series. And the fact Sega dropped any numerals off the game’s title suggested either a return to the series’ roots or a total revolution in the franchise.
Judging from these reviews, a handful agreed, while the majority thought it was crap.
- Play Magazine (85/100) - You simply can’t ask for more out of an action game. Mission accomplished. Sonic is born anew.
- Game Daily (50/100) - Atrocious camera angles lead to cheap deaths, the slippery controls make it difficult to get a handle on the characters and the game has a large problem with pacing. It tries to mix in side missions with general stages, and the disastrous results ruin the game.
- Eurogamer (20/100) - What should have been a dramatic return to form for Sonic, as signalled by the hugely promising trailer videos from earlier this year and the bold decision to use the original Sonic the Hedgehog name, has turned out to be an absolute mess.
Currently, the game has an average Metacritic score of 49, certainly not what Sega had hoped for the next-generation Sonic. I played the demo on Xbox Live and noticed a lot of problems then but held out hope Sega would rectify the problems before the game shipped. I guess I was wrong.
However, even though Sonic the Hedgehog sucked, I’m still holding out hope for Sonic and the Secret Rings.