Reviews - Page 3 - Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Dark Void Review

Monday, 22 February 2010 Henry Dowling

There was a fair amount of excitement leading up to the release of Dark Void. The general ideas have potential, and the pieces of the puzzle seemed destined to come together to form something beautiful. Hell, the game was an inch away from appearing on our list of most anticipated games for 2010. But, being the crystal ball gazers we are, we saw the future... a future where Dark Void comes out with guns a'blazing, but ultimately slips into the murky depths of mediocrity. There are aspects of the game which still manage to shine, but it's just not enough to launch Dark Void up to the stars ...

Bayonetta Review

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 Terrance Brown

Hideki Kamiya seems to have a knack for making over the top Japanese action video games, with Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil all being listed on his CV. So when you load up Bayonetta and are greeted by the sight of a long haired witch wearing glasses, sucking on a lollipop and killing demons with guns strapped to her feet you shouldn't be too surprised ...

Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame of the Winter Olympic Games Review

Monday, 15 February 2010 Henry Dowling

I love the snow. I love skiing, snowball fights and building unintentionally disfigured snowmen. So it should be no surprise then that I make a point of watching at least some of the Winter Olympics on the box when it comes around every four years. Sporting events of that magnitude always carry a sense of grandeur, an aura of expectation for greatness, and a spirit of ceremony which is all stylishly packaged for viewers at home with the usual broadcasted overexposure to sponsors' logos and corny mascots. That's the real Winter Olympics. Sadly, much of what makes the event an entertainment spectacular has either been drastically marginalized or is missing entirely in Vancouver 2010: The Official Game of the Winter Olympics ...

Army of Two: The 40th Day Review

Tuesday, 02 February 2010 Terrance Brown

With games aiming to provide a more cerebral experience these days, with deeper storylines and ever more complicated gameplay systems, it's all the more harder to come across a game that is as simple at its core as Army of Two: The 40th Day. Whereas many other games give you back stories that are worthy of epic literature and characters that are well rounded and fleshed out, Army of Two gives you two stereotypical jock mercenaries fighting their way through the streets of Shanghai without even telling you who or why they're fighting until 5 minutes from the end of the game. The important thing is that it doesn't detract at all from the game's fun factor and in fact adds to its sense of cheesy, action packed atmosphere that the game is looking to evoke ...

Darksiders Review

Monday, 01 February 2010 Henry Dowling

If one has to break the gaming experience down into its fundamentals, I think it's safe to say that probably the most important aspect of all, is the pursuit of pure escapism. We play these games because we want to be absorbed into a new world, to switch off from reality for a couple of hours and be whisked away to some fantastical new playground. Vigil Games seems to have cracked that, then, with Darksiders, an action adventure title which, while perhaps not entirely original in terms of gameplay style, does wonders to immerse the player in its gripping tale of cataclysmic proportions ...

Assassin's Creed 2: Battle of Forli DLC Review

Wednesday, 27 January 2010 Mark Botha

If you played last year's stellar Assassin's Creed 2, chances are you've been craving more. You'll be happy to know then that Battle of Forli, the first downloadable content to be released for the game, is exactly that: more Assassin's Creed 2. Unfortunately it is for this same reason that the DLC is a little underwhelming, as it never feels like anything other than simply more of the same ...

Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot DLC Review

Thursday, 14 January 2010 Claudio de Sa

A handful of players, unyielding tides of foes, and smallish, cramped arenas. The resultant bloodbath is the new clique-defining feature that no self-respecting developers want to see themselves left out of. Bungie, Epic Games and Treyarch have all been happily splashing around for quite some time, wrestling each other for claim to the deep end while other developers look on enviously and wonder why they’d forgotten their swimsuits at home. But with the newest DLC instalment for Borderlands, Gearbox has tossed Moxxi into the pool to flirt with all the guys and to share uncomfortable stories about past husbands ...

The Saboteur Review

Tuesday, 22 December 2009 Henry Dowling

World War II is just about the most overused setting in the gaming world. I've despatched a near infinite number of Nazis in my day, rescued countless innocent villagers from the Third Reich, and been a proverbial thorn in the side of Hitler's Germany more times than I care to mention. With that in mind, it is especially surprising that The Saboteur is not just a captivating action game, but a genuinely interesting take on the subject matter ...

Left 4 Dead 2 Review

Thursday, 17 December 2009 Terrance Brown

Valve must have been somewhat surprised by the success of the first Left 4 Dead game. After all, it was real short and was more a labour of love than a fully fledged retail release. A year later and the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, is already on our shelves. So, with such a short development time, do the improvements warrant our hard earned cash once again? In short... Yes ...

Planet 51: The Game Review

Tuesday, 08 December 2009 Henry Dowling

The premise of Planet 51 holds so much potential for a fun animated romp: Instead of the usual scary green alien coming to invade poor defenseless earth, this time it's a human who has landed on an alien planet, striking fear into the hearts of the peaceful inhabitants. Add in some great voice talent (including Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Justin Long and Seann William Scott) and the now standard array of quirky characters, and you've got the recipe for some wholesome animated holiday fun. That's the movie covered. Now take the movie, tear out its charming soul and replace it with repetitive fetch-quests, bland voice acting and clumsy controls, and you are left with Planet 51: The Game ...