Reviews - Page 4 - Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Bodycount Review

Monday, 10 October 2011 Henry Dowling

In March last year we were promised an "exhilarating sensory overload" in the form of Codemasters Guildford's Bodycount - a shooter that was toted to feature "best-in-class" gun play and all manner of high-octane explosive action. Let's be honest, we were cynical from the word go - claiming best-in-class gun play in a class that includes some of the most highly regarded games in the industry was always going to be a serious challenge. Things got worse for Bodycount's future prospects when the project's executive producer left the studio, and creative director Stuart Black - the driving force behind the whole thing - announced he too would be leaving the studio. By this point Bodycount seemed to be a game from a broken home, and the final product is representative of that: a rough, misguided shooter that fails to deliver on its promises ...

Shadows of the Damned Review

Saturday, 08 October 2011 Errol Duncan Cason

Calling Shadows of the Damned a weird game just doesn’t quite do the experience the justice it deserves. The pure flair of the strangeness has to be applauded, for this is not a game that tries to be bizarre by stuffing it down your throat, this is Hell seen through the eyes of Suda51 (Killer7, No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil), thus abandon all hope ye who enter here ...

F1 2011 Review

Tuesday, 04 October 2011 Henry Dowling

Codemasters are steadily cementing their position as the front runner in motorsport gaming. The adrenalin-fueled DiRT series is great lengths ahead of its off-road competitors, and their first foray into the glamorous world of Formula One last year was met with critical acclaim across the board. But while F1 2010 was without doubt one of the best recreations of the sport we’ve ever seen, it wasn’t without its flaws - flaws which the team at Codemasters Birmingham has clearly worked very hard to iron out for this years entry in the fledgling franchise. The result is a finely tuned racer which edges us even closer to F1 perfection by giving us improved vehicle dynamics, sufficiently tweaked visuals, and at least one substantial new gameplay mode to make this an essential buy for motorsport fans ...

Crimson Alliance Review

Tuesday, 04 October 2011 Castro Ntsebeza

If it ain't broke, then don’t fix it. It’s not a saying I like and often developers that use it as their design foundation end up producing mediocre games at best. Initially, I felt that Crimson Alliance would fall into this category, with early impressions being that of an average fantasy hack 'n' slash clone. Fortunately, Crimson Alliance is able to step it up a notch, delivering a fun and enjoyable experience thanks to solid combat and an excellent co-operative platform ...

Gears of War 3 Review

Wednesday, 28 September 2011 Henry Dowling

It’s hard to even imagine the amount of pressure that must have been resting on the team behind the massive Gears of War series to finish things off with a bang. We’ve been adventuring alongside Marcus Fenix and the rest of Delta Squad for years now, these soldiers and their ongoing struggle for survival have become part of our lives, and we would expect nothing short of a spectacular end to this epic saga. It seems that, in the face of such ridiculously high expectations, developer Epic Games has proven once more that they truly are masters of their craft, creating an awe-inspiring end to the current story arc that goes beyond what most of us could have ever hoped for ...

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

Thursday, 22 September 2011 Henry Dowling

Like trying to repaint the Mona Lisa or do a 3D remake of Lawrence of Arabia, there is something frightening about trying to revive something special from the past. Warren Spector’s award winning Deus Ex was, without a doubt, something special, so understandably news of a franchise revival was met with a mixture of excitement and dread - would the esteemed Deus Ex name be tarnished by a dumbed down cash-in? Or would the advances in game development and hardware mean that this new version would take the Deus Ex concept to even greater heights? In the caring and capable hands of Eidos Montreal, our fears have been laid to rest, combining impeccable storytelling with compelling gameplay to deliver what must be the most accomplished action-RPG of the year ...

Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge Review

Monday, 19 September 2011 Steven De Klerk

Gamers with a penchant for rucks, mauls and drop goals have had little to cheer about in recent years, with a total of zero rugby union games coming out since 2007. Roll on 2011, and we have not one, but two rugby games to keep us busy while we aren't watching the real thing unfolding in the World Cup over in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the first of these titles to hit shelves, Rugby World Cup 2011, ended up being a mediocre affair, with the developer rehashing their previous game, Rugby 08, with even less content and little innovation to keep gamers coming back. The good news is that Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge (also known as All Blacks Rugby Challenge in New Zealand and Wallabies Rugby Challenge in Australia) doesn't have the same problem ...

Toy Soldiers: Cold War Review

Wednesday, 14 September 2011 Castro Ntsebeza

It ain’t easy being cheesy. The poignant words of Cheeseburger Eddy reveal a simple truth about entertainment: it's highly difficult to be corny and inauthentic and yet still remain entertaining, enjoyable and fun. Yet Toy Soldiers: Cold War is one such game that succeeds in attaining this balance. In the hands of another developer Toy Soldiers: Cold War could very well have been considered a game that was trying too hard. Yet, it doesn’t try to be funny, it is funny. It doesn’t try to recapture the feel of 1980’s movies and toy adverts, it does, and fantastically so ...

Alice: Madness Returns Review

Tuesday, 13 September 2011 Henry Dowling

Slightly more than ten years after American McGee first introduced PC gamers to his dark and twisted re-envisioning of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland, it’s time at last for console audiences to fall down the rabbit hole. With his freshly formed studio Spicy Horse Games, McGee is back with an even more disfigured version of the time-honored tale. But even though this adventure is loaded with wildly creative flourishes, the game that pokes out beneath the layers of madness is rather outdated and linear ...

Rugby World Cup 2011 Review

Friday, 09 September 2011 Steven De Klerk

4 years. That's how long gamers have been waiting since the last rugby union game, Rugby 08, graced gaming platforms. So when the same developer, HB Studios, announced last year that they had a new rugby game in development (formerly Rugby 2012), and that it would be the official game of the Rugby World Cup 2011, we couldn't have been more excited. Finally, rugby in HD ...