Reviews - Page 7 - Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Top Spin 4 Review

Friday, 08 April 2011 Henry Dowling

We have seen a number of tennis franchises coming and going over the years, but in recent times the field has been narrowed down to just two serious contenders. On one side of the court we have the Virtua Tennis series - the veteran - which has been knocking balls around since way back in 1999. This renowned SEGA franchise lives on with its latest iteration set to incorporate Kinect support in an attempt to give it the edge. The opponent on the other side of the net is 2K Games' Top Spin franchise, now in its fourth generation. Unlike the upcoming Virtua Tennis title, Top Spin 4 developer 2K Czech has steered clear of motion control shenanigans and opted instead to try to refine what was already a very successful tennis sim. Has this decision to refine instead of reinvent paid off? The short answer is a resounding "yes" ...

Dragon Age 2 Review

Tuesday, 05 April 2011 Terrance Brown

Dragon Age 2 marks the end of the RPG genre of old. For gamers such as me who grew up on a diet of dice rolls and D&D lore it may come as a bitter pill to swallow. The new Dragon Age game is stream lined and simplified to a degree that makes it a whole new beast from the Baldur’s Gates and Planescape Torments of this world. While some may see that as a sad indicator of a world that is moving towards accessibility over immersion nothing could be further from the truth in Dragon Age 2 ...

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction Review

Monday, 04 April 2011 Henry Dowling

We're already over five years into the Ben 10 phenomenon, and it doesn't seem to be losing momentum. Kids still bang on about the cartoon show, and they still beg their parents for the action figures and duvet covers with matching pillow slips. But convincing hapless children to want a game based on their cartoon hero is the easy part... it's developing a game that is actually worth playing that has proven to be the challenge. Sadly, this latest outing by Papaya Studio doesn't do anything to buck that trend ...

Fable 3 Traitor's Keep Quest Pack DLC Review

Monday, 28 March 2011 Stephan Landman

Fable 3 has been out for around five months now, but unlike with Fable 2, there hasn't been much in the way of downloadable add-ons. Sure, we've had the Understone Quest Pack, which added a few new quests, but at the end of the day it was nothing more than a short distraction. There were a few other "add-ons", such as new hairstyles, dog breeds and outfits, but ultimately they fall into the "useless junk" category. So there hasn't been DLC to truly expand the game... at least, until now ...

Torchlight Review

Monday, 21 March 2011 Henry Dowling

The gaming world sits and waits, impatiently, for the next Diablo title. "How much longer?", we ask. "It'll be ready when it's ready," comes the emphatic answer, like a mother warding off hungry eyes from a pie in the oven. Why are we, as Xbox 360 gamers, so anxious about the developmental state of a PC game? Because right now signs are pointing to the possibility that Blizzard may bring this much hyped title to our beloved consoles. And that is good news indeed. Still, that's for the future. What we need right now is something to keep our hand in; something to fill the gap and remind us what made the Diablo franchise so popular. Now, like mana from heaven, Runic Games has dropped the answer right in our digital laps, with an Xbox LIVE Arcade release of Torchlight - a dungeon crawler which proved its worth as a PC title back in 2009 ...

Fight Night Champion Review

Wednesday, 16 March 2011 Henry Dowling

Where other major sports franchises from the EA Sports stable often see annual releases, new releases bearing the Fight Night name have been few and far between. So when fight fans do catch wind of a new game on the way we get pretty excited; and rightfully so. The Fight Night series has thus far delivered what most will agree to be the best representation of the sport to grace gaming consoles, and Fight Night Champion continues that trend, expanding on the core concepts of previous iterations and adding a thrilling new narrative which drives the whole experience forward ...

Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack DLC Review

Monday, 14 March 2011 Steven De Klerk

Bungie, the developers behind the iconic Halo series, have been creating Halo games and content for nearly 10 years now, garnering much critical and commercial success from nearly everything they've touched. So it's hard to see any other developer filling the rather large boots left behind now that Bungie are off exploring new IPs, but that's exactly what 343 Industries and Certain Affinity have had to do in the second map pack for Halo: Reach ...

Bulletstorm Review

Monday, 14 March 2011 Terrance Brown

Usually the finest things in life get the most attention. Think of cars for instance. Ferrari and Porsche are two of the makes that are seen as the pinnacle of automotive engineering. On the other side of the spectrum we have the raw automotive beasts that emerged from the glory days of Detroit’s motor industry that traded looks for power and it’s in this camp that Bulletstorm finds itself. It’s not a game of beauty or poise, but rather of crass in your face power ...

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Review

Monday, 07 March 2011 Henry Dowling

As far as sequels go, following a game as universally acclaimed as Marvel vs. Capcom 2 can be a double-edged sword. Yes, you have a ready-made audience all chomping at the bit to get hold of the next installment, but on the flip side you also have the world's expectations resting heavily on your shoulders to not just match, but improve dramatically on what was already a brilliant fighting game. Maybe that is why it has taken Capcom nearly a decade to finally deliver a third in the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise. So, brave soldiers that they are, the developers of some of the greatest beat-em-ups in living history have gone out and done it again, improving on just about every possible aspect of the Marvel vs. Capcom experience. What we have here is not just a worthy successor, but also one of the most polished and simply sublime fighters you're ever likely to come across ...

Test Drive Unlimited 2 Review

Wednesday, 02 March 2011 Henry Dowling

Once upon a time I bought an old Porsche, my marque of choice since childhood. It was a lovely piece of car, shapely and quite quick, but over the years I forged a turbulent love/hate relationship with the thing. See, as much as I was enamoured by its old-school swagger, it wasn't long before the car began its own weight-reduction program, with bits falling off with reckless abandon as I drove. Soon enough the initial excitement of driving a shiny exotic car had been replaced with burning frustration. The other side of the story, though, is that when things went smoothly, without losing a windscreen wiper or starter motor on the highway, driving that car was an absolute blast. That pretty much sums up the overly long metaphor that I am clumsily trying to weave before your very eyes: Test Drive Unlimited 2 is the gaming equivalent of the charming but unreliable Porsche which I so desperately wanted to love ...