Review – Rayman Origins

The last two years has been a great time for the 2D platforming genre with indie releases such as ‘Splosion Man and Super Meat Boy making their way to the Xbox Live market to huge sales. The classic genre has even seen a very important return to the big leagues thanks to Nintendo with titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

2011 has been pretty good to this once forgotten old school style of game and November alone saw the release of two games that proved to be a return to form for their respective properties. Sonic Generations and Rayman Origins both came out to outstanding reviews, but one is certainly much better than the other. Rayman, the charming character without limbs returns for the first time since Hoodlum Havoc back in 2003. How does his re-debut fair?

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Indie Review – Avadon: The Black Fortress

Third-Person Isometric RPGs have been around for a long time. Some of the most famous are Baldur’s Gate, Planescape Torment, and the well-loved Fallout series. They’ve fallen to the wayside lately however, replaced with different styles. Even Fallout 3 now uses the same first-person system as Morrowind. Independent games have been taking up the slack, especially Spiderweb software, which has two series of games, concentrating on scripting with incredibly detailed character customization. Will their newest game; Avadon, be as good as Avernum and Geneforge?

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Review – Sonic Generations

I have avoided Sonic games for a good long time now. The last one I laid my hands on was Sonic Heroes, which was an overall broken experience. Since then I neglected to care about the blue hedgehog with attitude; the series had gone off the rails into being unimaginative and frustratingly flawed. I didn’t want my childhood memories to take any more hits, as I was one of the kids who held Sonic in high esteem and adopted the Genesis over the Super Nintendo. I still believe the four Sonics on the Genesis are some of the strongest platformers of that early generation. The years have not been kind to him however, and the third dimension has nearly destroyed the credibility of Sega’s mascot. The continued redevelopment of the franchise has only succeeded in hurting the franchise, and the new additions only proved to be a departure from what made it so damn fun in the first place. The Sonic franchise isn’t about riding around on skates and using guns, it isn’t about running around with a sword, it isn’t about turning into a werewolf, and it for damn sure isn’t about Sonic experiencing a blossoming social life with other random animals with attitude.

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Review – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

I kind of feel like I’ve become a missionary for Naughty Dog in regards to the Uncharted series.  With every person I approach, I whip out an Uncharted strategy guide and excitedly ask them “Do you have a moment to talk about the Church of Nathan Drake?” Some people may think I’m joking, but I can assure you, I’m very serious. In fact, I’ve already converted a couple of previous naysayers, and now they don’t know how they lived before accepting Drake into their lives.  I was starting to calm down a bit with my search for spiritual enlightenment through the Uncharted series, and then the third installment, Drake’s Deception came out.

And I have seen the face of God in this game.

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Review – Orcs Must Die

Orcs Must Die is an indie title made by Robot Entertainment which is a recently founded company and a newcomer to the genre, leaving them with a clean slate. Regardless of their lack of pedigree however, there are expectations to live up to, particularly if you take into account the advertisements for the game. This game was advertised as a mixture of a Tower Defense game and an over-the-shoulder Diablo. The impressions from the ad campaign were that it was a brainless, silly game. The important question is, is Orcs Must Die worth the $15? And, is it any better than Sanctum, which came out first for a mere $10?

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Review – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I sat inside of an inn, basking in the warmth of the fireplace as I read over a few books that I had collected along my journey. The quaint establishment was full of chatter that ranged from talk of a thieves guild I had helped re-establish to a bard playing his lute while singing a song I had heard many times. Patrons interacted with each other independently of my influence, and even gathered around the singing bard, waving their cups in the air along with the song. It was a small moment, one of many, but one I couldn’t help but to seep myself into as I sat on my own couch in the real world eating a meal that would keep me going for a few more hours. I had barely delved into the main quest to rescue the world from the threat of the dragons that looked to end the world, but I had cleared my way through many dungeons and conquered what they had laid out before me. Uncovering many stories within that I might otherwise had missed. It was this sense of discovery in a world that never ceased to give me things to do that inspired me to impart so much of my free time into a game that rarely failed to immerse me in a way I had never been before in this medium of entertainment.

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Review – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Warhammer 40,000 has had a good run of things in the video game arena thus far. The famed Dawn of War RTS series has (with the unfortunate exception of Soulstorm) been expertly made and managed to bring Warhammer 40k into the mainstream. However, with the recent release of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, Relic Entertainment has tried to bring the player down from their position as commander right into the shoes of the titular superhuman defenders of the Imperium. How did Relic handle the transition to third-person shooter with hack-n-slash action, and more importantly does it live up to the quality of its forbearers?

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