Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Naughty Dog
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Nathan Drake, the man with the strongest fingertips in gaming, returns to close out his debut trilogy in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Developer Naughty Dog has thrown in everything save the kitchen sink: foot chases, car chases, scenes on horseback, puzzle solving, fast-paced combat sequences and lots of personal moments, all framed with gorgeous graphics and another evocative music score. It does more interesting things in 10 to 15 hours than half a dozen lesser games combined, yet somehow it also manages to be somewhat less fulfilling than its predecessor.

( read more… )

Publisher: Sony
Developer: Recoil Games
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: Teen
Release Date: Available now

One of these days, someone really ought to release a game called “Metroidvania” and retire on the never-ending residuals. That superlative; the Reese’s Peanut Butter cup-style fusion of two great things – in this case Super Metroid and Castlevania; is usually all an action-adventure fan needs to hear to know their money is well spent. Those titles certainly hit a sweet spot for people who hunger for games that reward methodical exploration with carefully doled out abilities that open new, exciting reaches of whatever castle or labyrinth they happen to be exploring. A few years ago, Chair Entertainment (a subsidiary of Epic) took the “Metroidvania” formula and married it to the spy genre; churning out one of the better titles that year, Shadow Conspiracy. And while the wait for that game’s sequel continues, we now have Recoil Games’ Rochard to scratch the itch as their PSN exclusive aims to send players scrambling through a variety of interstellar installations solving puzzles, chasing down new pathways and keeping the “Metroidvania” dream alive.

( read more… )

Publisher: Sony
Developer: Team ICO
Rating: T (Teen)
Available: Now

In the age of HD gaming, backwards compatibility is a mixed blessing. While it makes for a “nice-to-have” feature on the back of the console’s box, the truth is many of your old favorites are more visually pleasing when revisited in your mind’s eye. Once you get these ancient treasures running on spiffy new hardware, and splashed across a pristine 1080p widescreen, all those ugly blemishes once hidden by reduced resolution tear at your peepers. So, the loss of backwards compatibility on later iterations of this generation’s consoles is not that big a burden when you consider the care and craftsmanship that Sony has implemented in spit-polishing some of the PS2’s most prominent releases. Taking a long-awaited place alongside the previously released God of War and Sly Cooper collections are two of the PS2’s crown jewels – the sublime Ico and Shadow of the Colossus – fully remastered for a new generation to play and the past to covet.

( read more… )

Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Kung Fu Factory
Genre: Fighting
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Fighting games work best when they adhere to a simple design philosophy: “easy to play – hard to master.” A good fighting game should be built around a model where anybody can pick it up and have fun, but still be deep enough that those willing to commit the time to learning its systems can mine the true treasure beneath. A good fighting game should evolve the better you get at it. That’s the standard I apply when reviewing a fighter. Can someone mash away and come off feeling satisfied while experts are able to discover a whole new level of strategy? That’s the challenge Supremacy MMA faces today.

( read more… )

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Insomniac Games
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Perhaps it’s a product of recent economic uncertainty, but the entertainment media seems to be infatuated with the idea of global catastrophe. Whether it’s alien invasion (TV’s Falling Skies; Hollywood’s Skyline or Battle: Los Angeles), viral pandemic (Contagion), zombie apocalypse (Dead Island) or nuclear holocaust (the Fallout series), we seem to be more and more interested in “what if” scenarios these days. But most times, these stories are told in stark terms without a real human component. Insomniac’s Resistance 3 is one of the few entries in the end-of-the-world genre that takes time to tell a human story amidst the universal carnage that surrounds it.

( read more… )

Publisher: Majesco
Developer: WayForward
Genre: Action-Platformer
Rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

We can’t all be Lara Croft. That’s the hard lesson BloodRayne learned when she first debuted on the PlayStation 2. This vampire assassin was cut from the grindhouse mold, and despite starring in a handful of engaging action titles on that generation’s consoles, the feisty femme fatale couldn’t quite reach Lara’s level of celebrity. Instead, she seemed stuck in her B-movie-esque roots long before film director Uwe Boll grabbed hold of the property in his one man battle to drag gaming as far from art as possible. As a result, a promising property died well before it could find its stride. Enter WayForward, a talented team of developers who have performed some real-magic in the 2D platform space, with such notable titles as Shantae, A Boy and His Blob and Contra IV. With Bloodrayne: Betrayal in their mitts, hope was renewed that this vampire would rise once again.

( read more… )

Publisher: Hothead Games
Developer: Hothead Games
Genre: Action-RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release Date: Available now

Humor in games is a tricky art. With comedy so dependent on timing, it can be a tough haul for a developer hoping their pixels execute that pratfall or nail the punch line every time. LucasArts, in its heyday, played host to masters of the form, with guys like Ron Gilbert and Tim Shafer producing some true comic classic adventure games. One of the nice perks to our shiny, new digital distribution age is the ability for these auteurs to find a whole new audience hungry for their particular brand of humor. While Shafer and his gang at DoubleFine have produced some bite-sized gems over the last few years (including Stacking and Trenched), Ron Gilbert joined forces with Hothead Games to unleash the clueless hero DeathSpank. Having overseen DeathSpank’s first two adventures, Hothead now presses forth – sending DeathSpank out on his first adventure, The Baconing, without Gilbert’s guidance. DeathSpank’s biggest task at hand is not how he’ll slice through the malevolent masses but rather will his sense of humor hold up now that someone else is pitching the jokes.

( read more… )

Publisher: Disney Interactive
Developer: High Impact Games
Genre: Action-platformer
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release Date: Available now

Ever since I became a father, I’ve looked forward to my monthly Guy’s Night Out with my buddies with particular relish. With the majority of my friends staking their claim on my side of the fatherhood fence, we love to down a few brews and then hold court by telling stories peppered with references to anything airing on Disney, Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, or the myriad of cable off-shoots that those networks have sprung. The other guys hear iCarly or Yo Gabba Gabba and we might as well be speaking in Parseltongue. And while the source material is usually inane programming you can’t believe your kids could mine any entertainment from; every once in awhile you spy a diamond in the rough. For me – that treasure is Disney’s Phineas & Ferb; which means the arrival of their summer platformer – Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension actually brightened my late Summer doldrums when it showed up on my door-step.

( read more… )

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Techland
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, most game developers are falling down in love with each other. If a new title doesn’t build off the foundation erected by yesterday’s hits, then it usually aims to follow the same blueprint for success. A few years back, Techland scored a modest hit with their Call of Juarez title, which was notable for dressing the first person shooter in Western duds. That game was fairly formulaic yet novel for sending gamers down the dusty, scarcely traveled trails of the old West. The prequel, 2009’s Bound in Blood, made a greater impression by promoting the narrative and flashing back to tell a fairly engaging tale of two brothers bound and divided by lost gold. Since then, Rockstar has completely revolutionized the fledgling Western genre with the mammoth Red Dead Redemption which now saddles Techland’s latest release, Call of Juarez: The Cartel, with the daunting task of measuring up to that masterpiece.

( read more… )

Publisher: MonkeyPaw Games
Developer: MonkeyPaw Games
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Shooter
Release date: Available now

Microsoft may rule the console digital distribution space with their elegantly designed Xbox Live Marketplace, but Sony clearly trumps them when it comes to their back catalog. Their online store may be a bit disjointed (making it tougher to find your way around), but like some back alley boutique discovered while exploring a foreign land, the shelves are often stocked with treasures long-forgotten. In addition to the healthy line-up of PS One classics available for purchase, the PSN Store also plays host to a Japanese Import section – one that MonkeyPaw Games has used to showcase their latest find, the wacky shooter Kyuiin.

( read more… )

Publisher: Zen Studios
Developer: Zen Studios
Genre: Pinball
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Some of Marvel’s toughest villains are running amok and need to be stopped. Enter the Marvel super group of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, and…Blade? In Marvel Pinball, developed by Zen Studios, you battle the forces of evil using webs, lasers and a tiny metal ball.

( read more… )

Publisher: Open Emotion Studios
Developer: Open Emotion Studios
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

One of the cool things Sony has going for it, is the existence of the PS Minis (which can be found in their online store). Essentially, these are small downloadable diversions that can be played on either your PS3 or PSP. So for those die hard Sony fanboys who grab every piece of tech the company puts out, it’s a nice perk to take one of these pieces of casual fare on the go. Is Mad Blocker Ultra – Revenge of the Fluzzles a remedy for those tired of those pesky Angry Birds? Read on and find out.

( read more… )

Publisher: Doctor Entertainment
Developer: Doctor Entertainment
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

No matter how advanced and sophisticated games get, there will always be a place for the laid-back puzzle game. Sometimes we don’t want to shoot down the bad guys, or wrack our brains to find out how to defeat the impossible boss. Sometimes, late at night, we’re tired and we just want to relax while trying to figure out how to get some…flowers.

( read more… )

Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Super X Studios
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Paintball is a fast-paced and incredibly difficult live-action sport. It requires skill, accuracy, teamwork, and the right equipment to win. It’s something that seems like it would find itself at home in the first-person shooter genre. Super X Studios thought the same thing when they developed Greg Hastings Paintball 2, now available on the PSN.

( read more… )

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Seed Studios
Genre: Real-time Strategy
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Every once in a while, the RTS genre, which enjoys vast popularity on the PC, makes its way to a game console. The console RTS is a rare breed, often marred by watered down gameplay options and a poor control scheme. Seed Studios took a chance and developed Under Siege, a medieval fantasy-based RTS available now on the PlayStation Network.

( read more… )