GamesTM Issue 109

[prinnysquad]

Reviews

Portal 2 - 360/PC/PS3 - 9
SOCOM: Special Forces - PS3 - 7
Mortal Kombat - PS3/360 - 5
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP - iPad - 6
Frog Minutes - iPad - 6
Islands of Wakfu - 360 - 6
Battle: Los Angeles - 360/PC/PS3 - 3
Operation Flashpoint: Red River - 360/PC/PS3 - 7
The Dishwasher 2: Vampire Smile - 360 - 9
Moon Diver - PS3/360 - 4
Shield The Beat - 360 - 8
Conduit 2 - Wii - 4
Duke Nukem: Critical Mass - DS/PSP - 4
Patapon 3 - PSP - 7
Virtua Tennis 4 - 360/PS3/Wii/PC - 6
Section 8: Prejudice - 360/PC/PS3 - 6
Super Monkey Ball 3D - 3DS - 3
Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime - 360/PS3/PC - 5
Swarm - 360/PS3/PC - 5

Online review: Crysis 2 - 360/PS3/PC - 9


Previews

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
X-Men Destiny
Street Fighter X Tekken
Prototype 2
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Dirt 3
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record
Skullgirls
Saint's Row The Third
Asura's Wrath
and others

Features

- Breath of Fire - Capcom talks about its new IP - Dragon's Dogma.
- Black Magic - Chat with Obsidian about their output.
- The Better of Two Evils (Angels and Demons) - A look at morality in modern gaming, as binary choices become more commonplace.
- Changing Perspective - Phil Fish of Polytron talks about the long-awaited Fez.

Two articles in 'Discuss' section cover 4 pages each. They are:
- Lockdown - Look at the return of region-locking.
- Handicapable - Why does the industry not cater for disabled people more?

Retro

- Behind the Scenes - Guardian Heroes
- Collector's Corner - Sonic Adventure 2: Birthday Pack
- Year in Review - 1979
- Striking Out - a look at 80s British videogames that reflected the political climate of the time.

[C']

Behind the Scenes - Guardian Heroes

It's almost as if they knew...

[MrKirov]

5 for Mortal Kombat? Wow, certainly the lowest score I've seen... What's the reasoning behind that then?

[Flabio]

Think they're not too keen on fighters to be honest. They mauled MvC3 a fair bit as well (although not quite as much as that!)

[Jebus]

Some of those scores, imho, scream of "LOOK AT ME I'M CONTROVERSIAL!!!"

[Strider]

They absolutely adore fighters. Pretty sure they gave MVC3 a 8

[toythatkills]

What did they say about MK?

Sword and Sworcery has been getting loved universally from everywhere else, too.

[Flabio]

The text of the MvC3 review made it sound like they were doing it grudgingly though. Heh.

[Jebus]

To be honest, the only way I could concievably understand a 5/10 "average" mark for MK, is if the person reviewing it hates fighters, or hates MK games.

For the record, I think the Super Monkey Ball 3DS score is bollocks too.

[Dogg Thang]

Sword and Sworcery has been getting loved universally from everywhere else, too.

I adore Sword & Sworcery. I think it's amazing. It's beautiful, a real experience. That said, I can see how someone who just doesn't gel with it would mark it low because there isn't a huge amount there. The actual game is very simple. So, if the world, music, pixel graphics and humour don't enchant you, there really isn't much else there. But I love it. It would be a hard one to appreciate objectively, if you know what I mean.

[prinnysquad]

Mortal Kombat:

- Decent-looking game.
- Welcome return to 2D plane of combat.
- Wealth of content.
- A lark in multiplayer.

- Old skool AI on occasion.
- More combos, but still not deep compared to contemporaries.
- Combo system is wooden, slow-moving and unintuitive.
- Doesn't feel like it rewards true skill.

- A throwback, but not always in a good way.

[rmoxon]

Some of those scores, imho, scream of "LOOK AT ME I'M CONTROVERSIAL!!!"

Yeah they do, sanctum of slime is an abomination of a game, it gets 5 which is way too high, but that's not what is weird. The weird thing is that half the other games reviewed in this months issue score lower than it.

Thats absolutely crazy.

[Daragon]

Mortal Kombat:

- Decent-looking game.
- Welcome return to 2D plane of combat.
- Wealth of content.
- A lark in multiplayer.

- Old skool AI on occasion.
- More combos, but still not deep compared to contemporaries.
- Combo system is wooden, slow-moving and unintuitive.
- Doesn't feel like it rewards true skill.

- A throwback, but not always in a good way.

Those summary points do not scream 5/10 to me! "A lark in multiplayer" would suggest above average, nearer 7 or even 8. Given that multiplayer is the bread and butter of fighters, if you have a fighter that gets that right then you have a good fighter.

[The Mole]

Certainly a lot worse games on the 3DS than Monkey Ball, Conduit 2 is also getting poor scores all round which is a shame as i think it is being compared to some of the fantastic shooters on the 360 and if you just own a Wii and like shooters enjoyment is to be had. The game is worth more for the multiplayer options alone.

[Jebus]

Mortal Kombat:

- Decent-looking game.
- Welcome return to 2D plane of combat.
- Wealth of content.
- A lark in multiplayer.

- Old skool AI on occasion.
- More combos, but still not deep compared to contemporaries.
- Combo system is wooden, slow-moving and unintuitive.
- Doesn't feel like it rewards true skill.

- A throwback, but not always in a good way.

Oh mate, play against someone who really know their stuff, like a superb Smoke player, and you'll change your mind on that one.