Results tagged “game review” from Tech-Out

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a one night stand of flying bullets, explosions and cool moments. It pushes you forward with guns blazing, hoping to God you don't stop to realize how confusing it all is.

Because for all of Modern Warfare 2's awesome action -- and it is indeed deserving of whatever superlatives you can throw at it -- the game also suffers from a disorienting absence of sense in its storytelling. You do things, but you don't know why. All you know is that it all looks badass in HD.

Editor note: There is no definitive shape, size or style of a game review, and this is proof. This piece from Derrick Hopkins not only reviews the game, but it also challenges it by comparing it to a very real, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Enjoy.

By Derrick Hopkins
Editor, deadpixellive.com/special contributor to Tech-Out

The Nurburgring is a 13-mile-long race track in located Nurburg, Germany. Nicknamed the "Green Hell", it was built in 1927, has 72 corners, constant elevation changes and is considered one of the most dangerous race tracks ever constructed. And for about $15, anyone can drive on it.

A lot of games have included the Nurburgring on their list of locales to simulate. The latest is "Forza Motorsport 3," which claims to be the most "realistic racing experience ever." "Forza 3" gives Xbox 360 owners the option of taking on the Nurburgring and dozens of other tracks in a collection of SUVs, exotic sportscars and purpose-built racers.

My brother and I had flown to Germany for the express purpose of driving on the legendary track. And we'd do it in a rented Mercedes C230 sedan.

Cool guns have become as much a part of gaming's fabric as health packs and life meters. Whether it's a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle or a machine gun that fires heat-seeking bullets, many gamers have their favorite brands of fire-spitting, death-spewing hardware. For some, it's even an obsession.

That's where the true power of Gearbox's Borderlands lies. It's the "Guns & Ammo" of gaming, appealing to our inner firearms enthusiast. Not only does it stroke our urge to search for, collect and play with new toys that go bang, it gives us the ultimate playground. Sure there's a plot and a story, but who cares when you have a high-powered rifle that shoots electric rounds?

You get no scene-setting narrative in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Instead, you get dangled off the end of a derailed train car, which happens to be hanging off the edge of a mountain cliff. You're in Nepal when this happens, by the way.

It's the perfect tone-setter for Naughty Dog's latest body of work. It's bombastic, adventurous fun in the vein of prime Indiana Jones, juggling action, humor and storytelling in a way that makes you remember how cool treasure-hunting can be.

WETshould be enjoyed with cold beer and leftover pizza at 3 a.m, in between the infomercials and badly dubbed kung-fu movies. It's that kind of game.

Bethesda's latest action shooter isn't the first to use a gun-toting or blade-wielding blood vixen, but it might be the first to realize how much silly fun it could be. While gamers are busy ogling the outrageous magical flash and exaggerated sexiness of an upcoming game like Bayonetta, the people at Artificial Mind and Movement hearken back to a simpler time, when bullets, blood and bad guys being killed in vicious fashion were more than enough. That was the "grindhouse" style of doing things, usually with an extreme hero leading the way.

I'm Batman.

Not the most eloquent thought, but there it was in all its unshakable glory as it kept racing through my head while I was playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady's take on the Caped Crusader not only faithfully emulates and represents its subject matter -- it practically bleeds it. Many hero games promise to "immerse" you in a character's world, but this is one of the few that actually pulls it off.

One of the reasons Batman stands apart from so many other superheroes is because we think he is one of us. He wasn't blessed with the ability to fly, or with claws coming out of his hands -- his defining trait is a tragic memory which he has used as the driving force behind everything he does. He's trained his body and his mind to their absolute peak, and the result is, really, our very own American ninja.

Devout fans of the comic mythos already know this, but for the masses who know Batman though mostly movies, games and television shows over the years, you can find more than a few mixed signals. That's led to confusion, and the result is a range of work that paints Batman with various brushes: He was a campy detective (the early '60s show), a brooding, silent crimefighter fighting a circus of crime (the Tim Burton movies) and in the best examples, the ultimate badass with a brain. He would be noble enough to support wholeheartedly, but also have enough edge to satisfy any darker needs we have for our heroes. In other words, Batman has way of making us feel that a simple beatdown of a serial rapist and killer is enough.

To me, the bodies of work that best emulate the ideal are Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. And now, I want to add Batman: Arkham Asylum to the list.

Images of a youthful Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali tell you almost everything you need to know about Fight Night Round 4, the latest edition of EA's boxing franchise.

Those two fighters set the tone for the whole game, making it a feel like a playful romanticizing of the sweet science that focuses on boxing's past while relying on players' creativity to bolster the present -- because let's be honest, unless you're a huge fan of the lighter-weight divisions, the present isn't that great.

We love superheroes, mainly because they can do things we can't. They fly, have metal claws, control things with their minds -- but at some point, they had to choose whether or not to fight for others or just start tearing everything up.

That's the same choice game players face in Sucker Punch's inFAMOUS, a brilliant bit of comic-book fantasy about a free-running courier who wakes up with the ability to control electricity.

Lots of superhero games can be enjoyed by kids and their families. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not one of them.

As the blood sprays and limbs get liberated in this brutal interpretation of the new Hugh Jackman movie, you find that while Wolverine may not be the best superhero game out there, it's certainly among the angriest.

I know what Mirror's Edge is trying to do. It's different. It's special. One could even dare to utter one of the most overused words in the industry: innovative.

However, that doesn't always mean it's great.

Like the free-running it tries so hard to emulate, this latest work from Electronic Arts can be exhilirating -- if you're willing to put up with a lot of pain.