GamesRadar - Reviews

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

We were willing to forgive the first Pokmeon Ranger for being overly simplistic. After all, there was still an adventure there, and even though we weren’t participating in deeper-than-you’d-guess turn-based pokemon battles, at least we were exploring the world and befriending one cuddly critter after another. ...

Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

Last time we saw him, in Crash of the Titans, Crash Bandicoot was a brainless chump, lacking both charisma and charm. The game wasn’t much better either. But things are definitely better for both parties this time around. Everything here says ‘Saturday morning’, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Judging by the fully animated cartoon cutscenes, fast-talking bad guys and pop-culture references, that’s exactly what the game intended to mimic and it's done well. ...

Need for Speed Undercover (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

This latest in EA’s undying street racing series teaches us that there’s nothing that can’t be solved by high-speed racing. This is a crass game – which would be fine if it would admit it. It shares much with EA’s other recent star-studded sequel, Red Alert 3, in that it stuffs HD FMV between missions in order to add a story to its formulaic challenges. ...

The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

Launching an MMO expansion pack in the same month as Blizzard may seem like madness, but Lord of the Rings Online has a huge user base, well-defined and even innovative MMO mechanics, and the world’s best known fantasy world. There are vast swathes of people living in the Shire and loving it. ...

Legendary (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

Were we a sniffy historical type, we might point out that it wasn’t Pandora’s Box at all, but rather a jar. Are jars more or less dramatic than boxes? Either way the mislabeled box in Legendary is one that contains not all the evils of the world, but generic monsters and one awesome rubble-golem the size of a block of apartments. ...

Scene It? Box Office Smash (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

Another Christmas, another quiz game. Scene It?’s 2007 leap from board game to virtual toy wasn’t quite up to Buzz’s often lofty standards, but marked a promising foray into the genre for Microsoft nonetheless. Now that it’s backed up by casual titles Lips and You’re in the Movies the movie quiz’s second outing is a much stronger prospect than before. ...

Away: Shuffle Dungeon (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

An interesting one, this. At first glance it all looks a little too Animal Crossing - cute green fields, clear blue streams and cozy little houses. You’ll soon begin to wonder where all the monsters are at, this being a dungeon-crawler and all. Have patience. ...

Lips (Review)

Dec 4, 2008

Out of the box you’d be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t much to separate Lips from Sony’s SingStar series. But buying a karaoke game is a long-term investment, one that only comes to fruition once there’s a wealth of downloadable content available. For this reason it seems unfair to review Microsoft’s casual music game so soon, but there are at least two features that make it stand out. ...

Sonic Unleashed (Review)

Dec 3, 2008

There was a time, perhaps a year ago, when we were seriously excited about Sonic Unleashed’s retro-platform action. The sense of sheer velocity was breathtaking as Sonic blasted through admirably detailed levels so quickly that the soles of his shoes should have melted off. ...

Prince of Persia (next-gen) (Review)

Dec 3, 2008

The first time publisher Ubisoft spoke to us about the new Prince of Persia game, we’ll admit we feared it was going to stink so badly we’d staple week-old roadkill to our faces to try to mask its smell. The super-macho Prince, always the center of this platform adventure series, is being hobbled with a new sidekick character whose help you require for basically everything? ...

Prince of Persia (next-gen) (Review)

Dec 3, 2008

Prince of Persia Classic - PS3 Network (Review)

Dec 3, 2008

Prince of Persia Classic gives the original 2D adventure an extremely likeable modern twist. Gameloft has done a stunning job of giving the old backgrounds an exotic 3D makeover. Sometimes this kind of thing falls flat on its face, but with such an iconic game, it’s brilliant that the makeover has been so successful. ...

Grand Theft Auto IV (Review)

Dec 2, 2008

Of all the extensions of experience that games provide, from puzzle-exploits with cartoon unicorns to unrepentant radioactive horrors, it’s the sandbox gangster sims of the GTA series that are the most voluminous and detailed. ...

Prince of Persia: The Fallen King (Review)

Dec 2, 2008

Put simply, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is Phantom Hourglass does 2D platforming. All stylus control, all of the time. Pull far away and he’ll sprint, tap and he’ll roll – so far, so Link. Other moves feel stilted: context sensitive actions activated by tapping on scenery. Climb a wall, jump a ledge, walljump through a gap. ...

The Last Remnant (Review)

Dec 2, 2008

Ouch! This was supposed to be Square Enix’s attempt to make a truly global RPG. Not so much a Japanese RPG, more an Everywhere-RPG. So why is the opening hour so utterly confusing and unwelcoming? An unfamiliar battle system, all stats and weird terminology and with not much in the way of a helping hand. We can’t think of an RPG that starts this badly. ...

Need for Speed Undercover (Review)

Dec 1, 2008

One of the strangest selling points of Need for Speed Undercover is that it includes the chance to test drive a new Nissan model that won’t be available at car dealers for another couple of months. It won’t earn them any extra sales – prospective Nissan customers who use this game to get a sneak peek at their new purchase will most likely be straight on the phone to cancel their deposit. ...

Tom Clancy's EndWar (Review)

Dec 1, 2008

Having recently seen the brash, flash, voice-commanded Xbox version of Endwar and been reasonably impressed, we had an inkling that the DS version might not be the disaster area it initially promised to be when announced earlier in the year, and so it proves to be. ...

Tomb Raider: Underworld (Review)

Dec 1, 2008

Do you remember when you forgot to bring your gym shorts to school and had to wear some ill-fitting crud-o-shorts from the lost property box? We operate on a similar punishment system, for a palm-eradicating DS Fatso awaits the unsuspecting writer who forgets to bring their own DS Lite. ...

Tomb Raider: Underworld (Review)

Dec 1, 2008

With success comes a responsibility too easily shirked. Tomb Raider star Lara Croft might just as easily live off her glory days while fans make do with a lazy sequel in which she pops to Matalan for a plug-in air freshener. Thankfully, such horrors remain the stuff of nightmares as Tomb Raider: Underworld is actually pretty darned good. ...

Call of Duty: World at War (Review)

Dec 1, 2008

During an assault on an enemy stronghold, one of your comrades urges you to “keep moving, keep killing”. It’s a brutally succinct war cry that encapsulates World at War’s relentlessly vicious pace. Even before you’re dumped unceremoniously into the action, Treyarch waste no time in setting the bleak tone. ...