XBox 360 Reviews

The ocean waves beat a gentle rhythm on the beach behind me as I enter the disused bungalow. An idyllic tropical setting, but I'm here as a scavenger rather than a tourist, picking over the wasted scraps of a life once lived. The now deceased occupant lies on the floor with a gunshot wound in his temple.

Nearly five years since the release of the smash-hit arcade game Castle Crashers, indie developer The Behemoth has finally released their long-awaited third title, BattleBlock Theather. The game, which has been perpetually delayed since its initial reveal in 2010, was launched on Xbox LIVE Arcade in April 2013.

NetherRealm Studios certainly announced their arrival in 2011 when they revitalized the Mortal Kombat series, simultaneously bringing the game back to its roots and expanding on the traits that made the original trilogy so great. Since then, they've been fairly quiet, releasing the Mortal Kombat Kollection on consoles, and developing Arkham City: Lockdown for mobile devices the same year. Two years later, they've returned to both consoles and handhelds, with Injustice: Gods Among Us a digital brawler focused on iconic DC superheroes and villains.

When Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance came out a few months ago it sparked a debate over quality versus quantity. It is a game that can be beaten in about seven hours, although players have plenty of incentive to replay the short experience over and over again. The first chunk of DLC for the 360 version of the game will ignite that debate all over again. Jetstream is short; one of the achievements is for beating it in under an hour. Unfortunately, few players are going to leap to defend it based on quality.

In the last few years, the big budgets and carefully-constructed profit margins of AAA-titles have unfortunately taken a toll on the creativity of games. There are more modern/futuristic war first-person shooters and open world action games than ever - and at the same time, less unique protagonists and stories being told within these genres. Although some of these games may be impressive with game mechanics and scope of their story, I've felt less of a connection with the characters I control and as a byproduct, the journeys I take with them become easier to ...

Never a franchise known for deep, memorable storytelling, the concept of Gears of War: Judgment seemed a little odd. Were people really that interested in what Baird and Cole were up to when Emergence Day occurred, or right before the final attack on Azura of Gears of War 3? It turns out the absence of Marcus wouldn't change things too much: Gears of War: Judgment follows in the veins of its predecessors in both style and personality, though to slightly lesser returns – and oddly, with a lot less content.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior hit the gaming scene in 2010. It wasn't very well received, but it sold well enough to warrant a sequel. The first installment was panned for containing too many run-and-gun missions, something that shouldn't be in a game supposedly all about sniping. With that, developer City Interactive decided to make some much-needed improvements with the sequel, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2. While they succeeded in building a game that focuses more on stealth and sniping, the final product leaves much to be desired.

Was MLB 2K13 doomed from the start? Up until a few months ago, there was no word from 2K or MLB on a license renewal – and once it finally was announced in late January, it seemed too late for 2K to implement anything new or innovative. But even with lowered expectations, MLB 2K13 is a travesty of sports gaming, a blatant reproduction of 2K12 in every single facet. This isn't completely a terrible thing: what worked well in 2K12 worked here, but with less modes and absolutely no sense of effort on the part of developer to clean up any of its problems, it's an ...

Reboots, remakes and reimaginings seem to be all the craze these days. This year we've already seen a different take on Metal Gear, a modernized Devil May Cry and now the highly anticipated reboot of Tomb Raider. This new version of Tomb Raider is more character-driven, cinematic and is reminiscent of many modern action-adventure titles. While it does capture some of what made the original games great, the exploration and puzzle solving play second-fiddle to intense shoot-outs and action-packed cutscenes.

Mass effect 3 was released a year ago today, and Bioware is finally ready to be done with it in the form of one last piece of DLC, Citadel. Citadel is not only Mass effect 3’s last expansion but also a sort of send off for the entire trilogy, filled with a story campaign, old faces, funny banter, and tons of mini games to be played. The first half of the DLC gives you a mission in which you deal with a new enemy, while the second half has you catching up with all your squad mates, new and old.