Genres

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.

Mists of Pandaria is the fourth expasion to the ever popular MMO, World of Warcraft This time around, players will be leaving the sundered lands of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdom to head to (you guessed it) Pandaria, where a mysterious race known as the Pandaren wage war against the Mogu, an ancient race that wants to reclaim Pandaria for their own. After more than 7 years, is World of Warcraft still the top dog in the MMO space? Or is the genre finally in need of some new ideas to keep players engaged?

Action movies in the eighties were simple. There were two sides – good and evil. A large muscled man (quite often with only the smallest grasp of the English language, and I’m not just talking about Arnie) would fight “someone bad” while causing millions of dollars of damage, a couple of hundred explosions and spouting kick ass catchphrases.

Crytek is a studio known for pushing the technological envelope in game development. The Crysis series in particular has become infamous for its incredibly demanding system requirements, alongside its staggering visual realism. With the third and possibly final numbered entry in the series, Crytek is looking to give the story a fitting conclusion, while proving to the world that they are the undisputed kings of gaming graphics.

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.

Lara Croft is a gaming icon, a woman that, in the nineties, became the very symbol of video gaming and its place in society. Although many of the people who saw her in newspapers and magazines couldn't tell you that she came from a video game called Tomb Raider, they certainly recognized her face (and, perhaps, other part of her anatomy). The fame didn't last, and it didn't take long for the Tomb Raider franchise to drop in sales, and for Lara Croft to stop featuring on the cover of magazines. The last game in the series, Underworld, received mixed reviews ...

Football Manager 13 was released last September, just in time to cause poor exam results up and down the country this year. A crown I’m sure it was keen to keep from last year, as the Football Manager series has always been a favourite of the side-tracked student turned PC gamer. Some have even called it an addiction, but will this year’s instalment keep you hooked?

I have to admit that I didn’t have high expectations for Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance... (Especially with a title that uses most of the english alphabet). Over the years, the series has deeply developed Solid Snake, a character we all know, admire and love and Revengeance seemed like a long-shot. In theory, this game shouldn’t work. Set in the Metal Gear Solid universe, we would normally expect a game with an intense and confounding story, stealth based gameplay as well as quite a few hours of intriguing cutscenes. Now that I have actually played ...

When Braid hit the Xbox, it was a wake up call to indie developers. Smart and simple games could flourish in this new generation of high-powered graphics. The Bridge is an indie 2D puzzle game where players control time and gravity to guide a man through a distorted world of M. C. Escher geometry. The Bridge owes much to Braid, both for paving the way for other indie games, but also for the quiet thoughtful tone that both games share.