Recent Articles

Sleeping Dogs Review

Imagine a video game that featured the frenetic and violent shoot-out of classic John Woo movies, the freedom and huge overworld from GTA, the immersion and attention to detail that Shemnue and Yakuza offered, and the drama and character dynamics of Infernal Affairs. Sleeping Dogs is all of this with enough quality gameplay and content to keep you busy for a long time. What began as a new entry in the True Crimes series ended up as a third...

Binary Domain Review

On first glance, Binary Domain appears to be another clone among the many trying to share the spotlight with the triple A titles -- in this case, Gears of War. While they are both mechanically similar -- third-person, cover-based shooters -- Binary Domain manages to do something different from its competitor: be a fun shooter while fixing some of the mistakes commonly found throughout Gears of War. Binary Domain takes place in a cyberpunk future...

Furdiburb Review

Remember Tamagotchi? His little frowny face, stinky lines, and lumpy pixels representing gobs of poo as big as he was ... The morbid fun of seeing how long he’d last, the poo piling up, or the obsessive compulsive need to care for him, check on him every hour, lest he die in a pile of his own filth? His successor exists now on Android, in a beta version called Furdiburb, by the makers of Sheado.net. But Furdi’s got a hell of a lot...

Hotline Miami Review

The recent surge in popularity with indie titles has been a renaissance for new ideas that push the boundaries and limits on what gameplay and narrative can achieve. Titles such as Limbo, Braid, and Super Meat Boy relied on traditional 2-D gameplay to deliver clever new twists on the genre while games like Amnesia: Dark Descent used the latest in technology to give players a truly immersive experience. Games like Minecraft have shown that by...

Best Served Cold: Dishonored Review (Dueling Reviews 2)

Dishonored is a paradox. On one hand, it’s a beautifully designed piece of software. From design to sound to modeling and texture, the city of Dunwall is a perfect example of setting for a story that, while flawed at points, remains compelling. A spiritual successor to the Thief franchise, stealth is your greatest ally in a hostile world driven by industrial oil and gear.  On the other hand, the choices made on the parts of the...

Dishonored Review (Dueling Reviews 1)

New big-budget IPs are somewhat of a rarity these days. With rising production costs, publishers are less likely to try something different. The new ideas -- the radical ideas -- are often left to smaller, lower-budget indie developers willing to try out something new, to pull an interesting twist on an established gameplay mechanic. Dishonored is the big-budget, fresh approach game we desperately need. It’s the new and interesting...

Thirty Flights of Loving Review

Stories in video games are rarely good. They may be adequate, or entertaining, but rarely are they groundbreaking narratives that demonstrate the strengths of the medium nor do they often pose the opportunity to discuss multiple interpretations or an analysis on the genre itself. Video games are entertainment, after all, and rarely by presenting bombastic situations and gruff characters do they end up becoming bestsellers. That’s not to...

Yakuza: Dead Souls Review

Zombies are everywhere. They’re in our FPSs and our adventure games. They’re in our hack-and-slashers and our RPGs. Hell, even our racing games are no longer free from the undead menace. Zombies have become a never-ending source of bullet fodder and the go-to in games that need enemies slaughtered, violently and en masse.   Due to this saturation in nearly every genre, it can be difficult to recommend a good zombie game. It may...

Koch Brothers Exposed

Ever since Michael Moore's 1989 flick Roger & Me, political documentaries have gone steadily downhill. Whereas they were once scrupulously factual and accurate to the point of being a bit dull, they are now utilized as an entertainment medium. In fact, some political documentaries have been among the most fun-filled viewing experiences of the year. This is because all too many political documentary filmmakers are throwing accuracy...

Skyfall (2012) Review

James Bond is an old hero for an older generation. His no-nonsense approach to stopping forces determined to overthrow the world usually revolved around a three-step plan of high-tech gadgets, witty retorts, and beautiful women at his side. As the years went on, Bond slowly became a parody of himself. His sly remarks, unquenchable sexual appetite, and reliance on the latest shiny toy/car/exploding pen seemed painfully out of place in our...

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

The scandal that toppled New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was a very short-lived affair due to Spitzer's quick resignation once the details came out. As such, it didn't make much of an impression on the general public -- much to the relief of the Obama campaign. A scandal afflicting such a prominent Democrat would taint the entire Democrat Party and its prospects for success in 2008. This lead to Spitzer's career remaining in the dark as far as most...

Marvel vs Capcom Origins Review

With Marvel vs. Capcom 3 now in the fighting game spotlight and the Marvel name hotter than ever thanks to the success of this year’s The Avengers, Capcom has re-released some of its earliest entries in its Versus series with Marvel vs. Capcom Origins, a digital release containing both Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Heroes.   For many, this may very well be the first time playing these titles in their proper...

Lockout (2012)

If it weren't for John Carter, Lockout would be the best science fiction flick of 2012. Lockout is one of those action-adventure films that really delivers the escapist goods. Best of all, it stars the remarkable Guy Pearce.   Pearce is what makes this movie work. Although usually associated with more artistic films such as The King's Speech and Prometheus, Pearce has also been in action flicks such as Animal Kingdom. Pearce plays hero Snow...

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Review

Tora! Tora! Tora! is the single best movie ever made about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It features excellent performances from acting talent such as James Whitmore, E.G. Marshall, Jason Robards, Joseph Cotten, Wesley Addy, Neville Brand, and Martin Balsam. The special effects are far more convincing than what’s in modern movies. It also has some of the best music. Best of all, the movie shows the sheer complacency on the U.S. side...

Black Mesa Review

Black Mesa may be one of the best mods for a PC game I have ever played. A strong and perhaps hyperbolic way to begin a review, but it can't be denied. The amount of care and quality put into this mod, the level of detail that went into recreating nearly every aspect and square inch of the Black Mesa Research Complex while adding and tweaking some existing gameplay elements is a thoughtful and impressive tribute to one of the greatest first...