Format reviewed: PC
Developer: Greenheart Games
Publisher: Greenheart Games (self-published)
Review by Justin (Ljay90)
Game Dev Tycoon is the first game from Greenheart Games. It was made infamous over the past few weeks for it’s approach to combating piracy. For those that don’t know, Game Dev Tycoon is a business sim that puts the player in charge of their own AAA Dev Studio, if you can make it there from your garage.
Game Dev Tycoon starts you out in the 80s, with nothing but your computer, beat down Chevy Impala, and your mothers garage. In the spirit of true entrepreneurship, all you have is a dollar and a dream.
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SPOILER WARNING: Due to the nature of the title, the following review will contain spoilers for some of the current happenings of the Naruto Anime and Manga. If you strictly follow the dub or even the Japanese anime, there will be a Spoiler-Free Pros and Cons section at the end of the review as the game covers events that are slightly ahead of the Japanese anime at the time of this writing. To avoid being spoiled, skip down to the final paragraph of the review. Otherwise, you have been warned.
Format Reviewed: PS3
Developer: CyberConnect2
Publisher: Namco-Bandai Games
Release Date: March 5th, 2013 (US)/March 8th, 2013 (UK)/April 18th, 2013 (JPN.)
Review by Lawrence
Primarily known for the .Hack Franchise, CyberConnect2 was a company that was only beginning to gain notoriety for their work, the first series of .Hack producing 4 hit titles in less than a year to tell one, large, complete story over the course of 4 video games across the Playstation 2 platform. As the company started to grow, in the year 2003, CyberConnect2 began to tackle a new frontier: Anime-licensed titles. Their first attempt at this came in the form Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, based on the widely popular eponymous anime and manga.
The first game in the series would serve as the stepping stone for future titles in the series, the concept being well-received for its time, and the gameplay only being improved in Ultimate Ninja 2. However, it was only with Ultimate Ninja 3 did CyberConnect2 truly strike gold, with an enormous roster of characters, customizable Jutsu and Ultimate Jutsu for everyone, and even characters thrown in as cameos and special guests who never made an appearance.
In a nutshell, Ultimate Ninja 3 was not only a good fighting game, but a true fanservice for fans of the Naruto franchise, and several main-series titles, as well as spin-offs, adventure games, and the impending “next-gen” later, CyberConnect2 saw the need to evolve, taking advantage of the power of the Playstation 3 in order to re-tune the focus of the Ultimate Ninja series, taking it away from its 2D fighting game roots and, instead, turning it into a fully 3D realization of the anime aiming to “break the barrier between the anime and the video game” with new, cel-shaded graphics, and as such, with the help of the fans for picking the name, “Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm” was born.
Now, with 9 and 1/2 years and 12 Naruto games under their belt, as well as their experience from games such as “Asura’s Wrath” and their story-writing in “SoulCalibur V”, CyberConnect2 plunges head-on into one of the most chaotic arcs of Naruto (Now “Naruto Shippuden”), “The Fourth Great Ninja War” for what is “Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3”. Does CC2 rise to the occasion as they have in the past, or does the chaos of war prove too much for the passionate crew behind the Ultimate Ninja franchise? Find out in this review.
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Format Reviewed: PS3 (JPN)
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Release Date: Out Now (JPN) July (EU/US)
Reviewed by TeamBenevolence
Nobody was surprised back in October 2012 when Omega Force announced their next project was going to be Shin Sangoku Musou 7, but how does it compare to the previous games?
First things first, if you loved Dynasty Warriors 7 then 8 is a game you will highly enjoy. Everything that was good in 7 is back and even better in 8. The things that weren’t so great…well, I’ll get to them later.
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Format reviewed: Xbox 360
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
Review by Rident (Single-player only)
Tomb Raider, a much loved franchise receives a new instalment but this is not a sequel by any means, but a complete rebirth of a hero. Gone is the iconic backpack, dual pistols and fearless archaeologist and in replacement is a young, more vulnerable and inexperienced Lara Croft with a thirst for knowledge and exploration much like her Father.
Lara is not alone in this scenario. She is joined by some other key characters that form part of her team on a voyage onboard a ship called The Endurance in search of the lost Japanese island of Yamatai for her first big archaeological adventure. The ship encounters a sudden storm when it enters what is known as the Dragons Triangle, splitting the Endurance crew on a dark, cursed island which holds many secrets and some deadly inhabitants forcing Lara to use her instincts to survive.
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Format Reviewed: PlayStation 3
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Konami
Review by Lawrence
Every once in awhile, a well-known gaming franchise will begin to stray from the very elements that made the series so beloved by the fanbase in an effort to charter new land for the sustaining of the series and the brand name. It’s been seen before in franchises such as Mario, Sonic, Ninja Gaiden, and, perhaps most recently and controversially, Devil May Cry as each series, in one way or another, aimed to reach another set of fans by each of their extensions.
Some have succeeded in this expansion of the fandom, while others have been unable to find such a successful landing on new ground. In the now-26 years of the Metal Gear franchise’s existence, the series was not known for too many leaps onto uncharted waters, and the leaps it did take (The Metal Gear Acid series on the PSP) were met with a generally mixed reaction. So, when it was announced at E3 2009 that a Metal Gear Solid title would not only find its way to the Xbox 360, but it would also star and feature the cybernetic swordsman Raiden, the Metal Gear franchise was met under a lot of scrutiny for the decision once again.
Now, after a period of developmental hell, the shift of development team from Kojima Productions to the revered Platinum Games, and a refining of the focus of the product, “Metal Gear Solid: Rising” would finally come to us in the form of the re-branded “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance”. Is it truly a cut above the rest? Find out my thoughts in this review.
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Format: Wii
Developer: Tecmo Koei
Publisher: Nintendo
Review by Michelle
I have a love/hate relationship with the Project Zero/Fatal Frame games. They are beautiful, with tragic heroes and sympathetic antagonists, yet on the other hand the franchise is one of the very few series that truly scare the shit out of me.
Luckily enough, this remake of the second game mostly meets my expectations as once again we are forced to go to All Gods village and follow those crimson butterflies.
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