Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

By Stefano Terry

Studio: Warner Bros

Written By: Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer

Starring: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg

Directed By: Zack Snyder

Batman. Superman. Inarguably two of the most recognized, beloved, and iconic superheroes in the world. For decades, fans of both characters have wanted to see the two titans grace the big screen, duking it out in epic fashion. Now, here we are, in 2016, and Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder have done just that, in an attempt to not only finally bring the two heroes together on film, but to springboard their new cinematic universe and lead-in to 2017’s Justice League Part 1. How did their gamble pay off? Read on to find out.

NOTE: This review will go in depth with the plot points of Batman v Superman, so I am marking this as a SPOILER REVIEW.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

by Stefano Terry

Genre: FPS/Action/RPG

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Developer: Eidos Montreal/Nixxes Software

Price: $29.99

I remember the first time I played Deus Ex back in 2000 on my best friend’s PC. At the time, the graphics were amazing, and the combination of first person shooter and RPG was addicting, and pretty new to me. The futuristic, cyberpunk setting and complex, conspiracy laden story had me hooked from beginning to multiple endings.

I passed up on the sequel: Deus Ex: Invisible War, mostly because I heard it just wasn’t that good, and failed to live up to the expectations set by the groundbreaking original.

When I heard that a new Deus Ex was releasing, 8 years after the sequel, and a whopping 11 years after the original, I was skeptical. When I heard that it was a prequel, set before the events of the first game, I was downright convinced that Deus Ex: Human Revolution, would be nothing more than a mediocre cash in on a series that could have been so much more. I was so, so wrong.

Alice: Madness Returns Review

by Stefano Terry

Genre: Action/Adventure

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

Developer: Spicy Horse

Price: $29.99 (USD)

I never played American McGee’s original Alice, but I found myself drawn to the sequel due to it’s intriguing concept and atmospheric art design. I didn’t know much about the title beyond it being a dark tale inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Ironically, Alice in Wonderland isn’t exactly one of my favorite stories to begin with. It never quite grabbed me like other fairy tales.

With that said, I dove into Alice: Madness Returns with pretty moderate expectations. I often find that going into new things with moderate expectations helps to avoid the disappointment that often comes with hype. Although, by the time I had got my hands on Returns, I had heard many negative things about the game. I shrugged them off, preferring to make up my own mind when it comes to what I should and shouldn’t enjoy (and then write a review for others to read, of course!)

Game Informer, I think we have a problem

An Editorial by Figboy

I’m generally not a guy that calls out anybody (except for fanboys, because it’s fun), but I admit that I was quite taken aback by the current issue of Game Informer (the one with Assassin’s Creed 2 as the cover story), and their review of The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.

I’m completely aware that reviews are simply one person’s opinion of a product, but reviews for games are a bit trickier than any other medium because of the interactivity of games. It’s easy to watch a movie, or even listen to a song, and explain why you liked or didn’t like it, because movies and music are rather passive experiences, and it’s pretty cut and dry as to why you’d like or dislike a particular song or movie.

Resident Evil 5 Review

The Resident Evil series was my first taste of the Survival Horror genre many moons ago, and it’s hard to believe that the franchise has been around for nearly 13 years.

After 4 entries into the series proper, and more than as many spin offs, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the franchise may have lost it’s sheen over the years. After Resident Evil 4 breathed fresh life into the series, RE5 was going to have to step it’s game up if they wanted to be relevant when there are a number of other Survival Horror titles out there on the market challenging it’s status.

Prince of Persia Review

I’m a huge Prince of Persia fan. Well, at least the titles released last generation, as I admit I never played the originals on the PC way back in the day (that’s since been rectified, however).

The Sands of Time Trilogy stand as one of my favorite gaming trilogies of all time, so I was a bit skeptical when I heard that Ubisoft Montreal was going back to the Prince of Persia well, not only with a new Prince, but with a re-worked combat system, art style, and, most concerning of all, no Sands of Time as a gameplay mechanic.

While my fears were understandable, they ultimately turned out to be unfounded, as this new Prince of Persia is altogether beautiful, engaging, and most importantly, fun. It is not perfect, of course, but it’s flaws are so minimal, and the overall experience so tightly polished that they can be brushed off your shoulders like, well, sand.

The State of Gaming Reviews – Part 5

Concluding my analysis of what I believe to be the broken modern day review model.
Read Part One
Read Part Two
Read Part Three
Read Part Four
I feel that video games should be judged on four key principals of game design. When these four principals are working, you get a classic gaming experience. You don’t need all 4 to have a good game, however, but you do need all four if you want a game to be memorable and classic:

The State of Game Reviews – Part Four

Continuing the analysis of what I believe to be the broken modern gaming reviews model.

Read Part One
Read Part Two
Read Part Three

It’s not all hopeless, and there are steps that can be taken that I think can repair the review system so that genuinely good games aren’t neglected by an apathetic gamer who sees an 8/10 score and thinks “I’ll pass on this one,” because the grading curve is too high these days (ie, an 8/10 is considered a rental these days, when just a console generation ago, an 8/10 was still considered a “must buy”).

The State of Game Reviews – Part Three

We continue our analysis of what I believe to be our broken modern day game review model.

Read Part One
Read Part Two

Many other games, across all consoles (although it seems like the PS3 has most certainly been graded on a curve and nitpicked more than the other two consoles), have received similar treatment. Reviews are often filled with a series of nitpicks, or vague declarations of “I didn’t like this,” without any clarification or reasoning for feeling that way.

I read a review of Resistance 2 a few weeks back, and the reviewer covered the multi-player aspect of the game (which I could take up a whole article describing), with one or two sentences, and those sentences were him lamenting that the game dared to go big with increasing player count from 40 to 60 in an online match. This seemed to be enough to justify slapping a 6/10 score on the game. Why? Were there any other issues that warranted a subtraction of 4 points?

The State of Game Reviews – Part Two

We continue our explorations of the state of modern day gaming reviews in this five part series.

Read Part One Here

When you have mediocre games like Dark Sector scoring higher than masterpieces like Metal Gear Solid 4 at some publications, you just have to accept that something is wrong with the very standards in which we review games. By the time the Playstation 3 hit the scene, it already had a wave of hate waiting for it, thanks to the absurdly high $500/$600 price tag. The entire gaming industry, from the media, to developers, to the gamers, had turned on the Playstation brand with the ferocity of a hurricane. As a result, every single Playstation 3 exclusive was reviewed against the price of the console. Or the hype of the Playstation 3. Suddenly, every grandiose claim that Sony made when doing the usual PR song and dance for the PS3 had to become a reality on day one, minute one.

And when no game could reach such a high standard, they were hit with some of the harshest review scores I think I’ve ever seen handed out in the industry.