HST’s Best of 2011: Video Games
Last but not least, here is HST’s list of favorite video games from the past year. And what a year it was, with huge titles coming out and an epic fall season to cap off the year. Plenty of sequels and a few new IPs to boot, so there are plenty of games to mention even without the honorable title →
Gaming Review – Rage (Campaign)
It is obvious why the title Rage was given to this video game. Two seconds out of the pod and some angry albino is trying to shove a knife into my chest. Clearly there is some much needed anger management on this planet. Or times have definitely changed from when I was last awake. Let’s set the scene. In a post →
Gaming Review – Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Campaign)
With the number of Assassin’s Creed games that have been released in the recent past, I am starting to wonder if they are trying to outdo The Sims with that series's affinity of releasing expansion packs. Thankfully each game is a full adventure on its own, with this 3rd installment of Ezio’s trilogy within a trilogy finally bringing two characters →
Gaming Review – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Campaign)
I don’t mean to brag, but when I was little I was decent at climbing trees. I mean, I would get at least 10 feet off the ground. Ok, so that’s not that grand, but I had sensitive hands, and bark is all scratchy… The point is that for people with childhoods like mine, living vicariously through characters like Monkey →
Gaming Review – Batman: Arkham City
As I had to do when I wrote up Batman: Arkham Asylum, I must start this by apologizing to Superman. As much as I like to believe that I am a Man of Steel kind of girl, I just can’t stay away from The Bat when he makes video games like this. Batman: Arkham City follows the events of the first →
Gaming Review – L.A. Noire
The sweltering summer day’s perspiration trailed down the outside pane of glass, clinging to the hope of making it inside. The scene inside was not much better. The shadow of the day cut across the wounded body of the young woman, broken and bruised from the deep cuts in her abdomen as she waits for a savior to come take →
Delayed Gaming Response – Dead Space 2
When it comes to science fiction, space is always presented as a pretty action oriented place, from space battles to asteroid fields to roaming cannibals (you thought I was going to get through that without a Firefly reference? Silly you, you thought wrong). But from way down here where the majority of us are standing it is nothing but a →
Gaming Review – inFamous 2 (PS3 exclusive)
As far as I am concerned controlling electricity is not a power I would want to possess if I had my pick because I don’t plan on forgoing showers anytime soon. Good thing this isn’t The Sims and hygiene really isn’t a concern to Cole, the protagonist reprising his role in InFamous 2. At the end of game one I happily →
Review of Brink (XBOX 360)
If you are on my friends list, you probably have heard me talk about Brink; Bethesda and Splash Damage's new class based, wall-climbing, objective-completing first person shooter. With all of the beautiful videos (look up the E3 trailer), awesome graphics, and gameplay that looked smooth as silk. I was so ready for this multiplayer epic to come out →
PS3 Players Rejoice! Mass Effect 2 is Finally Here
Here’s a little thought about console exclusiveness. When a game is released solely onto one console (I’m ignoring PCs cuz I’m a Mac person and PCs scare me) it sucks. Boasting ensues, lines are drawn in the sand and suddenly we’ve got a full on battle over which console is the best among the fans. For those of us claiming →
Gaming Review – Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions
For years games starring superheroes were kind of a joke, hardly giving the player an adequate experience to live up to the hype of the character. Then Batman: Arkham Asylum came along and showed how it should be done. While Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions might not live up to the Caped Crusader’s game, it is still far above most of what →
Gaming Review – Shank
Shank’s revenge story might be a tale as old as time, but that is where the comparisons to a Disney film end. Instead it provides a gruesome blood bath of 2D side-scrolling violence that would do Quentin Tarantino proud in many ways. The player will take control of the title character, wielding an array of weapons to slice, shoot, and blow →
Gaming Review – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game
For weeks now Playstation 3 owners have known what it is like to be Scott Pilgrim while the rest of us (I am including me because of my achievement whore status) have had to sit and live vicariously through the film and books. Now with the recent release on the Xbox 360 Arcade everyone can feel just how epic it →
Gaming Review – Mafia II
In all honestly I wasn’t expecting too much from my time with Mafia II because I was never able to finish the one Grand Theft Auto game I started because the gameplay just wasn't for me (which Mafia II closely resembles), and in all honesty I think The Godfather is pretty overrated. With that said I decided to give this →
Gaming Review – God of War Collection (PS3 exclusive)
For some reason back when God of War was released on the PS2 I never thought to play it, though now that I think about it there was a good chance that my system was already broken… Stupid broken systems… Anyway, now with the collection on the PS3 I had no reason not to finally give them a go, and →
E3 2010: Microsoft, Sony, & Nintendo Press Conference Reflections
So the biggest week of the year for the video game world is here and it started these last two days with the annual first party conferences where the Big Three unveil there plans for the year to come. With everyone still on a major console release freeze we are instead being introduced to the current hot properties for Big →
Heavy Rain Chronicles: The Taxidermist (PS3 Exclusive)
The first downloadable content for Heavy Rain was released this week, and though I am not sure if it’s worth the price, it provides one intensely creepy experience. If we have learned anything about reporter Madison Paige from the main game it’s that her snooping tends to get her into trouble. This time around she is following another lead on the →
Gaming Review – Heavy Rain (PS3 exclusive)
When Heavy Rain was first introduced it was talked about as revolutionizing the way video games are structured, creating a more interactive experience rather than just an empty button masher. After playing it I can say that they achieved the majority of what they set out to do, and though I wouldn't go as far as to say that I →
