Reviews

2007 was a great year for the shooter. Halo 3, BioShock, The Orange Box, and Call of Duty 4 gave shooter fans everything they could ask for. Well, almost everything... Sure they gave us aliens, mutants, and terrorists aplenty--but the latest entry in the fabled Turok series brings something else to the table: dinosaurs. Not that we haven't seen this before; afterall, it is what makes a Turok game a Turok game. This time around though the developers have utilized the power of current gen hardware to bring these monstrosities to life like never before. The results make Turok a fun and suspenseful addition to the shooter family.

CD Projekt's long-awaited The Witcher has arrived on the PC and features a very dark and gritty storyline with a world full of grey areas and characters that all have their fair share of flaws. Based on the Polish Novel The Last Wish, The Witcher places you in the world of Temeria and is built on the Aurora Engine that was used in Neverwinter Nights. CD Projekt attempts to blend the gameplay of NWN and Diablo in The Witcher but is the game worth playing through?

It has been a long time since the original Unreal came out. Back then, games that pushed the limits of technology were only found on the PC and the 3D card was just beginning to be installed by a few. The original Unreal didn't even require a 3D card and the graphics looked so good at the time that players couldn't really tell the difference with and without the extra hardware. But as the series matured, Epic turned the franchise into an online shooter and kept the emphasis on multiplayer gameplay. Now in the third installment of the Unreal Tournament franchise, the long-awaited shooter, powered by the Unreal III Engine, has finally arrived on both the PlayStation 3 and PC. But does it live up to the hype?

Despite dominating the RPG genre for the past two generations of hardware, Sony has found themselves in a very unfamiliar position with the PlayStation 3. With sales of the Xbox 360 still far ahead of Sony's ultra-powerful PS3, Japanese developers have reluctantly embraced the 360 over the PS3, and the underpowered Wii, to become the console of choice for practically every single next-generation Role Playing Game that has appeared on consoles. Trying to fill the void in the PS3's library, Sony has given players Folklore. And while it isn't perfect, Folklore is a fun and enjoyable adventure that fans of the genre will want to play through.

Mario is seen as the most well-known and loved videogame character of all time. Nintendo has not only used Mario as its mascot since the NES days but has featured his name on a variety of titles. But when Nintendo releases a brand new platform title in the Mario universe, gamers need to pay attention. No matter what year or platform a Super Mario adventure is released on, his titles are always magical. Super Mario Galaxy is just another example that nobody knows how to make a platformer like Nintendo and the genius behind it all--Miyamoto.

Buzz! is a game that has been extremely popular for Sony in Europe. Despite all of the success, it has taken them quite a while to bring the game over to the US. However, this holiday season Buzz!: The Mega Quiz was finally released--packaged with four Buzzers. Surprisingly this is one trivia game that is just a blast to play whether on your PlayStation 2 or on a backwards compatible PlayStation 3.

When Infinity Ward was enlisted by Activision to slay the mighty EA and their Medal of Honor Series with the original Call of Duty, I don't recall anyone in the industry thinking it could be done. Who could top the already established First Person Shooter in the crowded WWII sub-genre? It wasn't until the release of Call of Duty 2 that most began to see how great a developer Infinity Ward was and witnessed Call of Duty 2 not only be a great game but the best title available on the Xbox 360 in the first several months of its life.

Majesco's release of Cooking Mama on the Nintendo DS took the world by surprise. This budget title not only completely blew away all sales expectations--but led to a version on the Nintendo Wii and now a sequel to the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, just like heating up leftovers, the gameplay in Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends is a bit stale and just not as good as the original.

Although it is definitely not the most powerful handheld console on the market today, the Nintendo DS has led he industry to rethink how they make games. While we have seen our fair share of standard games with some "basic touch screen" concepts thrown in, THQ has tried to go the extra mile in delivering a project that gives players not only a 2D platformer to play through but also the ability to draw and create the game around them. This game is Drawn to Life.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a title that took me by surprise. This game came out of nowhere earlier this year and despite a very buggy early build, I could see an excellent adventure brewing as one of the only PlayStation 3 exclusives I would consider buying the system for. Unfortunately the marketing for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and the still low, but growing, PlayStation 3 install base has caused Drake's Fortune to be released with little mention. In reality, this adventure should be mentioned up there with the best games of 2007.