Category Archives: Reviews

Dinotopia is No Utopia

As its name suggests, Dinotopia is a dinosaur romp. In my opinion, there are too many dinosaur games and not enough of them are any good. Before your heart swells with expectation, Dinotopia is by no means the saviour of the dinosaur theme. Nor will it lead to the hasty demise of the dinosaur genre, and I can’t quite decide if this is a good or a bad thing. Dinotopia is teamed-up with what has been heralded as an exciting, new fantasy series of the same name, showing on the Hallmark channel. The fact that there is such a thing … Continue reading Dinotopia is No Utopia

Run and Gun with Endgame

When I play shooting games on the PS2 like Medal of Honor, I sometimes just wish I had a real gun to make all the shooting easier. A controller is just not as realistic as having a real gun in your hands. So it was with surprise that Empire Interactive sent in Endgame for review. Of course since we did not have a gun in the lab, they also sent along a giant green .50 Desert Eagle light gun. The gun itself is pretty interesting, and looks and feels just like a real .50 hand cannon, other than the fact … Continue reading Run and Gun with Endgame

Space for Nonspace Jockies!

Finally, Earth and Beyond is a space-based shoot em up that does NOT require you to be a certified pilot to enjoy! To say I am jumping for joy is an understatement. As way of background, I am one of those "flight challenged" gamers that can not get the hang of pushing the joystick forward to go down and backwards to go up. Crashed many a flight by going in the wrong direction at the wrong time before I realized I was just not cut out for flight controls. But throw that out the window as Earth and Beyond has … Continue reading Space for Nonspace Jockies!

Relive the Nakatomi Nightmare

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza satisfies the big shooter fan in search of something new. The graphics are ok and the plot is palatable, especially if you’ve seen Die Hard the movie and liked the character of John McLean. I am a little unsure why Sierra decided to publish a game based on a 10-year old movie, but I guess the number of people who have watched the movie thousands of times is a pretty big audience. But regardless of whether you have seen the movie, which if you haven’t, you’ve been living in a bubble for the last 25 years, … Continue reading Relive the Nakatomi Nightmare

Strategius Maximus

It’s so rare these days to find an RTS that actually has something new to add to the picture, but Legion fits the bill. On the surface Legion looks like a lot of the other historical titles that have come into vogue as of late. Over the past 10 years I have played at least that many titles involving Ancient Rome in some way. But Legion is by far the most interesting, and in many ways, the most historically accurate. The game combines the standard province management features found in most games these days, with a turn-based strategic map phase … Continue reading Strategius Maximus

Barbarian is Capable Carnage

Barbarian is the latest arena fighting game for the PS2 platform. Players can take the role of one of ten different characters as they battle for supremacy in different environments across the world of Barbaria. If you are looking for an innovative break-the-mold type of title, then Barbarian is not going to be it. However, if you want one of the best fighting games out there, then Barbarian will fit the bill nicely. The various arenas in Barbarian are very well done and have a lot more interesting elements than even the much touted Dead or Alive series on the … Continue reading Barbarian is Capable Carnage

2002 Football Report Card

Finally after a long, slow summer fraught with talks of baseball strikes, boring tennis matches where we already know the Williams sisters will win before the first serve, and a downward NASCAR season where Jeff Gordon finally won his first race of the year at Bristol, the return of football is upon us. Unlike last year when I had the heavily underrated XFL to hold me over, this year was a longer cross to bear. Don’t even mention Arena football to me, as I do not believe a real football game can be played in only 50 yards. A couple … Continue reading 2002 Football Report Card

Kickin’ with GTA3 PC

When Grand Theft Auto 3 was being shown at E3 running on a PC, my interest was peaked a bit. I had played the game on the PlayStation 2 and had a pretty good time. But my lack of console savvy really kept the game from becoming a top favorite for me. So when the game arrived for the PC, I figured I would give it another go. Basically, GTA3 on the PC is essentially the same game as on the PS2, with a few notable exceptions. If you are a PS2 whiz and went all the way through the … Continue reading Kickin’ with GTA3 PC

Dragon Throne: Battle of Red Cliffs

Dragon Throne: Battle of Red Cliffs is a real time strategy (RTS) game set during the three kingdoms era of china, and believe it or not, my diverse background does actually include studying ancient china while in college. You are probably thinking "why man why?" Well, to be perfectly honest, my advisor recommended the class during an early morning appointment, and I was stupid enough to say ok. Seriously, I joke about it now, but in all honesty I found the history of Asia to be quite fascinating and I continue to expand my knowledge when the time and opportunity … Continue reading Dragon Throne: Battle of Red Cliffs

College Ball Touchdown

Football is one of the most difficult sports to participate in. Aside from the obvious reasons (how many of you had mothers who wouldn’t let you play?), there are several other reasons football is one tough cookie. Having played on a football team for eight years, I can tell you from experience that some people just can’t take how rough the game is. Fortunately, for you people who couldn’t join a normal team for whatever reason, EA has come through to offer you NCAA Football 2003. Don’t worry about not being able to play football though, because NCAA Football 2003 … Continue reading College Ball Touchdown