Game Review No.8: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Available on: Xbox 360 (version tested), PS3, WiiU, PC, 3DS, Vita

Bit of a mouthful that title. And that’s after they removed the context giving “Sega” from it. Now they’re just all-stars. All-stars of what? I dunno. Not Sega though… If it was it would have said so right? Fun fact, The devs refer to these games internally as SSR, as in Sega Superstar Racing. That was the original title of the first game until the higher ups decide Sonic needed his name all over dat shit. Yup, despite the fact the Sonic games have been spotty at best the last… oooh… 15 years, they figured the name still had enough value to chuck it on the box. At this time I point out that the Super Smash Bros games aren’t called Super Mario and the Smash Bros All-Star Fighting Country Vacation. Dear Sega, you have more characters than Sonic. Maybe if you used them a little more you wouldn’t feel compelled to rely on the blue hog all the time. Anyway, I’ve got a review to write, for a game I will refer to from now on as SSR Transformed. Because sod typing that full title out each time. Also, Sega Superstar Racing sounds better.

Game Review No.7: Far Cry 3

Available on: Xbox 360 (Version tested), PS3 & PC

It’s been a while since I’ve done a game review. Don’t really have an excuse. Just been busy with various other things. But, in the last few months, I have built up a backlog of games that require a bit of the old reviewing from me and so I’m gonna try to get that ball rolling with today’s game, Far Cry 3. Eventually I’ll get around to reviewing the other games I’ve recently finished off, such as Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed and Bioshock Infinite but for now you’ll have to make do with a game released last year that everyone else has already played to death. Click the link or something.

Games Review No.6: Spec Ops – The Line

Available on: Xbox 360, PS3 & PC
Version reviewed: Xbox 360

You know, it kinda sucks when great games get largely ignored by the masses. Even more so when the game, outwardly at least, appears to fit directly into the sort of generic cookie cutter design that a lot of the best sellers do, such as, the generally boring as all hell Call Of Duty series. Spec Ops: The Line appears at first glance to be a by the numbers cover based military shooter, the likes of which are everywhere these days. It even spends the first couple of hours convincing you that this is exactly what it is. And then stuff happens. Dark miserable and nasty stuff that sticks with you. The game starts to turn into one of the most memorable and intelligently crafted pieces of drama every produced in the realm of videogames. How does developer Yager manage this? I’ll probably tell you after the jump. That’s if I can do it without spoiling anything.

Games Review No.5: The Walking Dead

Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, OSX, iOS
Version reviewed: Xbox 360

It’s been nearly a month since my last post on The Games Dump. This is because of laziness. Nothing else, just being lazy. Won’t be such a long wait for the next review, maybe 2 reviews though. I’ve become quite the fan of The Walking Dead over the years. I dabbled with the Robert Kirkman scribed comic briefly but never got around to buying the collected issues, really should do that. Mostly I’m a fan of the TV series though. Either way, I’m a fan. Just not as hardcore as some are. As such, when it was announced that Telltale games would be developing an adventure game based on the comic books I was pretty interested in seeing what they would do. But at the same time I was apprehensive of their ability to produce a game good enough for me to get past the technical failings a lot of their adventure games have. Does The Walking Dead manage to prove that good writing can hold a game up alone? Click the link to find out.

Games Review No.4: WWE 13

Fun fact: I like wrestling. Been a fan since the mid to late 80s, grew up watching Bret Hart, Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and so forth punching each other in the rough vicinity of the head. I enjoyed the showmanship, the action and the fun of watching a clown wrestle a voodoo priest. When I was a lad wrestling games were a big pile of turd that failed entirely to reflect what the show was about.. I used to play games like Super Wrestlemania (which I have just realised is in my SNES right now) WWF Raw and other such messy wrestling games. Kids today love to complain about how crappy modern wrestling games are but believe me, they’re light years ahead of what we had back then. THQ (God rest their soul… maybe) have been making WWE’s wrestling games for about 12 years now. What they brought to the table was more of the storylines and presentation of the TV shows themselves. So after all this time making these games how have they progressed with their latest WWE game? Click the link to read my review!

Games Review No.3: Borderlands 2

Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Version reviewed: Xbox 360

Well I have certainly let this blog flounder a little haven’t I? It’s been over a month since my last post. In my defence I did go and set myself the ridiculous task of reviewing each and every Eon produced James Bond film over on The Film Dump. During the time I spent watching and reviewing those films I did manage to find the time to finish one other game, well actually two but I’ll get to the second game at a later date. The one I’m tackling tonight is Borderlands 2. Click the link for my review!

Games Review No.2: Transformers – Fall Of Cybertron

Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Version reviewed: Xbox 360

Said new posts on this blog would be a little slow to come along. This is because games are a different kind of beast to the films I review over on The Film Dump. Plus I rarely finish any game I play. So I guess it goes to show that Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron might actually be quite good seeing as I actually have bothered to finish the thing. I suppose I should tell you what is actually good about it though. Click the link yo!

Games Review No.1: Sleeping Dogs

Version reviewed: PC

So this Games Dump blog of mine is moving kinda slowly, but that was always the intention. It is planned as a side blog to The Film Dump so I could make and post gaming related content somewhere. On The Film Dump I have a rule that I review every film I see. That rule is pretty much the same here. Basically I plan to write a review for every game I play through to completion, be they new, old or very very short. Provided I’ve finished the main game and experienced enough of the surrounding content to feel as though I can write a complete review I will be doing one. This is really the way reviews should be done. I felt compelled to do this after I read one blogger’s review here on WordPress where he passed judgement on a game and towards the end mentioned that he and only played 45 minutes of it. Unless you’re playing Minesweeper I really doubt you could have played the game enough to judge it. Also you should be aware that, just like on The Film Dump, I don’t provide scores. Read the review if you want to know what I think. Anyway, my first review is for Square-Enix’s Sleeping Dogs. Click the jump for the review!