The Lego series of games is pretty awesome, I’ll be honest. They manage to mix up a wonderful children’s brand with some of the best films made, creating an environment fit for everyone of all ages, and then essentially making the original film a lot funnier without the means of any dialogue, apart from some mumbling. And now a new film series is getting the Lego treatment. But is Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 looking any good? (continue reading…)

Remember how I keep bitching about the Guitar Hero series and the fact that there’s a new game every month or two, and it’s almost identical to the last one? Yeah, you should have worked out by now that I’m quite firmly in the Rock Band camp. Even their band specific games have higher production values than the Guitar Hero equivalent (GH: Van Halen, for example, was a carbon copy of GH4, which was stupidly disappointing). Wait, what’s this? Green Day: Rock Band? Around a year after Beatles: Rock Band? …It’s going to be a long night. (continue reading…)

Remember when I did a preview of Just Cause 2; I mentioned I loved extreme sports games? Well, the most prolific genre in that category is the skateboarding game, and boy do I lap that stuff up. Every year Activision release a new Tony Hawks game, and every year I find myself mildly disgusted at myself for lining their back pockets with my hard earned cash to give it a go, safe in the knowledge that I’m going to hate it. But good news! EA started making that series called Skate, which is something I can get behind. And now it’s on its third instalment, the aptly named Skate 3. (continue reading…)

As it happens, I’ve been playing the Blur beta since it got released as a private one from way back. I guess I just kept forgetting to write about it. But hey, it’s officially a demo now, so time for a preview! (continue reading…)

I can’t do stealth games. I guess I just don’t have the patience for ‘em, you know, all that sitting in the shadows, waiting for the enemy to walk past before sneaking past and getting to your goal. Still, I do enjoy a bit of the ol’ Splinter Cell, which has plenty of scope for killing everyone on the map. So I was kinda looking forward to the demo of Splinter Cell: Conviction. (continue reading…)

I’m interested in extreme sports. Not to the extent that I’d ever give them a go, god no, I’m way too much of a coward for that. Particularly parachuting. I mean, that involves throwing yourself from huge heights, praying to God that the bag on your back will open up and take you to safety. Eugh. Instead, I play video games with these things in. So I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when the Just Cause 2 demo dropped. (continue reading…)

Let’s face it, 3D hasn’t done anything for Sonic. Growing up as a Sega kid, I got to enjoy all his fantastic 2D side-scrolling adventures, and see the stupid transformation into a 3D platformer. Why Sega couldn’t just leave him as he was is just beyond me. The last straw was Sonic Unleashed, which was so god-awful I heard tell of grown men crying whilst clutching their Megadrives (Master System to you Americanos) and praying for a return to form. Well, we can expect that in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4, but for now, Sega have decided to give the old boy another bash at the world of non-platformers, in the upcoming Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing. With Banjo-Kazooie. (continue reading…)

Dynasty Warriors. Now there’s a series that’s gone down in history. It has everything; huge weapons, screaming guitar licks, tons of enemies and a bunch of women with large breasts. They just keep making more and more, and they’re all the same stupid good fun each time. So, naturally, the next in the series, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, is… an RPG? (continue reading…)

What’s a really long running horror-sci fi franchise that’s spawned a crossover with a stupid Arnie film? That’s right, Alien! And for bonus points you should guess that the crossover is with Predator. So Aliens vs Predator! Hey, I think I remember a demo for the multiplayer of that game being made available recently. Maybe I should do a preview of it… (continue reading…)

A little game called Mass Effect 2 came out this week, and it’s pretty hard to stop playing it. Even for sleep. So clearly there’ll be a good review of it coming up when I finish it. Still, I am committed to my job here, so I regularly check the new demos to see what I can preview. And after a dry spell, it’s time for a bash at Battlefield Bad Company 2. The multiplayer, at least. (continue reading…)