A Cooperative Borderlands Review

Note: I enlisted the help of OXCGN’s Arthur Kotsopoulos in Australia to take a different look at the time sink that is Borderlands. This cooperative effort at reviewing the cooperative game also ran on OXCGN.com.

Borderlands [review]

First person shooter gamers and role playing gamers do not really mix that often. The former enjoys the thrill of a headshot and multiplayer melees while the later is hooked by personalizing their character and looting new gear from dungeons. Borderlands takes a little from each genre and adds enough cooperative elements to create an addictive game best played with others. Whereas Fallout 3 was a role playing game first and a shooter second, Borderlands is the opposite.

A Boy and his Blob [review]

One of the best things about the Nintendo Wii has been how it has invigorated Nintendo’s massive catalogue of games. It has been 20 years–for those that remember–since we were first introduced to Blobert, the amorphous white goo ball who works for jellybeans.

Brütal Legend [review]

Perhaps no greater tribute has ever been offered at the temple of an entire genre of music than Brütal Legend. This game idolizes the power and energy of heavy metal, creating an entire world with metal as its central mythology. The world of Brütal Legend is steeped heavy metal symbolism; with every scenic vista looking like it belongs on an album cover.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves [review]

Stop right there Shia LeBouf! Before Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg crown Mutt Jones the next action adventure hero, Nathan Drake might have something to say. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves follows in the footsteps of Tomb Raider as much as the films Indiana Jones and National Treasure. Moreover, while he is by far a better action hero than Nicholas Cage, he even borders on being as badass as Harrison Ford in his heyday. Even in the midst of innumerable odds and great danger Drake is light hearted and resourceful.

Kurt Cobain done a disservice by negligent Guitar Hero 5 portrayal

But hell, maybe for Guitar Hero it is still only about making a buck. I guess this is the twelfth release within the franchise in four years, if that tells you something. Activision, how about taking a couple years off, releasing DLC for existing games and spending more time in between titles? Do some soul searching. Figure out exactly where you want Guitar Hero’s place in our culture to be. Or is the franchise is going to end up being the next: “Now That’s What I Call Music #61.” A money maker, for sure, but void of any cultural relevance.

WET [review]

WET’s protagonist Rubi might be the love child of Max Payne and Laura Croft. She is a sexy, acrobatic and violent female mercenary out for revenge. Except Rubi doesn’t need ...

Darkest of Days creator Aaron Schurman of Phantom EFX on first IP

Darkest of Days is the project Phantom EFX CEO Aaron Schurman wanted to make when he and a group of investors first started the company ten years ago. The concept was born after Schurman played through the early levels of Medal of Honor, where players reenact the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Despite the technical limitations of the time, the awe of experiencing a fragment of that historic battle in an interactive format was powerful, he said.

Darkest of Days [review]

If you could go back in time, would you attempt to change history for personal enrichment or to prevent atrocities? Or would to restrain yourself in order to preserve the causality that leads to your existence, or in fear of unleashing a worse future by preventing mankind from learning from its mistakes? That is the question at the heart of Darkest of Days, a new game from Phantom EFX of Cedar Falls, Iowa. The game represents Phantom’s first entry in the first-person shooter genre and its first appearance on the Xbox 360.

The Beatles: Rock Band [review]

The Beatles: Rock Band is nothing short of a masterpiece. Beatles fans span decades and this accessible yet challenging game bridges the generational divide. There is something for everybody to love in this game. The band’s original fans will get a kick out of seeing The Beatles perform in the Cavern Club or on the Ed Sullivan Show. Younger fans will love finally seeing Beatles songs released on the interactive Rock Band format. Parents can play with children to expose them to their favorite band, and children can play with parents to expose them to video games.