The 30 second review thread

[AladainAF]

Disgaea 3: Absense of Justice (PS3, 2008, RPG) - 4.6

Graphics suck, but that doesn't matter in the by far best Disgaea installment yet. Tons to do, absolutely superb voice overs for English, great sound track, and fun cameos await you. Absolutely hilarious story, and overall fun game. Definitely worth a buy, even moreso if you are a fan of the series.

[Dunkelheit_vz]

Heavenly Sword (2007 - action - PS3) - 4.5

Ok, the game seems a bit short and the very last enemy is a bit hard for the average player, but other than that you get fantastic graphics, atmospheric music, a great storyline and one of the best protagonists I ever had in a game.
Definitely worth a rent, for 30 Euros it is even worth a buy

[Dunkelheit_vz]

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (2007, action, PS3, Xbox360) - 4.5

The game could be a bit more beautiful and it seems hard at start, but after you get used to it and your playing skills move up you are going to play one of the most rewarding games in history.
After your first run of the game you will be a pro ninja, or you have failed miserably on the way to it

[MrGraham]

Earth Defense Force 2017 (2007 - Action - 360) - 4.5

Imagine space invaders meets Grand Theft Auto? Unlimited ammo, Co-op mode, environmental destruction, giant robots/insects, 5 difficulty levels. Graphics suck and it lags some in big fights, but this game is simplistic explosive fun in a bottle.

[Vatoreus]

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008 -- PS3/Wii/XBox 360 -- Action) -- 3.5

I've only played this on the PS3, so the XBox360 version is probably similar in terms of control and graphics. Wii may be a bit different with the different control scheme.

The graphics are really nice, storyline is actually pretty decent for what I was expecting (some of the twists leave you going "Hrmmm..." a bit), and the combat is actually pretty cool.

The controls leave you a little more than frustrated while fighting in some of the tight spots. Nothing like constantly targetting the incorrect things while trying to get a bead on the main target.

Overall, good game, worth a play through. If you're a Star Wars fan, pick it up because it's more Star Wars lore that explains how stuff went from III to IV.

[Vatoreus]

Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008 -- PS3/XBox360 -- Survival Horror) 4.0

Beautiful game, environments and music are amazing. The story is a little predictable, but still awesome to play through. Can be really frustrating with the controls, but that's just a little normal for the series. Pick it up and play it. Oh, and when you beat the game, each different ending you get, you get a different costume for Alex to wear, one of them being Pyramid Head.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Originally Posted by MrGraham

Original post going to get updated?

Sorry about that. Updated now, will keep more on top of updates from here on out. Keep those reviews coming guys. May not be much now but I think it'll be handy in the future.

Also going to include a few 'must have' threads we've had since those are usually a good quick example. If you guys can think of/find any I missed let me know. I tried finding an xbox360 'must have' thread but can't remember seeing one in the past several months. Added a legacy section as well if you guys want to review older games then the ones we have categories for.

[Hatorade]

Sorry Zehn edited my Gladius post to be on par with the rules.

Goo World: (2008 Wii/PC 2008-other) 5.0

Not like any game you have played, you use balls of goo to build things to acomplish different objectives. Some times its a bridge other times it is a tower. Throw in different goo types like ones that catch on fire or explode into more goo and you have an awesome game. Played it for 6 hours straight and couldn't wait to play it again.

[Hatorade]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (2008 PC-TBS) 4.0

Anyone familiar with the previous 10 can more or less pick this up and play. However if you are new to the series it will own your soul but this is a great place to start. Decent graphics and fun turn based strat+civ like town building. The down side is tutorials really don't prepare you for everything and the manual is like 300 pages

[Vatoreus]

Dead Space (2008 -- PS3/XBox360 -- Survival Horror/Shooter) 5.0

This game is absolutely great. Must play for either platform. Story, environment, and controls all mesh very, very well to create a great feel and sucks you in.

[Tenks]

Disgaea 3 (PS3, 2008, jSRPG) - 4.5

Disgaea3 brings over-the-top anime inspired art and personalities in a traditional Japanese Strategy RPG. Mao, the protagonist, is the #1 freshman honor student and also the son of the Overlord. Mao harbors hate towards his father and wishes to kill him, sending him on an epic journey. The comical storyline and very memorable characters will keep this game exciting and the deep strategy elements will inspire many "one more map" moments. The main storyline takes roughly 25hr with virtually infinite post-game replayability with the item world, class world and alternate maps. A definite must-have for jRPG fans on the PS3.

[Tenks]

Civilization Revolution (PS3, 2008, Turn based strategy) - 3.5

Born from the popular Civilization series Revolution comes to HD consoles. Much like the previous games player battle over land and resources in this turn based strategy game. Players start in the stone-age and quickly advance into the modern era. The game removes some of the depth and micromangement seen in Civ4 to make it more streamlined for consoles. This has both good and bad implications. The AI is the real death of this game as opposing enemies tend to be more of a nusance than a real threat and once you have played the game a few times it feels repetative. The game is fun, no doubt, but if you are looking for the definative Civilization experience I suggest looking towards Civ4.

[Tenks]

Super Stardust HD / Solo expansion (PS3, 2008, Space Shooter) - 5.0

I was never a fan of the vanilla SSD considering it took far too long to accomplish much. The solo expansion addresses this directly. You will last no more than 15 minutes or so in endless unless you are a top player and survival you will be lucky to last over 3. Endless is by far the best mode and combines things vanilla did not have. Enemies, objects and powerups are all random meaning you must be able to switch weapons quickly, react quickly and conserve bomb usage. Every so often the entire map will "accelerate" meaning pretty soon you'll have no more than half a second to react. Infinite replayability and ton of fun. Must have for PS3 owners.

[Pasteton]

Farcry 2 pc - 3.0

I've put about 20 hours into this one, and I found this one generally disappointing compared to the reviews. The graphics are nice but not quite up to par with crysis, and the physics engine is very inferior to crysis.

The openworld gameplay itself has potential, and there are a few nifty ideas like being able to set/start massive fires, but most every encounter can be cheesed a variety of ways due to the idiotic AI. I had one too many enemy jeeps speedcrash into a tree from 500 yards away on their way to try to run me over. While playing on hardcore it didnt take me long to realize the best way to kill every enemy is lure them out then charge them with my machete-of-death as they reload, over and over, since any tactically based gunfights were pointless as the enemy has ridiculous accuracy in addition to its horrible ai.

[TheMarauder]

Fable 2 (Xbox 360, 2008, Action RPG) - 4.3

Great game, delivers a lot of what the first Fable failed to bring. Nice story, but incredibly short and left with an unsatisfying ending. But the actual gameplay makes up for it somewhat. Melee combat is fun, skill combat is great, will combat is meh. The real draw is the hand you have in the world around you. You actually do affect the world around you, and the game creates a sort of empathy between you and your dog, and child should you choose to get one. Graphics are also incredibly beautiful

Supposedly the game is extremely glitchy but I have yet to see that. Co-Op is really lacking, limited choice in weapons and armor, and as a whole, the game seems to revolve less around combat and fighting and more about the beautiful environment, buying up property, "working"(which involves timing a button press for every job), which is a disappointment in a way. Overall, good game. If you like RPG's, definetly pick it up. If not, try Fable first.

edit: revised score