Code Breaker (XBLIG) Review

Code Breaker is available now on the XBLIG Marketplace for 80MSP.

I know there are a lot of people that don't see the point in games like these. But give them a chance people! They keep your brain active and are actually pretty fun. Obviously you aren't gonna spend hours immersed in a game like this, but it's easy to pick up and play for a quick battle against a friend or computer.

The point of the game is simple, solve the code in as few moves as possible. There will be a green light under it if it is correct, a yellow light if it appears in the code but not quite there and a red light if you're completely barking up the wrong tree.

Quick, simple fun for when your killing half an hour. At just 80MSP there really is no reason to pick this one up. The art style is nice, like a notepad with lots of scribbles on in the background and the game itself is good fun.

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

Civil War Table - Pinball FX 2 (XBLA) Review

The Civil War table is available now on the XBLA Marketplace for 240MSP.

This table is taken from the Marvel comics that featured, you guessed it, a Civil War. The war was based on the Government wanting all mutants to register, Iron Man was all for it, Captain America not so much.

The table starts off with a really cool extra. You can choose to start off with the massacre at Stamford. If you do you get two balls thrown into play. Drop one and the other automatically drops out too. The point of this is to rescue people from the attack. the better you do the higher your score and this is all added together at the end. Nice.

You then decide which side you want to play for. I agree with Captain America, but I think Iron Man is way cooler so I choose his side. I'm that bad at Pinball thought that it probably counts as me fighting for Captain America. I am truly awful at this game.

It doesn't mean I don't have fun trying though. I used to love playing Pinball on my dad's old PC years and years ago. Until the original Sims was released anyway. Then it was good to play a game I didn't totally suck at.

So once you've picked a side it's time to start recruiting! There is a little table of eight other mutants in the bottom and by hitting the various bits and bobs on the table you get them to join your team. The reason you want a big team is because this gives you more allies when you start a fight. The fights are pretty cool. My son (who is Superhero mad) was so excited to see Iron Man diving across the table to fight Captain America.

This table is pretty challenging. I've always got by with Pinball games by mashing the triggers but this one needs a little more finesse though. This only adds to the fun though and this is a brilliant table. FOr the meagre price of 240MSP you'd be silly to not snap this up!

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

Planets Under Attack (XBLA) Review

Planets Under Attack is available now on the XBLA Marketplace for 1200MSP.

I love strategy games, but until I recently received XCOM I never enjoyed them on console. DS = Great, iPad = Great, PC = Great, Console = severely lacking That's usually how strategy games make me feel.

This game isn't as bad as many, many other attempts at strategy on console. But it isn't all that great either. It can feel like you are totally being snowed under sometimes and the game becomes a constant battle to keep up with yourself.

IT'S 3D is what my boyfriend yelled when first launching the game. He's right. And the 3D is VERY impressive. The planets do really look like they're floating around in the room with you. It's very strange. I have to be honest I'm not such a mad fan of 3D, it strains my eyes fairly quickly, but it is nice to be given the option. And the graphics are beautiful!

Each stage or level has loads of planets, some are moving about in orbit and others are stationary. Capture the neutral and enemy planets and bobs your uncle. You can then upgrade them to suit your galactic needs best, be it population increase, making more fleets, money makers or just plain old defense. You don't control your armies or anything like that, it is not a totally in-depth strategy game, you just choose how many of your ships to throw at a planet in an attempt to take it over.

Then the game for me anyway, all starts to fall apart. Not necessarily in a bad way. But I am naturally quite a stressed person. Couple that with OCD tendencies and this game plays havoc with my head. As I mentioned before i felt like I was always chasing my tail, I couldn't keep up, for what felt like ages, with what I needed to be doing and what was happening. Stressful!

Be that as it may though, once you get into the swing of things and you've worked out your strategy (duh) this game is fun. Difficult to get into, but even more difficult to put down. Anyone who has even once enjoyed a strategy game should probably pick this one up.

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise (XBLA) Review

Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise is available now on the XBLA Marketplace for 1200MSP.

Now I never played the previous disc-based Naughty Bear game. So I am not going to compare it to that game, which I hear was pretty awful. This is my first foray into the world of Naughty Bear...and I LOVED IT!

If you are against mass teddy genocide don't buy this game. If, like most of the human race, you are aware that violence in video games ISN'T REAL then you should probably give this one a go. The various amazing ways in which you can exact teddy torture are totally hilarious!

So story wise...All the teddies have gone on holiday but they didn't invite the murderous little teddy that is Naughty Bear. In hindsight that was a pretty bad move eh teddies? So Naughty heads to the island to give the teddies a piece of his mind...or impale them on a cactus plant.

Graphics are actually really good for this game, I don't know why I didn't expect them to be but I was surprised to find myself admiring the graphics. I mean nothing groundbreaking, but the world is beautiful and the stuffing that comes out of the teddies you kill is actually pretty realistic!

You basically go around killing bears in various sick and twisted ways. You don't have to kill every bear you see (but it is more fun) you just have to kill the 36 nasty bears that didn't invite you to the party. Each of these bears have to be killed in a certain way, be it feeding it to a giant plant or dressed in a certain way. Follow the rules to exact your revenge on the target bear and do what you want with the other ones, whether that's making them so terrified they kill themselves or dropping a car on them.

There are 11 different ares for you to run around killing teddies in, so there is a little repetition but not enough to make this game a no-go. In fact it helps quite a bit later in the game to know the maps a little, as the hits gradually get harder.

There are SO MANY different things to collect in this game. Naughty Bear has a pretty huge wardrobe. And what goes best with a shiny new outfit? Yep a shiny new weapon. With so many different weapons on offer it is very hard to get bored of this game. Hell, even without this vast array of weapons, you have so many different things in the universe to kill teddies with this game stays interesting for way longer than a lot of arcade games at the minute.

Overall I would pretty much recommend this game to anyone. It is pretty sick and dark, but it is only teddies and there is no 'real' gore like blood. A definite must buy for me!

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

Zombie Driver HD (XBLA) Review

Zombie Driver HD is available now on the XBLA Marketplace for 800MSP.

I was a massive fan of the Carmageddon games back in the day. They were so much fun. So when I heard about this game I thought that it might be a chance to relive some of the fun I used to have on Carmageddon. It sounds like much the same game, but unfortunately I found it fairly lacking.

Maybe it was the top-down viewpoint of this game that made me loose enthusiasm pretty soon in. It made me feel disengaged from the action, which in a zombie game is never good. The art style is good though, and the story segments are very impressive graphically. The first video intro was very atmospheric and I found myself itching to get into the game. And itching some more as the loading times on this game are shoddy. It took so long to get into the game I was wondering whether my Xbox had crashed. Not cool.

Eventually getting into the game I was left a little deflated. Due to the standard of the intro video I was expecting a little more than what I got, which was an ok looking top-down view. I mean I like top-down games, I was just hoping for more option with this one...I think Zombie games work best when you are IN the action, not watching over it.

The controls are pretty jittery and pretty inconsistent. Sometimes I barely moved the stick and went careering off the road. Other times I was pushing the stick as far as it would go for very little movement. I could see no extenuating factors for this, it just seemed to work when it wanted. The turning circle was what irked me the most though. It is HUGE and that's not something you normally encounter on arcade style games such as this.

The gameplay is fun though, but I have to admit not for long. This game starts to feel pointless very early on. I dunno, but about half an hour after starting this game I was feeling pretty drained and I wasn't really having much fun anymore...I was playing for the sake of playing. All you do is drive around, mushing Zombies, shooting them when you get guns, save some people, upgrade car, boss battle...and then it's pretty much that over and over.

It is a nice open world though. I love open world, and this fact alone is what spurred me to play more. I wanted to see what else the world had to offer. Turned out not so much, but I like being able to go where you want in the world, WHEN you want rather than when you're guided there through necessity.

As I said the highlight for me was the story at the beginning and I was eagerly awaiting more of the same. That isn't what is delivered though. Story here-on-in is delivered through text boxes and a rather awful voice actor. This game turned pretty horrid round about the same time I realised this. Trying to skip the monologues proved fruitless too, no option to skip the awful drone.

I wanted to like this game. I wanted to rekindle the passion that Carmageddon gave me for gaming all those years ago. But this game failed to deliver the fun. It's just an ok game. It's ok if you have 800MSP burning a whole through your pocket an want to mash some Zombies under some tyres. That's about it.

5/10 TRY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.