Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogobig.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[WWE All-Stars review: Larger than life]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/30/wwe-all-stars-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/30/wwe-all-stars-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/30/wwe-all-stars-review/#comments In the last decade, wrestling video games have done an exceptional job of recreating the dense rules, convoluted dramas and worn bodies that comprise the popular television enterprise that entertains the red meat-eating swath of America.

It is a strange, slightly silly pursuit: creating a realistic replica of a fantasy. And yet, developers and publishers have, without asking why, fed us real-fake wrestling games, where punches whiff and luchadores disappointingly obey the laws of gravity.

WWE All-Stars, the latest wrestling game from THQ, sounds, in name alone, like another addition to this long, dull line of reality-fantasy-simulators. It's not: Its wrestlers are brawny theme park caricatures; its drama is shallow and direct; and its rules are nonexistent.

Gallery: WWE All Stars (1/19/11)

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JoystiqWWE All-Stars review: Larger than life originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>microsoftnintendoplaystationps3THQWCWwiiWWEWWE-All-StarsWWEAll-StarsWWFxboxWed, 30 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[de Blob 2 Review: The colors, Duke, the colors]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/22/de-blob-2-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/22/de-blob-2-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/22/de-blob-2-review/#comments Religious cults. Stalinism. Labor camps. WMDs. For a kid's game, de Blob 2 isn't short on adult subject matter -- even if it goes unmentioned in the ESRB box. Having expanded onto Xbox 360 and PS3, has the squeezable platformer grown-up?

When we left Chroma City at the end of 2008's Wii-exclusive de Blob, the evil INKT Corporation and its leader Comrade Black had been freshly ousted by the titular hero. Now, Comrade Black, disguised as a cult priest named Papa Blanc, returns from expulsion with nefarious plans: rig the election of Prisma City (a new location) and drain its color (an old ambition).

The colorful Raydians of Prisma succumb straightaway to the cult's brainwashing practices, and, president or not, Comrade Black drains them and their land of color.

Gallery: De Blob 2 (Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PS3)

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Joystiqde Blob 2 Review: The colors, Duke, the colors originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>de-blob-2deBlobdsmicrosoftnintendoplaystationps3THQwiixboxTue, 22 Feb 2011 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Blood Drive review: Where's my cookie?]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/blood-drive-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/blood-drive-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/blood-drive-review/#comments Blood Drive is the poignant story of the men and women who drive fast cars and kill zombies for sport. There's an announcer, occasional verbal sparring and a bunch of climactic cut-scenes, but let's be honest, you're reading this review because it says "blood" in the title and below that is a picture of a car smashing a zombie so does this game let us smash zombies or what?

Yes. The sole purpose of Blood Drive is to smash zombies. Unfortunately, that's all it does and it doesn't even do that very well.

Wait, a bland zombie game? How did anyone whiff in the game genre equivalent of the tee-ball league? To be fair, Blood Drive provides the occasional glimpse of what could have been. But as it stands, the game is incomplete -- mind-numbingly incomplete. It's as if a gentle, loving hand crafted the game halfway, then the art teacher walked by, snatched it up and said, "Sorry students, we're all out of time."

Okay, let's grade this funky smash of unfinished clay.

Gallery: Blood Drive (Xbox 360/PS3)

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JoystiqBlood Drive review: Where's my cookie? originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Activisionblood-drivemicrosoftplaystationps3xboxThu, 04 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Shaun White Skateboarding review: Life as a grind]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/shaun-white-skateboarding-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/shaun-white-skateboarding-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/shaun-white-skateboarding-review/#comments There's a popular story that goes something like this: A boy asks a punk singer, "How can I be punk?" The singer looks at the boy, bites on his cigarette and kicks over a trashcan, grumbling, "That's punk."

"So if I kick over a trashcan, then I'll be a punk?" asks the boy. "No," says the singer. "You'll be a follower."

Despite its best efforts to capture punk skateboard culture, Shaun White Skateboarding gets hung up on kicking over familiar trash cans and somehow feels more derivative than its straightforward snowboarding predecessor.

Gallery: Shaun White Skateboarding (PS3/Xbox 360/Wii/PC)

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JoystiqShaun White Skateboarding review: Life as a grind originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>microsoftnintendoplaystationps3shaun-white-skateboardingskateboardingsportsubisoftwiixboxThu, 28 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EST