FROM THE ARCHIVES

Category: Games

Get the latest video game news, in-depth reviews, bold opinions, upcoming release updates, and gaming tips. Your ultimate hub for PS5, Xbox, PC, Switch, and indie games.
Starhawk
Game Reviews

Starhawk Review

Gary Smith4 Comments

When Starhawk was first announced and the details starting coming out, it immediately grabbed my attention in part because it was a space-western but also because it seemed like an ambitious and unique concept. As the spiritual-successor to a popular online only game, Starhawk has some pretty big shoes to fill. Now I'm not familiar with Warhawk to try and compare the two, but then there really isn't that much to compare. Starhawk took the combination of third person shooter and vehicular combat…

CONTINUE READING →
UFC Undisputed 3
Game Reviews

UFC Undisputed 3 Review

Gary Smith1 Comment

Good evening all and welcome back to the eighth edition of The Backlog. Tonight we will look into THQ and Yuke's third offering of mixed martial arts excellence, UFC Undisputed 3. There were great strides made from the first offering to the second in this series, and this year's edition was also noticeably improved. One would usually hope and expect that a sports franchise would improve from year to year, but as many gamers have noticed, several franchises seem have either hit plateaus on what…

CONTINUE READING →
The Pinball Arcade
Game Reviews

The Pinball Arcade Review

Gary Smith4 Comments

  While classic arcades have been slowly dying out in most places, pinball has been experiencing a bit of a resurgence on home consoles. FarSight Studios has brought over The Pinball Arcade to XBLA and PSN (and PS Vita) and it's a game pinball enthusiast have been waiting for. The Pinball Arcade isn't just another pinball game for home consoles (and mobile devices), it's actually four real pinball tables brought to life on the platform of your choice. The tables are Theater Magic (1995…

CONTINUE READING →
MLB 12 The Show
Game Reviews

MLB 12: The Show Review

Gary Smith5 Comments

Sony's MLB: The Show series is widely regarded as the best sports game on the market, something Sony obviously takes to heart since right on the cover you'll see “#1 Rated Sports Game, 4 Years in a Row!” With opening day of a new season of baseball less than a month away, The Show is back for the 2012 season and faces the same question all yearly sports titles are faced: is it worth spending another $60 on. Fortunately for Sony, the best has gotten better and for most fans they'll want to…

CONTINUE READING →
Total War Rome
Game Reviews

Total War: Rome Review

Gary Smith

Hello all and welcome back to The Backlog. It's been quite a while since I've written one of these, so bear with me while I attempt to shake off the rust of the past few months. As my welcome back gift to you, I present Rome: Total War. Rome: Total War is a real-time, turn-based strategy game in which you can select from a few different Roman factions and enter a campaign to eventually, hopefully, take control of all of Rome. You can choose from the Julii, Bruti, or Scipii. There may be one or…

CONTINUE READING →
Donkey Kong Jr
Game Reviews

Donkey Kong Jr. Review

Gary Smith2 Comments

This is the NES version of Donkey Kong Jr. played on the Wii Virtual Console, it has a few differences between the arcade version. Donkey Kong Jr. is of course the sequel to the hugely popular (in the 80s) Donkey Kong arcade game. The roles are reversed this time though. You don't play as Mario trying to rescue the Princess from Donkey Kong. Instead, you play as Donkey Kong Jr. trying to rescue pops from Mario. Whereas the original Donkey Kong had three stages (the VC NES release, not the arcade…

CONTINUE READING →
WWE '12
Game Reviews

WWE ’12 Review

Gary Smith7 Comments

The past few years have been rough for fans of wrestling games. On one hand, the presentation of the annual WWE simulation series Smackdown vs. RAW continued to evolve and become more and more like its real life counterpart. On the other hand, the actually gameplay itself was boring and marred by poor AI, and even online play against real human opponents couldn’t make up for it because the online was as laggy and horribly as you could find. What we always ended up with was a wrestling game that…

CONTINUE READING →
Bloodrayne Betrayal
Game Reviews

BloodRayne: Betrayal Review

Gary Smith

First, let me say that I have never played a game in the BloodRayne series, and only caught about five to ten minutes of one of the movies when it came on the Sci-fy channel. It seemed like an intriguing series however, so I jumped at the chance to take a crack at this game. As expected, we play as the title character, Rayne. With something of a cartoonish sultry outfit, complete with busty chest and high heeled boots, Rayne looks ready to vanquish the undead or take a spin around a pole in any…

CONTINUE READING →
Uncharted 3
Game Reviews

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Review

Gary Smith6 Comments

Uncharted 3 was my most anticipated game of the year. It’s been a week since its release, and I have finished the single player campaign twice (Normal and Crushing), and I can safely say that it lived up to my anticipation and expectations. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves set the bar extremely high, and I believe Naughty Dog are right when they say the kind of jump between Uncharted to Uncharted 2 can only happen once a generation. Where Among Thieves vastly improved in every way over the first game…

CONTINUE READING →
FEAR
Game Reviews

F.E.A.R. Review

Gary Smith2 Comments

“Make them REMEMBER WHAT FEAR TASTES LIKE.” - Freddy vs. Jason Hello all and welcome back to The Backlog. It's been a while, but my shitty internet is working...well, barely, but it's scraping me by for the time being. With that in mind, let's back to business. F.E.A.R. starts out as a first person shooter, featuring you as “Point Man” of an elite, secret military group that specializes in dealing with situations that are, how might we say, beyond traditional realms of reality. Your team has…

CONTINUE READING →
4 Elements HD
Game Reviews

4 Elements HD Review

Gary Smith1 Comment

4 Elements HD is a matching game, but instead of swapping two adjoining pieces to try and put three of the same color together, 4 Elements HD requires you to look carefully and use the joysticks (or Move) to chain three or more same colored gems together. Each level as some type of liquid energy, and you’ll have to destroy the tiles by creating chains to create a path for the energy to flow to the alter at the end of each level. That sounds easy enough, but if you’ve ever played a matching game…

CONTINUE READING →
NBA Jam on Fire Edition
Game Reviews

NBA Jam: On Fire Edition Review

Gary Smith5 Comments

I’ll admit up front that I absolutely hate basketball, and that I could care less about any basketball simulation game. That’s why I’ve loved the NBA Jam series since I was a kid playing it on the Genesis, or SNES, or in an arcade. NBA Jam strips the game down to its most basic element without having rules (with the exception of goal tending) and without complicated controls. Basically, NBA Jam has always been the basketball game that fans and non-fans of the sport could play for hours at a time…

CONTINUE READING →
Eufloria
Game Reviews

Eufloria Review

Gary Smith5 Comments

If you’re a PS3 gamer who has been longing for a satisfying, addictive, and simple real time strategy game to sink many hours into then you are in luck; Eufloria is available as of today on Playstation Network, and it’s the RTS game that you’ve been looking for. Strategy games haven’t translated all that well to consoles, mostly due to poor controls stemming from the fact that the games are traditionally PC games that benefit from having a keyboard. Console strategy ports tend to feature…

CONTINUE READING →
From Dust
Game Reviews

From Dust Review

Gary Smith1 Comment

In From Dust you are cast as the formless entity known as The Breath, and your sole goal is to protect a tribe of people and help them build new villages during their journey to find the Ancients. You are basically the god of these tribal folks, although your power as god is quite limited at times. With that limited power, you’ll also face palm as you accidentally set a village on fire (or flood it trying to put the fire out). As The Breath, you can manipulate the elements (water, lava, sand…

CONTINUE READING →
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Game Reviews

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review

Eric W.5 Comments

I'm reviewing the PC version of this game but make no mistake: You get a high quality experience on whichever platform you can get this one and you should as soon as possible. Upfront I will say that you should prepare to play the best game you've played this year thus far at least. If you have the hardware, the PC opens the door up for some potential DiretX11 eye candy, a little higher resolution in some spots, and keyboard and mouse play which is far and away my preference for any first person…

CONTINUE READING →
Altered Beast
Game Reviews

Altered Beast Review

Gary Smith3 Comments

This is the last of the SEGA Vintage Collection coming to Playstation Network. It’s available now for Playstation Plus subscribers for free, and will be available to all PSN members to purchase in a couple of weeks. This is the same enhanced version of the game that hit Xbox LIVE Arcade on June 10, 2009. Many people have fond memories of this game growing up, having played it in arcades or on a console like the Genesis (amongst many others). I’m not one of those people; in fact, this was the…

CONTINUE READING →
God of War Collection
Game Reviews

God of War Collection Review

Gary Smith3 Comments

The God of War Collection contains HD ports of what many consider to be amongst the best Playstation 2 games ever made: God of War and God of War II. Remastered in HD and with gameplay operating at 60 frames per second, the two PS2 classics are a must have for any PS3 gaming library whether you have them for PS2 or not. The collection has been out for almost two years now, and I’ve had it for almost a year (and I never played the PS2 versions because I never bought a PS2; I was an Xbox guy back…

CONTINUE READING →
Elevator Action Deluxe
Game Reviews

Elevator Action Deluxe Review

Gary Smith1 Comment

In 1983, game developer Taito released Elevator Action in the arcades, and it was a popular arcade game that was later ported to home consoles as an NES title in 1985. That port is available on the Wii’s Virtual Console. But now, some 28 years after the release of the original Elevator Action in arcades, Square Enix has delivered a remake titled Elevator Action Deluxe available now exclusively on the Playstation Network. This remake hasn’t strayed too far from the original; one look at the game…

CONTINUE READING →
Madden NFL 12
Game Reviews

Madden NFL 12 Review

Gary Smith9 Comments

If you’re taking the time to read this review, you’re probably a fan of the franchise or have some interest in picking up Madden NFL 12, and so I won’t make you wait until the end to know if it’s good or not. This is the opening kickoff, and we’re taking this one all the way back for a touchdown. Yes, Madden NFL 12 is an outstanding football game and it is definitely one that you are going to want to purchase. It’s common practice to compare a yearly title to the previous year’s entry, but I…

CONTINUE READING →
Limbo game
Game Reviews

LIMBO Review

Gary Smith1 Comment

LIMBO (PS3 [Reviewed], Xbox 360, PC) Developer: Playdead Publisher: Playdead Release Date: July 19, 2011 ESRB: T — Teen Limbo was released July of last year on Xbox LIVE Arcade, and it garnered a lot of attention and praise. It had my interest, but I didn't have an Xbox 360. Thankfully, a year later, Limbo hit the Playstation Network today and I have finally gotten to experience the wonderful indie game that is Limbo. Limbo is a "simple" 2D puzzle-platformer that takes place in a hand-drawn…

CONTINUE READING →