GameguideRhettspect, Author at Gameguide Rhettspect, Author at Gameguide

The Mass Effect series is probably my favourite franchise ever. Right from the first game I’ve been totally absorbed by the world (or rather, galaxy) and it’s interesting mix of alien races, cultures and planets. The story has had me on the edge of my seat too, and I’ve wondered

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I was ten years old when Mortal Kombat 3 seemed like the coolest game ever made. I’d play it on my cousin’s computer whenever I got the chance, always as Sub-Zero. Later, I got a dodgy cartridge labelled “Mortal Kombat 4” for Game Boy. It took me a few months

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“Can it run Crysis?” became a catchphrase for PC gamers, since at the time of its release, the original Crysis brought even the fastest gaming rigs to their knees. But, I suppose that the games developer, Crytek, got tired of making awesome looking games that no one played, since Crysis

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Dragon Age: Origins was a love letter to old-school RPG fans. It featured a sprawling world, an involving fantasy story and tactical combat. The PC version of the game received adulation, bring to mind the glory days of Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights. The console version was a different story.

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Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood could have been just a quick cash-on on the success of Assassin’s Creed 2.

Early signs weren’t great: Ubisoft were going to add multiplayer to a series which, let’s be honest, really didn’t need it. Not to mention, for the first time in the series we’d be returning to the same time-period and character; in this case, renaissance Italy and Ezio Auditorre.

It’s good then that Brotherhood exceeds expectations.

The multiplayer is decent, and different enough to stand out from the pack. It’s all tension as you hunt down your target while at the same time trying to avoid being assassinated yourself. There’s a levelling system in place too, which is nice, but to be honest this will only have niche appeal and it’s not likely to survive long in the land of Xbox Live, where shooters and sports games reign supreme.

For me, the campaign is where it’s at. 

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From Call Of Duty 3 to World At War, Treyarch have without doubt been the B-Team when it comes to making Call Of Duty games. While Infinity Ward put out the blockbuster releases, it was Treyarch’s job to craft something solid with the games engine to tide fans over until the next Modern Warfare release.

But with Infinity Ward imploding, not to mention fans’ frustration with the unbalanced nature of Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer, Treyarch have approached Black Ops as their chance to well and truly steal the limelight. Do they succeed?

Well, a little bit.

The single player campaign in Black Ops is one of the series’ best. It still plays like an action movie highlight reel, but the story is far more followable than the mess that was Modern Warfare 2, even if the set pieces aren’t quite at the same level of excitement.

The Cold War setting is intriguing and it creates a great backdrop for a mysterious story which takes a few risks and is gripping from start to finish. It doesn’t approach the dizzying heights of Call Of Duty 4’s campaign, but it’s certainly a good solid thrill ride. 

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I can vividly remember the excitement I felt watching Sting fight Holywood Hulk Hogan at WCW Starrcade. The year was 1997 and I was 12 years old.

In my school years, I was a wrestling fan. I even had a brief resurgence of fandom in my early 20’s, when we begun to stock WWE DVD’s at the record store I worked in.

Of course, these days it’s a little tough for me to get excited about wrestling, beyond the clear camp hilarity of it all.

My journey with wrestling reflects my journey with the Smackdown vs. Raw series of games. In 2006, these games were fun and interesting. However, little has changed in the intervening years and now the package just seems stale and a little bit silly. 

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When I first played Borderlands, I found it a fun if flawed game. Most of all, I complained about the lack of story, as well as the repetitive nature of the gameplay.

I rented the game and took it back, not giving it much more thought.

But then something strange happened. I began to have the itch to play some more. So I rented the game once again, finishing it this time. And eventually, I bought the game, and played through it with another character, as well as lapping up all the DLC.

Borderlands doesn’t have a narrative arc that will move you emotionally. It isn’t technically brilliant, and the framerate lags quite a bit at times (though the cartoony art style is inspired).

But what the game has going for it is this: it’s both fun and incredibly addictive. You take quests, kill enemies and gather loot, all the while levelling up one of four character classes. The gunplay is solid, and it should be, since the controls are carbon copied from Call Of Duty.  

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FIFA 11 is a tough game to rate. First of all, there’s little doubt that this is the most realistic and best take on the sport of football ever, period. And yet, at the same time, the list of improvements over the previous year’s model is decidedly slim. Those improvements are welcome, of course. Chief among them is the new pro-passing system, which results in a more realistic game

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I grew up playing strategy games on PC. Blizzard titles were my bread and butter, so it didn’t take much to convince me to break my long PC drought (other than a bit of Civilization IV here and there) to pick up Starcraft 2, Blizzard’s 11 years in the making sequel to a game which was acclaimed as the best strategy game ever. Well, after working my way through the campaign of Starcraft 2, not to mention about 35 multiplayer games, to say that I have mixed feelings is an understatement. First of all, let me say that this is a fantastically crafted game. The production values are sky-high, the gameplay is fine-tuned and the cut-scenes are gorgeous.

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