Destructoid

NeverDead is an embarrassment fit only for mockery. Sometimes, when I use the word ridiculous, I mean it in a positive way. With this game, I mean it with sneering contempt. NeverDead is a ridiculous videogame, one that is so clumsy, bedraggled, and neglectful that I am furious it exists, let alone carries an asking price of $59.99.

The Darkness II succeeds far more than it fails. The single-player experience features some genuine emotion in its narrative, something games which don't feature skull-extricating tentacles rarely manage to accomplish. And while the Vendettas cooperative multiplayer content feels lackluster by comparison, it's not bad either and serves to pad out this short but otherwise delightful game.

SoulCalibur V does as much right as it does wrong when it comes to delivering the perfect fighting game package. While the single-player portion is riddled with the absence of modes that made the series what it is today, its most important aspect -- well balanced gameplay -- far exceeds my expectations.

Overall, for me, what really made Final Fantasy XIII-2 an enjoyable game was that Square Enix brought the fun back. They brought back some the inventiveness, creativity, humor and uniqueness that we sorely missed in Final Fantasy XIII. Maybe this game tries to do a bit too much, and it's probably too late to dig this story out of the hole that it's in, but it was made with a heaping dollop of that undeniable charm that we loved in the older series games, and that goes a long way towards making it enjoyable.

EA has not only evoked nostalgia, but rekindled ancient rivalries and their attendant arcane rules. Back in the day, my high-school buddies and I played NFL Blitz 2000 all the time, with an important twist: “no wimps.” That is, we always had to go for it on 4th down, and we always had to go for two after a touchdown. I played NFL Blitz with some of the same friends last week, and once I reminded them of “no wimps,” it was as if nothing had changed in a dozen years.

What could have been a messy title merely created to showcase the Unigine Engine has turned out to be a surprisingly polished and deep strategy game. Oil Rush isn't just a joy to behold in action, but manages to make an old genre feel fresh while looking the part.

Shinobi is a great game with tons to do. Some of the old-school elements are sure to turn many players off, but if you can surmount the steep difficulty curve, there is a substantial amount of satisfying gameplay to be found. Those who want a cohesive narrative or who can't afford to endure a few hours of frustration should look elsewhere, but those who can make it past the hump can wring out a lot of fun.

As a game, Jurassic Park is pretty bad. Both the action and puzzle sequences are uninteresting at best and obnoxious at worst. As a movie that forces you to press buttons arbitrarily and occasionally rewinds thirty seconds because a character died when he shouldn't have, it fares a bit better.

Dustforce is one that has asked more of me as a gamer than any other in recent memory. It asked me to refine my skills like no other, to sharpen my reflexes and timing until they were absolutely perfect. After all of that hard work, after all that time spent retrying and perfecting your cleaning run, your reward is the chance to do it all over again, but this time on an even harder level. If you’re looking for a challenge, look no further than this platforming gem.

Regardless of one's stance on horror games, however, the simple fact is that AMY is a disgusting joke of a videogame. Rare is the time when I feel emotionally compelled to warn gamers against purchasing a game (let alone a ten dollar one), but for me to not use every ounce of strength I have to condemn this piece of software would be socially irresponsible.