GamesRadar - PS3 Reviews

Modern Warfare 2 (Review)

Nov 10, 2009

Five minutes in and I find myself in a scenario unusual for Modern Warfare - no-one is shooting at me.

Having been parachuted into the middle of a warzone in the badlands of Afghanistan, an airstrike has just levelled part of the suburb meters in front of our position. It was close. So close it almost killed our team. As we progress through the deserted streets debris and glowing ash fleck the hot air and it's deadly silent. Too ...

Dragon Age: Origins (Review)

Nov 3, 2009

Dwarves. We already know what dwarves are. Dwarves are short, but strong. They make for good warriors and live underground. We already know all about dwarves, elves, mages, and dragons. So we thought we already knew all about everything Dragon Age: Origins could possibly throw at us while browsing through the unsurprisingly wide selection of beards for our upcoming dwarf warrior in the character creator. ...

Tornado Outbreak (Review)

Nov 2, 2009

Wow, this is a strange one. Tornado Outbreak is a completely new IP from Konami – home of Silent Hill and MGS – but it looks and feels like a Saturday morning cartoon tie-in. It’s hard to believe that this saccharine sweet title was once thought to be MGS creator, Hideo Kojima’s next project after Guns of the Patriots. ...

Comet Crash (Review)

Oct 29, 2009

Innovation is typically thin on the ground in tower defense games. Under the hood, very little changes: you’re still protecting your base - typically in a top-down perspective - by placing turrets and obstacles in the path of oncoming enemies. Well, Comet Crash innovates. You still do all of the above, but you do it while controlling a spaceship. ...

Heavy Weapon (Review)

Oct 29, 2009

Heavy Weapon is so full of testosterone, you’d think it was an 80s cartoon from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Using the left stick to move and the right stick to aim and fire, you progress your atomic tank through 19 side-scrolling levels, destroying hoards of planes, helicopters, and anything else in your way. Upgrades such as lasers and homing missiles are available after each level. ...

SAW (Review)

Oct 28, 2009

SAW is a happy game with bunnies and flowers and cakes. Arch villain Jigsaw’s had a change of heart and is dishing out presents because… no, not really. It’s bloody miserable. It’s also hugely dark, crudely animated, has ropey combat, and the scenarios – despite getting more and more gruesome as the game goes on – start to drag after a few hours. Not much to like then? ...

Fairytale Fights (Review)

Oct 28, 2009

There’s one good thing about Fairytale Fights – the combat doesn’t suck. Well, not immediately anyway. Sadly, everything else that surrounds this average hack and slash gameplay pretty much does. The story, the platform bits, right down to the character design – which reminds us of the annoying Rabbids – all of it makes for a huge drag. The worst bit? It costs as much as a top-brand game. ...

Tekken 6 (Review)

Oct 27, 2009

Balance is a delicate thing, so easily lost. Tekken is a series that thrives on it – on striking a balance between fulfilling its remit as the ‘accessible’ 3D fighting game (button-mashing will get you further here than in most fighters) and offering a system substantial and even enough to allow the hardcore fans to battle at a competitive level. ...

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Review)

Oct 27, 2009

For the first time in their career as saviors of the universe, Ratchet and Clank have been separated. But the time apart has done them good. This is Insomniac’s most confident game to date, bursting with flair and imagination. By dividing the duo they’ve been able to create two boldly different games in one – a free-roaming space adventure and a brilliantly designed time-bending puzzler. ...

DJ Hero (Review)

Oct 27, 2009

DJ Hero is a game that really needs to be played to be truly appreciated. On paper it seems to be yet another ill-conceived concept bundled with a money-spinning peripheral to give it a novelty value – the kind of thing you fiddle with at Christmas and chuck into the spare room for the rest of the year. But when you actually place your fingers on the turntable and scratch out your first mix, you’ll ...

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (Review)

Oct 26, 2009

For years now, EA has strived to bring FIFA up to the same standard as PES, often mimicking Konami’s masterpiece or (ahem) ‘borrowing’ gameplay elements in the process. PES, meanwhile, has procrastinated, barely changing for each iteration until – finally – it finds the boot’s on the other foot; FIFA’s the champ and Konami is looking to EA for inspiration. ...

Trine - PS3 Network (Review)

Oct 22, 2009

Finnish developers Frozenbyte pride themselves on originality, but Trine prompts obvious comparisons with LittleBigPlanet. Both are scrolling platformers with physics-based puzzles – even Trine’s voice-over is reminiscent of Stephen Fry’s musings. Playing alone, you’ll need to cycle through the three character classes, using their special abilities to get through the levels. ...

Borderlands (Review)

Oct 19, 2009

Borderlands lacks the charm of Fallout 3, Mass Effect, or Half-Life 2, but it does offer a crap-ton of ‘roided-out bandits, effed-up dog things, giant spider demons, and screeching pterodactyl beasts to shoot with a crap-ton of guns. And that’s really what it’s about – finding weapons and shooting things with them. You have to assign a skill point now and then, and there’s kind of a story, but those things ...

WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010 (Review)

Oct 16, 2009

Professional wrestling gets a lot of crap thrown at it. To its detractors, it's too violent, sexist, immature and – above all – fake. And while there are grown fans who still think the predetermined results are "real," the smart fans of the sport (yes, we called it a sport) appreciate it for the amazing stunts, the colorful characters, and the rare times when two wrestlers in one ring tell such an engrossing story that you ...

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Review)

Oct 14, 2009

If Dreamworks are the low-rent Pixar, then surely Sony Pictures Animation, the makers of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, are a low-rent Dreamworks. They’ve crafted a charmless kid’s movie out of an obscure kid’s book, and inspired Ubisoft to belch out a game version some degrees further into the depths of low quality. ...

Critter Crunch (Review)

Oct 14, 2009

Any game that features one furry, cute creature projectile vomiting rainbow colored, nutrient-filled puke into another critter's mouth is pretty much awesome in our book. While managing to pull off such a bizarre twist on one of Mother Nature’s more gross-out moments in a tasteful, stylish way is definitely impressive, Critter Crunch has a lot more going for it than Furbies that barf psychedelic spew. ...

Afrika (Review)

Oct 13, 2009

You’ll know, if you’ve ever visited Africa, just how captivating a place it can be. It’s exotic - the kind of place not everyone is able or inclined to visit, but it’s a part of Earth that has the power to remind you that you’re alive. ...

Brutal Legend (Review)

Oct 13, 2009

Metal is not dead. It can never truly die, for according to Brutal Legend, it was passed down to humankind by our creators, the Titans, and it is the weapon by which we defeated great evils (read: shitty music). Tim Schafer, the man behind Psychonauts, the game we’ve guilt-tripped you for not buying almost as much as we’ve mentioned Okami, is one funny game designer. ...

NBA Live 10 (Review)

Oct 13, 2009

Being a game that has received a less than enthusiastic reception in recent years, EA Sports’ NBA Live has more room for improvement than most of the company’s other sporting franchises. While it might not have the most solid gameplay foundations to build on, there probably won’t be too many people desperately upset if EA were to tear it all down and start from scratch. ...

NBA 2K10 (Review)

Oct 12, 2009

One the one hand, you’ve got EA’s shiny but occasionally flawed NBA Live; on the other, a game that doesn’t look quite so polished, but is built on a super-solid core that has consistently outplayed the opposition for years. If you’re a casual fan of the sport, then either title will probably serve equally well. ...