The Internet Reviews Soul Calibur V

Posted by | February 2, 2012

Soul Calibur V is the latest in Namco Bandai’s long-running fighter franchise. Like the previous version, Soul Calibur V has built itself around accessibility, being just as easy and interesting for a beginner as a fighting game pro. To test this theory, I found a review from the darkest pits furthest from the light of gaming. Here’s a review of Soul Calibur V. Hollywood Chicago has the story.


Final Fantasy XIII-2 — A Lesson in How Story Matters

Posted by | January 28, 2012

The Final Fantasy series has suffered a peculiar disease, one common to artists and designers who go too long without criticism, who gather too many fans who adore the artist and not the art. That disease is creeping stylism. The work of the artist becomes more and more obscure, bizarre, more tied to the tropes and references of what came before. Eventually, no one save the artist himself can understand what in the hell is going on. To illustrate that point, here’s a review of Final Fantasy XIII-2. GameInformer has the story.


The Internet Reviews Bastion

Posted by | January 25, 2012

Bastion is a game and a story about a kid who finds himself rebuilding a fortress from a lost age. It’s also one of the better small games released in recent years, and you need to know about it. So here’s a review on Bastion, rising from the dark depths of MIT’s journalistic tradition. The Tech has the story.


Dungeon Defenders Video Review

Posted by | January 24, 2012

The folks over at GameOgre recently asked me to take a look at Dungeon Defenders, a game that’s a cross between tower defense and Diablo. In Dungeon Defenders, you play one of four classes with their own powers and abilities, and your goal is to defend a giant crystal from the incoming hordes of evil. Also, levels and loot. Here’s the video.


ESA Drops SOPA Support

Posted by | January 22, 2012

The Entertainment Software Association, a lobbying group for the biggest companies in gaming, has dropped its support of the dangerous congressional bills, SOPA and PIPA. These two bills, should they pass, would effectively destroy the internet and give control over what remains to big media corporations. The ESA has previously supported the bills, but a massive internet protest campaign forced them to change their stance. The group’s announcement to this effect is especially interesting, as it implies a group full of lobbyists and lawyers had no idea what was in the bills they were championing. Kotaku has the story.


Political Ideology and Skyrim Reviews

Posted by | January 19, 2012

Normally, we here at Vox don’t get much into politics, because at the end of the day, the play’s the thing. Then, I came across a review of Bethesda’s Skyrim which started out, “As a conservative, I’m always a little bit wary when it comes to video game storytelling. Game development studios, if you ask me, have a decidedly liberal bias.” The article then goes on to consider Fallout 3: New Vegas as an indictment of the failure of democracy, and then finds time to consider Skyrim itself in a thoroughly political light. While Poe’s Law prevents me from making any judgements, I did find the review interesting enough to pass along. The Tech has the story.


City of Heroes — The Free to Play Review

Posted by | January 15, 2012

A while back, I did a review of DC Universe Online for the four hit-dice humanoids over at GameOgre.com. The ogres liked what they saw, and so sent me back into the MMO mines to take a look at the grandfather of superhero MMORPGs, City of Heroes. Gaze in wonder as VideOgre punches hobos, falls into the Hollows, and dances in Atlas park.


Two Shooters, One Noob

Posted by | January 6, 2012

Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 both released at roughly the same time, and both to the same audience, more or less. That left gamers with a question, which is better? Well, we can’t answer that, but I can say there’s a lot more people playing COD:BLOPs now than before. Either way, most reviews of these games came from veterans of the franchises, which skews their experience somewhat. Enter then, the total noob. IGN has the story.


A Review of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD

Posted by | January 4, 2012

Stranger’s Wrath was a somewhat unusual game for the Oddworld universe. A first-person shooter set in the Oddworld version of the old west, the game had you catching bounties and saving towns with a variety of weapons and cute, fuzzy living ammo. A great game, but a victim of the changing seasons in the console wars, so most people never heard about it. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD looks to change all that with an appearance on the PlayStation Network. Check out the review. Gamesradar has the story.


Third-Party Love on the 3DS — A Review of Mighty Switch Force

Posted by | January 3, 2012

The Nintendo 3DS has awakened as a terrible kraken, and the portable market is clutched in its tendrils. For all that, the mutant handheld has gazed out upon its prey with but a single eye, the eye of first-party games. It seems that new beasts are arising from the depths now, ones that herald the 3DS as a diverse polykraken of many eyes. Like Mighty Switch Force off the Nintendo eShop. Here’s a review. 1UP has the story.


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