Digital Trends

• PS3
• États-Unis

Dragon’s Crown benefits from its smart structure and pacing, something Kamitani’s struggled with in the past. He’s always been a chef of note, cooking unusual and distinctive dishes like Odin Sphere, but his previous games have been flawed in one way or another. Sphere was beautiful but bloated. Princess Crown was elegant, but it was often difficult to figure out what to do (and that’s on top of it only being available in Japanese.) Vanillaware’s art is awash in life. Every character portrait literally heaves, with detail lines expanding and contracting, making something hand drawn seem alive. Even simple things like the level select map are more detailed and surreally beautiful than many whole games. The writing overflows with humor and strange asides, like one Monty Python-inspired boss that shouldn’t be spoiled and a stat-boosting cooking mini-game between stages. From this point on Dragon’s Crown is Kamitani’s signature dish. And it is delicious.

• PC
• États-Unis

• PS3
• États-Unis

The changes to the decade-old series that has spawned so, so many sequels and spin-offs are small but significant. For veterans, they provide a convincing reason to dip back into the Romance of the Three Kingdoms one more time, to check out the alternate histories and plow through the Ambition Mode. But the game also demonstrates deftly why there are so many entries in the series after so many years. It’s still a blast to play at the most basic level. Do not dismiss it as just another Dynasty Warriors.

• IOS
• États-Unis

• X360
• États-Unis

NCAA Football has come to the end of its career in the first high definition console generation, and it’s graduating into a very different landscape. It’s turned into an effective, but not legendary, player at the end of this career phase. The question now is whether or not EA will recognize the opportunity for NCAA Football to evolve and change in the aftermath of 14. This is a good, solid game. If it’s going to be great, it needs to transform into something else, just like the best college players come graduation time.

• PC
• États-Unis

With studios like Telltale Games working to push forward a new era in adventure game storytelling, Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded feels as dated as his titular outerwear. There’s something to be said for the simple joy of strolling through the newly refreshed environments of Sierra’s classic and to hearing all of these beloved characters actually speak for the first time, but it isn’t enough. The immature humor and outdated, borderline offensive treatment of women all works within the context of the fiction, but never has it been more clear that it’s time for Larry to grow up.

• VITA
• États-Unis

• VITA
• États-Unis

The new PlayStation 3/PlayStation Vita port of Hotline Miami is a near-carbon copy of 2012’s PC release. Twin thumbstick/button controls replace the mouse/keyboard of course, though this mostly boils down to player preference. The Vita version employs touch-based targeting, though doing so can be difficult when you’re being rushed. The Sony platform releases also bring in the expected crop of Trophies and leaderboards, as well as a bonus mask collectible, but the two versions are otherwise exactly the same. Hotline Miami was one of the strongest games of 2012 and it is a welcome arrival this week on Sony’s console and handheld platforms. The two-man team at Dennaton achieved something truly special with this relatively low-fi game, couching the straightforward-yet-challenging play in a grim and instantly absorbing fictional world that is further brought to life by the swirling psychedelic soundscapes. It’s never to late to jump on with an exceptional game, and whether you go PC or PS3/Vita, this one is definitely worth your time.

• X360
• États-Unis

With the driving, the sense of accomplishment, and a moving fantasy that does truly feel like the best of both worlds, Grid 2 mostly does what Codemasters set out to do. It’s a quiet game, one that slowly reveals its best aspects to a diligent player. There’s a lot of racing similar courses again and again, a lot of failure and repetition. It all adds to the game’s quiet dignity. Grid 2 could do what every other big racing game on the market does now, offer all glitz and noise, and ape the shining fury and licensed soundtracks of Need For Speed or the music festival hoopla of Forza Horizon. Codemasters’ game just goes for a slow, steady immersion. In your garage, it’s nothing but the cars and some slick ambient music that wouldn’t sound out of place on an ‘80s Brian Eno album. At the end of tournament, an all too real Sports Center broadcast talking about the rising sport you’re engaged in plays. The future of driving games may be in even bigger and brighter graphics and more ridiculously tangled social networking features, but in the present there’s Grid 2, an elegant example of what video game racing are.

• PS3
• États-Unis

Maybe the saddest aspect here is the rickety treatment of science fiction, forcing you to take in its world without the necessary grounding. Even minor details, like how a totalitarian law enforcement operates without firearms, are ludicrously explained away in hidden text files. On the gameplay side, the over-reliance on a fundamentally fractured battle system certainly doesn’t help. Remember Me could hardly be considered anything close to art, but sci-fi at its core should at least serve as a functionally cautionary tale. As it stands, this vapid brawler can probably be summed up best in one word: forgettable.

• X360
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

• X360
• États-Unis

• WII
• 3DS
• États-Unis

• X360
• États-Unis

Metro: Last Light is a masterful story, artfully told. It does suffer a bit in terms of replay value because of that, but Ranger Mode and taking a different approach to your play enhances the overall experience and ensures that you get your money’s worth. Even with the somewhat simple-minded AI, the combat offers some good moments. It isn’t the highlight though. Metro: Last Light is a novel that you play, and it’s a bleak and oppressive one at that. This is a mature story, expertly crafted with a fluid pace that sets you up and keeps you engaged. There are other titles with similar qualities, but Metro: Last Light is a unique game and one that should be experienced.

• PS3
• États-Unis

Under different parameters or execution, Blood Dragon might simply smack too much of novelty. Thankfully, Ubisoft Montreal had the sense to make the game only exactly as long as it needed to be. While you can plow through the main campaign in around three hours, die hards that want to play the game like Far Cry proper can probably expect to put in another two or three scouring for collectables, saving hapless scientists, and hunting robo-wildlife (beware the villainous cyber-cassowaries!). At such a short length, the game doesn’t have time to wear out its welcome, and it makes a quality case for smaller games from big publishers. It may only be called Far Cry for its engine usage, but Blood Dragon is maybe what the series’ third installment should have been all along.

• PS3
• États-Unis

• X360
• États-Unis

As the first sequel in a relatively new series, Dead Island: Riptide offers an odd mix of big improvements and “more of the same” shortfalls. Techland seems to have settled into the right tone for its open-world zombie adventures, but some lingering issues from the previous game are joined by a host of new ones. Progress has been made and there is more fun to be had now than there was before, but the original Dead Island‘s “rough-edged gem” status makes it harder to forgive Riptide of committing similar sins.

• X360
• États-Unis

You have to give credit to Trion for its ambition, and many of the technical issues should continue to improve. There are even a few things you can do to make the game run more smoothly, like installing the full 5GB package, and being prepared for often lengthy patches. Putting the technical flaws aside, the game is insanely addictive. PC fans will find it familiar, but console fans are going to be introduced to a huge leap in the possibilities of console gaming. It’s a shame that it’s coming towards the end of this generation’s life span, but it bodes well for the next gen. Besides, there is still plenty of juice left for Defiance to squeeze. The game is expecting several updates in content, including more integration with the TV show, and you can be sure that DLC is already on the way. That brings me back to the problem with the score. If you take the game as it is right now, glitches, bugs, and Rosenberg-unfriendly items included, then it would receive a lower score than it deserves. When it works, Defiance is an impressive game that you can – and will – play for a long, long time. If the TV show can keep the fires burning, and the additional content coming can keep things fresh, the game could live long beyond the consoles it is on.