Digital Trends

• 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.

• WIIU
• États-Unis

Need For Speed: Most Wanted U is still the great racing game it was last year, one that capably stands next to its big brother Burnout Paradise. It’s a more exciting racing game than that classic, even if it lacks its humor and variety. For Wii U owners starved for something to play, this is one of the best games out there. The bells and whistles Criterion adorned this release with don’t intrude on that sweet racing, but they also feel like a missed opportunity. As such, Need For Speed: Most Wanted U isn’t the definitive version it could have been.

• X360
• États-Unis

• PC
• 9.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Despite everything that is new here, along with the incredible eye-candy of the vibrant city in the clouds, the complete BioShock experience is just a shade paler than what the original game provided. That strange, spooky feeling you had while exploring the depths of Rapture – combined with the terror that would wash over you when you heard a Big Daddy’s bellow – were powerful. Not that Columbia doesn’t provide a similar experience, but it’s just not quite as gripping – but only by a matter of small increments, not a gaping, disparate gap. The bottom line is that BioShock Infinite is a triumph in storytelling that should not be missed. The small dings don’t detract from the deeply moving story, which comes down to the writing and the incredible voice acting. Be sure to stay tuned through the credits; Ken Levine directs voice actors Troy Baker (Booker) and Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth) through a scene where Booker plays the guitar and they sing a moving, sad version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” When a video game can take you from explosive combat featuring magic powers and exploding weaponry and still move you on a deep emotional level, something special has happened — and there aren’t many games like Bioshock Infinite on the market still.

• PC
• États-Unis

• WIIU
• États-Unis

• PS3
• États-Unis

• 3DS
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

Mercurysteam has the potential to become Konami’s most valuable developer, but it has a long way to go. Mirror of Fate can feel schizophrenic and almost improvisational in its design, but it also feels more distinctive and energetic than Lords of Shadow. Rather than an homage to other games and genres, this 3DS game feels like a developer stretching out and testing its limits. It even feels more like a proper Castlevania game. Even without all its callbacks and references to past entries, it nails the game’s mixed atmosphere of cartoon bombast and dread. It may be imperfect, but it’s exciting game making. The next time Mercurysteam shows up, we can’t wait to see what happens.

• VITA
• États-Unis

• PS3
• X360
• États-Unis

If you are a fan of hack and slash games, then ignore the score and dive in. The combat mechanics are solid and the ability to cut enemies into – literally hundreds if not thousands – of tiny pieces never, ever gets old. Once you learn the counter system, fighting your way through a large group is electric. In most other ways though, Revengenace is a very average game, with mediocre level art and a story that requires you to look at it through a specific lens. Becoming a cyborg would likely be a somewhat horrifying experience as your old body was cut away bit by bit, but instead it is seen as if through the eyes of a kid that thinks it’s “bitchin’.” Don’t take that as a negative, just as an example of the mentality at work in the story. It isn’t deep, but it is flashy. “Revengenace!” deserves to be yelled, because that is what the game itself does. It yells at your senses and assaults you with a fast-paced action game that rarely slows down, because when it does you can see the rough edges.

• PC
• X360
• États-Unis

It would be easy to go on and on about the many failings of Aliens: Colonial Marines, but what’s the point? The fundamentals of this game are so terrible that there’s little value in nitpicking smaller missteps. It’s best if we just shunt Colonial Marines off to the same landfill now occupied by Duke Nukem Forever and fire up some Borderlands 2 instead. There’s serious talent at Gearbox Software, but it is nowhere in evidence here. There’s got to be a story here, some series of events that set this awful effort on a path to release when it should have been re-tooled from the ground up or scrapped all together. Maybe we’ll even hear it one day. That matters little in the here and now, however. Despite a few golden flashes and a tolerable (at best) co-op game, Aliens: Colonial Marines is a heartbreaking failure and an insult to fans of the franchise.

• X360
• 7.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Dead Space 3 has issues with the level design, pacing, and story, but its biggest sin is simply not being able to live up to its predecessors. It may not even be in the same genre anymore. If you can divorce yourself of your preconceived notions formed from the experience playing the previous games, Dead Space 3 is still average, but doesn’t carry the crushing weight of the missed opportunities hanging onto it. If you can put that aside, the co-op makes up for the bland single player, and is fun almost despite itself. But it came at the cost of the franchise’s identity.

• X360
• États-Unis

• VITA
• États-Unis

• X360
• PC
• États-Unis