Hardcore Gamer

• PS3
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

Chronicles is a quality HD port of at least one absolutely fantastic game. Tales of Symphonia is arguably the best game in the series, providing an endearing roleplaying experience that is chock-full of character. From its lovable cast to its endearing save-the-world story and engaging combat engine, the game is a wonderful showcase for the JRPG genre. Unfortunately, its paint-by-numbers sequel is anything but memorable. Simply put, it’s a woeful game on its own, lacking any kind of intrigue or fascinating qualities, but especially so when put up against Symphonia. The forgettable characters that seem hellbent on making it impossible to form any kind of emotional connection to or level of empathy toward, and the even less remarkable narrative make it almost not worth playing at all, even for folks who love the established world. Overall, though, this is a bundle worth its price of admission for the first game alone, especially because it’s been taken care of so well by Namco in this remastering project.

• 3DS
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

At the end of the day, whether or not you will enjoy Senran Kagura: Burst will ultimately come down to answering this question: do you pine to play a game where getting beat up means your character's clothes become tattered, torn, or completely destroyed, revealing the half-naked body of an adolescent girl who just so happens to have absolutely titanic breasts? If you answered, "yes," then Burst has a lot to offer: pulse-pounding combat, deep customization and a wealth of unlockables and content. If you answered, "no," then all the best brawling mechanics in the world probably won't make Senran's provocative, shinobi schoolgirl pill any easier to swallow.

• PS4
• 2.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Basement Crawl is a reasonably-priced, well-made game lacking the features to make it a must-have. It simply doesn’t offer enough as a multiplayer-only game to fully recommend as a purchase to anyone other than folks who are dying for Bomberman on the PS4. As a clone of that franchise, it has a refreshingly different art style and motif to it, but would’ve benefited from a single-player campaign to get into the story only hinted at in the opening cinematic. Fans of the macabre and Bomberman may be tempted to play it, but even if you’re pre-disposed to liking the game, you’re better off waiting for a sale.

• PS3
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Earth Defense Force 2025 is nothing if not epic in size, scope and action. When dozens of enemies are scampering over the field, a swarm of air enemies flying through the air raining waves of firepower onto the field, and the giant robots in the distance are walking closer and about to start arcing explosive plasma balls your way, it's hard not to take a second to appreciate how much awesome has been crammed onto the screen. The missions are nicely bite-sized despite all that, about 5-10 minutes apiece, but with over 80 total it's going to take a lot of bug-squishing to see the end even if you don't farm the levels for weapons and armor. Or, for that matter, play through the harder difficulty levels, go online, replay familiar levels with new weapon combinations to test new strategies, check out the different character classes, or any number of other time-extending possibilities the game almost begs to be explored. Earth Defense Force 2025 is a fantastic example of everything that makes pure action gaming so much fun, packed with replay value and over the top set pieces, and a more than worthy sequel that tops its predecessor in every way. Seeing as EDF 2017 is one of the best 3D action shooters ever, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

• XONE
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

It's great to see Ubisoft continue giving love to Rayman Legends in 2014, showing their commitment to the titular armless protagonist. While the game may not benefit substantially from its jump to next-gen, it looks just about as stunning as possible thanks to uncompressed textures, buttery smooth framerate and almost non-existent loading times. Sadly, failing to utilize SmartGlass (again) keeps it from becoming the definitive edition, an honor that remains with the Wii U version, followed closely by PS Vita. For those who haven't experienced the game and don't have one of those consoles, however, Rayman Legends is a worthy purchase on Xbox One.

• PS3
• 2 / 5
• États-Unis

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a big budget project gone horribly wrong. The graphics and voice acting are top notch, but everything else is a complete wreck. Environments are boring and repetitive, combat is uninspired, platforming is a joke and the stealth elements are some of the worst ever conceived from a major publisher. It’s a dismal affair through and through and an absolute slog to finish. MercurySteam has publicly stated that they don’t want to be the “Castlevania studio,” and that is abundantly clear in this phoned-in mess of a game.

• X360
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

NASCAR ’14 offers up a solid racing experience, and should be a satisfying pickup for fans of the sport. Casual fans may want to wait for a price drop, but die-hards will easily get $50 worth out of — especially with DLC coming monthly that updates everything to the current season. There’s a lot of fun to be had in the career mode tinkering with settings and getting things just right for a race, while the core racing action is quite exciting in any mode. The soundtrack is terrible, though, and the engine roars lack oomph. There are also some iffy visual issues that don’t make the game as a whole look bad — just unpolished.

• VITA
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

It's hard to find anything of real importance wrong with Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God, other than the fact that is a rather short adventure and isn't as robust as others of its kind. That being said, this is without a doubt one of the most traditional roguelikes to come out in a while. As a result, it's also the single most accessible one to hit the market in years. That might disappoint elitists, but for everyone else, it should be viewed as a glowing endorsement. If you've steered clear of the genre because of how soul-crushingly difficult they're made out to be, but have nonetheless had an interest in playing one, then look no further -- Sorcery Saga is where you need to be. The Vita's RPG library is gathering steam this year and Compile Heart's latest is yet another wonderful installment in that collection.

• PS4
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

It has been over a decade since the masked hero has graced his own game, but Strider is back and better than ever. Double Helix has done a phenomenal job in bringing the futuristic ninja into the modern day by not only upgrading the visuals while maintaining the two-dimension plane, but adding an addictive and well-constructed progression structure to keep the campaign interesting. While a coherent story is still relatively absent and navigation from area-to-area can be a bit cumbersome, it’s the strong adventure and combat elements that allow Strider to flourish into something special. Strider hits all the right notes and winds up being an experience not soon forgotten.

• PS3
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

• X360
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

As far as free-to-play games with premium add-ons go, World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition does very little wrong. It’s a well made game with tremendous depth, complemented by highly satisfying and engrossing gameplay. The only downer is the uncertainty regarding future community support, as it’s a solely online gaming experience on a dying console. That said, if you’re even a little bit curious then World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition is an experience that won’t demand your money and is most certainly worth your time as it stands right now.

• VITA
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

Danganronpa is absolutely worth buying, but only if you’re a gamer who doesn’t mind reading 30 hours worth of dialogue, because this is a visual novel at its most basic level. Sure, it has actual gameplay elements during the trial sections, and these mechanics are implemented extremely well, but even still, the ratio of reading-to-gameplay is easily three-to-one. Danganronpa also takes patience — not just because the length and thousands of text block players will scroll through during their adventure, but because of how much the developers keep players on a tight leash, holding their hand along nearly the entire journey. Still, it’s hard to get too bothered by this as Danganronpa has one hell of a story to tell. It’s exciting and has an uncanny ability to leave its players slack-jawed at the sights of the unraveling plot points. After all, this is a game about a maniacal teddy bear forcing high school students to kill each other; how could it not be good?

• 3DS
• 2.5 / 5
• États-Unis

One Piece: Romance Dawn is a great idea that was poorly executed. While fans and newcomers will appreciate the story, the gameplay feels like an afterthought. It becomes bland after mere hours and starts to feel like you’re going through the motions. This is not the reaction you want in an RPG, especially a long one like Romance Dawn.

• VITA
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

With four-player cooperative play, fascinating monster designs and customizations to your play style, the new age of demons doesn't look so bad. Unfortunately, they don’t reach outside of the box and the overwhelming repetitive nature of the genre still applies to combat, mission structure and monster selection, sometimes weighing down the experience into an unnecessary grind. In the end, Toukiden isn’t the Monster Hunter killer many were expecting, but it becomes an enticing package if you can get past its shortcomings.

• PC
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

The PC port of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has its share of issues, but it still gets the nod over its console counterparts. While there are only six different resolutions, it does support native 1080p along with various graphical options that should have fans joyful just how sharp Raiden can look. If you for some reason missed out on the game last year, this is the perfect opportunity to fix that as it will have you rocking out over its fantastic soundtrack and genuinely entertained by the gruesome dismemberment mechanics.

• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Outlast made a splash when it first came to PC and became a favorite among scare cam Twitch streamers and YouTubers, and it will no doubt see a resurgence thanks the PS4’s streaming capabilities. The reason Outlast was such a phenomenon is due to its great sense of atmosphere and tense gameplay, all of which is all present in the PlayStation 4 version. It has its share of frustrating moments and doesn’t offer much gameplay depth, but at its best Outlast is an engaging and immersive horror experience that will have you clutching your controller in terror.

• PS3
• 1.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z’s team-based mechanic is what ruins nearly every bit of it. From the unmanageable combat views to the constant babysitting of AI companions, every promising aspect is soured by this forced and unnecessary gameplay inclusion. Missions are repetitive, combat is monotonous, story is confusing, online play doesn’t work, and every promising bit of DBZ fan service is buried under hours of tedious character unlocking. The game is gorgeous and the level of commitment to evolution of the DBZ fighting standard is respectable, but like that anime scene with Vegeta fighting alone, it’s apparent that DBZ was never about that mob identity where four characters wail on an enemy. Dragon Ball Z is at its best when it’s a one-on-one showdown, good vs. evil, rival vs. rival. It shows that intensity of squaring off against a long-time adversary, not some crowd of spiky haired goofballs sniping at each other with energy blasts from the air. Not even the inclusion of Super Saiyan God Form Goku from the newest DBZ movie makes any difference. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z could’ve been a decent DBZ game, but that shoehorned team mechanic instead makes it one of the worst. Avoid this game like you would a Galick Gun to the face.

• X360
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

Fable Anniversary is a port of ten year old game released on eight year old hardware after we’ve witnessed the power of next-gen. Yet even with so much stacked against it, it manages to impress. There’s not much of a “wow-factor” because of its ill-timed release, but with the exception of completely rebuilding the game for Xbox One, there simply isn’t much else that could be done that isn’t accomplished here. Sound, functionality and graphics are all substantially improved and breath new life into a game that has aged remarkably well. Even after two sequels and console generations, Fable has the uncanny ability to suck you into its adventure through the world of Albion. Anniversary is more of a preservation if anything, ensuring that the entire franchise can now be played in the same manner on the same console. As a museum piece, it’s a wonderful effort that ensures the game will remain relevant for a new generation of players. As a game, it’s the definitive edition of a superb title that has a lot to offer even in 2014.