IGN

• PSP
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

I'm a musician and I'm always looking for new portable solutions for capturing musical ideas on the go. The ideal software is easy to use, making it quick and simple to "jot down" the song you have in your head. Unfortunately, this is where Beaterator stumbles as its interface is generally confusing. It's not all Rockstar's fault –- the PSP's button interface slows down the process. Musicians are used to using music software on computers with a mouse, which allows them to input data much more quickly. Of course, you can't take Pro Tools on the bus with you, so the trade off might be worth it. You CAN make complete songs with Beaterator, it's just not as easy as it should be. It is a portable music studio for your PSP with many of the same features you find in expensive PC software for a mere $40, so that's saying a lot. But a portable music studio simply has to be easy to use, and Beaterator isn't there, yet. Although Beaterator has an impressive feature set, it's not really competing with high-end computer software. It offers two things: a simple live performance tool and a way of capturing musical ideas on the go so you can record the real deal when you get back to your home studio. When a song pops into my head I should be able to crank it out in Beaterator in a few minutes. But that's not the case -- I have to fumble through menus and wait for samples to load, stretching the process out for a half hour or more. This may be the best music studio for the PSP, but it's still not the perfect portable music studio.

• WII
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

• PS3
• 4.5 / 10
• États-Unis

In trying to create an arcade hunting experience with Big Game Hunter 2010, so much was sacrificed that you're left with only scraps of gameplay that fail to satisfy any appetite. You're funneled through wide corridors of wilderness and your prey is basically handed to you. All you need to do is make sure you're in a high percentage cover spot and aim for the heart. The thin gameplay certainly won't interest someone looking for a virtual hunting experience with an edge of authenticity, and isn't enough to entertain anyone looking for an arcade-style game with a solid hook. That being said, the game's shooting gallery mode can be fun in a Duck Hunt sort of way. It is cheaper than most retail games, however, and features some decent but flawed visuals and sound. The rest is forgettable.

• PC
• X360
• PS3
• 8.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Lifting the level cap breathes new life into a great game, but shouldn't totally overshadow a new series of quests that is a lot of fun. By extending the game beyond the main quest, Bethesda has delivered exactly what the fans have been asking for. Broken Steel offers more than enough reasons to justify the $10 price tag.

• X360
• 7.8 / 10
• États-Unis

All things considered, Ion Assault is a well put together arcade shooter. It pays homage to classic titles, both new and old, but also creates its own identity in the process. Thanks to the frustrating controls, short campaign and the slightly problematic chaos that comes with the action, only fans of the genre should fork over the ten dollar asking price. Still, that doesn’t mean that Ion Assault doesn’t provide colorful thrills by the truckload.

• X360
• 3.3 / 10
• États-Unis

If you're a fan of The Warriors film released in 1979, have no idea what it is, or detest it immeasurably, stay very far away from The Warriors: Street Brawl. It's a poorly executed side-scrolling beat-'em up with sloppy controls, sluggish character movement, and far too little variety. If you're really desperate for an interactive The Warriors experience, Rockstar put out a pretty good one in 2005.

• PS3
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

• X360
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

• X360
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

• DS
• 4 / 10
• États-Unis

I was hoping the DS version would be as quality a game as the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions – they seem like top notch products on those platforms. Unfortunately, while the property seems like it would be at home on the handheld (Mini? Get it?), the end product is an absolute bore with not much about it you’d consider “fun.” Skip this one, guys.

• PS3
• X360
• 6.5 / 10
• États-Unis

While I don’t think Zombie Apocalypse is stupid, it is inconsequential. You can continue as many times as necessary to reach the end of Day 55 (and you will continue a lot because the deck is always stacked against you), you just don’t get your score on a leaderboard. That’s no great loss. Perhaps if Zombie Apocalypse wasn’t so repetitive -- and blatantly so -- it would be easier to recommend as a way to blow off an afternoon with friends. Instead, it just serves as a reminder that there are better zombie-killing multiplayer games out there. Yes, Left 4 Dead costs more than Zombie Apocalypse, but you get so much more out of it.

• WII
• 7.8 / 10
• États-Unis

MySims Agents is definitely my favorite game in the series yet. I prefer the special agent theme. Exploring more inspired locales for evidence, interrogating characters for clues and piecing it all together to solve crimes is good fun. The controls have been tightened up a bit to allow for more precise platforming-based challenges and the fixed dynamic camera system works well, showing off the variety and scope of the environments you travel to, from the urban industry zone to the icy mountaintops. Finally, the forensics, hacking, lock-picking and repair mini-games are all really well implemented and entertaining. All of this being true, Agents seems to shed more of the Sims feel as it embraces the polished, linear adventure. There's less building and customization in this game than in MySims or Kingdom and the AI element is thrown virtually out the window. Meanwhile, some of unfortunate trademarks of the franchise -- trivial missions and sickly sweet character dialog -- return for disappointing results.

• DS
• PS2
• WII
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

So maybe adventure games are old news these days, but doesn’t Scooby Doo demand that? First Frights is not a Scooby game. It’s a boring, repetitive action game for kids that skimps on the story. Each level feels basically the same, just with a different group of bad guys, and I really doubt that was an homage to how formulaic the show is. The epic scale of the battles is lost when it’s Velma throwing books. I don’t see any reason this game would make any young child a fan of Scooby, and it will do far less for anyone that already is.

• DS
• 3.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Il-2 Sturmovik is a well-respected franchise on PC. It won’t be on DS. This is a game everyone should stay away from, because it cannot be beaten. The gameplay is essentially broken. What more do you need to know?

• DS
• 5.8 / 10
• États-Unis

So overall the Ben 10: Alien Force video game on DS is a much less satisfactory experience than last year's Protector of Earth. It's unfortunate that the positive progress made in the TV series couldn't be reflected in this latest game adaptation, as the first time Ben 10 game to the DS it was in a robust and solid adventure. But, for whatever reason, most of the best qualities from that first game have been cut out of this sequel, and the places where Alien Force could have naturally advanced -- like making Gwen and Kevin more active participants in the action -- go uncapitalized on as well. If you're a Ben 10 fan, I still recommend last year's product and you should now be able to pick it up for under 20 bucks. But this year's Alien Force effort is much less desirable, and should only be considered by the most dedicated Plumbers-in-training.

• DS
• 4.9 / 10
• États-Unis

MySims Agents shares a lot in common with its Wii counterpart, but the two games exist in separate universes when it comes down to pure entertainment and enjoyment. The DS iteration has all the makings of a winning MySims endeavor, from the series' trademark character editor and city decorator to the potentially fun secret agent challenges, but the entire presentation is marred by sloppy controls and really tedious design choices. If you absolutely adore the handheld MySims titles preceding this one, you might be willing to suffer through the bad for the good, but everybody else would be better served cutting this agent loose.

• PS3
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

My review here was mostly negative, largely because there's still many problems in terms of general mechanics that still haven't been ironed out. However, it's still the same old Katamari overall, which is a good thing if you've never played it (or it's been a while), but also bad if you've played every release before it. The bottom line is that Katamari Forever is fun, but we've seen it before.

• PSP
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis