IGN

• PS3
• X360
• PC
• 6.8 / 10
• États-Unis

Quantum of Solace isn’t the game that it should have been. It’s not bad by any means, but what brings it out of the pits of despair is the foundation of a much better game that we all know and love. The action is less compelling and the world that’s built around Bond doesn’t do much to enhance the fun factor. All of the additions do nothing to push the game ahead of other first-person shooters and instead take you out of the world of being Bond. If you’re looking for a game to reveal the plot of Quantum of Solace before the movie’s release, this is not it. If you’re looking for the answer to GoldenEye, this is not it. Instead Quantum of Solace is a respectable shooter with little that sets it apart from the rest of the field. Sadly the Collector’s Edition is even more generic with a paltry set of behind the scenes featurettes that appear on a separate bonus disc housed in a “gold” tin. That’s all you get for your ten extra bucks, unless you include the three dollar coupon for one of a handful of old Bond movies, but I don’t. The behind the scenes featurettes do little to advance the game, and the fact that there’s no “play all” feature is an annoyance. It is cool that can watch Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and the hot chick from the movie talk about their experiences with the game, but there’s no way that a short list of abrupt features justifies the increase in price.

• DS
• 7.7 / 10
• États-Unis

Movie licensed games can often times prove difficult for developers. They're almost always under pressure to finish the job as quickly and as cheap as possible. In the face of looming deadlines and shrinking budgets, it's easy for companies to phone it in. But that's not the case here. In spite of a few issues with combat, levels that may be just a little too linear, and a playtime that runs on the short side, The Tale of Despereaux stands out as an above average movie game. Its creative level design, interesting visuals, and simple, yet diverse controls make for a title that's just right for young gamers. It might even win over a few older ones, too.

• WII
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

hilosophy students and aspiring monks need to download Enduro Racer straight away in order to have their perspectives on existence informed by its ending sequence's introspective musings, but the rest of we Wii owners can easily get along without it. Its isometric motorcycling gameplay is fair, but it's nothing like the arcade game it's named after and a more robust 8-bit bike racer is already available in the Wii Shop through Excitebike, which has features like a custom course creator that this release lacks. And, in closing, this review is dedicated to all of the "life riders" who have started out on the solitary trip to find their own individual limits. The end.

• WII
• 7.1 / 10
• États-Unis

The toy inside the box seems to be the winner in this bundle pack – the gun is a much better gun than the Wii game is a game, but the software isn’t all that bad either. Parents can rest assured that Nerf N-Strike is a non-violent experience for their kids, and gamers can rest assured that it isn’t a cheap Wii game knock-off quickly developed for the holiday crowd.

• PS3
• X360
• 4.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Sonic Team couldn't leave well enough alone and just accept a three-hour game with some decent replay value. Instead, they tossed in one of the dumbest "twists" in the history of gaming. A werehog? Really? Stretchy arms? Did anyone actually believe this was going to be fun? Gone are any elements of speed, replaced with mindless and poorly designed brawling segments with some terrible platforming sections. Sonic Unleashed has made me bipolar. In the daytime, I'm happy – almost too happy. And at night I become angry and irritable, frustrated and impossible to be around. Sonic deserves better. More importantly, gamers deserve better.

• X360
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Meteos Wars is a great puzzle game, but playing it on a controller isn't the best way to experience it. I prefer the original touch controls and so will most who have enjoyed Meteos on the DS. To its credit, Meteos Wars handles well and is still a lot of fun on the Xbox Live Arcade. It looks snazzy and sounds great. It's just too bad the online multiplayer didn't perform better in my experience.

• PC
• 5.9 / 10
• États-Unis

Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge comes very close to capturing the overall appeal of the classic turn-based tactical games. The setup and overall approach are just right but the execution shatters the game's potential. Overpowered enemies, underpowered weapons, breathless mercenaries and a complete lack of range and accuracy information keep the game from competing with the other titles in the genre. We have no doubt that some of these issues will improve with future patches but, for now, you can give this one a pass.

• DS
• 8.2 / 10
• États-Unis

• PC
• 7.6 / 10
• États-Unis

Chapter 2 in the series will be on its way, but have I even really recommended Chapter 1? It doesn't really sound like it, but to be honest, it's one of the more interesting adventure games around. Most important is how much cheesy writing you are willing to put up with. The cast is quirky and the scenarios are quirky; forgive me for still not being over the constipated raven. My personal cup of game A Vampyre Story is not, but you may enjoy a sip if only to experience its unique, Halloweeny flavor.

• WII
• 5.8 / 10
• États-Unis

Beyond the new questions, the Wii disc version of TV Show King adds a couple of new modes and a better leaderboard, as well as non-Mii characters for computer controlled players. But beyond that TV Show King Party is a pretty lazy addition to the Wii library, a blatant quick-buck product that works as a downloadable game, but when it's considered a retail product all of its flaws are amplified.

• DS
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

• PS2
• PC
• 5.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Playing NHL 09 is like a new-age blast from the past. It moves and looks like something from 1995, but the gameplay somehow still manages to work. Slapshots have the requisite amount of speed, passes feel solid, and while the play creation tool isn’t quite what is on the 360 and PS3, the game still has a solid list of modes and features. The online play is the biggest disappointment and is almost unusable. At a price of twenty-dollars this game would have been easier to recommend but at a steeper forty-dollars there’s no way that people should invest in an experience that they could have gotten years ago.

• PSP
• 7.2 / 10
• États-Unis

If you have a puny, atrophied brain, spending some time with Brain Challenge will make you feel better about it. The graphics aren't much to look at but the menus are sharp and easy to navigate, and the controls are intuitive. There are some issues with the tutorials and multiplayer, but the basics of a decent educational puzzler are here.

• X360
• 6.5 / 10
• États-Unis

PowerUp Forever would have been a much different game with some semblance of multiplayer, instead all we get is flimsy leaderboard support for all three of the difficulty levels. After you die in the arcade mode and are sent back to the beginning a few times the flaws in PowerUp Forever become painfully clear. Its art style, while very cool, doesn’t come close to pushing the PowerUp Forever into the “must-buy” category. Wait for the price to be cut in half and then it might be worth a look.

• DS
• 6.8 / 10
• États-Unis

The Fallen King is clearly an ambitious platformer from Ubisoft. The development team has created a title with mostly high production values. Although I'm not fond of the character design, the animation is fluid and the make-up of the levels he travels through is extremely varied and beautiful by DS standards. It's all the more painful then that the control scheme is entirely stylus-based because the setup simply isn't as precise, comfortable or enjoyable as a traditional configuration. At the very least, it would've been nice to have the option to select D- Pad controls for those of us who don't want to maneuver Prince through dozens of hand-cramping stages with the stylus just for the sake of playing a game with touch controls. Touch-play is not automatically more immersive, as The Fallen King demonstrates time and time again.

• PSP
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

It’s too bad that more wasn’t put into the PSP version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. The players on the pitch are very rigid in their movements and the overall speed feels like it’s capped so the PSP can keep up. Still threading passes through the aggressive AI’s defense and burying one in the corner of the goal is very well done and feels realistic for a handheld. Wireless online play and Become A Legend help, but it’s not enough to be in the same league as EA Sports’ champion for the 2009 season.

• WII
• 2.5 / 10
• États-Unis

AMF should be a strong brand when it comes to bowling on the videogame consoles, but instead it simply adds a name to an awful, quickly developed cash-in. One of these days I’ll be happy to play a different bowling experience than the awesome one that Nintendo gives away with its console. Maybe that’s wishful thinking…because after two years, no one’s been able to come close. AMF Bowling World Lanes definitely doesn’t.

• DS
• 8.4 / 10
• États-Unis

I purposefully chose not to rehash a discussion of specific mechanics or control here in the Rune Factory 2 review, because that discussion already exists -- in the review for last year's first Rune Factory. The more important point to get across here, then, was exactly that -- that this sequel is not very far removed from its predecessor at all, and while that doesn't make it a bad game, it should be taken into consideration for fans who've already invested tons of time into exploring last year's effort. It's a fine reality for now, as not every game series needs to completely alter itself between each installment. But this may be an early warning sign that history could end up repeating itself -- Rune Factory doesn't need to turn into the franchise it spun off from, repeating its same design over and over again for a solid 10 years. Again, it's OK for now, but if Rune Factory X in 2017 is still the same deal, we'll just be back where we started -- dying for some change. Because gamers deserve fresh innovations more than just once a decade.