Digital Trends

• 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

• WIIU
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

While still a great game and a must own for Wii U fans that are interested in the Assassin’s Creed series, there are tradeoffs between the Wii U version and its console cousins. The version on Nintendo’s system offers the ability to play on the GamePad, which is great, but it also reflects the graphical issues that are present on any display. The GamePad also isn’t made for this type of game, and while you can get used to it in time, the better option is the Pro Controller, which negates the benefits of the Wii U. Make no mistake, Assassin’s Creed III for the Wii U is still a great game and well worth your time, and the benefits the new console offers are nice. There are issues though, and those issues make the other versions a bit superior, but not by much.

• WIIU
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

In all other regards, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is an identical port of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, just with a few new game modes, and – sadly – a much smaller online community that will hopefully expand. While I did not enjoy the core game quite as much as Earnest, I can understand his passion for it. It’s packed with enough competitors, game modes, and moves that fight fans should happily embrace the Wii U version. Just be prepared to learn how to move all over again via the GamePad.

• WIIU
• 8.5 / 10
• États-Unis

In all the important ways, the game is the same as its counterpart on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, just with the GamePad, the occasionally heightened graphics, and the Wii U’s chat issues taken into account. The ability to play on the GamePad is outstanding, but the GamePad itself is a bit of a handful for this manner of gaming. It probably just takes time to adjust, and the less experience you have with this game (or style of game) on other consoles is probably a boon. The chat, something that is so vital to any good online play, is just a feature Nintendo didn’t put a great deal of effort into and instead left it up to the developers. In time, this will likely find a good balance, but for now Treyarch did the best it could with what it had. But if you are hoping for the Call of Duty experience for Nintendo’s new system, you now most certainly have it.

• WIIU
• États-Unis

• PS3
• États-Unis

Hitman: Absolution offers one of the best stealth experiences of the year, hands down. The campaign is full of incredible variety, while the Contracts mode is a fitting online inclusion that feels like a proper addition to the uniquely single player gameplay style. There are a few things, like the disguises that highlight some of the failings of the AI, the lack of quick save, and the need to memorize the patterns that will require patience that not everyone will be keen to indulge in, but the flaws are generally minor. If you enjoy stealth-based games, and are fine with spending time stalking your prey instead of just running in screaming with guns drawn Leroy Jenkins-style, then Hitman: Absolution is for you. Hopefully the glare of the Wii U and the other big November releases won’t prevent others from giving it a try too.

• VITA
• États-Unis

Persona 4 Golden is what Persona 4 should have been all along. It’s a massive roleplaying game with compelling characters and interesting, intuitive gameplay mechanics that motivate players along not with design cliches, but by offering new, interesting things to see and explore. Though it’s modern setting and anime style may not appeal to everyone, those who can see past these “issues” to the core experience beneath will find themselves enjoying a game that certainly earned a place as one of the best PS2 titles, and has now established itself as one of the best games available on Sony’s Vita handheld. More impressively, the wealth of changes and additions seen in Persona 4 Golden make it one of the few re-releases that should appeal equally to fans of the original Persona 4 and those who’ve yet to experience the series. Atlus has jam-packed this game with new content, and even if you’ve explored every nook and cranny of Persona 4 on the PS2, you’ll find plenty of novel things to do and see in its handheld incarnation. While it probably doesn’t have the power to sway those who absolutely abhor roleplaying games, those who enjoy the genre should view Persona 4 Golden as the current high water mark for these sorts of games, and, for that matter, as a perfect reason to go out and buy a Vita. Even if everything else on the system leaves you cold, at least you’ll have this one epic adventure to enjoy over the course of the next few weeks, months, and years.

• WIIU
• États-Unis

• WIIU
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

It’s best not to think of this as a Wii U game, but rather a dance game that just happens to be on Nintendo’s new system. The Wii U integration is shallow at best. The rest of the game is packed with content, which is nice, but the same problems that plague the Wii and the Move version exist here as well, and it’s a limitation that is not going away. Just Dance 4 is a decent game that is better on the Kinect. The Wii U version has a lot to offer, but you really have to want to embrace this game in order to get the most of it.

• WIIU
• États-Unis

• PS3
• États-Unis