Game Review

'WoW' still king of games

Like I am with so many things, I was a latecomer to the World of Warcraft phenomenon. A friend had introduced me to the point-and-click Warcraft 2, and it was fun in a very basic Age of...

'Spare Parts' could leave a bad taste

It's only fair that a $10 game be held to a looser standard than its more expensive rivals, but Spare Parts occasionally pushes that generosity threshold to the edge.

Failings mean not much incentive to connect

The strangely successful TouchMaster series lives in its own contradictory little universe, capably emulating those cheap touchscreen arcades you see in bars and successfully porting the experience of playing them to a system that's as responsible as any for killing most of the novelty those machines once had.

Clever with charm

Ilomilo didn't need to be charming to an almost illegal degree in order to be a good game, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Ghoulish, smashing good fun

To look at a screenshot of Zombie Smash HD might be to presume it's yet another tower defence game in which you must defend your house against yet another onslaught of zombies.

Many pathways for culture to dominate rivals

Most similar to Civilization: Revolution, this board game for up to four players includes many familiar elements from the computer and console games and makes a few marks of its own.

Taking on the germs from the inside

A screen-grab from the MicroBot game. Photo: MCT

Taking on the germs from the inside

MicroBot's decision to take the rapidly stalling twin-stick shooter genre into a fresh new setting - the human body, a la Fantastic Voyage - pays immediate dividends in the audiovisual department. ...

Striking realism makes Turismo 5 worth the wait

Many things are not worth a long wait - the dentist, Barry Manilow's greatest hits, every four years when the All Blacks blow a World Cup.

Go West, young gamer, go West

It was the year of big, bigger and best as the gaming industry rebounded from a somewhat lacklustre 2009. Hayden Meikle hands out his awards for 2010.

'For the young ones, it is'

There is an ongoing debate in our household about the Star Wars franchise and which part of it truly possesses the force.

40 years' teaching skill shines in Elmo adventure

For more than 40 years, Sesame Street has been teaching preschoolers about the ABCs and 123s.

Good fun waiting for 'GT5'

No one has benefitted from Gran Turismo 5's long delay more than O-Games, which, in addition to poking brilliant fun at said delay, has softened the wait in just the right way.

Cherished secret agent gets new lease on life

We've seen classic first-person shooters get reissues with slightly sharper graphics and slightly modernised controls.

Thrills as the plot thickens

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Object hunt an odd fit

It's entirely fitting that Dream Chronicles got lost among the sea of big-ticket Xbox Live Arcade games that were released around it, and not just because it's a game centred around finding proverbial needles in proverbial haystacks.

Super Meat Boy cooks with gas

The 350-level Super Meat Boy easily marks its territory as the year's most difficult platforming game, but its real claim may be the startling gap it opens between challenge and frustration.