Combine action with real time strategy and racing elements, and toss in smart, sharp writing, a talented voice cast and so much metal that you’ll headbang in your sleep, and you can see why Brutal Legend is one of the better games this year.
Both NBA 2K10 and NBA Live 10 are fantastic games in their own respect; the choice will come down to which style of play you enjoy more, simulation or arcade. If you’re a simulation fan, then 2K10 is the way to go, while Live excels at more arcade-oriented action.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games has a lot going for it. The graphics are rich and detailed. There are tons of different game play options. If you get tired of competing in events, you can work on defeating the bad guy in the many missions woven throughout the game.
If you were the kind of kid who loved building monsters and then crashing them into one another, this is the game for you. In Spore Hero Arena you get to build, take apart, and rebuild your own three-dimensional moving creatures, then battle with them.
Much like the classic tables that inspired the game, the beauty in Pinball Hall of Fame can be found in its spot-on reproduction of 13 pinball greats, including Black Knight, Whirlwind, Taxi, Arabian Nights, Sorcerer and Space Shuttle.
Hide the children! Dead Space: Extraction is not the usual Wii fare. Instead of Mario and the magic kingdom, there’s hordes of quasi-undead mutants that must be dismembered in this excellent gore-filled first-person shooter.
It’s truly a shame that such wonderful aesthetics are ruined by pedestrian gameplay. Had Muramasa: The Demon Blade’s programmers made the game more difficult by making it necessary to do a few combos here and there, the game would be exponentially better.
Halo 3: ODST is, as one would expect, awesome. But is it worth a full $60? Sure. The 8-hour campaign is as long as many other full-priced games and it’s better than most. And it features a sweet co-op mode that lets a buddy battle alongside you in campaign mode.
Don’t think, from the title, that Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is going to share some sob story of how Bowser’s childhood turned him into the dastardly dragon-turtle he is today. When it says, “inside story,” this new Nintendo release means it—literally.
Professional hockey is an indoor sport, but NHL 2K10 goes the extra miles by adding outdoor action to the menu. Now players can create their own Winter Classic anytime they want, as well as enjoy new game modes that put professional athletes on a frozen pond.