After over a week of romping through Fable II we’ve realized that Albion reflects a solution to economic woes. Early on, the game lets you know that you usurp gold from your owned properties every five minutes, even when the console is powered down. It will accumulate when you’re not playing. So as you lead your current bankrupt existence, take solace in the fact that you’re always making cash… in the digital realm. Continue »

The derelict, skeletal structure of an immense craft hums with eerie silence. With their own blood, crew members have written their goodbyes on the metallic walls, crying solitarily in the dark depths of space. As a lonely descent into the madness of the aftermath, Dead Space runs the gamut of sci-fi horror inspiration. But through immaculate vision, developer EA Redwood Shores twists a glut of conventions in its favour, spawning something entirely novel. Continue »

A skyscraper sized mechanical beast towers over grassy Icelandic hills. At first it inspires awe, since few games are rendered with such literal, uncontained immensity. But something is askew in Resistance 2, because when it comes down to the true sense of it all, it’s hardly impactful.

Playing the earlier levels of Insomniac’s latest effort left a feeling of indifference. For all its attempts at imbuing a sprawling scale, the highly deliberate crescendo of chaos generally remained at a mild plateau. Much is going on, most of it blurred together. Continue »

It starts with a heavy boot sinking into ashen, damp sand. Despite the cold and alien landscape, this is a battle with a distinct familiarity: it’s harkening back, drawing inspiration, and twisting it in a new light. If you haven’t already sensed it, Killzone 2 is oddly recognizable. The vivid, iconic imagery of war parallels great battles from the past, and, of course, the games they inspired. But rather than being wholly derivative of what it so explicitly admires, the enormity of developer Guerilla Games’ vision puts it a cut above the rest. Continue »

An umbrella, to say the least, is an interesting parting gift after a sleek, stylish and classy gaming event. Seeing as no precipitation was in the forecast, perhaps Sony felt that any smidgen of sun would shrivel the pasty Canadian gaming press. Or maybe it’s a message that we should all use that proverbial umbrella to weather out the storm of games that looms upon us this autumn.

Shame that it’s all so appealing though, I might have brave the rain.

The annual Playstation Holiday Preview Event was held in a posh, brightly lit studio turned media venue in downtown Toronto yesterday, complete with an affluent source of drinks, and, more importantly, an avalanche of new titles. Here’s a look at the games that received briefer playtimes. Lengthier ones will get the full preview treatment soon, namely Killzone 2 and Resistance 2, so stay tuned. Continue »

When something is presented with an exuberant vernacular, you’d be right to be weary of every word. Perhaps the trouble became prevalent some time ago for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed when the majority of the swirling talk surrounding the game was of the mighty foundation of technologies powering its core. Impressive they may be, but behind all the smoke and mirrors lies a hackneyed action romp; one that doesn’t even lay down the basics right. Continue »

If the screen is going to be awash with plenty of blood, guts and gore, it’s going to need context. Otherwise, the flailing ragdoll bodies of Nazis will err on the side of the exploitive; more blood soaked Tarantino than gritty World War II drama. A fine distinction to make, considering Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway is explicitly trying to be the latter. Continue »