Category: review round up

Get Your Watch Dogs Review Score Round-Up

watch dogs review scores

Ubisoft’s long awaited open-world hackathon Watch Dogs is finally upon us. The embargo lifted late last night and a torrent of reviews flooded in from all over the Internet. It seems that Watch Dogs is getting fairly positive scores across the board, mostly being criticized for some funky driving mechanics and for not really being that unique of an open-world game outside of the hacking abilities.

Here are some review scores from some other websites you may have heard of:

I’ve got Watch Dogs sitting on my PC right now but InFamous: Second Son is currently taking up most of my gaming bandwidth (along with Battlefield 4 and some Company of Heroes 2) but I expect to get to it soon. I hear there’s an interesting glitch right now where taking to the river will cause you to lose your police pursuit as the Chicago PD of Watch Dogs doesn’t have a maritime presence.

Has anyone here played Watch Dogs? What are your initial impressions?

The Backwards Reviews of Company of Heroes 2

company of heroes 2 reviews

One of my most anticipated games of the year, Company of Heroes 2, is finally out, and it’s being met with some pretty good review. Well, the number at the end of the review is good, but if you actually read the review, it paints quite a different picture.

Despite the praise heaped upon the multiplayer of Company of Heroes 2, and the new Theater of War missions which work a lot like an RTS version of Modern Warfare 2’s Spec Ops mode, a lot of criticism is heaped on the campaign. I can’t quite speak on CoH 2’s campaign yet, but I find it odd that a review would focus on the negative aspects of a game and then spend a little bit of time talking about the good parts and give it a pretty good score. Check out the reviews below:

Now, I don’t want to seem like I’m criticizing, but if I’m going to give a game a high score I’d list the good things in detail instead of the bad parts. I’m still looking forward to trying out some Company of Heroes 2, but what about you guys? What do you think about these reviews? Are you going to give CoH 2 a try?

The Last of Us Reviews Explode Onto the Web

the last of us reviews

Man oh man, if there’s one game for the rest of this year that might be able to topple BioShock Infinite off of its lofty perch, it’s The Last of Us. Sure, everybody might have their own personal Game of the Year (come on, Battlefield 4), but I predict that those two giants will be slugging it out for that prestigious award come December.

What makes me say that, you ask? Well, in case you missed it yesterday, the review embargo for Naughty Dog’s fungal-fueled post-apocalyptic title lifted and there are some fantastic reviews out there. Here’s a round-up of what some outlets are saying about it:

Pretty much unanimous across the board, except for Polygon’s review which highlights a few inconsistencies with the shooting mechanics. The multiplayer is of particular interest to me, especially considering I kind of forgot that The Last of Us even had this mode.

The game is out next Friday, so what do you guys think about these reviews? Are you getting excited?

Halo 4 Review Scores Reach for the Heavens

halo 4 reviews

While Halo 4 is a still a few days out, the review embargo for the game lifted in the wee hours of the morning. I remarked on Twitter the other day that removing the embargo for the game so far in advance of its release meant that Microsoft and 343 Industries must have been plenty confident in their product.

Turns out that they have every right to be, because Halo 4 is cleaning house when it comes to reviews. The reviews I’ve read for the game so far have been glowing, and have maxed out my hype meter. I’ve tried to restrain myself, but the critics haven’t been able to and it’s kind of infectious. Here’s a sampling of some of the scores:

So yeah, Halo 4 has apparently ousted Bungie is the minds of the reviewers. While Bungie’s legacy will always remain, I’m happy to see that 343 Industries has managed to carve out their own territory within this well-worn franchise.

The only negative aspect of Halo 4 that I’ve heard about is that some parts of the story might be a bit too complex for people who haven’t read Greg Bear’s Forerunner Trilogy and the plot relies a little too heavily on hidden terminals for backstory. I haven’t read those books myself, but I always enjoy item hunting and as long as the combat is tight, I’ll forgive them this one misstep.

Now that the review scores are out in the wild, how is your excitement for Halo 4 faring? Reaching a fevered pitch? Has it perhaps chipped away at your armored resolve not to get the game?

Dishonored Review Round-Up

Dishonored Review

Dishonored reviews started skulking in last night at midnight, like a thief in the shadows, stalking his unaware prey. Sorry about that first sentence. Reading so many Dishonored reviews is clearly having an influence on me. Which isn’t exactly surprising given how glowing the reviews have been thus far. With the embargo lifted, we can finally find out what this exciting new IP has to offer.

The first one I read was IGN’s 9.2 review, which read:

Each mission is built as an elaborate network of choices for players to explore, and the same can be said for Corvo himself. Each player’s selection of powers, perks and other upgrades will inform how they see and interact with this world, and no two play-throughs will be exactly the same.

Receiving a score of 9 or higher at IGN isn’t exactly impossible to do these days, but from the text, the score sounds justified.

Patrick Klepek of Giant Bomb also enjoyed the game, likening it to Deus Ex, but with better combat and giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Regarding the skills you obtain in the game, he said:

Other powers allow you to take control of people and animals, another one stops time and can eventually be used to have someone kill themselves with their own bullet. How? Pause time when the shot is fired, possess them, and place them in front of where you just were. Combined with a proper combat system, Dishonored encourages rampant experimentation.

Ben Kuchera of Penny Arcade was taken with the game’s choices, stating:

It’s fun to share your solutions to the game’s puzzles with your friends and other players. “You can do that?” I found myself saying to people sharing their stories about a clever use of weapons or abilities, before scrambling back to the game to try it myself.

When we watched the Dishonored trailer, we made a point to joke about all the obvious influences the game clearly has. Mitch and I even Shunned the game in a recent feature. But it appears that Dishonored managed to live up to the high expectations set by both the developers and the marketing team. I was wary of the game for many reasons, but it seems my worries were unfounded. I know there has been some concern about game length, but I don’t think that is an issue as it sounds like someone did a speed-run. I plan on purchasing (Or receiving on Christmas) Dishonored in the future. Do the Dishonored reviews change your mind or confirm what you already suspected? Hit the comments!