BIOSHOCK (M)
Rating: *****
2K Games Xbox 360
How am I supposed to go on playing video games now? How can I ever again go back to carrying around some mundane automatic weapon now that I’ve fired hornets from my fingertips? How can I ever again wander through some WWII battlefield or bland industrial complex now that I’ve explored Rapture -- a gorgeous, crumbling underwater metropolis with art deco architecture and mysterious details around every corner? How can I possibly play another cookie-cutter first-person shooter now that I’ve played Bioshock. I have been so utterly spoiled.
Everything about this game blew me away: The brilliant sound design that makes every trickle of water seem hyper-realistic; the enemy A.I. that has you in a constant genetic arms race for dominance; the creepy storyline of utopia turned dystopia and science gone haywire; and, of course, the hulking Big Daddies -- virtual tanks on legs that tended to blow me away in a much more literal fashion. This is the kind of game that makes me wonder why I waste my time with other video games. A masterpiece.
LUMINOUS ARC (T)
Rating: **
Atlus Nintendo DS
I’m not sure what’s more derivative about Luminous Arc: the story, hacked from every RPG in recent memory, or the gameplay, which you’ll likely recognize from Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem or even this month’s Heroes of Mana. The game design would still be salvageable for gamers who simply enjoy collecting interesting characters, but the anime-inspired, bobble-headed sprites are curiously lacking in charm.
CRAZY TAXI: FARE WARS (E10+)
Rating: ***
Sega PlayStation Portable
It’s amazing how much more fun driving is when you’re the one in command of the radio. This game’s best feature is simply the ability to play your MP3s from the Memory Stick while playing the game -- a feature that should be utilized by more PSP titles. Other than that, it’s really just a port of the same old Crazy Taxi games of yesteryear, albeit with the added diversion of multiplayer. It’s worth picking up, but in true taxi fashion, you’ll probably want to drop it off again before too long.
MEGA MAN STAR FORCE: DRAGON (E)
Rating: **1/2
Capcom Nintendo DS
This is essentially the next incarnation of the Mega Man Battle Network games for GameBoy Advance, and as such, it’s packed to the brim with random encounters and fetch quests. The barebones RPG formula might be okay for hardcore fans of the blue bomber and his increasingly confusing spin-offs, but anyone else will tire of the repetitive side-missions with mega speed.
When Las Vegas Weekly contributor Matthew Scott Hunter realized his career as a lab technician was seriously interfering with his gaming, he pink-slipped himself into a successful career as a freelance writer. Bug the hell out of him at [email protected]