PixlBit

“Greetings, true believers!” Stan Lee’s words as he introduces Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

The DS version of the latest Spider-Man entry is one I found to be a bit of a delightful surprise. I’d describe the title as a Metroid Fusion-inspired Brawler. In the game, three versions of Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Noir Spider-Man, and 2099 Spider-Man navigate a modest-sized maze of a map, uncovering power-ups and secrets along the way as they bang up hundreds of baddies.

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Why include a real guitar if you aren't going to get to play it like one?

As a guitarist, I find Power Gig: Rise of the Six String almost offensive. It had built my hopes up to hear that a true guitar would be included in a modern rhythm game. In my head, I imagined getting the opportunity to truly strum out some tracks, and learn to play some new songs in a manner I've never had the opportunity of doing. But no, rather than using the guitar like an actual guitar, players are stuck doing the same old Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange button-based notes, with an occasional real power chord thrown in. Even worse, by now everyone is used to playing on a standard plastic guitar controller, making this feel like some unnatural compromise between playing that and playing the real thing.

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Some call it Zen, I call it boring.

I find reviewing The Undergarden to be a difficult prospect; it’s another game added to the growing catalogue of independently published games focusing more on the presentation and visual design of the world rather than story or character development. While the other games in this genre, Braid or Limbo for example, try to throw in some complex puzzle interaction The Undergarden instead goes a different route, marketing itself as a “Zen Game”.

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With three new tracks and a slew of new challenges and boats, the Tempest Pack offers great value.

Augmenting the recent release of arcade flashback, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is the Tempest Pack DLC. The pack includes a set of three new levels, two totally new boats, five retooled expert versions of pro and novice level boats, as well as new Championship, Gauntlet and Ring Master challenges. While all of this content is offered in the pack, the tracks are truly the main attraction, and at only 400 Microsoft Points they're a good investment.

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Brawl of the Boring

I am trying to remember if I have ever played a movie tie-in game that was actually entertaining, and I don’t think I can. Clash of the Titans by Namco Bandai Games is another contender attempting to change this trend and, like the rest, finds itself lacking. It didn’t take much effort to assume that, due to the similarities in setting, the game would attempt to be a God of War clone, and that is exactly what we have, except inferior to its progenitor.

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