The Evil Within

Post-Launch Review

The Evil Within (PC)

Developer: Tango Gameworks

Released: October 2014
Played: story complete in 13h

About

During a call to investigate a disturbance at Beacon Hill mental hospital, police detective Castellanos encounters a hostile, badly-burned man with incredible power. Castellanos finds himself trapped in a constantly-changing landscape full of monsters, gore, and dark memories. The detective sets out to find his missing colleagues, escape the twisted world trapping them, and stop the malevolent apparition in the white hood. 

Bayonetta 2

Post-Launch Review

Bayonetta 2

Developer: PlatinumGames

Released: October 2014

Played: complete in 9h:16min 

About

Bayonetta is on a shopping trip when she's attacked by angels. Her summoning goes wrong - something's up between the worlds - and Jeanne is dragged to hell. At the same time, a mystery man with great power pulls a Lumen Sage from the past with the promise of revenge. Bayonetta sets out to the sacred mountain Fimbulventr to find a way to go to hell and save Jeanne, and along the way, meets an amnesiac boy with great power who seems tied to the trouble between the worlds...

Transistor

Post-Launch Reviews
Transistor (PC)
Developer: Supergiant Games
Released: May 2014
Played: story complete in 8h; 100% complete in 13h:12min

About

A man dear to popular singer Red lies dead with a sword called the Transistor in his body, but his consciousness has been taken into the Transistor. Pursued by the mysterious Camerata who stole her voice and robotic entities called the Process, Red races through Cloudbank to discover why she was targeted and why the Process are re-shaping the city.

Bayonetta

Post-Launch Review
Bayonetta (Wii U)
Developer: Platinum Games
Released: October 2009 and January 2010 (Wii) / late 2014 (WiiU rerelease)
Played: story complete in 11h:13min

About

Recently awoken from a 500-year sleep, the witch Bayonetta sets out to recover her memories and her past. As she fights her way through hordes of angels that seem to take an unusual interest in her, Bayonetta begins to uncover the secrets of the Umbra witches and the Lumen sages, and the hints that someone very powerful wants something from her...

Super Smash Bros. 3DS

Post-Launch Review

Super Smash Bros (3DS)

Developer: Sora Ltd. / Bandai Namco Games

Released: September - October 2014

Played: 98h38min as of this writing, 99% complete

About

Super Smash Bros. is an accessible, fast-paced fighting game where you can play as 49 characters from Nintendo's biggest franchises. Rack up your opponents' damage and knock them off the stage!

Deadpool

Post-Launch Review

Deadpool (XBox360)

Developer: High Moon Studios

Released: June 2013

Played: story complete in 6h:50min

About

To give you an idea what kind of tone Deadpool takes, here's what I believe is an official product description, as if spoken by the titular mercenary:

There are a few important things I need to say before you crack into my insanely sweet game. (Oof. Here we go again.) I'm a mercenary with an accelerated healing factor. I've been described as unstable, which is just plain coo-coo. (Wait, do sane people say coo-coo?) I'm gonna battle for the safety of humans and mutants. (And even mumans.) Be prepared for just about anything. (Holla!)  I made sure to capture all my good sides, so I made my game a third-person action-shooter. (Yep, you get to look at my heinie.) Keep a look out cuz some of my X-Men pals (Whoa, what pals?!) are making an appearance. (Hope you don't mind picking hair out of your tacos.) I'm really good at killing, so I made it a blast stringing together combos, and totally eviscerating my enemies. (Ev-is-cer-a-ting!) I brought my skills and a buttload of my favorite things. Katanas (check), guns (bang!) explosives (boom), duct tape (quack) and of course, yours truly - ME! (Checkmate!)

The Last Of Us

Post-Launch Review

The Last Of Us

Developer: Naughty Dog

Released: June 2013

Played: story complete in 15 hours

About

Twenty years after a fungal pandemic has wiped out most of the human population, a smuggler named Joel finds himself transporting an unusual cargo: a girl, Ellie, who may be able to fight the disease. Joel and Ellie set out across the United States to find the Fireflies, a rebel group resisting the authority of the quarantine zones.

Dead Space 3

Post-Launch Review

Dead Space 3 (PC)

Developer:Visceral Games
Released: February 2013
Played: story complete in 13h20min; Awakened DLC complete in1h15min

About

Some time after the events of Dead Space 2, the Unitologists are inciting rebellions all over the colonies to free the markers and start necromorph infestations. Isaac Clarke is pulled from an outbreak by Earthgov's last military unit, and they set out to find Ellie Langford's research team on Tau Volantis, an ice planet which appears to be the source of the marker signal and which may offer a way to end the necromorph threat for good.

Dead Rising 2

Post-Launch Review
Dead Rising 2 (PC)
Developer: Blue Castle Games
Released: September 2010
Played: story complete in 13.5 hours

About

Five years after the zombie outbreak in Dead Rising, the world has mostly moved on, with a mass-produced drug called Zombrex that prevents infected people from turning. Motocross champion Chuck Greene is visiting Fortune City, Nevada with his daughter Katey to participate in a game show so he can continue to afford Katey's Zombrex. While Chuck is backstage, the show's supply of zombies is released, quickly overrunning Fortune City in a massive new outbreak. Chuck soon discovers that he's been framed as the cause of the outbreak, and he must fight to clear his name before the military arrives for the evacuation.

God of War III

Post-Launch Review

God of War III

Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio

Released: March 2010

Played: story complete in 9:45

About

As the Titans attack Mount Olympus, Kratos has been betrayed by all of his allies, save one. The Ghost of Sparta fights his way through all the gods of Olympus, uncaring of how much damage he causes in his rage, to finally have his revenge against Zeus.

God of War II

Post-Launch Review

God of War II (PS3 Saga edition)

Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio

Released: March 13 2007 (PS2) / November 2009 (PS3 Collection remaster) August 2012 (PS3 Saga collection)

About

Having defeated Ares to become the new god of war, Kratos is shunned by the other gods of Olympus. Tricked by Zeus, Kratos loses his divinity and his life, but the titan Gaia intervenes and sets Kratos on the path to the Sisters of Fate, who can alter his destiny and allow him revenge on Zeus.

Lair

Post-Launch Review

Lair

Developer: Factor 5

Released: August 31 2007

About

Lair takes place in a world threatened by volcanoes. The once unified people now form two kingdoms: the Mokai and Asylians. Rohn is an Asylian skyguard, a dragon rider pledged to defend Asylia. When the Mokai attack, Rohn fights to defend his nation, but is also forced to confront the treachery and ruthlessness of his own people, all in the middle of full-scale war.

Saints Row: The Third

Post-Launch Review

Saints Row: The Third

Developer: Volition, Inc.

Released: November 2011

About

Saints Row: The Third is an open-world, third-person action game that follows the Third Street Saints. Since Saints Row 2, the Saints' street gang has become a media empire. The top members are famous and recognized wherever they go, and organize PR stunts to supplement their income from energy drinks, clothing lines, toys, and more. But after a bank job turns bad as the employees fight back with military-grade weapons, the Saints find themselves under assault by the international criminal organization known as the Syndicate. With their assets and accounts drained, the Saints find themselves in the Syndicate-controlled city of Steelport, determined to fight back.

Bulletstorm

Post-Launch Review

Bulletstorm

Developers: People Can Fly / Epic Games

Released: February 2011

About

Bulletstorm is a sci-fi FPS following Grayson Hunt, a former black ops agent working for General Sarrano. In what would become their final mission, Grayson's Dead Echo team discovered that Sarrano had them killing innocent civilians, and they desert the military to become hunted pirates. Ten years later, Grayson stumbles across Sarrano's flagship and attacks it on a suicide run, destroying both ships and crash-landing on a planet full of hostiles and mutants. Grayson and his friend Ishi, the only survivors of their crew, set a course through hostile territory to try to find a military survivor named Trishka, hoping to escape the planet on her evacuation shuttle... and hopefully take revenge on Sarrano along the way.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Post-Launch Review

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Developer: LucasArts / Aspyr Media (PC)

Released: October 2010

About

The Force Unleashed II picks up six months after the events of the first game. Darth Vader visits the cloning facility on Kamino to check the progress of his latest Starkiller clone. The clone is experiencing visions and memory flashbacks of the original Starkiller. Faced with the threat of extermination, Starkiller fights his way out of the facility to search for old friends and the truth of his identity, getting tangled up with the fledgling Rebellion in the process.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Post-Launch Review

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PC)

Developer: LucasArts / Aspyr Media (PC version)

Released: September 2008

About

The Force Unleashed is an action game set in the period between Episodes III and IV, when the newly-formed Empire is building its strength and constructing its war machine. Darth Vader has secretly taken on an apprentice with plans to overthrow the Emperor. You play as the apprentice, called Starkiller. Darth Vader sends Starkiller to prove himself by killing some of the last remaining Jedi Knights.

Magicka

Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Released: January 25 2011

This is the last review of indie month! Normal once-weekly reviews will resume this Wednesday, the 1st of February.

Magicka is a satirical top-down action-adventure fourth-wall-breaking game inspired by Norse mythology and modern pop culture. A group of wizards, assisted by their mentor Vlad (who is most certainly not a vampire), set out on an epic quest to defeat an evil sorcerer and his army of fantasy minions, attempting not to blow each other up in the process.