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PAX conference welcomes gamers of all kinds
Ryan Sebastian
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

PAX. This three day event draws people from all over the world and is an eagerly anticipated weekend for those who make it their destination. Penny Arcade Expo began in 2004 when Mike Krahulik and Jerry Hoskins, the duo behind the similarly named web comic, Penny Arcade, decided that gamers needed a place to unite. It took place in Seattle and succeeded beyond the organizers wildest dreams. Three thousand people attended that first year. Since then there has been a meteoric rise in popularity and last year over seventy thousand attended PAX.

SSX Review: Snowboard Series Revived
Ryan Sebastian
Monday, March 12th, 2012
The cliff is huge and the only sound is the howling wind. A thoroughly impossible trick is pulled and as you land, a shockwave explodes outward and the music kicks back in. SSX is back. The last proper entry in the extreme snowboarding series was over seven years ago, too long for many fans, and EA Sports has done all it can to please old-hands as well as newcomers with this reboot. Bearing only a passing resemblance to actual snowboarding, SSX is more about managing boost, insane tricks and dodging obstacles while rocketing down the side of a mountain.
Fantasy XIII-2 Review: Does This Time Traveling Tale Fix Past Mistakes?
Ryan Sebastian
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII, released in 2010, was a divisive game for fans of the long running series. While it did bring the franchise to modern consoles and had beautiful graphics and an interesting battle mechanic, it was also fiercely linear and had a nonsensical story. The linearity was particularly hard to swallow for some, as Final Fantasy games have always had a certain amount of exploration and discovery in them. Now, two years later, Square-Enix is returning to the same world with a sequel, Final Fantasy XIII-2.
Need for Speed: The Run Review: A Racer with a Story or Held Back by Cut-scenes?
Ryan Sebastian
Monday, January 16th, 2012

Opening with a quick time event that tasks the player with escaping from a car crusher, it is clear that EA is trying something a little different with the latest instalment in their popular "Need for Speed" franchise. "The Run" attempts to inject an overarching story into the traditional racing formula, and while the gameplay is as solid as ever, the plot leaves something to be desired.

Bastion Review: Seven Person Team Makes Something Seventy Would be Proud of
Ryan Sebastian
Monday, December 12th, 2011
Independent games are having their own renaissance and the quality and ingenuity of these titles grows with every year. The latest entry into this growing history of indie games is the PC and Xbox title Bastion. Developed by Supergiant Games, Bastion takes place in a world broken up by an event only known as the Calamity. The player, filling the shoes of the protagonist known only as "the Kid," is tasked with restoring the bastion, which is a meeting area for those who are left.
"Batman: Arkham City" Review: Can Lightning Strike Twice?
Ryan Sebastian
Monday, November 14th, 2011

Batman has been solving crimes and facing off against crazed villains for over seventy years, and is thus well acquainted with a number of different mediums. From the original comics, to the excellent animated series and the more recent Nolan movies, Batman has had much success no matter what format he is in. Having successfully broken into the modern game world with 2009’s excellent Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady Studios is bringing The Dark Knight back and hoping to repeat their success with Batman: Arkham City.

“Dark Souls” Review: A Challenging Victory or Too Bitter to Play
Ryan Sebastian
Thursday, October 20th, 2011

The holiday season is inundated with new and exciting videogame releases. These titles are guaranteed to be well polished and have monster budgets for production and advertising. The latest upcoming instalments in series like Modern Warfare, Uncharted, Elder Scrolls, Zelda and Batman will no doubt be amazing; however, sometimes there is a game that does things a little differently. That game is Dark Souls. In many of the games listed above, you play a powerful warrior, capable of saving the world or vanquishing evil – a force to be reckoned with.

"Deus Ex: Human Revolution" Review: Modernizing a Classic or Tarnishing the Memory
Ryan Sebastian
Saturday, September 17th, 2011

Having been released over a decade ago, the original Deus Ex was an exciting and thoughtful game, filled with choice and intrigue. Unfortunately, it has not aged well, and as new and more elaborate games come out, the antiquated design and chunky graphics of Deus Ex have caused the joy of the game to fade. However, all is not lost for Deus Ex as Eidos Montreal has taken it upon themselves to create a prequel that captures the magic of the original, while updating the formula for a modern audience.

Review: Dead Space 2: Does big budget game escape being cash-in sequel?
Ryan Sebastian
Monday, April 11th, 2011

Isaac Clarke is not okay. He is mentally unstable, trapped on a space station with an outbreak of monsters, and is forced to scrounge for his life; all this before the end of the first chapter.