Plants vs. Zombies Vita Review (@GamesRadar)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Nathan Meunier

“How many versions of PopCap Games’loveable tower defense puzzler Plants vs. Zombies does a household really need on different gaming platforms? It’s a question raised yet again by the arrival of Sony’s newest handheld. But even if you’ve already waged leafy war against hordes of goofy, road cone-topped zombies from start-to-finish in multiple formats like we have, you may find yourself enticed into just one more download. With its ultra crisp presentation and a few subtle but welcome updates that make good use of the new control options, the Vita showcases Plants vs. Zombies at its finest.”

Check out the full review here at GamesRadar.

Warp Review (@GamesRadar)

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Nathan Meunier

“Some games give you a chance to get inside the mind of your foes to gain a strategic advantage. Warp goes one step further by letting you hop inside their bodies then shake their guts around until they bulge and explode in a nasty spray of bloody meat-gunk puree. It’s a gross but satisfying twist that gives this otherwise cutesy stealth puzzler a little M-rated oomph. Well, that and the F-bombs your enemies drop when you thwart their efforts to contain your pint-sized wrath.”

Check out the full review here at GamesRadar.

Review: Outland

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Nathan Meunier

“There are enough borrowed core mechanics from other popular games found woven all throughout the fabric of Outland that you could make a drinking game out of calling them out. Developer Housemarque did its due diligence in strip-mining classics like Super Metroid, Ikaruga, and Prince of Persia – to name just a few – for ideas to inject into Outland. This 2D action platformer may be a pastiche of well-worn ideas found in games that came long before it, yet its many disparate elements blend together to create an experience that still manages to feel fresh and original.”

Check out the full review over here at GamesRadar.

Review: Mindjack

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Nathan Meunier

Mindjack could have been an awesome game. It’s not. Being able to hack into the minds of friends and foes is admittedly pretty cool, and the competetive/co-operative twists this presents in the online campaign make for some intense and enjoyable combat situations. But man, the rest of the game is just so painfully ho-hum. That, or it’s flat out messed up in spots. I had fun with it for awhile. Sadly, that didn’t last very long.

Check out my review over here at GamesRadar.

Review: Dead Nation

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

I know what you’re thinking: “Zombies? BooooorrRRRRIIINNnnng.” Not so! I’ve played tons of zombies games, and believe me, like all of the rest of you, there was a time when I had a hard on for killing those god damn brain eating bastards. That excitement for undead re-deading has waned over time as zombie games have deluged the market, but I have to say I was genuinely thrilled once I booted up Dead Nation and starting killing away. This top-down zombie shooter has some real charm (and giant exploding zombies that spew filthy nasty everywhere). Sure, it seems like it riffs off Left 4 Dead a little too much in the zombie department, but it’s damn fun to cut the head off a dozen zombies in one fell swoop with the hot sexy bladezooka. Or whatever the hell it’s called. That what I call it. Hot and sexy. So yeah, here’s my full review over at GamesRadar if you feel like getting the full skinny.

iPhone Game of the Day: Pizza Boy

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

I’m now regularly contributing to the iPhone coverage over at GamesRadar, so I’ll be posting bits from their iPhone Game of the Day section here and there. This latest installment covers Pizza Boy, a super charming game inspired by the classic Mario titles with a fun pizza-centric twist. Looking for a good platformer that’s tough as nails? Give this one a shot.

Check out my full write-up here at GamesRadar.

iPhone Game of the Day: Epic Win

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

I hate doing chores, but failing to get stuff done spurs the wife to increase her volume levels in a not-so-happy way. So I do them. But this pretty rad little iPhone app takes some of the sting out of the grueling tedium that is washing dishes, taking the dog out to pee every 5 minutes, and taking out the garbage/recycling etc. Epic Win lets you earn XP for tackling crappy tasks, and level-ing up your little adventurer dude quickly becomes an addictive incentive to muscle through some lame daily tasks. I had fun with this app. You should check it out…and my review, which can be found at GamesRadar over here.

iPhone Game of the Day: Game Dev Story

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“As members of the gaming press, we spend a lot of time playing games, writing about them, and firing off critiques of hundreds of titles each year. We’re finely attuned to the ins and outs of the gaming world, but rarely do we get a real taste of our own medicine or feel for what it’s like to be in the shoes of the people who make the games we cover. Game Dev Story changes all that. Being the head of our own virtual development studio in this enthralling game development simulation is just the right mix of silly and stressful. Plus it lets us crank out hot-selling games like “Donkey Puncher RPG” and “Super Hetero Bros.” – good times indeed.”

Check out the full review here at GamesRadar.

Review: Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

As painful as they may be to play at times, I really enjoyed the last two Etrian Odyssey games. They really scratch a certain itch that hearkens back to childhood days spent playing AD&D, rolling 20-sided die, and making custom maps of dungeon exploits using graph paper. The glut of new classes and fresh areas to explore in this third installment are among the big reasons to dive back in again, but I really found the seafaring portions to be a great addition. They change up the pace, and that’s a good thing.

The short-and-sweet version of my review is I highly recommend this dungeon crawling RPG to fans of the genre. Normal folks will want to rip their teeth out after playing through the first few dungeons, but it’s a good trip for those of us who are already well battle hardened.

Hop on over to Games Radar to read my full review here.

Hands-On: Cladun: This is an RPG!

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“We’re not exactly sure how someone can be sexy “in an 8-bit sense,” but we certainly applaud the folks at NIS America for loading up their latest retro gaming throwback with some seriously off-the-wall character dialogue and wacky self-referential humor. Amusingly, Cladun: This is an RPG literally wears its genre on its sleeve while poking fun at it in the process. Blocky 8-bit warriors, jokes about cosplay, heavy duty dungeon grinding and talking cats punctuate this promising and quirky retro RPG.”