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Gary Hodges

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Gaming's Greatest Hits

A look back at the best of 2007

By Gary Hodges
Dec 27, 2007

Best Sleeper Hit: WordJong (Nintendo DS) — It may not sell like Mario, but this mishmash of Scrabble and mah-jongg hooks you like handheld crack. Already a word-of-mouth hit, despite being released only this month, WordJong is perfect for quiet afternoons, loud commutes, or romantic walks on the beach. Best...
Xmas Present & Past

How yesterday's games spawned today's best-sellers.

By Gary Hodges
Dec 20, 2007

Nothing says "holiday spirit" quite like stabbing a terrorist or hammering a goombah, as the hottest games this season invite us to do. But no matter how cutting-edge the stars of 2007 may be, they are also unmistakably familiar. This week, we stack the holiday hits of today against the...
Future Shock

Mass Effect is riveting — and a bit aggravating too.

By Gary Hodges
Dec 6, 2007

For a game that's considered Microsoft's premier 360 title this holiday season, it's amazing how sloppy Mass Effect is. Graphical glitches distract from otherwise fascinating character designs and alien vistas, constant stops and stutters lengthen load times, and the inventory system must be the worst in history. And just as...
The New Face of Evil

Call of Duty 4 might hit a little too close to home

By Gary Hodges
Nov 22, 2007

The unsettling tone is established early in Call of Duty 4, when the president of a Middle Eastern nation is publicly executed on the world stage, and you, the player, experience the deposed leader's final minutes through his own eyes, witnessing — through the rear window of a car —...
A Little Sucky-Sucky

Two vampire classics are back. Unfortunately, this time they bite.

By Gary Hodges
Nov 8, 2007

Castlevania, the vampire-hunting series that stretches over 20 years and as many games, has basically two kinds of fans. There are the traditionalists, who've followed the games since they were straight-up action titles with thumb-busting combat and infamously steep difficulty curves. Most agree that the best of the old-school Castlevanias...
Bang Bang for Your Buck

It's five great games for $60 — shoot first and ask questions later.

By Gary Hodges
Oct 25, 2007

Whether it's $600 PlayStation 3s or the five bucks Nintendo shamelessly charges for 20-year-old NES games on the Wii's Virtual Console, gamers have gotten used to assuming the position when it comes to the costs of their hobby. So if you've just heard about The Orange Box — five of...
Hype Machine

Does Halo 3 live up to its billing?

By Gary Hodges
Oct 11, 2007

What's left to say about Halo 3? How about this: All the pomp and circumstance surrounding its launch sure have been distracting. Commercials that look like clips from a Hollywood movie, extravagant collectors' sets that sell for $130, limited-edition Xbox 360s with a green-and-gold Halo-inspired color scheme, and a midnight...
Down in Flames

Lair's fire-breathing dragon is just a big turkey

By Gary Hodges
Sep 27, 2007

In terms of the yawning chasm between what was promised and what has been delivered, Lair earns the distinction of being the biggest letdown ever for PlayStation 3. Worse, it's also one of those games where massive prerelease hype merely ended up underscoring its flaws, transmogrifying a game that would've...
Atlas Drowned

A sunken utopia sets the stage for a fascinating shooter

By Gary Hodges
Sep 13, 2007

Typically, first-person shooters are a lot like virtual shooting galleries: Great fun, yes, but not exactly thought-provoking.So it's nice when an FPS comes along that's trying to be something more — and even better when it actually succeeds. Sometimes you know it in the first few minutes. Take Half-Life: Unlike...
Fill in the Blank

Picross DS proves there's life after Sudoku

By Gary Hodges
Aug 16, 2007

Ask a random person five years ago what Sudoku was, and you'd be lucky if they mumbled something about Japanese ritual suicide. But go down any supermarket's magazine aisle today, and you'll find whole racks stuffed with cheapie newsprint books full of the addictive puzzles. People can't get enough. They...
Elf Life

Shadowrun is fresh and exciting--and on its way to being obsolete

By Gary Hodges
Jun 21, 2007

Once upon a time, the world breathed magic. Some believed this magic should belong only to the powerful, while others felt it was for everyone. So all the world's beings went to war. The first battle took place in Brazil, where a lone elf with a sniper rifle notched an...
Car Lust

Take a ride with Forza 2, the greatest car sim ever

By Gary Hodges
Jun 14, 2007

I was driving home from work the other day when it occurred to me that, despite being college-educated and reasonably intelligent, I have no idea how my car works. I know the gas goes in, because I do that part. But after that it gets fuzzy. When the mechanic's telling...
Three's a Charm

A promising glimpse of the next Halo

By Gary Hodges
Jun 7, 2007

Bold proclamation time: There wouldn't even be an Xbox 360 without Halo. Microsoft lost billions on the original Xbox even with its mega-successful sci-fi games, so it's hard to imagine the red ink that would have spilled without them; even suggesting a second go at the console business would've had...
Superzero

Spider-Man 3 spins a web of mediocrity

By Gary Hodges
May 24, 2007

There's a unique challenge in designing superhero games: How do you make it fun to play a character who, by definition, is vastly more powerful than his opposition? Hulk encounters a purse-snatcher: Hulk smash! Hulk win! Hulk bored. With battles that one-sided, the thrill of being superheroic quickly wanes --...
Lousy Hustler

Paul Newman and Larry Flynt would be ashamed of Pocket Pool

By Gary Hodges
May 10, 2007

There was a time in my life when I might have actually enjoyed Pocket Pool a little bit. Back when I was 12, giving myself migraines from staring at scrambled cable porn, the notion of a game where I could "win" pictures of girls in their underwear would've seemed pretty...
This Is Madness

PSP players, tonight you game in hell

By Gary Hodges
Apr 26, 2007

A game based on 300 has no excuse not to kick ass. Just picture yourself leading 300 Greeks (that's 1,800 abs) against the Persian empire's massive armies, led by the evil, pierced, and preening King Xerxes. Since your Spartans are the deadliest soldiers in the world, the Persians' only chance...
Olympian Gold

God of War II enters the pantheon of classic games.

By Gary Hodges
Apr 12, 2007

The residents of Mount Olympus haven't gotten a good night's sleep since Kratos moved in. Not only is the new god of war a grumpy, self-professed god-hater, he got the throne by killing Ares, something that naturally makes the other gods a little . . . jumpy. It's not long...
My Name Is Mud

Like its muck-puddles, MotorStorm is a shallow mess

By Gary Hodges
Mar 29, 2007

In the poem "In Just-," e.e. cummings described the world as "mud-luscious" and "puddle-wonderful" -- words so perfectly befitting MotorStorm's gorgeously sloppy off-road hijinks, the game's designers probably had them tacked up on a wall somewhere. And had Cummings paid $60 for MotorStorm, the verbally inventive (and upper-case averse) poet...
Concrete Jungle Gym

In Crackdown, the city is your playground

By Gary Hodges
Mar 15, 2007

Whether it's slaying dragons in Zelda, zapping aliens in Halo, or inserting foot A into ass B in Virtua Fighter, the best games are the ones that offer some level of wish fulfillment. Grand Theft Auto added "Help yourself to a car" and "Drive it on the sidewalk" to the...
Virtually Perfect

Virtua Fighter 5 delivers . . . exactly what you'd expect.

By Gary Hodges
Mar 1, 2007

For the aging videogamer, nothing's as sorely missed as the corner arcade. Unlike the family-friendly Dance Dance Revolution discos you see today, classic arcades were seedy little dives tucked into strip malls -- dark caves thick with the musty bouquet of cheap carpet and adolescent stench. They were also thick...
Do Not Disturb

Hotel Dusk is a great game for people who haven't heard of "books"

By Gary Hodges
Feb 15, 2007

Lately, the Nintendo DS has become a virtual Monster.com. You can play a defense attorney (Phoenix Wright), surgeon (Trauma Center), and even a cook (Cooking Mama). Now, thanks to Hotel Dusk: Room 215, you can add private eye to that list. But don't expect the sexy detective work of Chinatown...