Given that it’s just an add-on to Disney Infinity 3.0, you might expect the arcadey racing game Toy Box Speedway (all systems) to be somewhat shallow. But it not only has more depth and options than you might expect, but thanks to its tight controls and twisty tracks, it’s a really fun Sunday drive.
For the last couple years, the Transformers games have mostly been third-person shooters. But by switching the combat to a hack & slash motif, Transformers Devastation (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC) feels like a welcome change. It’s just too bad it sometimes feels like a redundant one as well.
Much like the Marvel Comics and Pixar films that inspired its earlier incarnations, the Disney Infinity games have always tried to appeal to adults as well as children, though with decidedly less success. In fact, it wasn’t until the Disney Infinity 3.0 Twilight Of The Republic playset, which was essentially a Clone Wars game, that it managed to pull it off. But while you might expect the same from the Disney Infinity 3.0 Rise Against The Empire playset, which is set during the time of the original Star Wars trilogy that adults love so much, it actually falls a bit short for lots of little reasons.
With the release of Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), mastermind Hideo Kojima says goodbye to a series he’s steered since 1987’s Metal Gear. But while he’s going out on a high note — as you can see from my review of the game — I couldn’t help but think his departure might actually be a good thing. Here’s why.
With a wide open world full of story-driven missions, random encounters, and even plants to collect, the third-person stealth-action game Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC) plays like a sneaky version of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt if you swapped magic for machine guns. But while that might sound like a big departure to fans on this long-running series, what this really does is adapt the classic Metal Gear Solid formula to a engaging new setting, one that helps make this one of the most compelling games of the year.
With the exception of the original Gojira, the Roland Emmerich’s 1998 in-name-only American edition, and 2014’s excellent comeback, most Godzilla movies have been rather low-budget. So it makes sense that this eponymous game — which was just released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 — would be low-budget-looking, too. It’s just too bad the gameplay is rather low-rent as well.
Just as they did a few months ago with Avengers: Age Of Ultron, the good people at Zen Studios are celebrating the new Ant-Man movie with a pinball table for Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Vita), Pinball FX 2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), Zen Pinball (iOS), Zen Pinball HD (Android, Amazon), and Marvel Pinball (iOS, Android, Amazon). But while the table has some elements fans of the comic might expect, it also has some unexpected elements that make it an addictive table.
When Star Wars Rebels started airing on Disney XD last October, there were two things that were rather obvious: One, that this wasn’t any more of a kids show than its predecessor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, had been; and two, that Zen Studios would be making a Star Wars Rebels pinball table for Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Vita, Mac, WiiU), Pinball FX 2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), Zen Pinball (iOS), and Zen Pinball HD (Android, Amazon). And wouldn’t you know it…
Some things are just inevitable. It’s inevitable that I will die with a stack of unread books near me, it is inevitable that Rush will stop making new music at some point, and it is inevitable that humanity’s reign on Earth will come to an end at the hands on intelligent apes, zombies, or intelligent zombie apes, and that none of them will read or listen to Rush. But not all inevitabilities are so dire. Take this one: With Marvel releasing the movie Avengers Age Of Ultron on May 1st, it was inevitable that Zen Studios would make a Avengers Age Of Ultron table for Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Vita, Mac), Pinball FX 2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), Zen Pinball (iOS), Zen Pinball HD (Android, Amazon), and, at some point soon, Zen Pinball 2 on the WiiU.