Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Adam Woolcott
Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad Review: Creating Dust Storm Warnings
Jeremy McGrath is no stranger to video games, having starred in a series of motocross titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Over a decade later, his name has resurfaced with Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad. However, rather than taking place on two wheels, this game places you in rally cars, trophy trucks, and buggies – it’s more akin to Dirt than anything bearing McGrath’s name in the past. Developed by Rainbow Studios spinoff 2XL Games, this $10 downloadable title delivers a racing experience you don’t see much of these days – straight up off-road racing. (more…)
Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged Jeremy McGrath's Offroad
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends Review: Encyclopedia Ferrarica
The last time we saw Atari’s Test Drive franchise, it was racing through the streets of Ibiza in Test Drive Unlimited 2. Since then, TDU developer Eden Games has run into some troubles, and the franchise as a whole seemed to be on the ropes. However, 2012 has brought us a very different use of the brand, with Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends. Developed by Slightly Mad Studios – the brains behind the short-lived Need For Speed: Shift franchise – this installment drops the open-world motif for a more traditional and narrowly focused racing experience, showcasing the lengthy history of one of the most exotic automobile manufacturers in the world. (more…)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard Review: Skyrim, Bloody Skyrim
It’s been roughly seven months since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim hit store shelves, and chances are most players of the game have not seen everything there is to offer in it. However, that’s not stopping Bethesda from plopping the very first “expansion” into our laps… and no, it’s not horse armor related this time. Dubbed Dawnguard, this content adds a new wrinkle to the overall plight of Skyrim and puts even more of an emphasis on one of the more popular aspects of the franchise: the supernatural. (more…)
Posted in PC, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
5 For $5: Adventures In Xbox Live Indie Games
It’s easy to understand why some people would completely ignore the Xbox Live Indie Games channel in the Xbox Live Marketplace. After all, the once-promising service has been completely overrun by tons of silly zombie/vampire/ninja games, puzzling avatar-based titles, awkward Angry Birds clones, games clearly made for extremely horny teenagers, and pretty much the entire Silver Dollar Games catalog. However, there are some very solid needles in that haystack, and some of them are as little as one dollar! That’s why we’re here, in fact – if you were to, say, purchase 400 Microsoft Points for $5, you could get five Indie Games for that five dollar transaction. You’d be supporting small, independent developers, and finding some fun takes on popular genres without going broke. Everyone likes getting good stuff for cheap, right? (more…)
Daytona USA Review: ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLING START!
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sega dominated the arcade racing scene. Games like Outrun, Sega Rally Championship, Virtua Racing, and Hang On are testaments to this. For many die-hard Sega fanatics, though, the game that always stood out was Daytona USA. Releasing in arcades in 1993, and later being a launch title for the infamous Sega Saturn, Daytona USA has built up an incredible following over the years. Such a following, in fact, that it’s almost always high up on any list of classic Sega games that needed a modern release. After years of said begging, Sega has obliged, and Daytona USA is now available for a whole new generation of gamers. As a history lesson, it’s a great demonstration of the “good old days” of racing, but you know… it’s still a pretty solid game eighteen years after it initially hit arcades, even if its audience likely will consist of gamers who were teenagers when it first appeared. (more…)
Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged Daytona USA
Need For Speed: The Run Hands-On Preview: Cannonballing Through the Snow
The last time EA Black Box handled a Need For Speed game, it was the poorly received Need For Speed: Undercover. The product was such a bust that Electronic Arts gave the long-time series developer a lengthy break, placing the future of the franchise in the hands of folks like Criterion, the makers of the Burnout games, and newcomers Slightly Mad Studios. In the time since Undercover, titles like Need For Speed: Shift and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit have restored the legacy of the once-popular brand. However, while all this was going on, Black Box has been hard at work on this year’s Need For Speed game, dubbed Need For Speed: The Run. Due about a month from now, The Run is a departure from past games in the series, but at the same time, it matches the kind of “storyline-based” racing experience that the developer has been playing at since the days of Need For Speed: Underground. (more…)
Driver: San Francisco Review: Playing Mind Games
It would be very easy to dismiss Driver: San Francisco as yet another failed attempt to revive a franchise that really hasn’t meant much to gaming since the days of the original PlayStation. Some might even say that making a new Driver game is a complete waste of time and resources, considering how tarnished the brand is. However, doing so might actually be a disservice to anyone who’s a fan of unique, open world driving games. If anything, Driver: SF does something that very few games do in the year 2011… it actually wants to be a video game. (more…)
Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition Review: Fighting Like It’s 1999
If you are a casual fan of fighting games, it would be understandable if you saw the jump from Street Fighter II to Street Fighter IV as a little confusing. After all, while Street Fighter II is considered one of gaming’s most important jewels, Street Fighter III seemed to be something of a ghost. Releasing after the peak of fighting game mania, SFIII only saw a console release on Sega’s ill-fated Dreamcast, severely limiting the audience compared to, say, the PlayStation or the PlayStation 2. However, thanks to Xbox Live Arcade, Street Fighter III is getting a chance to appeal to a brand new audience. Dubbed Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition, this release is designed to finally bridge the SFII and SFIV gap for the people who barely knew the third game existed. (more…)
Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged Street Fighter III: Third Strike