Most Recent: Top Story

Warpback: What We Played in November 2011

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Warp Zoned Staff

Ah, November. We hardly knew ye! You were here and gone so quickly, leaving us with a whirlwind of Black Friday sales as you went. You came in like an adventurer with Drake and Sully, then went out like a sword-swinging Link, and in the middle was Skyrim, Skyrim, Skyrim. With so many great games to choose from, what was the Warp Zoned staff playing? Read on to find out! (more…)

Posted in Features, Top Story |

Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun Review: Desert Desserts

Posted on November 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

Dungeon Siege III was released this Summer and, while it didn’t set the world on fire, it was an enjoyable action RPG in the vein of Secret of Mana. But in this post-Skyrim world, it might be hard to find anyone willing to give Dungeon Siege III a chance, even though publisher Square Enix and developer Obsidian have pushed out the first downloadable expansion for the game: Treasures of the Sun. (more…)

Posted in PC, PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Xenoblade Chronicles Review: A Love Letter to the RPG That Changed My Life

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Andrew Rainnie

It was over. I knew as soon as I heard the bones snap. Halfway through an 11-month round the world trip, after witnessing Angkor Wat in Cambodia, scaling the Great Wall of China, bungie jumping and glacier hiking in New Zealand, I managed to break my tibia and fibula in Peru, one day into a four day trek along the Inca trail to the famous Machu Picchu. A five-hour bumpy taxi ride back to civilization. Five days awaiting surgery in a Cusco hospital bed. Then another two weeks lying there, in a country whose language I did not speak, before a 36-hour flight back home to Great Britain.

It is safe to say I needed to escape the depressing circumstance I found myself in. I needed to immerse myself in a world brimming with imagination.

It turns out I needed Xenoblade Chronicles. (more…)

Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii | Tagged

White Knight Chronicles II Review: The True Power Rangers RPG

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

It’s nearly 2012. Is there still any room in today’s modern gaming world – one filled with mobile games, plastic peripherals, and motion controllers – for a breathtaking and story-driven RPG? The answer has largely been a resounding “no,” but that doesn’t mean it’s too late for Level-5 to bring some of their fabled RPG magic to the table – does it? White Knight Chronicles II is a sequel to last year’s White Knight Chronicles – a series that attempts to take well-liked traits of RPGs and blend them into one big drink concoction. The end result is similar to mixing various flavors of icey slush drinks at the local gas station. You think, “This is gonna be the best drink ever!” It’s full of flavor and taste, but generally leaves a bad aftertaste and questionable stomach irritation by the time you’re through. (more…)

Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story | Tagged

Professor Layton and the Last Specter Review: The Mysteries of a True English Gentleman

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Even though it has only been a year since the last engrossing title featuring the world’s favorite mystery-solving English professor, Level-5 and Nintendo are continuing to keep loyal Layton fans fed with a new Professor Layton adventure. This recent release – Professor Layton and the Last Specter – is the fourth entry in the series of five currently-planned Layton games, boasting the same intrigue and complexity of all its predecessors. (more…)

Posted in DS, Reviews, Top Story | Tagged

5 For $5: Adventures In Xbox Live Indie Games

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Adam Woolcott

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…)

Posted in Features, Top Story, Xbox 360 |

The Madden Curse Strikes Back: A Midseason Report on All 32 Cover Finalists

Posted on November 11, 2011 by John Scalzo

The 2011 NFL season is only at the halfway point and the Madden Cover Curse has already claimed another victim. Fans selected Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis as the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete, and while some joked about the curse at the time, few gave it much thought as the lockout consumed all NFL news. But here we are: the lockout is over and it’s safe to say that few players have been victimized by the curse like Hillis has.

The running back has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury and he has already been ruled out for this weekend’s upcoming game against the St. Louis Rams. Hillis also missed the Browns’ week three game against the Dolphins with a serious strep throat infection. Some reports say he lost as much as ten pounds in a single week.

As if these injuries weren’t bad enough, Hillis has only had one breakout game the entire season. In week two, against the Colts, Hillis ran for 94 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 27-19 Browns win. He even managed to catch four passes as well. It’s a disturbing return to form for the Madden Cover Curse, which spared Vince Young, Brett Favre, Larry Fitzgerald, and Drew Brees in recent years. Troy Polamalu (who shared the cover of Madden NFL 10 with Fitzgerald) was the last victim of the curse, missing 11 games in 2009.

But what about the other 32 players that Hillis defeated in EA’s single-elimination tournament to select the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete? Have they been cursed by association? All told, seven players besides Hillis have succumbed to the Madden Cover Curse, even though they were never on the cover! Two more are currently nursing injuries and may join their ranks.

I’m not sure if I believe in curses and superstitions. But the Madden Cover Curse has affected nine of the 13 cover athletes chosen since John Madden gave up his spot on the box, and while a regression to the mean is to be expected for the top players of the previous season, the curse seems to go beyond that. I’m sure some statistics grad student could create an interesting paper out of the percentage of NFL players that suffer a statline reduction from season to season. But until then, this study is the best we have. (more…)

Posted in Features, PS2, PS3, PSP, Top Story, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Spider-Man: Edge of Time Review: If I Could Turn Back Time I’d Play Shattered Dimensions

Posted on November 8, 2011 by John Scalzo

The recent Spider-Man games have had their own J. Jonah Jameson in Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Just as Jameson tries to turn New York City against the friendly neighborhood hero by painting him as a menace, Kotick has poisoned players against the wallcrawler’s recent video game adventures by saying “they sucked.” Last year, Beenox reinvigorated the franchise with the universe-hopping Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. The title was well-received by players, critics, and Kotick himself, so the developer has returned to the comic book crossover event with this year’s Spider-Man: Edge of Time. (more…)

Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged