Reviews Spotlight: Shattered Memories, Defense of the Ancients, and Just Cause 2

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

This week's Reviews Spotlight applauds and insults video-game developers and the experiences they bring us. From mindless action to mindless life simulators, we stand back and celebrate everything!

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories -- You Are Always On My Mind....
By Patrick Bonk
Although its title is reminiscent of '80s-era romantic comedies, Patrick's review leaves little room for either romance or comedy -- he's all business. If anything, this review drives home the opinion that Shattered Memories is a game of overwhelming quality. In essence, Patrick believes Silent Hill truly needed the new, streamlined direction that this sequel provides. Just remember to bring a flashlight the next time you visit this eerie resort town.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories -- Hell Has Frozen
By David Welsh
In a testament to its bone-chilling quality, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories recently enticed Bitmob community member David Welsh to join in the celebration of the game. It seems that developer Climax outdid itself, because this reimagining of the franchise's freshman entry even kept David's wife interested! But something lies beyond the impressive visuals and unearthly sound effects -- something that ultimately ensures the quality of Shattered Memories. Unfortunately, you'll have to read this review to find out!

My Life Story
By Richard Moss
Richard describes this casual title as a "time-management life-sim." But don't be fooled by the clinical
name of the genre, because you won't be collating any TPS reports. Instead, My Life Story will charge you with the control of several fictional characters' lives. You'll steer them past emotional pitfalls, on to workplace success, and -- if you're lucky -- toward romantic intrigue. Does this life simulator deserve your attention? Check out Richard's review for the verdict.

Just Cause 2 Review -- "You Are the Scorpio, No?"
By Nathan Andrews
On the surface, Just Cause 2 seems to be a thrilling action game. Fortunately, Nathan is here to edify us, explaining that Avalanche Studios' sandbox game is a mindless timesink. But he considers it a compliment! Upon reading the review, his meaning will become clear -- Just Cause 2 provides players with an enormous playground, but it lacks direction. But who needs direction when the laws of physics, motion, and reason no longer apply? If a fun, shallow experience sounds compelling to you, Nathan's review is just a click away!

For What it's Worth: Luna: Dragon Song
By Ryan Conway
Behold! Ryan found a game worse than ATHF: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am. In a rage fueled by the $10 he wasted, Bitmob's own Angry Video Game Nerd ruthlessly rips Lunar: Dragon Song apart. Needless to say, laughing at the broken animation and glitchy movement mechanics is a riot. The true joy of Ryan's review, however, lies in his ability to thoroughly expose the game's failure to provide even 15 minutes of fun. If you're a masochist or simply hate yourself, be sure to read Ryan's review.

DOTA Evolved: League of Legends Review
By Ryan Finley
From Demigod to Heroes of Newerth, several games have attempted to usurp the throne which DOTA (Defense of the Ancients), a widely popular Warcraft 3 mod, occupies. League of Legends is simply the latest in a long line of would-be successors. Does it have what it takes to be king? Ryan certainly believes so. LOL (as the community calls it) offers more depth, action, and gore than any other free-to-play title. Beware, though -- you'll find no extraordinary men in this league.

Tags: Just Cause 2, DOTA, Demigod, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, League of Legends, My Life Story, Heroes of Newerth, Defense of the Ancients

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Frank Anderson

April 25, 2010

I love that Silent Hill: Shattered Memories got TWO reviews in this Spotlight! I really enjoyed that game. Sure, it has some flaws and needs improvements on the sequel, but I really think it is one of the better uses of the Wii.

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Ryan Conway

Thanks Omar. But I don't think I'll ever be half as good as James Rolfe. LOL.

Ryan Finley

Thanks for the link love, Omar. This review of League of Legends proved more difficult than my previous efforts, as I felt the need to explain a bit more about the mechanics than I would normally like. Since this DOTA-inspired genre is fairly new, however, I felt I needed to be more detailed than usual.

Omar Yusuf

April 26, 2010

No worries Ryan. I have enough link-love for everyone! Great article, by the way.

@Omar Thanks :)

Lucas Goudie

April 27, 2010

I fucking hate LOL. The gameplay is fine, but the fact that you need to unlock the characters (in lieu of the stat upgrades) is inane. It puts people who pay at a huge advantage, they'll always have access to a better selection of characters and stat upgrades.

Also: while you'll need to pay for HON, it costs less to buy the game than it would to buy all the heroes in LOL.

At the same time, Lucas, you can play LoL without paying a dime. Buying heroes doesn't give you any real advantage on a game to game basis, as champions are chosen via blind select; you don't get the chance to pick a "counter" to a hero you see on the other team. There are also always the rotating free champs, as well as a good number of VERY inexpensive champs (in terms of IP, the FREE points you gain for playing) that can do fine. As a matter of fact, though I have spent about 30 bucks, the champ I main could be unlocked after less than 10 matches - even if every one of those matches was a loss!

Also, I don't know what you're talking about as far as "stat upgrades." If you're talking about the runes, they CANNOT BE BOUGHT WITH CASH. The only way to access runes in the game is through IP.

Richard Moss

Woo! A Spotlight for my article about the most surprisingly okay game I've ever played -- seriously, I expected My Life Story to be terrible.

April 28, 2010

@Ryan

The fact that some champs are more expensive is inane (thanks for reminding me of that). And it really does give them an advantage, because they can get all their champions with the money it leaves them to get runes with their remaining gamebux or with ingame money.

Money in LoL only buys two things: Variety (as far as the ability to "buy" access to all the champs if you like) and vanity (special skins). I actually talked about this in my review, just because you COULD fork over the cash to unlock every champion, I don't see the point. To do well at LoL, it's best to be REALLY GOOD with a few champions, not just passable with any old champion you choose. Yes, you can unlock champs quicker with cash, but you can in fact unlock all the champs you could need without spending a dime.