Xbox 360 Archives - Tech-Gaming

Star Wars Pinball: Rogue One review

Robert Allen — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 03:36:33 +0000

Pinball is a game about tragic inevitability. No matter how good you are at keeping the silver orb in play, inevitably gravity will win, dropping the ball down that stinking sink hole. Similarly, that’s also the challenge faced by Pinball FX2/Zen Pinball 2 developer Zen Studios. Since the game’s release back in 2010, the Budapest-based ...

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Bethesda Pinball review

Robert Allen — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 22:46:32 +0000

Over the past few years, Zen Studios has been converting entertainment properties into pinball form, with works like Star Wars, South Park, and Aliens all getting their own steel-orbed interpretations. But before adapting films and television shows, the Budapest-based developer found a way to rework celebrated game franchises- with Street Fighter II Turbo, Ninja Gaiden ...

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Aliens vs. Pinball review

Robert Allen — Tue, 10 May 2016 17:23:01 +0000

Few cinematic monsters are as fearsome as H. R. Giger’s Alien. Originally conceived for Ridley Scott’s eponymous film, the creature was a nightmarish amalgam of snake and skeleton, outfitted with lethal claws and a dagger-like tail. In the 37 years since the original films’ release, the Xenomorph has emerged from the shadows of the Nostromo ...

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Destiny: The Taken King review

Robert Allen — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 18:40:31 +0000

When Destiny was released last September, it was an exceedingly contentious title, forming divergence in both critics and consumers. For some, Bungie’s ambitious amalgam of first person shooter, role-playing game, and massively multiplier elements gelled together almost impeccably – encouraging rapturous sessions as players stove toward the level cap. Even after that threshold was reached, ...

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Zen Pinball 2: Star Wars Rebels+Age of Ultron review

Robert Allen — Tue, 05 May 2015 02:08:52 +0000

For years, Budapest-based Zen Studios has cultivated a near-faultless formula. Beginning with 2007’s Pinball FX and continuing through Pinball FX 2 and Zen Pinball 2, the developer strove to simulate the steel-orbed pastime, with each successive release increasing the accuracy of ball physics while improving the quality of their visual output. For many, the franchise’s ...

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Dead or Alive 5: Last Round review

Robert Allen — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 02:28:02 +0000

Remarkably, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is best symbolized by the title’s two, quasi-new, playable characters. Originally, a boss from the franchise’s inaugural entry, Raidou, points to Dead or Alive’s adherence to tradition. At its heart, the series has always rewarded players who were cognizant of countering opportunities, with reflexes fast enough to seize ...

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MX vs. ATV Supercross review

Robert Allen — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 05:39:33 +0000

While the desire for innovation is a virtuous ambition, some developers would rather pursue perfection- offering a succession of sequels aimed at the realization of a specific genre. Such is the path plotted by Phoenix-based Rainbow Studios. Save for a few curios like the PSOne-based shooter The Hive or Deadly Creatures for the Wii, the ...

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare review

Robert Allen — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 02:41:22 +0000

While Metal Gear Solid 4 once asserted that “war has changed”, Fallout 3 proclaimed that “war never changes”. The Call of Duty franchise has contently existed somewhere in the middle of those two contradictory tenets. Each annual iteration has typically extended just enough advancement to slow the specter of stagnancy, while fundamentally recycling the same ...

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Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition review

Robert Allen — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 15:05:36 +0000

Traditionally, the launch of a new generation of console has been marked with a succinct transitional period, with companies swiftly shifting their efforts from legacy hardware to shiny, new hardware. But the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One revealed an atypical approach, with a large number of titles continuing to be simultaneously published ...

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Skylanders: Trap Team review

Robert Allen — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 02:55:50 +0000

Many franchises feel the pangs of stagnancy by their fourth iteration. After a trio of titles that define, then gradually refine a series, the fourth game often exhibits a divisive tension between prudent evolution and risky revolution. It’s a stage in which a once-prodigious property can falter, as demonstrated by disappoints like Red Faction Armageddon ...

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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments review

Robert Allen — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 20:18:53 +0000

Robert’s Take: Across Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s four novels and fifty-six short stories, Baker Street’s distinguished detective imparts an essential axiom: details are imperative, but if you don’t take a step back, it’s easy to become lost in the minutia, losing sight of the significance of the entire event. It’s an adage that expressions the ...

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Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes review

Robert Allen — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 03:04:38 +0000

In retrospect, 2013’s Disney Infinity proved to be a surprisingly incongruous product. While the Play Set mode was elevated by the inclusion of cherished characters from the Disney and Pixar catalogs, the actual action was disappointingly derivative, mirroring the mechanics of other family-friendly franchises like the Skylanders or LEGO games. Sure, being able to roam ...

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Persona 4 Arena Ultimax review

Robert Allen — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 23:52:11 +0000

While it’s not unusual for a game franchise to sidestep stagnation by switching genres, 2012’s Persona 4 Arena was a truly curious crossover. With its source material exhibiting the resonant characterization and rich storytelling that’s characteristic of the role-playing game, Persona seemed an unlikely candidate for a pugilistic-minded spin-off. But Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, ...

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Destiny Review

Robert Allen — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 19:24:47 +0000

Bungie design lead Jaime Griesemer once famously remarked that the secret to Halo’s success was rooted in its half-minute combat loop. At its foundation, each encounter flung players into a fastidiously crafted thirty-second fracas, where artificial intelligence rather than rigid scripting formed the stimulus for each firefight. Inversely, Halo also mastered its macro-game, bestowing variance ...

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Sniper Elite 3 Review

Robert Allen — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 17:00:26 +0000

Not long ago, the shooter was one of the most visceral and engaging genres around, consistently delivering frantic firefights that outmatched the best summer blockbusters. But over time, those once-invigorating action sequences began to lose their impact, as thrill ride-type spectacle took priority over delivering deep and gratifying play mechanics, at least in the single-player ...

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Bound by Flame Review

Robert Allen — Mon, 12 May 2014 00:00:55 +0000

Most studios with a twenty-person team wouldn’t dare to tackle the type of expansive role-playing experiences offered by gargantuan developers such as BioWare, Bethesda Softworks, and Blizzard Entertainment. Yet, Paris-based Spiders has never seemed to let their diminutive size restrain their ambitions, delivering sprawling adventures like Faery: Legends of Avalon or Mars: War Logs. The ...

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Child of Light Review

Robert Allen — Sun, 04 May 2014 20:00:05 +0000

When franchises such as Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star, Suikoden, Grandia, and Lunar became embraced by global audiences amidst the 1990s, many believed that these engaging JRPG experiences would influence the output of North American and European studios. Likewise, the work of Western studios would inevitably be studied and scrutinized back in Japan, resulting in a ...

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Star Wars Pinball: Heroes Within Pack Review

Robert Allen — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 00:00:05 +0000

In 2008, Zen Studios released Pinball FX, a prodigious title which strove to adapt the nuances of the cherished pastime into video form. While most critics praised the game’s ball physics and online functionality, many found that the three bundled tables lacked personality. Ensuing years and subsequent sequels demonstrated Zen rectifying that fault, with the ...

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Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Review

Robert Allen — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:00:17 +0000

A decade after its release, Ninja Gaiden remains the quintessential reimagining. Transforming the eight-bit platformer into a hyperkinetic hurricane of violence, weapon-based combat, and nimble ninjutsu, director Tomonobu Itagaki established many of the tenets of the three-dimensional action/combat genre. The game also extended an amazing value proposition, providing players with an engaging campaign as well ...

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Constant C Review

Robert Allen — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:00:51 +0000

Puzzlers typically follow a predictable trajectory, steadily increasing in difficulty level as players tackle each successive conundrum. Distinction stems from just how strenuous the game becomes. The recent Steam release of International Games Systems’ Constant C starts off innocuously enough- as players take control of a small service droid tasked with collecting power cores in ...

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