Bitmob Reviews Spotlight: Sims 3, Dyson, Infamous

We haven’t put many reviews on the front page, and that’s a shame, because you guys are writing some really good ones (and some good but eviscerating ones). We’re working on a better way to collect and highlight reviews, but that’s going to take some time to build — for now, we’re rounding up a few of our favorite reviews in this spin-off of our usual Bitmob Spotlight column.

Keep reading for verdicts on Infamous, Rocket Riot, Tap Tap Revenge 2, and more, including retro reviews of Super Mario All-Stars and Metroid: Zero Mission!

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Dyson
By Jonathan Schoen
“Dyson is probably the most relaxing RTS I have ever played. The ambient music (which was turned off by default, turn it on in options right away! Props to Brian Grainger for the quality sound) and cool, calming aesthetics provide a unique experience. Bases are really flowers that produce seedlings that can be sent to fight and build (or grow) more flowers (bases). It’s fun, engaging and addicting once you start to move seedlings from node to node.”

Sims 3
By Jon Porter
“The Sims 3 removes most of what made the previous games boring to the non-fan, and adds enough new stuff to make it worthwhile abandoning those old expansion packs. Of course if you always hated the entire idea of the Sims then your choice here should be a no-brainer, it is after all, still The Sims.”

Infamous
By AJ Hurst
“An almost comical amount of ‘gamey-ness’ in Infamous contrasts with its real-world appearance. Cole doesn’t carry guns, but he gradually learns new ways of launching electrical projectiles that might as well be standard shooter firearms like grenades and sniper rifles. The game can call it a ‘Megawatt Hammer’ all it wants, but it’s totally just a rocket launcher. Only the rockets are made out of friggin’ lightning.”

Infamous
By Nicholas Michetti
“Perhaps most importantly, Cole isn’t ‘consumed’ by morality, nor is he a jerk or trying too hard to be liked. He’s just himself and he’s faced with plenty of dilemmas. Cole brings an anti-hero edge to everything he does, even when on the ‘good’ path. He can find some kind of rationalization for thinking of evil behavior, which even further fleshes out his everyman quality and emphasizes that he’s constantly at a crossroads.”

Tap Tap Revenge 2
By Matthew Erazo
“The game’s presentation is spot on and a joy to look at. As you build your streak, the background will intensify and become more psychedelic. Activate Revenge mode, and the game becomes the end scene to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a total acid trip. It works and makes you feel like you’re really doing well, or poorly if your screen still looks bland to the eye.”

Plants vs. Zombies
By Adam Coronado
“An addition to the tower defense genre, PvZ has the player tending his or her lawn to fend off hordes of (unscary) zombies…you plant an amalgam of offensive and defensive plants: Pea Shooters, Cherry Bombs, Potato Mines; the names tell you the cuteness quotient is near hamsters-dancing-to-bad-techno. But each plant is unique and there are over 40 to earned and use against the game’s 26 zombies, who come at you with pole vaults, zambonis, and Michael Jackson’s dance moves.”

Killing Floor
By Allistair Everett
“Killing Floor is so familiar in concept that comparisons to other titles are inevitable. This is Horde Mode expanded to include six players, except with Counter-Strike weapon purchases in between waves of enemies, and Call of Duty 4 perks that you unlock as you level your player up over many lengthy games. Killing Floor doesn’t have the same co-op features of Left 4 Dead (like reviving a teammate), but it does share the same variety of enemies…I’d say Left 4 Dead will hold more memorable moments but Killing Floor is a much more satisfying minute-to-minute experience.”

Zeno Clash
By Allistair Everett
“Zeno Clash is one of the best-looking games I’ve ever played, and not for the usual reasons. You won’t see any advanced lighting effects, but what Ace Team has delivered is a world that is so abstract and surreal that it often feels like you are living in a painting. Every little detail in the character models and locations is inspired and untraditionally thought provoking. The game conveys as much emotion and information in its visual design as it does in its story — this is the first time I think I could ever say that about a game.”

Rocket Riot
By Jasmine Maleficent Rea
“Rocket Riot is an adorably pixilated shooter by Dutch company Codeglue…what makes this game astounding is the kitschy level appeal and the fully destructible environments. Everything can be blown into blocky particles, creating a Geometry Wars-like spray of color and destruction across the screen.”

Ninja Blade
By Eric Majkut
“You might recall the loads of bad movies based on mediocre videogames, or vice versa, as well as the atrocious full-motion videogames of the early CD-ROM era, all examples of taking the idea a bit too far. Ninja Blade is the newest game I’ve found to be suffering from this same problem, and I can’t help but think that the people who worked on it must have wanted a career in making movies, not games.”

Retro Reviews