Articles filed under Video Games

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  ‘Blood Dragon’ a blast of pure ’80s mayhem May 14, 2013 12:00 AM
  Video games came of age in the 1980s, a decade that was also the heyday of cheesy Hollywood action movies. "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" is an affectionate tribute to a cinematic era in which one guy with a lot of guns could solve all the world's problems. The musclehead here is Rex "Power" Colt, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier who's sent to a remote island to prevent a madman from building an unstoppable army.
  

   
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  ‘Star Trek’ game sets phasers on dumb May 7, 2013 12:00 AM
  “Arena,” a 1967 episode of “Star Trek,” features the original series’ most laughable fight scene, an epic duel between Capt. James T. Kirk and a rubbery lizard-man of the Gorn species. Now Canadian video-game developer Digital Extremes is paying tribute with the new “Star Trek” game, which stretches that showdown into an eight-hour adventure. The game, alas, doesn’t have any of the low-fi charm of “Arena” — it’s just a flat-out mess.
  

   
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  Same old problems in new ‘Dead Island’ game Apr 30, 2013 12:00 AM
  When the heroes of 2011's "Dead Island" made it out alive, you knew there had to be a catch. The catch is that any video game that isn't a complete flop gets a follow-up. And as "Dead Island Riptide" begins, the zombie virus has infected the ship that rescued the survivors — and they soon wash up on another undead-infested tropical paradise, called Palanai. So it's time for the old gang to sharpen their machetes and get back to work.
  

   
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  ‘Defiance’ merges video game with TV drama Apr 15, 2013 12:00 AM
  What if you could play a video game and then watch the consequences of your actions on TV the next week? That's the premise behind "Defiance," a collaboration between the online game studio Trion Worlds and cable TV's Syfy. By the time "Defiance" the TV show debuts at 8 p.m. Monday, "Defiance" the video game will have been out for a few weeks — enough time for players to make their own mark on this new universe.
  

   
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  'BioShock Infinite' embraces history, philosophyApr 13, 2013 12:00 AM
  Irrational Games, founded and led by Ken Levine, has become one of the most admired studios in the world, creating games like the newly released BioShock Infinite that both depict revolutionary events and are thought of as revolutionary for their embrace of history and philosophy where other games settle for hedgehogs and race cars. When viewed as philosophic works, however, Irrational’s games are distinctly anti-revolutionary.
  

   
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  Indie sensibilities embraced at gaming conference Mar 30, 2013 12:00 AM
  It's a time of transition for the video game industry. When it comes to the next generation of consoles, the question on their minds doesn't seem to be "What's next?" but rather "Who cares?"
  

   
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  'Gears' spins weak story, frantic gunplay Mar 26, 2013 12:00 AM
  Blockbuster game franchises like Epic Games' "Gears of War" don't just fade away — even if the primary antagonist, the voracious Locust Horde, was obliterated at the end of the initial trilogy. Not to worry. "Gears of War: Judgment" takes players back in time to the beginning of the war between humans and Locusts. It's a hit-or-miss affair — but those few hits manage to leave some bruises.
  

   
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  Brilliant 'BioShock Infinite' takes flight Mar 26, 2013 12:00 AM
  “BioShock Infinite” sets a new standard for video-game storytelling, delivering a complex tale in often surprising ways. It's a brazen satire of some of the most unpleasant aspects of American history, from both sides of the political spectrum. It's mind-bending science fiction that isn't afraid to challenge its audience. Most of all, it's the story of two very messed-up people trying to survive in a chaotic universe.
  

   
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  ‘BioShock’ sidekick more than a damsel in distress Mar 22, 2013 12:00 AM
  Locked in a tower lingering above a fantastical floating city, past electrical barricades and steel doors, is a curious young brunette woman in a long blue dress that's just a few shades darker than her big, expressive eyes. Her name is Elizabeth, and with an enterprising blend of art and technology, the creators of "BioShock Infinite" have aspirations that she'll be the most human-like character to ever appear in a video game.
  

   
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  Kratos is exhausted in latest ‘God of War’ Mar 20, 2013 12:00 AM
  Kratos is angry. That's all you need to know about the motivation of the durable protagonist of Sony's "God of War" series. He's been rampaging across ancient Greece for five games now. A prequel to 2005's original "God," this new adventure begins with Kratos chained to a rock and tormented by Furies. Once he escapes, he resumes his bloodthirsty campaign against the capricious Greek deities.
  

   
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  ‘Lego City Undercover’ builds fun for Wii UMar 19, 2013 12:00 AM
  "Lego City Undercover" — created exclusively for Nintendo's Wii U — forgoes the intergalactic wonder of big-budget franchises for something simple: a good old-fashioned police romp set in sprawling Lego City, a diverse metropolis where cars are made out of colorful plastic bricks and residents have interchangeable heads. As undercover officer Chase McCain, players can switch between multiple disguises with different abilities to hunt down Lego City lawbreakers.
  

   
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  Sony's rascally raccoon Sly Cooper returns Mar 12, 2013 12:00 AM
  It's been seven years since ring-tailed master thief Sly Cooper has headlined a video game. "Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time" finds him chilling out in Paris, until he discovers that pages are disappearing from his prized family history. The Paris prologue gets "Thieves in Time" off to a sluggish start. But once Sly and his pals — Bentley, the techie turtle, and Murray, the two-fisted hippo — start traveling back through time, the action gets much livelier.
  

   
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  Lara Croft refreshed in new ‘Tomb Raider’ Mar 5, 2013 12:00 AM
  It’s been four years since Lara Croft embarked on a “Tomb Raider” expedition. The unenviable task of rebooting the well-known series seemed impossible, but with a gritty and focused approach, it’s one developer Crystal Dynamics got almost completely right. “Tomb Raider” finds an inexperienced young Croft shipwrecked on a mysterious island in Japan’s brutal Devil’s Triangle. It’s “Batman Begins” for Lara Croft.
  

   
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  Sci-fi clichés mar superior graphics of ‘Crysis 3’Feb 26, 2013 12:00 AM
  "Crysis 3" is a gorgeous game. Its creator, the German studio Crytek, has lived up to its promises that it will set a new benchmark for computer graphics. If only all that beauty was in the service of something more interesting than another alien bloodbath. Actually, "Crysis 3" throws two types of enemies at you: the alien Ceph and the human employees of CELL, a corporation that has built a giant dome over the ruins of New York City.
  

   
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  ‘Colonial Marines’ a joy for ‘Aliens’ fansFeb 19, 2013 12:00 AM
  Every science fiction/horror game of the last 20 years owes a debt to the first two films in the "Alien" franchise, Ridley Scott's moody 1979 original and James Cameron's action-packed 1986 sequel, "Aliens." "Aliens: Colonial Marines" is the follow-up that fans have been craving.
  

   
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  ‘Dead Space 3’ a less scary, solid shooter Feb 12, 2013 12:00 AM
  "Dead Space 3" has blossomed into a more polished third-person sci-fi shooter, but it has lost a bit of its scare factor. It's more tense than frightening, but it's still a darn good game. A more mentally stable Clarke returns for the game's third installment, and he's quickly called into battle to again fight scores of "necromorphs" — reanimated corpses — while investigating the markers, the icons responsible for creation of the monsters.
  

   
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  'Ni no Kuni' a meaty role-playing adventure with charmFeb 5, 2013 12:00 AM
  In "Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch," every frame feels suffused with Tokyo's Studio Ghibli magic, to the point where it overcomes any resistance you might have to its old-fashioned gameplay. The game takes familiar Ghibli themes — parallel worlds, missing parents, humans turned bestial — and turns them into a sweeping role-playing adventure. This is one of the most satisfying games to come out of Japan in years.
  

   
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  Women in combat may lead the charge of new video games Feb 1, 2013 12:00 AM
  While video games aren’t totally devoid of strong female protagonists, the interactive medium has typically only cast ladies in support roles when it comes to such popular military shoot-’em-up franchises as “Call of Duty” and “Battlefield.” Yet could the recent announcement that the Pentagon is ending its long-standing ban on women serving in combat roles in real-world battlegrounds extend to virtual ones, too?
  

   
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  'Devil May Cry' an infernal thrill ride Jan 22, 2013 12:00 AM
  At the beginning of "DmC: Devil May Cry" demons run amok through a seaside amusement park. It's a messaage from "DmC" developer Ninja Theory: We'll show you a funhouse. The U.K.-based studio has been under scrutiny since it was awarded the "Devil May Cry" franchise. No worries. This is a worthy reboot of the entire "Devil" mythology, reintroducing hero Dante as a surly, brown-haired punk.
  

   
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  CDC to study violence in media Jan 16, 2013 12:00 AM
  The White House pressed most forcefully for a reluctant Congress to pass universal background checks and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. No connection was suggested between bloody entertainment fictions and real-life violence. Instead, the White House is calling on research on the effect of media and video games on gun violence.