HollywoodChicago.com Video Games

Video Game Review: Truly Remarkable Action of ‘Battlefield: Bad Company 2’

CHICAGO – If you notice that your multiplayer maps in “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” have been a little emptier lately it’s because everyone has picked up their weaponry and marched over to “Battlefield: Bad Company 2,” one of the best shooters ever released and a title that nearly everyone who has ever enjoyed an FPS will be playing through 2010 and beyond.

Video Game Review: ‘MLB 2K10’ Improves Franchise But Team Still Needs Work

MLB 2K10

CHICAGO – Last year’s baseball game courtesy of 2K Sports, “MLB 2K9,” was so glitch-heavy and poorly constructed that I assumed all of the wrinkles would be ironed out in the newest edition, “MLB 2K10”. To the credit of 2K Games and Visual Concepts, a lot of the problems have been streamlined but the game is still unacceptably glitch-heavy, resulting in an experience that is only intermittently rewarding. It’s kind of like being a Cubs fan.

Video Game Review: Revolutionary ‘Heavy Rain’ Mesmerizes

CHICAGO – When’s the last time you finished a game and didn’t merely feel like you had successfully gone through the animated motions as needed but had actually contributed to a story that felt uniquely your own? In other words, when was the last time you were emotionally invested and intellectually satisfied instead of just entertained?

Video Game Review: Dive Into Wildly Entertaining ‘Bioshock 2’

CHICAGO – It’s time to dive back into the world of Rapture, the setting of one of the most anticipated releases of 2010, “Bioshock 2,” the sequel to 2007’s game of the year. Wildly entertaining without being particularly groundbreaking, “Bioshock 2” could be considered a slight disappointment when compared to the first game, but then again so could most titles.

Video Game Review: ‘Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment’

Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment

CHICAGO – The critical phrase that kept surfacing during my playing time of the mini-RPG “Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment” was “good for a downloadable game”. The game is flawed but its low purchase price might make it worth a look for fans of old-fashioned role-playing games but most modern gamers will be disappointed.

Video Game Review: ‘Dark Void’ Free Falls as First Disappointment of 2010

CHICAGO – There really is a void in the center of the first disappointment of 2010, a game that sucks in too much of its incredible potential into classic traps of the gaming world like thin storytelling, mediocre graphics, and, most damagingly, sketchy controls. “Dark Void” isn’t horrible but that’s faint praise indeed when one considers the expectations for this title and the cleverness of its concept.

Video Game Review: ‘Army of Two: The 40th Day’ Addictive Guilty Pleasure

CHICAGO – Every good gamer has their guilty pleasures. They’re the titles that we know are flawed but that we still enjoy playing from opening cinematic through closing credits.

Video Game Review: ‘James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game’ Looks Amazing, Plays Average

Avatar: The Game

CHICAGO – A movie as gigantic as James Cameron’s “Avatar” is bound to have a video game tie-in to go with it and one would assume that such a detailed and complex fantasy world as that created in the film threatening to be the highest grossing of all time would make for a wonderful virtual playground. One would be mostly correct in that “James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game” is one of the most beautiful in recent months. The gameplay is another story.

Video Game Review: Atmospheric, Effective ‘Silent Hill: Shattered Memories’

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

CHICAGO – I used to approach a new “Silent Hill” game with heightened anticipation but the franchise has been so lifeless for the last few years that I somewhat dreaded entering its world again in the alleged reimagining of “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories,” now available for the Nintendo Wii. Much to my surprise, Konami’s latest is an effective, atmospheric title with only a few flaws.

Video Game Review: Mediocre ‘Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!’

Scene It?

CHICAGO – Being a film critic makes it hard to find people willing to play “Scene It?” with you. Consequently, I haven’t become familiar with the video game versions of the popular DVD/board game and hadn’t played any incarnation of the franchise in years. The Nintendo Wii version of the latest release doesn’t make me long for missed years of “Scene It?” gaming but should provide a pleasant diversion for movie nuts.

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TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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