Video Game Review

CHICAGO – I love at least two-thirds of the central characters in the anticipated Sony adventure “PlayStation Move Heroes” having spent hours with the Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter video games (I’m not as familiar with Sly Cooper, the final third of this all-star team). Perhaps it is because I’m a fan of the clever writing and complex platforming that usually accompanies these heroes that this feels like a lackluster offering, the kind of awkward title that only works for little ones and their friends.

CHICAGO – As the Tiger Woods controversy has subsided and fans of golf wonder more about whether or not he can reclaim his glory on the links instead of his personal life, a question for gamers has been whether or not the game franchise that bears his name could elevate its game after a few solid-if-unspectacular efforts.

CHICAGO – It’s almost as if someone got halfway through post-production on “Battle: Los Angeles,” the awful alien attack movie currently playing in theaters, and it suddenly dawned on them that they hadn’t hired anyone to create the video game tie-in. How else to explain this unusually brief, repetitive, and boring downloadable game, one that will be forgotten as soon as you get over the feeling you’ve been ripped off?

CHICAGO – Is there any sport less attuned to a video game simulation than tennis? I don’t think so. The actual sport involves so much physical coordination and timing that it’s just impossible to fully recreate with a controller in your hands. Having a motion controller helps (and the PS3 copy of “Top Spin 4” is Move-enabled), but there’s still something about tennis that seems to fight the world of gaming even when it’s as remarkably well-done as “Top Spin 4.”

CHICAGO – Like most hardcore gamers, I’m not as easily impressed as I used to be. From the beginning of “Crysis 2,” and several times during my experience with the game, I was simply blown away. Whether it’s from the stunningly beautiful graphics (the best yet in the history of the Xbox), the deep customization that makes the game unique, or an incredibly deep multiplayer experience that is the most addictive since “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” this is a title that I know I will be playing on and off for the majority of 2011. It’s incredible.

CHICAGO – Just as we were about to write off the LEGO games after some lackluster installments (“LEGO Indiana Jones,” “LEGO Batman”), last year’s excellent “LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4” was the best family video game of the season and news of the March release of another sequel in the franchise that started it all — “LEGO Star Wars” — allowed hope that this series was still very much alive.

CHICAGO – I have defended the 2K Sports baseball games in the past, even personally preferring the “Major League Baseball 2K10” edition for gameplay during last year’s baseball season over Sony’s “MLB 10 The Show,” but this year my denial defenses have fallen to an incredibly faulty release, one full of glitches and generally annoying design decisions.

CHICAGO – Do you judge a game based on quality or quantity? When players get to the end of the shockingly-brief single-player campaign of “Homefront” (under 4 hours on normal difficulty), they’re likely to think they’re being punked and the fact is that the multi-player is a kid’s wading pool compared to the depth of a title like “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”

CHICAGO – Sports games are like automobiles — every year produces a new release but it’s bound to drive in much the same manner as last year’s model. It’s especially rare for a bestselling, highly-acclaimed franchise to make radical changes in an attempt for an even higher level of greatness. And yet that’s exactly what’s happened with Sony’s “MLB 11 The Show,” one of the best sports games ever made.

CHICAGO – While most critics were praising the lavish visuals and impressive screenwriting of the animated hit “Rango” starring Johnny Depp (for one such rave, check out Patrick McDonald’s review here), the video game landed on my desk and I wondered if the pattern of bland movie tie-ins would be broken. If the film is that creative, shouldn’t the video game be as well?