The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition Review

Sadly, I did not play the original Secret of Monkey Island back when it was released in 1990 (I was five). Actually, it was well into my life as a gamer that I stumbled into the PC adventure genre with 1998's Grim Fandango. That event began a love affair with the genre that led me through its past, exploring the brilliant games I had missed during my formative years. I can't recall exactly how I got my hands on a copy of the Secret of Monkey Island and its sequel, LeChuck's Revenge. Was it packaged with Grim Fandango? With another game? Whatever the case, I did manage to play the original game some years ago. I'm a fan. Of adventure games, of LucasArts adventure games, of creators Ron Gilbert and Tim Schaefer, and of Monkey Island as a series. I should probably mention that the announcement of a remake and the episodic Tales of Monkey Island was, for me, the highlight of E3 2009. Fortunately, the Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition doesn't fail to meet my hype.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 Review

In case the name didn't give it away, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam is a spin-off of the Dynasty Warriors series using settings and characters from the Mobile Suit Gundam series of anime. The first entry in the new series was released in 2007. It was a rather mediocre game, even by Dynasty Warriors standards, and appealed mostly as fan service. Now that Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is here, one thing is certain: This game is karmic retribution for my belief that the series had nowhere to go but up after the first game.

Majesty 2 Review

2000's Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, developed by Cyberlore Studios and published by MicroProse, was a unique entry in the RTS genre. While the game achieved a small cult-hit status, its sequel was only briefly in development before getting canceled. I guess publisher Paradox Interactive and developer 1C:Ino-Co were fans, because they picked up the dead franchise to deliver the long-awaited sequel. While Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim continues to run with the original's concept, it's marred by some debilitating AI issues and a downright unfair difficulty curve.

Brutal Legend Review

It's been a long, bumpy road for Brutal Legend. Tim Schafer and Double Fine's follow-up to their first game, Psychonauts, was originally going to be published by Sierra. However, when Sierra was shut down in the wake of the Activision-Blizzard merger, the growing publishing giant cut Brutal Legend loose. Enter Electronic Arts, who eventually snatched up the publishing rights and began hyping the game into a media darling. Realizing their mistake, Activision took some loosely-grounded legal action and the once invisible Brutal Legend found itself being tugged by the arms by two of the largest publishers in the industry.