More Articles in playing

Choosing Your Own Adventure: Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, and The Da Vinci Code

By brian longtin • Feb 9th, 2010 • Category: playing

The troubling implications of Uncharted 2’s distaste for genuine problem-solving, as compared to Assassin’s Creed II and The Da Vinci Code.



Modern Warfare 2: The Most Right-Wing Game of the Decade

By brian longtin • Dec 3rd, 2009 • Category: playing

What Modern Warfare 2 does as a game makes it a must-buy. But what it says, and how it says it, is a much more fascinating question.



The Ballad of Gay Tony: Bailing Out on High Hopes

By brian longtin • Nov 24th, 2009 • Category: playing

Just as Rockstar are verging on gaming’s closest thing to a Scorcese film, they swing the needle back toward a big zany playground for something that’s bigger, but not necessarily better.



Heavy Schafer: How ‘Brutal Legend’ is the ‘Chinese Democracy’ of Video Games

By brian longtin • Nov 10th, 2009 • Category: playing

Though there are moments of brilliance, elements of the game fight against each other and prevent it from being the instant classic it could have been — not unlike another long-awaited metal masterpiece.



Living with Sequel-itis: The Most Promising Follow-ups of E3 2009

By brian longtin • Jun 11th, 2009 • Category: playing

Tired of the same old games? Here are the top 7 sequels shown at this year’s E3, and why it may be worth revisiting them instead of just wishing their creators would move on.



The Perils of an Open World: What Far Cry 2 Can Learn from Burnout Paradise

By brian longtin • May 22nd, 2009 • Category: playing

Far Cry 2 is an exceptional game buried beneath a pile of inconveniences. Burnout Paradise is a decent game condensed down to the purest, most concentrated fun.



The City That Never Sleeps: GTA Grows Up with ‘The Lost and Damned’

By brian longtin • Apr 3rd, 2009 • Category: playing

What makes this downloadable ‘Grand Theft Auto’ a big step forward for the series, and what they can learn from an unlikely source: ‘The Simpsons’.



Tender Age In Bloom: ‘Flower’ Takes Games To New Places

By brian longtin • Feb 27th, 2009 • Category: playing

Flower achieves more than just thumbs up for ‘different’ and ‘beautiful’. It builds on fundamental ideas that bring a refreshing perspective to game design.



You Can’t Love What You Don’t See: The Missing Pieces of ‘Fallout 3′

By brian longtin • Jan 26th, 2009 • Category: playing

On paper there’s a good case for calling it the best game of 2008. But for all the impressive things built into ‘Fallout 3′, what’s left out prevents it from being as satisfying as its potential.



Don’t Walk the Line: Running Down ‘Mirror’s Edge’

By brian longtin • Dec 15th, 2008 • Category: playing

Why everyone should try it, some will find it maddening, and in the end it’s all worth it.