So...it’s been about three weeks since Injustice came out, and I feel those three weeks really helped me to gauge this review. With most games, the initial release doesn’t matter too much, since the game is more or less the same from there on, minus the addition of some patches or whatnot. But, with MMOs and fighting games, it may behoove savvy fans to wait out a bit, to see whether or not the kinks are ironed out. I can’t speak too much to the MMO front, but fighting games have a long legacy of not getting it right the first time around. Game breaking glitches, ban worthy character gimmicks, horrible imbalance between the cast, bad online connections, and other factors may lead to a strong argument to wait out on buying a new fighter. For me, the biggest risk in buying day one is how the community will react. Like a new kid at school being bullied, the fighting game community (or FGC as we affectionately call it) will devour anything it displeases, as with the first few months of Street Fighter X Tekken’s release. Day one combos, cheap tactics, no developer support post-launch, and a lack of actual dedicated players may be enough to end a game’s life (vanilla Marvel vs Capcom 3 had some of these problems). But with Injustice: Gods Among Us, the first reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, enough for me to watch the game played in tournaments, and to pick it up myself. So here is my reaction to the new wildly successful addition to the FGC’s line-up... Read More→
Published on April 18th, 2013 | by Matthew Legarreta
This is it. The moment I finished up the campaign for Bioshock: Infiinte, I spoke those words aloud to myself. It's been a crazy generation of console gaming since the Xbox 360 first hit store shelves almost eight years ago, and in that time we've seen a lot of amazing accomplishments. Bioware revolutionized RPG gaming with their (mostly) fantastic Mass Effect series. Naughty Dog created a new type of video game hero with Nathan Drake in Uncharted. Rockstar revolutionized the open world genre not once, but twice with Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption. And Telltale Games crafted one of the best storylines to ever be featured in a video game with their genre defining The Walking Dead: The Video Game. Yeah, we've seen a lot of progression for the video game industry as a whole this generation. But, in a way, it was all leading up to this. It was all leading up to Bioshock Infinite. And the payoff was more than worth it...because Bioshock Infinite isn't just one of the best games of this year. Hell, it's not even just one of the best games of this generation. It's one of the best games ever made, period... Read More→
Wait! Please don’t run, this is a spoiler free article! Don’t worry, it is my intention to make sure you know nothing more about this game than you already do. In fact, I really wish Irrational wouldn’t have shown us anything about Bioshock Infinite, because I felt like I knew too much going in. Not specifically story or spoiler wise, but I wanted to go in being as radio silenced as I could once I found out this game existed three years ago. If I lived in a vacuum, without marketing or commercials or previews or trailers or bias or expectations or hype, I’m sure I would enjoy more things. And since I was already sold on Infinite way back when they showed the first trailer, I really tried my hardest to stay away from it until it came out. I tried so hard to avoid any and all promotional materials, pre-order bonuses, achievement lists, and general information about the city of Columbia, and vigors, and Booker, and Elizabeth... Read More→
Well, it’s been a whole month since Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time came out. So in reality, this isn’t really a timely review. Unless you’re a gamer who is still on the fence about purchasing certain titles, don’t use this as a buyer’s guide. We here at Geek Binge aren’t the top critics or journalists on the Internet; basically we’re regular folk like you, who get a game when it comes out on launch day and play between our everyday activities. Since life can get in the way of things, and not everyone blitzes through campaigns like I did when I was in middle school, I’d like to think this review is more of a retrospective, a continuation of the discussion after the game has hit the market and everyone has gotten a chance to get their hands on it, or decided to not play it entirely. This enables you, the reader, to get in on this conversation, since all current games media is about previewing games and figuring out if something will be worth purchasing. But the gaming population doesn’t get a behind the scenes look at upcoming games; they only play the ones that are out, and play them long after a review goes up. So with that philosophy in mind, here are my thoughts on Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, thoughts I’ve had some time to think about, allotting you to be able to know what the hell I’m talking about. Nothing is worse in reviews than having to summarize stories, or recap, or explain elements, or spoil events, or even ruin new characters. So without further ado, here I go!... Read More→
Published on March 7th, 2013 | by Matthew Legarreta
I'll be entirely honest...I'm far from a Tomb Raider fan. I played snippets of the first few games, but never more than one level (my modern sensibilities get freaked out whenever playing a game like the first Tomb Raider). I also played Tomb Raider: Legend of Darkness which, if my memory served, was pretty damn shitty. So to say I'm inexperienced with the adventures of Lara Croft would be an understatement. But from the get go I had a pretty big interest in Tomb Raider, this year's "reboot" of the character that focuses on a younger, more naive Lara Croft. It seemed to be a huge transition for the series, and one that was at the very least worth checking out. I love me a reboot when done well, and was curious if the people over at Crystal Dynamics were capable of pulling off such a startling transition into this new Lara Croft. And so far at least...I think they have... Read More→
Published on February 7th, 2013 | by Matthew Legarreta
I personally am a huge Dead Space fan. Ever since I played the first game way back in 2008, I fell in love with its amazing gameplay, fantastic graphics, and spellbinding atmosphere. As a usual non-horror ... Read More→
Published on December 3rd, 2012 | by Matthew Legarreta
For the past few weeks or so, I’ve felt like a complete zombie. Yes yes, that’s clever considering what I’m talking about, but it’s the only word I feel best describes my current condition. Physically I’m ... Read More→
Published on November 19th, 2012 | by Matthew Legarreta
When Halo 4 was first announced back in E3 of 2011, I can willingly say I had no expectations for it whatsoever. In the past, I had quite enjoyed the Halo games; they’re a ton of fun, with ... Read More→
Matthew Legarreta is the Editor-in-Chief of Geek Binge. A big ol' ball of movie, TV, and video game loving flesh, Matthew started up Geek Binge in the Fall of 2012 to convince himself that he's doing something with his life. He isn't. Matthew also loves writing about himself in the third person, because it makes him feel important or something.
Wednesday Lee Friday is a novelist and freelance writer currently living in Ann Arbor Michigan. Her fourth horror novel, The Finster Effect, is available now and features a plague of rats lending zombies the assist as they consume all life on the globe. Wednesday is a rabid fan of quality movies and TV, a horror enthusiast, kitchen witch, and internet get-about. She also writes reviews, produces audiobooks, and assembles a wacky serial-killer comic every month for Resilient Brainforest.
Jake Wilbanks is the News Editor for Geek Binge and co-host of the Screen Bites podcast. A 20-year-old Journalism major hailing from the southern recesses of Tennessee, Jake loves talking about movies and why he loves them, fancies meeting new people to laugh with, has a deep appreciation of breakfast food, and plans on becoming Batman in the near future. He’s also very proud of his beard.
Kristina "Krissie" Rettig is a staff writer for Geek Binge. She gets random Star Wars links regularly posted to her Facebook wall because she lets her geek flag fly with abandon. In front of everybody. She has covered Comic-Con for Variety.com in the past, and is not beyond sitting in line for 6 hours to get into a panel just so she can breathe the same air as the Game of Thrones cast. Even if she's about 1,000 feet away from them—but it's not a big deal. Her non-discriminate tastes even overflow into the dark realm of reality television, so expect to see her holier-than-thou rantings on that as well. May the force be with you!
Jared Russo is a staff writer for Geek Binge, a student at the University of Central Florida, and enjoys writing in his free time. He is an avid fan of fighting games, and is a tournament player for Street Fighter 4. When he is not writing or street fighting, he is podcasting about movies, developing screenplays he won't sell, and advocating The Wire using hyperbole.
Justin is a staff writer for Geek Binge and co-host of the Screen Bites podcast. Justin earned the nickname "Surly" when he worked as a video store clerk, but he's not surly, he's just misunderstood—stupid.
