Posts By Randy Dankievitch

At first glance, Warner Bros.'s Injustice: Gods Among Us seems thoroughly unappealing: it is a watered-down version of its console counterpart, with simplified controls and repetitive gameplay design, topped off by the ever-damning price tag of 'free', never a promising sign for a licensed App Store game. Despite all this working against it, the mobile version of Injustice: Gods Among Us is actually quite a bit of fun to play, a simple but action-packed fighter ...

Originally, Borderlands 2 was not designed with a level cap raise in mind – everything in development was geared towards maxing out at 50. So when thousands of Borderlands 2 gamers had multiple level 50 character a few months (or weeks, in many cases) after release, Gearbox found themselves in a bit of a conundrum: stick to their guns, or go back in and tinker with the math to add more levels?

For some baseball fans, the Out of the Park Baseball series appears too dense and text-based to be enjoyed. At first, it can be – managing an entire baseball organization from top to bottom is no easy task. But the beauty of the series is how user-friendly it is, allowing players to sculpt their own experience, allowing both hardcore stat heads and casual GM-wannabes to enjoy the game in their own way. The mobile little brother to the desktop version, the iOOTP ...

In the last few years, the big budgets and carefully-constructed profit margins of AAA-titles have unfortunately taken a toll on the creativity of games. There are more modern/futuristic war first-person shooters and open world action games than ever - and at the same time, less unique protagonists and stories being told within these genres. Although some of these games may be impressive with game mechanics and scope of their story, I've felt less of a ...

Aliens Need Burgers has a goofy and semi-charming premise: aliens who love hamburgers come to Earth to relieve us of our beloved cow meat. Fortunately enough, there's a satellite worker hanging outside the atmosphere in space, ready to defend the world from the incoming threats. Unfortunately, the game itself doesn't employ any of this creativity, and Aliens Need Burgers is another forgettable touch-screen experience.

During their conference at PAX East, games publisher 2K Games announced that their turn-based strategy title XCOM: Enemy Unknown – one of the most critically-acclaimed games of 2012 – would be coming to iOS this summer. And they’re not talking about a watered-down version or ‘companion’ game (think Borderlands: Legends): XCOM: Enemy Unknown will essentially be the same game players enjoyed on consoles and PC last winter. How is this possible? ...

Was MLB 2K13 doomed from the start? Up until a few months ago, there was no word from 2K or MLB on a license renewal – and once it finally was announced in late January, it seemed too late for 2K to implement anything new or innovative. But even with lowered expectations, MLB 2K13 is a travesty of sports gaming, a blatant reproduction of 2K12 in every single facet. This isn't completely a terrible thing: what worked well in 2K12 worked here, but with less modes ...

Starting a trilogy is the fun part – and if this generation of console franchises have proved anything, completing it is the hardest. Over the past two years, we've seen series like Mass Effect and Gears of War struggle with storytelling in their third chapters. Mastering well-known techniques and designs is the easy part – completing an epic narrative in satisfying fashion has proven to be difficult: the bigger the success of the series, the more troublesome ...

Five years ago, the virtual basketball landscape was a completely different place. EA and 2K were locked in a heated competition on both the pro and college levels, both studios known to pump out two quality basketball titles a year. Today, the only yearly basketball offering remaining is the NBA 2K series, the Live series failing for a third straight season to finish a retail product. Although this appears to be the trend in sports: exclusive licenses and lack ...

The end of a console generation is a perfect time for an ambitious spin-off title: most major franchises are either completing trilogies or releasing refined, creatively safe iterations of popular titles. Developed by Forza vets Turn 10 Studios and UK-based Playground Games (a team compromising of landmark arcade, rally, and simulation racer developers), Forza Horizon takes its well-refined racing style to the beautiful landscapes of Colorado, with some very ...