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I didn’t even know The House of the Dead 4 Special was a thing that existed.

Despite the rest of The House of the Dead series making its way to consoles, The House of the Dead 4 has been left in the arcades – and perhaps rightfully so. With the introduction of the machine gun as the standard weapon, the once requisite precision aiming for this light gun series has been all but removed. That’s not to say that there’s no challenge or fun to be had with the latest arcade iteration of the series, but the experience pales in comparison to earlier editions.

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Booty, booty, booty rocking everywhere.

Kid Icarus: Uprising fills a couple of holes in Nintendo’s arsenal of video game genres. Not only has the series been re-imagined as an on-rails shooter, but Uprising is also a third-person shooter/slasher. These hybridized genres bring a unique mix of untapped video game potential to a Nintendo console. In spite of its steep learning curve and lefty control issues, Kid Icarus: Uprising is an early reason to buy a Nintendo 3DS.

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Unless you have four friends to play this locally with, be prepared for a slow and tedious journey.

I wouldn’t say that Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is the worst dungeon crawler I’ve ever played, but it’s not very good either. From the get-go it creates the illusion that it’s going to be a great title within the genre, but it falls apart in execution.

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Fun, fast-paced gameplay overshadowed by an outdated matchmaking system

With addictively chaotic gameplay and intelligent map design aimed at thrusting players headfirst into the action, Nexuiz has the potential to be a great game. Based on an open-source PC game that was derived from a Quake mod, Nexuiz is heavily inspired by its illustrious gaming background. Sounds like an old-school gamer’s dream, right? Unfortunately, it’s not. While Nexuiz brings us classic gameplay from a forgotten era; it also delivers an outdated matchmaking system along with it.

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Fantastic co-op saves what is otherwise a forgettable journey to the near future.

In a world without Deus Ex: Human Revolution I might be more kind to Syndicate.  In that world Syndicate’s central concepts and general aesthetic presentation may appear more original - less derivative of a previously released game that did a far better job of creating a plausible, near future setting where the lines separating humanity and artificiality aren’t quite as clear as they are today.  In that world Syndicate would be far more enjoyable, if only due to the lack of any real competition.  It is good that we do not live in that world; it is not so good for Syndicate.

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