NBA 2K13 Review

Hardcore hoops fans, lapsed b-ball followers, and anyone else who even casually picks up the odd sports game should play NBA 2K13. Developer Visual Concepts continues to keep the bar high, enhancing the realism of and adding a superb new control scheme to this excellent recreation of pro basketball. Pace, graphics, animations, sound effects, and commentary are all so dead on that you feel like you've walked onto the court at Staples Center or Madison Square Garden. Only a few issues with the interface and the absence of controller tutorials, along with ridiculously overblown production values courtesy of guest executive producer Jay Z, get between you and the full appreciation of what looks, sounds, and feels like the real thing.

That said, this isn't a revolutionary upgrade on NBA 2K12. Last year's game is the foundation for this successor, which bases everything on what has gone before. Gameplay on the court is still incredibly true to real life. The pace, plays, artificial intelligence, and, well, everything else, mimic real pro basketball. Players move like they should, shoot like they should, and even position themselves smartly so you can make plays. Even playing solo, it feels like you're working as part of a real team due to the stellar AI. You can play selfishly and always look for the shot, but that tends to hurt your team more than passing and trying to develop plays. Same goes on defense, where you contribute by covering your man or providing timely help. Do that well and you feel like you're a part of the team even if you never touch the ball.

All of the offline and online modes of play are back for another season, so you can practice plays, run franchises, play one-off matches or the playoffs, hit the schoolyard for three-on-three blacktop action, mess around with legendary clubs, and so on. You can even make your own kicks now, through a 2K Shoes creator module. Most of the core options have been glitzed up. MyPlayer has been dramatically expanded and renamed MyCareer. You now not only create an NBA wannabe, you role-play him through all sorts of off-court situations. You can be a good guy or a heel, a Steve Nash or a Kobe Bryant. This means you get to dress up in flashy clothes and accoutrements for arriving at games, sign shoe endorsements, play egotistical brat when meeting with GMs before the draft, try to get your coach fired, and stir up fans on social media.

It's all faintly ridiculous, especially the scripted comments you make in meetings, and it adds up to a cartoon view of what the NBA is in real life. But it's also very compelling. These options let you personalize your career, and the whole me-first concept plays into the fantasy sports ideal that makes player-oriented modes of play in sports sims so appealing in the first place. Most goodies are bought with the VC coins awarded for accomplishments in-game, as well, so you at least have to do something on the hardwood (or spend your own cash by buying the things with real-world money) before you earn the right to detonate any ego explosions.

More historical greats have been included among the roster of teams. The headline is the inclusion of the full 1992 Olympic Dream Team, with even Charles Barkley finally letting his likeness be added to a game for the first time since 1994's Shut Up and Jam! So old-timers who want to see Jordan, Magic, Bird, Sir Charles, and pals on the court together again can finally do so. You can also pit this club against the most recent version of the dreamy Olympic roster from earlier this year to see what roster is really the best of all time.

Other iconic teams from the NBA's past are included, as well, like the Showtime Lakers and the Bad Boys with top thugs Laimbeer and Rodman. The game even has an absurd celebrity team starring the likes of Justin Bieber and various B-listers such as JB Smoove and Jersey Shore's Pauly D. Even a little guy like the Beeb comes in with sky-high ratings, too, so you can actually pit this team (the overall rating is a formidable 97) against any and all comers with a good shot at emerging victorious.

Players themselves have had their ratings revised in a key area, as well. All of the top stars in the NBA, and even a number of role players and sixth men, are now given signature skills that better reflect their real-life traits. So you have the floor general, who makes everyone on the floor play better offense. There's the closer, who raises his game in clutch moments. The eraser sends shots off with emphasis. The finisher can blast into the paint to slam layups and dunks no matter what traffic may be clogging the key.

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Retro City Rampage Review

Back in 1987, when the NES was at the peak of its reign, the video game world was not yet ready for the open-world urban crime adventure. But today, a quarter century later, Retro City Rampage lets you experience what the genre might have been like if it had been introduced on that now-primitive platform. In terms of its gameplay, it's often not quite faithful enough to the games of the era that inspired it, and in terms of its difficulty, it's sometimes too faithful. But all in all, Retro City Rampage is an enjoyable experience in which old meets new to create something both fresh and familiar.

Can you spot all 572 references hidden in these early minutes of Retro City Rampage?

In Retro City Rampage's Story mode, you play as Player, a low-ranking henchman in a supercriminal's army. Following an introductory series of stages that references The Dark Knight, Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, Frogger, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Super Mario Bros. 2, Back to the Future, and much more, you're set free in the city of Theftropolis to spend your time as you see fit. You can complete story missions or ignore them, and spend your time causing chaos and competing in the score-based challenges scattered all over town.

Every mission in Retro City Rampage's Story mode skewers video games, movies, or TV shows of the 80s. If you have any reverence for icons of 80s pop culture, don't be surprised if versions of those icons show up in RCR and are made to suffer some indignities. (The Ghostbusters, for instance, are spoofed here as the Go-Go Busters. Their job is even messier and nastier than catching and occasionally getting slimed by ghosts.) Too often, the game is raunchy just for the sake of being raunchy, without any cleverness to actually make its off-color gags funny. But the game throws so much at the wall that, while most of it doesn't stick, enough does to make for a good number of laughs, and there's some particularly scathing humor about indie game development and major publishers.

What with the danger of being run over as you stroll down the sidewalk or being stomped on by criminals flying around in hover suits, Theftropolis doesn't seem like a nice place to live. It is, however, a pleasure to look at, particularly if you have a soft spot in your heart for 8-bit worlds. The pixelated residents of Theftropolis are a wonderfully diverse bunch. Despite being quite tiny, they have a good deal of personality, thanks to their vibrant colors, their big hair, and jaunty hats--not to mention their expressive animations as they strut down the street, breakdance or otherwise pass the time.

The city has at least as much personality as its residents. Everywhere you look, there are references on shop signs and billboards to 80s video games and other pop culture artifacts. For that extra dose of nostalgia, an impressive assortment of color modes lets you make the game look as if it's running on a wide range of 80s gaming and computer hardware; a CGA mode, for example, severely limits the game's color palette and dominates it with blue and purple, recalling the visuals on early Apple computers. There's also a fine selection of borders that can make the game look like it's being played on an old TV, an arcade cabinet, or other setups, with optional scanlines to help sell the illusion. Regardless of your visual preference, the catchy 8-bit music is sure to please, and would have been right at home in an NES game.

Unfortunately, as alluring as the city is, getting around Theftropolis isn't always enjoyable. Player moves sluggishly until he gets a bit of momentum going, and although all the vehicles around you are yours for the taking, many of them are too slow to be much fun to drive. Still, there are some speedy little numbers to cruise around in. The two driving control schemes let you select between an option in which you use a button to accelerate and in which pushing left or right turns your vehicle to its left or right regardless of which way you're driving onscreen, and an option in which you push the thumbstick up to move up, down to move down, and so on. This second, far less realistic option allows for more responsive, turn-on-a-dime controls and more enjoyable vehicular shenanigans as a result. (On PC, you also have the option of playing with a keyboard, which works just fine.)

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Retro City Rampage Review

Back in 1987, when the NES was at the peak of its reign, the video game world was not yet ready for the open-world urban crime adventure. But today, a quarter century later, Retro City Rampage lets you experience what the genre might have been like if it had been introduced on that now-primitive platform. In terms of its gameplay, it's often not quite faithful enough to the games of the era that inspired it, and in terms of its difficulty, it's sometimes too faithful. But all in all, Retro City Rampage is an enjoyable experience in which old meets new to create something both fresh and familiar.

Niko Bellic wishes he could get his hands on a hover suit like this and stomp some civilians!

In Retro City Rampage's Story mode, you play as Player, a low-ranking henchman in a supercriminal's army. Following an introductory series of stages that references The Dark Knight, Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, Frogger, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Super Mario Bros. 2, Back to the Future, and much more, you're set free in the city of Theftropolis to spend your time as you see fit. You can complete story missions or ignore them, and spend your time causing chaos and competing in the score-based challenges scattered all over town.

Every mission in Retro City Rampage's Story mode skewers video games, movies, or TV shows of the 80s. If you have any reverence for icons of 80s pop culture, don't be surprised if versions of those icons show up in RCR and are made to suffer some indignities. (The Ghostbusters, for instance, are spoofed here as the Go-Go Busters. Their job is even messier and nastier than catching and occasionally getting slimed by ghosts.) Too often, the game is raunchy just for the sake of being raunchy, without any cleverness to actually make its off-color gags funny. But the game throws so much at the wall that, while most of it doesn't stick, enough does to make for a good number of laughs, and there's some particularly scathing humor about indie game development and major publishers.

What with the danger of being run over as you stroll down the sidewalk or being stomped on by criminals flying around in hover suits, Theftropolis doesn't seem like a nice place to live. It is, however, a pleasure to look at, particularly if you have a soft spot in your heart for 8-bit worlds. The pixelated residents of Theftropolis are a wonderfully diverse bunch. Despite being quite tiny, they have a good deal of personality, thanks to their vibrant colors, their big hair, and jaunty hats--not to mention their expressive animations as they strut down the street, breakdance or otherwise pass the time.

The city has at least as much personality as its residents. Everywhere you look, there are references on shop signs and billboards to 80s video games and other pop culture artifacts. For that extra dose of nostalgia, an impressive assortment of color modes lets you make the game look as if it's running on a wide range of 80s gaming and computer hardware; a CGA mode, for example, severely limits the game's color palette and dominates it with blue and purple, recalling the visuals on early Apple computers. There's also a fine selection of borders that can make the game look like it's being played on an old TV, an arcade cabinet, or other setups, with optional scanlines to help sell the illusion. Regardless of your visual preference, the catchy 8-bit music is sure to please, and would have been right at home in an NES game.

Unfortunately, as alluring as the city is, getting around Theftropolis isn't always enjoyable. Player moves sluggishly until he gets a bit of momentum going, and although all the vehicles around you are yours for the taking, many of them are too slow to be much fun to drive. Still, there are some speedy little numbers to cruise around in. The two driving control schemes let you select between an option in which you use a button to accelerate and in which pushing left or right turns your vehicle to its left or right regardless of which way you're driving onscreen, and an option in which you push the thumbstick up to move up, down to move down, and so on. This second, far less realistic option allows for more responsive, turn-on-a-dime controls and more enjoyable vehicular shenanigans as a result.

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Forza Horizon Review

The Video Review

Shaun McInnis put the pedal to the metal on this video review for Forza Horizon.

There's something oddly romantic about Forza Horizon. Gone are the real-life circuits of Motorsport, replaced by a gorgeous stretch of the American West. Sweeping praries and looming peaks set a grand stage, and a persistent sense of competition keeps the vast expanse from feeling lonely. Add in Forza's famously stellar driving physics, and you have a game that makes it a joy to hit the asphalt and roam wherever the road takes you. The experience isn't as refined as its predecessors, but Horizon is an exciting and adventurous spinoff just the same.

Night racing is an exciting, if slightly scary, addition to the franchise.

Horizon's setting is a fictional interpretation of the Colorado countryside, with the Rockies on one end of the map and an imposing desert on the other. In between is a rolling mesh of highways, dirt roads, and small towns. It's a beautiful landscape, where varied geography and a full day-night cycle combine to create some impressive vistas. Moments like cresting a hill at 150mph just as the sun begins to rise are a frequent occurrence, leading you to throw your car around one corner after another in a fit of automotive wanderlust.

Of course, it's not all free-form exploration. Horizon's story--yes, this is a Forza game with a storyline--revolves around the titular Horizon Festival, an event that attracts 250 gearheads to compete in a slew of events spread throughout Horizon's version of Colorado. The story unfolds through cinematics depicting your rise through the ranks of the competition, hitting a few awkward notes along the way by focusing on a cast of desperately hip 20-something drivers and their penchant for forced trash-talking. Awkward though it is, the story never becomes invasive or obnoxious; it's merely forgettable fluff that serves to explain your place in Horizon's collection of events.

The structure of these events should feel familiar to anyone who has played a Forza game. Races largely fall into themed categories with performance caps that scale according to your progression. You might begin the game by facing off against C-class muscle cars before eventually moving on to a competition against S-class Italian sports cars. Horizon has inherited the smooth difficulty curve of previous games, so building up your skills from one tier to the next remains a nice, gradual process. It's unfortunate that so many of these cars are carryovers from previous games, and the overall selection isn't quite as expansive as Forza 4's, but the process of working your way up the performance index remains as enthralling as ever.

Where Horizon deviates from Forza's past is in its mixed-surface events and point-to-point races that take advantage of the expansive, sprawling terrain. This version of Colorado isn't all asphalt; you often find yourself tearing through winding dirt roads on your quest for victory. These surfaces don't feel as chunky and volatile as a rally racer in the vein of Dirt, but adjusting your driving style to handle varied terrain is a refreshing challenge. Events like these, as well as endurance runs that send you clear across the road map through constantly shifting geographical terrain, help to set Horizon apart from its circuit-based predecessors.

One of Horizon's great strengths is that, even outside of organized events, the sense of competition is all around you. At any point you can pull up behind other festival drivers (distinguishable from regular traffic by the name above their car) and challenge them to a race on the spot. Speed trap cameras are placed on just about every road, capturing your high speed as you pass through them, registering your pace on a leaderboard and, if you're good enough, sending a message straight to your Xbox Live friends that they've been outperformed.

Throughout all this is a real-time feedback system that functions as a natural extension of the one found in Forza 4. Only here it's not just stylish drifting that's rewarded, but also narrowly avoiding head-on collisions, knocking down stop signs, and catching the occasional bit of air. The rewards aren't massive--you're granted credits when you perform such-and-such number of dangerous maneuvers--but they function as a persistent form of positive feedback, letting you feel like you're never wasting your time by just driving around at your own leisure.

Despite Horizon's newfound focus on style and flash, sim enthusiasts need not be alarmed: this is no arcade racer. Like in previous entries in the franchise, vehicle handling is determined by a modular collection of driving assists, such as traction control, that let you fine-tune the experience to your liking. With all the assists enabled, Horizon is an accessible racer that doesn't command expert-level driving skills. But disable all those assists, and the cars are short of lively and demanding. You need to be wary of the Hennessy Viper's penchant for skidding around like mad when you've hit the throttle too hard in the low gears, just as you need to respect the Ford F-150's habit of flipping over on fast corners like a dog who wants its belly rubbed. But, as in previous Forzas, taming these beasts is a deeply rewarding endeavor.

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Ragnarok Odyssey reaching North America this month

October 10, 2012 9:18PM PDT

The action RPG from Game Arts and GungHo will come with a Mercenary edition featuring an art book and soundtrack CD.

Xseed Games has announced the final release date for the PS Vita title Ragnarok Odyssey in North America.

The game will be out on October 30, and will be sold in stores and on the PlayStation Store for $39.99. Players can also buy the Mercenary edition of the game, which comes with a 96-page art book, a soundtrack CD, and 10 monster cards. The set will cost $49.99.

The action RPG will be published in Europe by Gungho Online Entertainment America, but there is no word on a release date at this point in time. The game is already out in Japan and Asia.

For more information, check out GameSpot's preview of the game.

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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ToeJam & Earl games out on PS3 and Xbox 360 this November

October 10, 2012 9:26PM PDT

ToeJam & Earl and ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron will be out as single downloads and as a bundle on PSN and XBLA.

Sega has announced that it will be re-releasing the ToeJam & Earl games on PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 6.

The two titles on the Sega Genesis, ToeJam & Earl and ToeJam &Earl in Panic on Funkotron, will be on sale on PSN and XBLA for $4.99 apiece. Sega will also release a bundle of the two games, dubbed the Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl. This pack will be out on November 7, and will cost gamers $10 on PSN and 800 Microsoft Points on XBLA.

Both titles will feature online co-op and new achievements and trophies for their respective platforms. For more information on the last ToeJam & Earl title, check out GameSpot's coverage on ToeJam & Earl III: Mission To Earth.

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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Riot fines League of Legends cheaters $30,000

Riot Games has come to a decision concerning cheating allegations on day three of the League of Legends World Playoffs, following an extensive investigation.

Writing on the League of Legends forums, Riot vice president of eSports Dustin Beck outlined that Korean team Azubu Frost (AzF) has been found guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct, and will be fined $30,000, a figure representing 20 percent of the team's current tournament winnings.

The fine will be donated to Riot Games' charity in Korea.

Three other teams were issued warnings for unsportsmanlike conduct, and one other team was cleared of any misconduct.

During the investigation, Riot found that AzF Woong had violated the rules by looking at the stage screens displaying the opposing team's minimap during game 1 of quarterfinal number 3, and that his actions yielded benefits for his team in the game. According to Riot's investigation, other members of AzF modified their gameplay based upon the information obtained by AzF Woong.

Riot re-examined photos, videos, and renders of the stage layout to better understand sight lines between the players and the maps placed overhead before coming to a final decision.

"We evaluated these cases based on intent, severity and tangible impact to the course of the game," Beck said. "Based on our investigation, the Azubu Frost incident is the only one where we determined there to be tangible impact; we believe other members of AzF modified their gameplay based upon the information gained. We don't believe, however, that these actions decided the winner of the game.

"We take this stuff seriously. Our rules on sportsmanlike conduct are clearly communicated to competitors, and our decisions here are based on those rules. More importantly, this sort of behavior shouldn't have been possible in the first place, and we recognise that and have taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen in the future."

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Resident Evil 6 Boss FIghts - Leon's Campaign

October 9, 2012 5:32PM PDT

Get a look at all of the terrifying creatures from Leon's portion of Resident Evil 6.

Want to sneak a look at all of the bosses from Leon's campaign? Look no further than this handy collection of videos from Resident Evil 6. Warning: There are spoilers.

The Screamer Fight

Fat Boy Fight

B.O.W Shark Fight

Mutated Deborah Fight

Gaseous Orifice Zombie Fight

Orifice B.O.W Plane Fight

Helping Jake and Sherry Fight

End of Line Fight

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Dishonored No Kill Walkthrough: Mission 2

Actually, the interesting thing about this mission is that you can follow the High Overseer and the other guy down into his private chamber, wait until the overseer's back is turned, and then simply choke him out.  This essentially requires no darts in the whole area.  Then, for some odd reason, the other guy unsheaths his sword, ignores you, and walks pleasantly out where he is supposed to go.  Then, carry the body of the overseer up the stairs and use blink to get to the branding room.  You can end up branding him without touching a single guard.

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GameSpot GamePlay Episode 14: Splinter Shell

October 9, 2012 5:49PM PDT

Host Kevin VanOrd welcomes IGN's Mitch Dyer for an extra dose of crazy. Also present (and also crazy): Tom Mc Shea, Chris Watters, and Peter Brown.

Mitch Dyer from IGN graces us with his politically incorrect presence long enough to explain just what should be done with the TMNT license. He's joined by Peter Brown, who puts the "FIFA" in FIFA; Chris Watters, who closes the episode on the most disturbing note possible; and Tom Mc Shea, who insists on stubbornly breaking the fourth wall.

Kevin VanOrd hosts. Charmingly.

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GameSpot GamePlay Episode 13: Double Jesus

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 12: All Pandas go to Heaven

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 11: Enter The Pee Zone

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 10: Adolf Critler

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 9: Out of the Closet

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 8: Ladycrotch

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 7: Bald and Powdery

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 6: Dirty Talk

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 5: Hybrid Species

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 4: Pulling a Brad

GameSpot GamePlay Special Edition Spoilercast: The Dark Knight Rises

By Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor

Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.

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