Hardcore Gamer's Scores

  • Games
Select another publication »
For 4,331 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 50% higher than the average critic
  • 9% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Assassin's Creed III
Lowest review score: 20 The Quiet Man
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,431 out of 4331
  2. Mixed: 1,658 out of 4331
  3. Negative: 242 out of 4331
4334 game reviews
view
per page
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    God of War Sons of Sparta
    God of War Sons of Sparta is a satisfactory, yet not overly triumphant, return to the Greek era. A 2D Metroidvania God of War title sounds great on paper, but Mega Cat Studios never quite manages to capture the feel or pacing of a God of War game. The story is where the game is at its strongest, delivering a look into Kratos' life and personality before tragedy strikes. Though the pacing makes getting into the story difficult and Sons of Sparta never feels necessary to the overarching narrative, the story ends strongly. The Metroidvania piece itself is a stumble thanks to the poor pacing of key abilities. The locales are neat, the corridor design is fine, but getting through the first couple of hours is a real chore. Combat fares better thanks to a smart implementation of Greek and Norse era mechanics, but Mega Cat Studios never manages to capture the God of War feeling. God of War Sons of Sparta is a satisfactory adventure in the God of War universe, but it's far from the triumphant return of the Greek era fans have been waiting for.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    White Knight Chronicles International Edition
    White Knight Chronicles is simply an enthusiastic game that falls short of what it could have been.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Shining Force EXA
    As a singleplayer experience, Shining Force EXA lacks the druglike addictiveness that makes a good dungeon crawler more than something you kill time with. [Mar 2007, p.54]
    • Hardcore Gamer
    • 64 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Painkiller: Hell & Damnation
    This isn't a remake or a reimagining of the original Painkiller; this is a high-resolution texture pack for an outdated eight-year old game that's missing significant story beats.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
    The action is huge, the enemies gigantic and the firepower overwhelming. Earth Defense Force 4.1 is finally the game the series has always tried to be.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
    Kane & Lynch is more "Freedom Fighters" than "Hitman", so it should appeal to action junkies looking for their next fix. [Dec 2007, p.67]
    • Hardcore Gamer
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    NASCAR Heat 3
    NASCAR Heat 3 is a fun and entertaining stock car racing game that needs to take more steps towards offering a simulation for racing fans. Opening up an eSports division should encourage the cream of the crop to represent the real life sport in a virtual world. Champions of other racing games have literally gone on to win great things. The Career Mode is deep and engaging and the Xtreme Dirt Series is an excellent addition to the series. The visual and audio issues are something that need an update, but there’s enough new content that the fans of this series will really enjoy.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
    One cannot comprehend who Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is meant to serve. Exploration is a chore based on frame rate issues and less-than-stellar graphics. Questing sucks because there is no real sense of progress or accomplishment. Farming and crafting is similarly pointless as there just isn’t a heck of a lot to do. I will confess to giving up after only a couple of hours in hopes that I was the recipient of Alpha code.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception
    Project Sylpheed costs forty bucks, making this a budget title, but it's hard to play unless you're playing in HD. [Oct 2007, p.56]
    • Hardcore Gamer
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
    This magical recreation of Japan’s Akihabara District bolsters a magnitude of content and things to do, while the accessible yet rewarding combat makes traipsing through the cityscape pleasurable, feeling like a blend of a traditional beat’em up and something more like what the Yakuza series has to offer. Unfortunately, an unfathomable amount of fan-service and technical hiccups dampen the experience.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gal*Gun: Double Peace
    It actually made me laugh out loud and manages to retain its charm even after the novelty of the weirdness wore off. Being a game that requires quick reflexes and a tolerance for sexually-charged humor sets it apart from the other titles that vie for gamer dollars.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
    It may be a flawed experience, but it's certainly an addictive one.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Chronology
    Chronology is a great example of how a few warts can taint an otherwise pretty package.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tribe: Primitive Builder
    Tribe: Primitive Builder is a relaxing adventure of construction and automation, and while the map could stand to be cut down to at least half its size, it’s surprisingly easy to get lost in the flow of completing goals one after the other as the hours drift away.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    REYNATIS
    While it's a solid and enjoyable game in its own right, Reynatis suffers from being unable to visually stand out. Animations in combat and cutscenes are sometimes stiff and robotic or even overtuned to the point where they look outright silly for what they're trying to accomplish.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Tiny Brains
    With some more interesting puzzles and cleaned up controls, Tiny Brains would be an easy game to recommend to everyone, but as it stands it’s best avoided.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Scars Above
    Perhaps if Scars Above had put more work into the areas where our lead heroine has to explore this strange world and analyze it more in order to solve various puzzles, basically letting her be the scientist she is, it could have been vastly better overall, or at least help give it a better identity to help it stand out more. Instead, Scars Above settles for being a generic third-person action game that rarely, if ever, takes any sort of risks. While it may not fall prey to anything that feels egregiously bad and at least has decent combat, you’ll likely walk away from the mystery of the Metahedron feeling more bored than satisfied.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pac-Man Museum
    In short, Pac-Man Museum is the best representation of what has been a truly illustrious video game career.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    TRON RUN/r
    TRON RUN/r stumbles in a few spots and is a little too expensive for its own good, but it’s beautiful to look at, incredibly fun to play and offers the perfect sense of challenge for players with good reflexes.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    SwapQuest
    Most of the game is well put together and engaging and when it finally reaches its pinnacle, with the bosses and the Sky Tower, it becomes a compulsory addictive game.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
    Panache Digital Games has created a truly immersive, lush environment that’s thrilling to explore and traverse. Utilizing our natural instincts for discovery is truly the most ingenious aspect of the game, as it rewards us for problem solving in ways that already come naturally to us. It’s such a gratifying experience to see our hominids start out with no understanding of the world, to then become fairly self-sustaining creatures thanks to education and discovery. More than anything, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey shows us what amazing creatures we truly are and how far we’ve come as a species. Understanding our past is the gateway to our future.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    VARLET
    Varlet is filled with love of the genre while simultaneously getting a few notable things wrong. The portions of the game that take place between the main plot points and dungeons are dull, making it hard to want to go through the effort of completing all the side objectives. The combat is where the game shines, however, allowing for interesting combinations of your characters and what you can do with them. The issue is that the combat ends up becoming too easy when taking on the majority of the smaller enemies you end up fighting on the way to the bosses. There are no real threats if you keep on top of your characters' levels and switch them out of your party regularly to make sure each one is ready for encounters. This is a solid JRPG that's still great fun, regardless of the issues with the lack of a threat from enemies; you're still rewarded for being creative in boss fights and exploring all avenues that the game has to offer with the skill tree.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress
    Overall, The Phantom Fortress is a surprisingly captivating portable game, that does well to live up to its popular name.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness
    The storyline and characters are utterly compelling, regardless of your awareness of the source material. In fact, the story was effective enough to convince me to give the show a watch. The game does, however, end up missing a few of the convenience features expected from many other modern entrants in the genre.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
    The fact that this was designed as a portable game ultimately is this version’s weakness and why the handheld version remains superior.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chasing Aurora
    Chasing Aurora is a perfect example of what an eShop game should be - simple, but beautiful, while offering up an experience that can't be had anywhere else. A treat for the eyes and ears, its presentation sticks out amongst Wii U titles with ten times the budget and resources. Its $15 price tag is a steep considering the complete lack of online functionality, but anyone who loves score-based games will get their money's worth out of it.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    JoJo's Bizarre Adventure HD Ver.
    It's hurt by having a bare-bones online setup, not including the PS1 version's story mode, and not improving upon the blah soundtrack of the original game. There are a lot of downloadable fighters on the market now available for less money that are better than this. JJBA HD is a top-shelf bizarre game, but not exactly a top-shelf game in its own right.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    SimCity
    When it’s working, SimCity is an ecstatic god game that can be addicting to play; when it’s not, it’s one of the most frustrating experiences you’ll have.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong
    Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong has players step in the shoes of three different vampires to solve a mystery, building upon the wealth of Vampire lore, but doesn’t have much bite. The approach of making the game be entirely driven by conversation and investigation is an interesting alternative to countless vampire games that are essentially bloodbaths but doesn’t come without concessions. The emphasis on role playing and character choice helps recreate the feel of the tabletop/LARP games, but the poor puzzles and mediocre script hurt the pacing and overall experience. Fans of White Wolf’s World of Darkness will likely appreciate the work that went into bringing the role playing feel to a video game while they work to solve the mystery, but those who want something with a little more action would be best served waiting for Bloodlines 2.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Council - Episode 5: Checkmate
    The daemonic theme took over far too much of the story’s focus. When coupled with technical issues, it has reinforced that The Council has lost potential written all over it. Despite the many negatives, there are positives to take away from the experience. Gameplay is engaging from start to finish, with its RPG mechanics reinventing an episodic experience. Big Bad’s multiple endings offer plenty of reason to revisit not only Checkmate, but also the first four episodes and see the different outcome from making a major choice. Once the finale is all done and dusted, either the player or Big Bad will utter one simple word depending on the final outcome of the story. That word is none other than checkmate.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »