Bioshock 2 360
Tags: 360 Shooter Soulful Gamer Reviews

Bioshock 2's essence feels somehow diluted by returning such a hallowed location. Although the atmosphere and environments conjour up the same rich experience, the story and revelations regarding Rapture's continued demise were not nearly as powerful as they could have been.

Spore PC
Tags: PC Strategy Soulful Gamer Reviews

Spore trys to create a life opera, and should be ideal for my soulful videogame desires. But a lack of narrative, and an eventual reliance on old gaming tropes left me feeling like I hadn't been invited to the party.

Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep Wii
Tags: Wii Adventuring Soulful Gamer Reviews

Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep brings a gentle and calming underwater adventure to the living room that, in spite of the Wii's awkward motion controls, succeeds in transporting you to a serene world.

Mass Effect 2 360
Tags: 360 Adventuring Soulful Gamer Reviews

Mass Effect 2 is one of the greatest video games that I have ever played. The subtle links to the first game, the standard of character writing and the universe detail gave me an experience I quite literally fell in love with.

Dark Void PS3
Tags: PS3 Shooting Soulful Gamer Reviews

There's a moment in Dark Void when the mythos of the Void world, the history of the Bermuda Triangle and the shadow of World War Two come together and create a brief instant of epic storytelling. Unfortunately, that fleeting moment is buried under generic gameplay and a lurching narrative that lead towards an unsatisfying end which left me disappointed.

Dragon Age Return to Ostagar DLC 360
Tags: 360 Adventuring Soulful Gamer Reviews

Return to Ostagar is a disappointing downloadable addition to Dragon Age: Origins that falls woefully short of the high quality set by the original game.

Fallen Earth PC
Tags: PC Adventuring Soulful Gamer Reviews

Taking a familiar setting and building a compelling world around it is just one of Fallen Earths many successes. I was blown away by the depth and attention to detail this post-apocalyptic MMO portrayed and the manner with which I was drawn into its world. For a long time I have argued that online games cannot give a deep and meaningful experience due to their very nature - but theres more heart and soul here than in many other recent games. Whether I was delving deep into the crafting system, following the story or simply taking in the haunting environments, Fallen Earth took me on a journey into a world Ill never forget.

Aion: Tower of Eternity PC
Tags: PC Adventuring Soulful Gamer Reviews

With the promise of a visually beautiful online experience and the unique ability of flight enticing me into its world, Aion: Tower of Eternity looked like it could be the MMORPG to bring me back into the fold after a two year absence. Unfortunately the excruciating banality of the first 25 levels meant that any promise of uniqueness was crushed under exasperation and boredom.

Dragon Age: Origins PC
Tags: PC Adventuring Soulful Gamer Reviews

As a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2, Dragon Age: Origins is an epic role-playing fantasy game that successfully blends the charm of an old-school RPG storyline with some sophisticated relationship and dialogue mechanics. It doesn't reinvent the Western Role-playing genre, but its presentation of a dark fantasy world with meaningful choices and grim consequences show that traditional Tolkien-inspired games have plenty left to offer the modern video game player.

Bayonetta 360
Tags: 360 Fighting Soulful Gamer Reviews

Bayonetta takes the base structure of Devil May Cry and turns it into a kaleidoscopic fruit basket of exorbitant gameplay, colour and style. Bayonetta is the ultimate video game. The sheer indulgent delight of sampling its intoxicating mix left me breathless with adoration for its balletic combat, fantastical characters and intriguing plot.