Email Author Gary Hodges

2007 Stories by Gary Hodges

• Gaming's Greatest Hits

  published December 27, 2007

  Best Sleeper Hit: WordJong (Nintendo DS) — It may not sell like Mario, but this mishmash of Scrabble and mah-jongg hooks you... More >>

• Xmas Present & Past

  published December 20, 2007

  Nothing says "holiday spirit" quite like stabbing a terrorist or hammering a goombah, as the hottest games this season invite us to do. But no... More >>

• Future Shock

  published December 6, 2007

  For a game that's considered Microsoft's premier 360 title this holiday season, it's amazing how sloppy Mass Effect is. Graphical glitches... More >>

• The New Face of Evil

  published November 22, 2007

  The unsettling tone is established early in Call of Duty 4, when the president of a Middle Eastern nation is publicly executed on the... More >>

• A Little Sucky-Sucky

  published November 8, 2007

  Castlevania, the vampire-hunting series that stretches over 20 years and as many games, has two kinds of fans. There are the... More >>

• Fun With Fluids

  published November 1, 2007

  It must've been a scorching summer day when the game developer stared at his thermometer and realized: "Sweet sassy molassey, this would... More >>

• Bang Bang for Your Buck

  published October 25, 2007

  Whether it's $600 PlayStation 3s, $50 a year for the option to play your Xbox 360 online, or the five bucks Nintendo shamelessly charges... More >>

• Hype Machine

  published October 11, 2007

  What's left to say about Halo 3? How about this: All the pomp and circumstance surrounding its launch sure have been distracting.... More >>

• Down in Flames

  published September 27, 2007

  In terms of the yawning chasm between what was promised and what has been delivered, Lair earns the distinction of being the biggest... More >>

• Atlas Drowned

  published September 13, 2007

  Typically, first-person shooters are a lot like virtual shooting galleries: Great fun, yes, but not exactly thought-provoking. So it's nice... More >>

• Persona Grata

  published August 30, 2007

  The next-gen consoles are sexy as hell, but it's not all bad being the reigning "last-gen" champ either. With more than 100 million PlayStation 2... More >>

• Fill in the Blank

  published August 16, 2007

  Ask a random person five years ago what sudoku is, and you'd be lucky if they mumbled something about Japanese ritual suicide. But go down any... More >>

• Joysticks to the World

  published August 16, 2007

  Before Sony, Sega, and Nintendo ruled the video gaming world, Atari was self-immolating like a financial Hindenburg, burying the millions of... More >>

• Trick Play

  published August 2, 2007

  The concept behind All-Pro Football 2K8 is simply wonderful: Imagine a fantasy football league where you draft from a pool not of this... More >>

• Card Core

  published August 2, 2007

  Despite seeming like just another pop fad from the Land of the Rising Sun, Yu-Gi-Oh! has shown amazing staying power, with as loyal (and... More >>

• Bloody Good

  published July 26, 2007

  Having worked on more than 50 graphic novels for Marvel, DC, and other big-league imprints and penning everything from screenplays to a weekly... More >>

• Dim and Dimmer

  published July 19, 2007

  The last hour of The Darkness is exactly what the game should have been from its opening moments: a magnificent, bloodthirsty mix of... More >>

• Degeneration X

  published July 19, 2007

  If you felt Grindhouse was too polished (and lacking in T&A) to be mistaken for true ´70s exploitation cinema, Jonathan... More >>

• It Takes a Village

  published July 5, 2007

  When Resident Evil 4 was originally released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005, the game reinvented a lot of what had grown tiresome about... More >>

• Elf Life

  published June 21, 2007

  Once upon a time, the world breathed magic. Some believed this magic should belong only to the powerful, while others felt it was for everyone. So... More >>

• Car Lust

  published June 14, 2007

  I was driving home from work the other day when it occurred to me that, despite being college-educated and reasonably intelligent, I have no idea... More >>

• Three's a Charm

  published June 7, 2007

  Bold proclamation time: There wouldn't even be an Xbox 360 without Halo. Microsoft lost billions on the original Xbox even... More >>

• Superzero

  published May 24, 2007

  There's a unique challenge in designing superhero games: How do you make it fun to play a character who, by definition, is vastly more powerful... More >>

• This is Madness

  published April 26, 2007

  A game based on 300 has no excuse not to kick ass. Just picture yourself leading 300 Greeks (that's 1,800 abs) against the massive armies... More >>

• Olympian Gold

  published April 12, 2007

  The residents of Mount Olympus haven't gotten a good night's sleep since Kratos moved in. Not only is the new god of war a grumpy,... More >>