Xbox Live Arcade Reviews:
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees (800 MS Points): Wallace & Gromit serves up light humor, joyful puzzles to solve and a lengthy story to play through. Players unfamiliar with the series won’t have to worry about the controls as they are easy to pick up and learn with the 360 controllers. While the British humor isn’t for everyone, especially since the comedy isn’t the kind that is always in your face demanding a laugh, players should still appreciate the strong dialogue provided. There aren’t many better written games on XBLA than Wallace & Gromit. 4 / 5
Sam & Max Save the World (1600 MS Points): Cynical and sarcastic, Sam & Max are out to save the world from a villainous individual who is hypnotizing masses through his homemade instructional videos. As always, the humor is easy to find in Sam & Max, but sadly, the controls aren’t user friendly. Having to use your joystick to point and click around the room to find clues wasn’t the best asset for the title since many the times you’ll be hovering over an object attempting to click to only find that you have to readjust the cursor. In addition, the menu system could’ve been improved even though they did attempt to create a seamless title without a user interface. With that said, Sam & Max still remains an entertaining game that offers over twenty hours of gameplay through the six chapters provided. 3 / 5
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (800 MS Points): As an action game, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai delivers on all levels of violence and brutality that has yet to be seen on the XBLA. Even the visual effects are satisfying as you paint the town red in the blood of your enemies and decapitations are made a plenty. When you look back though, after you’ve completed the game, there’s something sorely missing from The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Maybe it’s the lack of diversity in the gameplay or incompetent storyline, but for now the only accomplishment that The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai has is providing an insane amount of gory action. 3 / 5
Banjo-Tooie (1200 MS Points): This is Rare at its finest. Sure, 4JStudios provided the update to the classic Nintendo 64 title, but Rare are still the masterminds behind the title when it first debuted. Carrying over from the N64, Banjo-Tooie retains its charm and blessed platforming aspects that are truly needed to fill a gigantic hole for genre on the Xbox 360. Banjo-Tooie holds up incredibly well for a game that is nine-years-old. From the touched up graphics to the inclusion of Stop ‘N Swap (a feature that allows for unique unlockables), there are a tremendous amount of reasons for new gamers and old fans alike to download Banjo-Tooie. 4 ½ / 5
Flock! (1200 MS Points): The idea of herding sheep with a flying saucer may sound amusing in theory, but in practice, it turns out to be droning. The biggest issue with Flock! is that, too often, animals that you are herding will get stuck on objects due to the messy control scheme. This issue can easily be overlooked for longtime fans of the strategy genre as the art style is fantastic and the ability to create your own levels is a superb addition. Flock! is essentially a title that could fall one way or the other: you’ll either love it or find it extremely boring. 3 / 5
Live Informant #1 is continued on the next page:
