Crunch

PSFreak1, reviews are assigned to individuals who are qualified in the genre and naturally interested in a particular kind of game. Since there are several folks in the office that enjoy action adventures of the PoP kind, it's impossible for me to say whose byline you'll see attached. As a big fan of the previous PoP games and Assassin's Creed, I certainly wouldn't turn down the opportunity!

Those review events sound rediculous. Its totally understandable that you guys dont review under the close scrutiny of publishers.

Indeed, the GameSpot reviews team has revved into high gear, now that a large number of major (and minor!) releases are forthcoming. This week alone sees reviews of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Rock Band 2, a couple of NHL games, and more. This is what fall brings to us, and along with that litany of games often comes questions regarding when a review will be up and various related questions. Rest assured, we'll work to bring you reviews of every game we can cover as quickly as we can. As you can imagine, it's impossible to review every game by release date for any number of reasons, but I thought I'd give you a peek at my current plate so you know that some games aren't getting forgotten.

Force Unleashed for PS2 and DS will go up today, so by the time you read this, those reviews may be published. As you can guess, I've been pretty immersed in the Star Wars universe after playing four versions of the game (the fabulous Carolyn Petit is reviewing the DS version). A review of the PSP version is coming; before we can publish a review, we need to fully experience the multiplayer, but I am hoping we can have a review of that version on Wednesday.

Most of my other current assignments are heavy on the keyboard and mouse... S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, Warhammer Online, and Crysis Warhead to be precise. In all three cases, you won't see a review by release time, though in the case of Warhammer Online, that's obviously because we'll be taking a good amount of time to play the game in retail conditions. However, my coworkers and I will be updating this space, and our personal blogs, with highlights of the continuing experience before the review posts. Look for screens featuring my Chaos Magus!

In the case of Clear Sky, the issue is related to the TAGES copy protection applied to the game. Because of that, I could not get the game to run on my PC at home (an error message announces vehemently that the disc is not in the drive), and therefore I couldn't play over the weekend. The game runs fine on my work gaming PC, but to maximize my time and get through it, I will download it on Steam on my home PC tonight. In the case of Crysis Warhead, Electronic Arts held a reviews event last week. For those that aren't aware, there are cases when publishers will hold press events in which members of the media play a game for review under controlled conditions. It is our policy not to attend such events. Unfortunately, we didn't receive Crysis Warhead review code until today, so again, I will be playing it this week, and will bring you a review as soon as I can thoroughly play the game's single-player and multiplayer modes.

All of this while gearing up for the Tokyo Game Show next month. So bear with me, fellow PC gamers--I'll get you reviews of these games soon, and in the meanwhile, may the Force be with you.

Did I mention I've been swimming in Star Wars lately?