Articles by Joshua Ostroff

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Xbox 360

PUBLISHED Apr 24, 2010

Sam Fisher rose to prominence around the same time as Jack Bauer, but where 24 bombarded viewers with ceaseless jolts, Splinter Cell's stea...

Blood and Sandbox

PUBLISHED Apr 23, 2010

The gaming industry likes to define itself in terms of hardware generations, but actual gamers experience it via software that evolves alon...

God of War III

PS3

PUBLISHED Apr 6, 2010

Epic as a critical adjective had been attached to many a videogame before the first God of War burst forth a half-decade ago. But the blood...

Heavy Rain's Toy Story

PUBLISHED Mar 26, 2010

Narrative has long been the least developed part of gaming. Oh, there've been plot points since day one, but mostly just to justify why you...

Shiren the Wanderer

Wii

PUBLISHED Mar 16, 2010

The Japanese are a historically dedicated people. Think about those South Pacific soldiers who sat tight in their tropical bunkers for year...

Final Fantasy XIII

PS3 / Xbox 360

PUBLISHED Mar 16, 2010

Not many game franchises live long enough to make it to number 13, but having sold nearly a hundred million copies over the past quarter-ce...

I Game, Therefore I Am

PUBLISHED Feb 20, 2010

"For every choice, there is an echo. With each act, we change the world. One man chose a city, free of law and God. But others chose corrup...

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

Wii

PUBLISHED Feb 18, 2010

By the mid-'70s, rock had become so engorged that punk had to be invented to expose its corporate bloat and rediscover its raw power. Well,...