Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King

Genre: RPG (Role-Playing Game)
Developer: Square-Enix
Publisher: Square-Enix
System: Playstation 2
Release Year: 2005

In Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King, you are an unnamed hero whom you know very little about. You know very little about the world he comes from and the people around him. Unfortunately, by the end of the game, you will be about where you started. While the plot does progress, albeit at the pace that an old man would get off the toilet, getting too much of the story will leave you overworked and underwhelmed.

For those of you seeking a game strictly for its story, you won’t be disappointed you picked up the game, but might find yourself saying, “The story could have been so much more.” For those of you seeking a game with a challenge, prepare to lose some hair. The game will challenge, frustrate, and make a grown man cry like a baby.

Read more ›

Fanboys Suck

LOLZ xb0x sUckz Ps3 r00lz!  This is the logic of a fanboy, a person so obessed and enthralled with a product, brand, movie, story, etc., that they refuse to see any reason why another product might be better.

Now I’m not talking about a person who enjoys or prefers a certain product. Those people are reasonable and easy to talk with.  I personally prefer the Xbox 360 over a PS3, although I have both systems.  Game-Flush Staff members Teach and J.M. enjoy the PS3 more, but they don’t tell me how much of a n00b I am, and how I am somehow inferior for liking one entertainment system over another.
Read more ›

Left in the Dust (Cartoon)

Capcom has performed a Friendship on Namco, after its previous Fatality on Midway. Flawless Victory! Read more ›

DeathSpank

Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Hothead Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Systems: Playstation 3 (PSN), Xbox 360 (Live Arcade)
Release Year: 2010

As the happy discoverer of this game, here at Game Flush, it’s my pleasure to review what I think is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in a long time.  And considering the nature of this site, it’s hardly surprising a game like DeathSpank would be so well received.  Hell, the hero re-spawns from outhouses after all, which double as checkpoints!  Why isn’t he working for us?!  Never mind the two items acquired throughout the game which cause severe bowel movements from your enemies (no joke).  But this game is not all toilets and crap; DeathSpank is, simply, to use his own words, ‘Heroic.’ Read more ›

Game-Flush: Legendary Video of the Week

I honestly couldn’t think of a better video to be our first ever “official” Game-Flush: Legendary Video of the Week than this lovely gem from retired professional wrestler Ahmed Johnson.

Read more ›

Early Swirly – New Releases This Week

As stated in our Flushology, the Early Swirly is a premature (easy now) look at what is coming up from week to week. We’ll cover the major games, and the occasional console, accessories, and so on.

In this week’s Early Swirly, we’ll be taking a look at some of the major releases coming out as we wrap up August and head into September.

Read more ›

Castle Crashers: A Special All-Staff Flush!

“In Celebration of Castle Crashers coming to the PSN!” ~ Flush Staff

Genre: Beat ‘Em Up
Developer: The Behemoth
Publisher: The Behemoth, Microsoft (XBLA), Sony (PSN)
Systems: Xbox 360 (Live Arcade), Playstation 3 (PSN)
Release Years: 2008 (XBLA), 2010 (PSN)

It was a long-shot (well maybe not entirely, but we’ll say it was).  At the time we were knee deep in our Wii Nights, downloading and playing classic two-player games.  Among them were such beat ‘em ups as Streets of Rage and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  But soon the games were beaten, and though our hunger had not been satiated, we had nearly played everything we wanted to relive at the time.  Then our very own staff member, Kosh, began searching around XBLA for some more games we could all play together, and there it was.  He had seen the name sitting on the top of the charts for ages: Castle Crashers.  Why not take a chance?  How bad could it be if it was so high-rated? Read more ›

System Start Up Screens

Perhaps I’m alone on this one, but I’d like to think I’m not.  After all, it’s impossible, I think, for any man, no matter how crazy, to have a thought or feeling that at least one other person on the planet doesn’t share.  But, I’ll ask anyway:  is it just me, or does the [insert any gaming system name here] start up screen annoy the crap out of you?

To be specific, I mean the screen that displays the logo of whatever system you just consciously turned on.  Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Atari, etc.  They all do it.  Seriously.  I mean, do these companies think I’m so retarded that I need to be reminded exactly which system I turned on to play a game? Read more ›

Conan

Genre: Action-Adventure
Developer: Nihilistic Software
Publisher: THQ
Systems: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Year: 2007

I have to admit, when I first heard there was a game coming out based on Robert E. Howard’s well-known creation, I was extremely skeptical.  For one, games based on movies have proven less worth the investment of our time and money than most trade-stocks these days, so why would a game based on a literary character be any different?  And two, I have a certain bias against other writers and companies coming up with ‘new adventures’ for characters created by long-dead authors (though I’m admittedly guilty of the practice myself).  In fact, I nearly passed up the game entirely were it not for a friend who lent it to me.  I thought, what’s the harm in at least trying it?  I’m glad I did. Read more ›

Heavy Rain

Genre: Interactive Drama
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
System: Playstation 3
Release Year: 2010

Quite possibly one of the most unique games to come out in the last decade, Heavy Rain will send you on journey unlike any other. Imagine taking movies like Saw and Seven, and turning them into a game as great as the movies were. Ultimately, that’s what was created in Heavy Rain.

A lot of players don’t like when a game has so much story that it overshadows the amount of actual game play. Similar to Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves, a lot of dialogue occurs while you are moving around and completing tasks. Additionally, the player has the option to hear what the character is thinking.

Read more ›