A month ago we were given the highly anticipated Resident Evil 5, which at the time was my most anticipated game next to God of War III.  Unfortunately the game failed to wow and astound gamers, myself included. So after Resident Evil 5's somewhat disappointing release, I thought it would be nice to remember a better time.  A time when Silent Hill was still a terrifying and respectable horror franchise and Resident Evil actually had zombies and a few scares (albeit few).  What better way to do that than to review Capcom's legendary action horror game, and possibly the pinnacle of the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil 4.  Before Resident Evil 4 came out the series was already considered the premier survival horror series, but Capcom decided to take something good and make it even better.  The cheesy dialogue, tank-like controls, zombies, and terrible inventory were removed to make room for intense action sequences, interactive cut-scenes, a third-person perspective, weapon upgrading, and… non-zombies.  Read on for my nostalgic look back at Resident Evil 4, one of the greatest games of all time… at least in my opinion.

It's pretty unusual that I trumpet praise for a game well before its release.  Flock was one of those games.  A beautiful, charming, full featured downloadable title if I'd ever seen one, Flock was practically guaranteed to please.  Unfortunately, Flock is a game that looks like fantastic fun from afar, but is far from it.  I'll chalk this one up as a lesson learned.

Many of us here at The BBPS were waiting in great anticipation of Bit.Trip Beat, and for good reason.  With slim pickin's on the WiiWare front and ridiculously retro aesthetics, Bit.Trip looked to be something easy to love.  But does the gameplay measure up to the bleep-n-bloop style?  Hit the link.

I've always loved the idea behind the Resistance universe, but I'm just not the biggest fan of first-person shooters.  That may come as a bit of a surprise to those of you who've read my glowing endorsements of games like Killzone 2, Bioshock, Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead.  Regardless, I'd much rather pick up a third-person perspective adventure any day of the week.  Because of this, I'd steered clear of the Resistance universe up until that point.  And while I've since had the opportunity to dabble in both Fall of Man and Resistance 2, I haven't really committed to the franchise in the way I'd like to.

Let's be honest -- a WW2 style earth defense fighting off an alien invasion?  It's crazy thoughts like this that get a gamer moist in their tingly areas.  But excitement and dreams don't always pan out into playability.  Look at what happened with poor Mark and his experience with Flock.  So did Retribution get it's delicious revenge, or did Resistance's European adventure surrender in Paris like so many others?

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai started out as an indie effort on the XNA platform.  Microsoft got wise to this game, realized its potential, and published it itself after the game won a contest to do so.  What is very remarkable about Dishwasher is that it was created almost entirely by one individual, a guy by the name of James Silva.  More to the point, it is very remarkable that Dishwasher is such a polished effort, testament to the man's intense abilities.  There are issues with The Dishwasher, but nevertheless, it is a game that will appeal to the masochist hardcore gamer crowd.

Remember the '80s?  Members Only jackets, Duran Duran, AIDS - those were the days.  If reflecting back on the times when you had to blow into your game carts brings a nostalgic tear to your eye, Retro Game Challenge is for you.

Hit the jump.

Real time strategy games have long been a staple of the PC gaming market.  Despite this, time and time again the formula has been tried on home consoles and has generally met with disaster.  Everything from Starcraft 64 to Battle for Middle Earth has made a valiant effort to squeeze into your living room playtime, but none has really been able to survive to transition from keyboard and mouse to handheld controller. Having been designed for consoles from the ground up, is Halo Wars really any different?

What's black, white, and red all over? Jack and his prosthetic freakin' chainsaw arm, that's what.  Many familiar faces, key developers of Okami, God Hand, and Viewtiful Joe have combined their powers to create MadWorld, the most recent non-shovelware title for the Nintendo Wii.  And it's bloody awesome.  Hit the jump for the full review.

Resident Evil 5's producer Jun Takeuchi had a lot to live up to after Resident Evil 4 set the bar astronomically high when it was released back in 2005.  Resident Evil 4 was an evolution of a beloved series, as well as an inspiration for future action games to come.  In a way, Resident Evil 5 carefully follows the footsteps of its legendary predecessor, but it also seems a bit too similar.  So is Resident Evil 5 a contender for game of the year, or has it been left 4 dead? More after the jump, oh and a warning to those who haven't played or beaten the game, spoilers will ensue.

Last year, Capcom released Tatsunoko vs. Capcom in the land of the rising sun.  Some of us have played it, but most Wii users can't play region-locked software.  Some people may be considering alternative ways to play as their favorite Tatsunoko characters.  One possible substitute is Takara's Tatsunoko Fight for the PlayStation.  Again, this one's region-locked, but there are easy enough ways around that.

Tatsunoko Fight was released in October of 2000, making it a relatively late PlayStation title.  The game is, at a glance, a standard 2D fighter.  There are two characters on the screen, accompanied by life bars and super-move bars.  The fight continues until one of the players' life bars is depleted.  Fighter vets will be already acquainted with the quarter-circle, high and low, input motions.  Blah, blah, blah... So does it kick as much ass as Casshern?  Hit the link!