Game Informer rates Halo 3, Mass Effect, PGR4, Orange Box, Syphon Filter and more

The newest Game Informer has just landed in stores in America and this months' issue contains some very interesting reviews of all the coming and available games. Games like Halo 3, Half Life 2: Orange Box, PGR4, Mass Effect, Syphon Filter, Ace Attorney, DiRT, Ace Combat 6, NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, NBA 08 have all been reviewed in this months' edition.

Most noticeable scores are for Halo 3, Mass Effect and Orange Box, which have all received reviews of 9.75 given by two different editors. Ace Combat 6 and PGR 4 also did very well with a 9- for Ace Combat and a 9+ for PGR4. Syphon Filter for PSP did very well with a 9-. Two Worlds was slammed again with two disappointing reviews of a 4 and a 2. Check out all this months' reviews below.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360, BioWare): 9.75/9.75
Ace Combat 6 (Xbox 360, Bandai Namco): 8.75/8.75
The Orange Box (Xbox 360, Valve): 9.75/9.75
Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9.75/9.75 **Game of the month**
Zack and Wiki (Wii, Capcom): 8.25/7.75
NBA Live (PS3/Xbox 360/Wii, EA): 7.5/7.75
NBA 2K8 (PS3/Xbox 360, 2K Games): 8.25/8.5
Conan (PS3/Xbox 360, THQ): 7/7.25
Blazing Angels 2 (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 7.5/7.75
Crash Of The Titans (Xbox 360/Wii/PS2/PSP/NDS, Sierra): 7.25
Spyro: The Eternal Night (Wii, Sierra): 6.25
Two Worlds (Xbox 360, SouthPeak Interactive): 4/2
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Xbox 360/PS2/Wii/PSP/NDS, Activision): 4.5/5.5
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Xbox 360/PS2/PS3): 8.25/8.5
Dirt (Xbox 360/PS3, Codemasters): 8/8.5
NBA 08 (PS3/PSP, Sony): 7/6.25
Carnival Games (Wii, Take-Two): 5.5
The Sims 2: Castaway (Wii/PS2/PSP/NDS, EA): 7.25
Victorious Boxers: Revolution (Wii, Xseed): 6.75
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360, Bizarre): 8.75/9.25
FlatOut Ultimate Carnage (Xbox 360, Warner): 7.5/8.5
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (PSP, Sony): 8.75/9 **Handheld game of the month**
DK: Jungle Climber (NDS, Nintendo): 5.75/6.75
Phoenix Wright: AA T&T (NDS, Capcom): 8.25/8.25
Mega Man ZX Advent (NDS, Capcom): 8/7.5
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP, LucasArts): 7/7
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (PSP, Sega): 5.75
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (PSP, Atlus): 9
Front Mission 1st (NDS, Square Enix): 7
Sonic Rush Adventure (NDS, Sega): 7.25 Final Fantasy Tactics: TWOTL (PSP, Square Enix): 9.5

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

Zomg! Mass Effect reviewed? AAA what what what?!

[Lex Luthor]

Mass Effect = G.O.T.Y

ANOTHER AAA game for Xbox 360.(My hands are getting tired typing that out all the time).

Mass Effect is gonna be one of the best games of recent times just like Bioshock. And with Xbox 360 AMAZING attach rate due to loyal gaming fans, this game will very quickly surpass 1 million.

[DrPirate]

Damn, alot of games got highly reviewed.

Both the 360 and the PSP got favorable reviews almost across the board.

Happy to see that the Wii games are getting slammed.

[thereapersson]

Though, it won't change its sales, as they could take a piece of poop and put the wii stamp on it and people would still eat it up.

[bluebrad1974]

Any gamer would about have to be fool not to own a 360.

[cherdman]

There are a lot of fools.

[skynidas]

wow that review of Mass Effect is a little early

[ThaGeNeCySt]

uuhhh... Halo 3 = game of the month with Mass Effect in the same issue???

SMH!!!

[thereapersson]

Mass Effect deserves game of the month WAY more than Halo 3; Unlike Halo 3, Mass Effect actually brings something new to the table.

[The BS Police]

Mass Effect isn't out untill next Month.

[okcomputer]

I don't get that, how could you say mass effect is "WAY" more deserving than halo when you haven't even played a minute of it. And whats so new about mass effect anyway? It looks great in the previews and all but it doesn't seem to do anything that hasn't been done before by other games.

[The Snake]

Yeah......other Bioware games.

[thereapersson]

Actually really not surprised at all by the Mass Effect review, as it really deserves it.

On another note, it's a good month for PSP owners with FF Tactics and Logan's Shadow providing 2 AAA experiences!

[socomnick]

lol I understand you like mass effect me too but lol play it first then determine if the game deserves it.

[ceedubya9]

Nice. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a lot of upper 9s for this game. Bioware is straight up money. Which I'm sure is why EA bought them....

[InMyOpinion]

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Xbox 360/PS2/PS3): 8.25/8.5? Wtf...

They seem to be a little too generous with their scores in my opinion. I'll wait for more reviews. Still, I think PGR 4 is an awesome game that without a doubt deserves 9/10.

[kn]

The game is pure rubbish... PGR4 owns it in every way. I can't believe the scores are that close for these two games.

[InMyOpinion]

The Juiced 2 demo made me laugh...then cry.

[Real gamer 4 life]

if they going to reveiew mass effect a game that isnt even done yet. how come they didnt review uncharted or haze.

[ceedubya9]

because they were able to get their hands on a review build of the game. Also, Uncharted and Haze are come from other companies besides Microsoft/Bioware. Just because they send a review build doesn't mean Ubi or Sony will have sent one of their games in time for review. Once they do, you can count on these games being reviewed as soon as possible.

LOL. WOW. Some people disagree for the oddest reasons.

[Dreamworker]

For my wife i guess she like sega rally. Until christmas i am busy playing PGR4 and Halo3.

[MK_Red]

They're being unfair. GOTMonth should have been either Mass Effect or Orange Box.
Cool scores for Conan and Zack & Wicki. Superb post.

[wageslave]

"They're being unfair. GOTMonth should have been either Mass Effect or Orange Box."

By what measure could you makes such a statement? Did you read their ME, OB or H3 reviews? Care to provide some context for your claim?

Halo 3's review here is totally in line with the rest of the reviews, it is not a "fluke", and it is completely reasonable that it be GotM.

Do _you_ not like H3? Fine, dont. But enough people like it to have made it the biggest entertainment launch in history.

Perhaps you should get off the hate train (and yes, you too thereappersson) should re-watch Sessler's video. He's talking right to both of you.

Buy an Xbox 360, its ok. We know you want to. Then instead of jealousy, you can enjoy Halo 3 like the rest of us.

[jcgamer]

confirmed...

[PimpHandHappy]

2 not say something

Why are ppl saying "how can u review ME when its a month away"

well they review Warhawk 6 weeks b4 it came out and whatever mag that was gave it a 6.5! How many ppl jumped all over that saying the game sucks

If Orange Box sucks on the PS3 i will have two reasons to buy a 360..ME and that

I would say PGR4 and Halo but i like my drivers more sim then arcade and even thou halo is a great game i have more interest in COD4 and unreal

Im just waiting on MS to drop the price on the Elite to around 350. I will be buying a 1080p sometime in the next 4months and i cant get a system without a HDMI hook up!

[Hugh Hefner]

The current Premium 360s have HDMI... also the newer ones have the improved hardware and the Falcon chipset.

[sleepbox]

This is a great year to be a gamer. So many AAA games...and we've yet to see the Rock Band review as well as the newest PS3 games like RnC and Uncharted.

[ceedubya9]

definitely a big year for games.

[Cuddlefish]

Juiced 2 is the highest scoring PS3 game this month?

[magrood]

To cherdman

Many gamers don't like FPS games

[wageslave]

Yes, "many gamers dont like FPSs". It is also true that "Many gamers are left handed lesbian albino midgets".

I see what you did there.

What is MORE true than "many g dont like fps" is that *MOST* gamers *DO LIKE FPSs*.

Dont believe me? GO LOOK AT THE SALES CHARTS.

Nice try. Oh, btw, if you dont like FPS -- Xbox 360 still has the best rated diverse lineup of any current generation console. So, it doesnt matter anyway. But, again, nice attempt at the "xbox 360 is only FPS!!1!" FUD.

[donscrillinger]

ill buy that for a BUCK!so many games to get on the 360

[TheMART]

BAM! The 360 hammer has hit the PS3 AGAIN

Highest scores of this month:

"Mass Effect (Xbox 360, BioWare): 9.75/9.75
Ace Combat 6 (Xbox 360, Bandai Namco): 8.75/8.75
The Orange Box (Xbox 360, Valve): 9.75/9.75
Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9.75/9.75 **Game of the month**"

Uhm ouch PS3. What have you got this month? uhm. not much. AGAIN

[dragonJP]

Last year I had to get 4 360 games right @ X-Mas to catch up: Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas, Splinter Cell Double Agent, & WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2007. By the way, I rated those games 10, 10, 9, & 8.5 respectively. Great times, no? Well get this, this holiday looks to be even better for 360 gamers! I'll be playing catch up again, with Mass Effect (reserved), Call of Duty 4 (reserved), PGR4, & the Orange Box, with all receiving 9+ (heard COD4 may get a 10-- LOVED THE BETA!!) ratings! All this without even counting Halo 3 & Bioshock! Nice scores for Ace Combat 6 & NBA 2K8, got to check those out too, demos were nice. And can't sleep on Assassin's Creed and Kane & Lynch either. Crazy great times & deflated wallets for 360 fans... may have to wait for early next year to get that $399 PS3 to play Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, MGS4, KZ2, & GT5, etc. With all of these AAA 360 titles I may be too damned busy for a new PS3....

[BIGBAER]

The holiday season will come while millions of gamers are still entranced in H3's multiplayer. It will be the same with The Orange Box.

Gears of War? It's still getting mad play.

PGR4? No game matches PGR's multiplayer-driving intensity. No game.

Mass Effect will make jaws drop and the jealous rage. Gamers will want Mass Effect for their own.

The holiday version of the 360 will include Forza 2 and Marvel UA.

360 consoles will be flying of the shelves.

The new $399.00 pricepoint for a low-end PS3 will move consoles, even without the once-claimed sacred-cow of backwards compatibility.

The question is can it compete with the 360's incredible amount of AAA games---games that are just too good to pass by.

This Christmas will see a lot of 'first-time' Xbox owners playing the games of their lives.

[Kuest]

*steps inside* It smells good in here. Ooh, what's that scent? Good lord, it smells like...like... VICTORY!!

GOTY

[Jvanleuvan]

I hope they all can sell well with that many good games out at the same time, and more on the way. I would love to see all these great games sell well so that the companies can continue to make great games...

[Chris_GTR1]

damnn. 9.75 thats gota be best score ever. hopefully the same thing will be for allthe other mags.

[supnub5]

you gave a review of the game that is coming out 5 months later, and i couldn't give reviews of ps3 games that are coming out next month.

[Kuest]

which black people are you referring to at GI. Oh, how silly of me- you just wanted some attention. Fine, but I must report you.

On a side note, how come racial slurs aren't also blocked from this site. Needs to happen, because this type of sh!t pisses me off.

[Kuest]

has been reported, yet!!!

Whats going ON!

[Blademanx]

9.75 best score ever....talk about Bias lolol. any john doe can review a game and give it a 10 out of 10 and someone like that guy comes along and says owned!

Please...Yeh i'm a fool for owning a ps3 and not xbox 720 sounds perfect to me..fanboys.

In fact despite preferring a superior power ps3 i would have got an xbox 360 suprisedly. But seeing as the controller weighs a lot and has to recharged and uses aa batteries and causes cramps in the hand no thanks.

I like the fact i can put my phone next to a ps3 and load folders up from it or recharge the controller by plugging in a usb. Halo 3 good game gods gift to gaming lol a xbox fan would say so.

Any John Doe can review Xbox games and call himself a reputable source lol. Only a xbox fan cant see through this.