A lot has changed since the last time we featured an episode of the Cover Critic. Both Sony and Nintendo have released new portable game systems, long time companies have shut their doors forever, and the world has been reintroduced to a certain lawyer named Jack Thompson. Heck, even this site you're looking at has changed in many ways. So maybe it's time we take another serious look at video game covers, letting you know which ones we like and which we hate. After two years I invite you to embrace a brand new Cover Critic, one that isn't afraidto tell you what we really think. So enjoy five new covers and one new look!
Run Like Hell
Sometimes a game cover just has that movie poster quality, that look that if you were to pass by it you'd have to say: "Whoa! What's that??" Run Like Hell (RLH) is one of those covers. Regardless of how good the game turns out, this game will ultimately have find it's way into many a gamers collection based on the cover alone. I don't know about you, but this looks a lot like a Terminator poster, and is even cooler when I think of it's "Aliens" theme. And not just aliens, but alien wolves. With very little writing on the box, and a kick butt metalic color scheme, this is a front runner for cover of the year. But the year is still only half way over, and you haven't seen what we have in store for you next week.
Way of the Samurai
When I look at this cover what do I see? I see posters for all-night Akira Kurosawa film festivals. I see the Samurai series. And I see a ton of other Saturday Samurai movies I've seen on IFC over the years. But you know what, this cover actually works. It works in the same way all of those covers work. And it may be the ultimate proof that no matter what, you can't mess up a samurai cover. Better get this before they turn it into a crummy western game ... oh, too late, Capcom's already working on it ...
Outlaw Golf
Every year one company finds a game that sounds good on paper, it even looks good in previews, but just can't get passed it's one joke. Outlaw Golf is that game. And the cover proves it. What you get here is a rather pathetic overhead shot of some of the rough and tough golfers. Problem is that the joke in the game isn't any better than the joke on the box. And that logo is pretty damn lame. For a game that promotes itself based on looking up hot girls skirts, the girls in Dead or Alive just look much, much better. Perhaps on the GameCube they'll get their act together and give us more attractive golfers.
Test Drive
This week we've seen quite a few covers that just don't make any sense to me. The one above is a testiment to that. But this Test Drive cover just perplexes me. Is there a more bland racing cover? And while it tries to sport a rough look, you simply can't see enough of the car to oooh or aaah. It does present speed accurately, but also makes you want to run far far away. In fact, that's not a bad idea. Perhaps you need to run far, far away from this one.
ZooCube
This Cover Critc started out pretty good, didn't it. But as the reviews wore on it's like the writer didn't even care about the cover. Seems like somebody shouldn't slack off like that. Well, when you see the next cover critic there will be some changes. Bunch just a few.
