Here’s something I didn’t see coming—Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, the grumpiest gaming curmudgeon that mocked so many games this side of Metal Gear Solid 4, has begrudgingly admitted that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is fun. Yes, the AI is shit and the GTA clone sandbox game is full of bugs, but it’s still fun.
I was expecting a hilarious rant that would deconstruct each flaw. Well, Croshaw did engage in an uproarious, close-to-five-minutes tirade, but he also confessed that he enjoyed blowing everything up. Sigh. I might consider selling blood this holidays.

Benjamin “Yahtzee” Croshaw thinks Metal Gear Solid 4 is a “stiff and inefficient” third person shooter,” mainly because of the controls. The game’s storyline was lambasted as well, but that was to be expected. Surprisingly, Yahtzee seems to hate MGS4 even more than Haze, which was universally reviled.

Here’s something one should pay attention to when watching one of Benjamin “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s video reviews: the guy is not big on praising games that belong to the FPS genre. If Yahtzee doesn’t hate (place shooter title here) as much as Turok, then the fanboy in you would likely deem it as worth the purchase. That said, it’s rather surprising to see that Croshaw doesn’t hate Haze, a much-maligned FPS from Free Radical. Correction, Yahtzee doesn’t hate Haze that much.
What I don’t get is that Kotaku seems to see otherwise.

Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw is bored. After reviewing a succession of major releases like Grand Theft Auto IV and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the British-born Australian writer decides to review Painkiller, a game released way back in 2004.

As far as I was concerned, my game purchases for the year have already been determined. At least until I heard what British-born writer Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw had to say about Condemned 2: Bloodshot, that nasty first-person brawler/shooter that requires a change of diapers to play.

I’ve never played Army of Two as of this writing, but Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s review gave me an idea on how the game plays out. Strangely, Croshaw sees homosexuality in almost every topic.

I\’ve never played the new Turok, but at some point during its development, I thought the FPS showed promise. At least until the bad reviews came out. Tired of bad shooter conventions, Yahtzee decided to make a tutorial on how not to make an FPS using Turok as his model.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAll in all, very good points. I just don\’t agree that auto-aim is a viable option in FPSes. Yes, I do use it, but it\’s just shameful I! Where art thou, FragFX?

I like watching video reviews made by Ben Croshaw because it teaches me to be unflinchingly cynical when it comes to games. See how the British-born author deconstructs Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Yes, I do like Uncharted for its shooting. There are no massive guns here, though I do find the action satisfying. But to say that Uncharted is a game for white supremacists? I’m not that jaded.

Sure, Yahtzee may be rather late for weighing in on Call of Duty 4, but so what? A Yahtzee review is not only priceless, but timeless as well.

Yes, the British-born Australian may not like a lot of games very much, but there seems to be a lot of hate for Umbrella Chronicles, the latest Resident Evil game from Capcom. Can’t say I blame him, since what is there to rail shooters, other than “pointing to something you want dead, and keep pressing the button”?

Maybe Capcom should instead focus their efforts on making Resident Evil 5 fantastic and timely, instead of making clunkers like Umbrella Chronicles. That 2009 release for RE5 is just a little too far off.