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5 (3) 4 (9) 3 (5) 2 (0) 1 (0) 3.9 starsAverage score of 17 user reviews
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A moving tale of one raccoon trying to escape a stove in a remote cabin for several years 0
Lonely, hopeless and a sense of space: no medium can convey these feelings stronger than games. And yet, it seems games rarely focus on these elements. In Silent Hill and Super Metroid, they play a key part in world-building but are never the focus of the experience. Whether it's due to its minimalism or focus on narrative, Firewatch lives in these traits. I can almost imagine my own loneliness and hopelessness bars filling, as I explored the game's foreboding landscapes, anticipating the next w...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Where angels dare to tread 0
In 1992, Atlus lacked the resources and experience to match the epic fantasy RPGs that Enix and SquareSoft were making. Atlus also lacked the interest to pursue the familiar; instead, paving the way for a unique series that broadened the scope of what an RPG can be while embracing the foundation of actual role-playing via narrative choice in a way other JRPGs still don't.Inspired by the darker works of manga artist Go Nagai and The Fist of the North Star, SMT pushed the boundaries for how grim a...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer 0
Before critics and internet sleuths attempted to define the terms of WRPG, JRPG and Roguelike, Shiren the Wanderer blurred the lines between all three in '95. Although recent indie hits The Binding of Isaac and Spelunky give a more familiar comparison for Shiren's unique structure, they also may dissuade a potential audience who is not a fan of those games' lack of story and world-building. In this sense, Shiren the Wanderer embraces traits of WRPGs and JRPGs equally: It's as much about choosing...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A confident but mediocre debut 0
Starting with the triple punch of Metal Gear Solid, Thief, and Tenchu in 1998, stealth slowly became a subgenre made possible by advanced lighting but it wasn't until Splinter Cell that it felt like it had a future. Splinter Cell continues to resonate with action and third-person shooter fans due to its elegant presentation, fluid action, and grounded military atmosphere. Returning to the original for the first time after many years, I was surprised to discover how many key elements of the serie...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Obsidian pizza'd instead of french fry'd (and that's a good thing) 0
The biggest joke in any South Park game released before 2014 may be the integrity of the game itself. From the Turok with turkeys first-person shooter debut to the recent platformer abomination, past South Park developers made the mistake of believing fans want to play an uninspired genre entry featuring show characters and references. With the show creators at the helm, The Stick of Truth approaches monitors and TVs with an unlikely confidence for a licensed game, one that doesn't live or die b...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
14 Years Later, Duke Still Makes Poop Jokes 0
There was once a time when Duke Nukem Forever could have been the next big thing. That opportunity was 14 years ago.When the sequel to 1996 first-person shooter Duke Nukem 3D was first shown at E3 1998, it impressed with scenes of vehicular combat, large environments and cutting-edge graphics (powered by the Unreal Engine). Developer 3D Realms intended to make the sequel in two years, instead it took nearly 15.As a result, the game is running on a graphics engine from 2004 (a modified Unreal 2.5...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
HD Video Review 0
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0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Video Review 2
The Wii hasn't had too many third party games to be excited about, not surprising for a post-SNES Nintendo console, nor has it had many first person shooters that have taken advantage of the Wii remote. For these reasons, along with gaining much E3 hype over the years, The Conduit has become one of the most anticipated Wii titles in a while. Like Red Steel before it, the developers have played their marketing campaign smart by unveiling little and letting the audience's imagination fuel th...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Video Review 0
While we have virtual console, XBLA, and PSN to re-spark peoples’ interest in old console games, many 90s PC titles are forever lost. In many cases, it’s better that the budget titles, FMV disasters, and quick cash-ins are forgotten. Then there are exceptions like Harvester. Harvester came out at the wrong time, as many critics saw it as nothing more than a late FMV adventure release complimented by a disturbing story. I guess that’s not far from the truth, but the fact that there hasn’t ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
HD Video Review 0
The Western is one of film’s most iconic and beloved genres, but has long been overlooked in video games. Other than a handful of Western-themed shooters from the 90s, such as Gunsmoke, Sunset Riders, and Wild Guns, we haven’t played cowboys and Indians in a virtual playground. Then in the mid-00s the genre saw a brief revival spurred by Rockstar’s Red Dead Revolver, followed by Neversoft’s excellent Gun, and punctuated with Techland’s Call of Juarez. With nothing more than a history of bu...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
HD Video Review 1
[PC; 2009]Developed by Tripwire Interactive If you are like me, you played and loved the hell out of Left 4 Dead last fall but it just hasn’t stayed as fresh over the last couple of months—very few games do. While we continue to wait for Valve’s first major expansion, we have been playing many similar co-op titles. Call of Duty: World at War’s Nazi Zombies! Mode, Gears of War 2’s Horde Mode, and Half-Life 2 source mod, Zombie Panic, have filled this void for many. They have for me at least,...
3 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
HD Video Review 0
Great games like Bioshock have shown us how far games have come, but Zeno Clash shows how far we have left to go. The imagination, ingenuity, and focus of Zeno Clash is undoubtedly the title's crowning points; it's something we don't see often enough in games. While many reviews of the game have built themselves around paragraphs celebrating the art direction and story telling, there is still a game here that must be examined. Zeno Clash in play doesn't quite meet the pedigree of its produ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
HD Video Review 0
[PC; 2005]Developed by Wideload Games [full credits] In Stubbs the Zombie you play as the original zombie who spawns the zombie apocalypse in the land of Punchbowl, essentially creating your own undead ground zero. Punchbowl is a retro-futurist vision resembling the life our grandparents thought we would be living. Flying cars, robot tour guides, and escalators galore! Confusingly, the story takes place in the 50s. All you need to know though is that Stubbs is a zombie, and zombies love b...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
HD Video Review 0
[PC; 2009]Developed by Action Forms [full credits] It’s telling that Cryostasis’ favorable reviews on Metacritic take the apologist’s stance. Cryostasis is a game that possess an ambition and vision uncommon in the medium, which makes it all the more difficult to point out the game’s many faults. I can’t ignore mentioning all the problems you’ll run into the game, but part of me worries that others will ignore the good that is there because of these grievances. There is no doubt that Cr...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Plants vs. Zombies Video Review 2
[PC/Mac; 2009]Developed by PopCap Games [full credits] The “tower defense”-genre has become an unexpected leader in the casual games market mostly due to the success of the iPhone. Chances are that you’ve played one by now. You either thought the game was absolutely pointless or addictive to a fault. While Plants vs. Zombies isn’t a carbon-copy of any “Tower Defense” to come out thus far, it is still firmly rooted in the genre and it’s the first essential game to come out of it. The prem...
7 out of 8 found this review helpful. -
Mother 3 (GBA) 1
NOTE: I had the flu while recording this so please excuse any verbal ticks. Earthbound was always the odd-one-out in the Super Nintendo’s first-party line up. The gameplay, modeled after Japan’s beloved Dragon Quest series, was too archaic and difficult for a western audience. Not to mention the setting and humor were much too bizarre. Nevertheless, the game found its audience outside Japan and they wanted more. 12 long years later, Mother 3 is released in Japan—2 years after that, out ...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Doom 3 0
Doom 3's design is rotted to the core and nowhere is this more apparent then the game's story. The game's story is so pedestrian that you probably spotted it walking across the street last week. I'll sum it up in a sentence: man goes to mars, and demons spew out of artifact from hell. The rest you can probably fill in with your imagination so long as you've seen more than 3 B-horror films before. Although the game starts up with a rather immersive Half-Life sort of intro where you walk th...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful.
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