21 public written reviews
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The premise of Octodad is completely absurd, and that's why it's so strong. The game never really explains any of its crazier aspects, and that's just the way I want it. The controls are very sloppy, and that's totally fine for the first half of the game. The objectives are simple, and the purposefully difficult controls play into that nicely. Sadly, the later levels actually ask a lot of you in terms of precision,…
This game is pure dumb fun. You drive really fast, and you run into other cars. I have no real complaints about the core of the game. The single-player experience is fundamentally solid, but it is deeply hooked into a half-baked online experience. You're automatically dumped into a multiplayer lobby by default, and it when the hosting player disconnects, it boots you from the game regardless of where you are in a…
Disclaimer: I'm about an hour and a half into the game. The default settings of the game make the *menus* run at an absurdly low frame rate on my mid-range PC. It's incredibly frustrating to navigate to the graphics settings to turn down the anti-aliasing. Once that one setting is turned down, the frame rate jumps back to a normal speed ON THE MAIN MENU. I've already hit multiple places where the game's scripting is…
A Link Between Worlds takes the core of A Link to the Past , and turns it on its head. You start out with a standard Zelda game, and you're soon treated to new and exciting mechanics that truly elevate it to something special. Simply put, this is the first modern top-down Zelda game.
The characters, art style, and overall presentation in The Last of Us are second to none. Naughty Dog has accomplished amazing feats both technically and artistically with this title, and I'm thrilled that it exists. Sadly, the entire experience wasn't perfect. The combat gets tiresome. As with any stealth-based combat system, the key to success is taking everything at a snail's pace. The combat sequences are…
The Stanley Parable is essentially a love letter to dynamic story-telling. It's a humorous take on branching narratives, and it encourages the player to poke at the game itself the entire time. If you follow the instructions you're given, the game is about 10 minutes long. However, you're immediately warped back to the beginning. Now, you need to start trying to break the game. Fall off a platform. Stand around for…
Proteus is simple. You walk, you listen, and you watch. It's only about an hour's worth of content, but it's an incredibly cheap game. The music is top-notch, and the art style is incredibly charming throughout all four seasons. While Proteus probably won't appeal to everyone, it's an example of how varied and weird games are now that digital distribution has taken off. This is a low-stress game, and I enjoyed…
Brothers is a totally competent puzzle-platformer. You pull levers, climb ledges, and use both brothers to open doors. Mechanically, it's fine. My hands started to hurt after a while, but let's chalk that up to design issues with the 360 controller. The art is very pretty, but it suffers from a case of the generic art style blues. You could quite literally swap out the art with any other fantasy game, and it would…
Resogun is a very pleasant game. It looks sharp, plays well, and even packs in a few surprises. Considering it's available for free with PlayStation Plus, early PS4 adopters should most certainly play this game. That said, there just isn't a lot of content here. If you're not interested in replaying levels to compete on the leaderboards, you'll be done with Resogun after a day or two. It's solid, but it needs a…
I received this title at no additional cost with my PlayStation Plus subscription. It was an interesting experience, but I'm glad I didn't spend $15 on it. The setting, art style, and concept are very pleasant, but the story, mechanics, and characters are just plain bad at times. Frankly, this game aims for Braid-like cleverness, but falls flat due to the unpolished feel and unlikable characters.
Discussing this game is difficult because the less you know when you play it, the better the experience is. I refuse to spoil any of the experience, but I must say that this is a must-play game. The voice acting is amazing, the aesthetic is effective, and the story is impactful. By the end of this short experience, you will care deeply for these characters without ever meeting them.
Look, Dragon Age II has flaws. There isn't enough variety in the scenery. The ending isn't earned, and feels overly compressed. That's not the whole story, though. The combat, visuals, interface, and overall polish are all much improved over Dragon Age: Origins. BioWare could have done better, but that doesn't make DAII any less fun to play.
Obviously, BioWare has a long history of making fantasy RPGs, but the sidetrack of Star Wars and Mass Effect left many consumers worried that those days were over. Dragon Age: Origins assuaged those fears. While it's a little dicey on consoles, the PC version is absolutely glorious. One of the best western RPGs ever made.
I very rarely play first-person shooters, so it's safe the say that Far Cry 3 succeeded from the get-go when it seemed compelling enough for me to buy it. It looks beautiful and plays very solidly, but I ran out of steam about 8 hours into the game. The combat lost my interest, and the plot was barely even there. It's a good game, but it wears out its welcome before its over.
I'm not really part of the core audience for open world games. Instead, I traditionally prefer releases with a strong narrative and polished gameplay, but the insanity that Saints Row: The Third has on offer won me over completely. The B-movie story, cheeky dialog, and madcap gameplay kept me engaged through the entire story and all of the story-based DLC. When all was said and done, I wanted even more Saints Row.…
I'm not really into logic puzzles, but I am a believer in Telltale Games. I bought the game at launch, and I was pleasantly surprised how the game can be simultaneously grim and hilarious. The puzzle game play is serviceable, but it's nothing to write home about. The art style, nutty Nordic influence, and creepy characters are dead on, though.
As a teenager, I loved Wolverine. When I saw they were making an all-Wolverine game, my young brain got excited. I bought it for $50, and boy was I disappointed. Bland graphics, an uninspired plot, and awful game play. How they managed to ruin a game where you play as a mutant with claws coming out of his knuckles is beyond me. This is, without a doubt, the worst game I own.
Balder's Gate and Neverwinter Nights defined Bioware's rise in the game industry, but Knights of the Old Republic took the company places D&D couldn't. With engrossing characters, a great franchise hook, and a plot twist that's still being talked about, KotOR put Bioware on the path towards Mass Effect and Dragon Age -- two dearly beloved franchises. This game really shows off the potential that dynamic storytelling…
Racism, sexism, and jingoism: three things that are rarely touched upon in video games serve as the backdrop of BioShock Infinite. On top of that sits a great sci-fi story with well-explored characters. Combined with the absolutely stunning visuals, this game is more than good -- it's important. The quality, themes, and visuals of this game will surely inspire developers going forward. We're bound to see this game…
Mass Effect 3 has had a hard time over the last year since it launched. There was outcry about the From Ashes DLC being for-pay at launch, and the endings took a lot of heat. The endings got tweaked with a piece of free DLC, Leviathan was received well, and Omega was something of a letdown. Citadel is a swansong for the trilogy, and a glorious one it is. The combat portion is about two hours worth of content, and it…
Read the full review Mass Effect 3: Citadel knocks it out of the space-park
I knew Dear Esther would be weird, but I didn't know what it would turn out to be. The vagueness of the story is intriguing. The subtle things like shadowy figures on mountains really makes this special. When it ended, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It's unique and wonderful. Just don't expect it to be like anything else you've played. The best part was that after playing through it again with some semi-random…
