Blog Archives
Evoland Review – A Love Song To Zelda And Friends
The magic of discovery is an extremely hard thing to capture, and an even harder thing to write about. If the whole charisma of a game is wrapped up in the discovery of the game itself, how do you write a review about said game without spoiling it? Such is my dilemma with the excellent Evoland, by indie studio Shiro Games.
Find out if I figure out how to do so after the break. Read the rest of this entry
The Bridge Review – Turn The World Upsidedown
The Bridge, developed by Ty Taylor and Mario Castañeda, is an award winning 2D logic puzzle game that started life as a university project and has since become an Indie favorite.
If M.C. Escher was a game designer, The Bridge would have been his darling project. If you’re a fan of twisted images and perspective puzzles, this is a game for you. Read on for more.
Tomb Raider Review: Rust, Dust, and a lot of Fuss
Written By: Justin Koop
In Crystal Dynamics’ 2013 reboot of the fledgling Tomb Raider series, you take control of Lara Croft, a 21-year-old archaeologist who becomes stranded on the mystical island of Yamatai. Right from the outset the game establishes itself as completely separate from its predecessors. Crystal Dynamics pulled the franchise’s decaying body from a vat filled with 1990’s action movies and Barbie boob-physics, and plunged it deep into the grey-brown filtered “next-gen” bucket; this Tomb Raider is rust, dust, and a lot of fuss.
Read our full Tomb Raider review after the break. Read the rest of this entry
The Demented, Frustrating World of Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller — Episode 2
Well you gotta give it Phoenix Online Studios: they sure know how to open a story. The first episode of Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller began in medias res with Erica Reed and her partner bursting into a cemetery in order to take down a notorious serial killer who had kidnapped Erica’s younger brother. It does not end happily. Episode 2 begins with a seemingly innocuous conversation between Erica and her sorta-boyfriend/friendzoned-guy-with-benefits Sully. This innocent interaction takes a dark turn quickly, and Erica is on the trail of yet another brutal serial murderer.
I could pretty much copy-and-paste my Episode 1 review. On the positive side, the story is very engaging; the visuals are top notch for a downloadable title; and the voice acting is consistently great. On the negative, the point-and-click gameplay is very limiting and often frustrating, and the mechanics introduced in Episode 1 — Erica’s psychic powers — are improved here, but remain mostly undeveloped. There are a few addendums to the previous review, however. Most them, unfortunately, negative. Read the rest of this entry
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Review – A Different Type of Horror
It’s hard to recommend XSEED Games’ Corpse Party: Book of Shadows to anyone but the most devout fans of the franchise. It’s one of the scariest games available on the PSP or the PS Vita, however if you’ve not played the original game, then Book of Shadows will confuse you to no end. Not only does the game contain eight disjointed stories, it doesn’t have a straightforward beginning, middle, or end. Oh and it concludes in a way that left me with my jaw on the floor thinking “What the f*** just happened here?”
On the other hand if you’ve played the original Corpse Party, then by all means get Book of Shadows. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows consists of a series of lengthy vignettes that explore and expand the original game’s lore, characteres, and world. The core gameplay may have been different, but it still captivated me with it’s constant, pervasive, sense of dread, deep characters, and leave-it-to-your-imagination deaths. Since I played the original I knew what was coming, but oh boy did the buildup (and a few surprises) grab me by the throat and never let go.
Check out our full Corpse Party: Book of Shadows review after the break. Read the rest of this entry
Spec Ops: The Line Review
If Developer YAGER wanted Spec Ops: The Line players to feel dirty, disgusted, and demoralized, as they played the game, then they’ve succeeded. Not only did I feel like I needed a shower, there were countless times where I second-guessed myself about pulling the trigger. Other shooter games glorify war by making killing an emotionless task, but Spec Ops: The Line makes you feel the repercussions of each bullet fired, each execution, and each dreadful choice you have to make.
Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter that takes players into darkest places of the human psyche rarely ever explored in war games. If reading Heart of Darkness or watching Apocalypse Now showed you the horrible actions men can do during war, then Spec Ops: The Line will make you experience it first hand. Read our full review after the break. Read the rest of this entry
Primal Carnage Review
From Lukewarm Media, Primal Carnage is a death-match style multiplayer game that pits dinosaurs against humans in an unnamed exotic locale (that we may or may not have first seen in 1993). When I first heard of this game, it was hard not to picture a group of humans quickly being eviscerated by their larger, pointier-toothed enemies. It was even harder not to picture everyone immediately jumping onto Team Dinosaur, because let’s be honest, who hasn’t dreamed of one day becoming a raptor?
Check out our full Primal Carnage review after the break. Read the rest of this entry
Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller — Episode One Review
Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller — Episode One: The Hangman is the first of a planned four episodes from Phoenix Online Studios. You may have heard their name tossed around a couple of years ago for creating The Silver Lining, a 5-episode spiritual continuation of the classic King’s Quest series (which, I’m happy to report, are some of the very few point-and-click adventures that have ever hooked me). Cognition is Phoenix’s first original IP and — while it does not live up to the estimable King’s Quest series — it’s a great looking adventure with some great storytelling. Read the rest of this entry
Far Cry 3 Review – A Descent Into Insanity
Have I ever told you the definition of insanity?
Hands down the best game I’ve played all year, Far Cry 3 improves on everything that was great with the last game; all the while incorporating successful and proven game loops (mechanics) from open-world titles like Assassin’s Creed and Red Dead Redemption to create a seamless game world as well as a story that grabs players by the throat and never lets go, even after the game ends.
During a fun, responsibility-free vacation with his girlfriend, friends, and brothers, Far Cry 3′s protagonist Jason Brody gets captured by vicious slave-trading pirates. Led by the psychotic Vaas, these violent thugs separate Jason from his friends and force him to defend himself against his insane capturer and his crew whilst doing everything he can to survive not only the dangers of the island, but the local tribes and gangs within it.
It’s a simple hook, yet it’s also a perfect case study of the extremes humans are capable of doing for their loved ones. It’s not just another run-of-the-mill action filler, it’s a story of a man forced to rely on his most primal, predatory instincts to survive and save the lives of his friends and family in this island where kill-or-be-killed is a way of life. Read the rest of this entry
SunFlowers Review – Just What the PS Vita Needed
Regular readers of SonyRumors will note a story about how $50 PlayStation Vita games might be hurting the powerful PSP successor. While I certainly believe that there is room for AAA titles like Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, and Assassin’s Creed, the PS Vita also needs a good selection of unique and low cost games to help it capture the casual and price conscious consumers.
Our SunFlowers review looks at the $3.99 downloadable title to see if its just what the PS Vita needs to help it balance its game catalogue. Check out the full review after the break.
