In a feverous haze one Tuesday night, Evan sent me a link to a new Kinect indie title. Within moments of briefly skimming the press release and seeing that it said FMV, Kinect, and Chris Evans, I dropped everything I was doing and rushed to my Xbox. Fearing this was some kind of joke or PR stunt or something, I thought I should download it as soon as possible before it gets pulled for being too crazy or something. Well, it’s plenty crazy and we played through the whole thing so you won’t have to. [Read more...]
Crash Test: Intel Discovered
October 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dust: An Elysian Tail Review: Ashes To Ashes
August 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
Dean Dodrill. That’s a name anyone interested in playing XBLA’s Summer of Arcade closer Dust: An Elysian Tail should know. An artist by trade, he decided he wanted to make a video game, all by himself. So he taught himself how to program. That was nearly three years ago. The road to release has been a long one, for sure, and I can’t imagine how difficult designing a game by yourself must have been. I’m happy to report that from the designer’s perspective, it was worth the effort, and from the consumer’s perspective, it was worth the wait. Dust is fantastic.
Papo & Yo Review: A Tragedy In More Ways Than One
August 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The past few years, PSN and XBLA have been havens for pure artistic expression in video games. On these platforms, a single, driven designer could create something to their specifications. We saw this with Jonathan Blow’s Braid, we saw it with my personal game of the year thus far, Phil Fish’s Fez, and now we’re seeing it with Vander Caballero’s puzzle/platformer Papo & Yo. Highly autobiographical, Papo deals with a child learning to cope with his father’s alcoholism by retreating into a fantasy world. It is an incredibly brave attempt, and one I recommend people see for themselves. I cannot convey how bad it makes me feel to tell you, then, that Papo & Yo is a rather terrible game.
Dyad Review: Eye of the Duck
July 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The word “dyad” means a great many specific things across different fields, but those definitions are all bound by a simple similarity: in all cases, a dyad is a pair. Whether it be a pair of sister chromatids, a pair of musical notes, or a pair of people. The new PSN-exclusive racer Dyad is aptly named.
Fez Review: It’s All About Perspective
April 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Even this title card can be viewed multiple ways.
5 years of development time has all led to this point. Did Fez stand the test of time? Has it lived up to its positive sales numbers? Can I go through this entire review without making a Doctor Who reference?
Let’s Golf 3D Review: Accomplishing Its Goals
September 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Let's Golf has an Iceland environment. If you squint hard enough, you might see Tiger Woods being chased by his Nordic ex-wife.
With the 3DS having a lackluster games library, it is nice to see a game show off the handheld’s power that stays consistently fun. The colorful title has a full single-player mode, complete with a career, challenges, instant play, and free play. It also has a smaller two-player mode, that is played locally by passing off the handheld. This download-only title is available for only $6.99, and I found it to be worth every penny. [Read more...]
Toy Soldiers: Cold War Review
August 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Finally, after all the hoopla, Xbox’s Summer of Arcade 2011 has come to an end. From the critical darling Bastion to the party game Fruit Ninja Kinect, its been a pretty great year for the promotion. The final game released was Toy Soldiers: Cold War, and it’s a nice way to go out.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War is a pretty basic tower defense title with a few fun twists. For one, at any point you can hop into any of the turrets or battery-powered vehicles and fight the Commie scum yourself. If you do well enough in these sections you can unlock a barrage, which is essentially a killstreak. These are a lot of fun (one even allows you to play as a muscle bound Commando who constantly shouts “DON’T TREAD ON ME!” in hilarious fashion) but they are unfortunately a little too difficult to obtain, as I only got one a few times the whole campaign. Otherwise, the game performs quite well aside from a camera that wouldn’t perform correctly a couple of times.
The game does have a nice smattering of modes to help it out, including a survival mode (with co-op), versus mode, and a few minigames. All game types also have challenges you can complete and leaderboards for the competitor in you.
Probably my favorite thing about this game is the extremely well done Cold War vibe, which is played up nicely. The game constantly plays absurd 70′s and 80′s music, and the environments are as deliciously cliché as you can get. The game itself looks extremely good for a downloadable title; even the animations of the infantry are pretty solid. Ultimately, Toy Soldiers: Cold War won’t win over strategy game naysayers, but it’s a nice title to round out the Summer of Arcade.
The Good: An excellent homage to the era of Commando and Top Gun, tight strategy gameplay, a nice smattering of modes
The Bad: Some of the more ambitious aspects of gameplay could have been better, a disappointing lack of story
The Ugly: An occasionally finicky camera can annoy
Final Comments: Toy Soldiers: Cold War is worth a purchase almost as much for the atmosphere it exudes as the polished gameplay
Score: 8 out of 10
Bastion Review
July 20, 2011 By 4 Comments
Bastion is beautiful; there is no getting around it. Not just in visual art, but narrative as well. Every action you take has a deeper impact in the narrative than you would ever think possible. Instead of reading millions of lines in a codex, the world is explained through an omnipresent narrator with one of the most intoxicating voices in a game.
Discovering the lore and unraveling the story of Bastion is part of the appeal to this game, so going into too much detail is blasphemy. You play as the Kid, who wakes up after an apocalyptic event called the calamity. The Kid is alone in the world, except for a voice looming over him, explaining the story as the game unfolds. Not just saying “The Kid goes right” but explaining why that path was chosen, or why another one wasn’t, along with illuminating the history of different enemies and environments. This narrator doesn’t just spout out lines of information; he speaks his mind and his opinions on events are ever present. The rest of this gripping tale is up for the players to figure out.
Bastion can cater to all combat types with eleven distinctly different weapons from pistols to spears. The Kid is able to carry two of these weapons along with a shield, and one special skill at a time. In addition, the Kid can also equip special tonics that act as buffs. Gameplay is from an isometric view, however Bastion employs a real time combat system. Some enemies even have the ability to hit the ground hard enough to loosen chunks of the world, adding a twist on player strategy.
Free 360-degree control is given to the player to move all along the level. When moving through the world it is rather linear, with paths rising and falling before you. However, the landscape opens up wide for battles against multiple enemies and adds branching paths that usually lead to dead ends.
While only one path can lead to the objective, the journey there never ceases to amaze the eyes. Vibrant colors leap off the screen and you feel transported to a world full of wonder. One level may take you through an abandoned burning town, the next you’ll be in a lush, green jungle. Each area feels different than the last, all while retaining a similar world palette.
If Bastion becomes too easy, just throw on some Idols, making the enemies stronger and faster among other effects. Triggering these Idols also gives increased money and XP to the player. Every item, tonic, and Idol has a unique story beat to it making them engaging and entertaining to experiment with.
If the story isn’t enough, Bastion also supplies many weapon challenges to tackle. These challenges help teach how to use specific load-outs to the best of their ability, as well as introduce more depth to the world. Three arenas also await those who dare accept the challenge. Don’t be deterred by the wave based mode, these arenas bring even more backstory and depth to the few characters in the game, making the content difficult to disregard.
Bastion is a must play game and an excellent debut title for indie developer Supergiant Games. While it isn’t without flaws, such as long load times and the rare frame rate dip, the pros far out weigh any con. Great story, music, and art all mold together into one excellent title that no one should overlook.
Score: 9.5 out of 10
Ms. ‘Splosion Man Review
July 19, 2011 By 1 Comment
Over the last several years, Twisted Pixel has created some of the best and more memorable games in the industry. Likewise, their name has become synonymous with delight, hilarity, and more notably, peculiarity. Since it’s release back in 2009, ‘Splosion Man has won the hearts of many with it’s simplistic yet maddening gameplay style and refreshing sense of humor. It’s hard to think that this not-so-average studio would find a way to out do themselves, yet they have once again exceeded expectations with this explosive (see what I did there?) new sequel.
In case you haven’t heard, the game begins right where ‘Splosion Man left off. Big Science has captured their fiery foe, and in the midst of celebration inadvertently created his female counterpart. But just because the two creatures bear a resemblance doesn’t mean the game is a clone of it’s predecessor as well. In fact, Twisted Pixel added a ton of new features while also including some of the familiar ones we love to hate so much. For instance, instead of beginning each level from the end of the last, the devs contrived three separate world maps similar to that of Super Mario World. Not only does this make it easier to navigate levels, but the player can now choose to move ahead to the next stage or repeat a past stage to retrieve a missed collectible, earn a better score, etc. You can even load a “ghost” version of yourself or a friend and attempt to beat their/your own score. Another new and unique feature is “The Mall”. This hub of sorts is filled with some pretty sweet extras, like concept art, videos, and avatar awards. These extras can be purchased with points that you earn for completing each of the levels, and vary in price depending on which reward you want to unlock.
Local and online co-op make a welcome return. This multiplayer campaign mode consists of a completely separate set of levels. And if that isn’t enough ‘sploding for you, a third mode suitably called “Two Girls, One Controller” has been implemented to cover all your ‘sploding needs. As you may have guessed, this mode requires the control of two different colored Ms. ‘Splosion Man creations using only one controller. You can choose to do this by yourself, or with a buddy, one hand on each side of the controller. The thought of controlling two girls at once may be compelling and fun, but mastering the technique may prove itself impossible. Just like in real life (I assume).
Level design is much more massive this time around. The use of new gadgets and a departure from the monotonous Big Science environment really take advantage of how vast and tricky the new worlds can be. But be wary, Twisted Pixel upped the difficulty quite a few notches. Those who’ve played through the first game should catch on quickly, but if you’re unfamiliar in the slightest prepare to have your patience tested.
Amidst the inevitable video game drought this summer, Ms. Splosion Man is like a frosty 16oz mug of beer. Believe me when I say that Twisted Pixel knows what they’re doing, and they made all the right improvements. This new installment in the the ‘Splosion series is without a doubt one of the top downloadable games you will play this year. Let’s just hope Twisted Pixel doesn’t go for a hat trick and surprise us with “Son of ‘Splosion Man”. Seriously, no one wants to think about Jamie Kennedy.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Good: You finally get your chance to play with two girls at once
The Bad: Way too many loading screens
The Ugly: You’re gonna need a lot of patience with this challenging platformer
Score: 8 out of 10
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Second Opinion by Clint Prentice
Ms. ‘Splosion Man is to Twisted Pixel’s zany platforming mascot as Ms. Pac-Man was to Namco. A wild new adventure that has many of the same parts, all put together in a prettier package with a bow on top. The changes from ‘Splosion Man to Ms. ‘Splosion Man are welcomed to a long time platforming players such as a world map and tighter controls (yet still loose in comparison to a title like Super Meat Boy), and there is a plethora of more ‘sploding fun awaiting gamers. Twisted Pixel has outdone themselves in presentation, this is arguably their best looking game to date. The problems only come in once you dig deeper into the later levels, finding yourself stuck in a “fun-strating” puzzle that may take you a multitude of attempts to solve.
Even though she was genetically created only a short while ago, Ms. ‘Splosion Man is particularly well learned in 90′s pop culture. From spouting Spice Girls and Britney Spears lyrics, to dancing the Carlton, Ms. ‘Splosion Man is packed full of great one liners and animations. If you get stuck on a puzzle, you have the option to cheat on the game by moving to the next checkpoint, only you’ll be taking more than just a time penalty. Ms. ‘Splosion Man’s booty gets bootylicious big and perhaps the most side-splitting song about bodonkadonks there is plays continuously for the rest of the level. If you’re looking for a fun, but difficult 2D platformer for this year’s summer drought look no further than Ms. ‘Splosion Man.
Score: 8 out of 10
Parasite Eve II Coming to PSN at Some Point
July 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Coming to PSN…soon?
In March, North American Parasite Eve fans were treated to a double whammy as Square Enix released the original Parasite Eve released on the Playstation Network and the PSP-exclusive third entry in the series, The 3rd Birthday, followed shortly after. However the question was raised “Well, what about the second one? When does that release?” The answer to that question seems to be coming soon, or so we’d like to hope.
Game Informer reports on a new ESRB rating that shows that the game has been re-rated for a Playstation Network release. The game is rated for Mature audiences, and promises to feature some “Blood and Gore” as well as a bit of “Violence” thrown in as well. There’s no word of a release date yet, but it should be rather soon. At least one would hope.
