Reviews
Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren’s Call Review
Aug 22, 2016
Following the story of Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart, comes Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren’s Call, another adventure for Sarah Black to partake in, as her involvement with Davy Jones is far from over. Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren’s Call is an improvement not only for the genre but the series that shows that Artifex Mundi doesn’t rely on its laurels, and has made a beautiful-looking game that is rewarding to play.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Review
Aug 22, 2016
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a darker game to that of Deus Ex: Human Revolution where fear, hatred, and paranoia of augmented humans has reached new heights whereby segregation has returned, and is a low-point in human history once more. The game carefully dilutes this allegory of modern context into something entertaining, and while there’s not much to really gain from what transpires, it does shed some light on how these fears can lead to racial tension. Despite the lessons being taught here, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has some wonderfully slick gameplay that lets you be loud or stealthy, and lethal or non-lethal. This is where the action becomes the vehicle that carries you through this compelling story of “Naturals” vs “Augs”.
F1 2016 Review
Aug 19, 2016
Much like Red Bull during the 2015 season, Codemasters didn’t have as good of an F1 game as they could have, as many features were culled and the experienced suffered from what seemed like a “filler” game as the series shifted from old to new consoles. Though F1 2015 looked and played better than prior entries, it just lacked the longevity the games have been known for. Codemasters seemed to have learned from past mistakes. F1 2016 isn’t perfect, but it is a huge leap forward for the series, the sport, and the players who will get to enjoy a fully-featured FIA Formula One game in years.
Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart Review
Aug 15, 2016
Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart was released in 2012, and made its way onto Steam in 2014. While not much time has passed even from its initial release, the game’s hand-drawn art style, this game does hold up in terms of art and presentation, but its cutscenes are a bit lacking. It otherwise is a solid game for all ages in 2016.
Kerbal Space Program (PS4) Review
Aug 15, 2016
I’ve never really dabbled in Early Access games before, Kerbal Space Program was the exception. The thought of running my own space exploration center just seemed too good to pass up. I put in a few hours into the PC version and had some fun trying to make it to the Mun, unfortunately most of my attempts were unsuccessful. The dream died after a while and on the back burner it went until I heard that they were porting the game to consoles. Suddenly my interest had piqued, Kerbal on a platform I play 95% of the time? Too good to be true I said. I was right, the final release on PlayStation 4 suffers from performance issues and bugs that quickly put a damper on the game.
Road to Ballhalla Review
Aug 08, 2016
The Road to Ballhalla is paved with lasers and environmental puzzles accessed via balls, and you must outwit in order to make your way there. This inventive ball-rolling adventure is full of flair with crisp and clean visuals that is then accentuated by a punchy soundtrack. Road to Ballhalla is familiar by looks, but is anything what you expect when you actually start playing. Road to Ballhalla is a surprise in all the best ways.
Layers of Fear: Inheritance DLC Review
Aug 05, 2016
Layers of Fear: Inheritance is a great compliment to Layers of Fear, as it came out at the right time and is a rare instance where the DLC exceeds the quality and storytelling of the core game. Layers of Fear ended up being more about jump scares and mind-bending visual tricks while telling its tale of insanity-ridden artist. Together, these games form the cleverly named Masterpiece Edition, and are two different games that creates very effective gameplay.
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair Review
Jul 29, 2016
There is only one other Earth Defense Force game has been on PC, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair is the one that gets it right: 1080p, 60fps, and even anti-aliasing. While the game itself isn’t a visual powerhouse, this is the best a Earth Defense Force game has ever looked. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair is also the best-playing game of the series – combine this with the ability to play cooperatively online with a friend, and you’ve got magic in the making. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 is not technically or visually impressive, but it makes a case for unadulterated fun being core to a game experience over the latter.
Lovely Planet Arcade Review
Jul 22, 2016
Lovely Planet Arcade has one of the most infectious soundtracks this side of Katamari Damacy, perhaps more so than the original Lovely Planet back in 2014. Lovely Planet Arcade also has one of the smoothest difficulty curves in recent memory, and much like its predecessor, will have you running through a level, shooting with utmost precision. There’s a couple of changes this time around that fundamentally change how the game is played, and while it proves to be interesting, it loses something in the process.
Dangerous Golf Review
Jul 20, 2016
Born out of Criterion, Three Fields Entertainment has created Dangerous Golf, a golf game that’s not really golf but a game that provides satisfying gameplay and pure destruction of inanimate objects. It avoids the cliches of destroying vehicles or even people as its form of entertainment. Dangerous Golf is a great excuse to break stuff and looks good while doing it.
Ghostbusters Review
Jul 18, 2016
There’s nothing more concerning than the release of a videogame around the release of a motion picture film. It feels like a quick cash-in and usually leads to a major letdown as either the game replicates the events of the movie. Ghostbusters however, goes in a unexpected direction, going for all-new characters with seemingly no tie-ins to any movie, past or present. The experience, while it is entertaining early on, quick fades into a dull-drum wade through repetition and boredom.
Dex Enhanced Edition Review
Jul 14, 2016
Sci-fi Cyber Punk is a genre that is pretty popular these days, but I still feel it has a very small niche in the gaming market. The biggest franchise to move forward in the genre is Dues Ex. So it’s nice to see a game surprise me as much as DEX does. It might have a small indie background, but it has a cyber mechanical heart of metal.
One Piece: Burning Blood Review
Jul 05, 2016
“Oh look it’s another One Piece game” is probably something that is mumbled across players breathes when a new title in the franchise is released. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but the franchise gets more love then most when it comes to videogame releases. While most of the more recent releases have been brawlers or RPGs, here we have a fighting games. Does it have enough action and interesting for fans and newcomers though?
Prison Architect: Console Edition Review
Jun 28, 2016
Prison Architect has been kicking around awhile in alpha form since 2012 on PC. A successful crowdfunding campaign later and the game finally saw release late last year. I had enjoyed my time with this prison management simulator back in the alpha but would the the fun management and easy to navigate controls of a mouse and keyboard translate well to the PlayStation 4?
MXGP2: The Official Motocross Videogame Review
Jun 27, 2016
“Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” Falling in MXGP2 happens quite often in the early goings as you get yourself acquainted with the controls. Once you are able to keep up-right, you’ll see that MXGP2 is a motocross game that is dedicated to the simulation of the sport. While MXGP2: The Official Motocross Videogame is lengthy to say, it is surprisingly fun to play.
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