Mom ♥ You love her in spite of the fact that she couldn’t stick a 360 Indy Nosebone if her life depended on it and let’s not even mention her Kill/Death Ratio. I’ve seen plenty of lists out there about Top Games for Children or Top Games to Play With Your Kids but very few lists have been compiled for that most special of niche gamer: Mom. In honor... (more...)
A Valley Without Wind Developer: Arcen Games Publisher: Arcen Games Platforms: PC Release Date: 04.24.2012 A Valley Without Wind, created by Arcen Games, is an action platformer with an emphasis on exploration and collection that possesses deceptively deep RPG elements. It’s difficult to nail down exactly what genre AVWW falls under as it incorporates some... (more...)
Wrack, by Final Boss Entertainment, is a new FPS currently under development that looks like a lovingly constructed “throwback” to the nostalgic days of Doom. Your character moves around at break neck speeds, battling enemies with an assortment of futuristic weaponry. The graphics are cell-shaded, meaning they immediately conjure parallels to games like... (more...)
World of Battles: Morningstar is a tactical RTS game in the same vein as the Total War series. You assemble an army to do battle with other well worn fantasy tropes for gold to upgrade your armies’ equipment or purchase additional unit types and XP to level up your Leader and open up new gameplay possibilities. You have the option of selecting your faction from... (more...)
Coloropus is a vibrant adventure game and physics based puzzler. You play as an octopus separated from his lady love. In order to find and rescue her you must progress through the underwater areas, absorbing and combining colors to overcome various environmental challenges. For example, if a red fish is greedily eating up all your necessary blue pellets, you can... (more...)
Each year our video game addiction is sated with a fair share of good games, but sometimes great games never see the light of day. Below is a short list of some of the most promising games that we’ll never have a chance to play, because they don’t exist. Ultima Worlds Online: Origin Set to become one of the most stunning MMOs of it’s time this game... (more...)
Alan Wake, created by Remedy, is a third person action game, psychological thriller and love letter to the early works of Stephen King. You play as the titular Alan Wake, a famous horror writer who, along with his wife Alice, leaves New York City to vacation in the rural American Northwestern town of Bright Falls in hopes that it will alleviate his writers block. However,... (more...)
One of my friends lives about 2000 miles away. We rarely see each other but we keep in touch by playing games together. Several nights during the week we jump on Skype and decide which of the various Free2Play games we’re going to play. We are both very experienced gamers so our options span the gamut of available genres. FPS, TPS, RTS, MMO or something a little... (more...)
MechWarrior Online is an upcoming competitive Mech Combat game being developed by Pirahhna Games. I keep getting more excited about the potential for this game the more I learn about it. From what I can tell it aims to faithfully reproduce the bombastic and strategic combat of the classic Mech Warrior series and intertwine it with modern sensibilities. I have been a... (more...)
Deep Black Reloaded, created by BiArt, is a cover based third person shooter with an emphasis on underwater combat. You play as a Special Ops agent sent in to investigate some possible terrorist activity on the high seas. When you begin the game you are quickly given some exposition about who you are and what your doing, but it’s given in a rather sophmoric tone.... (more...)
The Path, created by Tale of Tales, is a deeply engrossing and haunting retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale told through brilliant abstract imagery, an ingeniously crafted soundscape and a prying look into the darker side of human nature and the perils faced by a girl on her journey toward adulthood. The adventure begins inside the home of the Sisters... (more...)
Dear Esther is a morose interactive storybook which was originally a Half-Life 2 mod and now returns several years later as a retail release powered by the optimized Source engine used in Portal 2. Dear Esther is gorgerous. There will no doubt be controversy as to whether it is a good game and the case could even be made that it isn’t even a game at all, but... (more...)
The Darkness II is a dark and moody graphic novel style first person shooter with a very unique battle system, an interesting linear storyline but some fairly cliché characters. It’s dark atmospheric environments look great. The Darkness II utilizes a stylized cell shading effect that takes it’s cue from Borderlands but uses less cartoonishly proportioned... (more...)
Aliens: Infestation is a 2D Platformer that fits comfortably into the “Metroidvania” subgenre. It is a thoughtful homage to the classic 1986 sci-fi thriller, Aliens – the second in the original trilogy. It’s setting is remarkably realized for a DS game. Almost every element feels lifted right off the set of the timeless Cameron film, and every... (more...)
Recently, MKay wrote an article entitled: What Turns A Gamer Into a Trophy/Achievement Junkie? While it was an informative and well written piece, it’s core viewpoint (namely achievements are good) was one which I disagree with. So this article isn’t so much a ‘companion’ to it as much as it is a ‘frenemy‘ For the purposes of this... (more...)
To the Final Frontier and Back Home Again Sol Exodus is a diamond in the rough. It doesn’t try to simulate an entire galaxy of barren worlds or force you to learn about things like trade routes or remember the market price of Unobtainium. What it does do is space combat and manages to do it well while including a nice selection of mechanics that simplifies but also... (more...)
Tribes: Ascend is a new class based competitive multiplayer game being developed by Hi-Rez Studios. It is an exciting and visceral experience requiring more tactical thinking and hand/eye coordination than your average Deathmatch experience. In Tribes: Ascend each player is equipped with a jetpack that can be used in short bursts before it is expended and needs a... (more...)
