Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece
When I was growing up, educational games were about as well-intentioned and underwhelming as clothes for a Christmas present. Being on a healthy diet of Nintendo I was able to recognize the shortcomings in school offerings like Math Blaster. Solving math problems using the simplest of mechanics was elevated by the sole fact that I got to play a game during school hours. Mario is Missing! was one o...[Read More]
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint: Hands-on Preview
Minutes into Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the tonal shift from its predecessor, Wildlands, is apparent. A small fleet of helicopters carrying 32 other Ghosts have been dispatched to the Auroa archipelago to investigate the mysterious sinking of the USS Seay. In an instant, Operation Greenstone commences. In an instant it is doomed. The helicopters are attacked and you, as Nomad, lead...[Read More]
The Blackout Club
The Blackout Club‘s prologue is a tantalizing appetizer. Once players begin to chew on this 30-minute morsel, they are introduced to a neighborhood-gone-wrong scenario that culls from the Hardy Boys, Stranger Things, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Lovecraftian sentiment. Our world is established in minutes. The town of Redacre is an island unto itself, there’s no cellular signal to t...[Read More]
They Are Billions (PS4)
They Are Billions is the type of game that thrives off the infinite permutations of random, chaotic moments. Those unexpected periods of time where the player is left surprised, gleeful, in awe, or hopelessly defeated make for the best and most relatable stories. They pique interest and incentivize experimentation. “Well I was so busy scouting out a ravaged town for materials that I failed t...[Read More]
Growtopia
For the better part of a decade, mobile devices have become an intrinsic part of modern parenting. Is little Johnny crying? Pull up YouTube on your phone and let him become absorbed in a video at full volume much to the ire of everyone in proximity who has to hear it too. I’ve seen kids beg for tablets and phones so they can plop down and poke at a screen and play mostly mindless games flood...[Read More]
Warhammer: Chaosbane
Before attending my first E3 I had virtually no knowledge of the Warhammer universe. Back in college, I was walking around a city in France with a friend and we passed by a comic book store next to a cathedral–you know, as one does. We looked inside and he was surprised at the amount of Warhammer merchandise inside, commenting that it must be a pretty big deal there. Over the years I’v...[Read More]
My Friend Pedro (PC)
My Friend Pedro exists in the microcosm of Devolver Digital’s warm embrace. Anyone familiar with the publisher’s catalog would see gameplay of DeadToast Entertainment’s John Woo-like shooting acrobatics and immediately recognize the familiar stamp of frenetic style, just without the barrage of doves. Like many, I first latched onto this particular brand of batshit insanity with H...[Read More]
PixARK
The fever pitch surrounding the final season of Game of Thrones often served as a barometer for how insufferable a person’s opinion can be. Twitter was a swamp of those claiming to have never seen the show, proclaiming it from the mountaintops like a point of pride. Somehow, being detached from the show made you cooler and edgier and everyone needed to know. Through multiple faults of my own...[Read More]
A Plague Tale: Innocence
In the days since wrapping up the final chapter of A Plague Tale: Innocence, I’ve been left wondering one thing: Why is this fun? The Black Death was responsible for wiping out over half of Europe’s population in the 14th century. One of the world’s most infamous pandemics is a dark period of time mainly left to the history books. We read about the horrific suffering and disease ...[Read More]
Arca’s Path
Arca’s Path is not the kind of virtual reality game most would expect. The narrative of VR as a platform runs through a constant and nearly irreversible cycle. A dozen games come along that are on-rails, first-person experiences. In one instance there’s guns or swords, in the other there’s mechs or spacecraft. Among the deluge are one or two games that subvert expectations by eit...[Read More]
Fade to Silence
Call it persistence. Call it perseverance. Call it a will to live. Rarely does the chugging machinery of simply existing feel like anything but the most herculean of tasks. Drinking water, consuming sustenance, and getting in a few tired winks staves off an unceremonious death, day after day. Looking at the mere act of survival in such clinical terms can often put your life in perspective. Most th...[Read More]
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
If you were to plop Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition into someone’s console and tell them it was a game created in the last two years, I think they would believe it. Of course, this person would need to have played games for quite awhile to understand the ebb and flow of how the industry has evolved. And this person must have no previous knowledge of the existence of Borderlands or hear...[Read More]