Author: Karen M. Menke
A particular type of friction can significantly contribute to the creation of a demanding and penal game that is also While many post-apocalyptic first-person shooters are not particularly heart-stopping, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is. It is designed to produce the kind of friction that is essential to making a demanding, punitive, and engaging game. It becomes evident that the survival instincts ingrained in the STALKER series are still very much alive in this much-anticipated sequel when you are forced to fend for yourself in the face of numerous threats that might kill you at any time and rarely have…
Amazingly, I can still rank Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake as one of the best games I have ever played in a year already jam-packed with fantastic remakes like Persona 3 Reload and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. This is not because it aims to completely reimagine the 1988 NES original, as Square Enix did with Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth, but rather because it achieves an almost flawless balance between staying true to the core elements of Dragon Quest III and incorporating contemporary quality-of-life enhancements and a stunning new look that makes exploring and fighting through its surprisingly…
Today, the studio revealed a gift basket filled with items for new and returning fans on its website, providing them with an update on the festivities. The announcement is sufficient to ease the wait, even though it is not exactly the Half-Life 3 reveal that fans have waited twenty years for. The most anticipated announcement is a two-hour making-of video from the Half-Life 1 documentary’s Secret Tape crew. For a behind-the-scenes look at how the studio dealt with running out of money, getting hacked, creating its PC retail Steam, and more, Valve says ardent fans may begin seeing the Half-Life…
Aside from a few irksome quality-of-life problems and bugs, Metal Slug Tactics’ superb retro-inspired shell houses a well-made, distinct, grid-based tactics roguelite that deftly adapts its frantic roots into a more orderly genre without missing a step. Metal Slug Tactics beautifully translates the run-n-gun series into its first turn-based tactics game, but it also does not sacrifice substance for cheap nostalgia. Tactics place you in charge of the Peregrine Falcons, an elite fighting force inside The Normal Army, much to most mainline Metal Slug games (the most recent being Metal Slug 7 from 2009). Metal Slug’s legions of different enemy…
Ever ponder how we arrived here? More precisely, “How did a one-off, cooperative survival mode in a video game that used to display phrases about the horrors of war on screen when you died turn into this?” rather than in an existential, “Where did we come from?” manner. After 16 years, it is difficult to connect the ridiculous, Resident Evil 6-inspired campfest Zombies with what the original Nazi Zombies mode from 2008’s World at War used to be. I do not mean to sound negative, but Black Ops 6’s version of the mode is exciting and different because of its…
Playing No More Room in Hell 2 can occasionally make you feel as though you are in hell. You are on your way to a console to begin flipping switches with buddies for one minute, and then you are trapped. You can not equip any of your items, your keyboard inputs do not work, and your colleagues have to try to entice a zombie over in the hopes that it will end your suffering. Character models are lacking, there is only one map available thus far, and there are many more flaws to be found. These issues are just a…
The campaign for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a much-needed revitalization of the venerable first-person shooter game and is a spy thriller deserving of its moniker. It examines what has historically made the greatest CoD single-player modes so outstanding and, to great results, adds its own innovative and thrilling concepts. Black Ops 6’s captivating variety and remarkable size offer a fantastic return to form while telling one of the most captivating stories the series has ever seen. Military action films have been a major influence on CoD campaigns since the 2003 original. This trend began logically with classic…
In any other case, The Lake House would seem like a pleasant place to spend a calm summer vacation. However, in this instance, it is anything but, as it serves as the backdrop for the second and last episode of the Alan Wake II DLC. This fast-paced, two-hour tour inside the chilly, concrete walls of a distant Federal Bureau of Control facility offers no rest or leisure—only another double-fisted dose of flashlights and guns. In terms of gameplay, The Lake House is not as crazy as Night Springs was a few months ago, but for the Remedy Entertainment team, it…
I get your question: does playing the virtual reality Batman game make me feel like Batman? The answer, however, is no. I never once felt like I had a billion dollars during the lengthy gameplay of Batman: Arkham Shadow and the simulation would never be finished without it. However, by incorporating all of the hallmarks of Rocksteady’s renowned series—punchy combat, a complex level design reminiscent of Metroidvania that unlocks more and more as you gain new abilities, and some genuinely challenging optional puzzles—it did a remarkable job of giving me the impression that I was playing an actual Arkham game.…
In A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, an alien threat who is constantly watching over you like the most evil version of Siri is just one creaky floorboard away from snuffing you out. For most of us, the worst punishment for making too much noise might be a reprimanded shush from the movie theater seat behind you. In addition to closely referencing films like Alien: Isolation in its portrayal of the hesitant rodent caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse, this immediate fail, stealth-heavy horror narrative does a pretty good job of re-creating the suspenseful tension of the…