Will you enjoy Cruelty Squad? I don’t know. It’s a hard game to recommend. It feels like it rips mechanics wholesale out of slick, satisfying shooters like the old Rainbows Six, Deus Ex, or Hitman. Except it’s also intentionally opaque, refusing to lend players a hand in deciphering its visuals or navigating its oppressive atmosphere. And yet, I’m still here gnawing on this coconut, because the pain is worth the taste of that delicious joy.
PowerWash Simulator fits nicely into my gaming lineup as the ultimate low-energy game. When my brain is tired, or I’m not in the mood to compete or struggle in any way, I grab a power washer. It’s become a fantastic wind-down game before bed. I may never be a homeowner, but I can capture the most relaxing bits of home care with none of the hassle, and that’s pretty nice.
Mundaun still delivers eight to 10 well-paced hours of slow-burning horror. There are no endless exposition dumps or scary monsters jumping into frame. The story is just interesting, competently paced, and set on a believable and beautiful stage. Turns out, that’s all a game needs to be a good play on a dark weekend night.
But Little Hope’s ending ruined the game for me. It invalidates everything that came before it so thoroughly that I can’t help but feel like it was probably a waste of time.
Secretly one of the better shooters of 2020.
Dwarrows doesn’t try to be everything, and the result is a welcome throwback to a game that was once lost to the late 90s.
Reforged ultimately feels like a dusty museum exhibit more than a faithful remaster or an update into the modern age. It could have been an excellent way to introduce this story and game to a new generation. Instead, it’s a halfhearted release that misses the opportunity to bring Warcraft 3 back to its old audience while hopefully finding a new one.
I like Not for Broadcast, but it looks like a The Fly-style experiment grafted together from two different games. I would like very much to play either of them separately, but putting them together weakens the final product. There’s time for developer NotGames to right the ship, however, and the mechanics are intriguing enough to keep me interested in the next chapter.
I still have stress dreams some day that I’m back in school and the exam is tomorrow and I haven’t studied; it’s nice to see a critical part of my life back in The Sims 4, where it can inspire a whole new set of anxieties and disasters.
Perhaps there’s an angle from which Superliminal is a satisfying, Portal-style thriller, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find that angle. And as the game was so fond of reminding me, perception is reality.
Obsidian has pulled off the delicate task of creating an RPG that feels big while still keeping control of the overall scope of the game itself.
GreedFall wants to be a great big game, but without the resources of a huge publisher, many of its components feel half-baked.
These issues are trifling compared to the unexpected amount of enjoyment I got out of this little title.
It’s just a matter of whether players have the guts needed to dig deep into the questions The Executioner is asking — and what they might find out about themselves, and their place in society, once they do.
Overall, this puzzle game is short, sweet, and delightful ... despite occasionally crushing my dreams. And I’m always up for another try.
Realm of Magic works best in small doses, but much of the content makes the base game less enjoyable, not more.
The stakes are high in Blair Witch, as these woods aren’t known to take prisoners. But with two characters at the heart of this game, I only really care about one of them coming home alive.
The dreamlike way Erica flows from scene to scene is also both a strength and a weakness. There are no hiccups or stutters in the narrative, but it also hides the major turning points of the story, or at least the moments when my decisions really make a difference. It's going to be interesting to go back and try again, making different choices. The relatively short running time gives that option extra appeal, especially if you're surrounding yourself with new people who don't know what's going to happen.
The Blackout Club is messy, buggy, weird, and I can’t stop playing it
The end result is effective; Elsinore is like a beautiful little onion, and peeling away the layers over the course of a playthrough is sheer pleasure.