Joe Donato


22 games reviewed
66.0 average score
70 median score
38.1% of games recommended
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Jan 20, 2016

Set a game in a sterile underground facility, give the player physics-based powers and a first-person view, and it can be hard to stand out from the crowd of games inspired by Portal. Make it a tie-in to the Heroes Reborn television series and you're just piling on the red flags.

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Apr 18, 2014

For those that thought this would be a chance to play a Ninja Gaiden that wasn't too hard, stay a far away as possible. Yaiba isn't worth losing a controller or your sanity over.

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3 / 10.0 - DreadOut
May 17, 2014

On the one hand I have to commend DreadOut for trying to be more than the no-depth scare factories that so many other indie horror games aspire to. It's a callback to the third-person horror games of the PS1/PS2-era and I appreciate that. On the other hand, every attempt to inject that much-needed depth is met with frustrating design decisions. I wanted it to be over well before the end of its brief, two-hour playtime.

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3 / 10.0 - Daylight
May 1, 2014

There's simply nothing about Daylight that hasn't been done better elsewhere, leaving me with no choice but to recommend you avoid it at all costs.

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4 / 10.0 - Cloud Chamber
Aug 22, 2014

It asks for the players' money and time, yet they still must create the rewards for themselves. It looks expensive, with decent production values, semi-famous actors, and some real science fact behind the fiction, yet all that work, all that money, and all of your time never truly amounts to anything. We may never solve Kathleen's mystery, but I doubt that's the real tragedy here.

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4 / 10.0 - Cel Damage HD
May 13, 2014

As it is, being so barebones, it's an impossible game to recommend when I can think of several dozen racing and car combat games I'd rather be playing.

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6 / 10.0 - Tiny Brains
Dec 9, 2013

If a price tag doesn't bother you, and you have four controllers and friends, AND you don't mind a game that you'll never want to touch after a solid evening of fun, then Tiny Brains is still a worthy recommendation. That's a lot of caveats, though, and when there are games like Super Mario 3D World offering similar chaotic fun with hours of additional gameplay and challenge, Tiny Brains doesn't make the grade.

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6 / 10.0 - Outlast
Feb 5, 2014

The bigger issue is that Outlast accomplishes far more as an experience than it does as a game. That would be fine, but it tries to be a game more often than its stealth mechanics and AI could bear. Is it scary? For sure. But it's also capable of falling apart completely, deflating its own scare tactics, and leaving you wondering why Miles Upsher can't throw a single punch.

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7 / 10.0 - Lovely Planet
Aug 13, 2014

Lovely Planet may go down in history as the most pleasant way to brush up on your FPS skills this side of Portal.

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7 / 10.0 - Among the Sleep
Jun 21, 2014

Among the Sleep is ultimately a cool experience worth seeing through to the end. There's a novelty to the perspective that's hard to deny, and when the game focuses on that it's great. If you enjoy a brisk, atmospheric journey from a fresh perspective, Among the Sleep is a solid choice.

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Jun 1, 2014

The game is long enough -- clocking in at around ten hours -- that trimming some of the fat doesn't seem like a bad idea. It's a game brimming with potential, and I'd still recommend it if you don't mind some rough edges for the sake of fresh storytelling. It may be a pain sometimes, but my urge to see it through a second time despite that speaks volumes.

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Aug 4, 2014

Enjoy random thoughts about the latest games, the Sega Saturn, or the occasional movie review? Follow me @JoeDonuts!

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Mar 16, 2014

As a zombie twin-stick shooter it gets the job done, but it's qualities are lessened by its lost potential. It's lost in the shadows of better games.

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7 / 10.0 - Sniper Elite III
Jul 10, 2014

Without a strong setting, characters, or story to hold it all together, Sniper Elite 3 lives and dies on its gameplay mechanics.

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Aug 9, 2014

After a few hours I did eventually have my fill of Sixty Second Shooter Prime. I played Geometry Wars for months, but while I enjoy and recommend SSSP, I don't think I'll have the same relationship with it.

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Apr 5, 2014

The competitive game at the heart of Towerfall Ascension is still the main event, so if you don't have extra controllers and friends you'll probably want to pass. That said, it's nice that there's something fun to do with the game even when you're on your own. It's not enough to recommend the game entirely as a solo experience, but I still had a ton of fun with it and see myself going back for more, even if no one is around.

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May 13, 2014

Whistleblower hits far fewer snags than the original Outlast in its attempt to scare the bejeezus out of you. It's a brisk, enjoyable, genuinely scary experience, and a great supplement to the story of the core game. If you already liked Outlast there is no doubt in my mind that you'll love Whistleblower. And if you only sort-of-liked the original, well, there's good news for you here too.

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8 / 10.0 - Hohokum
Aug 29, 2014

Hohokum is a delight. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and plan to go back for every last collectible and trophy, zipping around its colorful world for at least a couple more hours. More importantly it's a real game, with satisfying goals and puzzles to solve.

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It would be easy to give Crimes & Punishments the typical "for fans of the genre" recommendation, but I think it aspires to and accomplishes more than that. Sure, it has some rough edges, and not every case is a home run, but the Deduction system makes it all worthwhile.

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May 27, 2015

House of Wolves is a turning point for Destiny, with smart changes that warrant a return even for those that gave up on it.

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