Chandler Wood's Reviews
World War II was the right move. Call of Duty reaches back to its roots to bring players an entry worthy of the series' namesake. The campaign is emotional, multiplayer is classic, and Nazi Zombies is downright dark and terrifying. No matter which kind of player you are, there is something for everyone, whether it's a cinematic story, a competitive and social multiplayer, or an immensely difficult battle against undead Nazis. Call of Duty: WWII is another incredible package of experiences, each distinct from the others, but tied together by the unifying themes of World War II that deserve your attention.
Hidden Agenda has all the trappings of a Supermassive game, but its potential is cut short as Crime Thriller: The Party Game. Stiff animations give the impression that Hidden Agenda was rushed. While the PlayLink technology has potential and does some really cool things by turning your phone into a controller, it also adds unnecessary complications to a game that uses the second screen functionality as more of a gimmick than a core gameplay mechanic. Hidden Agenda is a good game, but is held back from being great by trying to fit it into the party game mold.
Detention has something to say. It has something to say about the sweeping themes of militant government regimes. It has something to say about each one of our personal hells and the journey towards even the smallest bit of redemption. It has something to say but it never shouts. It slides its message in silently like a blade into your gut. Even with some of the miscues in storytelling, Detention never lets up on making sure that players feel uneasy and uncomfortable, pressing you until that final twist of the knife. It's not a difficult game. It's not a long game. But it's a game that will stick with you well after the credits have rolled.
At its core, I understand what AER: Memories of Old was trying to do. AER has a deep story to tell and it has a beautiful way that it wants to do it, but it never manages to marry those ideas. Wanton exploration with little-to-no real payoff becomes a chore—a beautiful chore sure, but a chore nonetheless. There are only so many times I can shift back and forth between bird and human midair before I need something else to drive my engagement. Telling the story through environment, providing better direction, and rewarding extensive exploration are just a few things that could have really helped AER to escape the high res, low poly shell that it is, but AER: Memories of Old is simply too empty to feel like anything more.
There isn't a deeply strategic RTS hiding within No More Heroes! VR, but it does offer a clever commentary on one of gaming's most persistent and often silliest mechanics, and sometimes it's nice to kick back and be the bad guy for a change.
Despite these couple of technical misgivings, South Park: The Fractured But Whole is another interactive journey into the minds of Matt Stone and Trey Parker. I quite literally felt like I was playing the show for the 15 hours that I spent in South Park–not surprising, given that the first game met that uncanny caliber of delivering a near perfect recreation. If easily offended, chances are you've already written off South Park, and chances are even higher that you aren't reading this review. Surrounding the fart jokes and fourth graders who love to say fuck a lot, there is a brutally intelligent comedic commentary on many aspects of modern society. It's something that South Park has always been great at, and something that translates incredibly well to interactivity. Where the first game made a believer out of me, The Fractured But Whole had me farting falling in love with South Park all over again.
Conceptually fascinating and visually stunning, Echo runs out of steam the longer it overstays its welcome, beginning to feel like an echo of itself before long. A slow start, punitive checkpoints, and analogous environments lead further encounters to feel like running the same old gauntlet, which is disappointing, given the potential of this novel concept. The unique strategic gameplay of enemies learning from you reverberated throughout, but so did everything else. I really enjoyed Echo, but like a song played on repeat, I could only suffer so much repetition before it began to lose me.
An expanded Nemesis System creates fascinatingly interesting player stories, and the amount of freedom afforded to the player is staggering for a game of this scope. Microtransactions never get in the way of the game itself, so any objection to them is based purely on personal principles. Lore purists may find fault with Middle-earth: Shadow of War, but those willing to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the game Monolith built around Tolkien's world will find the best Lord of the Rings game to date. With the immortal words of Samwise Gamgee at my lips, I smile and walk into Mordor, returning to the Gondorian boots of the Gravewalker: “Well, I'm back.”
Voltron VR Chronicles is an amazingly immersive way to jump into a Saturday morning cartoon, something I've only dreamed of my entire life. It's not going to provide an engaging gameplay experience for anyone looking for a challenge, but it's an innovative new way to participate in the action of a popular animated series. If they can clear up confusion about the episodic nature of the experience—not just through press releases, but in game as well—that would go a long way towards providing incentive for fans of Voltron and newcomers alike to keep an eye on DreamWorks Voltron VR Chronicles as future additions are announced.
Instead of copying the status quo, Light Tracer tries to give gamers something they haven't already conquered before. The challenge behind this virtual reality experience is in figuring out how to control the character without retaining direct control over her movements. Learning to do two distinctly separate tasks in a single moment is the key to solving many of Light Tracer's puzzles and moving forward. The god view of the tower makes it feel like a toy being played with, and the hands-off approach to character control is a further way to create an observer type of character out of the player, actually assisting a tiny princess in her long journey. Light Tracer is a simple game, but succeeds in deriving a brilliant kind of complexity from a simple nature.
From a conceptual standpoint, The Solus Project is fascinating. The sense of scale is amplified in VR, especially the fantastic skyboxes that cycle between day and night, massive planets in rotation around you, and the ferocity of the elements. That feeling of being stranded in an alien landscape, needing to survive, and needing to explore to complete your mission are a heavy weight from the drop. Where The Solus Project fails is in gameplay mechanics and puzzle psychology. Overly ambiguous controls and solutions meant that most of my playtime was a campaign of frustration and overcoming meaningless obstacles. The Solus Project is a game that I wanted to like, but every time it did something redeeming, I could be certain that another gameplay frustration was just around the corner.
If you delight in the sense of drama and anticipation that arises from impossible situations, if you are engaged by a twisting mystery that is never quite what you expect, then the Danganronpa series is for you. I can't in good faith recommend that you play Danganronpa V3 before the other two, just like I would never tell you to enjoy Return of the King before partaking of Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers. As the third part of an incredible trilogy of games, Danganronpa V3 deserves your attention in its rightful place after the other two. Make no mistake though, it's a title that's well worth arriving at when you get there, a vibrantly dark mystery that sinks its teddy bear claws in and won't let go.
As a returning Guardian, Crucible master Lord Shaxx has found the best words to describe my experience with Destiny 2 and its many improvements over the first: "This is amazing!!"
Without the support of virtual reality, it would be hard to recommend Bloody Zombies as anything outright different from any other beat 'em up game. Does it need virtual reality? No, it could have just been another digital brawler, albeit one full of personality. Does it benefit from virtual reality? Absolutely, and without it, my score would be lower. VR lends a unique perspective and gives players real gameplay reasons to want to put on the headset instead of just playing on a TV. Thought of as a virtual reality game with the ability for couch co-op via the TV, Bloody Zombies is a fun brawler that has both unique implications for its own genre and VR. That kind of evolution of games and platforms is just what video games need to grow.
Knack 2 is an improvement on the first game in every way possible. Mark Cerny and his team have proven that they can take criticism, iterate on it, and then give players even more for their money than was expected.
Editor's Note: If you intend to play Don't Knock Twice without PSVR, take a point or two off of the final score. The flat-screen version is inferior to the virtual reality version.
Obduction houses not one, but many vibrant, lush, and mysterious worlds in a package that seems to be made for old Myst fans like myself. The balance of symbiotic nature of environment, narrative, and puzzle design means that Obduction constantly feels riveting and natural. It's a delight to experience a modern game with that classic Cyan design, but the technical issues detract from the experience far too much, even going as far as artificially increasing the time it takes to complete some puzzles. I managed to really enjoy the experience that was crafted, but it wasn't without a fair amount of annoyance at little optimization problems that make Obduction far from perfect.
With a low barrier to entry and a high skill ceiling, charming design, and reasons to play for a long time, Everybody's Golf really is golf for everybody. What? You were expecting a hole-in-one pun?
Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder is smart, funny, and quirky in all the best ways. It was a big surprise to get a sequel to the 2011 PSN game, but I'm happy it did. Although I wish more effort would have been put into making the boss battles feel climactic and challenging, rather than tacked-on additions, the meat of the experience is an exciting and stylish tower defense game with a unique premise. I can't name another game that lets you squish the likes of Van Gogh , Henry VIII, and Medusa with a boulder that's rolled through numerous famous works of art. Allowing for four people to get in on the Monty Python-styled action both locally and online is just the feather in the cap of Atlas' adventure as he flees from God.
My comparison to Scary Movie may have been a wrong one. There's more sophistication here than that. Instead, I'll say that Thimbleweed Park is the Cabin in the Woods of point-and-click graphic adventure games. Its self-referential awareness of its own existence belies a level of thought and planning that simple parodies do not. It leans into the sins of the past, and comes out all the better for it. This isn't a modern day triple-A title, but if you want a taste of why the Ron Gilbert classics are so beloved by many longtime gamers, Thimbleweed Park is a window into the past that shouldn't be missed.