Chloi Rad


27 games reviewed
80.8 average score
85 median score
74.1% of games recommended
Mar 10, 2015

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a relentless, rhythmic, and brutal game of killing fast, and often dying even faster.

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Jul 28, 2015

Guild of Dungeoneering is a fun and interesting approach to turn-based dungeon crawlers.

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9 / 10.0 - Mushroom 11
Oct 15, 2015

Mushroom 11 is a strange and unique game that reshapes the way you think about its puzzles.

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9 / 10.0 - Nuclear Throne
Dec 16, 2015

Nuclear Throne is an enjoyably tough run-and-gun with tons of energy and variety to justify hours and hours of replays.

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10 / 10.0 - The Witness
Jan 25, 2016

The Witness has a power and pull that carried me throughout the more than 40 hours it took to complete it for the first time, and that, even now, beckons me back to confront the mysteries I left unsolved. Its graceful combination of tangible goals, obscurity, and freedom creates ample opportunity for small victories and grand revelations alike. For the most part, its themes weave themselves beautifully throughout the gorgeous world and wide variety of puzzles, but even when it breaks subtlety in favor of a more heavy-handed approach to exposition, it never detracts from the truly fulfilling moments The Witness offers in terms of solving its physical puzzles and unlocking its deepest mysteries.

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5.8 / 10.0 - Layers of Fear
Feb 14, 2016

Layers of Fear lacks the surprises and subtlety needed to keep things interesting all the way through. It makes a strong first impression, but quickly exhausts its best ideas, making it hard for them to really shine as scary or meaningful moments. It's hard to be terrified when you can see what's coming at the end of every long dark hallway.

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8.5 / 10.0 - Devil Daggers
Feb 26, 2016

Devil Daggers' stripped-down and distilled essence of first-person shooter intensity will take up a lot of my time in the weeks to come. Every second longer that I survive in its hellish arena is a new record for myself to break, over and over again. It's a brutal, but brilliant shooter that finds strength in its minimalism, stretching a few seconds of action here and there into endless hours of dreadful fun.

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3 / 10.0 - Alekhine's Gun
Mar 11, 2016

Like the chess move it's named after, Alekhine's Gun puts its pieces in the right places, but then it fails to follow through with any quality or grace. It's hard to feel accomplished after pulling off a clean kill when the targets lack the competence to even defend themselves.

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9.5 / 10.0 - Dark Souls III
Apr 4, 2016

If Dark Souls 3 truly is the last in the series as we know it, then it's a worthy send-off. Weapon arts allow stylish and versatile new moves without tarnishing the purity of the combat system. Lothric's awe-inspiring locations provide visually stunning arenas for rigorous exploration and fierce face-offs with hosts of deadly enemies and even deadlier bosses. While not all the risky changes land as neatly as others, Dark Souls 3 is a powerful journey and the sequel the series truly deserves.

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Apr 21, 2016

Despite some inconsequential decision-making and visual roughness, the amount of heart, character, and unflinching honesty in 1979 Revolution’s short two-hour tale is impressive. As an Iranian-American myself, it’s incredibly refreshing to not only see this subject matter explored, but done so in a smart and sensitive way that succeeds in educating as much as entertaining.

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6.8 / 10.0 - Furi
Jul 13, 2016

There’s definitely fun to be had in Furi’s fast and frenzied battles against a colorful cast of quirky boss characters. While it finds its strongest moments in its rewardingly rhythmic, precision-based one-on-one duels, an unwelcome level of tedium and occasionally cheap sequences — made even more frustrating by janky mechanics — keep the action from being as consistently strong as it is visually stylish.

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Jul 27, 2016

Quadrilateral Cowboy’s puzzles are mostly a joy to play. Its command line hacking is surprisingly accessible and pleasingly tactile, and when combined with its many interesting gadgets it allows for plenty of creative problem-solving and freedom in tackling all manner of whimsical cybercrime. While not all of its levels shine as brightly as the rest, I’m already feeling beckoned back by its replayability and charm, eager to experiment more with the futuristic, hacker-themed playground it so stylishly constructs.

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7 / 10.0 - Project Highrise
Sep 9, 2016

A compelling management sim with strong systems, but few customization options make for a visually bland experience

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8.5 / 10.0 - Virginia
Sep 23, 2016

Virginia shows instead of tells, with a raw, understated power and a calculated nuance that make even the smallest, most mundane details brim with narrative and emotional significance. While I never found a way to impact or change significant story events, the tale of family, friendship, career, and identity that Virginia tells (without uttering a single word) was enough of a reward for my limited input. The mysteries that remain by the end especially justified a second and third visit, and even now I can feel the secrets of Kingdom, Virginia and the two women whose lives changed there luring me back for another.

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9 / 10.0 - Thumper (VR)
Oct 5, 2016

Thumper’s brutal, breakneck speed and precision-based musical action kept me entranced for all nine of its bizarre, nightmarish stages, which contained enough nuanced high score-chasing tricks to demand several replays already. To really master Thumper’s many layers of rhythm-based mechanisms would take much more time than the 10 or so hours it takes to complete the first time – and that’s a challenge that I eagerly accept.

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Oct 5, 2016

Even as a mere horror-flavored rail shooter lacking in any serious scares, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood isn’t terrible. Responsive, arcade-style shooting, the frequency of collectibles, optional side passages that add some sense of exploration to the linear rollercoaster, and an end-of-level letter grade system offer plenty of casual replayability. Coupled with its smooth, motion-based controls, and barring some of its weaker stages, Rush of Blood actually makes for a decently fun ride.

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9 / 10.0 - Thumper
Oct 10, 2016

Thumper’s brutal, breakneck speed and precision-based musical action kept me entranced for all nine of its bizarre, nightmarish stages, which contained enough nuanced high score-chasing tricks to demand several replays already. To really master Thumper’s many layers of rhythm-based mechanisms would take much more time than the 10 or so hours it takes to complete the first time – and that’s a challenge that I eagerly accept.

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9 / 10.0 - Battlefield 1
Oct 21, 2016

Battlefield 1 does an amazing job of transplanting the fantastic chemistry of the series’ traditional multiplayer action into the weaponry and vehicles of World War I. The era brings with it not only a visually striking backdrop for classic game modes like Conquest and the compelling new Operations, but a distinct personality that touches everything from its rich lineup of archaic and distinctively designed weapons to the somber anthology of character-driven stories in its brief but surprisingly poignant single-player scenarios. While maps are not its strong point, Battlefield 1’s dynamically destructible environments and the minutely balanced mechanics of its classes and gadgets keep the moment-to-moment first-person shooting varied and engaging.

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9.3 / 10.0 - Owlboy
Nov 3, 2016

Owlboy shines thanks to surprisingly varied, Metroidvania-style gameplay and a charming cast of unlikely heroes whose bittersweet journey is among the best I’ve experienced in recent years. Its remarkably detailed pixel art makes every scene more breathtaking than the last, but it’s the relationships between characters in both story and gameplay that makes Owlboy something truly special.

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Jan 23, 2017

Resident Evil 7 grounds itself in elements that made the original great while still indulging in a risky new shift in style that both helps and hurts the beloved formula in equal measure. But it’s also the closest a numbered sequel has come to recapturing Resident Evil’s slow, but thrilling and atmospheric adventure game roots in a while — a welcome return that I truly hope to see more of in the future.

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