Throughout the game characters remind us that it’s alright to remember the past but the past is just that, the past. We need to focus on the future while using the past as a guide. The team at Experiment 101 have done just that with Biomutant. They created a game that uses elements from games that we’ve loved in the past, while simultaneously moving these elements forward and blending them together to show us that video games can be so much more than we ever imagined they could be.
Olija is a game that, when it works, is a really fun time. But when you can’t figure out where to go next due to a lack of direction or, even worse, just struggle to string together the right combo with the harpoon it can be incredibly frustrating. Swinging around and teleporting from place to place is incredibly rewarding and you’ll feel like the monarch of video games when you get it exactly right, but the frustrating elements of the combat will definitely test your patience at times. However, it’s worth the frustrations in order to play one of the more original titles we’ll see this year... which is a cool thing for a game that really tried to remind us of games we’ve come to love from our past.
Skully is the complete package for fans of inventive platform games. It takes concepts from traditional platform games and Marble Madness to create an evolution of both that will bring you hours of fun while you try and save the island from impending doom.
Destroy all Humans! Remake is going to be a pleasant time for fans of the series wanting to revisit one of their favorite games.
Sure, there is the nostalgia factor here, it had to be said, but sometimes it takes a bit more than that to make a game with spending your hard-earned money and time on.
Assetto Corsa Competizione is a realistic GT racing game that will thrill fans and bring in new ones that may not be familiar with the circuit. With beautiful graphics and realistic driving mechanics, the only thing holding this game back is the amount of content provided at launch. But at $39.99, there is plenty to keep you busy.
With strong performances by the cast, anyone looking for an interactive television show will have a lot of fun watching the episodes play out.
Some repetition, clunky controls, and navigation issues keep it from being a great game, but it’s a breath of fresh air to play a game with such an original concept.
Streets of Rage 4 is one of the best entries in a classic series in quite some time. With beautifully updated graphics and a soundtrack that you will be humming along with for quite some time, you’ll be reminded of how you felt if you played these types of games when they were first made popular.
HyperParasite is rogue-lite at its best. Never one to flock to the genre, I kept coming back for more of the hyper action and colorful cast of characters.
One thing is certain about this game, you will have fun. After all, isn’t that what video games are supposed to be?
If you’ve already played the game on PC there is little reason to revisit it unless you absolutely loved it and want to replay it on the go... Sometimes when a game like this takes so long to release the hype around it can be detrimental. On paper this is my kind of game, but it just never got its hooks into me.
There is some fun to be had here but the increasingly brutal difficulty makes this game hard to recommend to anyone other than someone dead set on trying every twin stick shooter out there.
There’s not much more to say about Demon Pit, it’s a horde mode that looks and feels like a classic FPS, if that’s not enough to make you excited to play it….nothing will.
If you love Inside and Limbo, play Stela. If you love platformers, play Stela. If you love puzzle games, play Stela. It may not always feel original when compared to those other games, but how many games do feel completely original anymore? You could do a lot worse than be compared to such incredible games.
As far as Bullet Hell games go... unless you are a fan of the source material there are much better ways to spend your precious time.
Sin Slayers will appeal to fans of modern and classic JRPGs alike. With a simple battle system, yet complex sin mechanic, mixed with procedurally generated levels and seven distinct regions to explore, Sin Slayers never feels repetitive. Created by a small team of five in Russia, this game is a breath of fresh air in a crowded year for games. One negative is the translation of the narrator in that sometimes what he says doesn’t match what is written in the subtitles. But that’s a small complaint that never really takes away from the experience.
Telling Lies won’t be for everyone and you get out of the game what you are willing to put into it. Having said that, it may just be the most original game you’ll play this year and the performances alone are worth sticking around for.
RAD may not reinvent the genre from the ground up, but fans of Double Fine and Rogue-Like games should definitely put some time into this one.
The Blackout Club is frustrating on so many levels. Unless you’re playing the game co-op, don’t even bother… you’ll never make it through the missions. There was so much potential and, with patches, the difficulty could become a little more balanced in time. As it stands now the difficulty and strange mission structures keep the game from really being all that fun.