Into the Stars isn't the most exciting or fast-paced game you'll ever play. It is however a decent space simulator that throws enough difficult choices your way to be worth at least a few playthroughs.
Telltale completes this season on an incredibly strong note which demonstrates just how impressive they are as storytellers; Clementine is allowed to have a brief moment of peace and a shred of hope that maybe things can get better. One final decision made right at the end lets all the doubt and worry creep back in just as the season fades out.
At the end of the day, Mind: Path of Thalamus is a solid puzzle game that is well worth a playthrough. It's challenging enough that you won't blow through it, but quite accessible once you figure out the basics.
So much of The Walking Dead has been about the strong males pushing the narrative in one direction or another, for better of for worse. It's refreshing to see an episode from a female-led perspective.
At the end of the day, is Sniper Elite III going to end up on my Top 5 list for the best games of 2014? Not likely. What I will say however is that in spite of its lack of ambition on the narrative side of things, it serves as a pretty meat-and-potatoes action game that does one thing really well…and sometimes that's enough.
In Harm's Way ends literally right in the middle of a frantic scene where the characters are surrounded by zombies. Here, you need to choose whether or not to take a particular action, foreshadowed by an earlier character, which has life-or-death ramifications. That in and of itself is nothing new to the series, but the way it is carried out is particularly telling of how Clementine is changing as a character. Without giving it away, I chose to do the action and the expression on her face as the episode closed out both elated and scared me.
Daylight is a very short game, but, thanks to its randomly generated levels, you'll get more than a few plays out of it. The overall presentation of it is pretty solid, and if it doesn't get you jumping out of your seat on a regular basis, well, you're a braver person than I am.
Dark Souls II is an absolute feast of a game, and it will be a long, long time before I'm sated by it.
It's not every day you play a video game that changes how you look at the format itself. Infinite Monkeys, with its never-ending team of sacrificial knights, not only pulls it off but does so with style in Life Goes On.
I make no bones about being a huge fan of the Deus Ex series, and it pleases me to see that Square Enix is invested in releasing more from that universe. I think that while The Fall has some larger issues that unfortunately pop up right at the beginning, it's definitely worth its $10 if you enjoyed Human Revolution. It ends on a cliffhanger, so with the follow-up let's hope the development team learns some lessons from this and brings fans closer to the standard and features they've come to expect with the Deus Ex series.
The Walking Dead: A House Divided is definitely the most disappointing entry in this series to date, which is to say that it's quite good but unremarkable. The biggest problem with it is that it feels less like a full episode with its own arc and more like a placeholder to set things up for when the story really kicks in.
Violett is priced at $9.99 on Steam, which is exactly what a game like this should cost. It's also on sale for 30% off over the holidays, and includes the lovely soundtrack with a purchase; a pretty solid deal. This game has some challenging puzzles, as well as a trippy world that is worth checking out if you are into adventure games. It's certainly a capable title with admittedly only a few issues, although the problems that do occur stand pretty firmly in the way of finding it truly enjoyable.
Upon reflection of what transpired in All That Remains, I'm feeling equal parts eagerness and dread with the continuation of Clementine's journey. The dread comes from knowing that things have started off pretty rough for her, and I don't anticipate them getting any better.
My biggest takeaway from Nihilumbra is that it's a solid iOS port of a puzzle-platformer that looks and sounds good and has a fun world manipulation mechanic. On the gameplay side of things, the only real issue with it is that its early sections are hampered by a lack of challenge and variety. Where Nihilumbra falls flat is with its relentless demand on hammering home every single plot beat while you're playing. What this all results in is a game that is pretty clever, but not half as clever as it seems to think it is.