Cubed3's Reviews
Episode 5: Order Up! is certainly the strongest episode yet, but it's not exactly terrific, especially given what TellTale Games is capable of producing. The lack of real Minecrafting (yes, that's a word) clashes with the core of what Minecraft is, forcing puzzles to be solved rather than walls blasted through? It's Minecraft by name to shift more copies, which is disappointing, and looks somewhat mundane when compared to the open world survival game.
"Obnoxious" is the best description of ASSimilation, as might be guessed by the entirely meaningless suffix in the title. There are fewer Death Blocks, but the level design isn't any better, and is, in fact, more generic than ever. Enemies and obstacles too clearly fall into one of about five categories and change only appearances between the stages, and the bosses are just as uninspired. A replay of the initial Angry Video Game Nerds Adventure would be vastly superior to waste a few hours - if your desire is to play repetitious stages filled with interchangeable hazards, then why not save some money and just buy the cheaper and superior original?
Far Harbor is one of the best DLC expansions in the series. There are plenty of new people to meet, locations to discover, and quests to complete. It is perfect for the type of person that wants a bit of a shake-up to their normal Fallout 4 experience, or just wants more land to explore.
The Sun and Moon is a perfect example of a very competently made game that lacks heart. There are some good ideas here and the platforming can be enjoyable in short spurts, but it is missing something to tie it all together. An occasional clever twist, or inspired level, simply isn't enough to carry the game through to the end, and everything starts to blend together after a while. The difference between The Sun and Moon and truly great puzzle platformers is the same as a meal cooked by a professional chef and one warmed up in the microwave. A little more time spent building up this experience could have made it truly remarkable, but instead it is just yet another puzzle platformer in a genre saturated by them.
It's probably says a lot for a game when the only real complaint is that there isn't more of it. Stikbold! hits all the right targets, but it feels as if it is just missing a little more. Online multiplayer would have been amazing, and a bit more depth in both the single player campaign and multiplayer options would have made this title complete. It's still good fun while it lasts, and even more so if a couple friends can be found for some dodgeball shenanigans. While it might not be the best party game, it is still a very good one - besides, how many other games are there where you can throw dodgeballs at enormous whales and honey loving hippies?
Californium is a labour of love that didn't even try to do a fine job at using the thing it loves the most. It makes promises of offering a plot-heavy adventure that is heavily inspired by Philip K. Dick, when it's just marginally influenced by it, and, even worse, gameplay-wise, it is a frustrating hidden object game, which becomes less so due to its gorgeous, wallpaper-worthy visuals.
The original version was fantastic, and the additional content in this new edition makes it a definitive purchase for skateboarding game fans that are up for a huge amount of challenge. With smooth, stylish graphics and gameplay, it may well attract people who are interested in small developments like this, even if they have no skateboarding game experience. Add in the ability to play with some friends, and OlliOlli2: XL Edition is an unmissable package.
Teslagrad has potential. For a fledgling independent studio's first game, it shows promise. The art is beautiful, and the story compelling and novel in its conveyance, but the level design severely limits enjoyment. One can hope that Rain Games takes what it learned from feedback on its freshman effort and apply it to future games.
Ultimately, The Magic Circle relies on its pure intrigue to sustain the player throughout. It draws on decades of gaming history, offering a short, but poignant, commentary on the state of games today, whilst still managing to deliver something altogether quite different. Occasionally, the game requires your willing patience, but once a couple of hours have been sunk into this fantastic abstract meta game, you'll likely revel in its charm and inventiveness.
Far Cry 4 may just be more of the same from Far Cry 3, but, in the best possible way. Ubisoft took what was great about the third game, and improved it in almost every way, making this one of the most refreshing, fun and addictive open-world titles available. With solid fundamental mechanics, a superb open gameworld, multiplayer to come back for, and some fantastic DLC, this psychotic voyage through a deadly paradise is worth setting a course for.
Following the original title, this is one of the most bitterly disappointing games in a long, long time. It has been practically ruined by the horrific development hell it went through and the end product is a great example as to what can happen. Every time it seems Homefront: The Revolution is about to start getting good, its mountain of ugly issues re-emerges, reminding of the frustrating mess it truly is.
While the minimalistic and allegorical storyline isn't a traditional one, Yarny's fairytale-ish adventure will surely touch the hearts of most people, and the audio-visuals will leave them breathless, since they aren't fantastic just when compared to the indie gaming world, but fantastic, period. Unfortunately, and although Unravel has a couple of good things going for it, the element of gameplay didn't receive the same love as the rest of the package, as it constantly goes from fun to boring, and from boring to irritating.
Though at times frustrating and stressful, Life Goes On: Done to Death is an equally rewarding experience. The cutesy art style and humorous deaths mislead those who choose to play the game, but at the same time, it also entices them into playing through and figuring out what clicks about it. The deaths may be numerous and quite brutal, yet a strong sense of accomplishment fills the players with joy and relief, once a tricky section has been beaten.
Megamagic is surprisingly deep and enjoyable after its noticeably slow start. The gameplay itself only improves as more diverse spells and playstyles become available, and the story is engaging enough to keep you invested in it through the roughly ten hours it'll take to complete.
Is Battle Worlds: Kronos wholly original? No. Is it fun despite that? With a real person, yes. It's far too generic for its own good, but it does manage to take the turn-based strategy formula and advance it just enough it for a modern audience.
With a bit of refinement to how songs are turned into stages, and with a bit of touching up to the layout problems that conflict with subconscious expectations, Melody's Escape could genuinely be one of those phenomenal indie games that take the world by storm. Although it functions exceedingly well and is a great joy to play, a few flaws seriously hinder the experience. Either it quickly becomes apparent that the stages consist of mashing random keys to the beat of player-provided songs, or frustration results from the many misses that occur because of conflicting information.
A unique experience is to be found in Not a Hero. The elective journey through waves of opposition just proves how fun a small title can be and the added content provided a little extra for those who are yet to pick up the title on other platforms. While it has a few minor faults, they don't overshadow the experience, and it is a thoroughly commendable run and gun platformer.
Besides its lack of a unique angle of its own and a heavy "sandbox" approach, Project CARS will please those into sim-racers, since it is, undoubtedly, the most beautiful and realistic one ever made. Unfortunately, and despite adding lots of great, classic to modern, racing cars, as well as a few new tracks to try them out, Game of the Year Edition still hasn't ironed out some problems, like the extremely annoying controls and AI.
Kumoon would make an excellent training program for better physics in gaming. Everything else seems bland and uninspired, and leaves the game a collection of objectives that are somewhat fun to complete, but not for too long. Kumoon: Ballistic Physics Puzzle is simply a long exercise in tedium. Even if the puzzles were more varied, it may not make up for how boring the rest of the experience is.
Why have simple videogames like Pac-Man and Tetris stood the test of time, while other, more innovating titles have been disappointing at best? The answer is because the potential of these otherwise great ideas has been thrown out of the window and High Strangeness is such a failure. The notion of mixing Zelda-esque puzzle-solving, with the ability to go from an 8-bit world to a 16-bit one could rock the indie community if it was used correctly, but, unfortunately, it wasn't.