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"Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off!" said John Rambo in First Blood. As far as the videogame is concerned, I'm sorry mate, I just don't agree.
NaissanceE could've been a neat game but Limasse Five should've just stuck with making a cool artistic world and left the actual gameplay at home. I may have then complained that there wasn't enough game in it, but at least I would have actually enjoyed it.
Whether or not they follow through with the content remains to be seen at this stage, but Strike Vector's launch is a promising start that deserves a larger player base than it's currently got. Once the initial learning curve is hurdled, this is a pick-up-and-play game of frantic, twitch-based action with a distinctive old-school shooter tucked behind its pretty visuals. Once you're there, this is a fast, unforgiving, graceful and exciting experience.
Smoke & Mirrors isn't quite as good as the superb Faith and is a little shorter, which is a kick in the flying monkey nuts after how long it took to turn up, but it's still an excellent and enjoyable adventure full of intrigue, surprise and emotion. If Telltale keep this up they could well end up eclipsing The Walking Dead for me, and I nominated that for our Game of the Year. Just, er, could we have Episode 3 a little sooner please?
At the moment Loadout provides a diverting break from other titles on the market like the aforementioned Team Fortress 2 but it's difficult to see people choosing it over more polished rivals in the long-term. Annihilation mode could change that if Loadout finds a player-base willing to forgive a few flaws and buy into its silly yet appealing sense of humour.
In fact I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like this game, but while I'm excited for the internet to get at it so I can find out what I missed, at two hours long many people might find it hard to justify a purchase. Just keep the meter running, I'll be right back.
Perhaps this is greatest compliment I can pay Liberation. This game restored my faith. Ubisoft can still produce a good Assassin's Creed game. It's a shame this wasn't the big release instead of Connor's outing. Aveline's a more interesting main character, and the story is much more personal, instead of the crazy history stroking the main series became. After thoroughly enjoying my time in New Orleans, I'm finally ready to go see what Edward Kenway has to offer.
Still, Octodad is three hours of fun I wouldn't want to throw back. While it is too short an experience it's a great, unique one and I urge anyone who likes fun games to give it a go. Anyone who played Surgeon Simulator and thought it was hilarious should immediately pick up Octodad, and anyone who thought it was funny but wanted a fuller game experience should be covered too. Dadliest Catch is funny, charming, challenging, and packed with loveliness. It's over too quickly, but I can't think of anything I'd rather be playing in that time.
This is not a lengthy title. All in, you're looking at around an hour and a half of game here, which is admittedly not much, even for a budget title. That said, for a meagre price you'll get a charming little world to explore, a cute story set in a dream-like cartoon episode that kids will enjoy and fans of hand-drawn animations will appreciate. Gomo isn't a great example of the genre by any means, but it's nice to look at and a fun little diversion. I found it rather endearing.
There is fun to be had and Daedalic have done their best to keep battles interesting, but often things can get very frustrating and it's hard not to come to the realisation that you're just doing the same things over and over again. Daedalic have made two excellent adventures out of The Dark Eye, but they've yet to make a good RPG.
Exploring ogre caves, elemental temples and naga towers with my intrepid band of badly optimised warriors still somehow managed to be fun, despite the chugging performance and irritation of grid-based overland movement. If you can look past these blemishes there's plenty of fun to be had with Might and Magic X, but it could have done with a lot more polish.
Apart from the ending of course, which I'm thinking about a lot. Broken Age: Act 1 is a wonderful piece of work, well worth the time and money put into it, an excellent piece of videogame fiction, but it just needs some work being an actual videogame. Let's hope Act 2 maintains the quality but ups the difficulty.
Despite the flaws and interruptions of the story and presentation, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a superior title. Platinum Game's genius for creating thrilling action games and simple to learn, yet difficult to master combat systems is in full effect here. If you're a fan of the Metal Gear franchise you should consider Revengeance an essential purchase. Otherwise it will depend on your tolerance for cod-philosophy and hilarious(ly bad) voice acting.
If you don't mind a tough experience and a little frustration The Banner Saga is well worth picking up as it's a unique experience, and both story and animation justify a purchase. However the game's flaws mean it may annoy more than delight, and while decently sized at around 15 hours play time I can't honestly say I'd play it again just to make the right choices. Beautiful, well written, but aggravating. That's The Banner Saga in a nutshell.
It was perhaps too much to ask of Telltale that they blow our minds in the very first episode, but I still feel a little let-down with how "setty-uppy" All That Remains felt, with a mostly predictable storyline and few really significant or interesting choices to make. It's also short of course, taking me a straight 98 minutes to finish. Nevertheless there were surprises, plenty of tragic moments and at least one section that nearly made me pass out, so overall I consider this first episode of The Walking Dead's second season a success. Now that the setting up is done however I demand nothing less than excellence from the next episode, A House Divided. No pressure, guys.
Contrast works as a bite size game, and Compulsion Games were clever enough to realise that. It's a neat little puzzle platformer with a very interesting premise. It doesn't amaze, but it does satisfy. If you've got a couple of hours to spare and looking for something a little taxing but won't strain your brain tissue too much.
It serves to highlight that at it's core Deadliest Warrior is still about the spectacle and the thrill of the carnage - and that aspect still feels leaps and bounds above the combat of other melee-FPS orientated games (I'm looking at you War of the Roses). The increase in class variety is welcome and each combatant has a certain novelty value, but Deadliest Warrior perhaps doesn't bring enough to the table to fully elevate itself above Medieval Warfare.
One to come back to in a couple of months, perhaps, and if you're still deadest on picking this up, then try and wait for a sale or something at least. Sorry, Egosoft, but better luck next time.
The thing that stops World of Warplanes from fully taking off may be that it falls into a middle ground that fails to adequately cater to the two groups that will play it. Those who fully appreciate the fast-paced, arcade action may not be fully appreciative of the attention to detail paid to the planes on show. Likewise, those who fully appreciate the attention to detail, may be disappointed to not be given a deeper flight simulation with which to fly their historical birds.
Definitely worth a play if you like the idea of a Star Trek/Facebook parody game, but don't expect any longevity from it. Now, make it online and fill the game with real people then you might just draw me back….