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A basement is a room built well below the good stuff to hold a bunch of junk. The name "Basement Crawl" is appropriate.
Put all of this together and you have a game that is overflowing with grin-inducing charm. But once you peel back the bright and gaudy layers of decaying skin and leafy greens, it's a semi-stable shooter that has plenty of room to grow.
"Thief" is an easy game to make excuses for all its shortcomings: "The combat is lacking, but it's OK because it's a stealth game. The world is dreary, but it's OK because that's the style. The A.I. is moronic, but it's OK because it would be too frustrating if they worked harder at tracking you down." None of this is "OK," and the summations of these sub-par gaming experiences make for a sub-par game. It excels at nothing. Not even blind nostalgia can save it. Don't let Garrett steal your time.
This is a wonderful callback to the original games that adds new ideas.
"Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" is a top-tier offering for the Wii U, but it doesn't break the mold the same way "Super Mario 3D World" did late last year. It's a Wii U exclusive, but it fails to take advantage of the GamePad. This is a good game that missed opportunities to be great.
"Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition" would be an absolute must-buy if it were priced between $40 or $50. Even an inclusion of some single player DLC would increase the value. Currently, a 360 version of "Tomb Raider" costs $23.99 on Amazon.com, and the PS3 version is less than a dollar more than that. You're essentially paying almost $40 for updated graphics, and maps for a multiplayer mode that I was never a fan of to begin with. "Tomb Raider's" single player holds up extremely well, and was arguably better the second time around. If you never played the original, I'd suggest picking up the "Definitive Edition," but it's a steep asking price if you're revisiting the game.
"Don't Starve's" gameplay is unique, but it's very much a throwback to trial-and-error gaming. It's reminiscent of games that employed a baptism-by-fire approach. In turn, these aspects make the game a social experience despite being strictly single player. Half of its fun is talking to other people who have played the game to share ideas.
Is "Peggle 2" worth $12? It's still a new "Peggle," so I still recommend it. It doesn't quite match the amount of content as the original game, which leaves the door wide open for future DLC. If you're OK with that practice, you'll be satisfied with the existing package. Add some online friends to play with, and you'll be happy you made the purchase.
I hope to see "KI" on the main stage during next year's EVO Championship Series. As a pure fighter, this game is that good. It's missing a lot of what fight fans are used to as genre standards, but I'm hopeful that some of these will be added in the future. "KI's" gameplay makes it the best fighting game in years, and one of the brightest titles in the Xbox One's launch lineup.
"Resogun" is the perfect first title to give away to PS Plus members on the PS4. It shows that a game doesn't need to be a triple-A release to shine on new hardware.
I'll admit that my expectations were high going into this game. I wanted to relive that feeling of awe that washed over me when I witnessed "Galaxy" for the first time. I wanted this game to make me root for the Wii U. It still continues the trend of Nintendo's quality when it comes to first-party titles, and it's even better if you have friends to play with. It just doesn't take enough chances to achieve that rare level of greatness that Nintendo can sometimes reach.
That's "Knack's" bottom line. It's a solid concept with horrible execution. I can't recommend paying $60 for this bare-boned experience, when it feels more like a $20 digital download title. If "Knack" does well enough to warrant a sequel, lets hope they rebuild him.
"Lego Marvel Heroes" is the rare breed of game that is a delight for all ages, which is perfect due to its slant towards co-op play. At the below-average price of $50, it is well worth the money. It's one of the best family friendly games to come out this year, and will be a sure hit for fans of the Marvel series.