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The Escapists holds the methodical tedium of a prison life simulator with some escape mechanics built in, rather than a thrilling game in which you plan your escape. More focus on teaching the intricacies of the mechanics in-game would have done wonders for The Escapists and actually hatching and carrying out a master plan for escaping confinement, because at its core The Escapists is a thrilling concept. Instead we get stuck going through the motions like it's The Sims: Prison Life as we realize we're two months into our sentence and no closer to being on the other side of those bars than the day we got thrown into the joint. Time to hit the showers, boys!
What more can be said about Ultra Street Fighter IV? If by some act of (insert deity here) you've never played a Street Fighter game, this is a great place to start. It's the best fighter you can get on the new generation of consoles. With the PS4 in its second year, it's about time the series showed up! For $25, you can nab the most definitive version of Street Fighter IV released to date, including all DLC. If you're a fighting game fan, this is a no-brainer. Just be sure you update.
Bungie has been on trial by fans of Destiny since the release of The Dark Below, but House of Wolves has shown great strides in the evolution and support of a game that has personally held my attention for hundreds of hours, even if I have had my share of criticisms about the way certain things have been handled. It's not quite perfect, but if the improvements made in House of Wolves are any indication of the future, then I'm eager to see what kind of stuff Bungie comes up with to support and evolve Destiny next.
Despite these shortcomings, Game of Thrones: Episode 4 – Sons of Winter is still an enjoyable experience. While I left the episode feeling like all the choices I had made were, and still are, essentially worthless, I also wanted to dive right into Episode 5. The rising action and a few well-placed, surprising events kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I played through the episode, and I have a feeling that the next episode will be even more intense.
Schrödinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark is a good start to what Italic Pig has promised to be a series of games. There's decent dialog and adequate (if slightly boring) platforming. Quantum Physics nerds are sure to get some nice laughs out of the jokes tossed into the story, while the rest of us will still laugh at Schrödinger's Cat's antics. Using the quarks in the proper order and combining their abilities to solve puzzles and move forward in an area is also pretty rewarding. If the platforming can be made more exciting, Italic Pig could have a hit on their hands.
If you know you'd like a farming simulator game that tries hard to recreate perfectly a small portion of reality, Farming Simulator is just what you need. If you are looking for an all-encompassing simulation game that basically recreates life on a farm, maybe wait for Sims 7: Farming Life. If you're in between, try to score this game when a deal arises, as you may get bored like I did. It's worth trying it out, and I'm glad I own it so I can go back to it when the farming mood arises, but my attention wavered far more quickly than I would have preferred.
But, despite having a rushed feel and under appreciating some pretty large issues, Life is Strange: Episode 3 is highly intriguing, entertaining, and surprising. Even though it offers up a different type of gameplay experience than the first two episodes, it still holds its own against the larger story.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is truly an incredible masterpiece. The writing and building of the world alone should be lauded as some of the best in video games. Stories weave in and out of one another surprisingly. The consequences of every decision are far reaching and unpredictable while also making complete sense once they happen. The world is organic, dangerous, and fun to explore. There is a true sense of reward and accomplishment. While minor design choices keep it from being absolutely perfect, The Witcher 3 will go down as one of the best games of this generation of consoles.
Toren felt like it was just trying to check things off of a "how to make a video game" checklist. Monsters? Check. Armor? Check. Jump button? Check. Scrolls? Check. A dragon? Check. Platforming? Check. Varied environments? Check. I could go on, but I'll spare you. Each of these things were only half thought out and glued together haphazardly. No thought was given to creating an enjoyable experience that uses all elements of a video game to form something incredible. There's a good game hiding deep down inside Toren, but it missed the mark in almost all ways and failed to fully realize any of its ideas, leaving it as much less of an experience than it should have been.
I don't often play a game and immediately go through it again after finishing it, but I did that with Color Guardians. Thanks to its fun and bright graphics, truly difficult levels, and different scoring systems, I found myself playing each level again and again in an effort to get all three stars or get a high score for the leaderboards. While the side-scroller could use more tutorials and more story, it offers up challenging and fun gameplay. That said, Color Guardians is a game that probably shouldn't be missed.
If you're looking for a game that will test your reflexes, Lost Orbit is your game. Developer PixelNAUTS has brought together a fine group of programmers, story tellers, and musicians to craft a genuinely enjoyable, challenging, and even uplifting adventure that you'll want to replay in order to perfect each level.
Project CARS is a great example of a game that is designed to get players to be better at what they love to do, without having to integrate designs that can hurts the game's potential for its hardcore audience. It does a good job with its visuals, a fantastic one with its audio, and a superb one with how it handles. For fans who love a sport that requires its athletes to work for every fraction of a second shaved off, this is a must have, but if you need a game that keeps giving you motivation and something to unlock, you may find yourself putting this one in park after a few laps.
For a standalone DLC, I am impressed. MachineGames took the best parts of The New Order and gave us the moments leading up to its opening. While The Old Blood could have definitely either turned up the grindhouse factor in part two, or stayed more true to part one, it still had incredibly fun combat and satisfying Nazi killing. By itself, it could feel like it was lacking something, specifically in the character and story department, but Wolfenstein: The Old Blood performs as both a supplemental work for fans of the series and as a vehicle to introduce players to the world and play style of The New Order.
It's kind of hard to give sum up Omega Quintet. It does some core things right, like the combat and the numerous places to explore, but it does a lot of little things wrong, such as the huge amount of fluff and the useless crafting system. I think a sequel would have a lot of potential, but as it stands Omega Quintet might not be worth your money, unless you want to skip by most of the story and dialogue and just focus on the game's solid combat system.
Broken Age is a wonderful experience that I can't recommend enough. As someone who grew up on the LucasArts-style adventure games of old Double Fine has pulled through with just enough nostalgia and modern aesthetic, offering up a fresh and funny classic in an age where blockbuster games rule the roost.
So, if you're fan of Hotline Miami, and are looking for something that puts a few twists on its gameplay, even if it doesn't quite succeed, you may find LA Cops to be worth checking out on sale. But, if you are looking for a game that is polished, with a narrative to tie it together, than you should probably leave this one behind bars.
Shovel Knight is just what any veteran gamer's inner child needs. Between the tight platforming, nostalgia-inducing graphics, and pitch-perfect sound design, old-school gamers need look no further for their fix. Younger gamers will appreciate the modern additions of checkpoints and Cross-save functionality, while hardcore gamers can simply smash those checkpoints and reap the rewards. It's incredible to see a game that doesn't just imitate the 8-bit era, but perfectly embodies it.
Tropico 5 on the Ps4 is the first city-builder we have had for the console, and it thankfully does a great job at it. I won't be getting bored of it any time soon, as there are so many ways to play it. It's flaws are quickly overlooked as you have fun with the gameplay and narrative. The graphics are fun to inspect, because every citizen and building are as detailed as the menu system that rules their lives. From the campaign, to the sandbox, and even to the multiplayer, I'm eager to make sure that the Ivles McKittensby dynasty becomes a ruling force to reckon with in my quest to make and govern the perfect tropical island.
Still, for only $15, Ziggurat is a pretty amazing game. It looks beautiful, offers a great deal of replay value, and features wizards in a badass way. There are a large number of spells and upgrades to choose from, and each playthrough literally brings new and exciting features into the game. If you haven't already downloaded Ziggurat, you probably should think about doing so.
That is kind of the way Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China feels like in general — it starts out okay, but soon becomes dull fairly quickly thanks to a lackluster plot and uninspired gameplay. While there is a lot to explore, especially considering the $10 price tag, the poor enemy AI and almost useless gadgets probably won't have you staying in the game's visually beautiful world for long. Unless you are the world's biggest Assassin's Creed fan, you should probably think long and hard before giving this a go.