4 Guys with Quarters

9 Monkeys of Shaolin brings you back to the days of great arcade games like TMNT. It is a very fluid beat 'em up game.

When Rare chose Dlala Studios to develop Battletoads they chose the best studio. Dlala has crafted a work of art and modernized Battletoads in a family friendly fun manner. It is the perfect gem for Game Pass and just what the service needed to keep it fresh.

For strategist like myself I find the analytical nature of the game addicting and I will continue to play it until I make it to the end or my character succumbs to the blood thirst of the people. If you don’t mind reading information, getting thrown into an unfamiliar revolution and like the thrill of trying to survive through political manipulation you will enjoy this game like myself. We. The Revolution is the first game of its kind that I have played and is a great addition to many libraries because of its uniqueness.

Layers of Fear 2 is the type of game you have to experience yourself to feel it. This is what makes this game a horror/thriller. It’s the setting, the feeling and the vibe all combined into one. This is the first game I played in this genre and I am enjoying it. Happy acting and break a leg!

The game is not just about Terry Crews as Agent Jaxon. Instead it is about a select elite group of agents trying to free the world from a mastermind corporate psychopath who wants to enslave humanity into working for them. TerraNova stops at nothing to dominate this little island and it is your job to take them down anyway you see fit!

Cuphead is the most addicting, fun, visually creative game this year!

Generally speaking, it’s hard to tell that this is a game that was developed in the 21st century let alone released in 2017. The Kickstarter campaign proclaims “It’s like opening a dusty old desk drawer and finding an undiscovered LucasArts adventure game you’ve never played before.” I would go a step further and say it’s as if Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the creators of “Thimbleweed Park” and pioneers behind masterpieces such as “Maniac Mansion” and “Monkey Island,” challenged themselves to make something they could hypothetically take on a time machine back to the late 80s and introduce with minimal disruption to the future. Players with fond memories from that time period won’t miss a beat. The style and feel are certainly on point.

“Death Squared” is a unique game that, even after 350+ “deaths,” I frequently return to, just so I can prove to myself (and those spying on Xbox/Steam leaderboards) that, even though Omnicorp wants me to fail, I will overcome hidden obstacles and complete precise maneuvers to reach the next level.

On the surface, “Snake Pass” by Sumo Digital doesn’t appear to be an engaging and substantial puzzler. But after 15 levels of tense and strategic slithering and climbing, I have come to decide that not every good indie needs a thorough lore-filled story to keep a gamer’s interest and establish itself as one of the best experiences of this console generation.

The Walking Dead: Michonne is a fast paced TellTale Story bringing you a very popular character straight out of the comics. If you are an achievement hunter/trophy hunter than this will please you as it is only 3 episodes and each one is short with everything being easy to unlock. The series starts off rather bleak, you know the zombie apocalypse is ongoing and you are just surviving day to day with your crew.

When I first heard that Titanfall 2 was being made, I was one of the people who had doubts. I thought the first one was mediocre and only fun if I had friends online to play with. So, you can imagine I went into Titanfall 2 expecting it to be a let down. The reality is I am impressed.

Battle Ages is a free-to-play game that released on 4/20/16 for Xbox One. At first glance it has a very clean, crisp and cartoonish look. I’ve never played Clash of Clans but it feels like it. You can join up with other clans, attack other players, defend your mini city and even play through the campaign. It has a very short tutorial that guides you through building, researching, attacking, and earning coins. It’s a good time waster, but not for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Zoink! is back and they have done it once again. You may remember their hit creation Stick it to The Man!, which in my opinion was awesome. Zombie Vikings brings that lovable art style and humor back. The artwork and graphics were amazingly detailed, creative and cartoonish. The cutscenes make me feel like it’s Saturday morning cartoons and brings me to my happy childhood place. There is just a quality to Zoink!’s work that goes above and beyond.

Other than the story being somewhat unmemorable, my main issue with the game is its length. The game can be completed in one sitting, as I have mentioned it is only seven sectors. The sectors are of varying length, however, so don’t expect the last sector to be as short as the first. I would estimate that the game took me about 5 hours at absolute most to complete. I would be happier with the price of $9.99 if it came with a couple more sectors, and the game’s length was closer to 6 hours. That said, the game as a whole is a good puzzler, and the added features represent responses by Toxic Games to the customer requests. For that, I must give the developer credit, even though I didn’t particularly care for the story’s plot. I would recommend this to gamers based on the unique gameplay, the interesting visual style, and rewarding challenges.

Goat Simulator has no true point, except to amuse you. It’s a relatively small game with bugs and simple designs. It’s got a crap ton of physics that are absolutely buggy, and well it’s a really good thing. It’s seriously just about running around two peaceful areas as a goat and causing mischief. Oh, and wait you can become the Goat Queen, all hail!

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is amazing. It doesn’t come right out throwing you into battle and you may find it a little bit slow to pick up in the beginning. Push past that and you will enter into a world of beauty, mystery, violence, love and deceit. There are tales of lore, contracts, stories and kinfolk. It makes no difference if you have played the past Witchers, since CD Projekt Red allows you to emulate a Witcher 2 save. You don’t have to do this, but it might add some filling to your story and how your game turns out.

Pneuma is a first-person puzzler, with some amazing looking graphics at times due to its use of Unreal Engine 4. But thats all the game has going for it. Throughout the story you are led to believe you are like a “god,” but you internally question some things that are going on, such as the existence of certain features in your own world. During most of the puzzles the character gives you a little hint on how you should solve each one. But I quickly became annoyed by the mellow and monotonous tone of his voice, so I essentially tuned him out. As you might imagine, this can make each future puzzle more difficult since you’re virtually not getting the one provided hint. That said, if you are good at this type of game, the hints are probably not needed until you make significant progress. Most of the initial puzzles are simple, requiring that you look at an eye to open a door, create sound, or just pull a lever. However, once you get further into the game, listening to the “god’s” monologue is must. At one point it took me awhile to figure out that I just had to sit and stare at a sundial to complete the puzzle – all because the only character in the game had almost immediately lost my attention.