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Disc Room wants to cut you in so many ways. It wants to chew you up, dismantle you, and make you say a swear or 50 creatively woven into the same sentence. It’s bullet hell without the regular therapy of being able to return fire. But for all of those aspects, it's also horribly addicting. The ease of picking up where you left off and trying your darndest to survive just a little bit longer to unlock a room left me putting down my controller, rubbing my head, and then often picking it up to say, “this will be the time I get it. This time.” It’s not a ridiculously long or complex romp. But it also doesn’t really need to be. It knows what it wants to be. It wants to be your murderer. And the only way you’re going to thwart it is by surviving just long enough to open its next doors and beat its myriad of challenges.
Simply put, Remothered: Broken Porcelain was released in an unfinished state. Over the past week, the developers have released a patch nearly every day. Though this is commendable, it begs the questions of why it was released in the first place with so many problems.
Amnesia: Rebirth is a solid return to form for Frictional. It has everything I’ve come to expect from the folks behind SOMA and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but ups the horror game in meaningful ways appropriate to this particular entry.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is an entertaining take on the classic franchise. The mixed reality format allows player creativity to shine, as the ceiling for possibility is practically infinite. Nintendo is able to expertly weave staple Mario Kart features and characteristics into an augmented reality setting, making the game stand out from other RC racers.
The Jackbox Party Pack 7 isn't the best of the bunch, but it's still a solid game night for anybody looking to pass the time with friends and family that they don't get to see as much these days.
ScourgeBringer manages to work on the strength of its controls and the overall smoothness of its combat.
I’m not old school like the coaches and GMs that still make up a large part of the NHL, but I’m old school in that I grew up in the 80s and 90s and value hard hockey played the right way over flashy dekes you might see once a season. I love dekes as much as the next person, but not at the expense of solid core gameplay. EA Vancouver tried to sell dekes, cosmetics, and the idea of being a superstar, but what resonated with me, an old-school hockey guy, were the core gameplay improvements.
Onee Chanbara Origin is a serviceable remake of a couple classic PS2 titles. Developer Tamsoft does a great job giving the games a visual makeover and a much more modern feel. Combat is solid, though a bit basic at times. The experience is also bogged down at times by some performance problems. That aside, and Onee Chanbara is a worthwhile remake of a fun and unique story.
Though the experience is hampered by bugs, glitches, and a few design issues, the snappy and moreish combat, the treasure trove of stats and skills, and the delightfully chaotic co-op play make Torchlight 3 a must-have for anyone looking for more ARPG goodness.
Stratton Studios succeeds in creating a fun Halloween game with Costume Kingdom. The trick-or-treat and costume mechanics are inventive, while the battles heavily lift from the Pokemon formula. The story and world feel a bit shallow, making the overall experience a bit forgettable. Costume Kingdom is a sweet treat to have for the spooky month of October.
I Am Dead has a very interesting story to tell, a colorful and varied environment in which to tell it, and a very cool way of going about the telling. The use of ghostly powers to explore, but never directly interact with the world, yet still solve puzzles was quite fun and unique. The more I unraveled of the mystery, the more intrigued I was and the more I wanted to know about each of the people presented to me, their lives, their connections, and the island they lived on.
FIFA 21 is about what you’d expect from a new FIFA release. Some quality of life improvements over the previous title though nothing that really signifies a leap in class from past games. That being said, the quality in the FIFA series is fairly high, giving EA Sports a nice cushion to fall back on every year. FUT maintains the same inherent issues as it did last year, despite some shiny new features. FIFA 21 is another serviceable, yet standard entry in EA Sports’ soccer/football simulation series.
If you are all hot and bothered by the thought of tearing past some United Kingdom pastures at 240+kph on a crotch rocket with the best visuals of any two-wheeled racing game yet, RIDE 4 for PC and next-gen consoles needs to be on your shortlist. While I found the first-person cameras lead me to slower lap times, they were my preferred way to crash the bikes. I’ve still yet to win at the Isle of Man on a modern bike, but hopefully, that time arrives soon. 8/10 Ninja wheelies
Just make sure to get your battle royale on while you can, because in six months, your Mario battle royale game will be in another castle.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was a big surprise when it was announced back in June of this year. Through all of the trials and tribulations that 2020 has seen, seeing a game that has such a deep and rooted history come back with new ideas was both refreshing and inspiring. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a surprise classic that’s sure to delight old fans of the franchise and even make some new ones along the way.
Star Wars: Squadrons manages to stand out by not trying to be larger than life. Simultaneously a franchise cash-in and love letter to the classic LucasArts PC space combat games of the 1990s, Squadrons sticks to its mission and comes out the other side of a warp-speed jump successfully.
Going Under is a fun dungeon crawler that parodies capitalism and the culture surrounding it. While a shorter experience, the game is given a solid level of replayability thanks to the procedural generation and wide variety of weapons. Though the combat feels like it’s lacking depth at times, it’s still fun to sling office equipment around at foes. Going Under is a great offering from the team at Aggro Crab and Team17.
Whether you’re looking for a challenging action game or just want to enjoy a beautifully illustrated and orchestrated story, Hades might be my preferred recommendation for romps through Hell.
While Kirby Fighters 2 is fun for a night with a co-op partner, there's little entertainment beyond that. There are better Kirby games out there. Try those instead.
Serious Sam 4 is fun to play – and an even bigger joy if you bring co-op into the mix. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’re going to feel right at home. If you’ve never played a Serious Sam game, then just don’t go into it expecting the same level of narrative as story-driven games, because you aren’t going to find it here.