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There clearly is a market for games like Sparkle Unleashed, but what's sad to see is that there was a lot of effort put into the game. There are animated cut scenes and visually appealing visuals, but the raw lack of innovation in a kind of game that is rapidly showing its age really does let it down.
Splatoon is almost endlessly replayable, and it effortlessly my favourite Nintendo game so far this year.
Dirty Bomb is fresh and fun with fast paced team-oriented action, but is lacking in some of the areas that modern FPS have matured into. But it's a good start to the franchise, with opportunities to expand upon the world there, add some story context and hopefully flesh out the experience further.
But to go back to my original question; what is left when you're playing a humour game that you're not finding very funny? A very competent, but ultimately unremarkable game in this case. In terms of scoring Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark, it's a tough one, because it's one of those odd games where I can see where its appeal would lie for others, but on a personal level, like the most boring of science experiments, I struggled to stay awake through it.
With just two episodes left, the stakes are higher than ever for House Forrester. There is plenty of political intrigue with the balancing of political and diplomatic might to consider. Still, if the books and show have taught us anything, there are precious few happy endings in this world, and I suspect the narrative of these next two episodes in this game will have its share of triumphs but also unexpected, darker surprises.
Nero is a beautiful contrast between light and dark, love and pain. It's not a fast-paced game, but rather a reflective, insightful, and emotional experience that is a very different kind of game that what we're used to. What starts as nothing more than a simple story of a woman and the man she loves, it quickly transforms itself into a heartfelt and wrenching story of a mother and her husband who go through one of the most wrenching, desperate series of emotions that a human being could experience.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M is disappointing because it could have been a far better game. With a developer with such experience in tactical games as Intelligent Systems has, there is no excuse for a game that is this limited, this garish, and this incohesive. If this is to be built into a franchise, it's going to need a dramatic improvement by the next game.
Ultratron is a good arcade game with the simple goal of surviving as long as possible in order to avenge the human race and earn a good score to brag about while doing it. While it might not do anything we haven't seen before, it is a fun time for those that love the retro style.
CD Projekt Red's game is a blockbuster in every sense of the word, and it's hard to imagine a world where there's a bigger or more impressive blockbuster at work in the background that hasn't even been announced yet but will still release in 2015. With that in mind, while I'm sure that Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed title is going to be a big improvement on last year's, and EA and Activision both have excellent shooters to release by Christmas, with Zelda on the Wii U being pushed to next year I'm quite comfortable with calling this now: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is going to be the blockbuster game of the year. It's not the most artful, the most intelligent, or the most important, but it's certainly going to be the most spectacular. And I know for a lot of players out there, the spectacle is all that matters.
That said, Axiom Verge is a near-flawless indie game that is sure bound to entertain you with its wide array of creative weapons and deep exploration that, at the end of which, rewards you handsomely. You bet I'll be re-visiting this game for many, many years to come.
Despite that, Toren really is about its narrative, and that is arthouse gold. Like the finest of foreign cinema, this game challenges how the wisdom behind blockbuster design would dictate a game should be put together. It's constrained by budget and, perhaps, a lack in confidence to go all the way and risk complete innovation, but it's a beautiful, emotive, and powerful experience, and it's going to be one of my games of the year. If not one of my favourite games ever.
At the end of the day, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood checks the necessary boxes to make it a suitable follow-up to the prior game. In terms of the gameplay, level design and overall pacing, The Old Blood has learned a handful of lessons and made the appropriate tweaks to improve the play experience from its predecessor. Unfortunately some of the spark that make last year's game oddly inspiring is gone, which makes it decent fun for shooter fans, but ultimately unsatisfying for anyone beyond that.
It’s not surprising that Spartan Strike is an incredibly fun game to play, and 343 Industries certainly has the experience under its belt to produce high-quality action games. Can it compare to the upcoming Halo 5? Of course not. Spartan Strike is an stylish little package, and is being sold for an amazing price. As such, 'true' Halo game or not, it is easily one of the best games to come out on the iPad this year.
The Ark of Napishtim is still great, in short. Long time fans of the series will appreciate the visual upgrade and first time entrants to this chapter should find themselves at home, especially if they have appreciated some of the other entries in recent years.
Perils of Man provides a solid point and click experience that will immerse you into this fantasy story and definitely racks up enough game time to make the small price tag worthwhile.
Shovel Knight is yet another fantastic indie addition to the continually growing Vita catalogue. It might lack Vita-specific extras (and is therefore a pointless purchase for people who already own the game on some other platform), but for old-school retro platforming fans who might have missed out on this fantastic title so far, it's a must buy.
In the end players who have experienced the original State of Decay might not find much to sway them into purchasing the Year One Survival Edition. However, others should give it a go. It's rough around the edges, but it's an intense and even emotional experience, and still one of the better examples of a zombie survival game.
Yes, the game has its moments where it's creepy. Yes, one of two of the ghastly lightning flashes made me jump in my seat. And yes, the story was promising at first – until it becomes an obvious end for Dr. Lang and a boring yet remarkably confusing one for Alex. As a free game, Sepulchre would have been worth a playthrough. But as a paid product, The Charnel House Trilogy fails to deliver on its promised horror.
BRAWL is by no means a perfect game, but it does well enough to join the ranks of party games I will be playing when friends come to visit. The game is unforgiving when it comes to the AI, and some players can learn from this while others will be destroyed constantly, which is unfortunate. With some tweaking here and there and adding difficulty levels, BRAWL could be amazing. Taking the game as it is, however, I have to say that I would really only pick this up if I had people that I could call up for an evening of beers-and-bombing.
The Weaponographist is a solid game to play if you're ever in the mood to dwindle a few minutes or hours off the boring day you're having. The pick-up-and-play quality, easy-to-understand nature and lightweight gameplay all come together to make The Weaponographist an easy recommend for everyone.