Bloody Disgusting
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Even with the thin gameplay mechanics and small bits of narrative logic that felt off, its world, characters, and story grew on me. It is truly heartwarming when a piece of media, especially video games for all their interactivity, embrace subjects such as loneliness and mental illness. Our society still deals with problems of stigma, which in turn creates barriers for those who want to reach out for help but are afraid to ask. Video games, and art as a whole, have the remarkable power to move and inspire one another, to encourage inner strength and find our voice; Sea of Solitude is one of those hopeful experiences.
Complaining about Outer Wilds inscrutability is a little like criticizing Rome because you don’t know which sights to see. Do a measly Google search. Mobius Digital has, at times, erred on the side of giving players too little information. But, as a result, they have created a world that casts you as Isaac Newton. They are eagerly waiting for you to discover its gravity.
The story and characters and shooting that make Wolfenstein shine are still all here. But, the structure has shifted those elements around, producing something that just doesn’t feel like Wolfenstein anymore. If you like loot-shooters and would like to play one with a Nazi-killing coat of paint, Wolfenstein Youngblood is basically that. But, if you come to Wolfenstein for well-realized characters and pulpy stories, Youngblood is defined by their absence.
It will infuriate, it will make you laugh unintentionally, and cringe to the center of the Earth at times, but Heavy Rain is still very much worth investigating for its bold, and often striking, weirdness.
A heavily uneven story, with generally fine performances, and a perfectly serviceable set of mechanics to go with some pretty damn fine visuals. Beyond is often meandering and lunk-headed, but it has moments of magic that make it an enjoyable enough way to spend a few hours if you can persevere through its failings.
Even with the restrictions Illfonic has had to endure regarding the license, it has still made great use of it. The core game may be a tad clunky at times, and not much of a looker, but the love for Friday the 13th can be felt from the title screen onwards.
The Blackout Club isn’t perfect. As a fan of immersive sims, I want more lore and more tools to play with. But, it is a unique and compelling mash-up of genre horror and systems-driven gameplay. I can’t wait to get back to the maze.
It doesn’t have any radical ideas (or much to say about the radical idea of its inspiration). But, fans of old LucasArts adventure games will find a lot to love (and laugh at) in Stuck in Attic’s debut.
Control consistently delivers the bizarre without trying too hard to be bizarre. It’s a weird, wonderful, and generally fantastic game that’s hampered by an unfortunate technical handicap.
Sure, Man of Medan has a few rough edges, but it’s a confident first step in a new series of games. It keeps the core of what made people love Until Dawn and breathes fresh life into it by adding more depth to the branching narrative system, and including an excellent multiplayer side. A little more polish and a bit more bite to the game’s finale would be nice, but this is still a hugely entertaining slice of interactive horror that brings the thrilling uncertainty of other people’s decisions to the murder party.
While the story can get a little too congested at times with its various topics, the effort to explore such issues makes for an experience with more depth and meaning. Faith is another step forward in a wild journey. The episode’s twist and turns offer a blend of exhilarating and heartbreaking moments, and is an experience that Life Is Strange fans can embrace as they continue forward with the brothers.
It is Bloober Team’s least scary, least interesting game. There needs to be more to Blair Witch.
I enjoyed my time with Daymare. It’s a nice homage to the horror games of yesteryear, I would say however that the game feels a little short, (there’s an achievement for completing the game in under 4 hours which you’re absolutely not going to do on the first playthrough) but any negatives I’ve mentioned don’t affect the overall enjoyment and excitement that the game brings. It’s jumpscare horror done well, for the first release from an independent studio I’d say it was a good effort, and should Invader Studios continue down the horror route they will no doubt be ones to watch out for at some point. If you have ever enjoyed any survival horror games and/or remember the 90’s you should pick this up; don’t expect anything new, but expect to have gory, tense fun navigating an already familiar environment.
These are still pretty minor grievances because all The Surge 2 really needed to do to be an improvement was to be a bit more interesting, and it's definitely that. Refined combat, an intriguing and varied place to explore, and just more variety, in general, are huge contributors to The Surge 2's success as a hardcore action RPG and as a sequel. It's not ripping up any rulebooks or striking out with all that much fresh ambition, but it is a supremely confident followup to a bang average game.
Most of what this game has to offer hasn’t changed since 2012. It’s more Borderlands. Decide how you feel about that.
Mostly, Code Vein is underwhelming. It’s highly stylish, and has some really good enemy design and gameplay options, but more could have been done with the pitch of ‘Anime Vampire Action RPG’. This effort sadly falls short of its potential and somehow makes a gore-soaked game about vampires a bit boring.
Stygian is a good role-playing game, particularly if you’re the type who can really get into your character. There’s plenty to read and lots of information to take in, this isn’t a game that will please the adrenaline junkies, but if atmosphere and a feeling of reward through solving mysteries sound good then this is one to pick up.
If you’ve played Sniper Elite 3 before, there’s not a whole lot new to this latest version beyond the motion controls and portability, but in fairness, that’s as significant an update you can get without changing the game’s base structure. There’s no doubt we’ll be getting more of this series on Switch in the future, and hopefully, that will include the next Zombie Army spinoff. For now, having another round of Nazi skull-exploding sniper shots playing out in slow motion X-Ray form shows it never gets old, no matter what the format.
Overall, I’d say Blasphemous is a must-play if you’re a fan of Souls-like adventuring, classic Metroidvania or if you just want to set off on a dark pilgrimage to unholy lands. There may be a few issues that hinder the experience here and there (some of which are supposedly being patched as we speak), but this is still one of my favorite gaming experiences of 2019, and I think horror fans will especially appreciate the work that went into crafting this terrifying world.
Trine 4 isn’t a reinvention then, rather a return to that which made the series work in the first place. That alone was absolutely necessary after the misstep of the previous entry. There are times I wished there was a teensy bit more ambition with combat and platforming, but the meat of Trine 4 is the puzzles, and that is some pretty succulent meat.