Bloody Disgusting
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For as long as I recall, MediEvil has been a crucial part of my gaming upbringing. It was the first game I ever played; I remember spending long weekends with my dad trying to beat a level. I remember using our horrible dial-up internet to look up cheat codes. I even remember going around the school playground shouting at the other children and muffling my voice like Sir Dan. This is for the fans and it’s not very accessible to anyone outside of that circle. Regardless, it was a big treat to see Sony has not entirely given up on the franchise, and if there’s enough interest, may consider developing a new game altogether.
What Byte Barrels has launched is more than good enough for now. Its pulpy comic book take on cosmic horror and retro shooters is a winning combination. Yes, it’s nowhere near the first game to utilize Lovecraft or a retro aesthetic, but crucially, it does so on its own terms.
Nightmare Reaper is a highly enjoyable mash of retro things with a deliciously barbed edge. It doesn’t always hit the high notes of the old favorites it belts out, but you’ll sing along just the same.
While Maiden of Black Water may not be the best example of the Fatal Frame series, it’s been long enough that a whole new potential audience has emerged in the last few years, and this, flaws and all, will be something of a new experience. It’s more important that Maiden of Black Water got this multi-platform remaster for that reason than any other. If Fatal Frame is to have a future, it will need more than a handful of existing fans championing the good old days. It needs new blood too, and Maiden of Black Water’s remaster for a wider audience gives the series that chance.
For all the grumbling and faults I might have with Back 4 Blood, it excels where it matters most, and ends up as a solidly entertaining zombie shooter. It could be better, and probably will be in time, but for now, if you fancy a decent new horror-led game to play with your friends, Back 4 Blood is worth a shot.
This is primarily for those who whittled away many a night in front of their PC two decades ago raiding dungeons, bludgeoning skeletons, and swimming in glorious loot. A remaster for archival purposes if you will. The only modern stain on the original tapestry has been the online issues that plagued the game’s launch, but even those will be but a distant memory before long.
Yes, you could argue that in trying so hard to make a game for the mid-2000s in 2021 leaves the developer with a game that’s fundamentally dated before it began, but that’s the point. All the modern indie horror games that work get that. Compromises will certainly bring you a bigger audience, but games like Tormented Souls, as scraggly and mean-spirited as the games that inspired them, are far more likely to scratch that itch for survival horror’s golden era, rough edges and all.
I’m not sure Outriders will live long in the memory, but it’s a damn enjoyable ride while it lasts.
With the strength of the World of Darkness’s rich universe of lore backing it up, Earthblood is far more compelling than it first appears. Just as it looks like a formulaic, repetitive, action game, it throws enough odd stuff and interesting characters into the mix to add a bit of unique pep to proceedings. It would be unfair to call Earthblood ‘mindless fun’ given it has a more positive message to it than a lot of action games, but its easygoing blend of action, stealth, and narrative adventure certainly make it surprisingly simple to get into despite essentially being three games stapled together.
Maybe the weirdest thing about Metamorphosis is that it takes an old, respected story, and turns it into a dark mirror of the video game adaptation of Pixar's A Bug’s Life. Somehow, despite its issues, that works.
This is a game made by a relative handful of people, and viewing it from that perspective, the whole package is more impressive, and shows plenty of room for growth in any future project. It certainly explains the limitations and faults found in certain areas. It doesn’t excuse them, but that knowledge does soften their impact.
For all its faults, it’s hard to argue against the intent and ambition of What Happened. It doesn’t always get things right, but it clearly has good intentions to deliver an engaging and heartfelt depiction of mental health issues and a nauseatingly effective drug trip. It’s to the credit of the developers that it succeeds on the latter at least, and shows potential in the former.
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.
Remarkably then, even through disappointing attempts at horror and puzzling, Conarium is just about compelling enough to warrant seeing through to the end. It’s not particularly mind-blowing from a narrative perspective, but it is engrossing and satisfying. If only it pushed harder for a sense of dread and terror, or even simply provided more of a challenge, then we’d be talking about something that truly stands out as a thoughtful, engaging horror game.
It’s definitely more of a management sim than a true survival horror game and, in truth, that makes for an interesting premise. However, the inherent unpredictability, lack of direct combat, and some gameplay mechanics that don’t gel ultimately hold Distrust back from being more than an experimental blending of genres.
Home Sweet Home is a molten jumble of horror game ideas, poured into a cracked gameplay mold, but its imperfections can’t hide its true horror qualities.
It’s flawed, it has issues, and it doesn’t reinvent the series, but Darksiders 3 is fun, and isn’t that why we play games in the first place?
Whether you play with friends or by yourself, Fallout 76 is the beginning of a fascinating direction for the series. Having Fallout be an open world online game makes lots of sense, for the core element of the series is that of exploration in a post-apocalyptic world. I think in time, as Bethesda continues to build upon the game, we will see Fallout 76 become a stronger entry in the series, as well as a worthy online role-playing adventure.
There is a lot of promise here, but not quite enough of it fulfilled. The combat could have been done away with completely (rare as it is anyway) and the stealth either ditched or simplified. The strong suit of Call of Cthulhu is in its conversation/investigation mechanics. Sure the game would have been a little lacking in variety if that’s all there was but honestly, it would have been a much more consistently enjoyable and immersive adventure for it.
I’ve got a laundry list of other minor complaints, like how dumb the “boss fights” are, but the randomness is my biggest issue. It turns what could be an interesting, thoughtful sort of puzzle game into a series of pulls on a slot machine. That’s not necessarily entirely bad, and you can get some fun out of it regardless, but it’s a mixed bag.