Bloody Disgusting
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Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip does have the feel of a good party game. Its variety of enemies and weapons, as well as the flow of combat, all lend itself to a consistent ride of adrenaline. But even if you ignore the sometimes cringy elements of its voice acting, there’s just not enough content for such a basic experience to justify the price of Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip.
The great shame here is that there are a lot of good ideas in DayZ, it’s just that they are poorly executed. The immense open world and survival mechanics all read really cool on paper, and at the start of one’s journey come off intriguing. As one dives deeper into DayZ, however, the realization washes over them regarding just how empty the experience feels. What could change this is if the developer decides to add more to DayZ, opening up the accessibility of the game. For now, DayZ is more of a disappointment in what could have been a great survival title.
Expectations were never going to be too high for Terminator Resistance. Alarm bells always go off when something like this pops out of the shadow of a movie release with little fanfare, but it's remarkable how backward this game manages to be. It elicits no real emotional impact of any kind beyond maybe surprise when you find out this isn't a HD remaster of some forgotten Xbox 360 title, but a brand new 2019 release. The low budget can be forgiven for some shortcomings, but this clearly didn't get the time it needed to compliment said budget's restrictions.
Maybe the most damning thing I can say about Close to the Sun is that the main story it’s so interested in telling—the story that everything else on the Helios funnels you back toward—just isn’t the least bit surprising. All of it borrows pretty heavily from the BioShock playbook, and all of the plot points it trots out have been done better (and far more shockingly) elsewhere. The portrait of Tesla it presents seems conflicted—and I hoped Close to the Sun would attempt to close the distance between the egomania that would prompt a man to build statues of himself and the gentle humanity Tesla shows elsewhere — but the game doesn’t do anything to dig into those contradictions. That’s the consequence of all those chase sequences. Close to the Sun just doesn’t have the time to dig into anything. It’s got somewhere else to be.
For those who simply must know what happens in the lead up to that first game, Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek is essential for filling in those blanks. However, those who are simply looking for a fun game to play are likely to be left deeply unsatisfied.
Yuoni was on a hiding to nothing from the start, and while I don’t feel the game has much wrong with it, and offers some freshness in its endless dusk, far too much of how it plays has been done to death, and done better. What haunting enchantment it holds is dispelled by the dull monotony of running, hiding, and waiting over and over again just to get a sliver of a story.
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.
It is Bloober Team’s least scary, least interesting game. There needs to be more to Blair Witch.
The Padre means well, trying to offer players the kind of Survival Horror experience that has been missing (for good reason in a lot of ways) for some time. It does sometimes capture the spirit of that well, but misses what made the games that it was inspired by into such beloved favorites. Whenever you’re dragged away from puzzling and exploring the mansion, things take a turn for the worse, with tedium and annoyance robbing the game of its atmosphere. The effort is appreciated, it just needs refining.
Omen of Sorrow is a budget fighting game with AAA ambitions. AOne’s attempts to stretch it into something bigger don’t pay off and while there’s some enjoyment to be had, there are so many better, more polished alternatives that offer way more value for your money.
The game's narrative is impossible to condense, and its delivery can be cryptic to the point of confusion. As the first part of a trilogy, Remothered: Tormented Fathers offers an intriguing, obscure tale smothered by its own mystery.
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.
While it may not be the most exotic horror establishment out there, I could think of worse places to visit than the Sker Hotel right now.
I’m probably being a bit more down on it than it deserves, because this is a good zombie-smashing VR game, but it’s just good enough that the grievances I have with it feel magnified somewhat. I want it to be that little bit better than it is, but I’ll not deny that it may be easier for some to overlook these relatively minor faults.
The general spooky parts are similarly undercooked, with an unenthusiastic lineup of the ‘spooky things in first-person games checklist.’ Again, I have to say this was definitely an instance where a game could have been plenty unnerving without resorting to the supernatural. Still, if you’re going to do it anyway, there are more inventive and effective ways to go about it.
It’s not a particularly lengthy experience, but Sucker For Love probably doesn’t need all that much more to it. As it is, it’s a punchy, fun, and occasionally grim, dating sim that prefers to steer clear of the darker, dirtier lanes of cosmic horror and the raunchier, saucier side of dating sims. Yet mixes up just enough of both to make for an enjoyable treat for horror fans with a sense of humor.
While the game itself hasn’t aged particularly well in every sense, the work done by Nightdive to modernize it respectfully is commendable. Visually it’s been cleaned up and had a few rough edges smoothed out without polluting the original design, and there’s no denying that every effort has been made to tighten the controls in much the same way it did with last year’s Quake remaster. Short of messing with the core of what made PowerSlave Exhumed the game it is, there’s probably little else that could make it more appealing.
Death Stranding is as thoughtful and meditative as it is a slog and convoluted. It is a different take on gaming that most of us gamers are not used to. It is a Hideo Kojima title where in-game actions provide a sense of emotional joy for players. Death Stranding, for all its depth and struggle, is a beautiful step forward for video games, and a potential taste of what the future may bring.
The experience of the game is aptly kind of like going to your high school reunion. It's a little bit awkward and you have to go talk to the people you're less thrilled to see in order to find the ones you're really interested in catching up with, but it's got some high points that make it worthwhile, even if it's not quite as memorable as you thought it would be. And much like the reunion, the runtime feels just long enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome significantly, allowing you to move on with your life afterward. If you miss the days of horror game having adventure game-style puzzles, then give Worse Than Death a try, just don't be expecting anything overly substantial in the scare department.
Afterparty falls short of the standard that Night School set with Oxenfree. While it boasts a strong setting and brilliant set-up, it leans heavily on writing that just isn’t strong enough to shoulder the load. I still can’t wait to see what Night School does next, but Afterparty feels like a watered-down take on Oxenfree. Here’s hoping they can mix up something a little stronger for the next round.