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You're better off saving your money instead of sinking it on the titanic failure that is Submerged.
The view from a sniper's scope has the potential to tell a compelling and meditative story about the nature of armed conflict without the boom and bravado of video game warfare. It can also magnify issues and expose glaring flaws. In the case of Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, the later is true. It's a sloppy, uninspired game at its best. At its worst, it's -- to quote Jonathan North -- "one fucking long exercise in triage."
Still, when I think about I am Bread as a whole, I'm reluctant to say it's good. It's a silly idea and it seems like developer Bossa Studios had a lot of fun building all of the different modes, but I wish I were having that much fun playing it.
Fighter Within is a lazy tech demo with a poor story, unimpressive fighting engine, and a forgettable cast. Maybe one day we'll have a cool Kinect fighting game, where everyone at EVO is flailing around with some semblance of strategic value. But this is not that day.
Chris: I would be okay with never hearing "Daddy-o" ever again. But yeah, there aren't many runners on consoles, and the genre deserved better. They can be special at times and at the very least a fun time waster, but funk this.
While there was clear opportunity in the buddy cop formula LA Cops attempted to create, the end result is a mess. Totally undermined by poor teammate AI, the central strategic hook is lost, resulting in a bland game confused about what it wants the player to do.
Although the game is only $14.99, the entertainment value offered is far below that.
Even if the price was right (and that price is free, regardless of platform) Goat Simulator is not worth playing. It's a game designed for YouTube, not the average consumer. Reward this shrewd business decision by not buying this game and just watching some clips online instead.
If you’re wondering why it took so long for this review to show up on Destructoid, I’ll tell you: I dreaded playing Baldo. Every night over the past three weeks, I looked down at my Xbox controller with unease, worried the next two to three hours of my life would be agonizing. And every night, that intuition turned out to be correct.
"Expanse" might be a bit generous, though. While it's hardly unusual for a VR game to be a bit on the short side, a couple of hours and change for the campaign from start to finish (not including a few frustrating sniper-deaths) pushes the limit. On the other hand, I'm happy that it was over quickly, the better to move on to games that I enjoyed. A score attack mode also exists for those who really want to squeeze every bit of blood from a stone.
The foundation for something better is still here, but Slipgate Studios has reworked Rad into something that isn't worth spending your cash on.
Flip Wars is in some ways less fleshed out than the demo for Fusion Frenzy. Almost every feature, from the blocked out local mode to the disappointing "My Room" option (that's less of a room and more like a statistic menu), is a half measure. Maybe Over Fence can add to what they've built with a sequel, a series of free updates, or even a re-launch (which has been done in the very same party space). Until that happens, don't worry about missing out.
Even if Akiba's Beat had a higher budget and more time, it lacks any unique features, mimicking what other games do, but worse. For 40 hours you'll mash X through slow dialogue, then run around a dead environment, and then do more dialogue until you get to mash square against sponges. If Akiba's Trip is the shirtless jock who kicks the door with beers in hand, Akiba's Beat is the timid cocktail-drinker standing in the corner with one hand in his pocket. Technically functional, but spiritually dead.
From the looks of it, Bamtang likely had to deal with a tight deadline and a low budget when they undertook this project, since Bandai Namco probably wanted the game to come out before the Power Rangers movie hits theaters. Seeing that the title showed a bit of potential with the way how the Rangers played, I could see this being true. However, this doesn’t prevent the game from leaving a huge dent in the Command Center.
Keeping in mind that this experience is $25, Everest VR does nothing but disappoint. While it looks astounding, it's at its best when it isn't trying to immerse the player with "gameplay" segments that only serve to take away from what it's trying to accomplish. If it were much cheaper, or at least longer, it would be a great way to demonstrate VR for someone uninitiated with it. As it stands, it's a lot of money for a paltry few broken moments.
Mech Land Assault falls completely flat. The mechs are great, but they also make missions and liberating towns way too easy (the same way the jetpack made flying way too easy and thereby less interesting). There are only two missions, both of which are completely bland. Oh, and also you're forced to liberate the entire DLC island because if there is one thing that people were clamoring for, it was more town liberations.
Vivian Clark is at least an interesting experience. It's not one that I want to return to, ever, but spending time with it always kept me on my toes, thinking about what could be next. Unfortunately, the actual mechanics are poorly implemented and fail-states are way too common, making what should be a laid-back, almost euphoric experience more like throwing your head against the wall.
As far as endless runners go, the only thing Shred It! has going for it is the art style, and even that is feeling old hat these days. The gameplay follows the same formula as all the other runners you've played. The controls aren't great, poor optimization causes frame rate drops, and grinding to unlock content just isn't fun. Endless runners are popular on mobile devices because it is easy to do a quick run when you've got a few minutes to kill, an experience that doesn't translate well to Xbox One. With so many better runners available for free on devices most of us already own, there is no reason to make a purchase here.
Recounting my experience to coworkers, I was at a loss for how Slain! could look and sound as good as it does while failing to deliver on essentially every other aspect. While the developers have heard similar feedback from players and have publicly promised improvements, the game's problems lie in its foundation. I'm sure it can and probably will get better over time with polish, but what's here at launch is disappointing. I struggle to picture Slain! ever becoming genuinely good barring major reworks.
The beginning of Typoman showed promise, full of amusing and creative moments, something that anyone could enjoy. But unfortunately it wasn't able to hold that momentum for very long and quickly devolved into tedium and confusion, and lots of standing around doing nothing.