A while ago, I detailed why I believe that the music game genre is R.I.P., but the sentiment existed long before I set idea to keyboard. As a former Rock Band owner, I can say with earnestness that the game, while technically quality in terms of peripherals, song selection, controls, and timing, is exceedingly ho-hum. No matter how hard you rock out to “Cochise”, all that you’re doing is waiting for a colored icon to scroll down the screen so you can press a colored fret (or hit a colored drum) in time with it. I often found myself growing restless in spite of the killer tunes. It wasn’t until very recently when conversing with friends about the state of the modern arcade that I realized that I had played a type of rhythm game before, but in a far more enjoyable package: laser disc games.
The Search for Tobin Frost is the official movie tie-in to Safe House, the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds intelligence thriller written by directed by Daniel Espinoza. The goal is to track down rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost, who has apparently betrayed his country and spilled secrets to various organizations and nations that want to do not-so-nice things to America.
We live in a politically correct society where we’re all created equal, inclusiveness is the new cool, and we all bleed the same red blood–but it wasn’t always that way. Turning back the hands of time in both the real and gaming worlds reveal universes filled with ideas that aren’t exactly the most P.C. and sometimes outright offensive. From misogyny to outright racist imagery, video games have walked the dark side when portraying certain groups. Here are a few of the more memorable politically incorrect moments in 2D games.
It is understandable that this is a RTS for casual players, but I believe it’s catered toward the wrong market. Casual players aren’t going to pick up an RTS; heck casual gamers might not even know the meaning of the term “RTS.” If the difficulty would have been bumped up to a consistent level this would be a sure-fire winner. Instead we’re left with a game that has immense potential, but sadly falls short. I commend its impressive art style, amazing controls, and a unique take on what many consider an overwhelming genre. But for those looking for a deep game with a learning curve Eufloria isn’t for you, it’s for the person that is looking for a distraction from all the loud explosions, stressful situations and chaos found in other games.
Overall, Metal Slug 2 is a decent shooting game that can be an enjoyable history lesson. However nostalgia alone isn’t enough to make me erase its flaws. The brutal difficulty is only magnified by the horrible slow down, and makes this a tough purchase to recommend. At $9.00 it’s truly a hard pill to swallow, but if you’re a purist I doubt any of this matters.
Jeffrey L. Wilson is working on the King of Fighters XIII review right now, but until he delivers that, taste this: An unwrapping of the 4-disc King of Soundtracks.
There are lots of quests, side-quests and knick-knacks to collect like photos and music, and various other things throughout the world to find. None of that matters though if there isn’t a compelling central game to anchor it all. There isn’t one here. Button-mashing the same ability over again and trudging through page after page of repetitive dialogue isn’t how I like to spend my time gaming on the Nintendo DS or any other platform, and I can’t imagine anyone else would either despite the beautiful and nostalgic artstyle Solatorobo uses. In that regard, the game’s aesthetic is like a Siren call. Get lured in by the pretty surface, get disappointed by the shallow insides. If there’s any audience for Solatorobo it’s the very young, very inexperienced or very forgiving. But even then, for all the playing there is to do in Solatorobo it’s more akin to a Let’s Play video than a substantial video game.
When it comes to designing incredibly addictive, infinitely playable casual games, no company can match the track record of the magicians at Popcap Games. Zuma was marvelous. Even more so, Peggle. But with the release of Plants vs. Zombies, Popcap has truly outdone itself by crafting what is one of the most fun, engaging, and dare I say flawless games of this generation. Hyperbole this is not.
The War of the Worlds is an appropriately dark take on the classic H.G. Wells’ sci-fi novel that pay homage to classic cinematic platformers such as Flashback, Out of This World, and old school Prince of Persia.
Contributor John de Large, the big boss at New Game Plus, drops by to share an interview that he conducted with Ryota Niitsuma, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3′s producer.
