Review

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The Walking Dead: Michonne – Episode One Review: Sliced and Diced

the-walking-dead-michonne-headerMuch like they did between Seasons One and Two of The Walking Dead, Telltale has another small adventure to bridge the gap between seasons of their The Walking Dead series. While their TWD story runs parallel to the comic series, The Walking Dead: Michonne actually forms part of the continuity of the main story.

Telltale’s last two efforts with beloved characters were a mixed bag with Borderlands fans loving Tales From The Borderlands while Game of Thrones fans were underwhelmed by Game of Thrones (though the treatment of the likes of Ramsay Snow and the Lannisters was the best part of the series). With Michonne being one of TWD’s most popular characters, how would this effort turn out?

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Rise of the Tomb Raider Review: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Askew

rise-of-the-tomb-raider-headerSeldom do reboots actually reinvigorate a franchise. Sure, Star Trek wasn’t too bad but when you consider the likes of Point Break and The Amazing Spider-Man and Conan The Barbarian and Godzilla (twice), you find yourself scared away from reboots. Gaming isn’t immune to that with the likes of Sim City, Medal of Honor and Sonic the Hedgehog as failed attempts to reinvigorate franchises.

One of the more successful reboots in history is 2013’s Tomb Raider which is the series best-selling and among its most critically acclaimed. It came as a shock that Microsoft had to pay the way for this sequel to 2013’s hit. Rise of the Tomb Raider recently hit PC after an exclusivity period on Xbox One and will come to PS4 this fall (despite being the platform that Tomb Raider sold best on).

So how does the sequel to the reboot standup? Well, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops.

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Firewatch Review: Hey There Delilah

firewatch-headerWalking simulators and I have an adversarial relationship. I wanting to like them because I love a good story in a game but the review scores don’t really back that up. While I loved The Stanley Parable, I thought that Gone Home and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture were average games at best despite picking up acclaim from other games.

The latest walking simulator that I’ve added to my library is Firewatch. The game got its first big public unveiling as part of a PlayStation E3 keynote presentation and has now made its way to the PC as well. Given that PC is home to the walking simulator, would the latest entry in the genre stack up to the competition.

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Superhot Review: Am I Standing Still

superhot-headerYou’ve probably heard or read the lines but maybe you don’t understand them. “Super. Hot. Super. Hot.” Or maybe you’ve read “It’s the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years.” These aren’t ready-made box quotes from your favourite critics. They’re lines right from Superhot, the new first-person shooter that’s taken gaming by storm for the last week or so.

Superhot is a new first-person shooter that’s been labelled as being somewhere between a strategy game, a puzzle game and a traditional FPS. The hybrid of styles certainly makes this one of the more fun and interesting games that I’ve played in years.

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Until Dawn Review: Trope Scares

until-dawn-bannerOne of the alleged selling points of The Order: 1886 was that it was “cinematic” but it didn’t really feel like anything out of a movie other than the aspect ratio of the screen. To make a game that seems like a movie, you need to rely on more than just the visuals. Ready at Dawn missed that memo.

Supermassive Games didn’t miss that memo. They had last year’s PS4 exclusive that was noteworthy for all reason opposite to The Order: 1886. While Until Dawn could be called a cinematic game, it was cinematic because it was put together as a loving homage to 90s slasher and horror movies. It looked and acted the part and was all the better for it.

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Life is Strange Review: My So-Called Life

life-is-strange-headerLife is Strange started as a simple episodic digital release but today gets the full retail treatment. The Life is Strange: Limited Edition hits shelves today with an art book, developers’ commentary and a licensed soundtrack. While I’d love to get my hands on that, I’ve already played the game and named it et geekera’s Game of the Year for 2015. However, I only reviewed the individual episodes. This review is for the first “season” of Life is Strange.

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The Order: 1886 Review: Paint by Numbers

the-order-1886-headerLaunch window exclusives are a very specific type of game. They tend to focus more on showing off the potential of the hardware at the expense of doing anything particularly memorable in terms of gameplay and story. As such, these are titles that you can quickly find in the bargain bin after release. They’re neat for a little bit but soon forgotten when actual good games start coming out.

Take The Order: 1886, for example. I got it as on Black Friday 2015 for $10. It released for $60 back in… February 2015? That can’t be right. The PlayStation 4 launched in November 2013. How did something that was clearly designed as a system showcase not come out until some sixteen months after the console launched?

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Dirt Rally Review: The Road Less Travelled

dirt-rally-headerOn a few occasions on this blog, I have discussed the ever-changing priorities of Codemasters. The British developer has long been recognized as one of the top racing game developers but often shifts their priorities between making arcade-style games and more simulation style games. In the past, I’ve taken to calling Codemasters games “pseudo-sims” because while they tend to be more realistic and difficult than arcadey racing games but not as intense as games like rFactor and iRacing.

I should say, that was the case until I got to Dirt Rally. While Dirt 3 was much closer to a sim than the likes of Dirt Showdown, Dirt Rally feels like it goes to another level beyond that. It might not be as detailed or difficult as the likes of iRacing but that doesn’t mean it’s pick up and play, either. Of course, that’s definitely not a bad thing.

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Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture Review: Going Walkabout

everybodys-gone-to-the-rapture-headerSome people call them walking simulators. The people in marketing prefer to call it interactive storytelling. The one thing that we can all agree on is that games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture are among the most divisive in gaming. Rapture itself has review scores ranging from 100% to 25% and is on best, worst and blandest games of 2015 lists.

I have a mixed history with walking simulators myself. While I loved The Stanley Parable, I had Gone Home figured out in about a half-hour but had to walk the experience through to the end. Where will Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture fall on the walking simulator spectrum?

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FIM Speedway Grand Prix 15 Review: Get Dirty

fim-speedway-grand-prix-15-headerOne of the great things about the current gaming ecosystem is that not every game has to be a massive triple-A effort. It opens up the market to smaller games that wouldn’t have been made in the past. Take FIM Speedway Grand Prix 15, for example. Flat-track dirt oval motorcycle racing is so niche that I’m not sure that I ever saw it on Speed Channel. Yet this fairly unheard of form of two-wheel motorsport has one of the best racing games of 2015.

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