A Gods Will Be Watching Review

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

Rating: 6/10
Verdict: It's got an amazing premise, and solid ideas for fun gameplay, but it's unfortunately held back by some poor design choices.

Gods Will Be Watching is the expanded version of a Ludum Dare game. In the original, you were tasked with surviving for forty days by managing your resources, making hard choices and possibly sacrificing people for the greater good. Even though I never played the Ludum Dare version of the game, the level from that version is in this one, and a lot of people were excited for the full game. I was excited too because I thought it looked like a cool idea... the kind of thing that indie games get a lot of recognition for. If it isn't outright innovating in at least some miniscule way, it's doing something that is very uncommon these days.

The concept of the game is that with each chapter, you are thrown into a different environment, with different goals, and you have to control your team in order to successfully complete the mission. This will involve a lot of clicking on the different characters. You will manage them and also keep an eye on the resources you have. There is a lot of variety in the missions, as one has you taking hostages, one has you being tortured, one has you walking through a desert, and much more. 
 

So I started a new game...

I have some pretty negative things to say about the game, but I have to admit that I absolutely adore the premise of the game. I love that the game throws you into a mixture of different kinds of situations and expects you to figure out how to best solve the problems while never holding your hand, and at best, only giving you a little bit of information on how to proceed.

I also give a lot of credit to the artistic side of things. While the pixel-art may turn off some people, and many have proclaimed that Gods Will Be Watching -- and other games of its ilk -- have terrible graphics, you have to compare it to other games with the same style. Because I do that, I can safely say that there was a lot of work put into the visuals and it shows. The characters are about as detailed as they can be, which is an important element because the game relies a lot on visual cues to inform you how the characters are doing. It's a testament to the talent involved that it is usually pretty easy to tell when the people are feeling a certain way.

...then this happened, a few times, and I was very confused.

The environments are varied and beautiful, with a lot done to breathe life into them. You may only see one room at a time, but they are a joy to look at and really add to the atmosphere, especially some of the outdoors levels. The indoor levels do a satisfactory job of making you feel claustrophobic and shut-in, like a survival game should. 


At first I was going to say that while I enjoy the soundtrack, I'm glad I didn't buy package on Steam that included both the game and the soundtrack, but as I write this review I'm listening to some of the tracks on Youtube and I'm changing my tune a little bit. At first I didn't think the music stuck out, but in retrospect it may have been because I was so caught up in making decisions that I didn't pay a lot of attention. Now that I sit here and listen to the songs individually, it's very clear that the music does a good job of (usually) making you feel like you may be going insane. Since the nature of the game is that things get tougher and tougher as they go on, and you're constantly being pushed to the brink, it makes sense that the music reflects that, with a lot of the songs slowly building... like your insanity.


There are minor issues with the game, such as some poor English, but those can be brushed aside because there are flaws that are much bigger; such as the lack of narrative-cohesion and how tedious it gets.               

Gods Will Be Watching attempts to tell a strong narrative but there are some painfully obvious hiccups in that. For the most part the story is fine; you play as a group of people who are trying to stop the "terrorists." It's a game that tries to tell the side of both factions and does a good job of explaining that things aren't black and white in a conflict such as this. I really have no gripes about the plot as a whole, but they've done a terrible job of making your actions have any kind of consequence. You can literally lose a member of your team during a mission and he/she will be there the next mission. I lost Jack during a torture scene, and I was still talking to him during the rest of the chapter. I thought I was just talking to a ghost, and while I think that's a bit of a cheesy mechanic to employ in storytelling, I accepted it. Then in a future chapter, people were talking to him and he was performing tasks like he was alive. I could sacrifice people and they'd just show up next level. This is pretty much unforgivable in a game like this and breaks the immersion immensely. They really needed to fix this because once you figure that out, outside of accomplishing the challenges, who cares if so-and-so dies? And really, the challenges isn't enough glue to hold it together when the game is so story-driven.
 
Take a look at the first image on this page: I picked it for a reason. Unfortunately I chose "Exit Game" more than I would have liked when trying to play through it. I read preview after preview, watched video after video, of professional critics being in awe of how bad the game made them feel, or how intense the missions were. I can see why someone would get sweaty when playing this because it does expect you to multi-task a lot. Ultimately though the game gets bogged down in tedium because a) I don't think the choice-making is that interesting and b) the chapters are too long with no mid-level checkpoints.

You could spend 45 minutes playing a level only to die and have to start it over again because there is no saving in the middle of a chapter. The problem with this is that the game isn't exciting enough to warrant that. The first time you play a mission it's fresh and there's a joy in figuring it out, but then it becomes routine and the choices you make are more static than kinetic, and this gets highlighted when you die. You will end up falling into a pattern at some point, and their solution for that seems to be to add parts in each mission that are insta-death. These are random and there's nothing more frustrating than having to play something for so long only to be killed by something you have absolutely zero control over. The game stresses that you are the master of your own destiny in a lot of ways, but then the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I understand that in real life anything can happen, but this is still a poorly thought-out design choice. With that said, I can get past the random death but I have a much harder time with it when it takes so long just to get back to that point again in a replay.

I kept turning the game off because I just couldn't bring myself to do it again. That's where the game loses probably two points for me, because I can't get past this aspect of the game. There is a great idea in here, but it was implemented poorly.

Gods Will Be Watching had a lot of promise, and some people clearly enjoy this game more than I do. As it stands, it's actually one of the bigger disappointments of the year for me so far. It's only $10 on Steam though, so by all means give it a shot... it may appeal to you more than it did me.

This Week In Games, July 28 - August 2, 2014

Written By: Tyler

Hello again everybody to another edition of "This Week In Games," a weekly feature I do that involves me talking about cows.

Every week I go through the new releases (usually according to Gamespot) and I pick some of the interesting games of the week, whether they're good or bad. Usually I'm pretty positive, especially when you consider I've never played a lot of them so I try to keep an open-mind.

I keep it mostly to "first time" releases, meaning games that are launching this week, but I do throw in some ports and whatnot as well here and there. The release dates are all North American as well, because that's where I live. Okay, let's do this.



July 27

Nothing today, go outside and play heathens.


July 28


The Room

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Puzzler
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4R7KxglZY4

The Room is originally a mobile game (and a terrible but awesome movie, but this is no relation to that), and it is getting ported to PC. I had to post a link to the gameplay on the iOS version because I couldn't find anything concerning the PC version that isn't just a comparison of the graphics between the two versions.

The gameplay consists of you solving puzzles. The puzzles, in this case, are boxes that you have to open. It looks pretty interesting and the mobile version won awards, so it's probably worth checking out on PC. On a side note, the title screen music is pretty haunting.




July 29


Firefall

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: MMO shooter
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI_QHwlLUXI

This is going to be a hard sell for a lot of people, and I'm not even convinced that I want to play it myself. Firefall is an MMO shooter that has been in beta for years. I only ever heard the name and never cared to check it out, but it's been a long time coming and because of that it's, at the very least, a relatively important release.

The good aspects, as I see it, is that we don't actually have a lot of full-fledged MMO shooters and so this has the chance to be fresh. It looks like there's a fair bit to do in it such as a campaign, random missions and PvP, and if you like cartoon visuals it will be pretty appealing. I'm also a big fan of Tribes and enjoy jet packs, so on a personal level it has that going for it.

On the other hand, it's a free-to-play game which could be good or bad. It's bad, obviously, if it ends up being pay-to-win and I'm not entirely sure how this will work. The other thing I'm not a fan of is the shooting mechanics. It doesn't really look like it's going to feel good to shoot. It looks like nothing has any oomph, and that's a problem in the genre.

I can't really recommend it or tell you to avoid it, because I'm honestly not sure. It looks like it could be okay, but part of me feels like it's going to be a disappointment. Hey, it's free though, so there's no harm in checking it out.



Rogue Legacy 

Coming Out For: PS3, PS4, PS Vita

Genre: Roguelike, Side-Scrolling Platformer
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfIFidx71WE


Rogue Legacy is a game that I unfortunately ignored last year when it came out on PC. It's a Roguelike, which means randomly generated dungeons so no playthrough will be the same... only the twist here is that when you die, your child takes over and he/she could have a variety of features, such as being colorblind or a dwarf. It's a really neat idea, and now that it's coming out on console as well, there's no reason not to pick it up.



The Last of Us Remastered

Coming Out For: PS4
Genre: Third-Person Adventure/Action
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNZesQXSyxo


The Last of Us is one of the best games to hit the PS3, and now PS4 owners get a chance to play a remastered version. I don't even need to play the remastered version to say you should play it. The game is a fantastic, story-driven action/adventure game. The plot may not be complex, but it's told extremely well. The gameplay consists mostly of killing hideously deformed creatures and searching buildings for stuff, but it's a very rewarding, addictive game. Grab this enhanced version, because not only will it have better graphics, but it will have the Left Behind DLC and more. I can't stress this enough; get this game.


July 30

Nothing here... but you should be playing The Last of Us anyway.



July 31

Cloud Chamber

Coming Out For: PC

Genre: MMO Story Game
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62W-ju8Xd-c

There's a very good chance that Cloud Chamber ends up winning my award for most original game at the end of the year if I choose to give out that award. It is a multiplayer story game, where you basically just watch videos and go on their network and discuss your way through the story. It's a very neat idea in theory, and I hope it translates to a fun experience.



Lovely Planet 

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: FPS
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEBvOVrhnuA

Realistic shooters too violent and graphic for you? Enter Lovely Planet -- a cutesy FPS where you shoot things with your semi-auto in an abstract and colourful world. There are five levels, and it could be some harmless, simple fun.



August 1

Eidolon 

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: First-person exploration
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCZJUH7sx-Q

Eidolon is a first-person exploration game, which means you'll basically just walk around and explore your surroundings. These times of games are hit and miss, so it's up to Ice Water Games to craft a compelling story that makes us want to dive deep into this world.


August 2 

Nothing of interest here.


So that's it for another week. Did I miss a game that you're looking forward to? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @ArtBathednCrime.

This Week In Games, July 20 - 26, 2014

Written By: Tyler

Welcome to another edition of "This Week In Games," a weekly feature where I discuss the finer points of wine. We'll get right down to it, but I have to make a few quick points as I do every week.

I don't include every game that is being released that week. I go down some of the more interesting ones and give a quick rundown on them. I don't always put Early Access games, but sometimes I do, and I try to limit it to games that are seeing their first retail release, though I will sometimes put ports. I try not to put games that were released on PC and then released on places like Steam later because Steam and PC are the same thing... but occasionally I will if I don't realize that a game was already released before. The release dates are also for North America because that's where I live. Sorry to those who live in other parts of the world.


July 20

Nothing! Enjoy the day of rest and relaxation.



July 21

Shadow Blade: Reload

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Platformer
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEkfFaEPuCA

This is an early access game, so because of that, you shouldn't expect a full game. It's also an enhanced version of Shadow Blade. However, it looks really cool. Since it's a 2D side-scrolling platformer where you play as a ninja, it should be a lot of fun. The mechanics look solid, and they're going to try to implement a level editor, local co-op and a variety of other features.



July 22

Ollie Ollie

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Runner/Sport/Platformer
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuJczWSgfCU

Ollie Ollie is a 2D runner where you are on a skateboard and you have to perform fancy tricks while not landing on your face. It was a Vita-exclusive so I never got to play it. Since it's coming out for PC this week, I may give it a try. It looks simplistic but I suppose the beauty of a game like this is that it is simplistic looking. It does look like it's going to be a bit of a challenge, though, so it should make for a good time.



July 23

Unrest

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Adventure/RPG
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hajqi1C13LE

Set in Ancient India, we are going to be given a setting that we don't often see. You play as four different characters, and the idea of Unrest is choice, apparently. Much like a game like Planescape: Torment, the developers say that you can go the entire game without fighting anybody if you're smart. If you do fight, it may have consequences that won't help you. Battles will be few and far between. If your character dies, the game continues on. The obvious concern here is that the choices you make won't be balanced or logical, but that's something we won't know until we play it. As it stands now, Unrest looks like a pretty decent romp through an uncommon setting.




The Wizard

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Strategy/RPG
Gameplay: http://www.gamespot.com/videos/the-wizard-teaser-trailer/2300-6420154/

First of all, the teaser trailer that I linked above is very funny. Secondly, The Wizard is about a Wizard without a face and the Thief who stole his face. At the very least, it's a unique storyline. The gameplay involves you chasing him down through dungeons, not unlike a Roguelike, where you can upgrade your spells. It looks like the game is going to have a sense of humour, and if the trailer is any indication then it'll do it well. I don't think the game will having mindblowing gameplay, but it looks like it'll be an entertaining 16-bit adventure. Let's get our attractiveness back!



July 24

Gods Will Be Watching

I believe this is an image from the version that was at Ludum Dare, but it's still a cool pic and the game looks similar.

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Adventure
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QliEVf1ZSzU

Here we go; this is the game of the week for me. Sporting a retro look (like many indie games), Gods Will Be Watching is a point-and-click adventure game but with a huge twist. It's not about solving puzzles in the way that we are accustomed to in the genre, so instead the game aims to place you in intense situations where you have to make choices on the fly and your decisions will affect the outcome of the world surrounding you. I'm ridiculously excited for this game and I hope that it makes me feel as uncomfortable as it's supposed to.



July 25

The Fifth Day

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Survival/Action/FPS
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG80z5EmkIU

This is an early access game. In The Fifth Day, you are a robot and you have to survive to the Fifth Day. At first I thought it was just another DayZ and Rust and I was going to rant about how we have so many games like this in Alpha that it's ridiculous. It does resemble those games in some way but the focus here is more on playing by yourself or with your friends in order to just survive a few days. You build stuff, hack AI from "the old world," and kill enemies. I may give it a spin. I'm not that excited for it but it seems relatively polished already and since the concept is more focused/less huge than games that are similar it may actually come out someday!


Wii Sports Club

Coming Out For: Wii U

Genre: Sports
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gklSuWQFXk

Wii Sports Club is getting its full retail release on July 25th. The game consists of HD remakes of the games from the original Wii Sports, with an online component added. I'm of a mixed mind concerning this. On one hand, Wii Sports was a great game to package with the original Wii when it came out, but on the other hand, I feel like time has passed this by. It could hit huge with casual gamers, but I don't even feel like the Wii U is the system for it. Yes, you can hook up your Wiimotes and play it, but I think they should have focused on something else. There's no doubt it'd still be fun because the original was fun, but I won't be picking it up.



July 26

There's nothing going on today either. Go out and have fun!



This week was heavy for PC releases, but there are some interesting picks here. Did I miss a game that you're looking forward to? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @ArtBathednCrime.

My Destiny Beta Impressions -- MMOHalo? Or Is It Something More? Find Out Here!

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PS4

If you own a PS3 or a PS4 and have pre-ordered Destiny, you have the ability to play the beta. Many people have jumped in to see for themselves what Bungie has in store for us after they left the Halo franchise -- the series that evolved the first-person shooter on consoles. It's their first game since Halo: Reach in 2010, so is it any good so far? Obviously it's not the full version, but the point of this post is to give my impressions of the beta.

I don't normally play betas because I generally just like to experience the full game on day one of its official retail release, but Destiny feels special so I thought it'd be a good time to do this. I won't make a habit of it, but here we are. I originally had gameplay footage of the first level, but I was having a hard time uploading it so unfortunately I can only have pictures.

Finally the Destiny beta is live!

I, like many others, are excited to play Destiny. It's one of the big releases of the year, and it's getting the kind of hype that only Watch Dogs can claim. Many people waited with bated breath to play it so there was some real excitement once the title screen, in all its simplicity, showed up for the first time. Finally, let's do this!

And this happened for hours.

Let's skip ahead until I could finally play it because I'm not one of these people who are going to complain that I can't connect to a beta... you know, the thing that is meant for this kind of problem. It annoys me when people rant about not being able to connect when a game is in beta because doing a stress test is literally the point of the beta.

Yay I connected! Dammit now there's the long installation.

Once the installation was complete, I was able to choose one of three classes. I went with Warlock, but as is in most games, each class plays different. I can't comment on the other two, but Warlock has a neat melee ability where you basically blast them with a bunch of energy. It looks like we'll be able to customize their abilities quite a bit so you won't be tied into one framework. Mind you, I wish there were more classes, but I guess this is the norm.

The leveling up isn't incredibly deep, but it's serviceable. You put points into your abilities, and you do have some statistics like defense, strength and whatnot, but don't expect to put points into attributes unless it's with your equipment. With that said, there is a fair bit of armor that you can wear, so it does have lite-RPG elements down.

This is the first time I see other players. They leave me... just like everyone else in my life.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, I couldn't upload the gameplay footage of the first level. I didn't take any pics of it either so we fast-forward a little bit. This is the game in action, and this is what matters the most. Once you see all the bells and whistles, a game is only as strong as its core mechanics.

I'm happy to say that Destiny plays well. Guns feel great to shoot, and the glide mechanic -- where you can essentially double jump and hover through the air -- is a nice touch. I'm surprised it has taken me this long to say it, but the game feels like Halo in a lot of ways. It's not a carbon copy by any means, but it's clear that Bungie hasn't abandoned what took them away from making games like Oni and thrust them into the big leagues of gaming. Anybody who likes Halo should enjoy Destiny because the guns shoot like it, you move like it, the atmosphere is similar and even jumping takes influence from it.

All this excitement made me tired so I sat down.

Before I played Destiny, I wondered how the online mechanics would operate. Bungie insisted that their MMOFPS -- massively multiplayer online first-person shooter to the uninitiated -- wasn't really an MMOFPS... but in my experience it's an MMOFPS.

You can play the game by yourself. There are public events where you'll need people to ease the burden, but there are always other players running around. There weren't many, but they existed and occasionally I'd be in a firefight only to have another like-minded player swoop in and aid me in laying waist to the enemies. Then, more often than not, said person would leave and go off to complete their own objective.

Destiny is social in the same way Journey was social, but Journey was truly something special and meaningful in the way it handled the social aspects. You can communicate with other players by pressing the directional pad; you can wave, for example, or sit if you're lazy like me. At one point I stood on top of a high ledge and waved at a player below me. It made me feel good about myself.

Ultimately though, it's your fight, and the thrill is going to be other players randomly dropping into your battles. This isn't revolutionary in any way, but it is solid.

This is the Tower.

The Tower is the hub. You turn in quests, get rewards, shop, etc. It's typical stuff.

Then I went back to battle.

In order to proceed to the next area, it's as easy as holding triangle and going up to orbit. This is pretty straight-forward stuff; you unlock areas and they are of a certain level. You click on them and you go there. As you progress, it unlocks different types of areas. If you don't want to play the story missions, there are areas that you can explore and do bonus missions.

Speaking of story missions, as of now I don't care about what's going on in the plot. It seems like pretty generic Sci-Fi stuff, but that doesn't necessarily mean its bad. I seem to be one of the few that don't think Halo had a great story, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Obviously its early yet and the plot could open up and become something memorable so I don't want to down on it too much yet.

I do like that you essentially are dead at the beginning and a little machine, called a Ghost, revives you and off you go. It was a nice little touch, being raised from the dead, and the game does a good job with its visuals to engulf you in its world.

I got in my vehicle and I zoomed away.

One thing I love is that the game allows you a certain degree of freedom from the very beginning. Early on, you are able to summon a vehicle at will -- with a few exceptions -- so traveling is easy. You won't have to grind for hours in order to unlock this feature. That's definitely welcome.

Another thing I noticed was the music. The title screen theme sounds so much like Halo, but in a good way. The music in-game often kicks in and is mixed quite loudly. While there weren't any truly exciting moments in the beta, I am lead to believe that there will be moments -- like in Halo -- where music and action blend together to create a thrill ride that we will remember forever. 


Overall, the way that Destiny handles single-player and integrates it with the online aspects is well done so far. I'm going a little easier on it then I would an MMORPG because the MMOFPS is not as common, so even doing quests that are familiar to people who play MMOs doesn't seem like a drag because the genre is somewhat fresh. At the same time, there is nothing here that we haven't seen before. Take Halo, throw in a little bit of Borderlands (though without the excessive amount of loot) and you have Destiny single-player thus far.


The Multiplayer

Halo has always had a solid campaign, but it arguably is more known for its multiplayer. That's a lot of hype to live up to, as many people will flock to the multiplayer mode -- the Crucible -- once it's unlocked at level five. But can we gather from the one mode that's available whether it will be the next Halo or just another solid shooter? Or could it be a terrible experience?

Here we go, my first ever multiplayer match.

The PvP is directly influenced by the story mode. You keep the equipment, abilities and levels that you have attained elsewhere. You literally keep things like your grenades, or even your special power. This will undoubtedly lead to some frustration as some people will just have more fire power than you and balance, like in any competitive game, is going to be key in the full release.

The beta only offers one game mode -- Control. It is a mode we've played a million times before. You and your team have to capture one of the three areas while shooting down your opponents. I only played a few games but they were fun. Things got intense, especially with vehicles driving around, but even though I saw other sites venting about how imbalanced it is with vehicle play, I didn't really run into it. Obviously vehicles can be an advantage, but they weren't a problem for me in the few games I participated in.

And this happened to me. A lot. Because I suck.

When you're choosing multiplayer, you can see there are numerous modes locked, but it doesn't look like there's going to be a lot of variety. Certainly not as much as there ended up being in games like Halo, Call of Duty or Battlefield. Only time will tell what these are going to be, but I hope that there are some interesting ones.


The Verdict

Though the beta only goes to level eight, we can gather a few things from it. It plays and handles well and the foundation of a good shooter is there. Yes, it does feel like Halo, but that's not a bad thing. It does enough with the genre that it can't be seen as copying Halo, which would be silly anyway considering Bungie's history.

The online aspects aren't a big deal to me. I saw someone from either Gamespot or IGN gushing about how amazing it is -- indeed, I did like the Journey comparison that I used above -- but I don't see it. To me it's just another MMO in that regard. People will show up and help you, then they'll often disappear.

Destiny looks beautiful, and a lot of care has been taken to craft a fantastic looking universe where we can travel to the Moon, to Earth, and beyond. There's a lot of attention to detail, and the different environments and maps look wonderful. It should be a joy traversing the different places that Destiny takes us to.

The multiplayer should suck some hours from my life, but I don't know at this point if it'll be the next shooter that I dedicate a good chunk of my life to. It's fun and there's no denying that, but the beta hasn't shown us anything that we haven't seen a thousand times before. Ultimately though, like any shooter, it's going to come down to what you prefer. If you prefer games like Call of Duty, this won't appeal. If you're into Battlefield, this won't cut it. I'm a Killzone guy, but my back-up shooters are games like Halo or even Titanfall. It's all going to come down to what kind of feeling you like, and if you're into Halo, I stress that you should like it.

I think Destiny will be a great game. I predict that I'll end up giving it an 8.5 or a 9, but that's basically because it's just really good at what it does... even if it's mostly been done before. It does enough to keep you coming back, and the gameplay works. I look forward to September, when we can finally sink our teeth into the full thing.



So what did you think of the Destiny beta? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Mildly dislike it? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @ArtBathednCrime. Thank you for reading.

Video Games: The Movie: The Review

Written By: Tyler

Rating: 6.5/10
Verdict: It's an entry-level, unfocused look at video games, but tries to convince us that it's more. Gamers will most likely already be too familiar with what is being said to feel like they're learning anything new because it doesn't add much to the conversation. For those who may not be as knowledgeable on video games, this could be an informative watch despite the lack of depth.


Here on On The Gamely, I cover video games. Once in a while though, I will review something from a different medium so long as it relates to games. I've done a review or two on books that were about games, and now I'm premiering the first ever movie review on this blog. How fitting it is then, that it's a movie about the art form as a whole and not a particular game or aspect of gaming. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great experience.

When Video Games: The Movie starts, we are given a bunch of video game footage. A lot of these games are old, some very old, but it is used to set the tone, to show us where we began. After that, we are given an information dump -- a bunch of statistics on things such as what percentage of each sex plays games, for example. It's dry and it's not really how I would have started a movie that is meant to be a love letter to games.

In fact, the main problem I have with it is that it's basically Video Games 101. Part of the problem is with the director/writer himself, part of it is due to the fact that gaming, at this point, is too huge an industry to generalize in a movie that spans an hour and forty minutes. If it was explicitly stated that the movie is a beginners guide to gaming, then I would have less of a problem, but it gets lost in an identity crisis. Is it an entry level look at games? Or is it meant for the people who probably already know most of what they're talking about -- the gamers? This is a problem throughout.

If you are an outsider looking it, it's probably relatively informative. It touches briefly on what goes into making a game, gives a look of the evolution of games, and there are talking heads discussing how much they love games. It mentions gaming as an art form and the controversies that have plagued the industry for a long time. What gamer can forget all the studies we've had that "prove" that games make kids violent? It's a decent, yet extremely general, look at video games. I never felt like I was learning anything, but I'm sure non-gamers would.

In defense of the movie (yes, against myself), it's extremely difficult to take a subject like this and tackle it effectively. Because video games are a very forward, fast moving medium, it'd be incredibly frustrating to try to make a movie that documents all of that. The movie needed more focus. I would have preferred a movie that dissected certain aspects well rather than one that only briefly mentions topics that need more time than they were given.

The lack of focus extends towards how it's organized. The movie jumps around way too much, trying to juxtapose things that shouldn't be connected. It has a real issue with tone because of that, and it doesn't help that they'll mention something only to go back to it ten minutes later after they've discussed something else. It's not that it's hard to follow, it just messes with the flow of the entire film. The transitions are often messy, and there's very little consistency, which really dampens the overall experience. This is a passion project, and at times this shines through, but it's clumsily put together and has a hard time getting that passion over on its audience.

It's not a terrible documentary, but I wish it was put together better and was more sure of itself. There are moments that just make it feel insecure. This is a problem that bleeds into what I said above -- it doesn't know who it's for. Why should it have to justify gaming if it's meant for the people who already love games? Just go that extra mile and give us the love letter that it teases. If it's not meant for the serious gamer who already has knowledge on the subject, then ride with that.

As it stands, it's just too confused to be a great movie. Despite it's organizational issues and its sometimes dry nature, it manages to land firmly in the "pretty good" category. It is a broad, far-reaching attempt to shine light on something that may be a baby compared to other art forms, but it fails to add any real substance to the conversation. But hey, at least the DLC will fix it... right?

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Series That Need A New Game

Written By: Tyler

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in a while, but I was sitting around discussing Smash Brothers with my own little brother (yes my very own!). We were talking about what characters, from any console/company, we'd like to see in the new one. This got me thinking about old games that I miss, so here we are at the newest Top Ten Tuesday.

Games like Metroid aren't included here because it's not like it's been that long since a new Metroid, and Nintendo has already mentioned new ones. To qualify for this list, you have to be a series that has remained dormant for an extended period of time (with some exceptions), especially despite fan outcry (or just my own), and it has to have more than one game. This list isn't for individual games that need sequels, as that's an article I will probably write at a later date.

Originality and new IPs be damned, here are the top ten video game series that need a new game entry.

10: F-Zero

Okay Nintendo, it's about time that you bring back this franchise. When you look back to the SNES F-Zero, it's mostly just a fast racer with pretty simplistic tracks. When I look at what Nintendo has done with the newest Mario Kart, it's hard not to drool all over myself when I consider what that could mean for F-Zero. Mario Kart 8 has some of the most insane tracks of any Mario Kart, and that amount of craziness could lend itself well to the speed of F-Zero. Let's get on it Nintendo.


9: Half-Life

To a lot of people, a new Half-Life would probably top this list. I like Half-Life... hell, I think that it's very deserving of its legendary status, but I'm not a Half-Life fanatic. That's why it's only number nine on my list. With that said, there's been teasing, waiting and annoying internet memes, all in the name of Half-Life 3, so Valve should really just release the damn thing and watch as the latest installment of its classic first-person shooter franchise gets 9.5s and 10s all across the board by critics.


8: Battletoads

When I was growing up we had a lot of great beat 'em ups, and Battletoads was always one of my favourites. While we've seen Double Dragons, we haven't seen a new Battletoads in a very long time. Why is that? I reckon part of it is just that this genre isn't as popular as it once was among the mainstream, but Battletoads is such a classic series with its fun fighting mechanics and its over-exaggerated moves, it's hard not to thirst for a new one.


7: Perfect Dark

The original Perfect Dark didn't innovate like Goldeneye 64 did, but it was a better game. It took the formula and upgraded it in all ways. The only criticism I have of it is the frame rate drops when things start getting hot and heavy. Still, it is a classic.

Jump ahead to 2005, and we get a new installment: Perfect Dark Zero. It didn't set the world on fire, but it was a solid game with some great multiplayer maps. I really enjoyed it. Since then, Rare had pitched the idea to Microsoft to make more, but it never flew. Instead, Rare is making Kinect games while Joanna Dark and crew are lost in the shuffle.


6: Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan 2: Glan of the Gray Wolf stands tall in a generation that had a lot of amazing history simulation/strategy games. We had Nobunaga's Ambition, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liberty or Death, and many more, but Genghis Khan 2 is the best and is my favourite strategy game of all-time. There have been Japanese sequels, but even those were a long time ago now. I know the market isn't what it once was, but I'd love to see a new installment of this series.


5: Chrono Series

The crowning achievement of the SNES is arguably Chrono Trigger. It's one of the finest RPGs ever made. So excitement was high for the sequel Chrono Cross. When Chrono Cross came out, it sold really well and was critically acclaimed, but some fans weren't happy. It had elements of Chrono Trigger, but it wasn't seen as a true sequel to the SNES classic. I love Chrono Cross, myself, but it's not Chrono Trigger to me, despite the amazing soundtrack, the large cast, and the great story.

Then the Chrono series disappeared. There hasn't been a new game. I don't expect a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger, with the same characters, though admittedly after all this time it would be nice to see them again. I'm not picky, I just want a new game.


4: The Lost Vikings

Blizzard has incredible series like Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo, but my favourite is The Lost Vikings. I loved the co-op puzzle/platformer, where each Viking had his own limitations and abilities and you had to go through the levels using all three. It was a great mechanic back in the day, and despite the Lost Vikings showing up in games like World of Warcraft, we have yet to see another new game in the franchise... and quite frankly it's long overdue.


3: Earthbound/Mother

Even if I wasn't a huge fan of Earthbound and Mother 3, I would include this on the list because there have been very few franchises with this kind of fan demand. There is technically a Mother 4 coming, but it's fan-made. Each game has been a unique take on certain things, and I think it's about time that they give into what the fans want and just release another one. That's right, I'm telling them what to do.

 
2: Ogre Battle

Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen is one of the best games ever. The excellent blend of strategy and RPG was really appealing at the time and I spent hours and hours playing it because there is a lot of replay value and secrets to find. I still don't think I know where everything is. I really liked Ogre Battle 64 too and think it's one of the best games on the N64. There have been spin-offs like Tactics Ogre, but I would lose it if they announced a new game in the series like the SNES one.


1: Timesplitters

There are games I like more than Timesplitters, like Earthbound and Ogre Battle, but I adore Timesplitters as it's one of my favourite shooters ever. So why is it number one if there are games I like more? Because they keep throwing it in our face. First it was in development, then it stopped. Then it got cancelled. Then Crytek said they wanted to make it. They're still saying it's something they want to make. I wish they would because in this world of grim shooters, it'd be nice to have a light-hearted, fast shooter with a sense of humour... and monkeys.


Honourable Mentions:
Commander Keen
Loaded
Power Stone
Shenmue


So what did you think? Did I miss a series that you really like? Let me know in the comments below or feel free to make friends with me on Twitter @ArtBathednCrime. Until next time, Happy Tuesday.

This Week In Games, July 13 - 19, 2014

Written By: Tyler

Another week, another quick rundown of the games releasing this week. Now, this isn't every single game, so instead I picked games of interest. Most of the games in this feature will be games I want to play, but I will give an honest opinion on each and every one. Just because I don't want to play a game doesn't mean a game isn't an important release. The release date for these are all the North American release dates because that's where I live.



July 14

LIGHT

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Puzzle/Action/Adventure
Gameplay: http://www.gamespot.com/videos/quick-look-light/2300-6420020/

LIGHT is a top-down stealth game where you sneak, steal and hack. It's not unlike Hotline Miami in ways, though it has less emphasis on violence and surrealism. It's supposed to have a good narrative, and maybe it will, but I'm having a hard time getting past the visuals. Playing as a square in a game like this annoys me a little bit.



Infinity Runner

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Action
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zBtpvWXK4M

Infinity Runner is a lot like Mirror's Edge, which isn't a bad thing. It's first-person and you just do a lot of running in a Sci-Fi environment. The trailer that I linked above makes it look like it's going to be pretty intense, so I will probably play this one.



July 15

Abyss Odyssey 

Coming Out For: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (July 16)
Genre: Platformer/Action
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtKd6paqhEg

Abyss Odyssey is a side-scrolling platformer/action game. You have three characters to choose from and then you can either hack and jump your way to victory by yourself or with a friend. It's nothing original, but it could be fun. The mechanics look solid.



July 19

Freedom Planet

Coming Out For: PC
Genre: Platformer
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zlMtd4zeI0

Freedom Planet reminds me a lot of Sonic, if I'm being honest. That's not a criticism because the speed in the game makes it look like a good time, especially to those who miss the 90s. It appears that there are multiple characters to play as, and secrets to discover. I think Freedom Planet will end up being a fun little romp, a reminder of the games that kids in the 90s played (including myself).




That's it for this week folks. It's not a huge week in terms of big releases but there is still a bunch of cool little games seeing the light of day. Until next time, thanks for reading, and feel free to tweet me @ArtBathednCrime.

All Arguments Should Be Solved With Rock-Paper-Scissors -- A Divinity: Original Sin Review

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

Rating: 9/10
Verdict: Divinity: Original Sin could use a little bit of polish here and there, and there are some minor design choices that I don't agree with... but despite all that this is a fantastic RPG in the vein of the classic computer RPGs.


Are you tired of games that hold your hand and tell you exactly where to go, who to see, and even help you wipe your own ass? Enter Divinity: Original Sin, the latest installment in the Divinity series.

In Divinity: Original Sin, you play as Sourcehunters and you're doing what that name implies. trying to rid the world of that pesky Source (not the game engine, though that would be neat considering I got the game on the platform that Valve owns). You begin your tale as two characters that you get to create, and the first main quest you end up doing is investigating a murder. From there, things get deeper and more complex.

Character creation seems like a good place to start. When you start a new game, you have the opportunity to create two characters who will end up interacting with one another throughout the game. There is a good variety of classes to choose from, abilities and traits to choose and statistics to level up. Leveling up ends up being in-depth but not overly so. It never reaches the point where you're confused but some levels allow you to level up three different things, but most levels allow two: abilities and stats. The only problem, at first, with this is that the game doesn't really explain much about things like skills so there's a little bit of trial-and-error involved. Of course, it all becomes clear but that initial creation screen is a little daunting because of it.

There's a reason that you create two characters as opposed to one. You can actually play this game co-op because of this, though that's not something I have done because it seems more like a single-player experience for me. However, I can see how co-op would be fun because the other reason you create two characters is because they end up having conversations with each other and you can choose whether they agree or disagree. Maybe your one character is more violent and goes one way, only to have the other be a voice of reason. Or perhaps they just agree with each other. The joy of Divinity: Original Sin is that not only can you make these choices, but they actually impact the game and your own statistics.

For example, my male first character agreed with the female second character, and "Romantic +1" flashed on the screen. You will see things like this continuously throughout the game, and if you press I, which is your inventory/character screen, you can keep track of what their relationship is. This will provide bonuses or debuffs.

It's important to note that you can develop your character however you see fit, basically. You can put points into anything, but obviously you'll want to specialize in some things to get the maximum effect. You don't put points into learning spells and techniques, but rather you acquire skill books. How many spells you can have of each type is dependent on how much you've leveled up each particular skill. Divinity: Original Sin has a system where you can choose to forget spells in order to replace them with another. But be careful, because these aren't like your first heartbreak -- once they're gone, they're gone, and the remains of that broken alliance will not stay with you. The spells will leave too.

Choice reigns supreme in this game on pretty much all fronts. If there's something you want to do in the game and it makes logical sense in context of the world, then you very well might be able to do it. I'll just give a few examples of some of the things you can do.

• You can't unlock a door because you don't have the key. No problem! Just break it down using your weapon (but be careful because they have levels of durability). Better yet, just use magic to do it.
• You are a kleptomaniac and you're standing in a shop, but there are people all over the place and you're trying to keep a good reputation among the townspeople. Just use your party members to distract the people by getting them involved in conversations and use one character to walk around and loot the place senseless. This is incredibly satisfying.
• There's a troll guarding a bridge, and he wants toll money. You don't have any, so you could intimidate him, reason with him or charm him. This will bring up the funny yet alluring rock-paper-scissors argument system where you have to win a few games of it, unless your charm is infinitely higher than the other person. It sounds silly, but I like it.

Those are just three examples, but it all adds up to a game where you feel like you can influence what goes on around you. Between how you interact with the world and how you level up your characters, it's very easy to feel like you're actually involved in this world.

This choice is a double-edged sword in ways too. There's a brief tutorial at the beginning if you want it, but it probably won't prepare you for what this game has to offer. It gives the basics, but it's all a little disorienting once you begin. The game harkens back to a time where there was very little hand-holding. There won't be waypoints telling you where to go all of the time, and the journal doesn't always tell you where to go so it's best to try to remember what people say to you because if you forget you may not be able to easily find out again.

Once a while something will flash on screen to give you directions, and the journal will on occasion be enough, but there's no denying that this game wants you to pay attention. You can look through previous dialogue but that's just a pain because there isn't an easy way to sort through it. In this day and age where games often lead you along, this could be seen as a refreshing game mechanic to some. I am torn on it, if I'm being honest, and I'm not afraid to lose my gamer-cred by saying this: I don't mind being able to click on a quest and get told where to go.

Luckily though, they've done a pretty good job of making being lost a viable action. It's a beautifully realized, colourful and vibrant world so exploring it is nice on the eyes. It's also not a cinematic RPG so it doesn't take you away from the game.

There are also a lot of quests in this game, and even if you don't know where to go, wander around and you will find a quest. They're scattered throughout the world, and the best part of them is that they're actually fun to do.


That's because they aren't just fetch-quests. Sure, in any game like this there's that element, and I'm okay with it, but there are a bunch of ways to do things a lot of the time, and because the game doesn't hold your hand, there's enjoyment in discovering it yourself. Even the beginning of the main quest, where you investigate a murder, ends up actually being a murder investigation where you walk around, talk to people and get involved. It's not L.A. Noire by any means in the way it handles a crime scene, but for an RPG of this type, it's pretty genius quest design. It doesn't stop there, but I don't like to give away much of games when I review them.

While I don't actually think that the plot is anything innovative or intriguing, it does handle it relatively gracefully with a lot of reading and a sense of humour. Some of the quests are a little silly, and the characters alternate between light-hearted and deadly serious, and this extends to the NPCs as well. There are also funny little touches thrown in here and there, such as your character disguising himself as a rock, or a bush, when he/she is sneaking around.


I have a few minor gripes that I should finally touch on because I've basically been gushing this entire time. The shop system is a lot different than most RPGs which makes an experience we've done a million times feel fresh, but I'm only half into it. You can walk around and barter with anybody in the game that isn't an enemy, and they may have money or they may not. They always have items to sell but it may not be much. It's an amusing take on the economical structure of the world because a lot of people appear to be poor, but sometimes it's annoying walking around town trying to find someone you can sell yourself to.  It'd be nice to just have a go-to hub where you can sell everything once in a while.

The game makes it a little annoying to do mundane tasks such as comparing your inventory when you're shopping. You can't just press the button to scroll to the next one, you have to actually click on the character portrait on the side in order to choose them. Otherwise you could be comparing a weapon that someone is selling with the weapon you're holding, only it's focused on the character you're currently controlling rather than the inventory screen that you have up. The lack of polish in some of the areas of the game add length to the game that shouldn't be there, and having to walk around town trying to find someone to sell things to is not what I call "real" gameplay. It's fluff, it's pretend, it doesn't make playing the game more positive and only extends it in the most superficial way.

Keep in mind that those criticisms are extremely light and do very little to detract from my own enjoyment. I just found that sometimes inventory management was more of a chore than it should have been.

I purposely left the combat until the end because it could be the best part of the game. It is turn-based, and not unlike what we've seen before in that regard, but the developers have put a lot of effort into making each battle its own entity, rather than just a series of "blah" encounters.

You have your bar at the bottom, and they all have cool-down periods. You have so many action points per turn, which can be preserved and added to the next turn, and everything takes up an amount of points. Obviously AP is key in combat, and as a side-note, you can equip weapons that are above your level but your AP usage will be higher because of it.

The game allows you to manipulate the elements in fascinating ways. Here's a very basic scenario to explain what I mean. I'm in combat, and it's an area that has a lot of fire on the ground. Not wanting to be inflicted with a burning status (which will take away my HP each turn, much like poison), I cast a rain spell that puts out the fire and allows me to walk on it freely. In the process I've just made myself, my team and the enemies "wet," which is also an ailment. The enemies were on fire before but now they are normal, and there was one particular enemy who would have exploded once hit but the rain put out his fuse, rendering him useless. Not only have I made the enemies less dangerous, but if I use a shock spell I will inflict more damage because, as you know, if you blend water and electricity together... unfortunate things happen.

Before I learned to settle all disputes with Smash Brothers, I used Rock-Paper-Scissors.

That's just one example of what can happen, but it's something that makes battles interesting. If you decide to play Divinity: Original Sin, be prepared for this kind of thing to happen. Also be prepared to be frozen, tripped, poisoned, lit on fire, and a host of other things in your playthrough, because the enemies are nasty. Be smart, and use the environment to your advantage, and you will survive.

As you can see, if you've put yourself through reading my crap, Divinity: Original Sin is one of the best RPGs of the year. So far it's probably the most complex. Though the story isn't outstanding, and there's a lack of polish in some miniscule ways, it's a compelling, addictive RPG that is easy to sink a lot of hours into. Just be prepared to work for everything you accomplish because while the game isn't crushingly difficult, it likes to slap you around a bit.

The Wolf Among Us Episode 5: Cry Wolf Review

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

Rating: 9/10
Verdict: Season 1 of The Wolf Among Us concludes like it should, like a good TV show would, even if the watch-more-than-you-play aspect of the game might be off-putting to some people.

Here we are: after months and months we have the final episode in the first season of The Wolf Among Us, the Telltale Games series based on the acclaimed "Fables" comic book series. You play as Bigby, the Big Bad Wolf, and what started as an investigation into the murder of Faith has snowballed into something that threatens the very well-being of Fabletown. I have no intention of giving away key plot points in this review, so don't worry.

If you've been following my reviews for every other game in this series, outside of four which I actually forgot to play until two days ago, you'll know that I basically say the same thing about every new installment, which is this: amazing story, but these games will never get 10s out of me because of the core gameplay mechanics, which are simplistic at best.

Is someone going to tell him that there's something wrong with his left eye?

Let's talk about the good first, though, because this has consistently been one of the best told and most interesting story in games since they started. From the very beginning, Telltale Games have done a wonderful job keeping up a story with lots of twists and turns that, outside of a hiccup or two, has moved along at a brisk and brilliant pace. The very premise of The Wolf Among Us is one I'm in love with, despite not giving myself to the comics (yet). I absolutely love seeing the dark versions of all the fables we grew up on thrust into these situations.

The weakest link the series was episode four, which didn't hit as hard as it should. We are normally given a great cliffhanger to keep us clamoring for more, but episode four left us cold. It's not that I didn't want to continue, because I knew that episode five would start off with a bang do to the circumstances that episode four left us in. It wasn't even a terrible ending, but it felt more like a bridge to a cliffhanger rather than a true cliffhanger. It just wasn't a great place to stop.

However, episode five rectifies that by being the best in the series, which any season finale should aspire to do. The action is quick and intense right from the beginning. There are a lot of scenes that build tension tremendously. Episode four was a little light on letting you control the action, even by The Wolf Among Us standards, but episode five fixes that too. It has some of the most exciting action in the entire series, and it's extremely satisfying.

Speaking of satisfying, it also has the best scene in the series so far. After all this build, we are treated to something that was a long time coming and it lived up to the hype. Obviously I won't spoil any of it, and I hate being so vague because I just want to gush, but I'll let you experience the entire episode for yourself if you haven't already.

Just a regular night.

This episode pulled at my heartstrings more than any episode before it, and it's nice to see that even at the very end they left us with a choice and a plot point that makes us scratch our head and ponder it until season two starts. 

It's true, that even when you're playing this series you're not really playing, and it's with that that I level the same criticism I always have: more gameplay is needed. I'm a very open-minded gamer, and I have praised tons of games with the gameplay is light. I loved Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain, and I haven't given The Wolf Among Us lower than an 8 on any of the episodes. 

However I will always feel that the core element of video games that make them special, and superior to all other art forms, is that they are interactive in the purest sense of the word. Before we had great graphics and advanced technology, we had the ability to control the action on the screen, regardless of how simplistic it was. 

I know that this is what Telltale Games does, and in this case I praise their ability to craft an engaging and intelligent story, but the gameplay consists mostly of some quick-time events and making dialogue choices. The fights allow you to click on the screen to interact with objects, but these are clearly laid out and the choices are minimal. It's better than nothing but it's not the most compelling thing ever. 

Admittedly, there's a great deal of choices to be made, so the game does a pretty good job of keeping you busy with that. Your choices do matter, and because of this I often second guessed my choices and thought as hard as I could about them in the limited time frame that I had to make them. I think more games should have the depth in dialogue that this series has. I want to feel like I've impacted things with the decisions I make, and The Wolf Among Us has done a great job of giving me that feeling of accomplishment throughout the entire season.

Still, it's hard for me to shake that feeling that with a little more gameplay I'd be immersed in the experience. It doesn't have to be much because each episode is short, but it would be appreciated. I have enough faith in them that they could have created a conventionally fun game while retaining the elements that make this series special. I don't think they'd ruin it with crappy game mechanics.

Everything else is the game is handled well. The visuals, as always, feel like a comic book and the little touches breathe life into the characters and the city. Outside of a few wonky parts, like cars moving incredibly awkwardly, they did a good job with this. 

As a whole, this season has been very rewarding even with the hang-ups of minimal gameplay -- though I am aware that some people aren't bothered by this at all -- because we have very capable people behind the story, which is where a game like this has to shine. Fortunately for us, it does. If you haven't played it yet, pick it up now and play through it because even all the episodes together would end up being less than fifteen hours. Give yourself to it, appreciate what it's offering.

The Top 10 Games of 2014 (So Far)

Written By: Tyler

We're a little past the middle of the year, and I love "Top 10" lists, so I think now is a good time to give a quick rundown of my favourite games of 2014 so far. Let's get right to it.

10: Earth Defense Force 2025 - I'm a little disappointed with Earth Defense Force 2025 because in a few ways they've improved the experience, but then they've dampened it in a few ways as well. They've improved classes like the Diver (jet pack), and they have some neat other classes, but I feel like one of them is broken and the other wouldn't be any fun unless you're with someone. Still, it's the same Earth Defense Force that I know and love, so it has to be on there because it's just mindless fun.


9: Jazzpunk - Jazzpunk is a parody/homage/satire of the spy genre, and it's one of the funniest games I've played in the past ten years... and it's one of the funniest of the year. It's a joy to see how silly everything is in this game.


8: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Even though I've always enjoyed Donkey Kong Country, it's not a series that I get excited for when a new game is announced, especially when I feel like the developer should have made a new IP or just done another Metroid. But despite all that, Donkey Kong Country follows a familiar formula but it's an awesome platformer.


7: South Park: The Stick of Truth - It'd be easy for South Park to just rip on the role-playing genre, and it certainly does that, but it embraces the genre at the same time. It's a solid, though pretty linear (as if a linear game is bad), and has solid game mechanics. If you don't like South Park you won't like it as much, but I love the show, and I feel like that should go without saying. Obviously the humour of South Park is the main draw, but even if you took it away there'd be a pretty decent RPG here.


6: The Floor is Jelly - The Floor is Jelly uses a bunch of different tricks to keep the platforming fresh, and it has a beautiful soundtrack by Disasterpeace, who should be indie video game music royalty by now. The ending also caught me off-guard in the best way possible.


5: Charge! - At the beginning of the year I was disappointed by a Jake Clover game, but then I played this later on and it reminded me why I love the game. It isn't much, but it's a lot of fun. It's essentially just a repetitive run-and-gun shooter but it's surreal and uses an excellent song by Jack King-Spooner really well.


4: Mario Kart 8 - I have a few beefs with the way they handle online and the Battle Mode is ass, but it has a good amount of re-worked old tracks and brand new ones. The driving is Mario Kart at its best, especially when you consider how nuts some of the tracks are.


3: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - If this was The Phantom Pain, I have no doubt that this would be number one -- I can already call my game of 2015. Since this is so short and is more of a teaser than anything, I dropped it down a point and only gave it a 9. The gameplay is awesome and dynamic, and I can tell from the limited experience that The Phantom Pain will be awesome... but it's hard to shake the feeling that this is an overpriced demo.


2: Sluggish Morss: Ad Infinitum - Jack King-Spooner released the third game in the Sluggish Morss trilogy -- a series full of surreal and odd social commentary -- and it's a doozy. It's easily the best entry in the trilogy, and while I still feel like it would do him well to add some real gameplay (not just walking around), it's one of the best games of the year due to the style, visuals and the story.


1: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - I'm considering an expansion a game, especially since this, and the update before it was released, re-works the Diablo 3 experience drastically. Diablo 3 was a good, even great, game with a bunch of flaws, but Reaper of Souls fixes pretty much all of them but one. The only flaw I think the game still has is the level system, but they'd have to do a complete overhaul to fix that anyway. The new act that they added was incredible, the music actually sticks out and is one of the best soundtracks of the year, and the new Adventure Mode adds a lot of replay value. Reaper of Souls made me go back to a game that I already put over a hundred hours into.

This Week In Games, July 6 - July 12, 2014

Written By: Tyler

Welcome again to another edition of the cleverly titled, "This Week In Games." If you can't tell by the title, each week I tell you what movies are coming out. I check the release dates according to Gamespot and the "video games in 2014" page on Wikipedia to get my games, so blame them if the dates are wrong. I refuse to take any accountability for my actions.

These are only North American release dates because that's where I'm from and I try to keep it to new releases as opposed to games that are just getting ported, unless I feel they're a big game. I have rules that I probably consistently break, but oh well.

A final note is that it's not every game released in North America: it's only games that I think are of interest, whether that's because they're a huge release (even if I don't care) or if they're games I'm interested in myself. Let's get to it.


July 8

The Wolf Among Us Episode 5 - Cry Wolf

Coming Out For: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (July 9), iOS (July 10)
Genre: Adventure
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umw8QPW5tiw

I actually forgot to play Episode 4 so I have to catch up, but I will say this... from my experience this has been an excellent series with a great story. I always criticize the lack of gameplay because I'm not real into these games where you mostly watch, but to its credit, it does allow you to make quite a few choices in conversation and when you're fighting someone. But anybody who is into this type of thing, this is a must-play because really, it has been a suspenseful thrill ride so far.



One Piece: Unlimited World Red

Coming Out For: 3DS, Vita, PS3, Wii U
Genre: Action-RPG
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohkYxCcgvQ

Truthfully I'm probably not the best one to sell you on this, because I know zilch about the One Piece manga and anime, but I will try purely from a game-fan perspective. This is an action-RPG from the looks of things where you have real-time battles and you can catch bugs and go fishing. It looks like there's some decent freedom when you're walking around too, since you can grapple hook your way up to places and whatnot. It doesn't look like anything original, but it looks like a nice blend of some cool things, and if I didn't have Episodes 4 and 5 of the Wolf Among Us to go through, while also being knee deep in Divinity: Original Sin (review coming at some point), then I'd probably give this a go.



Mousecraft

Coming Out For: PS4, PS3, PC, PS Vita, Linux, Mac
Genre: Puzzle
Gameplay: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/d4lal6/mousecraft-debut-trailer

Want something cheesy? This may be the game for you. Basically what you do is help your mice get cheese by moving blocks to allow them to proceed. The game is described as Tetris meets Lemmings, and that sounds about right.



July 9

The Escapists

Coming Out For: PC

Genre: Action/Adventure

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpF3LFlXgSc#t=25

Unfortunately this is only hitting Early Access July 9, and I don't think I'll make a habit out of including Early Access games in this feature (because I don't like including unfinished games), but The Escapists looks fascinating, and when I know there's a really interesting game hitting Early Access I'll include it. Think of all the great prison-break movies that you've seen... now think about playing in them, only with pixel graphics and no Morgan Freeman. The Escapists sets you in a prison and you have to escape. There's a reputation system where the cons will react differently to you depending on what you do, a crafting system because every game needs one since Minecraft (just a joke), light RPG elements and apparently gang warfare. Count me in, honestly, because this game seems neat.






July 10


The Red Solstice

Coming Out For: PC

Genre: Action/Shooter

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt1c8AayNhY

The Red Solstice is a top-down shooter where you choose from 8 different classes and fight hordes of monsters, whether in a single-player story mode or with 7 friends in the co-op mode. The levels are randomized and resources aren't unlimited, so each playthrough will be different and you have to manage your ammunition or y'know, you will die. I'm always up for a top-down shooter because we don't get AAA versions of these types of games anymore and they're one of the genres I grew up with.




July 11


Terraria

  Coming Out For: PS3

Genre: Action/Adventure/Platformer/Builder

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGo7iMUcxLc

I guess Terraria isn't out for every system yet? Like Minecraft, it appears that we get a port every few weeks. That isn't a criticism because it's a good thing. I played it on PC and it's a great game with a little more focus on combat and exploration than Minecraft. If you are into mining and building things, then this is the game for you because it is seriously awesome.

On a final note regarding Terraria, it has a perfect main theme. It's so dinky but makes me want to explore and dig for hours.



Any games coming this week that I missed that you are into? Yell at me on Twitter @ArtBathednCrime or just leave a comment in the comment box below. Thanks for reading!