Blog Archives
The Stanley Parable Review: A Successful Experiment
One of the terms that I’ve been hearing a lot lately is “experimental gameplay.” The other popular descriptor for games is to refer to some as art. They’re labels that seem to be haphazardly applied to anything that doesn’t conform completely to bog standard gameplay conventions. Gone Home was a game that the critics referred to as both experimental and art. While last week we found out that I disagree with those sentiments, I have found a game that both labels could apply to and certainly qualifies as experimental.
The Stanley Parable is an updated, full release of a 2011 Source engine mod. Like Gone Home, there’s no combat in The Stanley Parable. However, that’s where the similarities end. The Stanley Parable is so experimental, so unorthodox and so brilliant that it certainly earns its place as one of 2013’s best games.
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Broken Age Coming to Steam Early Access Tomorrow (UPDATE: Changed Release Date and Plan)
UPDATE: Double Fine has announced on their Broken Age Kickstarter page that Broken Age would not be coming to Steam on January 14 as a Steam Early Access release. Plans changed just hours before launch and now Broken Age will be released in two acts as a Season Pass bundle. The release date will be announced later on January 28th.
In explaining the change, Double Fine said, “For various logistical reasons, and because we believe Act 1 is a polished and satisfying piece of content in its own right, Broken Age will be a standard Steam release that includes a ‘Season Pass’ granting access to Act 2 once it is complete.”
The original story follows and is included for information purposes only.
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Gone Home Review: A House is Not a Home
This year’s surprise hit game was a little indie game called Gone Home. The debut effort of a small indie dev made up of BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den devs is in a way inspired by BioShock but much simpler and focused. For many critics, the straight-forward focus on story made it near-perfect and the game of the year. Many gamers, though, didn’t find it as good as it was hyped up to be. So where does it fall on the spectrum?
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Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe Review: Back to the Future
The first video game that I remember playing was Shufflepuck Cafe on my dad’s old Macintosh SE. Sure, there were other games on there but nothing quite captured my attention like Shufflepuck. It might have been in black and white but the graphics looked fine, it had sound (which was a rarity on that computer) and it was just fun to play. I may have poured more hour into that game during my childhood than anything on my NES.
So when I saw this homage to the original Shufflepuck Cafe pop up on Steam, I had to pick it up, if only for nostalgia’s sake. Fortunately, Shufflepuck Cantina didn’t stop at recreating the original in colour but added some depth to the original.
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Speedball 2 HD Review: He Shoots… Off the Post!
With all the retro remakes of classic games have been coming out, it was only a matter of time before I reviewed one of them here. I had never played the original Speedball games when they were released on the Atari ST (and the dozen or so other platforms it was also available on) but given the lack of sports games on PC, I thought I’d give it a try.
All that ended up happening was me questioning the need for HD remakes of classic games.
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Subset Games Announces FTL: Advanced Edition
One of my top twelve games of 2012 is coming back with a vengeance in 2014 thanks to a free expansion pack. Coming in early 2014 (along with a new iPad release of the game), Subset Games is release the FTL: Advanced Edition expansion pack.
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Cook, Serve, Delicious! Review: Allez Cuisine!
It’s a little known fact that I wanted to be a chef while growing up. When the Food Network first came to Canada, they had all these shows I loved. There was Good Eats and Iron Chef and especially Emeril Live. Then Food Network Canada launched and they replaced that with the charismatic black hole that was Christine Cushing and I stopped wanting to be a chef.
So I came into Cook, Serve, Delicious! hoping for something a bit more Iron Chef rather than a casual experience. You know, more El Bulli than Taco Bell. Fortunately, despite the fact that CSD is a mobile port, it’s still a hardcore experience.
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Dark Matter Devs Were Fired Months Before Release
It’s easy to put the blame on the developers not being able to manage their money well enough to complete Dark Matter. However, recent reports indicate that blaming the folks at Interwave Studios would be a bit premature.
After the Kickstarter for Dark Matter failed, the majority of the game’s development staff were fired in July and August and the studio was left far too understaffed to actually complete the game in time for release.
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GOG Offering Refunds to Dark Matter Buyers
Indie game Dark Matter has been the subject of recent controversy over its abrupt ending. The game ends abruptly after about four hours when the player enters a door and a black screen with white text tells you how the game plays out from that point. The game isn’t in early access nor was it advertised as episodic. Sounds like getting your $15 worth.
In response to the controversy and the false advertising about the game and its ending, online retailer GOG.com is offering users the opportunity to get a refund on their purchase of Dark Matter.
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It’s Down to the Wire Again for GoD Factory: Wingmen
Earlier this year, we told you about the Kickstarter funding campaign for GoD Factory: Wingmen, a space combat simulation slash MOBA by Canadian indie developer Nine Dot Studios.
While the game may have failed in its first Kickstarter campaign over the course of this spring but Nine Dot hasn’t given up. They’re back with a second Kickstarter campaign to fund GoD Factory: Wingmen but they need your help to get it funded before the deadline in less than 48 hours.
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