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OpinionImpressionsThe Year Is 2021 And I Just Played A New Official Halo 3 Map
The Master Chief Collection’s latest season, Season 6: Raven, launched last week on April 7 for Xbox and PC. I’ve been busy with Outriders, so I didn’t get to check it out until now. This update adds a lot, but the most exciting new piece of content is a new map for Halo 3 The…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 12, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsOddworld: Soulstorm Has More Heart And Less Farts
My name is Abe, and I have to save my friends. I’m locked in a multi-level, two-dimensional room. In the distance, I see my buddies, all 200 of them, climbing a ladder that will lead them to safety and where. they can reach the lock that will free me. Suddenly, a loud crackling noise alerts…
By Ash Parrish Published April 9, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsClap Hanz’ First Non-PlayStation Golf Game Is My New Happy Place
Japanese developer Clap Hanz has been making colorful cartoon golf games for PlayStation consoles since 1999’s Hot Shots Golf 2. The studio’s first non-PlayStation game, Apple Arcade’s Clap Hanz Golf, is more of the same, only now all it takes for me to tee up is a few taps of my iPad screen. Hot Shots…
By Mike Fahey Published April 7, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsFree From Stadia, Lost Words‘ Story Hits Hard
Lost Words: Beyond the Page is poised to snag a second lease on life. First released last spring as a Stadia exclusive, the idyllic puzzle-platformer from Sketchbook Games, officially released yesterday for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Switch (where I’ve been playing). Lost Words sports the sheen of star power: Rhianna Pratchett, of…
By Ari Notis Published April 7, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsMansions Of Madness Deserves A Better Video Game
Fantasy Flight’s Mansions of Madness, the standout game from the publisher’s Arkham Horror line-up, is one of my favourite board game experiences of all time, a near-perfect blend of occult investigation and unforgiving combat. Both things that its new video game adaptation is terrible at. Which shouldn’t be too surprising, given this game’s rocky history.…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsPrime 2D Is The Coolest Metroid In Over A Decade
A group of independent developers known as Team SCU recently released a demo for Prime 2D, an impressive side-scrolling remake of 2002’s Metroid Prime that has been in the works for over 15 years. After spending some time with it, I can say it was definitely worth the wait, even if Nintendo’s lawyers are no…
By Ian Walker Published April 5, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsStar Trek Legends Is A Fun Time, Not An Annoying Grind
Star Trek Legends, recently released on Apple Arcade, plays a lot like Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Disney’s Sorcerer’s Arena, DC Legends and countless other turn-based mobile RPGs. But without any energy meters or annoying microtransactions. As a result, it feels like a game and not a treadmill designed to ferry you to a store.…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 4, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsDoom 3 Is Better In VR
Most folks don’t love Doom 3, often citing how much slower the game feels compared to old Doom titles. But that slower speed plus its focus on creating a dark, scary atmosphere means that nearly 17 years after its release, Doom 3 ends up being a great VR game. It might even be a better game…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 3, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsFinal Fantasy Creator’s New RPG Is Out And Painfully Pretty
I’m having a problem playing Fantasian, the new turn-based RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker released today on Apple Arcade. I can’t stop pausing to look at how gorgeous the game’s real-life miniature diorama sets are. I didn’t say it was a bad problem. If you have access to Apple Arcade and you…
By Mike Fahey Published April 2, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsNier Replicant Gets Off To A Really Slow Start
After playing and being thoroughly wrecked by Nier: Automata, I was curious if Nier: Replicant ver.1.22474487139… the “version up” (since according to the developers it’s not a remake or a remaster) of the original Nier would inspire similar emotional devastation. I have dim memories of the first game. I remember the gruff dad and the…
By Ash Parrish Published March 29, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsChill City-Builder Forever
Life is hard. Sometimes games are hard, and that just reminds me that life is hard, and then everything feels too damn hard. Not early access city-builder Dorfromantik, though. That game is just the right amount of chill. Dorfromantik came to Steam early access last week. You’re given a stack of hexagonal tiles with landmarks…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 29, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsImmortals’ New DLC Taught Me A Lot About Chinese Mythology
It’s probably fair to say most DLC isn’t that great or memorable. That was the case with the first download for Immortals Fenyx Rising, which added a bunch of new puzzles and not much else. However, the game’s second DLC, Myths of the Eastern Realms, is a rare example of good downloadable content. In fact,…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 26, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsGet Past The F2P Bits And Crash Bandicoot: On The Run Is Good Crash
Crash Bandicoot: On The Run, out today for iOS and Android, is a game in which Crash Bandicoot runs through narrow corridors breaking boxes and collecting Wumpa Fruit, just like every other Crash Bandicoot game. As mobile spin-offs go, it’s pretty on the nose. Looking at the landscape screenshots developer King.com of Candy Crush fame…
By Mike Fahey Published March 25, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsNew Pokémon Snap Is Like Old Pokémon Snap, Only Much Prettier
Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64 is a game about rolling through islands, leisurely taking pictures of pocket monsters. All the upcoming sequel needs to please fans of the original is more of that with nicer graphics. I am pleased to report New Pokémon Snap is exactly that. Nintendo recently held a preview event where…
By Mike Fahey Published March 24, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsMundaun Is Beautiful, Hand-Drawn Folk Horror
It was around the time the severed goat head in my backpack started bleating and then spoke that I truly began to understand the beauty of Mundaun, the new indie horror game from developer Michel Ziegler. Mundaun opens with a letter from your isolated hometown in the Swiss Alps. Your grandfather, a local parishioner writes,…
By Ian Walker Published March 23, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsPuzzle Quest 3 Does The Match-Three RPG A Little Differently
The game that kicked off the match-three/RPG genre in 2007 is back for a third go with Puzzle Quest 3. An early preview of the Android version of the threequel reveals a somewhat more dynamic take on the genre mash-up. Giving players two seconds to map out their moves makes a big difference. The basic…
By Mike Fahey Published March 23, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsThere’s A New Type Of Fall Guys Jackass
I would like to offer a sincere apology to my Fall Guys squad. I fell into the slime. I thought we were out. So I quit. I didn’t realize how much that screwed you (fall) guys! It won’t happen again, I promise. Yesterday, as part of the platformer royale’s season four update, Fall Guys received…
By Ari Notis Published March 23, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsI Can’t Wait To Play Monster Hunter Rise With Other People
The review embargo for Monster Hunter Rise has lifted, and while I’ve been having a heck of a good time battling beasts with my AI dog and cat friends, online play is still a couple of days away. And everybody knows Monster Hunter is more fun with other people. The majority of the several days…
By Mike Fahey Published March 23, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsHawkeye Can’t Save Marvel’s Avengers
Like a sexy civilian in a superhero movie, Marvel’s Avengers needs saving. Someone, or something, needs to swoop in with panache and 11th-hour heroics. And the hero up at bat is…Hawkeye? Really? Him? Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, joined the Avengers roster yesterday as part of the action game’s biggest update yet. First, those long-awaited next-gen…
By Ari Notis Published March 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsMagic: Legends Makes Diablo-Style Combat Feel Like, Well, Magic
In the past, every month or so my partner and I would follow the instructions on the box and “gather” with our friends to play Magic: The Gathering. We’d have a casual sealed draft of whatever the latest set was, and at the end of the (at times very long) night, the winner walked home…
By Ash Parrish Published March 18, 2021