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OpinionImpressions13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim’s Time-Travel Mech Story Unfolds In The Coolest Way
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the latest PS4 game from developer Vanillaware, tells the story of 13 Japanese high school students who get mixed up in a war between mechs and massive kaiju beasts that spans over a century and a half of history. To get the whole story, you have to weave together chunks of…
By Mike Fahey Published September 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsLeague Of Legends’ New Board Game Is Pretty Basic
Thelast official League of Legends board game was a pretty lavish affair, a tower defence experiment with nice miniatures and some cool ideas. The second, Tellstones, is…less ambitious. Tellstones: King’s Gambit is a simple game of memorisation and bluff, for 2 or 4 players, that only takes around 10 minutes to play (and sometimes a…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOne Year Later, Apple Arcade Is Still A Great Deal
On September 19, 2019, Apple launched Apple Arcade, a $5-a-month subscription service dedicated to bringing top-tier, bullshit-free mobile games to iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV. One year later the service has more than 130 mostly great games with more arriving on a semi-weekly basis, and I’ve never once considered canceling. When Apple Arcade launched with…
By Mike Fahey Published September 21, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsStar Renegades Is A Gorgeous Turn-Based RPG Caught In Its Own Time Loop
There’s a ton to love in the beautifully pixelated RPG roguelite Star Renegades. I just wish all of its ambitious ideas came together as elegantly as its art style. In Star Renegades, the latest Steam game from Massive Damage, makers of the excellent Halcyon 6, you assemble a squad of charming cliches—the roguish bounty hunter,…
By Ethan Gach Published September 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsBPM: Bullets Per Minute Is A Shockingly Fun First-Person Rhythm Shooter
“Rhythm FPS roguelike” is not a series of words I thought I’d see strung together to describe a video game. But the year 2020 is committed to surprising the hell out of me, sometimes for ill (mostly for ill nowadays) but sometimes for good. BPM:Bullets Per Minute is one of those good surprises. Out now…
By Ash Parrish Published September 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsMicrosoft Cloud Gaming Is As Good As Your Internet Connection
On a brand-new Samsung Galaxy Note20 with a solid 5G T-Mobile connection, Microsoft Cloud Gaming works like a charm. Shooters like Halo 5 stream without stutter. Fighters like Marvel vs. Capcom Ultimate are passable for casual play. If I switch to the spotty wireless shared by my entire household, games get choppy and stuttery. It’s…
By Mike Fahey Published September 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFall Guys’ New Mini-Game Variations Are Kicking My Ass
Earlier today, Fall Guys received a mid-season update meant to shake the game up before things get medieval. Mini-games that were previously a walk in the park have been remixed with new obstacles. As someone who had previously burnt out on the battle royale, this has been the perfect opportunity to step back into the…
By Ian Walker Published September 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsOthercide Is A Goth Tactical RPG That Embraces Death
Most tactical games condition you to avoid failure. In XCOM, once a character dies, they’re gone. Same for Fire Emblem (at least in Classic mode) and others of its ilk. Othercide isn’t like that. Playing Othercide means rewiring your brain to tolerate and even seek out failure. Death comes quickly and brutally and recurs ad…
By Ari Notis Published September 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsPumpkin Jack Is Colorful Halloween Action Game
Fall is nearly here, and I’m fully ready for the spooky season. With perfect timing comes a demo for the upcoming game Pumpkin Jack, an action platformer heavily inspired by Medievil and other PS1 and N64 era games. The Pumpkin Jack demo is available on Steam as part of PAX Online. It features one level…
By Zack Zwiezen Published September 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Outer Worlds’ First DLC Is Too Cynical For Its Own Good
Peril on Gorgon is a good excuse to return to the Outer Worlds’ retro-futurist dystopia. I only wish doing so had finally given me some hope that its neo-feudalist colonies might someday be saved. Out last week on PS4, Xbox One, and PC (it will arrive sometime later on Switch), Peril on Gorgon is the…
By Ethan Gach Published September 14, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsSpelunky 2 Doesn’t Mess With A Good Thing
In the original Spelunky, every run is different, but it’s also always the same. Your objective never changes; enemy behavior is always predictable. In the 100 hours I’ve spent with the first game, my skills, mistakes, and choices are what make every run unique and exciting. Spelunky 2 keeps the original’s winning combination of change…
By Riley MacLeod Published September 14, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsMobile Game Crux Lets You Rock Climb Without Going To The Gym
My climbing gym reopened recently, but thanks to the coronavirus, for the first time in my rock climbing life I’m not in a rush to spend every available second there. New mobile game Crux almost scratches my climbing itch: the climbing gym simulator gives me the problem-solving fun of rock climbing, but without the sore…
By Riley MacLeod Published September 11, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsSpellbreak Is Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Battle Royale, And It Owns
I am, by nature, regrettably competitive. I like winning—big fan of not falling on my face and eating shit, here—but win/lose scenarios fill me with anxiety. Spellbreak sank its hooks into me the moment I realized that it made me stop caring about that. I was in the middle of a wild, multi-person melee. Gouts…
By Nathan Grayson Published September 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsHands-On With Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Multiplayer Alpha
An early look at Black Ops: Cold War’s multiplayer unveils new game modes, promising maps, and plenty of opportunities for scorestreaks. Thanks to an online preview event held by publisher Activision, I was recently able to get hands-on with the multiplayer for this year’s upcoming Call of Duty. Developed by Treyarch Studios and Raven Software…
By S.E. Doster Published September 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsIron Harvest Has Some Problems
Iron Harvest should, by all accounts, be just the game for me. It’s set in a universe I dig, and has a lot in common with Company of Heroes—a game I’m on record as saying is “the perfect RTS” And yet every time I force myself to sit down and play it, something just feels…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 3, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsAvengers’ Story Campaign Is Bigger And Better Than I Expected
When you start Marvel’s Avengers, the in-game menu suggests you complete the single-player campaign before diving into online multiplayer. Now I’m over six hours into the campaign and only just unlocked Black Widow, my fourth of the game’s six playable launch characters. This might take a while, but I’m not irritated. I’m having a great…
By Mike Fahey Published September 1, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWindbound Nails The Terrifying, Calming Peace Of Being In Open Waters
Six minutes into Windbound, I died. Shortly after the game started, I found myself stranded on an island with nothing but my wits and a knife. I saw a boar-like creature. It wasn’t bothering me, but it had something I needed. So I did what video games have taught me to do and struck it…
By Ari Notis Published August 31, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsHere’s The Prettiest Purple Gaming Headset I Ever Did See
Normally I turn to pink hues when I am looking for new gaming accessories, but the lilac Logitech G’s G733 Lightspeed wireless gaming headset, part of the company’s new Color Collection, is pushing me in a purple direction. Logitech G makes good gaming gear. Now it makes good gear in fancy colors. The new $130…
By Mike Fahey Published August 31, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Doesn’t Fix What Needed Fixing
I’ve been waiting 16 years to finally enjoy playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. But after sinking five hours into the remaster, the fun still eludes me. I’ve wanted to play a Final Fantasy party game that combines arcade co-op with RPG customization ever since I first read about Crystal Chronicles in a 2003 SquareSoft brochure,…
By Ethan Gach Published August 28, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Last Campfire Is A Totally Chill Puzzle Adventure
The Last Campfire, the latest from No Man’s Sky studio Hello Games, is a perfect game for unwinding. There’s no urgency to hero Ember’s journey through the mysterious world they’re trapped in at the beginning of the story. It’s about wandering lush fantasy environments and solving puzzles as lovely music plays. Push some blocks, light…
By Mike Fahey Published August 28, 2020