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Life Is Strange: Double Exposure Review - An Underdeveloped PictureIt only feels right to begin this review with a confession: I am not someone who saw good reason for there to be a follow-up to the original Life is Strange game. I felt that way when Beyond the Storm was announced, and I felt that way again when Deck Nine revealed they would be continuing Max Caulfield's story with Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Though I enjoyed the first game well enough, I felt as if the ensuing titles that both Don't Nod and Deck Nine worked on--such as Life is Strange 2, Life is Strange: True Colors, and Tell Me Why--explored more interesting topics and boasted more compelling protagonists. To me, Max always felt a bit overshadowed by those around her--characters with intense flaws and strong personalities that drove the game's plot and imbued emotion into the story. And after playing Life is Strange: Double Exposure, and despite having high hopes that it might persuade me, I unfortunately still feel the same. In Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Max once again feels only as interesting as the characters surrounding her, making her a driving force that isn't particularly compelling and a fairly flat protagonist. Even as the game explores her grief following the loss of Chloe (either via a painful fall-out or her death, depending upon your selection) and a new loss that occurs during Double Exposure's opening chapter, Deck Nine stumbles in giving these processes depth and emotional resonance. Despite this weak thread, Double Exposure is, admittedly, a visually impressive game with some well-executed narrative beats, an interesting twist on gameplay, and some endearing characters. However, it ultimately feels too similar to its predecessor in a few frustrating ways and suffers from inconsistent story quality and writing; this makes for an overall experience that lacks a lot of depth and falls short. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 20

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Review in ProgressSo far, severe bugs have been holding back a refreshingly brutal single-player FPS.

IGN PC ReviewsNov 20

Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl Review - In The ZoneIt's incredible that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl even exists. In addition to weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, developer GSC Game World was faced with the Russian invasion of its native Ukraine, kicking off a war that sadly still rages on today. While many GSC staff were able to flee the country, others were unable to, and some even continue to fight for their country on the war's frontlines. Amidst the terrifying sound of air-raid sirens and frequent missile attacks, people somehow persevered, continuing to work on the game at home in between volunteer work, all while suffering the loss of beloved friends, colleagues, family members, and pets. Even those who left Ukraine and began working at a new office in Prague weren't free of turbulence. Countless Russian cyberattacks, leaked builds, and even a fire that destroyed the studio's server room have all occurred over the past couple of years. Yet, despite all of this, Stalker 2 is here. Its release is nothing short of a miraculous achievement and a testament to the people who fought tooth and nail to reach this point in the face of unimaginable hardships. The game that emerged from such horrifying events is one that boldly sticks to the studio's vision of a seamless open-world survival shooter, which the series has always strived to be. It's rough around the edges and uncompromising in a way that is sometimes off-putting. Yet the series' emergent gameplay remains intact and is further complemented by a fascinating setting and the most accomplished combat in the series so far. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and at times it feels like you're playing a game straight out of 2010, but that's part of its charm and feeds into what makes Stalker 2 the quintessential Stalker experience. If you're unfamiliar with GSC's post-apocalyptic world, each game takes place in an alternate version of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Following the historical reactor meltdown of 1986, several laboratories were established in the surrounding area and began conducting various experiments. This led to a fictional second disaster in 2006 that mutated local plant and animal life and created phenomena known as anomalies. These strange, almost-supernatural occurrences cause valuable artifacts to appear, each containing unique and unexplainable properties. Stalkers come to the Zone in search of personal enrichment by recovering these artifacts, but they're not the only people who inhabit this irradiated area. Various factions exist within the Zone, from paramilitary organizations to groups of scientists seeking to understand the Zone, along with myriad bandits, religious fanatics, and outlaws who prefer to shoot first and ask questions later. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 20

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Review - History RepeatsYou really can't understate how historically important Dragon Quest III is. This is not just any JRPG--to players in Japan, it's the defining JRPG, a game that set sales records and truly made Dragon Quest an inextricable part of Japanese pop culture. To this day, it's recognized and referenced in all manner of media, and its wild success is the subject of both nostalgic fascination and urban legends. With such a pedigree behind it, it's no surprise that Square Enix has seen fit to re-release Dragon Quest III numerous times, with this HD-2D Remake edition being the latest--and also the most lavish--to date. Logic dictates that a game like this deserves a red-carpet treatment. But unlike Final Fantasy, which is no stranger to changing things up in its recent sequels and remakes, the old-fashioned elements of Dragon Quest's gameplay remain untouched no matter what. Of course, the biggest deal about this remake--which its very title proudly proclaims--is the use of Square Enix's HD-2D visual style. Previous HD-2D games like Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and the Live A Live remake have established a strong visual identity, using 2D sprites, 3D backgrounds, and scrolling and perspective tricks to create an ornate and cinematic style that makes them stand out. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 19

Slay The Princess Review: The Pristine Cut - 'Til Death Do Us PartHeart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. As The Nightmare neared, her face covered in chipped porcelain and her presence like shrill static, these four words became a chant. The Paranoid--one of the many personas inhabiting the hero's too-full head--was the one uttering it, a reminder to the other voices in this malformed vessel that it was now up to them to perform what were once autonomous functions. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. The words were a pulse; the singular thread tethering this body to this plane of existence. But as The Nightmare grew closer, the desperate thrumming faded to silence. And then, the thin thread snapped. In Slay the Princess, however, death is only the beginning: the start of a time loop that nearly always resolves in mutually-assured destruction. But despite the horrors you endure and the promise of death--repeatedly and oftentimes brutally--the game begins with a small, strange note: This is a love story. And as a love story, a horrific visual novel, and a work of narrative-driven psychological fiction, Slay the Princess is remarkable. The Pristine Cut further polishes this gem of a game, adding more depth and replayability to an already-brilliant title that is abundant with introspection, poetic (and often humorous) writing, stellar voice acting, and memorable art and music. Though there are still a few rough spots--namely some of its audio mixing and its UX design on consoles--Slay the Princess is a beautiful experience, brimming with emotion and cleverness. The Princess with a chain around her neck and in her Prisoner form. The premise is simple enough and explained by both its name and its exposition: "You're on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path, is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a princess. You're here to slay her." Naturally, this raises a lot of questions: Why does she need to die? Why am I the one killing her? What is the motive of the person instructing you to do this? As the protagonist's primary, guiding voice, it is up to you to explore the dozen or so prompts that emerge as each new piece of information is brought to light. Your every response and action--or lack thereof--determines and alters the path laid before the hero, as well as the many other voices that join you in guiding him as successive loops unfold. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 18

Lego Horizon Adventures ReviewA playful reimagining that simplifies the original story while keeping the heart of it.

IGN PC ReviewsNov 13

Lego Horizon Adventures Review - For Buildin' JestAfter 20 years of tie-in games made mainly in one specific shape, players have been conditioned to know what to expect when they see the word Lego at the front of a game's title. Lego Horizon Adventures , however, diverges from some of what that naming convention may conjure in one's mind. It's not a stark departure from the dozens of games that precede it, but Lego Horizon Adventures alters the formula in a few noticeable ways. In the process, it cleverly reinvents its universe for a new base of players, though it struggles to build on its own revised formula consistently. Despite using a zoomed-out third-person perspective familiar to Lego game players, Lego Horizon Adventures is a far more cinematic Lego game. This might not come as much of a surprise, however, considering how PlayStation has defined its brand by chasing Hollywood for the past 15 years. Gone are several Lego-game tropes, such as unlocking dozens of characters, or replaying levels with those characters to solve previously unapproachable puzzles. In fact, you'll hardly solve puzzles at all, save for a few very light platforming puzzles. Though you'll collect Lego studs to spend on rewards in-game, you won't be chasing collectibles like mini-kits or hidden items. Lego Horizon Adventures is instead a linear action-adventure game. That has both advantages and disadvantages. On the brighter side, the game looks incredible. Lego Horizon ditches the series' typical style of brickifying only the playable area and giving the rest of the landscape, like backgrounds and foregrounds, a more lifelike look. In this game, everything is Lego bricks. It's somewhat subtle, but once I noticed that change, it partly helped explain how pretty it all is. By presenting a singular style, it feels like a real Lego set come to life in a way other games of this sort have never offered. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 13

The Rise Of The Golden Idol Review - The Memory RemainsMy first inclination is to figure out who everyone is, from the inmates lined up outside to the prison guards inspecting the now-empty cells. Some first names are uttered in dialogue or scribbled on the side of the cell block in graffiti. Surnames can be found in formal letters and employee logs. Now it's a matter of putting names to faces, repeating conversations I've already had or looking through my notes to see who's talking to or about who, perusing an obscured note in the boss's office, and rummaging through all of the inmate's belongings. Once I know who everyone is and in which cell each prisoner resides, I just have to figure out how one of them masterminded a daring escape. Much like its predecessor, The Rise of the Golden Idol presents you with what is essentially a diorama of a moment in time--typically taken at the precise second, or in the immediate aftermath, of a crime. It's up to you to deduce what exactly happened by pointing and clicking through all of the available evidence to figure out--among other things--who was involved, which items are incriminating, and what the exact sequence of events was. Whereas 2022's The Case of the Golden Idol revolved around a slew of murders related to the eponymous Idol, the kill count in this sequel is decidedly lower. There are still more than a few dead bodies amongst its 20 cases, but you're also tasked with unraveling the events behind prison escapes, experimental lab tests, and the backstage chaos of a talent show gone awry. Rise of the Golden Idol picks up 200 years after the events of the first game, as the grisly history of the Golden Idol follows the artifact from the 18th century to the semi-modern setting of the 1970s. Once again, you're cast as an observer of these strange cases; an omnipresent force given license to freely explore each tableau at your own pace, burrowing into people's pockets, opening any door, and using logic to piece together the lurid events of its interconnected story. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 13

Metal Slug Tactics Review - Rerun and GunThere's always been something endearing about Metal Slug. While its contemporaries like Contra ratcheted up the aliens and body horror, Metal Slug instead leaned hard into comedy, mixing its signature run-and-gun action with comically overbuilt machines, cartoonish villains, and a silly cast of action-hero cliches. While there have been a few spin-offs over the years, Metal Slug Tactics is the series' first foray into turn-based strategy, and it comes with a roguelike twist. It's a mostly successful mission thanks to clever gameplay and maintaining the silly charm the series is known for, though some outdated tropes and too much of your success being outside of your tactical control keep this operation from being a total victory. Tactics moves the long-running sidescroller onto an isometric grid, and the pixel art-inspired models do a great job capturing the look and feel the series is known for. Everything from the iconic POWs to the titular Metal Slug tanks themselves feel exactly like the original series translated to 3D. The isometric battlegrounds are littered with varied terrain, buildings, foliage, and other scenic elements that feel right at home, and bosses are exactly the kind of over-engineered machinery you would expect. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsNov 12

Empire of the Ants Multiplayer Review

IGN PC ReviewsNov 8