Aaagh, my vacant eye sockets! Who has the laser pointer?!

Game Name: Alien: Isolation (2014)
Developer: Creative Assembly (from the awesome Total War Series)
Platform: PC, MAC, PS3, PS4, XBox 360, XBox One (reviewed on PC)
Categories: Single Player, Pure-Stealth, Cat-and-Mouse, True Horror, Repeated and Violent Deaths, Crafting, Sci-Fi, First Person Shooter, Mini-Games

May Appeal To: fanatics of the original “Alien” movie, retro-future nostalgics, stoic horror aficionados, self-flagellation enthusiasts, art lovers, chaoticians, atheists, completionists, the unphased, and those with thick thick skin
May Repulse: fans of the “Aliens” second movie, run and gunners, the squeamish, the anxious, the impatient, the gung-ho, pattern-seekers, the aloof, the undedicated, the rage quitters whom are secretly terrified, IGN employees, and everyone who isn’t strictly in the “May Appeal To” section

Comparable To: (better theme, monster, and environmental interaction than) Amnesia: the Dark Descent, (trickier stealth than) the Thief series, (reminiscent of the first couple Human missions of) Aliens Vs. Predator original, (less BFG and more in line with the intro to) Doom 3 Continue reading →

The upgrade system involves collecting pre-bottled slime drops from enemies and shocking your cerebral cortex to allow a 1/10th second reduction in pistol reloading.

Game Name: The Evil Within (2014)
Developer: Tango Gameworks (Shinji Mikami created Resident Evil)
Platform: PC, PS3, PS4, XBox 360, XBox One (reviewed on PC)
Categories: Single Player, Dark Psychological Horror/Thriller, Scavenging, Survival, Stealth, 3rd Person Shooter, Crafting Lite, Grotesque Mutations, a couple Puzzles

May Appeal To: masochists, the deranged, trial-and-error-ers, ambience-seekers, societal rogues, gore fanatics, survivalists, the bored, and huge boss contenders
May Repulse: the easily queasy, story-seekers, the frustrated, voice acting critics, and those who identify the difference between classic horror and modern ‘gore’or

Comparable To: (less goofy and focused than) Resident Evil 4, (scarier and darker than Resident Evil 5), (better characters than) Resident Evil Revelations, (exceeds the needless frustration of) Demon Souls, (more lighting than) Condemned Bloodshot Continue reading →

Shapes! Things! Sprites stacked in belief-subverting physics faux pas!

Game Name: Distant Worlds: Universe (2014)
Developer: Code Force – (no other mentionable titles) http://www.codeforce.co.nz/
Platform: PC (reviewed on PC)
Categories: Single Player, 4X Space, Empire Sandbox/Simulator, Real Time Strategy (w/ autopause), Grand Strategy

May Appeal To: armchair emperors extraordinaire, cerebral folk, fellow min-maxers, and spreadsheet crunchers; those seeking a versatile and customized approach to 4X
May Repulse: the impatient, those requiring graphical eye-candy, those agoraphobic of open-ended simulators, those afraid of taming the chaos that is in-game alert barrages

Comparable To: (deeper and more organic than) Galactic Civilizations II, (less tedious than) Space Empires V, (less polish but more complexity than) Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, (more fun than) Masters of Orion 2, (less quirky than) Sword of the Stars, (less defining story but more engaging than) Crusader Kings, (much greater sense of accomplishment and control than) Hearts of Iron III

Continue reading →