video game review
-
Deadly Premonition’s central narrative is a masterful achievement, dwelling upon impossibly bleak subject matter – in this precise instance, serial murder; the butcheries exercised on the various victims are displayed and discussed boldly; the game is unflinchingly mature. Many games are bleak – darkness is common. But with Deadly Premonition, darkness is uniquely tempered by
-
D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die’s central narrative is wonderfully and fiercely unique, passionately embracing a more gay, playful, and lighthearted tone, itself at odds with an industry which values and champions narrative bleakness, narrative darkness; in all facets of its construction, the tonally disheartening is broken with. D4, with this playfulness and constant insertion of
-
Ocarina of Time 3D begins in a highly engrossing manner, opening in the bright, verdant Kokiri Forest, everything gaiety and bliss, beautiful grasses and foliage overtaking all, resulting in a highly inviting atmosphere. As location, it is peopled by the childish Kokiri, themselves characterized by the innocence of youth, a commanding sweetness and sincerity. Before
-
Wolfenstein: The New Order’s narrative shows a complete absence of ambition, the core motivation capable of succinct expression – topple the Nazi regime, fight back against the abundance of power won with success in World War II, a success maintained and built upon, Nazi powers extending far beyond Europe, their machinations and barbarities affecting all.
-
Resident Evil 7’s narrative is instantly engaging, seeing the player character, Ethan Winters, receive a distress signal from his long missing wife, Mia, clearly in a state of frantic desperation, obviously oppressed. Gone for some considerable duration, something inherently reassuring is attached to her message, grim though her mental state may be; she is alive,
-
Condemned: Criminal Origins is characterized by an overwhelming bleakness, manifest both in its narrative and its environmental construction. Regarding the former, the game seeks to convey a mostly grounded, human story, analyzing the psychology of the player character, Ethan Thomas, who gradually descends into madness, given the betrayal he experiences at the beginning of the
-
Amnesia: The Dark Descent’s greatest ambition – and greatest achievement – is related to the construction and maintenance of atmosphere. Unfolding in a sprawling manor deep in the woods of Prussia, the game is of a decidedly moody sort, arresting and impactful from the first. Clever manipulation of light and shadow contribute to this atmospheric
-
Crysis 3’s narrative is a confused, muddled mess, with two central pillars of focus, one which revolves around the tyrannous, menacing Cell faction, their primary motivation being the acquisition of power; acting indefatigably in their search, often do they commit acts of brutal violence, unflinching and remorseless, almost corrupted by the tangibility of that power.
-
Aragami, as a pure stealth title, can be an occasionally brutal experience, the player character – the titular Aragami – defenseless upon detection, recognition often equating to a swift and violent death. Certain offensive abilities are purchasable, but they do little to lessen the punishing nature of the gameplay – punishing, though never frustrating. Despite
-
Aesthetically, Super Metroid remains timeless, the sprite work highly detailed, environments characterized by vibrancy and a strange sort of exoticism, communicating the bizarre nature of the gameworld proper, the distant, alien planet of Zebes, where the protagonist Samus travels in response to some urgent distress call. As with the planet, Samus herself sports a compelling
-
Narratively, Borderlands shows a poverty of ambition, its story construction unremarkable and uninspired, with a total absence of character development, or the establishment of a singular, menacing antagonist. True, a solid motivation is established from the first, which consistently guides the player throughout, never wavering, one central anchor – here the game shows a sense
-
Medal of Honor: Airborne suffers greatly from an unfocused, unambitious narrative, abounding in the generic; exposition of any import is here absent, with few traditional cutscenes or compelling dialogue, both being confined largely to the short briefings which precede every primary campaign mission. Here, even the stylistic is spurned, the presentations comprised solely of static
-
Grand Theft Auto IV is epic in scope; the journey the protagonist Niko Bellic embarks on is a long, winding one, a literal odyssey. Arriving in Liberty City, a supposed beacon brimming with opportunity, Niko is met with an affectionate reception by his loving if cowardly cousin, boyhood companion. Roman, though installed in Liberty City
-
Prince of Persia is abounding in charm, manifest both in the principal characters and the world proper. Regarding the former, there exists the enigmatic, unnamed Prince, who precariously teeters on the edge, vacillating between the irritating and the endearing. Given the compelling voice acting, in the end his endearing attributes prevail; an emotive, telling face,
-
Steam World Dig isn’t the type of game I would usually play; the 2-D genre to which it belongs is like this unexplored frontier for me. True, growing up I played ports of Donkey Kong Country and have had the obligatory exposure to the Mario games, but beyond those titles, I know next to nothing
Games With Grey 