If I haven’t mentioned it before, here it is: I’m terrible at anything tactical. My ability to process information quickly and act before my opponent has been one of my major strengths in education, sport, theatre and, of course, games. Inevitably, when the playing field levels and my initial advantage is over, I suffer. Whether I don’t enjoying a slower pace, or lack strategy, I tend to struggle in this type of competition. “Slow down,” my teachers told me, “you don’t have to finish the test first.” No, but what could looking over my work and taking my time possibly do for me?
Finesse is never a factor in tactical games. It’s a style in which you’re given ample time to make decisions. Every movement, every upgrade and every attack is made with all the information available, like a pile of books dumped on your desk with no clocks in sight. Take your time. READ MORE
Don’t like sports? Around big events like the Super Bowl, there’s no escaping them, so why not find a way to embrace them? In this update of a piece that originally ran in 2012, we tell you about some games you should check out even if they have sports in them, because you’re missing out on a lot of fun.
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition (360/PS3)
If you’ve ever played an NBA Jam game, be it the arcade/16-bit originals or the recent remakes, you know what I do: that it’s much less of a sports game, and much more of a sports-themed multiplayer brawler. The newest version smooths the rough edges, looks slick and has a bunch of fun teams to play. Want to go around as Santa Claus, shoving Isaac Clarke and a raptor while an announcer rattles off silly-but-somehow-still-satisfying one-liners? That’s in a game now. — Graham Russell READ MORE
It’s the end of another packed year of new game releases. Some might consider it a lackluster one (I know I do), but that doesn’t make it any less worthwhile at the end of the day. When December rolls around, we don’t often find time to pay attention to any last-minute releases. Sure, some games manage to squeeze in right at the last minute, but they are rarely worth your attention. This year, however, there is one well worth your time, and one that might just fit alongside other, larger releases: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. READ MORE
I’ve written a lot about horror games, specifically regarding how the genre has gone through a bit of a renaissance in recent years. There have been a surprising number of quality horror games, and with the recent announcement of a new Silent Hill title, plus Capcom’s supposed effort to bring Resident Evil back to its roots, it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing plenty more.
This brings me to this month’s newest horror releases: Alien: Isolation and The Evil Within. Both are modern horror games, yet they both approach the genre from entirely different perspectives. Best of all, you can look at both games as example of how to do modern horror right and how to do it, well, not so right.
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Western players are likely at least somewhat familiar with Nintendo’s Art Style games, downloadable WiiWare and DSiWare titles with a shared stark aesthetic and simple-but-addictive gameplay. They’re almost all worth checking out (though the names themselves are a nightmare to keep straight across regions), but did you know that they weren’t the first of their kind? Indeed, they were preceded by a seven-game lineup for the Game Boy Advance called bit Generations. READ MORE
