I grew up in a house full of Sierra adventure games. I led Roger Wilco in his quest to defeat the Sariens, I helped the Royal Family of Daventry defeat all manner of mystical creates, and when I got a bit older, I played through thrillers like Gabriel Knight and Phantasmagoria. And as soon as I found the instruction book and the PC moved into my room, I played through Leisure Suit Larry. It was familiar but aimed at an older audience. There was a focus on adult humor instead of adventure, and it was wonderful. Hector: Badge of Carnage carries on in the tradition of Leisure Suit Larry. It’s aimed at adults, the jokes have some raunch to them, and everything feels over-the-top without hurting the overall experience. READ MORE
Just when I think I have covered more than my fair share of dice-based games, Wizkids (makers of Heroclix and similar miniature-based games) unleashes Quarriors!, the unlikely Venn diagram overlap between dice games and deck-building games. Quarriors! (yes, the exclamation mark is part of the title) allows two to four players to each start off with eight basic Quiddity dice, four Assistant dice, and a sack to hold them. READ MORE
Just for a second, could you all keep watch so I can slip this incredibly-late column under my editor Graham Russell’s office door? See I’ve been very, very busy lately as I’ve started a new full-time job. My new gig is at a place I’m sure you’re all very familiar with. It’s an establishment where one can purchase video games. It’s called… Play… Shop. Yeah, PlayShop. That’s the ticket.
I really shouldn’t be telling you this because at my store we get all the hottest game news before the general public. Having my own column on a popular game site such as this one, I can’t help but leak some upcoming game news to my adoring readers. I’ll even let you guys in on all the best pre-order bonuses coming up later this year. This season is going to be huge for games, with popular titles like Gears of War 3, Batman: Arkham City and Camping Mama, so there’s a lot of very juicy info after the break. READ MORE
Here’s a game that was released for a very specific audience: fans of The Incredible Machine series. It’s rare to still see a full-fledged XBLA title come out that is this under the radar, but here it is: Crazy Machines Elements.
The game is pretty simple: you are presented with some objects, a machine, and a puzzle you need to solve with said machine. The machine is a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that, when set off, begins moving a cavalcade of different mechanics and items. You need to place the objects you have in a specific way in order to achieve your object. It’s as simple as game concepts get, but the puzzles themselves can be devilishly difficult. READ MORE
You can’t really blame a company for trying to work off a formula that found lots of success. And that’s what you have here in Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon. Sure, it’s a twin-stick shooter, but from there, developers 345 Games seemed to operate from the Castle Crashers playbook. READ MORE
