Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved the prospect of playing a video game about commanding a ship and sailing the seas. My real-life experience with sea travel is limited, but there has always been something so fascinating about the idea of a game taking place partially (or even entirely) on a boat of some kind.
Part of the reason for this is my love of all things pirates. There’s just something about those scavengers of the open seas that really appeal to me, and the interest in both pirates and sea travel in games has only increased exponentially since I was but a boy with dreams of playing a real pirate adventure.
Thankfully, the game industry has answered the call to create amazing open-seas games, with or without pirates, and I’m always pleasantly surprised when a new game with those elements I love pop up. READ MORE
When you think about the Call of Duty franchise, you think about the explosion-filled campaigns, the intense firefights and the increasingly popular competitive multiplayer. You may also think it’s a franchise that is beginning to show its age and is in desperate need for something fresh.
Black Ops II, Treyarch’s latest in the bombastic FPS franchise, is the first time the series has seen a new coat of paint in quite a while. It’s still what you might expect from a game called Call of Duty, but it offers a surprising glimpse into a direction that would be beneficial to the series in the long run. READ MORE
I love co-op. I don’t think there will ever be a time when I don’t love co-op, and I hope it continues to be a popular trend in gaming. Whether it’s local or online, playing through a game with a friend is something that can enhance your experience tenfold. I even love going through single-player games with friends. There’s something about that experience that will never get old. However, I would never want all of my gaming experiences to be cooperative. There are plenty of games that benefit from being played solo, and while I sometimes I can appreciate the focus on co-op in franchises that were once solely single player experiences, it can lead to a large problem. READ MORE
Portable entries of big franchises are usually created one of two ways: They are an attempt to emulate the gameplay of the main games as best as possible, or they are something different entirely. The latter usually focuses on experimentation while trying to stay as connected as possible to the original games. The former, on the other hand, rarely succeeds, mostly due to the hardware limitations of the handheld in question. Ubisoft has tried both approaches with Assassin’s Creed, but thanks to the Vita’s impressive technical specs, the former finally seems entirely plausible for the franchise. Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation is that game, blending together well-known elements of the series with some Vita-specific gimmicks that rarely succeed. READ MORE
This column contains a ton of spoilers for Dishonored. If you haven’t had a chance to finish it yet, I suggest doing so before reading ahead.
Dishonored is a game all about player choice, focusing less on Mass Effect-style dialogue options and more on your decisions through actions. As you quickly discover, you will be choosing to kill or spare many of those who wish to impede your ultimate goal of revenge. But Dishonored does more than simply give you the tools to decide the fates of those who betrayed you; it offers you a new perspective on a character who never utters a single word and it does so through the words and actions of others. Even the smallest details are enough to help form the most intriguing character I’ve seen in a game in years. READ MORE
