Call me a cynic, but the announcement of the new SimCity sequel left me cold. It’s not that it doesn’t have it share of good promises; it’s that most of them we have already seen before, with regions and simulation of every single person living in your city being already the flagship changes of SimCity 4. In a certain way, it’s not like I can blame them. SimCity 4 was such a step forward that I can’t help but think that it’s more SimCity than the original game. All those features, nuances and ideas of the older games became quirks in my mind after playing 4. They had all been replaced. READ MORE
Rockstar was, for a while, one of the most controversial companies in the business. Creators of the Grand Theft Auto series, its success has always been surrounded by media frenzies and retailer bans, with politicians and lawyers using the game as a scapegoat for any murder they could find. READ MORE
Few games sparked my imagination when I was a kid as much as The Incredible Machine did. There was something unique, something inherently appealing about that game that I didn’t quite find in any other titles of the genre and, until recently, I couldn’t even say what it was. READ MORE
Dread.
That’s the main theme of Sinistar. Facing what is best described as a mechanized space horror, the player fights a battle he has no real chance to win from the beginning. Moving from asteroid to asteroid as fast as the ship engines can handle to collect the bombs needed to destroy Sinistar, it’s impossible to avoid the feeling that time is running out. That it’s an uphill battle. READ MORE
New writer Erik Twice is exploring classic game experiences in this debut of his new column, Flashback.
All my roleplaying experiences have been a wreck. With civilians getting killed on sight and players falling through the same trap door twice, I saw the games shatter and crumble before by eyes, the rules disappearing in a logical puff as our poor understanding of them made our punches more dangerous than the enemy’s machine guns. It just wasn’t a good fit. Surrounded by munchkins and guys a little bit too happy to see their own missions fail I started to seek a solo alternative, something I could happily play alone. READ MORE
