Oh, Deadpool. Always a character with an inherent identity crisis. Originating as a product of the ’90s and transforming into one of the most prolific joke characters in comics, there are a ton of variables involved with the guy. He is reliant, more so than any other character, on the writer, the sole force responsible for his effectiveness as a character. Sometimes he’s a great vehicle for satire, a destructive force constantly breaking the fourth wall and giving all of geekdom a good chance to have a laugh at its own expense. Other times he’s a pandering money grab, his creative team opting to tell lazy jokes aimed at the lowest common denominator. He’s a chaotic mixed bag of wildly varying quality. How appropriate then, that his new game is kind of a sloppy, albeit entertaining, wreck? READ MORE
Everyone has guilty pleasures. The paperback section at the grocery store. The out-of-place, lower-than-B-grade DVD racks at gas stations. Novelty shot glasses. Keiji Inafune’s Bugs vs. Tanks! is the game equivalent of those things, the things that people who take life far too seriously would turn their noses up at. It’s the eShop parallel to that absurd horror movie you found on the shelf behind the Steven Seagal direct-to-video releases at your local, non-chain convenience store. Even compared to most of the other Guild titles available, it isn’t very good. However, it’s infectious in its earnest adherence to being silly. I likely won’t miss it, but I didn’t put it down until I was finished. READ MORE
Naughty Dog’s track record as of late has been spectacular, delivering three great games in the Uncharted series. While it seemed like making a fourth was the obvious move, the team decided to try something a little different. The Last of Us, a post-apocalyptic action game, is as far from the norm for the studio as you can get. It swaps out Nathan Drake’s breezy adventures with something a little more grounded. Thankfully for us, it proves that Naughty Dog’s talent as a developer is still as strong as ever.
We all have a game or game series we go back to from time to time simply to play casually for relaxation purposes. Sometimes, after a hard day at work or a troubling study session, you need something simple to enjoy. For myself and many others, that series is Animal Crossing. It never demands a lot of your attention, and yet it somehow always manages to get as much of it as possible. The formula has never changed drastically from game to game, and yet each title adds something special to keep you coming back for more. Animal Crossing: New Leaf may not be the most innovative or groundbreaking game around, but sometimes playing it safe is all you need. READ MORE
After a flurry of fighting game re-releases, Capcom has pointed Iron Galaxy’s arcade-port expertise to a beat-’em-up. It’s not just any of the company’s myriad brawlers, though. Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara have long been missing from home platforms for various reasons, and it’s a shame, because the inventory and decision-making aspects of the game make it quite distinct. READ MORE
