Archive for the ‘PC/Mac’ Category
HuniePop Review
Please Note: Any way you dice it, HuniePop is a game intended for adults. There is smoking, drinking, very adult language, scantily clad (and potentially fully nude) individuals, adult situations displayed/discussed, and potentially what could be described as pornographic art of a certain type referred to as “hentai”. Now, perhaps you already know this, but it’s a warning for those that don’t. Fortunately this review, while it mentions this content, contains none of these items. It can be considered safe for work (although someone may make fun of you), including all screenshots, and only mildly discusses themes that would be considered appropriate for, at worst, a teen audience. This is just a friendly warning from the folks here at Gaming History 101.
I get it now. For years I have watched my friends, family, and even gamer peers play match three games and never understood it. Sure, I gave a good couple of weeks to Marvel Puzzle Quest, and I had played the original Puzzle Quest in the past, but I was never drawn into them like others were. Eventually, I quit playing these games altogether. But I get it now and I will sadly admit that for more than 15 hours of my life – which may be the blink of an eye to the average Candy Crush addict – I was officially hooked to a match three game. Unfortunately that match three game also happened to be a hybrid dating sim, and a relatively poor one at that, which also had a readily available uncensored patch that displayed an occasional pornographic hentai image, but a match three game nonetheless. It may be shameful for some, although I have no shame, in admitting that I not only liked but got addicted to HuniePop, but I did and it was definitely the match three game that did it. No, seriously, there were easier ways to see the art and out of those 15 hours I spent about 2 minutes looking at art, one total hour playing the dating sim, and 14 more doing nothing but match three. In fact, the game is pretty terrible at everything it attempts to accomplish outside being a basic match three clone. But still, I was hooked.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Review
The original Hotline Miami is still a massive indie hit that has a colourful over the top retro look to it with a fantastic soundtrack to accompany it. The goal of each level was simple: kill every enemy on screen by any means necessary. Although that comes across as a very basic concept the game is very difficult and you will find yourself restarting constantly until you finally figure out the magical formula to dispatch all the bad guys in the level. I was hooked to this game instantly when I first played it, and was pretty excited to hear a sequel was on the way.
Hotline Miami Review
Getting that “retro feel” in modern games is a particular challenge that few actually nail. Sometimes the aesthetics are spot on, but at the expense of gameplay, which can feel sluggish or imprecise and the developer often sites authenticity for retro consoles or some other excuse. Many times the soundtrack is fantastic but it’s the only notable aspect of the game. By process of elimination there are those titles that get the gameplay down but at the expense of aesthetics and story a la Retro City Rampage. That’s why Hotline Miami seems such an achievement because it looks like a 16-bit top-down game, plays like a twin stick shooter from the 90s (Smash TV anyone?), and manages to pull off the unreliable narrator concept that usually falls flat. On top of that, it has a fantastic soundtrack that Dennis Wedin composed for the game and stands as the first thing you experience upon booting it up and the most notable part of the experience. All the elements are there and the result is an unforgetable title from start to finish.
Battlefield Hardline – First 45 Minutes of Campaign Quick Look
Update 03/20/2015: Fred decided to play the whole game so now it’s part of a playlist that will autoplay if you start with the original video. Basically, it’s all automatic if you watch this.
Original Post: So Battlefield Hardline is hitting store shelves in the US on Tuesday and I cannot believe that they have yet to show off more than a handful of minutes of the game’s campaign. With Dead Space‘s Visceral games creating the campaign, you would think EA would put more push behind it whether or not it’s any good. Oh well, thanks to EA Early Access we got the opportunity to experience, and get some colorful commentary on, the first 45 minutes in this Quick Look. Check it out. (Please Note: This video is unplayable in some countries due to licensing issues, sorry, out of our hands).
Dying Light Review
Wait, what? A modern review?!? Yes, it’s true, we will from time to time be reviewing new games. It’s not because we got review copies, because we didn’t in this case, and it’s not because we’re changing focus from retro gaming either. We just wanted an outlet to write reviews on the modern games that we play and frankly, some of the games that were releasing when GH101 started might now be considered retro. Keep in mind that the site, articles, podcast, and videos will remain focused largely on retro gaming.
Zombies. Of all the enemy types out there I’m pretty sick of zombies, but if a game can be compelling enough in its gameplay, I guess I don’t care what the enemy type is. Parkour. Now you’re talking, I love parkour. Not since 2007’s Mirror’s Edge has a game even attempted true first person parkour and despite that title nailing the feel, it did so in very confined linear paths. Dying Light attempts to blend the gameplay that developer Techland premiered in the Dead Island series with a day/night cycle that drastically changes gameplay and basing the whole traversal system on parkour, and it nails it. That’s not to say that Dying Light is a perfect game by any means, because the story, side missions, and combat leave much to be desired, but there’s no denying that this world is great to run around in.
Alien Trilogy Quick Look
This month’s game club is Die Hard Trilogy and Alien Trilogy, two short “trilogy” titles released by Fox Interactive in the 32-bit era. We have already looked at one of the games, Die Hard Trilogy, and here for you is the quick look of Alien Trilogy
Policenauts Review
Platform: PC-9821, 3DO, Playstation, Saturn (Japan Only)
Released: 1994-1996 (depending on platform, Japan Only)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Digital Release? No
Price: Unavailable, game never sold in US or UK
Fred’s Take
Building off of what Kojima had started in Snatcher, I feel that Policenauts is an attempt to revise the mistakes and setbacks of that original attempt and create a spiritual successor that flows more like a game. Technically, I guess that’s what Policenauts is, unfortunately the solution appears to be making it a point-and-click adventure and adding in more (and more frustrating) shooting sequences. While I have to commend the efforts by having a more genuine story – although the similarities to the first two Lethal Weapon films is undeniable – that flows naturally and keeps you intrigued, this game has so many walls to break through to get to that story that it’s best read in a walkthrough or watched on YouTube. For this reason, and the countless other reasons that prevent most of us outside of a Japanese speaking region, I can’t recommend Policenauts as a coveted loss treasure we never got.
The Evil Within Review
The Evil Within is the stuff nightmares are made of. I’m not being dramatic, almost everything in this game will cater to the popular nightmares that plague humanity – in my case that happens to be clowns – and throws them right in your face. That’s not to say it is a scary game, because unlike other contemporaries the goal of The Evil Within is to disturb you and create tension rather than grab you with a quick jump scare (although it can’t resist the urge to do that as well at times). Bundled altogether it creates the closest representation of a haunted house without forgetting that it’s also a video game and therefore can make death a reality for all parties involved. This would be a fantastic reality for the definitive horror experience if it weren’t for the abundance of setbacks that range from visuals, to AI, and even creep into gameplay that no matter how big a fan you are just cannot be ignored.
Life is Strange Review
Please Note: Many reviewers out there seem to think it is appropriate to discuss the events of previous episodes of Life is Strange as if everyone who would read it damn well should have already played the previous episodes. It has been my experience that if you have held out this long and haven’t already played this episode then you are most likely wondering how the game progresses throughout the season and will decide whether or not to buy when all episodes are out. This is why each episodic review is spoiler free for the entire season, not just this episode.
Episode 1: Chrysalis
Adventure games have always been a bit of a split for me. I was never good at them, never completed many of them, and thus I wanted to write them off as worthless but what they did for storytelling is undeniable. TellTale somewhat switched up the definition of what goes into an adventure game, but try as they may I was hindered by either losing investment in the story or just not valuing these games any more than my current frustration with trying to beat Grim Fandango Remastered because I had never played before. I guess the biggest problem for me was the balance is never quite there. In a point-and-click adventure game there’s too much emphasis on puzzle solving and figuring out the developer whereas the TellTale games traditionally have too little and stand as nothing more than slightly interactive movies (that always seem to end in the same place regardless of those decisions). Life is Strange stands out because developer Dontnod (known previously for the great action title Remember Me) acknowledges the reality that you are a player interacting with an environment, but also allows you to relate to the person on screen so distinctly that you get the best of both worlds.
Remember Me Review
Remember Me is not a sum of its parts. That’s an important factor to keep in mind as you progress through this game, and frankly, is quite counter to a majority of experiences out there. This title is trying to tell a complex story in the world of interactive fiction, which has been tried before with varying results, and manages to keep its focus on the big picture instead of being bogged down by the limitations of a video game. As I played through it was fascinating to me how I wanted to keep note of the little gripes and problems I was seeing instead of paying attention to what was going on. This is the one large hurdle, or caveat if you choose to view it as such, that separates whether you will enjoy Remember Me or pitch it to the wayside as a product of the end of this cycle. Keep in mind it is by no means perfect, or even groundbreaking, but it offers a story and world that are unique and manages to maintain suitable gameplay that makes progressing the plot intriguing.
Gaming History 101 