Posts Tagged ‘warner bros’
Ongoing Series: Condemned Criminal Origins
For the October game club we are playing through Condemned: Criminal Origins. A first person melee horror game from 2005, this was a surprisingly good Xbox 360 launch window title. For those that can’t seem to get through horror games, we are providing the entire campaign in parts here with no commentary (up to 1080p as well). This is an ongoing series and this post will update as each video goes live.
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.
Review: F.E.A.R.
First Encounter Assault Recon (F.E.A.R. from now on) tries to be multiple things at once – a first person shooter (FPS) with a gimmick, a horror title, and a technology showpiece – and does a competent job, which is probably why some have claimed it’s the best FPS of all time. F.E.A.R. is far from the greatest FPS of all time, but it is a blast to play (especially in the dark) and combines that helplessness of being outnumbered and the rush of taking on those odds without so much as a scratch to show for it. The horror elements are more of a thematic tone for the minutiae, but the proper use of shadows, lighting, and occasional jump scares do help to justify it all. That and the two main antagonists, Paxton Fettel and Alma, do a fantastic job of creeping you out and making you dread the eventual encounter with either or both of them. Visually, especially on the PC, this title can go up against a decent number of today’s shooters and impress, so naturally it was a showpiece when it premiered in 2005. Put it all together and you get a game that shouldn’t be ignored.
The F.E.A.R. team is a fictional spec ops group that works in tandem with Delta Force – a real military group – to handle special situations like the ones faced in the game. You play as Point Man (who’s name is withheld), the leader of F.E.A.R., which is most likely not a long lasting career because you are tasked with leading the assault along with cohorts Spen and Jin. A terrorist named Paxton Fettel has broken into a tech company named Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC in the game) and taken control of the genetically engineered super soldiers they were developing. As you progress through the game there are several encounters with Fettel that include his psychic abilities, apparent links with you, and his cannibalistic nature that also happens to consume the victim’s memories. Not only that, but a little girl named Alma appears to be roaming about the facility and her powers can cause…quite a mess. While there is a creepy supernatural story that unfolds as you progress through F.E.A.R., the brunt of the game’s overstretched 10-12 hour campaign will be corridor shooting and kill box ambushes against unfair odds to progress through what is quite possibly the largest building I’ve ever seen. To its credit the writing is good and distributes just enough information in an easily digestible and upfront fashion that when the twist hits at the end and the subsequent roller coaster of the epilogue, you know exactly what’s going on and why it’s significant. Also stay tuned after the credits for a bit more back story.
Gaming History 101 