"Cradle" Review

Imagine you wake up in a room littered with artifacts that are meant to reveal an intricate story with the option to flesh out the details. Then imagine that room is covered from top to bottom with pamphlets, newspapers, advertisements, consumer electronics, and other items for you to scour in search of answers. Now Imagine you have pieces to the puzzle and you find yourself trying to complete it, without a sense of direction or reference to go by. Essentially you have the pieces of three different puzzles and only one can be completed as the game allows. This can be a genius approach or exercises in rage and insanity, it all depends how its executed.

You find yourself in a beautiful landscape that has a retro-pastel feel to it. Although it feel spacious and open you quickly find yourself focused on just a fraction of the world. The story is about self discovery and it begins by waking you up from a dream and leaves you to exploring the room with no explanation on what you are supposed to accomplish. As you slowly come to grips with the world around you, pieces start falling into place, diaries are found and memories and there to connect to. The game urges you to find out what has happened to the world around you, while giving you no direction. That is until you find a box that contains a processing core that will activate an android that was laying there lifeless when you woke up. 

This android will give you clear objective and a clue to what had happened to the world. I don't want to give spoilers and ruin the story, but depending on your play style it can take a couple hours to flesh out the foundation of the story. The developers took risk and obviously showed a lot of respect to the gamers that would pick this game up. I can see this being frustrating for a lot of casual and hardcore gamers alike, but there is a payoff as you play longer. I am just not sure even now after hours of gameplay if its enough to recommend the game to others?

THE GOOD

The game is beautiful and I found the graphic style was fitting. I also enjoyed how intricate the story was it literally draws you in the more you progress. Their are several surprising moments that will bring a smile to your face and the feeling of self discovery was rewarding and urges you to keep playing and pushing forward. The developers at Flying Cafe implemented many fresh ideas that other developers have not attempted, I can safely say this is the most original games I have played this year thus far. 

THE BAD

There is a serious lack of direction when you start, I can see this turning off many gamers who want jump right in and find a great narrative. You find yourself in a beautiful world that is largely empty of any real substance. What you do find is not relevant to your progression and is basically eye candy. Your starting location is where most of the gameplay occurs, so if you love to explore, you’ll most likely be left unsatisfied. Pacing was extremely slow and there is very little urgency to get anything done, this was my biggest complaint, there was no real antagonist and I never felt hurried or in danger.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The story would of benefited greatly by providing motivation to discover yourself. There was no sense of danger or antagonist to keep you hurrying along or pushing you to find answers faster. Adding some sort psychological clock, a timer, a count down till you’d be overtaken by contamination would of added a sense of dread and anxiety that would of made the gaming experience better. Having a beautiful world that lack in in true substance seems to be a huge missed opportunity and some initial direction would of helped ease the early frustration.

2.5/5

A big thank you to "Flying Cafe" for providing a copy of the game to review. 

The Killing Floor 2 Review

Expectations are made to be exceeded or can be used as a gauge for disappointment. When I got my grubby gamer hands on Killing Floor 2, I had certain expectations based on the original Killing Floor and the word of mouth of other gamers. Like many others, I have played Zombie mode in Call of Duty, and have also been inundated with dozens of Zombie knock offs. Many of these have not remotely lived up to the expectation set forth by the developers and marketing teams. So you can imagine my surprise when my experience met my expectations.   

THE GOOD

Killing Floor 2 is straightforward horde mode with up to six players that work together defend against wave after wave of increasingly harder zombies. The variety is nice as you face skinny zombies that can overwhelm you in by sheer numbers and large bulky Zeds with Chainsaws and bad hygiene. Plus the occasional cloaked zombie and crawlers that will literally get the drop on you and make you jump out your chair. When you think you're done, you face a boss that will overwhelm an unpaired squad. You do have some control of the fight by sealing off certain doors and making use of the level design, but there is never a point where you are not “white knuckling” the controller/mouse and keeping an eye on your “Six”. Zombies will continue to pore out ventilation shafts, sewers and various other openings forcing you to stay on your toes.   

When you talk about a game like Killing Floor, the first and only thing to worry about is survival. A teammate dying can cripple the success of the rest of your squad and leave them extremely vulnerable. Teamwork is a must as I found myself overwhelmed by even the slightest number of Zed. Being cut off from your team or not communicating and building up the perks system strategically will end your experience prematurely. Ammo conservation, and careful weapon choice will be the difference between success or failure. That is what takes the game to the next level, you have melee weapons that sever limbs and wonderfully designed guns that look and sound amazing. The choice of when and how to use these weapons will contribute to your success. As you watch the gore increase and the odds get overwhelming, you find your heart beating out your chest and a smile on your face. There is always something satisfying about watching a Zombies head explode and the blood pour out of every crevasse of the game. Frankly, when I play this game with friends I had a lot of laughs and fun, but don't expect an easy ride. The perk system and the mastery of situational weapon usage will take time to hammer out with your team.   

THE BAD

Since the game is in its early access there are still some balancing issues that need to be worked on. Overall I feel like I got what was advertised, a bloody team based horde mode. There were no talks of great depth or RPG elements but there is some depth hidden behind the layers of death and blood.  I found a game with alot of polish even though it's in the “Early Access” and I would recommend this to gamers who enjoy a good hardcore zombie mode with friends.   

THE OPPORTUNITY  

Even with a solid game like Killing Floor 2 there is an opportunity to make the game better with some more variety with the maps and boss. I would also like a mode that never ends but gets increasingly hard and/or more expensive to upgrade and rearm.

  
4 out of 5 for the sheer unadulterated fun that I have when I load this game up!   

"I am Bread" Review

Sometimes you come across a game, and the title alone piques your curiosity. Typically, these games were founded on a great idea that never fully materialized, so you can understand my reservation when I get handed a game called “I am Bread.” Apparently the developer, Bossa, put together an epic story of bread’s journey to become toast. Now, let me be honest here, when I think of spending my hard earned money on video games, one of the last thing I think about is the struggle bread goes through to become toast. It just doesn't seem like a solid premise, so needless to say I was skeptical.

The idea is simple: you control a piece of bread by manipulating and gripping the world around you. You are in search of a heat source, not always a toaster, to toast yourself with. You must maintain your "bread-like" integrity and edibility. If you touch the ground, flip on an old bandage, or your bread sticks to the ants running around on the counter, you becomes less appetizing and risk failing the level all together.

It’s rage inducing and extremely challenging at first. The controls are unorthodox, but once you master the nuances you start to feel like you are in full control of the bread. You find yourself starting a lawn mower to travel across a garage, or revving a chainsaw to toss yourself across the map. You will find that knocking a bowling ball off a shelf will break the television below causing it to overheat so you can toast yourself. You begin to look at the world in a different ways. Something as simple as a hair dryers or electronic devices have potential to make your journey to “toasthood” complete.

 I found myself enjoying the challenge of the game, and laughing out loud at the story as it narrates Mr. Murrdock’s slow decent into insanity as he blames the bread for all the wrong in his life. There is a palpable payoff to “I am Bread”; after you are exhausted, frustrated, mesmerized and you feel a sense of accomplishment as you are perfectly toasted, and the meaning of life is fulfilled.

You've seen a slice of the game. Now play the WHOLE LOAF! OUT NOW ON STEAM! http://www.bit.ly/iambreadgame From the creators of Surgeon Simulator comes an adventure with a hero like no other! 'I am Bread' is the epic story of a slice of bread's journey to become toast.

The Good

·         Challenging physics based game

·         Fosters a rewarding feeling of accomplishment

·         Multiple routes and ways to execute any given room/level

·         A minimalist story line that works perfectly

·         Options to use Xbox Controller or Keyboard

·         Other game modes beyond the story mode

The Bad

·         The camera mechanics can be an issue at times

·         The physics at times where glitchy and cause many frustrating restarts

·         Not enough levels in the story mode and I found the other game modes boring in comparison

·         I wish the story had voice acting to make it feel more alive

Opportunity

·         More levels in the story mode

4.5/5 "Good Ol' fashion gaming glory" 

Thanks to Bossa Studios for providing a code for review.

Etherium Review

I really wanted to like this game. I was excited about the premise, and I eagerly waited for it to download. As I dove into the “meat and potatoes” of the game, I was both pleased and frustrated. This is one of those games that can be polarizing. Some friends of mine enjoyed their experience while I found it disappointing. Here is my take on Etherium…

The Good

Etherium brings some wonderful innovation to the RTS genre. For instance, there is a dynamic weather system that forces players to adapt constantly.  Many times you will be forced to sell units before they are blown away by hurricanes, or you have to change map strategy by opening routes that were previously closed off. This is because a blizzard froze over a river, or you have to avoid other routes because a volcano was about to erupt. Players are forced to stay on their toes. They adapt quickly, or pay a severe cost for ignoring the elements. I also found that the AI was done exceptionally well, and each level of difficulty seemed appropriate for the player. The true game potential develops once you get into the deeper mechanics, and you are able to realize how different the factions are.  It is impressive with what a wide variety build orders Etherium offers.

The Bad

I feel like Etherium could have benefited from more time in development. The story was told through very little CGI, and it tended to resemble 1980’s anime style (moving stills). That in and of itself is not much of an issue, but I found the story shallow. There just was not a "wow factor" to the way they presented it. The single player seemed to be shallow as well, with most missions feeling like it was a lot of rinse and repeat. The controls seemed to be a bit counter-intuitive, and to be honest, until I made significant customizations, I was all but ready to stop playing the game. I felt like Etherium had mediocre graphics, and only a handful of distinctive units and abilities. Overall, it is short on charm, once the newness of the innovations wore off. At the time of my review, Etherium suffers from a small player base which also hurt the multiplayer experience.

The Opportunity

Etherium has a lot of potential. There is a solid foundation to build upon. The innovations and dynamic weather systems can be a game changing aspect to the RTS genre. To fully recommend this game, I would need to see a more fleshed out version, and a less repetitive single player campaign. I would need those innovations built upon. When it comes down to it, Etherium was like a movie with a great trailer and a lot of hype that just missed the mark. I do believe that the sequel looks more promising.

2.5 out of 5

Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

The Evolution of “The Nerd”

          Growing up, if I was called a nerd, it was an insult that had to be refuted.  I always needed a quick retort to save face, which still helped me to appear cool with the ladies. The truth was different. I spent my evenings at a friend’s house drawing maps of Zelda dungeons, searching the couch for quarters that I could spend at the arcade, and trying to beat Mike Tyson into submission. I never knew at the time that as a nerd I would get the last laugh, and that I would get revenge in a way I could never imagine.

            As the gaming culture developed, so did I. Changes were made, dial-up internet was invented, and Doom multiplayer matches were played. I made frequent trips to the grocery store to get another free 1000 minutes of AOL to game with online. I talked WarCraft and StarCraft strategy, while spending hours memorizing the patterns on Section Z. I was a nerd, and I walked, talked, and slept gaming. I could not imagine then, that my casual obsession would turn into a lifelong outlet. It gave me an escape from being a “professional adult.”

            Now as a “businessman” I try to let my inner nerd escape when the opportunity presents itself.  In the presence of another possible gaming nerd, we tend to conduct a slow dance of coded questions, and comments that are meant to authenticate one another. For the younger crowd out there who may not understand the need for such a process, you have not lived with the ridicule and prejudice that came with Halo LAN parties, or text based gaming. I am sure most of you do not know how to call “next” in an arcade. Or have ever felt dejected because you were called a nerd, and you knew it to be true. This is when "nerd" had a stereotype. We were seen as virgins who lived in our parents basements, read comic books, and enjoyed National Geographic wwwwwaaaay too much!

            A funny thing happened though. These “nerds” grew up, became successful, some of them founded Microsoft or Valve, or some have written the comic books that have woven themselves into pop culture. They became fathers and business men. They have snuck in every corner of society. They have focused on building sophisticated computers with maxed out graphic capabilities, game consoles that changed how a living room is used, and they spend money, A LOT of money. Last year gamers spent 46.5 billion dollars on gaming. This is more than the film industry (31.8 billion) which incidentally is dominated by nerds. Think Star Wars to Star Trek or Aliens to X-men, nerds have not only become a socially acceptable term; moreover, it is now used in a positive light. It has become a compliment, and it has become almost cool to be a nerd.

            Ironically, we now have genres of nerds, which would be unimaginable 25 years ago. The question really is… what kind of nerd are you? Are you a gaming nerd, a computer nerd, comic, anime, or cosplay nerd? It is an important distinction that will be a litmus test for your knowledge in that area. It is a label that will let other nerds of your genre know where your expertise lies. There are exceptions, of course. These are in the form of a rare super nerd. Otherwise known as the unicorn of the species, the feared and respected “plain ol' nerd”. He is the renaissance nerd if you will. He answers Star Trek Trivia in detail, and states the episode number to source it. He watches the movie with the director’s commentary, and does a review on the commentary itself. This nerd does not care for social conventions, and would relish in a spirited debate on virtually any subject. He happily challenges the validity of the physics used in Star Trek, and writes a 3 page blog detailing the 30 second trailer of the latest Marvel movie. This nerd is your next door neighbor, your boss, and maybe your husband or wife.

            All nerds are experts in camouflage, and one will only show their true nerdiness after authentication. This may also be done during the mating season known as Comic Con. This nerd however, wears his nerd on his sleeve. His success will be in whatever venture he put his mind to, whether it be an app, or movie script, a website or newly developed game. This nerd has found the secret to happiness. He lives life on his terms, surrounded by his people, and his special edition 1980 Soundwave action figure in its original packaging. He was successful doing it.

            I tip my hat to all nerds and whatever genre you represent. I ask you to remember one thing, we outnumber the “cool” kids now. The ones who would rather spend a night out drinking than finishing a raid. The ones who would rather pick on a kid for his Robotech shirt, than to see the deep and immersive worlds that us nerds get to enjoy. Do not let their mistakes be our downfall. We must encourage the open-minded and welcome the hungover and uninformed. The sad truth is the best revenge for a nerd is success, so keep plucking away at the keyboard, keep gaming into the night, and keep building a foundation for the young nerdy generations to enjoy. Your contributions are making a difference. Your success will cement a world where our 6 sided dice is not bought in dark corners of a game store, or the anonymity of the internet. Our legacy is watching our children, born from actual women, growing up in a world free from nerd prejudice. A place where cosplay is accepted, and having an imagination is not a check mark against you; rather, it becomes a badge of pride on your virtual resume. In other words, our best revenge is being authentic and letting our inner nerd shine with pride. Nerd on.