Posts By Chris Mack

irst wrapped up my playthrough of Minecraft Dungeons on the default difficulty, I thought it was a fun game, but perhaps a bit shallow.  I came away from it thinking I'd seen all that the game had to offer, and that the Adventure and Apocalypse difficulties would, for the most part, be more of the same.  After all, I'd unlocked a couple of hidden levels, and felt that I'd explored each map from head to toe.  By the time I'd completed the game on Adventure ...

Fury Unleashed is a 2D-action-platformer-roguelike set in a comic book.  That’s a lot of different genres thrown out there, but in reality, the game is similar to others already on the market, most closely resembling games like Enter the Gungeon or Rogue Legacy.  Players explore a hand-drawn world, spanning four different procedurally-generated comic worlds, fighting off themed enemies as the titular Fury, and learning more about the comic’s author, ...

Stranded Deep, originally released in Early Access on PC in 2015, has brought its island-hopping survival experience to consoles. It’s an addictive and enjoyable experience, but one that still feels several steps away from greatness. The game, like many others in the genre, drops you on a deserted island and requires you to craft, explore, and survive, while hopefully advancing the barebones plot. That plot is essentially that you’ve survived a ...

Opening day has come and gone, and we still don’t have any baseball.  With major sports brought to a standstill by the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the only outlets for sports is video games. RBI Baseball ’20 would very much like to be one of those outlets.  Believe it or not, this year’s release is the seventh in a row of the more modern iteration of the franchise.  RBI Baseball generally flies under the radar because it’s impossible to ...

Operencia: The Stolen Sun is an old school dungeon crawler that evokes real feelings of nostalgia, but might be a bit more difficult to adapt to for those used to the comforts of more modern games.  These challenging retro-style games have seen a bit of a comeback recently, most notably with surprise hit Darkest Dungeon.  Operencia operates in a bit more straightforward way than DD though, with a static cast of characters, and no fatigue or other usage concerns ...

Ori and the Will of the Wisps, available as a part of Game Pass or $30 to own, is a fantastic game that’s worth whichever price of entry you choose.  During the review period, it was clear that there were some issues with performance, and while Microsoft assured us these would be addressed with a day one patch, they still recommended that the game be played on an Xbox One X or Windows 10. Not one to do what I’m…

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a delight.  The controls are tight, the environments are beautiful, and there’s no shortage of places to explore. The pre-launch of the game has been a bit rocky, with Microsoft sending details of a day one patch and recommending that the game be played on the Xbox One X or Windows 10, but given that it’s a first-party game, I have little doubt that the small slowdown issues and title screen wait…

Vanquish is a really dumb game and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The recently rereleased version of the game came out in a bundle with Bayonetta, but is also available as a standalone.  This new version sports 4K visuals and runs at 60 fps on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, but aside from that, it’s essentially a straight port of the 2010 release for the PS3 and Xbox 360.  This means there are no new bells and…

Nintendo has an inconsistent past when making collectible and customizable hardware and software.  The Wii, which sold over 100 million units existed only in white for the first two and a half years of its existence, and even then, only added black and red models.  The poorly selling Game Boy Micro, on the other hand, featured a variety of colors and had the option to swap removable faceplates to give your handheld a unique look. Throughout its history, ...

Did you know that Ubisoft makes escape rooms?  With over 300 locations already partnered, they’re adding a Prince of Persia escape room to go along with the two Assassin’s Creed experiences that are already out in the wild.  VR headsets add a level of immersion that can be difficult to achieve in your standard escape room, letting you live out your dreams of heading into the Animus, and now using the Dagger of Time, without stretching your ...