PC Reviews

For anyone on the outside looking in, the MOBA genre can look like a scary one. There are too many numbers, too much clutter on the screen, too many characters, abilities, items and you have to work as a team! I have a confession: I used to think that too, and as I dipped my toe into the deep blue ocean of MOBAs I was still thinking it. Now, some lost hours later, I have emerged a fan. I say emerged, I can't quite tear myself away.

The Saints Row series started out as a free-roaming criminal rampage game that was very close to Grand Theft Auto, but by the time Saints Row The Third showed up the developers had pretty much abandoned the idea of edgy crime drama and made a game where gamers could drive around on the Light Cycle from Tron, shooting people with a Shark Gun while their pal Burt Reynolds helped them beat up zombies.

Europa Universalis is a franchise where you don't just control a country or play a king, you are the ruler of your very own nation. That comes with all of the good and all of the bad. The power to do whatever you want, but the responsibility to not always do it. The need to protect and expand your nation whilst all others do the same.

The creation of any video game requires a great amount of time, work, and skill to pull off, even with a vast team of developers with various skills. Due to the complexity of the medium, it is unheard of for a single person to create and develop a high quality game all alone, until now. Dean Dodrill, the creator of "Dust", programmed and designed every aspect of the game outside of the voice acting, music, and part of the script. While this is extremely impressive by all means, Dodrill makes some rookie design choices that slightly mar the overall experience.

Neverwinter, a game set in the D&D universe, started as a series of isometric RPG games with a heavy focus on pausable strategic combat. Since then Neverwinter has evolved into a free to play MMO with fast paced action combat, player created content, and a unique currency system.

Like many that grew up during the 8-bit generation, I have an intrinsic love for Capcom's DuckTales for the NES. I found its music, visuals and level design to be among the best during that time, and I revisit it occasionally. Despite my skills at deftly pogo-jumping my way to victory being rusty, I still believe it's a classic, and I was more than just a little thrilled when Capcom and developer WayForward announced an updated version. While some of the redesign decisions are questionable, DuckTales: Remastered (DT:R) is a faithful and solid modernization.

These days, it seems like everyone is trying to breathe new life into the zombie genre. Most developers are looking for the angle that nobody has done before, trying to make zombies terrifying all over again and forcing people to sneak around in the darkness lest they find their tender brains being chewed. What happened to all the fun we used to have with zombies, where we were the ones with all the power and they were just rotten targets, ripe for the shooting? Splatter brings it all back.

While many indie developers are attempting to make old genres relevant again, there are those that are trying to create new ones. One such dev is Lucas Pope, with his latest game, Papers, Please, being labeled as "A Dystopian Document Thriller". The word "Dodocument" will no doubt throw some people off, but after spending some time cross-referencing passports and work releases as an immigration inspector in the fictional country of Arstotzka, I can safely say that stamping papers can definitely be thrilling.

Three things in this world are certain: death, taxes, and stealth missions in video games. Some games include stealth missions for variety or back-of-box feature lists, and others include them as an alternative to smash-and-grab gameplay. Few games really focus on covert gameplay as a primary mechanic, and that’s probably because making good stealth games are hard. Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine from Pocketwatch Games proves that stealth doesn’t have to be a trudging experience for players.

What happens when you blend a puzzle game with adventure and stealth elements, a pinch of comedy, and a dose of noir? The answer is Gunpoint, a unique indie game that is impossible to be tied down to a single genre. This concoction of various ideas may sound like it would create too much dissonance to be fun, but everything comes together in perfect harmony to create a one-of-a-kind adventure.