It’s not difficult to explain the appeal of Powerwash Simulator, a chore game, the likes of which the Simpsons parodied during one of their early VR spoofs. The gist? Powerwash Simulator isn’t dissimilar to Space Invaders. Neither is Call of Duty or any other shooter. You move a target, shoot something, said something disappears. Dopamine.… Continue reading Powerwash Simulator (Xbox One)
It’s just a toothbrush – but it’s one of two now. That’s the first sign of Unpacking’s brilliantly gentle storytelling, which begins in a young girl’s bedroom, emptying boxes full of toys. Flash forward a few years, and it’s the same situation, only in an apartment, and fewer toys. The toys disappear to make room… Continue reading Unpacking (Xbox Series X)
A notable Roger Ebert quote states it’s not what a movie is about, but how it is about it. Pscychonauts 2 summarizes that statement by distilling mental health down to a young adult, Tim Burton-esque world that, in execution, betters Pixar’s Inside Out, which attempted a similar concept. Psychonauts 2 deals in multiple personality orders,… Continue reading Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Series X)
Madden has become soulless. Routine. Flaccid. It’s to a point where the minor, niggling issues that remain each subsequent year – even with leniency allowed for pandemic-era development – pile on. There’s the listless, indifferent career “story” that’s a distressing waste of time. There’s an identity crisis where Madden cannot decide between arcade flourishes and… Continue reading Madden NFL 22 (Xbox Series X)
A mission late in The Ascent sends the protagonist into a nightclub, fully armed, ready to slaughter rivals in a traditional cyberpunk corporate espionage act. The nightclub is not empty – it’s the business’ prime hour. Opening fire, people scatter. They stumble, they fall. Some shout about having family. Many die in the crossfire. The… Continue reading The Ascent (Xbox Series X)
The world of Necroumunda is impressively voluminous, towering, and often vertical. Most if it is metal, some concrete, the type of place a metal band named “Death Dead Dying” might use as an album cover. It’s vicious, cloning the expressly violent Quake, infusing that with the modern Doom. Violence is passe in videogames; then comes… Continue reading Necromunda: Hired Gun (Xbox Series X)
Biomutant is a multi-layered throwback. On the surface, the mundane open world, slippery combat, and messy dialog trees flashback to the original Fable, as if Biomutant were resurrected from the first Xbox, then remastered. It wasn’t, to note. Then the story, pleading to a pre-teen audience about global climate catastrophes in a way even Captain… Continue reading Biomutant (Xbox Series X)
Ethan Winters’ journey across this and the previous Resident Evil represent a wiry, weird fable of emotional distress. Little of Village’s kooky, raw camp fits Winters’ pain as he tries to reunite his family and save his child; that’s just Resident Evil’s way (still), paying tribute to schlock horror. Where Italian horror maestros in the… Continue reading Resident Evil: Village (Xbox Series X)
Back when filmmakers distributed bonkers pulp exploitation to theaters – nudity-laden women’s prison thrillers, sleazy vampire lust horror, and gonzo gore sagas – is where Zombie Army 4 belongs. It’s too pure, too absurd, too ridiculous to exist in today’s Nazi-sploitation world. Imagine Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, but instead of Nazi scalps, the troopers bludgeoned undead… Continue reading Zombie Army 4 (Xbox Series X)
Remember Avatar? Billion dollar movie? Blue aliens? Sigourney Weaver? Outriders is that, but you’re the militaristic villains. Unknowingly so, but the villains regardless. Imagine jumping into a war after an extended coma, siding with those you first meet, then slaughtering 5,000+ indigenous based on that alone. Not even John Wayne and John Ford were so… Continue reading Outriders (Xbox Series X)
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