A rousing, smart distillation of western society over the past few years, Ratchet & Clank’s return fits complicated world events into a comfortable platform/my-first-shooter frame. Rebellion against a bumbling authoritarian leader, multiverse traveling akin to Marvel, and genuinely nuanced approach to character drama allow A Rift Apart to eclipse the seemingly perfect predecessor. Where that… Continue reading Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart (PS5)
Ask someone not abreast of modern videogames what a videogame is and Mighty Goose probably fits their thoughts – a game starring a goose with a machine gun arm traveling through space fighting evil magicians seems right. It’s absurd, and Mighty Goose is proud of it. There’s no avoiding the Metal Slug influence, from the… Continue reading Mighty Goose (Switch)
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)
The world is literally in pieces when World Brothers begins. Ignore the physics of this situation – the EDF team seeks to put these individual blocks back together by defeating alien motherships. For some reason, that works. Just go with it. World Brothers does. Don’t arrive at World Brothers looking for a formula twist; this… Continue reading Earth Defense Force: World Brothers (PS4)
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)
Although changing its name, Clap Hanz Golf blends invisibly into the series formerly known as Hot Shots and Everybody’s Golf. This is a specific brand, mastered by developer Clap Hanz, where everyone matters and competition is secondary. Somehow on Apple Arcade and away from the Sony ecosystem for the first time, Clap Hanz creates what… Continue reading Clap Hanz Golf (iOS)
Bowser’s Fury isn’t typical Mario. There’s the transforming, mustached plumber fighting against the spiky, fire-spitting dinosaur – but in comes Bowser Jr. Often the spoiled, obnoxious offspring, Bowser’s Fury makes this kid a victim. Junior flies in his always bizarre floating clown pod, but his goal isn’t to keep Princess Peach locked away, but to… Continue reading Super Mario 3D World: Bowser’s Fury (Switch)
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