The image of two teenage girls sending buckshot into Nazi guts is proper emasculation of Nazi garbage, that rare time when the videogame power fantasy feels right and proper. Set in 1980’s Neu-Paris, the evocative visual design considers a European country still under Hitler’s laws. Neu-Paris looks frozen in time; nothing progressed since World War… Continue reading Wolfenstein: Youngblood (PS4)
It’s hard to gauge Samurai Shodown’s tone. One moment, there’s a snappy, sarcastic ronin roaming Asian lands on the hunt for a fight. Maybe that ronin squares up to a beefy, tattooed fat man who farts on his enemies. Or Genjuro who fights shirtless to expose a scar representing his hatred. Then there’s Ukyo, somber… Continue reading Samurai Shodown (PS4)
Crash Bandicoot’s mix of island themes and sci-fi kookiness works to the advantage of this lushly animated kart racer. Three key players fill this genre now – Mario Kart, Sonic Racing, and now a rebooted CTR. Each finds a distinctive rhythm and pace. CTR is the wild child of the trio. It’s a bit old.… Continue reading Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled (PS4)
Biker culture took form after World War II, but broke open post-Easy Rider, a 1969 film reflecting post-Vietnam’s isolation. Easy Rider used America’s roads as a means of escape from social reality. But imagine if, instead of Easy Rider, social rebellion stemmed from Days Gone. Still an anti-culture influence, but also unhinged, cruel, and without… Continue reading Days Gone (PS4)
Nothing about Axis Football looks, plays, or sounds professional. That’s why it works. The NFL and EA produce a yearly, idealized look at pro football. It’s clean and glossy. Precise and comfortable. That’s the only pro football choice, made under multiple corporate banners. Not Axis Football. This is made by a handful of developers, not… Continue reading Axis Football 18 (PS4)
In a universe of demi-gods, zombies, demons, hell spawns, robot ninjas, and toothy monsters, the US military still puts up a fight. Loaded with assault rifles, they tactically lay out their plan to stop an underworld invasion using battleships and sheer numbers. It’s comical to think bullets still have value; imagine the Biblical rapture, with… Continue reading Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4)
Before the start of chapter three, Dead or Alive 6 already featured a fight in a pterodactyl nest, a brawl on a pirate ship assailed by a kraken, and introduces a demon fighter. That’s before getting to the reanimated robot based on the lineage of Dead or Alive’s main ninja clan. It’s such a bizarre… Continue reading Dead or Alive 6 (PS4)
