Armed with a mallet equal to the size of his head, Kirby marches through the “forgotten” land wailing on wolves and circus seals, the brand’s distinctive, morbidly hilarious lullaby horror intact. Kirby can suck up whole cars though – that’s new – running over the non-threatening enemies at full speed. Or, commandeering a vending machine,… Continue reading Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)
It’s difficult to take Horizon seriously – this is dopey sci-fi fiction, filled with robot dinosaurs, flying people, and an allegory that’s insufferably on point. Even its heroine Aloy represents a confluence of the modern liberally-inclined generation, accepting other cultures, if arrogantly rolling her eyes at their conservative religious beliefs, all while saving Earth from… Continue reading Horizon: Forbidden West (PS5)
Ignore the loose, campy dressing that brings this distinctly Japanese brawler Stateside. Connections to River City Girls, characters aside, are tenuous. Instead, the clumsy and awkward, anime-amplified core story finds root in social rebellion, a fantasy amid a country dominated by obedience. High school student protagonist Kunio is out to do right, clear his name… Continue reading River City Girls Zero (Switch)
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)
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)
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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