Shelter

Game Title: Shelter

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4

Content issues: Nothing here that would be offensive to anyone above the age of 10. Little kids may cry.

Brief Summary: Shelter is a story about a badger mother trying to protect and feed her five badger babies.

Like: This is one of those rare games that you want to talk about. It is original and thought provoking, and it's something you will want to tell your friends about. I also really like the art style, although it is low poly-count. It is beautiful, original, moody, and satisfying. I enjoy the badger animations, gathering food, and hunting frogs and other small critters. Most of all, I love the story itself and how the developers have told the story in such a minimal way.

Dislike: The story doesn't lend itself to a lot of action, so this game requires more patient enjoyment than most. It isn't a high-octane, fast-moving game with explosions and lots of action, but that can also be part of its charm. The game also is kind of confusing initially, but I was able to figure it out, and I bet you will be able to as well. Sometimes not knowing what the point of the game is can be hard as well, but you really just have to play to the end, and all will become clear.

Replayability: Low. This game is the kind of game that you can't really tell your friends about in too much detail, or they won't want/need to play the game. Spoilers would really ruin this game. Maybe once in a long while it could be replayed.

Gunpoint

Game Title: Gunpoint

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: There is no spoken dialogue, but there is a lot of written dialogue and it is riddled with the "F"-word. In addition, the game allows you to shoot people or to kill them by causing them to fall from a long distance, and there is some blood involved. Probably the worst part of this game is just the theme. You are a gun for hire (whether you choose to use your gun or not) and you are dealing with some shady folks. Compared with a lot of games out there, this one is rather tame, but you should consider the content described above before deciding to play it.

Brief Summary: Gunpoint is the journey of one man to clear his name of a crime he did not commit all while using a variety of high tech gadgets to be a combination hacker, spy, and assassin.

Like: Three things: 1. The art style is really cool. It would have been cool if there was a little bit more animation (such as having the train actually move in the background), but I loved it nonetheless. 2. The story was engaging and playing as a gun for hire was interesting. 3. The best part about this game is the mechanics. All of the cool abilities that you have are really fun and rewiring the levels to complete each one is fun and makes you feel smart and creative. My hat goes off to the developer of this game. I should also say that this game was almost entirely built by a single person, which makes it that much more impressive.

Dislike: Other than the content issues, I really don't have a lot to complain about. Sometimes I forgot which upgrades I had (after a hiatus from play) and it would be nice if there were some additional contextual reminders (there are some already). I occasionally saw a glitch or two in the animations, but for the most part the game was very solid.

Replayability: Moderate. The game is not randomly generated, but most of the levels can be solved in different ways and the story can also be approached differently. You can choose different answers in the dialogues and you can choose the order of the contracts that you accept. You could probably enjoy playing this once a year, unless you have an insanely good memory.

Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition

Game Title: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: This game has a fair amount of brawling, but it isn't bloody. The most offensive parts of the game for me were the revealing attire of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. They were inappropriately dressed and sexualized.

Brief Summary: Batman: Arkham Asylum pits the player as the hero Batman against lots of prison inmates and some of the most famous antagonists from the Batman universe. The player will battle Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and more.

Like: The pacing of the game is nearly perfect. It has just the right blend of detective work, brawling, and awesome, innovative platforming. The animations are superb and I love all of the cool gadgets that you get to use as Batman. The game's support for 3D is very good and I really felt immersed in the game when I played it in 3D.

Dislike: There were one or two places in the game where the normally superb pacing was off a bit. Also, I disliked the inappropriately dressed women in the game.

Replayability: There are lots of extras in the GOTY edition. I usually stick to the main campaign in the games I play, but there is a lot more to do for those who want to stay in Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Mansion

The Botanical Gardens were really cool.

Black Mesa

Game Title: Black Mesa

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: There is plenty of blood and violence in this game. Creatures and people can explode into gory bits when shot.

Brief Summary: Black Mesa is a total remake (minus the last portion of the game) of the classic Half-Life. It is a faithful recreation which brings back all of the goodness of the original while updating graphics, physics, sound, etc.

Like: It holds true to the experience of the original, while updating the graphics and physics, making everything smoother and more beautiful to behold.

Dislike: I was sad the the last portion of the original Half-Life was omitted. Apparently they have plans to release that part later, and I can't really blame them. Just the portion that they did was enormous and took be weeks to finish.

Replayability: Moderate. I played the original Half-Life several years ago, so I can see myself wanting to play through this again in another 5 or 10 years.

Riding in the train.

Awesome rock and sky textures.

Excellent water and epic set pieces.

Crysis

Game Title: Crysis

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: There is strong language (the F-word), lots of violence (but you can turn the blood off). It is a first-person shooter, so it is mostly about killing bad guys. There is no sexual material, however, which is nice.

Brief Summary: Crysis places you in the role of Nomad, a soldier in an elite 4-man squad. Each member of the squad dons a suit that allows him to jump higher, run faster, become invisible, and have stronger armor. You are investigating an anomalous event that occurred on a beautiful tropical island.

Like: The graphics are superb, even years after it was released. The island is so beautiful, in fact, that sometimes it is a pity you are fighting for your life instead of enjoying the beach. There are frogs, crabs, turtles and more that add life to the world, and I really like that. The interplay of your suit's abilities makes for very fun and interesting gameplay.

Dislike: The foul language is excessive and totally unnecessary. You feel powerful as Nomad, but I wish that the developers had made you even more powerful. Invisibility and speed, in particular, last a very short amount of time. This forces the player to be more strategic in their use, which is good, but I think it would have been even more fun and satisfying if speed and invisibility lasted a little bit longer.

Replayability: I have played this game through twice. It is very fun to play and I think it has a moderate to high replayability level.

Beautiful skies, day and night.

Varied environments.

Dishonored

Game Title: Dishonored

Platform(s): PC (also available on Xbox 360 and PS3)

Stars (out of 5): 5

Content issues: There is some strong language, but it is infrequent and didn't stand out to me, whereas it is very prevalent and in your face in some other games like in some of the levels in Rage and in Crysis.

There is one level where you go to a bathhouse which doubles as a brothel. I didn't explore it in depth, because I wanted to just beat the mission and leave, but the women are not overly revealing in their attire and I didn't see any sexual acts taking place. It is more of a thematic element. That being said, I was bothered by that level and I found it very unnecessary as a location.

The protagonist that you play, as well as some of the other characters in the game, have magic. It seems to be a sort of dark magic and the magic objects that you find and use in the game are carved out of whale bone. The powers you have are extremely fun to use, but there is a feeling that this magic doesn't come from a holy source. I disliked that dark feeling.

There are also dead bodies in the game. Most of them are dead because of the plague, but I found one particularly disturbing body in the torture chamber in one of the levels. The torturer was beating a body that had clearly been dead for some time. That was very jarring to me and I recommend avoiding that part of the game.

Finally, the game can be extremely violent, or not very violent, depending on the player's choices. I chose the non-violent path, although it is still somewhat violent. It is possible to play the game with only rarely facing enemies and then these enemies can be put to sleep via sleeping darts or choking (the choking is violent, but induces sleep instead of death). The player may beat the entire game without killing anyone. I killed a few people at the beginning before I became more adept at stealth and the killing is quite graphic. You typically chop their heads off or stab them in the neck. If you elect to play this game, I recommend taking the stealth approach to minimize violence.

Brief Summary: Dishonored is a game that appears to be set is some alternate version of Victorian England. The attire, buildings, etc. all follow that style. The graphics have a realistic, yet slightly cartoon-like style which is very pleasing to look at. You play the Lord Protector named Corvo. You are a powerful fighter to begin with, but you gain abilities throughout the gain which make you a force to be reckoned with.

Like: The art style is beautiful and fresh. The powers (especially blink) that you can purchase with the gold you find are extremely satisfying and fun to use. The story is engaging and you start to really identify with some of the characters. One of the greatest attributes of the game is the fact that you can choose your play style, vary it at will, and ultimately have a different outcome based off your actions. The variations are nearly endless.

Dislike: The inappropriate content and the dark feeling in the game were unpleasant, but the theme of the game kind of made it necessary for good story telling, and the story is a powerful one that I am glad I experienced and helped create.

Replayability: Because the story and the world change based off of your decisions and because there are so many different ways to play, I can see myself playing through this game three or four times. The achievements are also interesting and I'd like to get most or all of them. This game has high replayability.

Beautiful and unique art style.

Engaging characters.

Even beautiful sunsets!