Ace of Spades

Game Title: Ace of Spades

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 3.5

Content issues: It's a shooting game, but is not bloody or gory and doesn't feel violent either.

Brief Summary: It has a blocky aesthetic similar to Minecraft, but it is a competitive shooting game rather than an exploration and building game.

Like: The different game modes are very fun. The ability to destroy the blocks in the world is a really great addition to the gameplay. Building things with blocks feels difficult and clunky to me, so I don't do that as often. The best part about this game though is playing it with friends and the really special moments that arise naturally from the gameplay. For example, I was playing with my brother-in-law and we decided to attack the enemy by mining out the foundation of their base. When we removed the last block from the foundation, the entire building came crashing down. It was a supremely enjoyable moment.

Dislike: Sometimes it is hard to find a match with enough players in it for it to be fun. That is a typical challenge with a game like this. Unless the game is massively popular, there may not be enough active players to make the game worth playing.

Replayability: This game does not have a single-player mode, and is therefore intended to be infinitely replayable. It is enjoyable and fun and the game modes take quite a while to get boring, so I would say that the replayability level is high, but perhaps not infinite.

How would I make it better: If I had made this game I would have made it a persistent would like Minecraft, where players can build forts and whatever else they want, and then they can attack whenever they want and the game just goes on and on. Not match based. 

Adam's Venture. Episode I: The Search for the Lost Garden

Game Title: Adam's Venture. Episode I: The Search for the Lost Garden

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 2.5 - 3.0

Content issues: No offensive material. It even has a biblical theme.

Brief Summary: Adam's Venture is basically a poor man's version of Indiana Jones or Uncharted. Adam is searching for The Garden of Eden and must solve a number of puzzles in the process.

Like: The puzzles are interesting and challenging enough to make them interesting. Unfortunately, there is a lot of repetition with the puzzles, and some are timing dependent, which is not good for this game.I enjoyed the background music as well.

Dislike: This game is not horrible, but it is also not good. The short explanation of the problem is that it lacks polish. It's more than that though. The game has some of the worst controls that I have ever used in a video game. You never know exactly which direction Adam will move in when a particular key is pressed unless you go ahead an press that key. Jumping is atrocious and you will often find Adam rebounding off of things that he can actually jump onto if you try hard enough. The character models are sub-par, the voice acting is cheesy, and there are really only a small number of puzzles which get repeated over and over with slight variations.

Replayability: I may end up removing this criterion from my reviews, because it is very subjective and what replayability is, is up for debate (plus, it's not even in the dictionary). This game has extremely low replayability. Frankly, it was kind of hard to get through the first time and the annoyances, repetitious puzzles, and low quality of the game make it not worth revisiting.

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.