Storytelling and games have a troubled relationship with each other. Telling a lovingly crafted, intricate story requires that control is firmly in the hands of the teller, while games require a certain amount of control to go to the player. Or at least the illusion of control.… Read the rest
Overwatch came along at a perfect time for me. Star Wars: Battlefront had just taught me that online gaming with strangers may not be as masochistic as I initially feared. And now arrived a much-hyped, colorful online multiplayer game that seemed hellbent on maintaining a friendly, positive community.… Read the rest
Lara Croft has it tough. Not only does she have some serious parental issues, but also a lot of her friends end up in mortal peril and/or turn Evil. The mystical artifacts she unearths tend to get lost in some cataclysmic event that she barely escapes with her life.… Read the rest
Star Wars Battlefront consists of short bursts of exciting conflict, leading to a speedy, untimely death, followed by reincarnation and a quick jog back into the action for more punishment and – less likely – glory. The foolhardy experience can be best compared to the death montage from Edge of Tomorrow in which Tom Cruise finds himself caught in the same fatal battle over and over again. … Read the rest
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a ‘walking simulator’ made by The Chinese Room, the same company who made Dear Esther. It is really a story and an experience more than a game, as there isn’t much gamey to do.… Read the rest
Until Dawn is an interactive horror movie that features a pleasing amount of cliché’s and an entertainingly convoluted mystery. You as the player are tasked with navigating eight foolhardy teens through a night filled with peril at an isolated cabin on a snowy mountain.… Read the rest
The Halo series is revered by many, specifically by fans of the original XBox and its successors. It is a series tied to these consoles, not available elsewhere, as it was developed by Microsoft (the company behind the XBox). Halo is a scifi-shooter featuring a gruff-voiced space marine whose face we never get to see as it is always hidden behind a helmet.… Read the rest
When you boot up the game Lifeline, you will find yourself with a stranded astronaut called Taylor in your phone. He – or she, the game never specifies – has crash-landed on a planet and is now trying to survive and to find out what made his/her ship crash.… Read the rest
Life is Strange is an interesting interactive tale, let down by an unsatisfying ending. It feels very similar in structure to the Telltale games that let you personalize – through choices you make – a mostly pre-determined plot, such as The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones.… Read the rest
Her Story is an interesting, game-like narrative experience. You find yourself staring at a somewhat dated looking computer desktop, showing a video of a woman who is testifying to the police. What she is testifying about is not immediately clear. Your job is to piece together who she is and what happened to bring her into the interview room.… Read the rest
