Telling the story of a frustrated writer who suddenly sees himself as one of his creations, Alan Wake is a great horror game that successfully operates under the logic of a nightmare, blurring fantasy and reality through the veil of horror.
Author of a couple of best-sellers, Alan Wake has been unable to write anything for almost two years, and because he’s getting increasingly frustrated with his writer’s block, his wife Alice decides to go with him on a vacation to a small, isolated town in Washington, called Bright Falls. They are to stay at a cabin on a lake, but as soon as they arrive, they start to quarrel and when Wake storms out of the cabin, furious at her, the lights [...]
“But can it run Crysis” was a humorous question back in 2007, as the game was infamous for testing the power of any PC when it was originally released. The 2021 remaster of Crysis aims to make it a demanding game for current hardware as well, but the more important question should have always been “should it run Crysis” instead: is this game just a piece of demanding software, a glorified tech demo, or is there something more to it that makes it worth our time?
The game opens with a distress message from a female scientist, who claims to have found something strange on an island right before the North Koreans took over her operation. We hear this message while looking at what [...]
Marvel’s Spider-Man is a competent if uninspired take on the famous superhero: borrowing its overall structure from the modern open-world design, Insomniac’s game excels when it comes to traversal and movement but offers a by-the-books story, some questionable stealth sections, and a combat system that heavily impresses at first, but may eventually overstay its welcome.
The game’s first right decision is to present Peter Parker as an already experienced Spider-Man, as there’s no need to cover tiresome ground and show his origin story yet again. So, when the game opens, Peter has already made a friend in the police, Yuri Watanabe, shares a troubled history with Mary Jane, and [...]
Batman: The Enemy Within is a worthy follow-up to the first Telltale game about the caped crusader, with a strong focus on character development and one of the most unusual and fascinating renditions of the Joker to date. It’s a game about how the hero of Gotham creates his own villains: how the violence he enacts in the name of justice has ripples that end up forming the city’s greatest monsters.
The story starts with Riddler invading a casino to get back at its owner. Bruce is attending the very same casino at the time, so it doesn’t take long for Batman to crash the party and put a stop to Riddler’s scheme. The villain, however, leaves a clue for Batman to pursue in the [...]
Set in the Swiss Alps, Mundaun is an effective first-person horror game that boasts a unique visual style and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere. Even though it doesn’t exactly stick the landing, it still provides a unique and memorable experience.
When the game starts, a young man named Curdin is on his way to the mountains of Mundaun in Switzerland. He has received a letter from the local priest, Father Jeremiah, informing him that his grandfather has died in a fire, but that there was no need for Curdin to come for the funeral. Sensing something is amiss, to Mundaun Curdin goes.
One of the first lines of dialogue in Mundaun is about the uniqueness of the setting. [...]
Shadowrun Returns is a Tactical RPG set in a cyberpunk world populated by fantastical creatures having to deal with corrupt corporations and shady religious cults. The game, however, fails to capitalize on all these elements, telling a barebones story plagued by underdeveloped characters and themes.
“Your apartment, three o’clock in the morning. It’s got four walls, a roof, and isn’t on fire. Even the cockroaches have fled in search of better accommodations,” the story starts. The narration is aptly trying to evoke Noir, painting a dangerous, littered world ruled by cynicism, where anyone can be bought for the right price – even the main character, if [...]