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 [...]
This review contains spoilers.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an ambitious project that succeeds in revitalizing the franchise and bringing it back to its 2D roots: with great synergy between its combat and platform challenges, and brilliant art direction, the game only falters when it comes to its half-baked story, which seems almost unfinished.
We play as Sargon, the youngest member of an elite force of Persian warriors called the Immortals. The introduction focuses on their battle prowess, showing them repelling an invasion force and reversing the course of a lost battle almost on their own. The Immortals will appear often during the fight to assist Sargon, [...]
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an effective sequel that builds on the foundation of its predecessor to offer a bigger experience, with more elaborate set pieces. Despite the increase in scale, however, the game’s strength still relies on its oppressive atmosphere, which is now successfully linked to the protagonist’s internal journey.
Amicia and her little brother, Hugo, are in the county of Provence, researching his sickness, the so-called “Macula” that connects him with the rat plague. The first minutes are light-hearted, as the siblings play hide-and-seek with their friend Lucas, and Hugo pretends to be a king protecting his kingdom. They want to restart their lives [...]
Bramble: The Mountain King is a great cinematic platformer that presents a dark fairy tale punctuated by some striking imagery. Telling some macabre stories based on Nordic folklore, the game only falters when it makes these tales a bit disconnected from the protagonist’s journey.
The story begins when a boy named Olle wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of the night to find his older sister, Lillemor, gone. Olle decides to venture into the woods in search of her, but they both end up falling down a hill right into a world of fantasy full of wonderful creatures and terrifying monsters, which kidnap Lillemor.
The narrative is framed as a fairy tale, told by a female [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]