It tasks me; it heaps me; I see in it outrageous gameplay, with an inscrutable dexterity sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be Marvel vs. Capcom 3 agent, or be Marvel vs. Capcom 3 principal, I will wreck that hate upon it.
After the jump, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tasks me Continue reading →
PlayStation Network is currently undergoing maintenance.
That’s the notice you get when you try to sign on to the PSN nowadays. Well, that’s one way to put it. Here’s another way…
DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.*
Look at my little sackboy up there. He’s a gamer. Old school. You know what he’s doing in addition to playing that old school game? He’s unlocking a new Versus level for me. What’s a Versus level you ask? Well just look at that screenshot again and you’ll see an open seat to the right of my sackboy. That open seat is just waiting for a friend to fill it so we can play some pong against each other. Or whatever. This game loves to make spaces for us to interact as gamers. It’s all about establishing community and engendering a sense of collaboration and healthy competition.
After the jump, board beyond belief Continue reading →
I remember this place. Dad and I came here on business once. I can see the little common house we stayed in. The yard I played in with my temporary friend — Angela, the inn-keep’s daughter. All of that is gone now, replaced with this endless war.
A sound. Gravel slipping, cascading. Could be nothing. A rifle report. Jenkins hits the ground. I wish it was nothing. It never is.
After the jump, the greatest show on Earth Continue reading →
Mud!
Every game about the invasion of Russia includes the rasputitsa, the name for the spring and autumn muddy season when rain or the spring thaw renders the roads impassable. Something I didn’t know until I looked it up for this article is that there is a corresponding Finnish word, rospuutto, which translates to “roadlessness”. Is that true, Finnish readers? Who said wargames don’t teach you anything?
After the jump, why you should never wrestle in the mud with a Stalinist nation Continue reading →
Mount and Blade is the latest open-world, medieval action RPG by Turkish developer Taleworlds Interactive. What started out as a small independent project eventually swelled into a retail release; and then a pseudo-sequel subtitled Warband; and now With Fire and Sword. a reimagining of the Mount and Blade formula in a largely historical version of Eastern Europe in the mid-1600s. Upon hearing about With Fire and Sword, I prepared to dive into this new world by reinstalling Warband and logging a dozen hours over the last few weeks.
With Fire and Sword adds gunpowder weaponry as a departure from the franchise’s stereotypical medieval warfare. So I created a combat-oriented character, Johann Bodewig, and decked him out in some rather fashionable musketeer attire as seen above. I then launched myself into a changed world.
The question, however, is if this change is good.
After the jump, fire can’t solve every problem Continue reading →
I’m new to the Motorstorm franchise. In fact, I’m still new to playing games on the PlayStation 3. I won’t waste time with any commentary on the console wars, but my first hour of Motorstorm Apocalypse was actually an hour of turning my house inside-out, trying to remember what the cable to charge a PlayStation controller looks like, and what junk drawer I stuck it in. So as I’m jumping into a new franchise on a still-feels-new-to-me console, I’m trying not to let my expectations color my experience too much. That isn’t working.
After the break, what I expect is exactly the kind of racing game this isn’t Continue reading →
