Monthly Archives: January 2015

29 Jan

Sums and Guns

If you had asked me a week ago what a game named Super Killer Hornet: Resurrection might be about, I would have cast about for a while in my imagination before settling on a sequel (or remake) of a game called Super Killer Hornet, which of course was an arcade hit about a hornet that flew around picnic areas stinging people to death. Something to cash in on the whole Descent/TIE Fighter craze (movement in 3 axes!) but appealing to the Japanese demographic of wanting to play as an insect.

Title ScreenIt turns out I wasn’t entirely wrong. It is the follow-up to a game called Super Killer Hornet and there’s kanji on the title screen. However, instead of a literal hornet, you play a metaphorical hornet and a literal spaceship shooting aliens. It’s a shmup! A shoot-em-up! A bullet hell! Is it also a hell-of-a-game (as in attaboy) or a hell-of-a-game (as in Hades)? Let’s find out. Read More →

24 Jan

The Pixelated Dead

I had a heck of a time playing and screenshotting Dead Pixels this week. Last weekend, I spent most hours of the day alternately shivering and sweating in bed with the flu. I managed to read most of the book Gone Girl, but did little else. Looking back, I’m amazed that I managed to stumble downstairs to the computer Saturday morning and put together a coherent bunch of words on Valiant Hearts. It all seems like a dream.

Backstory!

And then it’s been a busy week at work. Which is to say, I’m going to fill this post with excuses on why I didn’t actually play that much of Dead Pixels. In addition, the game didn’t seem to want to cooperate with the Steam Overlay at home, making it onerous to take screenshots, which is why this post will also have less images. But all right – aside from the fact that I didn’t play the game and didn’t take screenshots of it, what was my opinion of it?  Read More →

17 Jan

The Great War

I went into Valiant Hearts: The Great War with little to no expectations. Other than the fact that it was a well-received Ubisoft “indie” game and that it had a 2D art style, I literally knew nothing else about either how the game played or what I would be doing. I prepared for a grand adventure.

BackstoryValiant Hearts is about World War I, told through the lens of four individuals who are thrust into the war – the lanky German Karl, his bearded French father-in-law Emile, angry American ex-pat Freddie, and volunteer doctor Anna. These characters are introduced one by one, and eventually fall under player control for short adventure-game scenes. It all sounds pretty good on paper, but does it actually hold up?  Read More →

09 Jan

Road Rage

My motorcycle between my legs, I scream over the rooftops. All I know is rage. There are other bikers around me, but I don’t like them, no sir. I take out my tactical axe and hack at them, kick at them, grab them and guide them into the back of a nearby log truck. This is the world of Road Redemption, an Early Access game I was gifted over the holidays that evokes Road Rash (or so I’ve been told, because that’s another game I’ve never played).

Nighttime BikingThe game is simple – get on a bike, drive fast, kill others, fulfill missions, earn money, buy upgrades, eventually die, level up, do it again! Let’s break down these pieces and see what works and what doesn’t.  Read More →