Tag: video game reviews

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Metroid Prime: Echoes is a 2004 videogame originally released on the Nintendo GameCube, a direct sequel to Metroid Prime. While it achieved only moderate commercial success, it was highly critically acclaimed. The original Prime is widely regarded as the best GameCube game ever made, but while Prime 2: Echoes is outstanding, it didn’t stray far enough from the formula or bring enough new gameplay mechanics to supersede it. (Within Retro Studios, the developer, the game was thought of as “Metroid Prime 1.5”.) (more…)

5,759 words

Audio version here

The Japanese videogame franchise Street Fighter, especially in its earliest versions, is a presentation of the perspective of the Japanese as regards the world situation up to that time, as well as future prognostication and an evaluation of the “Other.” (more…)

128 words / 2:11:25

On yet another episode of Counter-Currents Radio, host Greg Johnson and frequent Counter-Currents contributor Thomas Steuben were joined by special guest American Krogan to discuss his BioShock video series, as well as answer YOUR QUESTIONS, and it is now available for download and online listening. (more…)

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Earlier this year what is billed as the “first patriotic video game” was released. Heimat Defender: Rebellion was developed by Kvltgames, part of an Austria-based patriotic art collective called Kvltgang. Sometimes politics and art do not mix well, with some of the most politically aware lacking artistic skills and some of the most (more…)

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Yomawari: Night Alone is a survival horror videogame from Nippon Ichi Software, released in fall 2015 in Japan before being rapidly localized into English in 2016. It has enjoyed commercial success across multiple platforms (PC, Nintendo Switch, and PS Vita) and spawned a sequel, Midnight Shadows. The player character is a little girl with a red bow drawn in simple anime style; a sort of Minnie Mouse from a more mature world. (more…)

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“In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, there is only WAR . . .” tells us the strap line of the world’s most popular miniature wargame. In the 41st Millennium, mankind has collapsed after a Dark Age of Technology and an Age of Strife, and is set upon by nefarious, merciless alien races. Humanity is struggling against a primordial force of the universe — Chaos — that corrupts and deforms men into inhuman monsters.

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Last summer, Transolar Games released Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, a role-playing adventure game which the creators characterized as the “spiritual successor to our Quest for Glory series.” The title stands as an interesting study of how far video game developers are now under the spell of social justice in terms of issues such as race and gender, and to what degree they can still express independent thoughts.

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3,103 words

“This pain, this sadness! This desperation! You know nothing about it!”

(Major story spoilers ahead.)

NieR: Automata is a critically acclaimed 2017 JRPG from renowned director Yoko Taro, and is an indirect sequel to his previous NieR and Drakenguard games. The game is a niche action-adventure gem, balancing engrossing narrative with tense, challenging combat. (more…)

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Last month marked the much-anticipated release of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, an open-world action role-playing game (RPG) set in fifteenth-century Bohemia. The game sold five hundred thousand copies across all platforms (PC, PS4, and Xbox One) within two days of its release and surpassed the one million mark after two weeks, an impressive feat for a crowd-funded game developed by an indie studio. (more…)

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Last Friday at the convention known across gaming fandom as Blizzcon, the full trailer was released for the upcoming film Warcraft, which will be based of course on the Warcraft and World of Warcraft video game series. As an ardent fan of the games, I was filled with enthusiasm and impatience upon watching it. I rarely go to the movies anymore, but for a film that cinematizes one of my favorite games, I would surely be there on opening day. It will be out in June and will star Travis Fimmel, who plays Ragnar Lothbrok in the Vikings TV series.  (more…)

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In the popular video game Half-Life 2 and its sequels, the players fight against the Combine Empire. This empire may be fictional, but it has many aspects that are all too real. The universe of Half-Life 2 has been created with patience and a lot of work, as one can guess from the number of tryouts for designing one of the game’s most important buildings. The result is a very well-thought, sometimes subtle universe that goes often unseen because players are more concerned with solving a particular riddle or fighting a particular battle. (more…)

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On November 11th, 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles and Microsoft Windows, to the joy of millions of anticipating gamers. Of the 7 million units shipped, 3.4 million copies were sold within the first two days at retail outlets, mostly in North America and Europe. Online sales numbered a record-breaking 280,000 within the first 24 hours. These numbers are expected to increase steadily in the coming months. (more…)