Platform: PC

Part two of the Tomb Raider reboot doesn’t offer anything really new in terms of game play but that’s okay. The core of the series is 3-D platforming mechanics and it does that very well. This is especially evident in the nine or so “challenge tombs” scattered throughout the world.

The graphics are stunning and most of the environments are fun to explore. The world is zoned off into half-a-dozen regions which are fairly open-world in their layout. Much of my time was spent hunting down the inane collectibles in order to get a 100% complete. I almost got everything before the end, but there is a region in the prelude that you can’t return to until you have beaten the final boss.

The story takes place somewhere in snowy Russia where the people dress like vikings and speak English. As per usual, there isn’t much more narrative beyond a magic object and a group of mercenaries racing to find it before Lara. These games could be perfect if they could just put a little more effort into the plot and characters.

As an aside, I am really getting tired of crafting in games. It’s not too complicated here, but I’d rather not be bothered with having to grab every mushroom or twig I see.

Nex Machina is the (almost) official follow-up to Robotron: 2084 or, as I like to call it, the greatest arcade game ever created. If you watch the credits you will see the Eugene Jarvis was the creative consultant for the game. As far as I’m concerned that means this is Robotron: 2085 (we’ll ignore Smash T.V. … NOT canon!).

It’s just as frantic and twitchy as ever, and the core game play remains the same: shoot everything that moves and save the humans. There is a far greater variety of enemies, boss battles, and the graphic effects are stellar. Improvements include lots of hidden collectibles, a variety of secondary weapons, the ability to dodge, and lots of differing level designs.On higher difficulties the game is tough as nails and requires a bullet-hell level of pattern memorization. I’ve managed to complete the game at the “Rookie” level. My problem is that my OCD kicks in, and I rage quit when I don’t finish a level without grabbing all the extra bonuses.  I still think Geometry Wars is a more pure twin-stick shooter arcade experience but this one is a close second and worth every penny.

Another walking simulator but this time with a horror theme. The whole point of this “game” is to make your way through an old haunted house and get hit with a jump scare every four minutes. At first this is very thrilling. After the fiftieth time, not so much. Technically there are about three puzzles in the game. Mostly you encounter a lock, look around the room, get hit with a jump scare, and then see the combination in the aftermath. On top of this, the story is lame and required too much effort searching around for notes and clues for me to care. Glad I didn’t have to pay for this one.

The Witness is from the same developer who created the superb Braid. It feels like a cross between that game and Myst. Once again the game play centers around puzzle solving, but instead of time manipulation, you are solving mazes. I know what your thinking, “Mazes? Are you kidding me. Ever since the ‘Twisty maze of passages, all alike’ mazes have been the bane of every video gamer’s existence.” At first I thought the same thing. The first dozen puzzles are so easy that I assumed this was just going to be another boring walking simulator with challenges thrown in just to extend the experience a few more minutes. But then you encounter the next set of mazes which sprinkle in a few new rules (which you have to discover on your own) and things start to get more challenging. Get a little further, then you have an epiphany and realize not everything is what it seems. Perspective and your place in the 3-D environment start to matter. At that point I was sold and fully immersed myself in the world (this would make an incredible VR game).The open world structure allows you to try various challenges long before you know how they can be beaten. The island is big and there’s always easier puzzles to work on while you think things through. By the end of the game you will realize that the solution to everything has been right in front of you all along.

There really isn’t a story here but there are several audio and video clips to find that have an arty, philosophical sensibility that are more about mood than narrative. I didn’t manage to find everything. Note that if you are a 100% gamer, if you get to the ending, all the puzzles will be reset. Find everything you can before rushing to the conclusion.

A Story About My Uncle is a game based entirely around a single game mechanic, a grappling beam. Players shoot a beam at a distant surface, they are pulled towards the target, and then they must use inertia and timing to fling themselves towards their goal. That’s about it. We’ve seen this before in just about every Zelda game, so this is nowhere near as revolutionary as the one-mechanic behind the extraordinary Portal.  Still, when it clicks, swinging across a map and carefully timing your shots can be thrilling.

The game has a kid-friendly feel in its bedtime story tone and non-violent game play.  Unfortunately, as a violence craving adult, this meant that the narrative left quite a bit to be desired for me. I enjoyed it for what it was and it ended just when it was starting to become too repetitive. Fine by me.

The original Serious Sam became an unexpected hit when it received the approval of Old Man Murray. While other games were trying to be dark and mature, Serious Sam reveled in pure, goofy run-and-gun action. It was like Duke Nukem if it was made by a backwoods folk artist. This sequel is somewhat of a technological upgrade, but the art design still looks like the work of someone just learning how to use 3-D Studio Max, and that is the game’s charm. The enemies range from run-of-the-mill space marines to exploding clowns to giant cigar smoking mechanical T-rexes.

It takes a while for the game-play to rise to the bonkers level of the first one, but by the final world you will be shooting and running backwards from hundreds and hundreds of (literally) screaming mobs. The shooting mechanics are lacking the visceral feel of the Shadow Warrior reboot, but what it lacks in feel, it makes up for in the sheer numbers of enemies.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Serious Sam 2 is that its cut scenes can be genuinely funny. The story is dumb and the writers know it. So, rather than bore the player with exposition, you can watch Sam rise a surfboard in the sky or get drunk and party with the local primitives.

Shadow Warrior 2 is a fast and wild shooter that continues in much the same vein as the first reboot game (which I never got around to reviewing here). The game is irreverent and revels in its 90s roots but does its best to avoid the politically incorrect Asian stereotypes of the original game. There is a really visceral quality to the combat, especially when focusing on swordplay and melee attacks. You are constantly surrounded and relying on spastic special attacks and super powers to thin the onslaught.

The story is nothing special, but the one-liners and goofy tone keep it interesting enough to not skip the cut scenes. There are tons of monster types and tons of weapons. In a lot of ways it feels like Borderlands as you constantly upgrade and modify weapons with random enhancements. Apparently there is also a good co-op mode which I have not tried. The levels are huge, but there aren’t too many of them and about halfway through the game you realize that you are constantly revisiting the same levels over and over again. In the end that doesn’t really matter since the game isn’t really about exploration. The levels only serve as temporary settings in which to obliterate foes in to clouds of gore.

All these Ubisoft open-world games (Assassins Creed, Watch Dogs, etc.) follow the same basic formula. Main story which you can take your time completing, lots of side activities and missions, and collectible stuff that gets you nothing in the end. Each is enjoyable up to a point, but then they wear out their welcome and become tedium. But despite the flaws, I genuinely enjoy the Far Cry games. I am a sucker for the FPS/stealth mix in which you can approach any conflict from a large number of paths. Each outpost I conquer without tripping the alarms feels like a real achievement.

This is essentially the exact same game as Far Cry 3 but in an alpine environment. The story is nowhere near as engaging as that game, but it suffices. You get introduced to the eccentric baddie and then he disappears for 90% of the game. Instead, you must contend with some annoying rebels, a couple of drug smoking idiots, and a bible quoting gun runner. Of course the dialogue comes out sounding like something a high school freshman would think is cool. The radio DJ is particularly annoying. I wish you could go on a rampage without negatively affecting your karma score.

All that is moot. The real focus here is blowing up animals. Any game in which you can blast a pack of cute, cuddly dholes into oblivion with a grenade launcher is okay in my book.

The only thing this game has going for it is its art direction. There’s some wonderful hand-drawn characters and evocative music. However, like a Doublefine game, this one is all style and no substance. The highlight is supposed to be the various boss battles in which you spend a ton of time chopping at these giant character’s heels. Every swing of your axe removes about 1% of the enemy’s health. It’s just an exercise in tedium. The controls are sluggish and un-responsive . It’s like fighting in a bowl of molasses.

Between these boss battles you have to wander through several immense and mostly empty levels looking for the keys to the bosses. These levels are pointless and super-boring. Free might be a bit too much to have paid for this game.

The first few hours of Alien: Isolation are some of the most nerve-racking gaming I have ever experienced. It’s a stealth game in which you are mostly defenseless and must hide to survive. There’s no sneaking up behind enemies and stabbing them in the back. The enemies aren’t just some dopey guards walking in a set pattern that you are trying to avoid. It’s one of the most menacing monsters in cinema history. One wrong turn or overly loud noise and you are facing its dripping double jaws in seconds.

All this wasn’t helped by the fact that Alien was one of the scariest movies I saw as a child. My parents let me watch it way before I should have. I was so traumatized that, a few years later, my parents took me to see E.T. and I was terrified of his long head. It took more than a few Reese’s Pieces to calm my nerves.

I initially tried playing Alien: Isolation in a dark room with headphones on. I couldn’t do it. The sound design is excellent and the environments are dark and claustrophobic. Every little thump had me breathlessly spinning around and around looking for danger. Eventually the game settles in to a more predicable pacing and the tension begins to lift. If anything, it’s the sameness that begins to lessen the impact of the game. Eighteen hours in and I was still crouching and and hiding behind crates.

The writer do a good job in constructing a story that sorta-kinda works with the films. Unfortunately, there is a sequel-begging ending that doesn’t give any sense of closure.