Long before he directed Journey to the West, Stephen Chow starred in this version of the Monkey King’s story. The story is divided into two movies: “Pandora’s Box” and “Cinderlla.” I enjoyed the first part which felt like a lighthearted Chow film with fun characters, slapstick humor and a simple plot. But the second part is a confusing mess of time travel and body swapping. By the end, I literally had no idea what was going on. Chow’s The Monkey King is just a Cantonese attempt at recreating Jim Carrey’s annoying character from The Mask.
Okay, first things first. Machinarium is a beautiful game with excellent art direction, sound and music. However, something about this point-and-click adventure just didn’t… er… click for me. It could be the fact that the game erased my save files halfway through my first attempt. I didn’t pick it up again for at least a month after that. But I think this is just a little too puzzley for my tastes. At times I really didn’t have any motivation other than there was a guy who had an object that would obviously be useful somewhere. I can tolerate that in a Professor Layton game where there are funny characters and back story to reveal, but here it felt like tedium. Still, I’ll give it higher marks than I should for trying and being pretty. Oh, and the inability to use right click to drop objects annoyed me to no end.
This short novel tries to show how it was possible for normal German’s to just sit back and let the Nazi’s take over. Apparently all it takes is for one history teacher to treat his students like a drill instructor would and you have an instant fascist movement. I never really bought the whole concept. It was kind of like reading an ABC After School Special.
You can download and play Teenagent for free from GOG.com, and, because of my obsessive-compulsive nature when it comes to completing games I own, I felt obliged to give it a whirl. It took about 45 minutes of frustration for me to realize that this point-and-click adventure really wasn’t worth the logic-defying effort. This game commits all the puzzle design sins of 90’s adventure games. It’s the type of game design that pretty much killed the genre. The puzzles make absolutely no sense and I can’t believe anyone got very far with this without a walk-through. On the plus side the dialogue and humor isn’t bad for a game created by a bunch of non-English speakers. Also, even though the art design is crap, there is a ton of clever animation and sight gags to ogle, just don’t waste brain cells trying to figure the puzzles out.
Outlast is one of the most nerve-racking games I have played. The game delights in distracting your attention then blasting you with a heart-stopping jump scare. The first couple of hours, when you don’t really know what to expect, are the worst. This is a stealth game in which you have no weapons, no means of defending yourself. Your only tool is a video camera with an infrared mode to help you see in the darkness. Other than that, the available options to avoid being killed are either to hide or to run. As the game progressed, I realized that running was far more useful than cowering under a bed or in a locker.
The sound design and music are really effective in mounting the tension. As danger approaches, your character starts to breathe heavy and shiver and the music gets more and more intense. I only which it took better advantage of surround sound. It would haven been nice to be able to listen to where those footsteps were coming from in the moments before I got clobbered into a bloody pulp.
Most of the tale is told through found notes and documents. I really didn’t read too deeply into anything, but it really doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that you are alone in an abandoned insane asylum, creatures are trying to kill you, and you need to find a way out fast!
I was initially drawn to the isometric art style of this turn-based RPG. My hope was that it would play like Wasteland 2 but I wasn’t sure what to expect. The combat is similar, but it has nowhere near the depth and strategy. I some ways that’s good. Shadowrun Returns feels much more casual and less nitpicky with things like ammo and inventory management. But, even though it’s party-based, you only really control the development of your one character. The other combatants are just expendable hired hands with little to no backstory.
As a smaller, episodic type game it works well. The game ships with development tools and has a rather large Steam Workshop page, so the idea probably is that this is a framework to build on. The story here is very linear. I was surprised that there was no overworld to explore or major side quests to complete. If it wasn’t for the fighting, this could almost be considered a point-and-click adventure. Thankfully the story works well enough as a cyberpunk take on a film noir: A friend from the past has been murdered and, as a last request, he has a video message hiring you to find his killer. It’s nice that an RPG doesn’t need to have a “save the world from evil” plot (although it veers that way towards the end). Overall I liked the game, it just needs a bit more refinement and polish to make it great.
At first you’d think Home was a retro-looking point and click adventure, but that would be giving it too much credit. It’s really one of those trendy, arty indy games that supposed to be a deep meditation on interactive storytelling. In other words it’s a bore. Like Dear Esther or even Photopia (although Photopia is actually good). The pixel graphics are neat and it seems to be a nod to Atari’s Haunted House in the way it treats stairways and the use of atmospheric sound. It’s just not fun to play. Thankfully it takes less than a half hour to finish, so good riddance.
Billed as a travelogue, this book covers the culture, politics and history of the Nordic countries from the perspective of a British ex-pat. While overall the book is positive about the region, it does a good job pointing out the consequences of the much lauded welfare state systems. The key take away is that, in exchange for cradle to grave comfort, you lose the spontaneous and unpredictable character of wild west capitalism. Gone are the weirdos and visionaries. In its place is bland food, suicide, unemployment, and an economies teetering on collapse should the price of oil change… but at least you can take a year of maternity leave just to hang out in the saunas of Finland.
I went into Bulletstorm not knowing anything other than I heard there was a lot of cursing in the dialogue. Well, that much was true. This is a first person shooter based around the mechanic of building elaborate kills in order to score points. The points can then be used to buy ammo and upgrade weapons. Higher scores can be had by utilizing your grappling tether or your powerful kick to throw enemies into the various sharp objects that litter the landscape. After a while, much of the novelty is lost, trying to manipulate bodies as they drift by in slow motion. It doesn’t help that there is absolutely no exploration in the level design and therefore not much strategy. Basically the game is one giant long hallway with your final boss at the end. Imagine an on-rails light gun shooter with a bit more control over your character. Every four or five levels there is a slight variation on the game play, such as a runaway train set piece or one where you remotely control a giant monster, but then it’s back to the boots to the head. The story is simple, but the focus is more on the relationship between you and the other surviving member of your doomed pirate crew, Ichi. Hey, it’s not My Dinner with Andre, but it suffices and, though there’s not much depth here, Bulletstorm is a rather fun romp that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
This is a gorgeous martial arts film which features an all-star cast of Hong Kong action heroes (most of which are killed off in the first five minutes). The lone survivor, Gordon Liu, escapes to become a monk and plot his revenge (isn’t that always the case with Mr. Liu). Unlike The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, training isn’t the focus here. It’s mostly about him overcoming his rage and so he can be centered while he bashes the teeth out of his foes. There’s an annoying, unresolved subplot of the 6th brother who goes insane and “8 diagrams” doesn’t seem to have anything to do with what is actually happening in the movie but other than that, this is one of the Shaw Bros. best.
