Howdy ho! Presenting the second part of my all-singing all-dancing gaming retrospective of this distant time we refer to as earlier this year. The games I've played and a paragraph or so of my thoughts on each presented for your deliberation. All opinions are my own, mint-condition, I accept no substitutes and tell no lies. Except that last one obviously... to the list!
Life is Strange
Another one from the 'took me a while to get around to playing this' file. Now it's no secret that I like weird strangeness in my fiction and this seemed to fit the bill. Hell the hallowed words 'Twin Peaks' were mentioned in some quarters in regards to this game. To boot its an episodic choice based narrative and these work well for me usually. Here though, it dragged for me really. It could have used a little less of the 'name dropping hipsters in art class' sensibility and a little more fraught teenage drama mixed in with the weirdness. Three time tornadoes out of five!
Life is Strange: Before The Storm
So I decided to make this another trilogy of sorts by playing some of the follow ups. Definite signs of improvement here with a follow up focused on the more tangible of the leads from the first game. Other than that it felt like more of the first game in all other respects. There's still that feeling here that the developers are vicariously living out their very particular and somewhat dated notions of 'cool' in their lead. Teen powered preciousness aside though, there's movement here in the right direction at least. Just not a huge amount of it. Three shocking backstories out of five!
Life is Strange 2
Finishing off my Life is Strange binge-play with the tale of the Wolf Brothers and indeed, there is more of that improvement I mentioned before. The storytelling feels a bit more assured and less liable to hang it's hat off teen culture or art school chic to get it's credibility. The X-Men without the X-Men concept finally feels like it's arrived, more super-powered teen drama than ambivalent weirdness. Can't say I'm getting my fix of Twin Peaks strangeness though but that might be someone else's failure to market this series correctly. Four teen Jedi's out of five.
Oxenfree
Radio signals, voices in the ether and teen drama done well. The story of a group of friends who head to a quiet island for good times around a beach-side fire and end up facing off against the long dead proved to be a hell of a good time and one of the best games I've played this year. Not planned this way but playing this one after the Life is Strange games really highlighted how the same themes and ideas can be realised so much better. A compelling narrative with a strong emotional core to it coupled with great believable characterisation, a charming art style and a sublime soundtrack. Five ominous warnings from the dead out of five!
Infamous: Second Son
Playing a PS4 launch game on my PS5. No sentence better describes the state of my gaming backlog. Funny thing is I really enjoyed both the original Infamous (my first platinum trophy if I recall) and Infamous 2. They were well realised open-world games at a time when there was a sizeable glut of them being released and you know what? It just so happens Second Son continues the winning streak. Looks great, plays well and is almost perfectly paced for a genre often bloated with collectibles and extra content. Four totally rad graffiti tags out of five!
Infamous: First Light
Continuing the theme, I delved into the more bite-sized chunk of Infamous released a year or two later. I could copy and paste the above sentiment here as it does all the same things well and I had a great time playing it. I really can't overstate just how well paced these games are in a genre that otherwise seems to be devoted to eating up your free time. Four neon bombs out of five!
Hand Of Fate
Initially delved into this in its Steam version early on in the COVID-19 era and kept meaning to get back to it. A hybrid card game action RPG that hit all the right notes even if the difficulty streak gets a little much at times. There's no denying that there is a certain charm to the experience. A rogue-esque experience that makes every run-through a unique challenge as your masked opponent berates your chances of ever seeing the end of it. Frustrations aside, the strength of a good idea is mostly well executed here and sees this through. I'll definitely be checking out the sequel at some point. Four portentous masked card dealers out of five!
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition
Dialling it way back to 2011 with this one, a game that got an inexplicable remaster a mere six years later. I know remasters and remakes are all the rage these days but was there a particular clamour for this one? Anyhow I pretty much passed on this one during its original release but gave it the benefit of the doubt this time. I'm thankful I did, it's a lot of fun but with some major caveats attached. It really is all about the combo mechanics and stringing chains of mayhem together. It's a good thing the core game-play is so moreish as almost everything else in the story, (namely the visuals and characterisation) felt borrowed wholesale from Gears of War and in my opinion that is a mixed blessing and damning faint praise all in one. Three high scoring chain kills out of five!
Battlefield 2042
Presenting a game from positively fresh by the standards of this list. Straight outta 2021 is Battlefield 2042 and what's to say that hasn't already been covered out there in the frenzied rush of online games journalism. it's another Battlefield game rushed to launch whether it be by DICE or EA (probably EA) that instigated an almost immediate backlash on release due to the various issues it launched with. Grabbed it last Christmas with my new PS5 and initially gave it a whirl then. Most of the worst has been patched out even by that point but there was still some baffling decisions made here. Playing it again six months on most of the weirdness has been addressed. We now have that cutting edge feature we call a scoreboard and the combat feels a lot more solid. it's an odd one, one that will no doubt improve with time, its just whether they can do it before the game is lost in the tides of bad public reception. Personally I feel its a victim of some 'blue sky' thinking that has sought to reinvent the wheel when no such reinvention was required. We'll see how this one goes I think. Three long hikes across the map only to be shot by enemies unseen out of five.
Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr
Bought this one off the back of a recommendation in 2018 so not gathering the most dust in my backlog there. This one is basically sci-fi Diablo in the world of Warhammer 40,000 which is a good thing. Never been a huge fan of the Diablo formula, (I find it a touch too repetitive) but me I'm all about the world of 40K. A world of greater and lesser evils that fully commits to the grim-dark aesthetic. Battle the forces of Chaos, mow down waves upon waves of Xenos, see places, blow places into pieces and so on. Still a repetitive experience and a bit overlong but not without appeal. Three oaths to the God Emporer out of five!
The Unfinished Swan
Something of a palate cleanser after that last one. A charming first person exploration game set in the imagination of a child dealing with loss through art. The world is a blank canvas illustrated by throwing paint at it to help you navigate. It was nice, charming even and a worthy use of an hour or two of one's free time. Not too much actual game to it but I suspect that was much the intention. Three treks through the dreamscape out of five!
What Remains of Edith Finch
What remains is the last game on this list and it ends on a strong note. It wasn't intended to be a binge-play of the studio that also made Unfinished Swan but as it so happens it turned out that way. This one was a bit more involving to it's credit. The often haunting, sometimes quirky and poignant tale of a family that might be cursed or might not be did hit all the right notes for me. When it comes to story told sparingly I find not many games hit the sweet spot of knowing when to say nothing at all but this one did. Five dysfunctional family dinners out of five!
There it is, my 2022 in gaming to-date. Feel like I've knocked off a few notable items off my 'to- play' list there with plenty more to come. It does feel like I'm getting disconcertingly close to a 'modern' gaming habit but lets not jump there too quickly. Check back with me towards the end of the year as I play more games you've probably already played years ago. Toodles!
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