Gaming off the Beaten Path

I struggled for a long time with surviving. And, no matter what, you keep finding something to fight for. Another week, another timely post. I have yet to "The Last of Us" on HBO, but I have heard nothing but effusive praise. What little bits I have seen look pretty great and seem to jive with what I've heard in reviews. One of the biggest positives I've heard? It actually follows the plot of the game. Oh My! A show about a video game that actually follows said video game? Who would have ever thought that would work? Doesn't everyone know video games don't work as TV shows and you have to completely change the plot and characters to make them fit? Did they learn nothing from the smashing success of Resident Evil? Look, not every video game plot is going to work as a full-on television show. You would have to venture pretty far from the plot of, say, Tetris to create a good or even workable program (that's an extreme example, but you get the point). But tha...

  I swore I would never, ever play any of these Lego games, but here I am about to review my second one. The things we do for our children. I have to say, the formula leads to a lot more fun than I ever thought it would. They aren't the most varied or challenging but considering the target audience that should kind of be expected. Big budget titles certainly have their downsides, but you know with something built by a huge team at a huge developer that you are going to get some level of polish on the technical side. But you can also kind of expect all of the umphteen titles that will inevitably come out in a series to sort of run together, even if they feature different IPs. A lot of different universes have received the Lego treatment over the years. Indiana Jones was the first one I played, but now it's time to leave the Temple of Doom Behind and travel to the mean streets of Gotham City. In terms of lore, I'm going in a little less blind than I was last time. I am certa...

  It's been a long road full of damage and destruction, but we've finally reached the end. We've been through the highs and the lows, the good and the bad, but we've arrived at the end of the Twisted Metal franchise. It's crazy, it's been 10 years since we've last had a new Twisted Metal game (at least an original one, remasters and compilations don't count), which is crazy to think about in a lot of ways. Remember, this used to be one of Sony's banner franchises, one gamers looked forward to with each new console generation. Even after a few lackluster entries early on, the series rebooted with Twisted Metal: Black to much critical acclaim and continued with a well crafted entry in Head-On. Sure, it was frustrating to hear about all of those cancelled games and  lost half finished ideas, but the series was very much still top of mind for PlayStation owners throughout the life of the PS1 and PS2. But those of us that were able to decipher a secret me...

 Since I started reviewing games almost three years ago, I've found myself playing a lot of stuff I never thought I would touch. But this is a plunge I didn't think I'd ever take.  I have never, ever had even a passing interest in playing any of the Lego games, which have been around since the 6th generation (I think). These games are what they sound like; standard action games featuring Lego versions of the characters from your favorite cannons or universes. There's tons of these, Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars, Lego Harry Potter, etc. etc., you get the idea. It's not that I have a problem with that, I loved Legos as a kid and I obviously love video games, but it just never interested me. But you know who it did interest? My almost five-year old. He saw the cover of this game, a PS3 title I'm not sure how I acquired, and insisted in playing right away. He has no idea who Indiana Jones is and honestly, I'm not overly familiar with the films myself, but he thoug...

I know I've been covering a lot of newer games recently, but I'll get back to the old school stuff soon. I guess Bulletstorm is almost 10 years old and I've covered 7th generation games before, so it still fits, right? Besides, this week's entry feels very timely and it's a logical continuation from some of the other stuff I've covered recently. In case the title didn't make it immediately apparent, Bulletstorm is a first person shooter, released originally for the PS3 and XBox 360 in 2011. I myself played the "Full Clip Edition" on the PS4, one of the many PS Plus games I downloaded yet never touched. But having just come off my playthrough of Goldeneye, I wanted to sink my teeth into a modern FPS as something to compare it to. Just as Goldeneye featured all the hallmarks of 90's FPS', Bulletstorm was a quintessential modern take on the genre. However, it also called to mind my review of Hollow Knight, as it also aped several film tropes. ...