Here you can find a selection of my gaming related clips from publications like The Wall Street Journal, WePC, GamePressure, Fandom, and GameCrate. For a look at some of the video and social media work I’ve done for brands, head over to the video section.
You’d be forgiven for thinking “Yomi” is an actual place in Japan. It’s not. Yomi, in Shinto mythology, is the land of the dead. It’s not exactly a place you’d want to take a vacation to, much less spend eternity in, but a brief visit in video game form is very worth your while.
Read MoreGhost of Tsushima has set the table nicely for samurais to carve (slice?) out a new niche in gaming. We’ve had plenty of ninjas but for some reason samurais never quite caught on. Until now, of course.
Read MoreThe chiseled chin of Bruce Campbell is known all over the world as audiences have watched him slay deadites and demons as Ash Williams from the ‘80s to present day. A very successful and enjoyable revival of the series even lasted three seasons on TV. There’s just something about the combo of a chainsaw arm and a boomstick that make for a great initiation into cult horror and B-movie culture.
Read MoreIf you watch it for yourself you’ll find there’s a lot more at work that makes Halo the series a mediocre slog. At the outset I didn’t really understand the criticism of the first episode, it wasn’t anything special but nothing hinted at the middling TV to come. But I get it now. I definitely get it.
Read MoreHard West 2 is a fine example of the modern turn-based combat game. While not a carbon copy of X-Com, it brings enough wild west charm and decent enough writing to entice any garden variety gamer as well as hardcore fans of the genre.
Read MoreDepending on where you look, there’s a particularly angry and vocal chorus of fans dragging the show through mud for everything – from some sloppy CGI to Master Chief removing his helmet – something he’s yet to do in the game. I’ve sampled a heavy dose of the negative criticism of the show, and I want to ask anyone unhappy with it: What exactly were you expecting?
Read MoreShadow Warrior has had something of a strange journey as a franchise. What began as a Duke Nukem clone and later revived by studio Flying Wild Hog and publisher Devolver in 2013 now has a third installment. And going back to play the previous games for this review I can’t help but wonder why Shadow Warrior and its wisecracking protagonist Lo Wang (yes, his name is a penis joke) was ever revived from the obscure annals of gaming history to begin with.
Read MoreThe art indie game has crystalized over the years into a more or less recognizable format. There’s a silent protagonist, platforming, and top notch art and music. FAR: Changing Tides has all of these and just a little extra up its sleeve to engage you for its eight hours of play. If anything the game could have been longer, had more features, and more story – I found myself, by the end, craving all of the above.
Read MoreThere’s something to be said for difficult games. Cuphead, Dark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. There’s a real sense of accomplishment when you beat one of these; you can hold your head up high and say “wow, I actually beat that.” If that’s the kind of game you like, great, you’ll have a fantastic time with Sifu. If you’re the average person who thought you were getting into just a fun kung fu beat-em-up, well, I have some very bad news for you.
Read MoreWhat could have been a refreshing take on the zombie genre – basically a SWAT team versus the undead – mostly falls flat. While it borrows some of the elements that have made Siege iconic, it doesn’t go nearly far enough.
Read MoreB4B has so much potential and may end up being a near-perfect game. For the time being, it’s a solid bit of zombie slaying fun that’s a cut above some of the other undead shooting gallery games out there.
Read MoreDeathloop is awash in retro 60’s style but at the cost of real substance. Clunky gunplay and only a handful of special abilities hold what could have been a great game back. The time travel plot had promise but untimely goes unrealized.
Read MoreEncased is a good example of a game that fully embraces the long list of old school RPGs we all know and love but struggles between being overly faithful to game design now twenty years old and what modern audiences are used to and, to a certain extent, have come to expect when they buy a modern game.
Read MorePSVR is in an interesting place these days. It’s the tail end of the device’s life, PSVR2 is on the horizon for next year, and Sony has a bit of a problem getting PS5s into the hands of gamers who want them. This presents a unique challenge for PSVR as without new software, headset owners have nothing to play and potential buyers might hold off until the new device arrives.
Read MoreThe fantasy RPG is a genre that will never die. Far, far in the future when we’re all plugged into the matrix we’ll no doubt have the option to enter any number of virtual realities full of swords, dragons, and wizards. And thanks to monolithic franchises like The Witcher, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Elder Scrolls, the genre is teeming with games that more than deserve countless hours of your free time.
Read MoreThe reality is that, while yes, this is an unusual platform for Dr. King’s message, it doesn’t quite devolve things into pure online memery.
Read MoreLeft 4 Dead was one of those games that cast a new mould that many would copy and fewer still would truly improve on. The four-player co-op genre nowadays has people hunting down everything from ghosts to robots (the very excellent G.T.F.O. and Phasmophobia come to mind) but there will always be a special place in the heart of every gamer lucky enough to be there for L4D in its prime.
Read MoreThere’s an old saying: “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” but it says nothing about improvement. Which is exactly what the folks at Dark Crystal Games have been doing with Encased. The classic RPG formula you’ll remember from games like Icewind Dale and Fallout gets a makeover that elevates this game from a simple love letter to a bygone era into something definitely worth your time.
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