Busload of Horror III: Laugh ‘Til You Bleed (And Vice Versa)

Posted on October 20, 2016 by geelw

Oooh, I missed yesterday’s posting thanks to stuff going kablooie elsewhere, but here you go. The better news is I found a few more games to add to this list while poking around a hard drive, so consider this scary mission extended a bit starting with tomorrow’s installment where I add FOUR titles instead of three. Or perhaps FIVE if I’m feeling generous? We shall see. Anyway, let’s get cracking with the cracking up over assorted head cracking in these three today:

Tom vs. The Armies of Hell: From Darkmire Entertainment (or Sean Burgoon) comes this hilarious spin on Diablo, Army of Darkness, a dash of Office Space and maybe a teeny-tiny bit of Half-Life (if you squint while hitting yourself in the head with a hammer at just the riiiiight spot) that’s going to tickle your funny bone as it tests your skills. You’re Tom, a low on the totem pole software engineer having the worst day at work ever (outside of Gordon Freeman’s of course) after all Hell figuratively (or is that literally?) breaks loose and you need to stop things from going further south.

The isometric view and chase ‘n chop gameplay will be familiar to Diablo or similar ARPG fans, although the game takes a bit more finesse in using skills-based attacks and drawing energy from dead demon spirits to power your weapon. Enemies tend to be fast and cheap, bosses are room-sized and cheaper, but all are bested by the best who remain calm under pressure. The game is still pretty tough on the easiest setting (or was until the last patch that lightened the difficulty up a bit), but it’s a challenge worth accepting if you like your games funny and sliding in winks and nods to all sorts of cool stuff.

As admirable and fun as the game is, even more so is Burgoon’s tweaking and fixing up bugs when players come across them. If only every developer was so responsive and self deprecating as this guy. $12.99 gets you this one on Steam and it’s worth it. I have not a single clue what Darkmire has up it’s collective one-man sleeves as an encore, But if it’s more tongue-in-cheek goofiness such as this, I’m in and smiling already.

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Radical Heroes: Crimson City Crisis Hands-On: Punch-Drunk Love Fest

Posted on October 20, 2016 by geelw

POW! Fans of Downtown Nekketsu/River City Ransom and other beat ’em up classics have a new game to kick sand in their faces in the form of Radical Heroes: Crimson City Crisis, currently in Early Access on Steam and worth every dime. Brought to you by Mad Unicorn Games (aka, the VERY talented Moses and Noah Doyle) and Apogee Software (yeah, THAT Apogee!), the game takes the old sprite-packed beat ’em up into the 21st century with dazzling, colorful pixel art that makes for environments that pop off the screen.

The enemies you deliver beat downs to pop off the screen as well, but that’s because you’ll be the one sending them onto that parking orbit with your avatar’s fists and feet. POW!

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Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer: Tumbleweed Tease, But I’m Still A Betting Man

Posted on October 20, 2016 by geelw

Beautiful, and had you inquired of me a few days ago, I’d have noted with a smile, exactly what I expected from Rockstar Games. Those with short attention spans whining all over the internet about this being more of a teaser than an actual full-on gameplay trailer packed with juicy plot spillage need to sloooowly slide away from the keyboards and step out for some air. It’s far too early to start dropping lengthy gameplay videos that will only be digested, incorrectly dissected and over-speculated on in every aspect by the usual suspects. My own preferences are to go in as cold as possible so the new game warms me up and is as spoiler-free as possible. Yeah, that’s how I roll and yes, it makes a game intensely more enjoyable when you don’t fire it up and know everything about what’s SUPPOSED to be a surprising *new* experience.

Where was I again? Oh, right? When has the company dumped out a long-form gameplay trailer for a game that’s about to over a year away? More importantly, when have they let you down with one of their major releases? Yeah, PC-only gamers will gripe about that question in regards to the first 2.5 Red Dead games (Revolver, Redemption, and Undead Nightmare). But that’s their own fault from suffering from system bias, I say.

That and, hell… if GTA V PC is any indication, you over-clockers and console blockers will get yours at some point, gloating about its superiority as soon as the system specs and first screenshots are revealed at the exact same “some point.”

So, get over it. Please.

Er, just not before us console owners loyal to the cause since the DMA Design days and prepping for a game destined to become an instant classic when it’s released for PS4 and Xbox One in 2017.

P.S.: Sneaky, Rockstar… SNEAKY. Getting Red Dead Revolver out on PSN almost a week ago and not telling me. Well, that goes on the want list, too. I just have the Xbox version in the game library at the moment, but hate setting up that system just for one game.

Switch: Your New Nintendo Console, Folks

Posted on October 20, 2016 by geelw

So, here we go. As someone who pre-ordered and owns a Wii U and was/is relatively pleased with the system (albeit less than thrilled it didn’t reach its full potential), this new system intrigues me significantly. Does that portability, HD screen and home/away play element kill off the 3DS’ market? Probably not (yet). 3DS games are faster to make from what I gather, but I’m gathering we’ll be hearing from all those developers who’ve been quietly working away on new and old IP exactly what’s coming. Not a fan of the “lifestyle” video with impossible stuff happening at all… but that’s PR doing its thing trying to make the Switch “cool” to those who buy into this sort of thing.

If that too brief The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild footage is any indication of how upcoming titles will look, I’d say we’ll be seeing a few more beautiful games in less open worlds calling wallets out of pockets and purses an March 2017 rolls around. Here’s the Wii U version for comparison’s sake, if you need to do that. Both look spectacular, but you know how some folks are. Anyway, color me really intrigued and on that pre-order list.

-GW