Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour Launch Trailer (NSFW)

Posted on October 11, 2016 by geelw

Oh, boy. Invading space aliens with planetary conquest on the brain beware! Duke Nukem 3D is back and yes, it’s freakin’ 1996 all over again. Personally, I love the big, macho lug because he’s a COMPLETELY fictional videogame character who’s larger than life, impossible to confuse with any REAL-LIFE person what with his over the top vices, uber manly urges and penchant for snazzy one-liners mixed with threats to wreck and harm with extreme prejudice. I know no one like that in real life and neither do you, right? Oh, okay, okay… THIS GUY counts.

Um, Anyway… thanks to Gearbox Software, the man himself is BACK in action in a kinda throwback re-look at his biggest adventure with a few additions for a measly $19.99 on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One. GROOVY. Get it, I say. Review incoming shortly, as I see the King has followed me home.

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-GW

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What’s In The Box? (Or: Hello, Slim!)

Posted on October 5, 2016 by geelw

Holy hell, my long national nightmare is OVER. I’ actually too damn busy to post the whole story here, but it involved a refund, a quick re-buy and this thing showing up SIX DAYS EARLIER than the expected date. Wow, but YES, I’ll take that over the nonsense I went through for too long last month. Anyway WHEE. Wait, my workload just tripled? WHEEEEE!!

(faint, *THUD!*).

(Thanks, cronocembalo!)

Um, back in a bit. I need to go lie down, have a drink, fry some chicken to celebrate and play a game or three. All at the same damn time. Whee?

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Review: VIRGINIA

Posted on September 30, 2016 by geelw

A must for those who love cinematic game experiences, unique visuals and jigsaw-piecing together a compelling narrative that holds a few surprises and life-sized curve balls for its cast of characters. Short attention span types, those who think some/all games are “art” that require no commentary, and those who want everything explained at the finale need not apply, though.

Platform: PC (also on PS4/Xbox One)
Developer: Variable State
Publisher: 505 Games
# of Players: 1
Release Date: 9/22/2016
MSRP: $9.99
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Official Site
Score: A- (90%) BUY IT!

Variable State’s first game, VIRGINIA, is more of a work of interactive fiction presented in the language of videogames, but it’s also an impressive debut that works brilliantly. The catch is, in hoping players “get” the tricky mix of disjointed narrative and timed exploration sequences, the developer has unintentionally created a game that’s too damned smart for much of today’s gamer audience that craves explanation and arbitrary rules of realism apply to everything they play who also refuse to open their minds to something different that’s actually worth playing and replaying.

In a nutshell, the story is about an FBI agent sent on a missing child case with another agent who needs a close eye kept on as there’s an ongoing investigation into unorthodox methods being used. That both agents are female, minorities and have some usual human flaws seems to rankle a few skulls. But reversing the sexes of the agents wouldn’t make a dent in the plot, as anything presented could happen no matter the gender of the main character or agent under the magnifying glass. Continue reading →

Review: Wheels of Aurelia

Posted on September 20, 2016 by geelw

Bravo, Santa Ragione and Brava, Lella! This driving sim/adventure hybrid’s a definite Game of the Year contender that will make those who “get” it want to crack open a few books and do some heavy reading and/or thinking.

Platform: PC (also on Mac/Linux/PS4/Xbox One)
Developer: Santa Ragione
Publisher: Santa Ragione
Release Date: 9/20/2016
# of Players: 1
MSRP: $9.99
ESRB Rating: N/A
Official Site
Score: A (95%) BUY IT!

Calling Santa Ragione’s outstanding Wheels of Aurelia a simple “driving simulation” is REALLY selling it short. This brilliantly conceived hybrid game is more of a mature “choose your own path conversation-based adventure that just so happens to take place in a almost constantly moving car” with 16 possible outcomes and more than that many ways to reach them. From the beautiful stylized simplicity of the art, the great soundtrack (buy it!) that captures the spirit of late 70’s Italian radio tracks, and the mature script that may rankle a few overly sensitive types while striking others as flat out fantastic and thought-provoking.

Save for the ride you choose, the game’s opening is exactly the same each time. In 1978, Lella and Olga, two young Italian ladies who met the previous evening at a disco, set out on a road trip to France on the Via Aurelia along the western coast of Italy. Along the way, the pair talk about life, pick up a hitchhiker or two (or none – it’s up to you) and based on the path both the conversation and car takes, the game reaches a conclusion in all of 15 minutes or so. 16 endings at 15 minutes each ends up at 4 hours total playtime IF you’re silly enough to think you’ll see every conversation and character variant possible. The combination of period-era history, frankly spoken dialogue and some VERY interesting hitchhikers make this very replayable as well as a great exercise in storytelling.

Continue reading →

Strike Vector EX: When Console Beats PC, Heads Explode

Posted on September 11, 2016 by geelw

RageQuit Corporation blasts out a powerful killer PS4 “port” full of needed enhancements, but will it make enough noise to get the attention it deserves?

Usually (okay, most, if not all of the time), a console port of a PC game will be deemed inferior by those nose in the air die-hard PC-ONLY flag-wavers who deem the very idea of a game console and those who use them as something best swept under a rug. Me, I don’t play that crap. I do however, play what I like on anything I like and as long as it runs fine and I’m happy? Well, that’s fine and yep, I’m happy. It’s recently come to my attention that the newly enhanced PlayStation 4 version of the PC game Strike Vector adds content not found in the original and those additions make for a better game overall game experience.

BOOM.

Yeah, I said it and other than the highly tweakable visuals and adjustable frame rate quality PC gaming offers, it’s actually true here. The PC version was/is an online-only MP focused shooter with transformable and player customized ships zipping around in some VERY solid dogfights spread across some very nicely designed maps. Unfortunately, it’s only been just over 2.5 years since it launched and the player base is very nearly dead. Strike Vector EX on PS4 ($14.99) adds a 15-mission solo campaign, AI bots for those needing to practice on opponents before hopping online, and a few other very welcome changes. Continue reading →

Free Stuff Friday: Assault Suits Leynos on Steam, Anyone?

Posted on September 9, 2016 by geelw

Hokay, Ember still isn’t up and running on Steam yet, so I’m going to plan B, thanks to the fine folks at Rising Star Games! BOOM! ONE lucky person with a Steam account will win ONE absolutely FREE code for the the hard as heck Assault Suits Leynos. Post here and I’ll pick a winner tomorrow at noon!

Rules and such below the jump.

Continue reading →

Review: Laser Disco Defenders (Vita)

Posted on September 2, 2016 by geelw

And I thought Assault Suits Leynos was tough. HA!

LDD art

Platform: PlayStation Vita (PSN)
Developer: Out of Bounds Games
Publisher: Excalibur Games
# of Players: 1
MSRP: $9.99
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)
Official Site
Score: A (90%)

Don’t let the cute art style and funky tunes fool you one bit, folks. Laser Disco Defenders is a tough cookie of a shooter that will test the skills and patience of the most hardcore gamers out there. Ten bucks is a bargain for a game that takes a while to complete and will keep the best coming back for more. That trailer makes it look like a simple “pew-pew-pew!” casual bit of fluff, but make no mistake – the game will eat your lunch before you make it to the first boss and it only gets tougher as you progress. At some point the more impatient out there will possibly want to jump up and down on their poor Vitas simply because stomping on both hands will only result with some nurse feeding them applesauce for a few weeks.

That said, I love this game quite a lot. Continue reading →

VIRGINIA Is For Lovers (Of Offbeat Interactive Adventure Games)

Posted on August 26, 2016 by geelw

Virginia is a first person interactive drama. It is the story of a recently graduated FBI agent and her partner as they seek to uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a young boy.

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Coming September 22 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One from developer Variable State and publisher 505 Games, VIRGINIA is a visually stylized, dialog-free modern noir mystery/adventure game that pays homage to surreal entertainment such as Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Fargo. There’s a great PC demo available now on Steam that leaves more questions swirling in the brain than it gives answers about what’s in store for players, but this is a good thing.

All I can say is it has something to do with a missing teenager, dreamlike transitions from place to place, a possible relationship between the two FBI agents working on the case together, and oh, yeah… a buffalo that pops up at the weirdest moments. Yeah. But it somehow works exceptionally well enough that I’d bet non-gaming mystery fans will want to sit next to someone playing as play brainiac buddy as things unfold.

Virginia 24

Okay, I’ll let you in on more precise details below the jump – I don’t want the suspense to kill you that much… Continue reading →

MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death Gallery

Posted on August 20, 2016 by geelw

Be careful what you wish for, especially when you wish for something saucy like “anime gals in a DUNGEON… with mecha!, Mwa-ha-ha-haaaaa!” and you’re not very specific beyond that. *POOF* Your wish is Idea Factory International‘s command (*whipcrack!*) with the upcoming Vita game MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death, coming to PlayStation Vita September 13 (North America) and the 16th in Europe.

IF, Compile Heart, and Makaiichibankan’s deviously deep dungeon crawler looks to captivate and challenge JRPG fans with its cute cast and no doubt challenging turn-based combat that should please those who liked similar gal-centric JRPGs or even mixed party titles. Here’s a gallery full of game trailers and screens to ogle along with some info about what to expect continuing right below the jump.

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SHINESS: The Lightning Kingdom Gallery

Posted on August 18, 2016 by geelw

French developer Enigami has been hard at work on its Action/RPG SHINESS: The Lightning Kingdom for about three years now and with publisher Focus Home Interactive set to bring the game to eager PC, PS4 and Xbox One owners later this year, it’s time to take a look at it in one big video and image gallery. Here’s the most recent gameplay trailer, or more precisely, a story trailer presented at Gamescom 2016: