Category: review

REVIEW: Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles (PC)REVIEW: Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles (PC)

July 25, 2017July 25, 2017| Jonah FalconJonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 12:11 pm

(Review written by Scott Dirk.)

Yonder is an open world exploration game that really delivers on its premise. You begin your journey on a ship your parents have sent you away on in an attempt to keep you safe from danger. After talking to the crew, a storm rolls in and the ship is quickly struck by lightning. A Sprite then intercedes and makes a deal with you to help you if you help the spirit find its children. These Sprites help you to combat the Murk that is littered across the land in which you are now stranded.

The game has a relaxed atmosphere of letting you explore your surroundings with childlike wonder without fear of monsters or traps. The game has a lot to explore, from huge plains, forests, and towns for trading and quests. Once you obtain tools, you’ll be able to collect various resources which you can use for crafting. The main mission is to restore the land from the infection of the Murk, but you do so at your own pace. The game gives you a lot of side quests to do as well as having farms and ranching.

The graphics in the game are very lush, but are not too demanding. The landscape is very enjoyable to look at while traveling between locations, and you can get lost in simply exploring what is around you. The world music is relaxed, but cycles between varied motifs, so it’s not just one tune set repetitively. There is also a day-night cycle which seems to have little effect other than the wild animals sleeping; the NPCs seem to be night owls.

The mechanic I enjoyed most was fishing, where you cast your line and use WASD keys to move the bobber. Once a fish bites, you then pull in the opposite direction of the fish. There is an arrow to help you with the direction, which made me feel like I was pulling in the fish. The fishing mechanic does seem better suited to a controller with thumb sticks but combing WASD keys worked well; you can also customize the key bind commands.

This is one of those expansive games that may take players a while to complete depending on how they pace themselves during gameplay. I think it’s worth the time to explore Yonder in this world.

Yonder is available on PC and PlayStation 4.

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REVIEW: Mysterium (PC, iOS, Android)REVIEW: Mysterium (PC, iOS, Android)

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017| Jonah FalconJonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 12:46 am

I have an affinity for board games. Games like Lords of Waterdeep, Pandemic, 7 Wonders, and so on. When one of the games I enjoy get a videogame adaptation, I’m usually right on top of it. Some of the best adaptations include the iOS version of Lords of Waterdeep and Puerto Rico. Others, like Ra, aren’t as well translated. One game in particular, 7 Wonders, seems to be in an eternal beta.

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Gaming Podcast 124: Waggle ControlsGaming Podcast 124: Waggle Controls

May 26, 2009May 26, 2009| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 8:46 pm

This week’s Memorial Day podcast has very few stories but we managed to pack it full of content including the long awaited Punch-Out Wii review! The news includes:

  • podcast-200x200Mass Effect 2 Information Leaked
  • Nintendo Releasing All Three Metroid Games on one disc
  • Nintendo’s CEO Satoru Iwata Says, No Sense In Complaining About Used Game Sales

We also hit up some listener comments, learn a bit about nanites, checkout some gaming history on Track & Field all while popping out a new weekly question: Will you buy a video game compilation that includes updated old games with new functionality like “Waggle” controls?

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Gaming Podcast 113: How Do You Say Gyro?Gaming Podcast 113: How Do You Say Gyro?

March 10, 2009March 10, 2009| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 9:55 pm

This week we’re overwhelmed with awesome listener comments, including new ones from folks we’ve never heard from on the show. We’re also taking a flashback look at the original Diablo and some of the sequels that followed it. This weeks gaming news includes:

We’re also reviewing the downloadable content for GTA IV known as “Lost and the Damned.” Learn why Derrick is afraid of Motorcycles.

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TD Gaming Podcast 109: One Time At Plastic Band Camp…TD Gaming Podcast 109: One Time At Plastic Band Camp…

February 10, 2009February 10, 2009| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 10:24 pm

This weeks gaming podcast includes a bit about a popular gaming podcast: Link. We also touch on Mercs, in our gaming flashback and tackle a bunch of news articles:

This week we’re answering a few listener questions, tackling the question about what you drink when pulling an all-nighter game-a-thon and asking a few new questions such as, do you like horror films and/or horror games?

We also review Pudge, for the iphone/ipod touch.

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NXE, Theme Packs, Avatars and ImpressionsNXE, Theme Packs, Avatars and Impressions

November 24, 2008November 24, 2008| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 1:22 pm

We’ve had some time to look through the New Xbox Experience (aka Fall Update 08) for the Xbox 360. There are some goods, bads and oddities about the latest updated firmware and thought it was a good time to share.

The most important feature we’ve found with the new console software is the addition of Netflix. The ability to play software in the “Instant Queue” is excellent, fast and done with high quality. If you have children this may be one of the must-have product features; add a ton of family movies to the Netflix Instant Queue and your children will have hours of entertainment.

We’re not telling you to sit the children in front of the TV for ten hours, but it proves to be a great way to get quality entertainment without bombarding them with commercials telling them to tell you they need new stuff. This is especially true around the holidays where kids are watching more commercials than actual episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants.

We were a non-Netflix household and recently bought into their second tier program so we can watch instant shows and get one DVD at a time. The NXE has up-sold at least one new Netflix customer, great job Microsoft!

Avatars are another “feature” to the new console software and it all seems very Wii like. Months ago we were kidding about how they’re cloning some features of the Wii but in reality, it’s more a clone than we thought. The sound track while creating your Avatar feels almost ripped from the Wii in terms of cute settling sounds and silly uplifting music. This isn’t your dad’s console anymore Timmy.

The outfits to dress your Mii, oops, avatar in are very limited and you’ll no doubt see a lot of sameness in dress and overall look to the avatars. But, now Microsoft is showing us how to differentiate ourselves by purchasing virtual items to make our avatars cooler. For 250 Microsoft points you can now buy a Ninja Blade theme pack which includes wallpapers and avatar items. Yay. No, seriously, we’re supposed to buy this crap?

The NXE also supports a full system re-design, out with the blades in with the… Cover Flow? The NXE now acts more like iTunes, the iPod and the Apple OS X more than ever. You’ll breeze through your game list, NetFlix Queue, Friends List and other features as if it were Cover Flow album art. Cool in some ways, frustrating in others.

In some ways, item lists are the fastest and easiest ways to view things. For instance, prior to NXE you could tell who was online in your friends list within a few seconds. Now, with NXE you’ll troll through your friends list four-by-four flying through the “art” of your friends avatars hanging out next to a “room” mimicking the game they’re playing. Cute, no doubt, but not an effective way to see who is online.

The in-game console pop-up windows are much cleaner and easier to browse using a mini-blade style approach to finding information. This new re-design allows you to get more from your console interface while in-game than ever before.

The one neglected feature, in my humble opinion, is the “spit and polish” of the new interface. They took some aspects of OS X and some aspects of Wii and mixed them together to make organizational changes, some good and some bad. However, the interface is very flat, drab and boring. There is no real glossy shine to anything, very little in textures for backdrops and windows fixtures and very anti-vista like when it comes down to drop shadows and beauty. A little more glamor, gloss and reflective surfaces would have made the interface look a bit more next-generation in terms of cool factor.

Overall, it is what it is. You may like it, hate it or just learn to live with it. Some features will be easier to browse around while others will require a bit more work. We’ve noticed about a 10 to 12 second pause between shopping screens for add-ons, arcade game downloads and such, hopefully that will change in the coming weeks. It stands out as a bit different from the competitors, in some aspects, while paying tribute to some of the cooler features of other products.

The Netflix addition is the best part of NXE, but that could have come available without a full user interface redesign. Your thoughts?

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Users Pwn MetaCritic Review SubmissionsUsers Pwn MetaCritic Review Submissions

November 5, 2008November 5, 2008| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 11:34 pm

Although we’ve found Metacritic a userful resource for game reviews, many folks have gone on a user submission rampage to discredit games that haven’t even launched yet. Their first attack was on LittleBigPlanet followed by Resistance 2, now their hitting Gears of War 2.

While Gears of War 2 has a Metacritic score of 94/100 the user’s have reviewed it to be a 3.5 out of 10, with a bright red box around the user review due to its low nature we’re sure. Although users are free to give their own honest representation of the game from their perspective, Gears of War 2, as of the review dates, hasn’t been released yet – these reviews are bogus.

This style of attack was popularized in Spore, when Amazon got nailed with poor reviews of the game because Spore’s “Draconic” DRM made people angry. However, it’s more reasonable for people to voice their opinion on a known issue with a game; Gears of War 2 review spamming is just mean.

We use Metacritic as guidance when we do our gaming podcast to understand what games are rated in the industry, but we don’t use user reviews as our main guide. There are plenty of folks out there that may utilize these reviews in more seriousness because they may feel journalists reviews are tainted by advertisers or “the man” and want the common gamers opinion.

The common gamer cannot possibility be reviewing Gears of War 2 before the title has arrived. This is bogus. Metacritic has this to say:

“My advice for our faithful users is to focus your attention on the Metascore for this game and not the thousands of user votes, most of which have been submitted before said users have played the game. This is a gaming community, and if people want to stuff the ballot box, there’s not much I can do at this point. When we upgrade the registration requirements for participation on the site in the near future, this type of thing won’t happen. We’ll post the full legitimate user reviews upon the game’s release. As always, thanks for using the site.” (1up)

So, to those looking for holiday gaming gifts, keep this in mind while you start hunting down games you’ll want to buy.

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Mega Man 9: Initial Impressions (Xbox 360)Mega Man 9: Initial Impressions (Xbox 360)

October 4, 2008October 4, 2008| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 2:05 pm

With a few hours of Mega Man 9 under my belt I’ve got to admit, this game is FREAKING HARD. I’ve played many games since the original Mega Man series was released on the NES and later on the SNES and nothing compares to Mega Man 9 in terms of sheer difficulty. This new franchise title looks and acts like the original with all the glitches, colors, bleeps and effects of the original games.

This game is much like chasing your kids around the yard, you forget how “old you are.” Mega Man 9 challenges reflexes, hand-eye coordination, patience and persistence. You are constantly awarded with death upon death and level restarts. Just when you think you’re getting close to a leader you’re actually just encountering a harder portion of the stage.

Between the start of a stage and the final boss you’ll encounter larger single-screen microbosses who challenge your patience and skills. As it turns out, I’ve got very little of both attributes. Upon defeating a little boss I am handed another like boss which is a little tougher. Upon defeating this slightly tougher boss (after many level restarts) I’m rewarded with yet another more difficult microboss.

Mega Man traditionally allows you to wonder all of the selectable stages out of the gate but each one gets easier as you build your characters weaponry. The trick is finding that “easy” level to get you to a boss, defeat said boss and acquire a weapon of mass awesomeness. Alas, I’ve done none of these.

You can find online video walk-throughs on the Internet which can give you tips for getting around the stages but the end result is the same: patience, persistence and accuracy. Mega Man 9 teaches you that nobody is a game master without consistent practice.

The first time through a stage is a destructive mess of failure. As you restart the stage over and over you’ll learn some of the tricks to getting you through the initial enemies without taking damage. You’ll build up your arsenal of tricks for hitting enemies before they’re on the screen and mashing the fire button to freedom… until you hit your first spike.

Spikes are the bane of the Mega Man character. Mega Man isn’t a fan of little pointy objects which result in instant death. You can hit the jump button quickly for shorter jumps and longer for bigger jumps; jumping technique is required to move you through spike infested levels.

You learn quickly to never turn your back on an enemy. Turn around, ever so slightly, and walk back on the side-scrolling screen and forward again will result in the rebirth of all enemies you’ve killed. This includes bomb wielding birds, rock tossing baddies and hells fury in the form of red and green cannons.

If you’re looking to discover all the ways you can possibly lose in a game, feel your inner child emotionally crushed under the weight of 8-bit bad asses, Mega Man 9 is the game for you. The achievements will make you laugh and the difficulty will invoke that old controller tossing nostalgia.

Mega Man 9 is a challenge. If you wish to take on this challenge and prove your 8-bit weight in the world of high resolution graphic fairy tales this may be the title for you!

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Casual Gamer Chick’s Peggle Nights Review!Casual Gamer Chick’s Peggle Nights Review!

September 16, 2008September 16, 2008| schommerschommer| 0 Comment| 4:42 pm

Last year Popcap developed Peggle, a title which received 2007 casual game of the year and dozens of media and industry accolades. Now, Popcap has produced the next game in the Peggle series called Peggle Nights. If you’ve never played Peggle, you can read a full review of the game as it will apply to Peggle Nights as well.

It’s tough to think Popcap can improve upon a sleeper success but it just might be possible. Peggle Nights brings back the famous Peggle masters with their classic power-up moves and increases the master count by one with a new Squid Peggle master known as “Marina.” In this installment, you’ll experience another 60 newly designed levels with five stages per Peggle master, this time with a “dream world” theme.

Peggle Nights is as close to an expansion as you can get without directly calling it an expansion. At first glance, you’ll probably say to yourself “this is Peggle with new levels” and, for the most part, you’re on the right track. Popcap stuck to the magic that made the first title a hit, including the same characters, the same game play elements and the same addictive quality.

Our first impressions were a bit lack luster as we spent time looking for how the game differs from the original. Six or so stages into the the game it started to grab our attention much like the original title did, causing everything from addictive shakes and strong desires to continue playing. Peggle Nights matures the level design greatly, stages are crisp artwork backgrounds with many animated pegs and bricks which you’d only find in later tough stages in the original game.

Head over to CasualGamerChick.com to read the full review!

Read on for full press release details.

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