the long and the short

Short Cuts: Games I tried but have nothing to say about

Lollipop chainsaw (360): I played until the end of the first level and retreated to let my teen son play. It feeds all of his needs in its endless repetition and grind-rewarding scoring. The jokes are funny the first time, and repeated endlessly, reducing great ideas to tiresome experiences. Compounded by intensely linear design, Suda51’s penchant for beating a horse to death with another horse is well represented.

Kingdoms of Amalur (360): Unfortunately a single player MMO, KOA:Reckoning is a beautiful boring mess. Boring quests crisscross massive empty levels, requiring more running than anything else. Designed for loot and level grind, I found it immediately tedious.

Majin & the Forsaken Kingdom: Beautiful design is hindered by hopelessly linear and counter-intuitive combat and puzzles. More than once I tried to use the tools supplied to solve a problem only to be stymied by invisible walls or wonky physics. With only one solution to any problem considered by the developers the game feels constrained, like playing inside the frame of a beautiful painting.


Long Cuts: Game I finished but have nothing to say about

Driver SF: Based on an insane and entertaining premise, Driver:San Francisco exercises the tropes of the genre by embedding them in buddy-cop movie. As the game becomes more and more surreal the cars become literal extensions of the story. Super fun and not long enough to become tedious.

Warhammer: Space Marine is a gore filled brawled that looks like Gears but plays like God of War. Wielding guns ranging from pistols to particle accelerators alongside a bevy of melee weapons, Space Marine drinks deep of the blood filled Warhammer lore. Delivered in an overly serious tone, Space Marine is a fun way to kill things.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution manages to feel like Deus Ex without actually playing like Deus Ex. While not a particularly attractive game and not a particularly good shooter it does offer enough agency to the player to give the illusion of choice. Beset by understandably reviled boss battles DX:HR is a great first step in reviving the franchise.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier mixes mechanics from cover-based shooters with the tactical squad control of Full Spectrum Warrior. Allowing the player to mark and execute enemies in much the same manner as Splinter Cell Conviction gives the stealth moments a fresh perspective. The interstitial story moments between missions contain good ideas poorly executed by ugly animations. Longer than most shooters the story is as incomprehensibly nonsense as any other modern shooter.