A new low for Matt as he uses his kids as an excuse to talk about Spyro with Insomniac head honcho Ted Price.
In this episode: Shadow of the Eternals, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Gran Turismo 6, Hellraid, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and much more!
Daily updates on video games and popular culture, along with Australia’s grooviest gaming podcast.
As a form of entertainment, games have certainly evolved beyond their simple roots. What began as a means of passing time has evolved into a medium worthy of recognition as a meaningful pursuit. Some games exist to entertain. Others serve as competitive sports. Then there are games like those in the Mass Effect series. Read the rest of this entry »
The Japanese arcades are a sight to behold. Machines lined up one after the other in all their old school glory. Their flashing lights are blinding in a way and inviting in another, so I take a seat and start playing a game called Boxcelios. My ship flows side to side, attempting to catch enemies in my firing arc as I hurtle across what can best be described as a luminescent sea. I bust through the outer armour of the latest one while the ‘ding!’ of the machine sounds and another enemy comes flying into view. The score counter sits at the top of the screen as I chase a new record. Read the rest of this entry »
Throughout I Am Alive’s long development cycle, the idea of surviving in an earthquake ravaged urban landscape remained a strong one. The title and initial trailers pointed to something more than a “blow up everything that moves” scenario. It looked like survival horror with a realistic edge. It hinted at the need for a man to find his way in a destroyed city, to battle the worst of humanity even as he chokes on poisonous dust. The game has finally arrived, albeit in downloadable form, and for the most part, it delivers on its promise.
The hunt for the ingredients to the perfect horror game is as arduous and trap-laden a path as the one we end up walking when that experience comes together. The rustling bushes. The distraction of fast moving shadows. Mundane combat that stumbles gracelessly into dull repetition. The shock of cheap scares. Those looking for the true call of horror find it somewhere else, wrapped up neatly in nine simple, blood ridden words. “Is it really going to make me do that?” As a community built Half-Life 1 mod, Cry of Fear arrives with as much an opportunity to solidify genre clichés as it does to break free from them. Fortunately it manages, early, to scare that other form of fear away. Read the rest of this entry »
