Reviewed by: Jamaal Ryan
Chop, bludgeon, shoot, die. Chop, bludgeon, shoot, die. While this cycle of extreme violence is the bread and butter of Hotline Miami (minus the hypnotizing beats and colorfully hazed 16-bit pixels), Dennaton’s cult classic was damn near perfect, merited by both its synergistic novelty and sublime execution on the top-down, twin-stick shooter sub-genre. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, however, is nowhere near as modest or as lean as the original as it’s characteristically manic in every way shape and form. It’s talented, charming, attractive, and a hell of a lot of fun, but it’s also overly ambitious, tangibly incohesive, and carries on for far too long. Read more.

CAN ANTI-SOCIAL PLAYERS STILL ENJOY EVOLVE?

No comments

Thursday, March 5, 2015


By Jamaal Ryan
As Evolve began its rapid transformation from an intangible, freshly announced concept into a frequently played, comprehensible love-child of Turtle Rock, there was plenty of skepticism surrounding the developer's approach towards four versus one asynchronous multiplayer design. Would Evolve be unbalanced thanks to the Wraith? Would Evolve feel complete if you didn't opt in for the obnoxious pre-order bonuses? Would Evolve ever live up to being the second coming of the co-op driven shooter after the studio’s success with Left 4 Dead? All of these were valid concerns, especially considering the worrisome alpha and beta, which quickly revealed discrepancies in this angelic silhouette.
Leading up to its release, the coverage of Evolve was borderline idealistic, with like-minded members of the press asking questions about coordination, verbal cues and advanced team strategies, all of which the type of player Evolve was catering to would want answers for. They are the party chat goers, the Battlefield clansters, and the high-fiving tea baggers. But I’m not one of those players. I play multiplayer games for little more than self-merit, and I find that the most effective use of my mic is to silence the voices coming out of my television. I am not a social player. Yet this is a social game. So here's the question I asked: Could players like me, isolated competitors, enjoy a game like Evolve? Read more.

TITAN ATTACKS! REVIEW

No comments

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Reviewed By: Jamaal Ryan
The name “Titan Attacks” might be a bit misleading to some. Amongst numerous games that have made use of the word “titan”, including Puppy Game’s very own and more appropriately named Revenge of the Titans, Titan Attacks! is simply a straightforward Space Invaders game built for the modern indie era. Bold neon pixel art mixed with solid shooting flair and dash of current video game trends encapsulate what this bit-sized arcade title – now brought over to the 3DS from Steam and PlayStation platforms – has to offer. Read more.