If you own both PS4 & X1, I’d suggest playing Unity on the X1 and Syndicate on the PS4. For whatever reason, the PS4 version of Unity was so buggy it was nearly unplayable, while the X1 did not have those issues. Things switched for Syndicate, with the X1 version being frustratingly bad, and the PS4 version working fairly well.

Assassin’s Creed…[Read more]

We can’t judge things only on what we remember, because story and cutscenes have a better chance of being stored in your memory than moment-to-moment gameplay. Tetris on the GameBoy could have consumed your life for 6 straight months with it’s masterful design, but you don’t remember the actual play of it as well as even a crappy scene in a…[Read more]

I think my response to that is the same as my response above. I think the mechanics of the game shouldn’t be the only focus, there has to be something to pull it all together. When you think of great games, what do you remember? Take some of your favorite games of all time and analyze them. I bet you will find that the gameplay isn’t the reason…[Read more]

I bought a bunch of discounted games on Steam recently, and I also bought Gang Beasts at regular price (a game that’s been on my wishlist for a long time). I just couldn’t wait any longer. I liked it so much, I bought an extra controller for my PC so I could play multiplayer and then downloaded a program to let me use my PS4 controllers so I could…[Read more]

I bought a bunch of discounted games on Steam recently, and I also bought Gang Beasts at regular price (a game that’s been on my wishlist for a long time). I just couldn’t wait any longer. I liked it so much, I bought an extra controller for my PC so I could play multiplayer and then downloaded a program to let me use my PS4 controllers so I could…[Read more]

“However, with that being said, I don’t believe that video games should primarily focus on gameplay.”

I get the feeling you misspoke here. Gameplay should be the primary focus for most games, and I would argue that everything great you described from Silent Hill 2 is all in service of that wonderfully dreadful gameplay. In a movie, the camera a…[Read more]

See, I think “sandbox” and “open world” describe two different things. Open world is the least helpful of the two, but it simply describes a go-anywhere do missions at your own pace approach like in Xenoblade Chronicles X, Burnout Paradise or L.A. Noire. Sandbox means you create the worlds you play in or the things you play with, like Minecraft, Ke…[Read more]

Something I think adds to this confusion is that there are multiple ‘gameplay styles’ that are the exact same thing, like Sandbox and Open World, they’re the same damn thing, why do we act as if they’re different?

Plus, I think of gaming as a form of storytelling for most games, which in my opinion grants that game the right to use vocabulary…[Read more]

Something I think adds to this confusion is that there are multiple ‘gameplay styles’ that are the exact same thing, like Sandbox and Open World, they’re the same damn thing, why do we act as if they’re different?

Plus, I think of gaming as a form of storytelling for most games, which in my opinion grants that game the right to use vocabulary…[Read more]

True, and for those games it works (well…maybe for the former better than the latter). But the games that are more game-y, for lack of a better term, there isn’t much in the vocabulary that allows a formal critique to feel unique to the medium. At least not fully, even though we’re getting closer every year.

Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

As to the topic at hand, I’m currently trying to run through the entire Assassin’s Creed series once again. It remains a favorite series of mine, even though the most recent installments seem to miss a lot of what made the older games so great in the first place. Starting from…[Read more]

No, Lara can’t get away with it either. I’ve heard that defense, but her games have been criticized for almost the same issue. One minute she’s struggling with the thought of taking an animal’s life, and then in the gameplay you’re blowing animals up with explosive arrows. On the one side she’s conflicted about killing people, but on the other…[Read more]

You’d be surprised how many people I’ve encountered that hold this belief wholeheartedly. It’s absolutely baffling to me.

That’s like saying food should only focus on being digestible.

I actually was able to completely sneak by a few enemy fights during my play time, so it’s a completely viable option now in Uncharted 4. It’s extremely difficult, yes, but not impossible. And it’s one of those things that fall into gameplay and story segregation, which happens in a lot of games. Sometimes it’s acceptable, and other times it’s…[Read more]