Category: Xbox One

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“System Shock Pinball” for “Pinball M” And “Pinball FX” Review

 

Released in 1994, the cyberpunk sci-fi first-person shooter System Shock has since become one of the most influential games of the last thirty years. Not only did it inspire numerous spiritual successors (BioShock, Thief) and other sci-fi shooters (Half-Life, Deus Ex), but also third-person games in the stealth action (Metal Gear Solid) and survival horror genres (Resident Evil).

And yet, it is considered more a cult curiosity than a known classic among many gamers, especially those who didn’t play it when it came out…or weren’t alive at the time.

Which makes it all the more curious, and a pleasant surprise, that System Shock is being honored by the good people at Zen Studios with the release of System Shock Pinball, an add-on for their games Pinball M and Pinball FX (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Switch, PC).

Doubly so since the table is as ’90s as the original game.

Continue reading ““System Shock Pinball” for “Pinball M” And “Pinball FX” Review”
Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown” Review

 

As a fan of acrobatic action games, I’ve been waiting 14 years for Ubisoft to make another Prince Of Persia in the vein of 2010’s The Forgotten Sands.

But as someone who goes back with this series to the days of old, when it was a side-scrolling hack & slash action game, I’ve also been waiting 21 years for Ubisoft to make a Prince Of Persia that brings me back to when I used to play the original and 1993’s Prince Of Persia 2: The Shadow And The Flame.

Well, twenty-five year old me can now rest easy, as Ubisoft have given us Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC), which is not only the best Prince Of Persia game since Sands, but the best side-scrolling one since Flame.

Continue reading ““Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown” Review”
Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

The Worst Video Games Of 2023

 

Sure, 2023 wasn’t as good a year for video games as 2022 (few years are, especially lately). But there were a bunch of really fun games, as you can see from my  “Best Video Games Of 2023” list.

But it was just as bad, as you can see from the following list of my least favorite games of the year (which I present in the order I played them).

Continue reading “The Worst Video Games Of 2023”

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

The Best Video Games Of 2023

 

Though not as good as the year before (few years are), 2023 was still a really good year for video games. Or at least for the kind of games I like to play.

Here, in the order I played them, are my favorite games of 2023.

Continue reading “The Best Video Games Of 2023”
Categories
Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Outcasts” Author Troy Denning

 

Having read nearly all of the novels based on the Halo games, and having interviewed many of the people who’ve written them, I’ve always thought of these books (and the games, and the comics…) as sci-fi space opera stories. But in the following email interview with Troy Denning, the author of seven Halo novels — including the newest, Halo: Outcasts (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) — he explains why these books (and games, and comics…) are more hard science fiction and space marine stories than anything operatic.

Continue reading “Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Outcasts” Author Troy Denning”
Categories
PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Crash Team Rumble” Review

 

One of the things that always kills my enthusiasm for multiplayer games is how some people take them so seriously. Maybe I’m weird, but I don’t like being yelled at because I didn’t do something exactly right or don’t have the skills of a professional gamer. It’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed Crash Team Rumble (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One), which is such a weird, goofy, cartoony game that you’d have to be a huge dick to take it seriously.

Continue reading ““Crash Team Rumble” Review”
Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Diablo IV” Review

 

Expectations can be tough, especially when a lot of time has passed. Just ask George Lucas about The Phantom Menace. Or Axl Rose about Chinese Democracy. Or George R.R. Martin — no, don’t bother him.

Or, you could just ask the good people at Blizzard who made Diablo IV (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC), which comes eleven long years after 2012’s Diablo III (and, well, a year after the wrongly convicted Diablo Immortal). Especially since Diablo IV is not a huge jump forward the way Diablo III was over 2000’s Diablo II.

But while Diablo IV may be more of a refinement than a reinvention when it comes to this series’ third-person hack & slash / bow & arrow / magic spell action, it still ends up being as effortlessly addictive as the most recent installment. And Diablo III.

Continue reading ““Diablo IV” Review”
Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum” Review

 

Of all the questions I had after reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, not once did I ever wonder what Gollum was up to in the years between them. Mostly because I just assumed he’d spent them in his cave, eating sushi, listening to Led Zeppelin, and lamenting the loss of his precious. But having played the deeply flawed third-person stealth action game The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC), which covers this time period, but is a complete fabrication and not based on anything Tolkien wrote, I find myself even less interested in Gollum’s sad little life.

Continue reading ““The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum” Review”
Categories
PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Crypt Of The NecroDancer” Table for “Pinball FX” Review

 

In all my years of reviewing the pinball tables made by Zen Studios for their virtual pinball games Zen Pinball and Pinball FX, and their sequels (and it’s a lot of years), the only tables I’ve done have been ones based on movies, TV shows, and video games that I was already familiar with. Not on purpose; they just never made any games based on movies, shows, or games I didn’t watch or play. But that changed recently with the release of the Crypt Of The NecroDancer table for Pinball FX (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X /S, Xbox One, PC), which is based on a roguelike rhythm game that I’ve heard of but not played (it’s not my kind of thing). But as I quickly learned from playing this pinball table, you need not be a fan of the original game, or even know anything about, to enjoy this virtual pinball machine…though it helps if you like old school pinball tables (and have Google).

Continue reading ““Crypt Of The NecroDancer” Table for “Pinball FX” Review”