Author: Colter Palen

After running, gunning, and grunting in the Duke’s boots for a week I’ve been trying very hard to pick out the one element of the game that I disliked the most. The story is a strong competitor for first, because its quality suggests that 3D Realms (or one of the other four games studios that developed this title) kidnapped a group of hyper-active teens, force fed them Mountain Dew and action movies for a week, and then locked them in a room until something resembling a plot and dialogue were scratched into the walls. Then there is the gameplay, which…

A woman, beaten and bruised, lies dead across a set of railroad tracks; she has a crack in her skull and rope burns around her neck, but at least she still has her clothes on. Poor girl, she is just another notch on some sadist’s trophy belt. How many victims does this make anyway? The papers are calling the killer “The Werewolf”; people are in a panic. We have to catch this person. From the crime scene we check out her known hang out spots – bars, liquor stores, and back alleys; the places she called home. The store owner…

In the months and weeks leading up to Brink’s release, I had enveloped myself in the developer diaries and gameplay videos that had been released by the game developer, Splash Damage. I was intrigued by its originality; Brink ambitiously blended parkour-style movement, classed-based gameplay (ala Team Fortress 2), a blended campaign/multi-player experience, and a very stylized look. It was shaping up to be something new and wholly different from the standardized online experience of console shooters like Call of Duty or Halo, and it was a change I was ready for. Different doesn’t always mean better though, and trying out…

There are few games worth beating in a single sitting; the original Portal was one of them. The game was fun yet challenging, original yet well developed, and the deadpan humor brought on by the AI “GlaDOS” made it one of the most memorable games of 2007. Since then, gamers have had a field day creating their own mods and diabolically hard test chambers, “Still Alive” became a regular song on many playlists, and phrases like “ the cake is a lie” have become commonplace. The short story and intriguing ending left gamers wanting more though, and after seeing the…

Remember that part in Fight Club when Tyler Durden poured lye on Jack’s hand and Jack trashed about in pain begging Tyler to make it stop? Jack thought he knew what rock bottom was, but he was wrong and Tyler had to enlighten him. Using this scene as a metaphor is the best way I can describe my experience with Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops. Back in 2007, a game developer called Metropolis Software released Infernal, a game so bad that I returned it after only playing for twenty minutes. It was horrible; the camera was broken, the story didn’t make…

Since Modern Warfare’s release back in 2007, the Call of Duty franchise has been dominating the FPS market and destroying previous sale record with each new release. Currently, Black Ops is dominating the online-shooter experience; everyone is playing it, including me. I am honestly getting tired of it though.

One thing that has always bothered me about the modern military FPS’ is that it singles out the character you play as too much. An example of this can be found in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in which you take on the role of Private Ramirez (a private, mind you) and proceed to take back DC while your squad mates sit back and watch. The problem I have is that there is nothing special about Ramirez, except that he only needs a few seconds to heal from bullet wounds, and that makes some of the missions he pulls…

Americans have always been fascinated by the zombie apocalypse, and why not? With the right tools and expertise, the zombie infestation could be a proverbial playground. When this line of thinking comes up in conversation, the same question is always asked: What would you do? It’s fun to contemplate, partially, because we all know that zombies aren’t real and that particular apocalypse could never happen. War is real though, it has been around since the dawn of man, and it has been fought on nearly every square inch of the earth’s soil. Therefore, is it really so farfetched to think…

As the blight consumes Ferelden, thousands flee for their lives; many perish, but some make it to the neighboring kingdom of Kirkwall. Among them is Hawke, an individual whose influence will soon determine the fate of the city. As you witness his/her/its rise to power you’ll experience action (to an extent), romance, tragedy, betrayal, and load screens…so very many load screens.

As you trek through an abandoned building, you notice the light shining through the cracked ceiling, and except for the creaking floor below you, all is quiet…too quiet. Suddenly, a faint voice yells “KILL’EM,” and swarms of mutated bandits wielding bloodied axes start sprinting at you from their hiding places. You fire a grenade into the chest of the pack leader and boot him into a group of his friends before pressing the detonator. Since they’re only a couple left after that, you decide to have some fun. The leash (kind of a laser/whip) still has some charge in…

If you’re a console gamer, or hang out with someone who is, you’ve probably noticed that the little plastic guitar in the corner of the room has been collecting dust, and with the recent death of the Guitar Hero franchise, it’s apparent that publisher Activision has also noticed. Some are calling this the beginning of the end for rhythm games, while others are scolding Activision for slowly killing the genre by oversaturating the market with titles, and I’m sure there are some who are happy to see the franchise go. As a longtime fan of rhythm games, I wonder what’s…

So Albert Wesker, Doctor Doom, and M.O.D.O.K walk into a bar… Well, it took more than a decade, but “Fate of Two Worlds,” the third installment in the Marvel vs. Capcom series is finally here, and while Capcom delivered a great fighting game that will appease both the hardcore crowd and the newcomers, they left out several characters and game features that may leave some disappointed.

When Reality Pump released Two Worlds in the fall of 2007, the game was noted by many critics as an ambitious game that fell flat due to its overwhelmingly unpolished and glitch-ridden delivery. My experience with the game was very similar. Coming fresh from the gameplay offered in the 2006 release The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, I had high hopes that Two Worlds would continue to satisfy my RPG needs. Sadly, I returned the game shortly after first starting it up. In many ways, Two Worlds 2 is the same as its predecessor in terms of shortcomings, but it does…

So, you’re walking down the blood covered hallway of a children’s daycare when suddenly the lights go out and your dead girlfriend starts whispering “twinkle twinkle little star” in your ear. The gun in your hand only has one charge left, and all you want is to make it to the next checkpoint or provisions stash, but then a necromorphed infant crawl from a box next to you and laughs, its explosive stomach ready to burst. You jump back and use your telekinesis to grab whatever you can to throw at the little abomination, a basketball. The baby goes limp…