Contra is the blueprint for side-scrolling action games. They need to be tough as nails, have insane bosses, and usually have a lot of gore or some sort of inspiration from biomechanical art. Moreover, the Earth is under the control of a vast and formidable alien race. Iron Meat nails all of these and is a blast to play. The game can also nail all of these aspects and still fail in level design and gameplay. That’s thankfully not the case here.
As a stalwart soldier, your mission is to save Earth from an alien race that has taken over the Moon. There are nine unique levels in this game, each with varying lengths, enemies, and obstacles to overcome. The game is very pick-up-and-play friendly, as you just run forward and blast everything in sight; however, Iron Meat has a couple of things it does a bit differently. You can find ammo pickups inside objects. Occasionally, friendlies may drop them, or you may find them lying around. They are not commonly found, and if you die, you forfeit your weapon. The standard weapon is a rapid-firing machine gun that works well enough. Other weapons include different firing rates and patterns. There are also pickups to increase your score by 1,000.
In Iron Meat, you can shoot in eight directions. Another great feature is that you can hold down a trigger button to maintain your position while shooting in any direction. The game constantly presents you with enemies at a rapid pace. Some enemies, such as boxes with jaws, bugs, melee enemies, weird snakes, bats, and various other insane abominations, may be incorporated into the level itself. The enemy design is fantastic, and you get to know what each enemy does and how to kill them. Occasionally, following a specific order can also prove to be an effective strategy. You can also avoid enemy fire by lying down prone and shooting. Some levels will also test your platforming skills, featuring obstacles such as collapsing ceilings, death pits, and suspended platforms.
The bosses are really great. They have various attack patterns, and you get used to knowing when to attack. Some will chase you, while others will fly around you. Some are small, while others are massive, possessing multiple forms and phases. They all look grotesque and nightmarish, though. The game’s pacing effectively breaks up the action. There is a vertical level, followed by a level that emphasizes platforming, and then another level that presents a large number of enemies at once. You can unlock characters and swap body parts to create your own unique soldier. Once you complete the game, you can go through it again in mirror mode.
Although the game may appear to have less content compared to modern games, it truly pays homage to the classic 16-bit run-and-gun shooters. Most of those games featured a mere half dozen levels and lacked additional modes. Iron Meat does have a two-player co-op mode, which is a nice addition, but I feel there’s a lot of content here for the asking price. Going through and learning all of the attack patterns and enemies is fun, and then getting more points on higher difficulties can be a fun challenge. You can complete the game in less than two hours, but those two hours are filled with enjoyment.
Overall, Iron Meat nails pretty much everything you would want in a 16-bit run-and-gun shooter. Iron Mean boasts massive bosses, captivating soundtracks, copious amounts of gore, diverse levels, and exceptional controls. There’s not much Iron Meat does wrong outside of the occasional straightforwardness of some levels. This is one of my favorite games in the genre, and you shouldn’t miss out.
Some of the best storytelling comes from the least expected places. Nobody anticipated that DONTNOD would become a masterclass in storytelling. Square Enix’s publishing of DONTNOD was a risk, and no one anticipated such a feat from a publisher arm of such stature. I played the original back in 2014 and fell in love with its characters, atmosphere, setting, and story. The game is a supernatural tale grounded in modern times in a quiet fictional town of Arcadia Bay in the Pacific Northwest. At the time I lived in Southern California, just 60 miles north of Los Angeles. I had no idea that the place I fell in love with would become my home ten years later.
The story of Max Caulfield and Chloe Price is one of the best told in gaming. The writing is fantastic and portrays feelings and love for these two friends like no other game can. The combination of settings, sound, ambience, and choice-based storytelling creates a perfect setup that is difficult to match or surpass. Life is Strange has some of the deepest decision-making in gaming. These choices have profound repercussions in the game and feel as heavy as real-life choices you would make for yourself. Choosing between siding with an angry stepfather or joining in on the lashing could determine whether you get help when your life is in danger or not later on. The excellent thing about the choices here: You can’t tell what the outcome will be. Max makes a comment after each choice, and if you rewind and choose the other option, you’re just as clueless and worried as to whether you made the correct choice.
Max possesses supernatural powers that enable her to jump through time by focusing on photos and also rewind time. If you make a choice, you can rewind and choose again, but the outcome won’t play out here. You have to go based on pure instinct and forethought. Relationships with game characters and their feelings will bias you. Some characters may feel like you want the worst to happen to them, but is that the best choice for everyone? The game’s time-bending storytelling captivates you as you enter chapter three. Max starts visiting alternate realities, and her irresponsibility with this power comes to fruition… or does it? The cycle of rewinding makes Max’s nose bleed, and she passes out, not remembering what happens. Her irresponsible and rebellious friend, Cloe, is the polar opposite of Max’s own personality, but do you sacrifice their friendship for the better of everyone or selfishly keep your friends?
Given that the original game is already 10 years old, I will disclose some spoilers here. If you don’t want to read about them, then skip ahead. I want to delve deeper into the minor details of Life is Strange’s story and conduct a somewhat psychoanalytic analysis of it. The game’s release sparked controversy because it exposed the vulnerable side of minors. As teenagers, we all experienced awkward moments involving sexuality. There are a few scenes toward the end that show Max and the others kidnapped and tied up. Many people accused DONTNOD of being pedophiles or “creeps,” despite the lack of any explicit sexual content. Of course, we see these teenagers making out and kissing, but there’s nothing inherently sexual about it. DONTNOD’s portrayal of these teenagers, stripped down to their core and shattered with fear like animals, can truly unnerve people. I also find that the lack of explanation as to where Max got these powers is baffling. Where did they come from? Is this all imaginary? Is this part of the entire encompassing process of teenagers pretending or over-exaggerating a lot of what happens in their life? Is Max dreaming all of this? There’s a lot of interpretation left to the player, and to this day no one can explain it much.
Although the writing is engaging, it contains a significant amount of outdated slang. Slang from the 1980s and 90s is no longer relevant today, let alone in 2014. Max will employ phrases such as “Shaka Brah,” and refer to Cloe as “Totally Punk Rock,” a term that is both cringeworthy and outdated. While the voice acting is mostly good, it varies in quality, with some performances being truly bad and some exhibiting strange tones for the portrayed expressions. However, it doesn’t take away the overall theme of childhood nostalgia. And that’s what really sells me on Life is Strange. I never had the opportunity to attend private high school, live in dorms, and experience the adventures these teens have in this game. I always yearned for this experience and romanticized it. I still feel nostalgic and warm from the scenes. Just teens being real teens. Hiding in a junkyard and playing with things they aren’t supposed to. Engaging with unconventional individuals, skipping school, and so on are common practices. It seems weird, but we all had those moments or yearned for them as teens. DONTNOD brings that out in all of us.
The soundtrack is one of the best ever written for a game. Jonathan Morelli’s original music reaches deep into your heart, evoking emotions you may not have known existed. The licensed soundtrack rings with tones of nostalgia, the Dog Days of Summer, and days gone by. The soundtrack evokes memories of a simpler, more innocent era that you long to revisit. Life is Strange’s art style resonates deeply with its use of watercolor and smudges, depicting a past that is often out of focus, much like our own. We can recall the specific details, yet the distance and finer details are consistently blurred.
This is primarily a walking simulator with minimal puzzle elements. There are some rewind puzzles that allow you to get optional photos for achievements or to get better dialogue options to help you along in the story. There isn’t much gameplay here, but you aren’t coming into this for that. The remastered version of this game is quite disappointing, with only minor changes such as increased brightness and slightly improved lighting. This game was very dated when it released and is even more dated today. The lip-syncing remains unimproved, and the facial animations exhibit extreme stiffness. Additionally, the game occasionally introduces bugs, crashes, and glitches, and there is currently no update available for the PS5. The high-resolution mode runs at 30 FPS, and while that’s fine for this type of game, it’s not necessary for the hardware in the PS5.
Overall, Life is Strange Remastered may not entice returning fans, but it’s an excellent option for those who are new to the game. The game is one of the best stories ever told, with some fantastically written characters, an amazing atmosphere and setting, and some of the best music ever composed.
Who hasn’t played Half-Life 2 yet? I still have a free coupon from 2007 in my Steam account, but I can’t give it away because everyone I know or have spoken to owns HL2. The game industry and people’s minds haven’t forgotten Half-Life, but it’s been on the back burner for a while now. Every time a new false rumor for a Half-Life 3 emerges, people perk up, and the game becomes popular for a bit and fizzles out. There have been many community updates, such as the famous Half-Life 2: Update that improved visuals and fixed bugs. However, Valve has finally released their definitive version of the game 20 years later.
The Anniversary Update incorporates several significant improvements, including enhanced resolution light cubes, the correction of G-Man’s green eyes during the intro, the ability to choose between original and improved blood and flame effects, a more contemporary user interface and menu, an additional 3.5 hours of commentary, the incorporation of both episodes, and additional features. These quality of life improvements make a huge difference and make the game more palatable to play by today’s standards. Half-Life 2, in general, is a fantastic game with a flow unlike any other game I have played.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary, I am going to do a full review of Half-Life 2 through modern-day eyes. Although I didn’t have the best experience when I first played the game on a business desktop in 2005, it was well-optimized for the time and ran smoothly on potato computers. This was the game that prompted me to finally download Steam. People tend to forget how awful it was back in the day, when it constantly crashed and updates would break both the software and the games that required it. While today’s gamers adore Steam, the gaming community didn’t hold the software in high esteem 20 years ago.
As for the game itself, the modern UI is a welcome change, especially on Steam Deck. The game now supports controllers properly with no need to remap anything. You can choose from a grid or carousel-style weapon menu too, which is a nice change. The visuals are sharp and crisp at higher resolutions, and the game overall looks very clean. It has aged incredibly well, and this is thanks to Valve’s Source Engine and the way everything scales up for higher resolutions. As for playing the game, it feels better than ever. The game takes place shortly after the first game, where Gordan wakes up mysteriously on a train bound for City 17, and features a now-famous intro by G-Man himself. The game is a master class on in-game storytelling. Instead of taking away the players’ controls and inserting pre-rendered cutscenes, the game tells everything through subtle details in the surrounding world.
The beginning of the game is the best example of this. Valve also teaches players how to play the game through natural in-game dialogue and simple puzzles at first. The Metro cop, who instructs you to pick up the can at the start of the game, teaches you how to use physics. The inclusion of this now infamous line ensured that players understood their capabilities. This may seem dated today, but in 2004, physics were very CPU heavy, and most high-end processors struggled with them. People had to learn how to pick up objects using real physics back then. Barney explains the first stacking puzzle, instructing you to stack boxes in order to escape a window.
The game’s natural progression is stellar. The game’s long segments ensure that you always feel like you are moving in the world and making progress in real time. Each area is an hour or two long, and you progressively make your way toward the Citadel and Dr. Kleiner’s lab. The hoverboat area is quite lengthy, giving you the impression that you’re actually traveling to your destination in real time. However, these lengthy segments are not monotonous. Valve puts little tidbits in the game that the player can do or ignore. You have the option to escape and obtain ammo or supplies from a passing house, but doing so could potentially lead to a firefight. There are hidden Lambda caches all over the game, and these really help and come in handy.
The transition from a vehicle to on-foot and back again significantly breaks up the pace. There aren’t many puzzles in the game, but there are some areas that require navigation of pipes and ladders and need a bit of thinking to find your way out. Every game introduces something new, whether it’s a weapon or the ability to command squads. While this is very simple and archaic by today’s standards, I found they mostly get in the way and rarely help outside of offering medkits and distracting enemies. Every game introduces new enemies, and just when you believe you’ve defeated them all, a new type emerges. The enemies range from Metro cops to zombies, and from Elite Combines to Striders. Weapons feel excellent and have a unique and distinct feel to weapons, such as the pistol, are not suitable for use in specific situations. It’s mostly useless after you get around half the guns in the game, and I rarely ran out of ammo. The more powerful weapons have limited ammo, so it’s crucial to use skill to ensure you hit everything, kill enemies, and avoid wasting ammo.
There are ammo crates, boxes, and medkits everywhere. While medkits are not a thing anymore in FPS games, they work well here. Gordon has the ability to recharge his HEV suit for armor purposes. Most of the game feels dated in terms of navigation. The entire game, including linear buildings, vents, doors that need to be opened, and tunnels, guides you along a linear path. Although the game may appear expansive and open at times, it actually follows a linear structure, which was the standard for first-person shooter games during that era. While other games such as Halo 2 set the standard, Half-Life 2 stands out for its organic progression structure and illusion of real-time progress in the world. The inclusion of physics such as needing to use the iconic Gravity Gun to pull a wooden beam from in front a door through a window to progress is something that FPS never really did.
Half-Life 2 has a distinct and unique sound and appearance. There are a lot of browns and beiges, but the game still has color in places. The coastline boasts a plethora of blue water, while Ravenholm is characterized by its dark hues of gray, dark metal, and aged wood. The sound design is iconic, from the HEV suit charging to the Metro cop and Combine radio chatter to the bleeps and bloops of the turrets, which were later used in Portal. The entire game exudes a distinct vibe, ranging from Gordan’s slick momentum to the physics and the firing of the weapons. Enemies respond well to weapon fire and ragdoll when dead or blown up. While there isn’t too much gore in the game there is a lot of blood. Enemies won’t gib at grenades, but you might see the occasional severed head.
The overall oppressiveness of the world of Half-Life and the Combine is palpable in this game. Every time you encounter a group of rebels, even if it’s just for a brief conversation, it’s a refreshing change from feeling alone and feeling like your assistance is fleeting. Ever since I was 15, this game has felt so lonely and melancholy. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t played through this game too many times over the years. Valve masterfully captures the sense of being a superhero, with everyone relying on you, and effectively conveys the dire consequences of making a mistake. The player bears the entire game’s burden.
The Anniversary Update may not seem like much to some. It’s not a remaster or remake, but rather a set of quality-of-life improvements that are not in any way detrimental. HL2 doesn’t need a remake as it works perfectly fine today. A remake would primarily serve as a cosmetic enhancement, but thanks to Steam Workshop’s implementation, we have access to mods that accomplish this for us.
Nominated Best Graphics, Artistic Best Atmosphere Best Multi-Platform Game Best Voice Acting Best Sound Design Most Exciting Return Best Multiplayer Game Game of the Year
Princess Peach: Showtime!
Nominated Best Nintendo Exclusive
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Nominated Best Nintendo Exclusive
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Nominated Best Nintendo Exclusive Best Reissue
Another Code: Recollection
Nominated Best Nintendo Exclusive
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Nominated Game of the Year Best PlayStation Exclusive Best Reissue Best Single Player Game Best RPG Best Original Music
Rise of the Ronin
Nominated Best PlayStation Exclusive Best Action Adventure Game
Persona 3: Reload
Nominated Best Reissue
Broken Sword – Shadows of the Templar: Reforged
Nominated Best Reissue Best Adventure Game
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Nominated Best Strategy Game
Frostpunk 2
Nominated Best Strategy Game
Shogun Showdown
Nominated Best Strategy Game
Age of Mythology: Retold
Nominated Best Strategy Game
Blazing Strike
Nominated Best Fighter
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection – Arcade Classics
Nominated Best Adventure Game Best New Character Best Atmosphere Best Story Best Indie Game
Riven (2024)
Nominated Best Adventure Game
Timemelters
Nominated Best Multiplayer Game
Destiny 2: The Final Shape
Nominated Best Multiplayer Game
Granblue Fantasy: Relink
Nominated Best Action-Adventure Game
Black Myth: Wukong
Nominated Game of the Year Best Action Adventure Game Best New Character Best Graphics, Technical
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Nominated Game of the Year Best Single Player Game Best RPG Most Exciting Return Best Graphics, Technical Best Voice Acting Best Story Best Multi-Platform Game
Animal Well
Nominated Best Platformer Best Indie Game
Nine Sols
Nominated Best Platformer
Anomaly Agent
Nominated Best Platformer
Momodora: Moonlit Farewell
Nominated Best Platformer
Dragon’s Dogma II
Nominated Most Exciting Return Best RPG Best Multi-Platform Game
Beyond Galaxyland
Nominated Best RPG
Mullet Mad Jack
Nominated Best Rogue-Like Best Shooter
Halls of Torment
Nominated Best Rogue-Like
BlazBlue: Entropy Effect
Nominated Best Rogue-Like
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island
Nominated Best Rogue-Like
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Nominated Best Platformer
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl
Nominated Best Shooter Best Multi-Platform Game Most Exciting Return Best Atmosphere
Well here we are. This is the hardest category to pick and there are so many factors at play. Do I award the game with the best gameplay, the best story, the best graphics, or only pick a combination of one or two. I actually decide based on value and fun and any game that was brave enough to innovate or revolutionize the genre as a whole.
How can the cutesy platformer win you ask? Well, by innovating and pushing a platform to do things it pushed back on for so long. For a while, Sony dominated the 3D platformer genre with the likes of Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, and Jak & Daxter. Astro Bot shows the suits at Sony that people care about their long lost properties and we need to bring them back. The game’s clear inspiration to Super Mario Galaxy is also not lost on Team Asobi. The games use of textures, fantastic physics and interia, and perfect level design create a game that I rarely ever get to experience anymore. A game that makes me not want to put the controller down, lose those couple of hours of sleep before or after work, and spend my entire weekends in front of my TV. Team Asobi did it and it’s something I haven’t experienced in well over a decade.
Indie games are what’s holding the game industry right now. It’s no longer AAA titles that get released every single month. The indie groups are the big events every year. There are festivals and online events held all year round celebrating indie titles. Some have had AA budgets while others are made by a single person. Indie games are where the heart and core of the game industry is right now and we need to protect and cherish this by buying the games that we like and love and supporting them. This has been a tale as old as time and many big games now started out as small indie titles such as Minecraft, Fez, Super Meat Boy, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Stardew Valley, Terraria, and and many more.
Balatro
Balatro is one of those games that nobody knew or heard about and suddently blew up. Not only are rogue-like games in vogue right now, but Balatro’s addictive gameplay, colorful retro visuals, and easy to learn, but hard to master style made it a recipe for success. It’s available on every platfrom out right now and recently got a physical release.
Atmosphere in a game doesn’t always need to be scary, but often it is. Some of the worst game to be in are horror titles, but bright and colorful RPGs can suck you into their world with fantastic architecture and lore. There are many ways a game’s atmosphere can be alluring or dreadful, but the combining efforts of sound design, music, and art make a difference.
You could easily say that this one was a no-brainer, but not so fast. Bloober Team has made quite a few horror titles and only a couple had an engaging atmosphere. Silent Hill already has one of the most oppressing and horrifying atmospheres out there and with this being the most recent and up to date game in the series we get next-gen flair to pull us in even more. Some may say this is something they have dreaded all along. Some may adore this. Silent Hill 2’s fog combined with the claustrophobic nature of the buildings and familiarity to everyday life puts us in a position in the game that feels all to close to home.
Multi-platform games are pretty common, but not all of them play the same across all systems. Most AAA games usually are well optimized on each platform, but this genre can also be considered a “freebie” for a game title. I don’t feel multi-platform games should be awarded toward a single console, thus this category.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Metaphor is a great RPG on any platform. Everyone has access to this great title and it’s well optimized on every system it is featured on. The Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series are blockbuster juggernauts that can’t seem to ever be bad. Whether it’s a remake, remaster, or new title, Atlus is a top tier RPG creator and it shows here.
It always fascinates me how games these days can be disappointing simply by just bad business practices. A game can be perfectly serviceable, but filled with predatory microtransaction or subscription model and completely ruin the experience. That’s been a trend lately. That, and games that over promise and under deliver or have ballooned budgets, but have nothing to show for it.
Star Wars Outlaws
After the success of the Jedi Survivor games by Respawn, it came has a big shock that this game was a dud. With a lackluster story, characters, and terrible stealth gameplay, this Star Wars game feels like a high budget phoned in mess and no one wanted it.
Great sound design is something that gives a game character and a unique tone that the visuals can’t. A game can look good, but sound generic and many JRPGs are a great example of this. Games like Gears of War, Halo, or Mario have great sound design as entire sound bites and effects are iconic and many people can replicate them on the fly.
It’s hard to replicate the soundscape that’s as iconic as Silent Hill. From the eerie and wonderfully composed industrial soundtrack to the screams, sirens, static, and wind effects even. Bloober Team pulled it off and made Silent Hill 2 and eerie place to be in. From the new effects like the weird scraping rusty metal sounds that play when enemies are nearby to the heartbeats, squishes, crunches of a pipe connecting with an enemy, and even the scraping sound of Pyramid Head’s sword. It’s haunting and incredibly well done. There’s nothing else out there like it.
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Try multiplayer. A lot of fun !