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Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/08/2013

Posted in: DS, iOS, Microsoft Consoles, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Retro Consoles, Sony Consoles, Switch, Xbox One. Tagged: capcom, ds, ghost trick, phantom detective. Leave a comment

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Release Date: 1/11/2011

Available On

The last great game I remember playing where you were a ghost was Geist for GameCube. Ghost Trick may not be an action-packed shooter, but it does have an interesting story with whacky characters and fun mechanics. You are trying to solve a murder mystery for yourself. You wake up as a ghost out of your body and need to find out who killed you and why. As you play through the 17 chapters, the story unfolds more and more and starts out as a gripping story until the very end, where it just falls apart and becomes hard to follow. Despite that, the game has great art and animation and is worth a playthrough.

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The main mechanic is playing as a ghost and being able to rewind time, change people’s fates, and manipulate objects. When someone dies, you can talk to their core, where you find out a little about them. You can then rewind time to 4 minutes before their death. Once you see the clip, it plays out again, but you must manipulate objects to prevent their deaths. This is a really neat mechanic and very original. These are all puzzles, and they get harder as the game moves on. One person may end up dying from a trap that was set up, and you have to stop one part of that trap before the person is killed. When you are in the ghost world, time stops, and you can see all the objects you can hop to. However, you have a limited reach, so you need to manipulate other objects to get closer, such as knocking stuff down, opening things, and various situations like that. The puzzles end up becoming multiple screens, and you sometimes have to travel to whole new areas mid-puzzle. You can travel around via telephone lines, but you must be on the phone when someone calls at a critical time to trace the call. This is all really neat and fun, but after a while, it kind of gets stale.

I hate to say this because this is a one-of-a-kind game on the DS. It uses the touchscreen in a unique way, but all you do is solve these ghost puzzles. There’s more talking than gameplay, which will bore impatient people. Some cutscenes can go on for nearly 20 minutes. When you do start playing, you are constantly interrupted with overly drawn-out dialogue to tell you what to do. A lot of the time, the puzzles can be nearly impossible to figure out or require constant trial and error. The occasional puzzle is thrown out there that is different—some are timed and some aren’t. Towards the end, you get to play as two different ghosts; one has the ability to swap objects. This adds another layer of depth and difficulty to puzzles, but most can be figured out after a few tries.

I actually got really attached to the characters, which is surprising. For the long length of the game (nearly 20 hours), the characters were well developed, but the big flaw was revealing everything in the final 3 chapters and then adding another complete twist at the very end to overcomplicate the story. It all flows perfectly fine until the end, when it just falls apart. It gets so confusing with all the characters and details you have to remember; they should have spread it out more. Despite this major flaw, this remains one of the most story-rich games on the DS. There are many puzzles in the game, and it is well worth a purchase, but the impatient may not like it.

Overall, Ghost Trick is a unique game with original game mechanics that are repeated way too often. The story and characters are great and memorable, but the story falls apart towards the end and gets convoluted. There is also zero replay value because there’s no collecting and no extra endings. Once you beat the game, you are done for good. I also didn’t like the poor balancing of puzzle difficulty and the high level of trial and error. If you can look past all this, you are in for one of the best games the DS has to offer.

Reviewed On

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/29/2013

Posted in: DS, Nintendo, Retro Consoles. Tagged: ds, Nintendo, spirit tracks, the legend of zelda. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Release Date: 12/7/2009

Available Exclusively On

Phantom Hourglass showed the world just exactly what the DS was capable of. It looked fantastic, used every single hardware feature, and had well-crafted puzzles and dungeons. Spirit Tracks continues that with trains, more clever puzzles, new weapons, and a longer game. Despite Spirit Tracks holding up to Zelda standards, it does have some flaws that hold it back a bit.

You start out like any other Zelda game, near Hyrule Castle. You’re a train engineer and need to go to the graduation ceremony performed by Princess Zelda. Zelda gets captured by an evil guy, and you have to save her. Typical Zelda and Nintendo stuff. The story is simple and not very interesting, but everyone loves Zelda for it’s clever puzzles and dungeons. Spirit Tracks has plenty of those, but before you dive into a dungeon, you are introduced to driving a train. Like the seafaring adventures of Windwaker and Phantom Hourglass, Nintendo thought it would be nice to do something on land. You can draw your route on the touch screen, and then you can adjust your speed. It’s kind of cool at first, especially when you get passengers, because you need to follow all the road signs, such as blowing your horn (done by pulling a string on the touch screen) and adjusting your speed. However, you aren’t just enjoying the scenery; you will get attacked on the tracks. The Spirit Train is equipped with a cannon to solve these issues, and your train has health. You can also shoot rocks around you for health and rupees.

Once you get into a dungeon you are in the meat of the game. They start out pretty easy with simple puzzles, but they get extremely tough later on. The Phantoms are back from Hourglass; you need to collect 3 Tears of Light in the dungeon to be able to let Zelda possess them and help you out. Yes, Zelda accompanies you in ghost form. The dungeons are multi-leveled. You will need to ascend and descend floors to access new parts of other floors. This back-and-forth was very confusing in Hourglass but is a bit less so here. The dungeons also get bigger and more complex. Toward the 6th and final temple, I had to resort to a walkthrough because I was completely lost. Some puzzles are so obscure that you will never figure them out. The various weapons you get are fun to use, but having to try all of them to figure something out can be frustrating.

Combat is also a bit frustrating. Sometimes the touch controls don’t do what you want. Using your whirlwind, bow, whip, sand wand, and sword is not just for puzzle solving. Some enemies are only weak to the boomerang, while others are weak to the whip. Some need multiple weapons to be defeated, but the menu system is annoying. Let me have a radial menu by holding the weapon icon; don’t make me go into a menu like I’m playing a SNES game. The same goes for platforming. Half the time, I died because Link would jump where I didn’t want him to. The game just gets so hard and frustrating towards the end that some people may not finish it.

At least the boss fights are fun and clever. They make use of both screens and require fast reflexes and timing to defeat. These bosses are just a lot of fun and feel satisfying to fight. There’s another neat thing, which is using the Spirit Flute to play songs. Once you complete a few dungeons, you will start to notice repetition setting in, and the game starts to feel stale. It mainly has to do with having to drive this train so damn much. You have to return the rails by finding rail maps in the spirit tower, which are a whole new set of dungeons. In all, there are 16 dungeons, which is about 10 too many. Not to mention all the monotonous and pointless side quests spread throughout the game, like stamp collecting, rabbit hunting, errand running, etc. I passed all these up because getting around on the train is a major pain. You can warp to other parts of the realm, but you still have to drive a long way to get there. It doesn’t help that there are enemy trains on the track, and sometimes it’s hard to predict where they are going. You can’t reverse fast enough, so if you get hit, you end up starting at the beginning of the map again.

Despite the minor flaws in Spirit Tracks, it’s very enjoyable and charming to play. When you get into the dungeons and dive into them, they feel very cleverly put together and are pretty fun to explore and solve. However, the length of the game isn’t suitable for portable play. Each dungeon takes over an hour to beat, which isn’t set up for quick plays. Any Zelda fan will fall in love with Spirit Tracks, but the impatient won’t.

WarioWare: Touched! – 8 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/24/2013

Posted in: DS, Nintendo, Retro Consoles. Tagged: ds, mini games, Nintendo, touched, warioware. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Intelligent Systems

Release Date: 2/14/2005

Available Exclusively On

Wario has always been a strange character. I didn’t really understand him or Waluigi, and I felt they were unlikable. I still don’t like either of them, but the WarioWare games have always been fun and wacky. Touched tried to utilize the unique features of the DS, such as the mic and touchscreen. I honestly feel this is the weakest WarioWare yet, with mini-games that are too obscure for the one-word instructions and some that even feel unresponsive. It doesn’t help that the game is so short that you can beat it in one sitting. I even felt the little stories were stupid as well.

The menu consists of icons that you can touch, ranging from “toys” to people who feature mini-stories. The stories are lame and make no sense, but in a bad way. You have to watch these stupid, long, unskippable cutscenes, and then you are thrown into a montage of mini-games. They range from slicing, tracing, pushing, pulling, spinning, poking, blowing, and various other acts with the DS hardware. Most feel appropriate for the hardware, but some are unresponsive. You will try to make an object move and feel like you aren’t getting anything done in the short 3-5 seconds you get for the game. It took me 2–3 tries for each level because the one-word instruction was too obscure to follow for these zany mini-games. The games are some of the weirdest yet, like a nude cherub statue urinating water on a mountain that’s on fire and other wacky stuff. Some mini-games are too simple, like popping bubble wrap, spinning objects to make them match, or even lighting candles. They start out super easy, then get extremely tough. Like all WarioWare games, you get four lives, and then it’s game over. The boss stages were really tough, and some were just frustrating.

Apart from that, the toys are just plain stupid. They last all of 5 seconds, and you never use them again. Things like making flan jiggle, banging on a piano, or blowing a little toy windmill. Why would you put these in a game? Maybe a 2-year-old would find them interesting, but no one above that age. It’s just a waste of space in which more mini-games could have been. There were just a lot of stupid ideas put into this game, and it was rushed to show people what the DS could do. If the game were longer or had better mini-games, it could have been something great.

As it is, Touched! is a decent rental for a day, and that’s it. The toys are lame, the games repeat often, and they are either too easy, too easy, or unresponsive. Some are even downright lame. It’s a shame because WarioWare is one of Nintendo’s unsung heroes in their library and needs more attention. If the game wasn’t so rushed, it would have been so much more.

Saints Row IV

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/18/2013

Posted in: Microsoft, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Retro Consoles, Sony, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: deep silver, directx 11, Microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, saints row iv, sandbox, Sony, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Deep Silver

Developer: Volition Inc.

Release Date: 8/20/2013

Available On

Saints Row has done a good job of being the best GTA clone ever made. Each game added more ridiculous gameplay and a completely humorous story. Despite that, Saints Row does a very good job of entertaining us with interesting ideas. Saints Row IV is the zaniest of them all, with superpowers, alien invasions, and computer simulations. The Saints are now in control of the United States, thanks to the main hero being the President. Various Saints characters fill other roles, like Kinsie being press secretary and Keith David being vice president. An alien ruler named Zenyak bursts in and starts destroying the White House and the planet. You get captured, are thrown into a computer simulation of Steelport, and need to escape. You start by rescuing your friends and devising a plan to stop Zenyak.

The main story brings you through some interesting gameplay choices, like in previous games. Av Tron-like level, a 2D brawler, mounted gun and RPG on-rails missions, and various others. It’s a lot of fun but really short. The game is full of too much filler, which is repetitive side quests after you rescue each homie. Instead of going around and doing the side missions on your own, they are dealt out in quests, so you actually end up doing them all. Each character needs you to do three sets of these monotonous side quests; after about the 15th time, I couldn’t take it anymore. Thankfully, the unique loyalty quests are interesting. At least you get cool unlocks for doing things like suits, weapons, powers, and vehicles. Besides main and side quests, there’s nothing else to do besides multiplayer.

The entire game is completely changed thanks to these superpowers. To make it believable, you are in a computer simulation, and the times when you are out, you don’t have them. You can run at lightning-fast speeds, jump 30 stories, use telekinesis, earthquake stomp, freeze blast, and various other superpowers. They are awesome and, surprisingly, work well in the game. You feel so powerful, and the need for driving around in cars becomes pointless because you can run 10x faster than driving. To unlock more powers, you need to collect special power-ups, which are scattered everywhere, but the same upgrades via money are the same. Honestly, not much has changed from The Third besides the powers and the story. The guns are nearly the same except the alien weapons are exact copies of regular weapons; the only difference is that they overheat. There are a few interesting weapons, like the Dubstep gun, which shoots deadly Wub Wubs at enemies. The Alien RPG is awesome, and there’s a tentacle bat. There is not much else in the weapons department, though. There are a few new alien vehicles, but nothing so new and amazing that you will forget the similarities from the last game.

The lack of changes even goes into customization and the graphics. The game uses the exact same engine as The Third, and there are hardly any new clothes or items to customize your characters with. This really feels like Saints Row 3.5 rather than 4. The game looks fairly dated, with some ugly textures and jerky animations seen in previous games. At least there are all-new mini-games, which kind of helps a bit. There are various mini-games ranging from on-foot races to giant tower climbing stretches, various other races, and a few games that revolve around your powers. After a few tries at each, you will be pretty bored with them, like in previous games. The fact that all the side quests push you through them makes it a borefest after so long.

There’s just an overall lack of uniquity and originality in Saints Row IV. It tries to use the same tricks as the past three games, and you soon realize they don’t work anymore. The dialog isn’t as catchy or funny, and the missions (even the main ones) can get really repetitive in between the occasional unique and exciting missions. There are many bugs and glitches in the game, as well as severe difficulty spikes, which can be very frustrating. There’s a lack of enemy variety, and the whole game at the end just feels very repetitive and redundant. Honestly, Saints Row needs another reboot, or the series may fall by the wayside.

That’s not to say the game isn’t worth playing. After some side quests, you will blow through the main missions and probably be done with the game. This one is more of a rental than a purchase. Newcomers may find a bit more replay value, but Saints veterans will put 20–30 hours into the game and call it quits. I love the superpowers and the whole alien invasion thing, but the lack of originality and new ideas kind of makes the series take a couple of steps back. Even the lack of new content hurts it more; this really just feels like a giant expansion of The Third rather than a true sequel.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse

Joe Danger 2: The Movie

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/04/2013

Posted in: Mac, Microsoft, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox 360. Tagged: 2, danger, joe, Microsoft, motorcycle, pc, physics, playstation, ps3, the movie, trials, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Hello Games

Developer: Hello Games

Release Date: 6/24/2013

Also Available On

Lights, Camera, Action! The three cliche words that everyone knows from childhood. You will hear these three words over and over again as you restart level after level to itch that completionist OCD. Joe Danger is full of hidden items, trial runs, and fast-paced and tense levels. Joe Danger also has a fun-level editor, but the impatient may not find much in this mode. There are extra deleted scenes for PC users, as well as improved graphics.

First, I have to say, I hate Joe. He’s an ugly, unlikeable character, and I hated playing as him every second I was in this game. With that said, the game itself is a lot of fun and can be really addictive. As you fly through the levels, you get to use various vehicles. Bicycles, quads, dirt bikes, jetpacks, jet skis, snowmobiles, skis—you name it. They all pretty much feel the same, with just varying degrees of speed, but the jetpack is a lot of fun. As you’re speeding around the levels, you can collect stars, clocks for time trials, letters that spell out DANGER, bananas, hit certain objects, do simple tricks, jump and duck, and an assortment of other little moves. These all add up to exciting and tense levels, but the game doesn’t come without its problems.

Some levels are extremely difficult, while others are way too easy; in fact, most are really easy, but finding every object in the level can sometimes be nearly impossible. If you don’t get every item in every level, you can blow through all six episodes and all the deleted scenes in just a few short hours. The game is light on content. I also didn’t like that some levels can’t be unlocked unless you do other things in the game, like build a level. I’m not a level-builder; I don’t have the patience or time for that, and many other people are the same way. Why lock out content and force me to use a mode I may not be interested in? I also felt the trick system was too simple and just got in the way. I’m trying to duck, jump, dive, and maneuver my way around the level; I honestly don’t need to be bogged down with stupid tricks. I also felt many levels repeated way too often; no manner of rearrangement helped.

These are minor issues, but by the end of the game, you end up getting bored of it. All the tricks and fun run out about 3/4 through, and you end up moving on to the next game. Joe Danger himself may be an unlikable character, but the game is worth every penny for a couple of days’ enjoyment. People who are patient enough for the level editor will find even more value. The graphics in Joe Danger are actually pretty nice, and the PC effects look really good. You don’t need the most powerful rig out there to run it, but the additions are fine.

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Overall, Joe Danger 2 is a fun motorcycle physics game and is perfect for people who think trials are too hard. There is enough content to justify the price, and there are plenty of hidden items to find for the completionist. The level editor is just icing on the cake. If the game wasn’t so easy, had too many unbalanced levels, and didn’t have too much repeated content, it could be so much more. The trick system feels like it gets in the way, and Joe Danger himself is a horrible character. Despite all that, this is a great game to relax with.

Reviewed On

Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

Fist Puncher

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/31/2013

Posted in: Mac, Microsoft, PC Reviews, Retro Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox 360. Tagged: 8 bit, adult swim, brawler, fist puncher, Microsoft, pc, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Adult Swim Games

Developer: Team2Bit

Release Date: 7/31/2013

Available On

8-bit brawlers don’t really have a large following, but when one comes up, I tend to pay attention. Fist Puncher is an adult-infused brawler with blood, guts, and censored nudity. The story’s nothing special and pretty forgettable, with some lame dialog, but what were you expecting? You can pick one of four characters that have different special abilities. Using the A and X buttons, perform light and heavy attacks while B grabs. Holding down RT allows you to use your special meter and perform a special attack. The one thing Fist Puncher does differently from most brawlers is the RPG aspect.

You can level up with the XP you earned to learn new moves, increase strength, health, etc. Once you start leveling up, the game becomes a bit easier, but early in the game, it is really tough, especially during boss fights and if you are playing by yourself. This isn’t really a single-player game, but it can be done if you are careful. While you’re fighting goons, you can pick up objects, toss them, and collect letters that spell “rage,” which gives you a power boost. The only problem here is that the same letters drop too often, and most of the time you won’t ever spell “rage.” Thankfully, the game has depth that allows you to avoid attacks, but honestly, the combat system is pretty shallow. At least the hits pack a punch, but some enemies take forever to take down.

To advance, you need to complete the many levels on the overworld map. There are a ton of levels, and this leads to repetition, which is one of the game’s biggest flaws. I’d rather have a few levels so I don’t get bored with the game. At least the environments are varied, and sometimes the humor can pull out a laugh or two, but the game really needed more to be memorable. Adult Swim Games have been putting out a lot of quality, quirky games, but they are always lacking something to make them great. Fist Puncher’s 8-bit graphics are also not that great. They are low quality and very ugly, along with boring character designs. Nothing in the game looks fairly interesting or even good, and that is another problem with this game.

As it is, Fist Puncher is a fun weekend play-through with friends on the couch, but nothing more. Some people may not get very far and get bored fairly quickly; others may love it a lot and play through to the end. Despite all the flaws, the game has solid controls, a fun RPG system, and some quirky humor.

Reviewed On

Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

American Wasteland – 6 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/30/2013

Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: american wasteland, comic. Leave a comment

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I always tend to be cautious when reading comics about rednecks and hillbillies. They tend to be predictable, full of unfunny potty humor, and lame jokes. American Wasteland took me by surprise; while it isn’t a fantastic or witty comic, it is much better than others set in the American Mid-West. We follow a truck driver who ends up being attacked by zombie vampires—that’s an interesting take, for sure—and quickly befriends locals. They fought off some zombies, but then he ends up with a mentally retarded boy who can only say “sumbitch.” That’s his only vocabulary; I’m not joking. This isn’t for comedic relief either; the comic is deadly serious. As you follow this driver’s escapades, he ends up having to fight off the leader of these zombies. You also run into a military encampment and a badass girl. The dialog itself isn’t anything amazing—just a bunch of rednecks talking smack to each other while they work out terms to exchange supplies. Everything ends up going wrong, but it is still entertaining.

There’s a lot of gore in this comic, and it’s pretty graphic. The art is fantastic, so it gets big props for that. The overall story feels very linear; the journey only goes so far, and then you end up back at the beginning. I also would have liked to have known where this zombie vampire thing came from and maybe even another character to follow. What’s here is entertaining but very forgettable in the end.

Candice Crow

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/30/2013

Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: candice crow, comic. Leave a comment

I love comics that deal with real-life problems because many people can relate to them. Candice Crow is a teenage girl growing up poverty-stricken and dealing with a drunken dad, a confused little sister, and the death of her mother, who committed suicide. She’s growing up in a bad neighborhood, trying to get through school with a part-time job, and trying to make her rock band become noticed by record labels. That’s a lot on a plate for a teenager, and Candice comes off as a very mature and responsible girl who any parent would be proud of. She also has a secret: a skin condition that requires her to step into a crazy suit for 15 minutes or she will start looking like the living dead. She also has supernatural powers that are unexplained (literally).

The comic itself flows very well, and I never put it down until the end. The writing is punchy and grabs your attention; it forgoes all the constant backtracking, flashbacks, and filler. What keeps you reading is what Candice goes through every day of her life while trying to battle this skin condition. While there aren’t too many huge twists, I finished this comic with more questions than when I began. What is this skin condition called? Was she born with it? Is it genetic? What are these supernatural powers? We know she can read people’s minds when she kisses them; where did it come from? I hate being left in the dark like that, but you end up forgiving it thanks to the entertainment value Crow brings.

There are a few fight scenes, and they are pretty tense. They are very realistic, feel pretty crunchy, and make you cringe. You end up feeling really sorry for Candice for dealing with the murder of her best friend, bailing her dad out of jail every week, and having to tell her little sister white lies to continue on with life. Even if there weren’t any superpowers, this comic would be very entertaining due to that. It feels like the writer went through similar experiences himself. I highly recommend this comic to anyone who likes very surreal reads with a touch of superhuman stuff.

Papers, Please

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/27/2013

Posted in: Android, iOS, Mac, Mobile Reviews, PC Reviews, PlayStation Vita, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified. Tagged: 8 bit, indie, mac, papers, passport, pc, please. Leave a comment

Publisher: 3909

Developer: Lucas Pope

Release Date: 8/8/2013

Available On

I honestly went into this game not expecting much. It is an 8-bit-style game where you stamp papers for people. Sounds boring, right? Far from it, and I mean very far. This is one of the most addictive and fun indie games I have ever played. This game kept me away from Skyrim, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and Saints Row IV. How can a $10 game keep me away from such high-budget splendor? It’s unique and so much fun. I honestly don’t even know if it’s a puzzle game, an adventure game, or something. It’s something, but so original that it creates a new category all on its own. You play as a Russian citizen who gets his name drawn in a labor lottery to work the customs booth at a border check. The story isn’t exactly deep, but the atmosphere is tense and gritty.

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You start out every day by reading the headlines in the paper and walking to work (you don’t actually do the walking). The top half of the screen is the line at the border, and everything is going on. Guards are patrolling, cars are passing by, and you will occasionally witness terrorist attacks. The bottom part of the screen is split into two parts. On the left side are your counter and window. This is where you receive everyone’s passports and various papers, as well as your rule book and bulletin for the day. You must make sure everyone’s credentials match before you stamp their approval. You start out with the simple task of just making sure the issuing city matches the right province. You check this in your rule book. If this doesn’t match up, you go into inspection mode and click on the information you see wrong with the corresponding contradictory information. This gives you a personal touch to the game and makes you feel like you are in control of these people’s lives.

Before you roll your eyes, this isn’t some sort of Burger Builder or any other type of mobile game. You get more and more papers to check as the game progresses. You get special assignments such as confiscating certain citizens’ passports, stamping the reason for denial, cross-checking shot records, matching up ID numbers, height, weight, birthday, and expiration date, and you need to do all this fairly quickly. You’re not in real time, but the more you process, the more you get paid. This just gets so fun and addictive because of all the hands-on stuff you get to do. Sometimes people will try to bribe you or ask you to deny or pass certain people, and guards will bribe you if you detain more people. Later on, you get to even scan them for contraband and fingerprint them. There’s a lot involved, but it’s doled out slowly so you aren’t overwhelmed.

If you mess up, you get penalized; this goes against your 10-day inspection. You get plaques you can hang on the wall, but if you are caught with anything else on the wall, you get docked pay. If you are involved with the terrorist group EZIC, you get fired. It’s up to you to be loyal to your country or betray them behind your back. There are 20 different endings to get for different choices. Thankfully, the game saves before the start of each day, so you can change your choice. Things, like accepting certain bribes and spending that money, will trigger an audit, leading to an ending. You can burn the money and continue to save, but it’s all up to you. By the end of the day, you need to help your family with food, heat, and various other things using your pay. You need to be very careful and only get them what they need, or you will end up with a game over and your family dying.

The constant lash and tension between countries are tense, and you get the full brunt if you let known murderers in. Sometimes being the good guy will get you lots of penalties. Too many will lead to a game-overcoming inspection every 10 days. The game is just so much fun with a lot of replay value, and there’s a lot of content here. I honestly don’t have too much to say that’s bad except I wish the game was longer and you didn’t get all these endings and have to restart whole levels as a result.

Papers, Please is one of the most unique games ever made, period. I normally don’t care for these indie games since they are a dime a dozen, but when games like Fez, Braid, Limbo, and Papers, Please come up, they get my attention. Any gamer can play this since it really isn’t designed for a set crowd. This will be the best $10 you will spend on a game.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse

Gone Home

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/23/2013

Posted in: iOS, Linux, Mac, Microsoft Consoles, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch, Xbox One. Tagged: adventure, gone home, indie, mac, pc. Leave a comment

Publisher: The Fullbright Company

Developer: The Fullbright Company

Release Date: 8/15/2013

Available On

It goes to show that a smaller focus can create a great story and atmosphere. You don’t need a multi-million-dollar budget to create something great. Gone Home starts out oddly because you are given no direction, but after about 15 minutes, you realize what you are supposed to do. You arrive home from a school trip, and no one is home. You find a note on the front door from your little sister, Sam, that says she’s gone and won’t come back. With the dark atmosphere of lightning and rain, you expect this to be a murder mystery. In fact, that feeling changes throughout the game.

Once you find the key and go inside, you just wander around, examining everything. There are letters to read and interesting objects to look at. After a while, you start finding key items that activate journals narrated by your sister. The home itself is a great recreation of a ’90s home. It actually brought back a lot of childhood memories with CRT TVs, cassettes, VHS tapes, and various items from the 90s. It gave me a warm feeling, and I felt at home in this house, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Was it haunted? Was there a murderer in the house? I went on to read more letters and items to see that the mom was a park ranger and the dad was a tried and failed author and magazine writer. I later discovered a few locked areas and three different cabinets that had lock combos on them.

Honestly, you don’t need a walkthrough for this game. It’s all pretty easy to figure out. I just went from room to room looking at everything and realizing that this lesbian relationship with Sam and her friend Lonnie is actually pretty heartbreaking. You see signs throughout the house that it’s a bit of a broken home, and Sam is a problem child. Little things like good report cards from you and then disciplinary notices from the school for Sam. It all brought back memories for me from my school days and my childhood. Anyone who grew up in the 90s will feel the same way. As I reached the end of the game, I was pretty emotionally stirred up. I couldn’t wait for the end.

Once I got to the final room and saw the ending, I was really disappointed. I felt the entire 1-hour journey was for nothing. Sure, the story was sad and will tug at your heartstrings, but the ending was predictable and lame. There are signs everywhere of Sam studying the occult and various things about the house being haunted, but nothing ever happened. I was never spooked; there was no murder; it was just a few journals narrated by a gay sister, and that’s it. 90% of gamers will find this game extremely boring, and even if you don’t, it’s not worth $20. You get about an hour of gameplay with a lame ending. I expected the sister to have committed suicide and you would find her body upstairs, something like that, but no, just a lame ending.

The game has decent graphics, but nothing too impressive. There’s a lot of attention to detail everywhere to create this great 90’s atmosphere, but you still need a pretty powerful rig to run it due to the complex lighting effects. As it is, Gone Home is a great narrative and a trip down memory lane, but the ending and lack of gameplay are disappointing.