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Those who previously owned a PS3 (before purchasing a PlayStation 4) are probably already familiar with “Stick it to the Man!”  It’s a very cloying title that melds some very clever storytelling with what one might consider classic platforming elements.  Don’t get the wrong idea though, there’s nothing saccharine about developer Zoink!’s production here.  This is a completely crazy, yet all the while charming title that introduces you to both a bizarre tale as well as slightly non-standard gameplay. After being struck on the head by some mysterious object, Ray awakes to discover that there’s some type of extra-dimensional pink…

If you’ve been waiting for a great realistic Golf simulator that doesn’t mince words and offers up loads of options when it comes to creating your own courses, HB Studios’ “The Golf Club” is going to be right up your alley.  With its impressive graphical fortitude and lowered price tag (around $30) this game is sure to make a lot of friends, especially with the sports crowd.   Oh, and did we mention that there’s no loading times to deal with between holes? The real question of course (as with any athletically-minded title) is how’s the gameplay?  After all, you can…

It’s hard to write a review about a game that’s so creepy and frightening, especially when it remains so alluring and appealing.  By offering up praise to a game like “Outlast” (developed by Red Barrels), one is essentially directing others toward having their own nightmarish encounters with the terrible residents of the Mount Massive Asylum.  Nevertheless, it’s a journey that most, if not all, PS4 owners should take, particularly if they like fright-inducing experiences. You assume the role of freelance journalist Miles Upshur, who is tipped off by a mysterious whistleblower that strange things are going on in a little-known…

As long as we’ve had computer gaming there’s been a chess title or two kicking around.  For whatever reason, the 1500 year old table top game continues to have mass appeal, even in digitized form.  Turning our attention toward the recently released “Pure Chess” for the PlayStation 4, we have a game that’s already essentially made its mark on the PS3 and Vita, rising to the #4 spot in terms of overall Vita games sales and becoming the 11th best-selling PSN title (according to Wikipedia). On the PS4, “Pure Chess” is pure bliss.  It’s fundamentally the same game, but for…

With Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile out and making its rounds, attention has turned toward the release of its fuller PC counterpart.  Needless to say, there are high hopes and expectations for RT 4 from legions of fans which cannot simply be overlooked any longer.  There’s no need to worry – we now have confirmation that Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 (PC) is not only in the works, but the developers are also taking direct input from gamers as well. According to Atari, who is producing this impending monstrosity, this next installment might actually fulfill the wildest desires of the series most diehard…

For many dedicated Command & Conquer: Red Alert fans, it’s tough to imagine how EA might improve upon the formulas they meticulously developed with RA 2 and subsequently, RA 3.   Nevertheless, there’s always room for improvement and creativity, right?  Here are some ideas that we’d love to see integrated into the next iteration from the series, which we’re assuming will likely be titled “Red Alert 4”… Maybe bring back a bit of the feel from Red Alert 2? Hands down, one of the things that a lot of hardcore C&C fans repeatedly talk about is the disparity between RA 2…

The Red Alert series has always been fairly unique amongst the various other RTS (real-time Strategy) games existing within the genre. It’s one of those series within the Command & Conquer canon that’s at once somewhat bizarre and comical as well as deeply tactical and loads of fun. Likewise, the franchise retains a robust cult following that seems to be truly devoted toward the concept and unique gameplay features found within any of the three current titles on the market. Given this, the question remains to be asked – why hasn’t EA produced another follow-up to Red Alert 3 and/or…

If you are a gamer, chances are you already know what to expect whenever you see a title brandishing the LEGO namesake.  Typically, you get a game that neatly integrates the visual aesthetics of the popular toy brand with an overall concept of reliving whatever it is that the title is portraying.  In other words, if we’re talking about the Lord of the Rings movies, you pretty much experience a cute and colorful scene-for-scene remake which you can also participate in interactively.  In short, LEGO The Hobbit doesn’t deviate from this well-established trend, it actually enhances the formula. This is…

Within the gaming world, hunting simulators are often overlooked in favor of more action-oriented titles.  However, it’s often hard to overlook that fact that many popular games (such as Bethesda’s “Skyrim”) integrate various honest-to-goodness elements of hunting within their core gameplay.  There’s something strangely calming about wandering around lush virtual forests without having to worry that some gigantic Dragon / Troll hybrid is going to emerge from the tree line to smash you to bits.  “Cabela’s Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts” is a good example of this as it presents a somewhat slower and more deliberate FPS experience that’s a…

Taking cues from older arcade racing titles, the Trials series has always been about providing gamers with fun and accessible, yet uniquely deep and challenging side-scrolling gameplay.  In other words, these games are often very easy to begin playing for enjoyment, but extremely frustrating when it comes to mastery (latter levels often being very difficult in design).  Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, RedLynx and Ubisoft’s “Trials Fusion” is evolution of the aforementioned model. Whereas previous entries tended to place you in rather restricted locales, this release has you racing across an incredibly diverse range of terrains.  In short,…

If you’re only interested in somewhat serious sandbox titles, the kind of games that seek to convey some sort of deep story, Coffee Stain Studios’ bizarre “Goat Simulator” might not be for you.  On the other hand, if you delight at the very notion of a game that’s every bit as zany as its title implies, this peculiar 3rd person open-world experience will definitely hit the spot. One of the hallmarks of this insanely fun creation is a complete lack of any type of plot or series of objectives.   While this might sound rather droll, within the context of Goat…

There’s something to be said about the concept of releasing stand-alone, tournament-based sports games like “2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil”.  On the one hand you could easily say that the fully annualized editions are flagrantly superior, but you’d be missing out on the character that a game like this offers you.  One could just as easily argue that titles like FIFA 14 are so massive and filled with options that it’s often tough to know where to start.  Likewise, if you’re after a title that accurately captures the spirit of a particular event, what better way to accomplish that than…

Regardless of the image that the industry tries to cultivate, every game that’s released onto the market is not a glaring success.  In fact, some releases are downright disturbingly disappointing.  The following list of titles contains some of the more noteworthy failures we’ve seen… Lost Planet 2 In case you’d already forgotten, in the early days of the Xbox 360, the original “Lost Planet” kept gamers entertained with its rather simple yet workable concept of seeking to replenish thermal energy by means of defeating large foes.  In LP 2 of course, this mechanic was thrown right out the window in…

Almost immediately, the first thing you’ll notice about Arc System Works’ “Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma” is its wild, hyperactive visuals.  Seriously, this game is basically analogous to a sugar rush, replete with an energetic soundtrack to provoke your button-mashing bouts.  This is a 2D fighting game that makes allusions to 3D dynamics, effectively generating a sense of depth within a more simplified range.  We’re not talking about a game that shoots for slow, mediocre skirmishing – no, Blazblue: CP is basically a brush with full-on frenzy. Those who might be looking for the same sort of highly-individualized character storylines found throughout…

Let’s get one thing straight here – “Titanfall” is essentially Microsoft’s attempt at building an exclusive multiplayer-centric title that’s capable of somehow evolving the FPS genre.  Whether or not they accomplished this, you can’t deny that Titanfall artfully integrates all the various things we love about online matchmaking into one potent stew. First off, the action is by default, sort of frantic, with loads of players scrawling across the various maps inflicting damage at will in increasingly unpredictable ways.  This is offset by the dualistic nature of the game itself, which pits large, bulky and visually imposing robotic mechs against…

Say what you will about Disney’s “Aladdin” game for Sega Genesis, but it more or less perfectly embodies a certain type of 2D platformer which a lot of retro gaming enthusiasts really seem to enjoy.  In truth, there’s a lot to like about this rather straightforward side-scroller, even though it was published in 1993, the visuals and overall gameplay style are both markedly sharp.  If not for the somewhat primitive soundtrack one might be tempted to think it was released much later.  This is due to the use of cel animations, which provides the game with a very distinctive look.…

Building upon the success of its predecessor, “Tomb Raider II” expanded upon the Lara Croft saga by expanding the formula in various ways.  These weren’t gigantic changes or alterations mind you, but still significant enough to be considered a marked improvement in overall design.  Overall, the core gameplay and artistic style remains unchanged, of course.  It still has the same sexy Indiana Jones-like aura and relies on inventive puzzles to divide combat segments.  Yes, you could say that it was simply “more of the same”, but for Tomb Raider that would still imply unpredictable romps through untouched ancient crypts with…

It’s hard for many to think of the original PlayStation console without the game “Gran Turismo” springing to mind.  We are, after all, talking about a title that (according to Wikipedia) is in fact the “best-selling game on the system”, with around 10.85 million units shipped worldwide.  Who would have guessed that a racing game would have ended up being the PSX’s #1 game? All in all, the release of “Gran Turismo” marks a turning point in console gaming.  Up until its arrival, racing games of its caliber tended to only be found in arcades.  Gamers were initially wowed by…

Ask most gamers who possess a fairly adept understanding of the history of console gaming and they’ll probably be inclined to say that quality First-Person Shooters didn’t really emerge until the era of the PS2.  While it’s possible to argue all day long about what constitutes a quality shooter, anyone who claims that the original PlayStation didn’t have any good FPS’s to its credit is either oblivious or being intentionally divisive. The fact of matter is that the PS1 had quite a few decent shooters, albeit they’re fairly primitive by today’s standards.  However, with the rise in retro / vintage…

Sports-themed games have long been a fixture of the video game world.  In fact, it could be argued that the first truly great multiplayer titles were in fact, sports games.  Of course if you grew up with the original PlayStation or one of its forerunners no one should have to tell you this.   Chances are you spent hours on the couch with your friend(s) or sibling(s) playing some baseball / football / hockey / basketball-derived video game, right?  Naturally, this trend continues on into the future with the 7th and 8th generation consoles as well, but now there are loads…

It could be said that the modern era of console gaming started with the hardy little PS1.  After all, we’re talking about a device here that effectively ushered in a disc-based format and helped to popularize gaming as an everyday household activity.  Sure, one could argue that the Nintendo (the original NES) was really the first console to firmly plant video gaming on a TV into the minds the populace, but it did so with less-than-optimal graphics (no ability to render 3D environments, for example).  Simply put, there wasn’t a lot that game developers could do with the NES platform…

When it was first revealed that Bethesda’s next Elder Scrolls excursion would be an MMO, many were confused, excited or even upset.  The expectations have been riding high for what seems like an eternity now with many seeing this as a critical turning point for the series as it makes its way onto 8th generation consoles.  No need to worry, “The Elder Scrolls Online” delivers the goods in ample amounts, generating an experience that’s not only amazing and immersive, but also highly interactive and maybe even a bit unpredictable at times. As the name clearly implies, this is a game…

What do you get when you take the side-scrolling platformer format, add some classically familiar characters and expand it with HD graphics?  If you said “Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze”, you answered correctly, but there’s more to this colorful Wii U title than meets the eye. Even though DKC:TF is in fact a 2D affair, it accurately projects an air of 3D depth by means of its integrated level design.  In other words, elements from the foreground will appear to merge with background elements and so on and so forth.  The end result is a rather classic-feeling title that looks…