Initial Impressions: State of Decay (PC)

I'm not a big fan of the zombie genre. Nonetheless, in the past decade, zombies have just exploded (both metaphorically and otherwise) all over the various forms of entertainment. I'm not sure exactly what made them so popular so suddenly, but I never really got swept up in the movement. I enjoy the classic Romero films and the occasional zombie movie for either the quality horror experience or the entertainment of ironic MST3K deconstruction.

My indifference towards zombie entertainment translates to the video game medium as well. I will partake in something fun and stupid like Dead Rising from time to time and one of my favorite games on the original Playstation was Resident Evil 2, but most of the time, I steer clear. Nonetheless, I still have games on my steam list like Left 4 Dead, Dead Island, and the one I mentioned in the title: State of Decay.

Quick n Dirty (Games): Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

Super Smash Bros is one of the most popular fighting games out there and with the recent release on the 3DS and all its attention it has gotten lately for the Wii-U release, I somehow found myself playing the underwhelming Sony knock-off: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal.

Quick n Dirty: There Will Be Blood

Daniel Day-Lewis may go down in history as one of the greatest actors who ever lived and who also managed to avoid being the spotlight of American pop-culture. I've seen several of his movies and I believe he is worthy of his Oscars if not several others he hasn't gotten for his performances, yet I rarely ever hear his name mentioned unless simply discussing great movies.

Quick n Dirty: Dishonored

Well after the original release date, I decided to give Dishonored a try. I remember seeing a fair amount about it prior to its release. Plenty of comparisons were made to Bioshock, Tenchu, and especially  Deus Ex considering one of the people on the development team was involved in the design of the original Deus Ex (one of my favorite games of all time). I can safely say that the comparisons are fairly accurate, and while I don't think it measures up to my favorite games on that list of comparisons, it is still a rather satisfying and fun game. So, before I go full-blown into a lengthy Late Bird Review of the game, I'll do a quick and dirty look at it.

Late Bird Review: XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Originally posted December 2012

Strategy games (turn-based or otherwise) usually have their own niche market. Sure, there are the Blizzard strategy games that have a wide appeal and the franchises like Civilization that have been around for decades. With no new Starcraft experience till next year, and the popularity of the first-person shooter ever increasing, it was unlikely there were going to be any big strategy games in time for the holidays. Yet the people at Fireaxis were able to deliver the goods. It may not have been a new Civilization game, but XCOM: Enemy Unknown is still a true gem of this year along with a franchise name about as old as the Civilization games. But is this gem a perfect diamond, or do the cracks make the edges too sharp to hold?

Late Bird Review: Assassin's Creed

Written January 2011

So this is obviously a well-overdue review. But having played it several times now and with Brotherhood having spent enough time in the ether, it seemed right to revisit the original game and go on the journey through the franchise, much like how the character Desmond Miles must travel through history. Throughout the journey, the big improvements and small tweaks have made the franchise much more interesting and “bearable,” however, there are some rough beginnings.

At the time of its initial release, Assassin’s Creed was praised with being innovative and exceptional. The graphics were unlike anything anyone had seen with gameplay like no other. It was the fact that it was so different and new that made it so forgivable at the time, whereas just a few short years later the praise would have been replaced with scoffs.