Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Often times, I’m quick to write off “retro” elements – be they pixelated graphics, resurrecting old genres, and the like – as fellow residents of the Isle of Misfit Gimmicks: a turgid cesspit where good ideas find no harbor, and mediocrity rules the roost. Yet there’s something strangely compelling about the visual style – grainy textures, slightly malformed character models, and the like – that not only give an organic sort of grit to environments; they somehow give the game a surreal tinge that more “advanced” renderings – however painstakingly adorned with blood and rust they may be – never quite achieved. The same sort of feel applies to The Last Door, the Kickstarter-funded project by The Game Kitchen, a three-man operation based in what no one calls “Merry Olde Spain.”  MORE >>

Full disclosure: I never really ‘got’ drag queens. I found my way to RuPaul’s Drag Race only recently. I know, I know I’m a bad gay  and believe me, I’ve heard it before. There was some part of me deep down that wanted to resist Ru’s cultural phenom of a show and the resurgent mainstream success of drag. Perhaps it’s my hipstery nature. Perhaps it was some internalized homophobia creeping out. It’s certainly nothing against RuPaul, as a child of the 90s of course I love her; I was just never very much interested in the concept of men dressed as women. Then the notorious Willam made his way into my life via his youtube series Willam’s Beatdown, became my new figure of worship, and suddenly I was interested in the show. Willam was a Drag Race contestant was he not? Next thing I knew I was hunting down Drag Race episodes wherever I could find them, and had marathoned through every season in less than a week.

And then one night I had a dream. In this dream I was a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. My name was Orealia Mann, my drag icon being Olivia Munn. I was ultimately eliminated for refusing to shave my body hair *but* the dream alone was enough to make it clear: I get it now. Drag queens are awesome.

Perfect timing, it turns out, for World of Wonder and So Much Drama! Studios’ RuPaul’s Drag Race: Dragopolis. I previewed the game last week and now I’ve finally gotten to get my hands on it and live out my drag dreams right on my iPad.

Yes, hunty.

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A few hours into Cart Life I realized my character, a Ukrainian immigrant named Andrus, would not be able to make rent.  We were going through the mundanities of selling newspapers and drinks from the plain little cart we’d leased next to a bar.  Chat up customers.  Adjust your prices if too many think they’re out of line.  Cough; smoke a cigarette.  Eat a granola bar because you don’t have time to step out for lunch.  Worry about all the extra supplies that you bought earlier in the week that you just won’t be able to turn a profit on by the time rent is due.

Rent.

How much is rent?  How much am I making?  I press the space bar and check, and my stomach sinks.  There is no way we’ll make rent.  I wonder if the landlord will give me some extra time to pay – but he’s the guy who goes out of his way to tell me that he wouldn’t buy one of my 99 cent newspapers because he gets the news for free on TV.

And it hits me:  Why would I play a game about things I can worry about in real life when I could be blasting zombies in the face?  I could just turn this thing off.

But I can’t.  Andrus and I are in it together.  I confuse “I” and “we” when I talk about the game with others, thinking of the tired, lonely, hopeful, brave man who found a place in my heart.

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For video games that try to hit emotional buttons in storytelling, making the player cry seems to be the Holy Grail. I can understand why this is; joy, fear, amusement, and tension are all rather easy to evoke. If you can make your player cry, your characters are strong enough that the players are willing to emotionally invest in their digital lives and connect with them on an empathic level.

But what about love? For some reason this seems to exist almost as a footnote despite the fact that the need for love and companionship is one of the most primal and basic human needs. Even when the topic of love is addressed it usually isn’t addressed very well. Our own Trevor recently pointed out just how poorly done game romance can be. Yes, romances are a common theme, but how often is love actually felt rather than just assumed to be there? Enter Beloved, ”a short game about love in all its forms.”

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BioWare created an elaborate fantasy realm as the setting for its series of Dragon Age games, and now Dark Horse has published an art book titled Dragon Age: The World Of Thedas that goes beyond any art book I’ve seen. It’s more of a history of the game world illustrated with utterly gorgeous artwork. Make the jump and see!
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A review of Dys4ia was an article I meant to write up during GDC after I got hands-on time with it but, well, sometimes I can be a bit of a bubblehead and projects get away from me. My apologies to Anna Anthropy and Auntie Pixelante. Then today a commenter on one of our other articles complained about the sudden uptick in trans issues we’re covering. The fact that it was a complaint reinforced to me how important it is that we include the “T” part of LGBT on this site, and understanding how important that is requires understanding what being trans is. That’s where Dys4ia comes in.

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How to spice up an action-platformer about a hero overcoming obstacles on his way to rescuing the princess? Draw from Mexican folklore to create a vibrant world to explore as a Luchador out to rescue El Presidente’s daughter from the fearsome villain Calaca! Drinkbox Studio’s newest game, Guacamelee, is out now for the PlayStation 3 and Vita and if you make the jump, I’ll tell you why you should check it out!
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