DoFuss Update.
You could be fooled in to thinking my output is on the decline. These days I am lucky to get one post up a week here on DoFuss (though I already have one ready for this week) but the reason is not a dip in my passion, but instead an increase in unseen (or at least alternately located) work.
Contributing to a number of sites saps the time I can dedicate to DoFuss, but does have the advantage of generating links and netting me some free games. Yes, I wish I had more time to play games I wanted to and dedicate to my the site here, and no, many of the games that I now ‘have’ to play are good. But the experience of writing under editors to deadlines is proving more satisfying than I could have ever anticipated.
Here is a selection of links and snippets from recent reviews and articles on a number of sites. My pride in each piece varies it is true, indeed it is interesting to see how temperamental I can be when a game holds no interest, or when I write while overly tired. Still it makes a good cross section of my work in recent months, so see what takes your fancy and go and have a look.
Game People is a new UK based site that is already gaining traction by virtue of some fantastic writers and their column on The Escapist. Every article focuses on an individual’s perspective about a game. It is unabashedly subjective, aiming to give readers the opportunity to understand each contributor’s personality and decide whose opinion they trust.
At Game People I am known as Scared Gamer. Writing articles and reviews from my own personal experience I focus on fear and violence in games. Here is a fraction of my work for the site, with lots waiting to be posted and still more sat as unfinished files on my desktop.
Dragon Age Origins – PC (Review)
Dragon Age Origins roundly impressed with genuine relationships and perplexing moral choices. While everyone will play this game for different reasons, I fell in love with the characters and their stories.
Metroid Prime Trilogy – Wii (Review)
Metroid Prime Trilogy’s genuine sense of place not only sucked me into its universe but unnerved me to the core. Helmeted claustrophobic scary excitement and all on the diminutive unassuming little Nintendo Wii.
Spectrobes: Origins – Wii (Review)
Spectrobes: Origins has all the gloss and quality you’d expect from Disney. Although not hugely improving on Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals this is a strong Japanese style Role Play Game once you get past the sacchrine visuals and storyline. That’s about as scary as it gets though.
Dementium: The Ward – DS (Review)
Dementium: The Ward manages the impossible, a full 3D survival horror on the DS. In hand though it is unclear whether we really wanted this. Clever ideas and atmosphere wrestle with the small screen and dark visuals to make their impact. There are strong moments here, provided you find a secluded spot in which to play.
Vertigo Again (Article)
Some fears are innate; from birth they afflict every one of us, from an ingrained understanding of the threat posed to us. One of the most primitive of these is the fear of heights. The majority of people learn to overcome this fear, or at least control it. Others are not so lucky, their dread becomes so acute that it manifests its self physically causing dizziness and nausea. In some rare cases this fear can grow to an irrational level, making even moderate heights insurmountable.
Sounding Scared (Article)
I never realised how evocative sound could be. I suppose I should have, remembering the night I was near paralysed by the sound of children playing on rusted playground equipment – memories of Silent Hill flooded in to terrify me. Yet even this drunken encounter didn’t drive home to me just how powerful sound could be.
Little League World Series Baseball 2009 – Wii (Review)
Little League takes Wii-Sports Baseball to the next level without overcomplicating the action. Hoping to take a breather from scary games this week, I had forgotten my sporting misapprehensions. Little League World Series Baseball on the Wii helped me put them to bed once and for all though.
Play Devil is a European site, established ten years ago. Here I focus primarily on reviews of XBLA and PSN games. It has been a mixed bag as regards the games I have received, with some being amazing (and pre-release) while others have had me near homicidal at the though of having to complete them.
Editorially they are very supportive, but being small they also often need to court favor with publishers which sees some of my scores and text muted before they are published. So far this has never been dramatic enough to cause any really trouble as the granularity in the 100% scale has left me feeling on the whole uncompromised, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if one day I was completely contrary in my opinion to the majority of other sites.
Gravity Crash – PSN (Review)
Gravity Crash relies on the pull of gravity and physics to supply much of its challenge. Your craft suffers the constant downwards pull of gravity, ensuring that there is no idle time in the game, as unless you are careful you ship will drop to the surface of the planet.
Pixeljunk Shooter –PSN (Review)
Over the course of three titles Q-Games has managed to build the Pixeljunk brand into one of the most recognized in the downloadable console space. Every game in the series has been to all outward appearances disparate, each with its own visual style and gameplay. But underlying each title is a single common thread; stylish and inventive two-dimensional gaming.
Smash Cars – PSN (Review)
Smash Cars makes a good first impression. Your tiny R.C. monster truck is cute when juxtaposed against the life-sized beach and pier setting of the opening levels. Tearing around the track give a good sense of speed that combines well with the light nature of you diminutive car. Somehow the floatier feel these small cars makes the game stand out from a lot of other arcade racers on the market and goes some of the way to excusing some of the cars more outlandish properties, such as the ability to jump (and the inclusion of nitro).
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – PS3 (Review)
The writing was refined both in the characterizations and the scale of the story. Returning characters are expanded upon, and perhaps more importantly additional cast arrive. Each member is significantly more believable than the majority of game characters thanks to the wonderful script, which is bought to life by the vocal talent. Through out the interaction between the cast members is a joy to listen to, and fortunately it isn’t limited to the cut scenes as characters continually banter back and forth continually, ensuring that you are consistently entertained even when the action is of a slower pace.
Military Madness: Nectaris – PSN (Review)
Perhaps my biggest problem with Military Madness comes from its story’s heritage. An Earth force sent to battle convicts rebelling from their force labour mines on the moon. While it is undeniably clichéd, the plot serves as a serviceable setting for the action. Unfortunately the moon does not serve as a fantastic environment for today’s more visually demanding audiences.
Video Game Reviews is UK site I contributed articles to for a short time. Recently the editor of the site contacted me again to write some articles for its sister site Xboxer 360 (so I must have been doing something right). Here are two of the articles I wrote for them, and keep an eye on Xboxer 360 for my upcoming article ‘Post Natal Depression’.
Sex, Lies and Console Wars (Article)
Now I have to ask you bear with me through this comparison of why “console wars” are stupid. Some of what is said to many could be considered immoral, but I regret none of it and everyone involved was aware of my situation. It regards a time in my life when I was broken hearted and I went on what something of a binge before I left University. It was a week of fun and stress that made me realize it doesn’t matter what you have you should be happy with it, and more importantly, there is no need to try and denigrate other peoples fun for the sake of you own sense of self worth.
An Open Letter To Fanboys (Article)
There always seems to be huge furore over console exclusive titles. Games that platform holders either developed themselves, or heavily subsided. The presumed quality of these titles is based solely on the simple fanboy logic that if their manufacturer of choice feels a game is good enough to grant it the seal of ‘PS3 Exclusive’ or ‘Only on Xbox 360’ then somehow it must be justifiably better than other titles on the market.
Tags: DoFuss, Gamepeople, Playdevil, Videogame-Reviews
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