reviews posts

The Europa Universalis series is one of the deepest, most impenetrable collection of games to ever be graced upon humanity. Paradox Interactive knows how to make games that appeal to those who want to sit and fiddle with knobs. However, nothing exceeds the amount of depth and complexity of Hearts of Iron, Paradox's continued series of sequels set in World War 2 times. Their latest release, Hearts of Iron 3, maintains this complexity while greatly increasing overall playability and accessibility. It's certainly not a game for everyone, but if you want a game of epic strategy, you can't do any better.

The game Osmos may seem, at first glance, much like other absorption games. Run over things smaller than you, get bigger and bigger until you reach the target size. There is a reason that it received much more notice than that of a simple clone, however. After all, it did win the D2D Vision aware at the 2009 Independent Games Festival for a reason. So while you are spending $40 to $50 on the latest and greatest triple-A titles, please consider just saving it and putting $10 of your spending money towards Osmos on any platform. You won't be disappointed.

If it's been said once, it's been said a thousand times: the best advertising is word-of-mouth. What's meant by this is that a person is more likely to try a product or service if someone they know has recommended it to them. The reverse is also true: if a friend or family member recommends against something, the referee is similarly likely to avoid it. What makes this phenomenon work is trust. We trust the opinions of those close to us, because we've spent enough time with them to understand in which ways their tastes might overlap ours.

But does this still work with game reviews, when the only way you've come to know the reviewer is through reading their reviews? Can a trust relationship evolve from what is, essentially, one-way communication? Is a commercially-funded review source more or less trustworthy than a writer's personal blog? Can numerical scores relate actual value?

The game that reboots the Alone in the Dark franchise hit retail shelves in Europe on Friday. It will release in North America on Tuesday. The reviews are trickling in, and so far it sounds like the game is a work of flawed genius. But reviews aren't the only harbingers of the the imminent release; a new trailer and three gameplay videos hit the web over the weekend as well.

The trailer (embedded above) is long and epic. It shows off some of the game's spectacular production values. The three gameplay videos are very distinct. One shows melee combat and fire, another depicts the act of jacking a car and driving through a collapsing garage, and another still demonstrates some Prince of Persia-style ledge shuffling and platforming.