All posts in PC

Review: Trauma

When it comes to anything “different,” I’m always at the ready. Show me something unique and indecipherable, and I’m on it right away. So when I got my hands on independent point-and-click art school project turned adventure game Trauma, I was pleased as punch. While its interface resembled something closer to educational software or some sort of strange student project meant to explore the depths of the human psyche, what waited inside was even more cryptic. In the end, after having gone into the game completely uninitiated, I enjoyed my time with this strange one, and I suspect you will too.

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Review: Duke Nukem Forever

Like many gamers who will inevitably purchase or rent Duke Nukem Forever, I grew up with Duke Nukem 3D and the menagerie of cheesy spinoffs it spawned. I was a little a girl when I got my first taste of Duke, but even then I knew I liked what I saw. Writing that sentence makes me realize just how much I’ve grown up since then, because that double entendre didn’t even make me giggle. I’ve always felt a bevy of different things while fragging with Mr. Nukem: playfulness, silliness, and even annoyance. It’s a classic shooter, sure. Unfortunately, the rest of the games in the franchise never followed suit. Still, I’ve always had fun playing.

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Review: Fallout: New Vegas: Dead Money DLC

Fallout: New Vegas certainly isn’t without fault, but it did serve as a succinct followup to one of my favorite PC adventures of the past few Christmases, Fallout 3. After choosing to go the way of Steam for that adventure and this one in turn, I found myself engrossed in a world I couldn’t quite escape from – until I was met with saving issues and other wonky glitches that desperately needed ironing out. But surviving the wasteland quickly consumes you, and I knew without a doubt I’d be looking forward to the first available DLC. I should have been leery for all intents and purposes once said package, Dead Money, was announced, but as the release date neared and I was given the opportunity to evaluate the latest addition to the Fallout saga, I was ready. But only if Dead Money could transcend the disappointment and feelings of being disenfranchised that Mothership Zeta so readily inspired. I’m happy to say that it does, if only by a tiny bit. It’s not the fantastic “The Pitt” DLC, but it’s a start.

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Impressions: Top Gun

Top Gun the video game (and not the classic one – the 2010 release available on Steam and PSN) is almost as good as watching the actual movie. You get some of the memorable one-liners, familiar characters, and even multiple trips into the Danger Zone. Okay, more than a few, as this anthemic fan-favorite tune plays more than a little frequently during play. But you won’t get Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, or anything like that in this adaptation of one of the 80s most popular movies. All you really need are some good buddies to watch your six as you make your way through this action-packed (yet admittedly shallow) arcade-style flight sim.

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Impressions: The UnderGarden

I tend to purposefully seek out bizarre and relatively off-the-beaten-path adventures when I choose my games. Upon being offered the chance to play and evaluate Artech’s The UnderGarden, I was baffled. What would this strange, colorful world hold for me, and would it capture my imagination the way I had hoped? In a word, no.

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