Ubisoft’s historical tale of guys shanking other guys continues to be wildly popular, though my interest in it has been in decline for years. After the series peaked during the ACII/AC Brotherhood era, they followed them up with two clunkers in Revelations and III. I had no interest in playing IV at all, but because of all the positive buzz surrounding this latest installment, a trade-in credit burning a hole in my pocket and a thirst for quality PS4 games to play, I gave it a shot.
Werewolf and werewolf-style games have their roots tracing all the way back to the 80s. One by one, villagers are killed until the wolf is executed or until the wolf is the last one standing. Due to the nature of its gameplay, it’s been a go-to game for many when playing with a large or very large group. Heck, there are versions of this game that support dozens of different players at once! Having said that, the common knock on this formula is that completing a game can take a really long time, especially with large player counts.
Enter One Night Ultimate Werewolf. This standalone game takes the core concept and condenses all of the action in one night, which translates into about 10 minutes per game. Does it still deliver the thrills in a much shorter time?
In the New 52 era version of Suicide Squad, government agent Amanda Waller has created a black ops group out of expendable villains to take on covert missions. The reward for success is the possibility of a shorter prison sentence, though failure or insubordination will lead to getting your head blown off. Any way you slice it, they’re pretty much screwed.
Steve Jackson’s dungeon crawler has been a staple in the tabletop gaming space for over a decade. At this point, you can buy Munchkin pretty much anywhere along with a countless number of expansions, spin-offs, booster packs and accessories. When I got into the designer board and card games a few years ago, this was one of the first games I played. Does Munchkin stand the test of time?
In Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies, gaming’s favorite lawyer returns to a court of law that’s in shambles. For one, Courtroom #4 has just been decimated by a bomb that went off mid-trial. Worse yet, the reputation of the entire justice system has been destroyed by years of poor conduct from prosecutors and attorneys. In this “Dark Age of the Law”, forging evidence has become a common practice by those looking to get ahead. While Phoenix’s goal of defending his clients hasn’t changed, he also aims to put an end to this fraudulent era of justice by proving that the truth always prevails.
Clem is no longer alone, but that doesn’t mean she’s out of trouble. A House Divided picks up right where things left off, as she and Pete are being pursued by a pack of walkers. From there, the complications that come with company become increasingly apparent.
Based on the name and its nondescript theme, it’s easy to say, “No thanks,” to No Thanks. Once you open up the box, there isn’t much to look at either besides a handful of numbered cards and a baggie filled with plastic tokens. But once you get it going, it delivers an experience far greater than what you’d expect from its pedestrian components.
Following the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, Professor X’s group of mutants have hit a new low. Charles Xavier is dead, while Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik and Magneto are working together to start a mutant revolution. At a loss for next steps, a passing comment from present day Iceman sparks an event that will break the spacetime continuum. Through the use of time travel, the original five X-Men come to the present to stop Cyclops from completing his misguided plan. This fateful event is a convenient way for All New X-Men Vol. 1: Yesterday’s X-Men to relaunch the franchise while acknowledging everything that came before. Yet it’s also a risky fictional device to use, as any missteps can undermine and tarnish the entire timeline.
I have never played a Super Mario game and said to myself, “You know what this series needs more of? Coins.” In New Super Mario Bros. 2, it’s the entire hook of the game. Coins are in abundance for you to collect and the game is constantly urging you to collect one million(!) of them. Having taken out Bowser yet again, it’s clear to see that the coin angle is a poor Band-Aid solution to compensate for a sub-par Super Mario game.
I owe a lot to the original Rocksmith. With its help, I achieved my lifelong dream of being able to playing the guitar with some form of competency. Sure, I have a long way to go before I can rock a sold out stadium, but I’ve developed a foundation of knowledge and skills to play music today with a clear road map for growth that I can follow with or without the game. Case in point, I was able to learn the song 22 by Taylor Swift without any assistance from the game, which I think was a huge milestone in the development of my guitar skills.
With that said, that original Rocksmith didn’t make the learning process as seamless as it could have been. On a fundamental level, it was a good teaching tool trapped in a bad video game, as its traditional career mode ended up hampering the learning process for players of all skill levels. This time, Rocksmith 2014 cuts any pretense of trying to be the next Guitar Hero to instead focus on being the best guitar teacher it can be.
In Third Person 