Phil Villarreal's Blog, page 114
March 1, 2018
"Subsurface Circular" Review
The visual novel "Subsurface Circular" could have been released in any era, but maybe is the best fit for 2018 because there are so few games that are anything like it.
With perhaps the closest analogue being the "Hatoful Boyfriend" pigeon-schoolyard-romance series, the game tells a "Mass Effect"-twinged sci-fi story, with your dialogue choices opening up new branching gameplay paths while closing down others.
Credit goes to the Bithell Games writing team for conjuring a narrative that forces you to examine the text uttered by you and the rest of the characters rather than numbly tap your way through. The reward truly is the journey here, with background visuals serving as the only reminders that you're playing a game rather than reading a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure e-book.
Working as a detective investigating the disappearance of robotic workers, you feel out witnesses, nudging them to cough up key information without losing your cool or causing them to lose theirs. Every choice you make can snowball and drastically change not only the outcome of your dialogue tree, but the story as a whole. You'll find yourself having to make tough decisions with inadequate information onhand, dealing with pangs of regret the rest of the saga for opportunities missed.
A compelling crime yarn through and through, "Subsurface Circular" is a welcome literary change of pass in an action-heavy medium.
Publisher provided review code.
February 28, 2018
"Bridge Constructor Portal" Review
It's been far too long since GLaDOS pumped out passive-aggressive taunts as gamers struggled to make their way through increasingly torturous puzzles. "Bridge Constructor Portal" may not be the full-fledged follow-up to "Portal 2" that puzzler fans have dreamed of, but it's more than a serviceable stopgap.
A 2D, single-screen, connect-the-dots strategy challenge, "Bridge Constructor Portal" challenges you to build load-supporting pathways from one platform to another that can withstand the weight of freight trucks. All the while, GLaDOS chides you with her barbed snark.
While the game feels decidedly more like a mobile affair rather than a full-figured release, the square peg that is the Aperture Science world manages to ram into the round portal hole without much trouble. "Bridge Constructor" puzzlers stand up well on their own without additional branding, and the clever "Portal" writing only enhances what's already a solid base.
The puzzles force you to think quickly and juggle physics estimates on the fly, adjusting your load-bearing needs to the demands of wacky variables that get tossed at you. A hold-your-breath successful run provides every bit as much of a thrill as tackling a brain-bending, portal gun blasting, companion cube-aided triumph from a mainline "Portal" game.
While more of a trifle than a meaty puzzler "Portal" fanatics crave, the fact that GLaDOS is "still alive" yields hope for a dystopian future.
Publisher provided review code.
February 24, 2018
"Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus" Switch review
For more than a decade, "Pac-Man Championship Edition" and its various add-ons, rereleases and upgrades have reached about every system.
The wholesale revitalization and reimagining of the arcade classic not only synthesized the bewildering fun of the 1980s phenomenon, recalibrating it for brilliance by modern-day standards, it added new vital modes and concepts, all with rapidfire pacing.
It's no surprise that the Switch iteration manages to one-up the others. Taking full advantage of the Switch sceen's format, you move Pac-Man through the sprawling labyrinths, taking advantage of warps, power-ups and ghost chains to rack up your score in various modes.
The difficulty steadily ramps up to punishing levels that match and surpass those of old-school "Pac-Man," without the penalty of restarting and backtracking. There is always something fresh and new to enjoy, and every second you spend in Pac-Man fever feels like you are building toward something new.
The game is also a couch multiplayer ace, with such simple controls that two players can each grab a Joy-Con and compete/collaborate on the same console. The greatest game in one of the genre's legendary franchises is in its best form yet on Nintendo's phenomenal console.
Publisher provided review code.
"Metal Gear Survive" Review
Following the awkward 2015 departure of "Metal Gear" impresario Hideo Kajima, Konami took its time putting out the next game in the series. In concept, a survival-minded, open world-set saga seemed like a savvy move.
In practice, the laborious, stilted effort seems like a rush-job, unworthy cash-in unworthy of the Metal Gear name. Even more awkard and less compelling than the awkward 2013 hack-and-slash spinoff "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance," "Metal Gear Survive" is best left forgotten. Its only hope is that its controlled online-always nature -- even in single-player, you need to maintain a connection with the server at all times -- will yield gradual improvement.
There is some hope on that front, with a promised update in March set to deliver the co-op entry Rescue Mission -- as well as daily missions that pump out every day at noon to keep things fresh. The commitment to adding fresh content to the game-as-service is laudable, and it seems that something interesting would be added to the drab morass if only by happy accident.
As things stand, though, "Metal Ger Survive" is a largely vacant, uninspiring bore that's more like virtual babysitting than a tense game of stealth combat. With a nagging ecosystem, sprawling and empty environments and uninspiring weapon selection and combat, there is just not enough here to merit a full purchase. The product feels more like a free-to-play lark than a full-figured commitment, and its survival prospects at this point seem dubious.
Publisher provided review code.
Book Report: "The Right Stuff"
The Right Stuff by Tom WolfeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Exploiting remarkable access and trust from his subjects with his otherworldly insight and story-spinning voice, Tom Wolfe jimmies his way inside the heads of the first seven astronauts and their elite test pilot forerunners -- particularly Chuck Yeager -- to tell an incomparably detailed and insightful story of their heady run as the soul of the American fighting and exploratory spirit in middle 20th century.
Wolfe subtly mocks journalists of the time for accepting the military-approved, Time/Life-facilitated whitewashed public image of the astronauts foisted onto the public. Despite his snarky perspective, Wolfe also buys into the spirit of the propaganda and its ability to lift and focus the public's yearnings, channeling them toward the greater, we're-all-in-this-together, Cold War-flavored ethos of the space race.
The most righteous stuff in the book is in the first two thirds. Toward the end, when the figurative booster stages have departed and descended into splashdown, Wolfe is left with the crumbs of the inspiring and raucous narrative to patch together the disappointing end of the affair. But there is more than enough here to make this an essential piece of period Americana.
In the Audible original production, Dennis Quaid -- one of the stars of the 1983 movie adaptation -- admirably inhabits the soul of Tom Wolfe while telling the story in a smooth, conversational flow. Unfortunately, age has added an occasional slur to his delivery, but Quaid manages to overcome the distraction with an uncanny ability to nail the various accents, speech patterns and points of emphasis the spirit of Wolfe's material cries out for. It's hard to imagine any other narrator doing a better job.
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February 23, 2018
"Game Night" Review
For my full review, click here.
February 22, 2018
"Past Cure" Review
A neo noir mystery yarn, "Past Cure" follows a former soldier rattled from nefarious experimentation who struggles to maintain control of his mind and nerves. Using a combination of stealth, telekinetic and time-manipulating powers, you search out levels to stay a step of the dark internal and external forces that plague you.
Bringing your brother along for help, you seek to expose the torturous conspiracy that's ensnared you, seeking to isolate and eliminate your influence -- sweeping you away conveniently before you can cause problems.
As you advance through the story, you pick up new powers that enhance the speed and precision with which you can power through the obstacles that stand in your way. The trade-off is that as you apply the enhancements, you lose even more of your sanity -- jeopardizing your ability to gauge the reality of the horrors that confront you.
A dark and foreboding thriller, "Past Cure" is a disturbing and frenetically involving saga. A welcome surprise in the 2018 gaming year, it's this year's answer to "Hellgate: Senua's Sacrifice."
Publisher provided review code.
February 18, 2018
"Rally Racers" Review
Any racing title daring to make its way onto the Switch has foreboding competition revving its engine in the neighboring lane in the form of "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe."
"Rally Racers" may not be able to match the first-party behemoth in the realm of character or track selection -- nor full-featured online play -- but does manage to contend with the master in the key area of gameplay. That's because "Rally Racers" seeks not only to ape "Mario Kart," but looks to other games for heavy influences.
Taking a note from the likes of "Burnout," you're rewarded for the more collisions you can manage. Once you're airborne, you pull back the right stick to pull off tricks in the manner of a skateboarding game or "Joe Danger."
Tricked-out racing with constant mega-jumps and item-flooded sprint tracks. The controls can be a little floaty, but you get used to the arcade-influenced feel. Rubber-banding AI frustratingly means that no matter how well you master the racing, you'll always find a rival or three on your six.
While no one's idea of a "Mario Kart" replacement, "Rally Racers" excels as a palate cleanser/sidekick for one of history's greatest racers.
Publisher provided review code.
"Escape Trick: 35 Fateful Enigmas" Review
With its big, lavish touch screen, the Switch is an ideal destination for point-and-click adventure games. That makes it an apt fit for an "Escape Trick" compilation.
The closest a video game can come to synthesize an escape room, you're forced to use your critical thinking skills to analyze, investigate and move the story forward with the aid of your detective ey and knowhow.
With two combined games -- 16 episodes from "The Escape from the Sealed Room" and the 19-episode follow-up "The Escape from the Sealed Room 2," there are plenty of puzzles to keep you obsessing over.
The graphics won't win any awards, but the spartan presentation -- reminiscent of the 1990s heyday of the genre -- belies the complex, involving narrative that powers the story along.
A content-rich pickup for those looking for a low-cost diversion on their Switch, "Escape Trick" is a robust, satisfying investment for those looking to dabble in the life of a virtual detective.
Publisher provided review code.
February 17, 2018
"Billiard" Review
As bare-bones and slim-featured as its oddly single-tense title, "Billiard" is as basic a pool game aas you're ever likely to see on a modern console.
With no online features, you are left to throw down against frustrating AI opposition. The real foe, though, is the convoluted shot system.
Rather than take advantage of the natural feel of pulling back an analogue stick to replicate a real pool shot, you tap a button to size up your power range before letting 'er rip. You can pinpoint where you're shooting at with pre-shot adjustments that allow you to shift views, target specific parts of the ball with pinpoint precision and get a read on your carom with a dotted-line predictor.
The Switch makes sense as a destination for a robust pool game. but devs can do better than the flimsy standard established by "Billiard." Chalk this one up as an unfortunate side-pocket scratch off the break.
Publisher provided review code.
