Phil Villarreal's Blog, page 53
October 13, 2020
October 12, 2020
"Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia" Review
Superfans don't need much to hook them. "Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia" checks most of the boxes for fans of the show, but does little else to go beyond fan service.
Based on the Netflix series, the plot has you guiding Jim Lake Jr. as he takes on Porgon the Trickster Troll, who is trying to bring on the dreaded time-pocalypse. There is action aplenty, with loads of enemies to pummel as you roll toward the end of each level.
What might have been an inspired throwback instead seems somewhat muted.
With creative input from Guillermo del Toro, as well as the series' voice cast -- including Emile Hirsch, David Bradley, Charlie Saxton and Lexi Medrano -- in tow, there was a chance for something exciting. But developer WayForward falls victim to the uninspired design of many licensed games.
Expect repetitive levels, dull enemies and tedious visuals that fail to live up to the vigor of the source material.
Cut scenes are usually skippable trifles in platformers, but the story moments provide some of the more intriguing draws here. Those who have followed the storylines of the Netflix show won't need much convincing to play the game to get the full flavor of the saga.
This one will have you hunting for something better.
Publisher provided review code.
October 9, 2020
PHIL ON FILM: "The War with Grandpa"
For my written review, click here.
October 8, 2020
"Commander '85" Review
"Commander '85" is the pioneer hacker's dream come to life. Just as in the 1983 film "War Games," you play as a child of the 80s with a fancy new computer with untold powers.
At the other end of your DOS prompts and your fuzzy manual modem awaits a burgeoning world to be shaped in your image via a series of command prompts.
The vision that Developer The Moonwalls is carrying is admirable and captivating. The execution, though, is as clumsily executed and obtuse as modder newsgroups of the infant internet.
Just about everything meaningful you accomplish in the game is done at your bedroom computer desk. You're massaging prompts, codes, passwords and adjustments that will seem foreign to anyone who came of age after Windows was introduced.
You're locked into a battle of trial-and-error against the programming itself, forced to use your ingenuity to decipher the correct prompts to advance you toward your task, whether it's cracking your school's report card database or manipulating powerful forces.
While retro charm abounds in "Commander '85," going it alone is an exhausting experience. If you want to progress with minimal frustration and adequate speed, you're best of digging up a walkthrough. While the game is fun to experiment with, it's also often as frustrating and slow as a Commodore 64.
Publisher provided review code.
October 7, 2020
"Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning" Review
There's no time like the cold months, especially during a pandemic, to hunker down with a deep, rich single-player RPG. "Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Recoking" certainly fits that bill, providing an expansive and robust dive into the realm of high fantasy for a cativating tale.
The 2012 game had a solid pedigree, with leadership from the likes of author R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, and was one of the richer and better-looking RPGs of its day.
The years have started to show the frayed edges and rust, though. The menu system now seems antiquated, the load times are a little rough and the quest management system is stiff and slow.
Still, the storytelling remains top-notch, and developer Kaiko made some strides in bringing the game up to modern standards. Smooth, compelling combat and fascinating, distinctive visuals help it make a lasting impression.
That said, there is much more the developer could have done in terms of fan service and quality-of-life improvements. The project's vision was seemingly to lightly touch up a well-regarded game, with little interest in taking it to the next level or adding to the content base.
As a whole, this is the definitive version of one of the top-tier RPGs of the decade. If you haven't played "Kingdoms of Amalur" yet, this is the form with which to make your recoking,
Publisher provided review code.
October 5, 2020
"Star Wars Squadrons" Review
Since taking the lead with the Star Wars license, EA has taken a careful and reserved approach in releasing a AAA-caliber game late each year. After stumbling with the ill-conceived "Star Wars Battlefront II" -- which was plagued with microsransactions at launch before it was stripped of the money-grubbing and reinvented -- the past two years have seen an impressive turnaround.
Building off the success of last year's exquisite single-player effort "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," the multiplayer-focused "Star Wars Squadrons" is a throwback to the likes of "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron."
Developer Motive Studios could have dumbed down the gameplay to make it accessible to as wide an audience as possible, but instead goes full geek, aiming for realism, customization and micromanagement that make the game admirably complex and obtuse. The more you study the nuances of the game, the more you'll thrive, making the club feel like an insular home of the elite rather than a casual rec league.
Five-on-five team battles make sit you in the cockpit of a New Republic or Imperial craft, pitting you in tense dogfights that become a game of cat-and-mouse with missile locks, enviornmental hazards and twisting objectives. The nagging need to rebalance your firepower, speed and shields depending on flexible needs of combat is a thrilling burden.
Impressive visuals and sounds help deepen the immersion, with the cockpit view making you feel as though you are truly inside your craft rather than controlling it as a drone. The unbriled thrill of success juxtaposes with the crushing devastation of defeat -- all part of a continues adrenaline rush that makes you feel skilled and powerful.
While more modes and fighter selections would have been welcome, what we have here is a compelling start that thrives on its economy of scale, plugging you to intense battles that reward invention and resolve. You feel as though you are in full control of a powerful starcraft, living out your cinematic fantasies.
"Star Wars Squadrons" capitalizes on the series previous aerial combat highs and soars to even greater altitude. The sky is no limit when it comes to this brave, bold excursion into deep space.
Publisher provided review code.
October 4, 2020
Book Review: "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test"
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom WolfeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Tom Wolfe captured the zeitgeist of the 1960s psychedelic movement in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," a whirlwind of a book with a glowing reputation that casts a looming shadow over it.
It was a relic of and for its time -- thickly insular and crammed with hard-to-track references that severely date it. The time capsule nature of the book preserves it as an untainted, free-thinking and spoken remnant of its age. There is a certain innocence and vigor for upheaval that the decades in which I've lived can't hardly relate to. And a certain momentum that seems near impossible to recapture.
By employing a stream-of-consciousness narrative, Wolfe loses as much in relatability as he gains in immediacy. Ever at war with itself while trapped in a tendency to navel-gaze with an intensity that the Instagram generation will well identify, there are as many eye-rolling passages as there are watershed moments.
Wolfe's editors seemed to have taken a hands-off approach, leaving him free and clear to venture down bizarre asides and rabbit holes. That extends to morbid repetition of some words or phrases. He uses the term DayGlo so often that it could be a drinking game resulting in alcohol poisoning.
Despite all its flaws, the book stands proudly for the way it documents the rises and falls of counterculture movements of the ages, as well as the art, music and celebrity they inspired. Pyschedelics' influence on the Grateful Dead, the Beatles and the Doors and novelist Ken Kesey stretch beyond measure, and the same is ulitmately true of the author. All survived and endured past the acid test flashpoint.
View all my reviews
Publisher provided review copy.
"Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time" Review
Crash is back. Coming 22 years after the last numbered series entry, the spinning, double-jumping relic of a PlayStation mascot leaps into action as though the past couple gaming generations never happened.
A razzle-dazzle collect-a-thon in the tradition of PlayStation-era classics, "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time" makes up for its lost decades with vigor and exuberance.
Building off the momentum of the 2017 "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy," Developer Toys for Bob stays true to the original formula while introducing quality-of-life improvements, modern visuals and creative level design.
All the rail slides, improbable leaps, attacks and items to collect are back, along with a zany, time travel-centered story that has you selecting levels through a "Super Mario World"-style top-down view.
While the silly cut scenes are skippable, there's no fluff in the playable content. Toys for Bob forged an impressive amount of creativity into the gameplay, twisting established formulas on their heads and delivering scores of thrilling set pieces.
The mainline game is the most significant draw, but not the end of the story. Controller-passing multiplayer is also here, in the form of time trials and crate smashing competitions that track scores for as many as four players. This is a platformer designed for speed runs, tricks and online streams.
Far more than a tribute to the franchise's creaky past, "It's About Time" feels like a wholesale relaunch. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and it will be exciting to see what Toys for Bob does with its newfound momentum as Crash spins, jumps and slides into the future.
Publisher provided review code.
September 29, 2020
"Bartlow's Dread Machine" Review
Wearing its steampunk-influenced charm on its epaulet-adorned sleeves, "Bartlow's Dread Machine" piles on the 19th century trappings, ever amused at itself as it takes you for a ride on a creaky old penny-farthing.
The twin-stick shooter challenges you to hit the mean-yet-mannered countryside in search of kidnapped President Teddy Roosevelt.
In a travelogue that spans the breadth of Americana -- from New York to San Francisco -- you romp through the tongue-in-cheek parody.
As a Tin Woodsman-like secret agent, you take on a band of devil-worshipping anarchists, with historical figures periodically popping up to help out.
Developer Beep Games revels in stylish visuals and sound design, slyly mocking the period setting while also paying adoring tribute to it.
Bursting at the rivet-lined seams with bouncy wit, the game will no doubt slap a goofy smile on your face.
While there's little remarkable about the combat or controls, "Bartlow's Dread Machine" manages to stay interesting by humming to the tune of its own phonograph.
Publisher provided review code.
"Shing!" Review
A breezy hack-and-slash romp, "Shing!" lives up to the onomatopoeia of its title with kinetic action, dazzling combos and over-the-top thrills.
Developer Mass Creation ratchets up the silly, raucous intensity as you guide your demon-slashing ninja into battle.
Smarmy humor pulses through the game, which hurls you from one breakneck bout of bloodshed to the next.
There's a bit of a learning curve to the stick-based control scheme, which is nuanced enough to take significant time to master, while free-flowing enough to satisfy button-mashers.
The side-scroller has a tendency to wear out its gimmicks, but manages to stay fresh with subtle twists and paradigm-shifting confrontations.
As with most games of this ilk, you'll get more out of it if you bring along a buddy for co-op. Like recently-released genre rivals "Streets of Rage 4" and the "Battletoads" reboot, there's a heavy reliance on well-worn conventions of the past -- quite possibly because there isn't much new under the sun in the beat-em-up realms.
"Shing!" won't turn any heads of those who are focused on more sophisticated experiences, but those who are down for some quick, rough and dirty action will feel right at home.
Publisher provided review copy.
