If at all you’re unfamiliar with the term “gameplay loop” basically have you ever played a game for a while and then just realized that after sinking hours and hours into this game that the game essentially boiled down to the same few minutes to an hour of gameplay repeated over and over again? Yea that’s the basic concept. We’ve all been through it, whether or not it is a deal breaker is up to you. Some would argue that every game is that at the most basic levels, those people would be half right but today let me focus on the single player games and at the more positive ones, the games that made us not think about it until we were already invested or until long after that. I’ll be completely honest and say what inspired me to write this is that I recently beat Crackdown 3, and…
So the other day I came across some frosted circus animal cookies, and instantly I was back in another time and place. I said out loud how they reminded me of Super Mario 64 since I would always eat them while playing that game. Funny enough, my brother agreed with me, saying he thought the same thing. Isn’t it crazy how that works? The human mind is truly incredible, and I started thinking of what other games I associatewith certain foods. Strangely enough, I associate these barbeque chips with Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes and know that the first time I cranked up Modern Warfare 2, I was eating pretzels. I’ll also hear certain songs that I would jam to during my MW2 online matches, and I instantly think of the game. Does anyone else feel like this, or is it just me? The thing that blows me away is that…
With the second Lego movie recently hitting theaters, I thought of another one of my favorite combos: Legos and Star Wars. I have no carpentry skills whatsoever, and if you told me to build a birdhouse, I would fail epically. However, even at a young age, I was a Lego connoisseur and could create anything that crossed my path. I was obsessed with Legos and Star Wars, and even built the Lego Millenium Falcon all by myself. You can envision my excitement when I found out there would be a Lego Star Wars video game. Game on bro. When I first found out about Lego Star Wars: The Video Game I was ecstatic. It would be the perfect blend of the loves of my life at the time. Now imagine the pain that came with that when I realized it was initially released on the Xbox and PS2, but not on the Gamecube. Oh,…
Being a big South Park fan, taking on the absurd world of South Park: The Stick of Truth was such a blast. It was without a doubt the funniest video game I have ever played. When I heard they were releasing a sequel cleverly titled The Fractured but Whole, I knew I had to get my hands on it at some point. It has taken me a long while to finally get around to it, but thanks to Redbox, I am finally back in the cartoon world of South Park, Colorado again. And boy is it sweet. This game picks up right where The Stick of Truth leaves off. The neighborhood kids are all busy playing as fantasy, Lord of the Rings style characters until they decide that’s lame and they decide that superheroes are the way to go instead. It is up to you to help out Cartman’s alter ego, The Coon, and his friends, who are dealing with a superhero…
The Super Bowl is one of the most televised events in the world. This year, fans across the globe tuned in to see if the New England Patriots would continue their dynasty or if they would crumble at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. I imagine that most fans were rooting for the Rams, since the Patriots have seen way too much success, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. This year’s Madden Super Bowl simulation that predicted the Rams would top the Pats was wrong, just as I knew would be the case. In one of the most boring Super Bowl games I have ever witnessed, I couldn’t help but think – would a game of Madden be more entertaining than this? This year’s Super Bowl was all about defense. The score going into halftime was 3-0 Patriots and ended up just 13-3. Props to those who took…
The other day my mind was racing, and somehow took me back to the days when I first owned the Nintendo Wii. It was a system sought after by so many, sold out practically everywhere since Nintendo didn’t meet supply with the insane demand for the console. The Wii was revolutionary, and I was ecstatic when my parents surprised me with one after dinner on a random evening. Naturally, the first game everyone came across on the Wii was Wii Sports, which came with the system and still holds up. Then I caught myself thinking – what if I lost this game over time? You can’t buy the single game by itself. If I lost the game, I would be without Wii Sports for the rest of my life. Wii Sports was an incredible way to show off the Wii’s motion controls for the first time. There were many different sports to…
If you are a sports fan of any kind, I’m sure you have heard the news. With time dwindling at the end of the fourth quarter, Drew Brees threw a pass on third down to his wide receiver on the sideline. The receiver is sprinting to get into position to catch the pass when all of a sudden, BOOM! He gets nailed by the defensive back, unable to catch the pass. It is obvious pass interference. The Saints will get a new first down, can kill some clock, and kick a game-winning fieldgoal to send them to the Super Bowl. However, the referee never threw a flag. The game would eventually go to overtime with the Los Angeles Rams coming out on top. Tough break for the Saints. A fan ended up recreating the play in Madden, which is pretty creative if you ask me. This time, the ref immediately…
Every once in a while when snooping around for a new game, you come across a title that looks a little… different. Donut County is such a game, where it seems a bit quirky, but something about it pulls you into investigating whether it’s worth play, or simply what in the world you are looking at. Time to Play the Donuts Taking place in the humble setting of… okay, probably don’t need to say it, do I? Donut County follows BK the raccoon, and his friend, Mira the human, as they have inadvertently let loose a series of holes in the ground that can move around and are swallowing up the citizens of Donut (well, it was mostly BK at fault, and it was only sort of an accident). This leaves everyone in a frenzy as they and everything they own are being swallowed up by holes. So, you know,…