For today's musical hit, we have Kelsea Ballerini and "Legends"
Today's critical rolls: What could be worse than Marvel comics partnering with a company that makes weapons of war? Imagine the possibilities of all the terrible partnerships out there, and give us fictional examples of companies that should never, ever, partner together to do anything.
Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.
For today's musical hit, we have Tacocat and "Men Explain Things To Me."
Today's critical rolls: Would you rather play video games in a social setting like a coffeehouse or LAN party or internet cafe? Or do you prefer to pwn noobs in the privacy of your own home?
Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.
Because we definitely need more of this kind of stuff, the Beyond Anthology kickstarter has started. This is a queer sci-fi comic anthology, and it sounds like something worth supporting!
For today's musical hit, we have Katy Perry's "Swish Swish" performance on Saturday Night Live just this past weekend.
Today's critical rolls: If you were a stay-at-home gamer parent, what kind of games would you be playing while baby naps?
Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.
For today's musical hit, we have Juhi and "Welcome to Catatonia"
Today's critical rolls: Since the topic of the day is whitewashing, let's do the opposite (what do we call this? POCwashing? Or just "doing it right"?). If you could take any existing character in any genre and change their race/religion/background story, what would this character look and feel like? Don't just change someone's skin color. Really think about the cultural implications!
Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.
Bioware’s next installment in their Mass Effect franchise, Andromeda, finally came out - and io9’s Evan Narcisse, Beth Elderkin and James Whitbrook reminisce about the original trilogy, picking moments that made them fall in love with it.
For today's musical hit, Gorillaz just dropped some new tunes! We thought "Andromeda" seemed particularly pertinent today. Enjoy this art track!
Today's critical rolls: Happy Friday! What are some of your favorite non-superhero comic books?
Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.
2016 is winding down and we're glad for it. But not everything about 2016 was awful. This week we've been trying to round-up the positives of the year, including news, comics, and movies. Today we're rounding up our favorite games of the year, and stay-tuned for tomorrow's TV edition!
Without further ado, here are Critical Writ's favorite games of 2016.
Every year, there’s one thing in video game releases I crave amid all the exciting title – a surprise. Something I didn’t know of/didn’t think about much that ends up consuming me for a long time. This year it was Overwatch, a game from a genre I never got into: FPS (first person shooter). I love its colorful and diverse cast of characters, its fun (if sometimes absurd) lore, and its surprisingly accessible gameplay. While not without flaws (the cash-grabbing nature of loot boxes, the lack of body diversity in its female characters, the occasionally culturally insensitive skins), it’s a game I just can’t stop playing. (Dominik)
I was giddy about the Tell Tale Batman game from the moment the teaser trailer first appeared, and now that I’ve played almost all of it, I can easily say that I am not disappointed. The focus on choices and story over action lets Batman feel more like a detective and less like a martial arts beat-em-up, but the game still delivers some exciting and impressive action sequences. The only slight complaint I have is that Bruce Wayne looks an awful lot like Archer, but I’ll take Archer over the angry hunk of granite that was a popular look for the character for far too long. (Miz Opifex)
I have been looking forward to Dishonored 2 since it was announced, because I love stealth games and I loved the grimy and bleak steampunk world of Dunwall.
Now, there are things that genuinely sucked about this game, mainly that it was so poorly optimized at launch that certain maps slogged even on the most powerful of gaming rigs. But the story was phenomenal. Whereas Dishonored’s main hero was Corvo, who was avenging the death of his lover the Empress and attempting to rescue his daughter, this game took a different stance. You had the option of playing either Emily or her father Corvo. But if you listen to the dialogue throughout the game, particularly from some of your primary targets, you really get the sense that this is Emily’s story first and foremost. She was a crappy Empress and her lack of care is what allowed her aunt Delilah to seize power from her. This game is about Emily’s redemption as well as recovering her throne. It feels like being able to play Corvo is a consolation prize for dudebros who hate female leads. Truly, this game is about Emily, and she is surrounded by powerful women (her ally, a black disabled woman voiced by Rosario Dawson, some of her assassination targets including Delilah herself, etc). In addition to story, Dishonored 2 is always an excellent stealth game that gives you lots of options in how you handle your targets. (Ivonne)
Some games are exhilarating, some you can just chill with. ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley -- a spiritual successor to the console-based Harvest Moon series -- is one of the latter. It’s a calm, fun simulation of a farming life in a small village. It’s a beautiful little title, that allows you pretty much unrestricted freedom in building your own little patch of heaven in the titular valley. (Dominik)
While last year’s Alien: Isolation -- a first person sneak/fight ‘em up -- is considered the best official Alien game, Duskers is deserving of the best Alien game unconnected to the franchise. A tense simulation of a drone operator, the game takes place in a similar lo-fi future, and allows control over your robotic helper by typing instructions (and exploring rooms with WASD keys). But you’re never alone on the ships you visit, and how well you end your visit depends both on careful planning and frantic typing of instructions. (Dominik)
What were your favorite games of 2016? Did we miss any? Let us know below!
The Turing Test is a new first person puzzle game, much like Portal and The Talos Principle. The player controls Ava Turing, a scientist who is investigating the disappearance of a ground team on Europa (a moon of Jupiter, and may I recommend the film Europa Report to those unfamiliar?). Assisting her is the Technical Operative Machine (T.O.M) AI, who helped build the underground base on Europa and up until 500 hours ago, ran the place alongside the base commander. Upon arrival, Ava and Tom discover that the ground team has arranged the base into a series of puzzles—Turing tests, only solvable by humans because AI lack the ability to think laterally.
To be clear, it doesn't exactly re-invent the wheel. The appeal comes from a plot that delves into the philosophical debate about artificial intelligence and freedom. The game is also utterly gorgeous. Developed on the Unreal Engine 4, my only real complaint about the visuals is that most of the puzzle rooms look the same, so any variety in environment is sadly brief.
The puzzles are fun, and new elements are introduced along the way. However, there are seventy puzzle rooms. For the most part, the puzzles are not very challenging. Only the seven optional rooms and a handful of the mandatory ones ever had me stumped, and I breezed through the chapters. After a while the game felt bloated, and I can’t help but compare it to Portal in that regard. Portal never overstays it’s welcome, The Turing Test does.
I also had a huge issue with the audio logs that you need to listen to in order to piece the plot together. Subtitles are an option for the real world dialogue, but the audio logs are not subtitled. The audio logs are of terrible, terrible quality and taking away subtitles just makes it impossible for the hard of hearing to understand. I get that the human crew is intentionally trying to be hard to understand so they have some privacy from Tom, but what’s the point of not subtitling it for the player? I had to look up what was being said online.
I found it somewhat humorous that despite taking place centuries into the future, our technology has only developed so far. My PC looks more hi tech than the computers in their labs, and they’re using tablets more primitive that what is available now.
BEHOLD THE COMPUTERS OF THE FUTURE!
I also found it suspicious fairly early on in the game that Tom is allegedly incapable of solving these puzzles, and then after a certain point, Ava needs TOM’s help to operate various cameras and robots to solve puzzles. There’s even at least two puzzles where Tom does all the work. Why would the crew set up the puzzles that way?
Spoilers below, you’ve been warned.
After the second chapter, you enter the crew quarters. They aren’t there, but you can read their journals and notes. It turns out that the doctor, Mikhail, suspected that Tom controls the crew through implants in their hands, installed under the pretense that it allows Tom to monitor their health. He chops off his arm to get rid of Tom’s influence, and puts the rest of the crew on anti-depressants which allegedly dampens his abilities to control them. They have also discovered a virus on Europa. It has a symbiotic relationship with the organisms it infects; it repairs their DNA so that they can withstand the radiation on Europa. This makes the host organism biologically immortal. It can be killed, but it never ages. The crew is understandably excited, but then decides to test the virus on themselves to expedite the results of their research.
A record scratch sounded off in my head. That’s insanely unethical. That would never ever get past an ethics committee. What the hell were they thinking?
And this is also where Ava turns out not to be the greatest example of a female protagonist. She’s kind of a total dunce and needs Tom to help her understand anything. Chapters later, Sarah tells her about the implant and virus again. I know, I thought during Sarah and Tom’s dialogue. We read about this earlier in the game. But Ava acts like it’s brand new information to her, and she is angry with Tom. Tom, for his part, is trying to quarantine the crew on Europa since they infected themselves with a virus that can destroy the entire ecosystem of Earth if they ever return. There’s no way to kill the virus, so they must stay.
Maybe I’m heartless, maybe I fail at being a strong defender of personal freedom. But I feel like that’s a reasonable consequence for intentionally infecting yourself with a strange and dangerous virus. The moral quandary at the heart of The Turing Test was a no-brainer for me. It sucks for them to live forever on Europa, but maybe they should have thought about that first.
The mind control thing confused me a little so it was harder for me to take a stance on it. Tom says it’s there to prevent human error. But clearly it doesn’t work very well or Tom could have stopped Mikhail from chopping off his arm, or the team from committing mutiny. If he’s only slightly influencing the team, say through releasing hormones to relax them, then yeah that’s unethical and they didn’t have informed consent, but not exactly a reason to totally rebel and doom Earth.
The ending was unsatisfactory for me. Sarah’s single mindedness made no sense to me, nor Ava’s attitude. I decided I wouldn’t even file this game under “games with female protagonists” because ultimately, you are Tom. The only decision in the game is up to him, who you increasingly control and play as. There was little satisfaction in the decision I made, and I replayed the ending just to be sure. The dilemma failed to grip me.
Not even the destruction of companion cubes could move me.
But what if I just misunderstood what the game was really about? I do like the theory that the whole game was merely a simulation for Tom, much like Serial Experiments Lain, because that would excuse many of the problems with the plot. Ultimately the virus and the mind control doesn’t matter, because what really mattered was how Tom felt about it. Through his actions and dialogue with Ava, we can establish that Tom is actually a sentient being, not just a program. It is Ava who is the simulation. It was Tom who was solving all the puzzles all along, through his “mind control” on Ava. Yet I’m not entirely sold on that explanation. The implant and virus plot points don’t feel like red herrings, nor do the puzzles themselves. I can’t shake the feeling that the plot isn’t up to interpretation, but meant to be taken at face value.
As you can probably tell, I have my issues with The Turing Test. There were times when I was raging at the screen because I felt the humans were being so foolish. It was only long after I finished the game that I started thinking about the possibility that it was all a simulation, a game within a game, that I started seeing real value in the plot. I’m still unsure whether I liked the game as a whole, but I have to admit it's been a while since I gave a game this much thought. And, if you’re looking for more puzzle games, while it gets weary you can’t say that 70 puzzles for 19.99 is a bad deal.
The Turing Test was developed by Bulkhead Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is available on Xbox One and on Steam.
Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.
Welcome to "Google-Glance," the feature that asks people to talk at length about something of which they are but dimly aware, based on five minutes of research using only Google Images.
Today’s topic is that wacky summer hit, Overwatch. It is explained by Etienne, who hasn't played a triple-A game since Portal 2, and features artwork by Miz Opifex, whose only acquaintance with Overwatch comes from her friends' Facebook posts. Miz was tasked to base her illustrations on what Etienne described, with no access to visual content of any kind.
What is Overwatch?
It’s a video game. I know that much—I’m not going in totally blind here. I think it’s a shooter game, probably along the lines of Team Fortress, except in a colorful sci-fi universe.
The plot
I see there’s a spiky-haired lady and she’s duel-wielding pistols, so I bet she's extremely important. Also, there is a skull-faced dude in a black cloak, and that style rarely bodes well. I guess the spiky-haired lady—we’ll call her Spiky-Do—has some sort of beef with Skull-Face. There’s an angel-winged woman and she looks like she might be related to Spiky-Do, so I’m going to say that Skull-Face kidnapped Spiky-Do’s Angel Auntie. There’s also a cyborg gorilla, and a witch in a red dress, and probably a robot army.
To summarize: Spiky-Do, a trigger-happy gymnast in form-fitting armor, uses gun-fu to rescue her Angel Auntie from Skull-Face’s robot horde. She is aided in her anti-robot crusade by Chip Antsy, a cowardly cyborg gorilla, possibly a defector from Skull-Face’s army. In addition to facing terrible technological threats, Spiky-Do must contend with the evil magic of Melissandre—a fanatic priestess of the Lord of Light.
[Artist's note: I confess the main character that I am aware of existing in Overwatch is the one with the pink hair and big muscles. She caught my eye because I also have pink hair and muscles, but I'm not quite that shredded. Still: #goals. I just assumed she is Spiky-Do.] The protagonist
Spiky-Do used to be just a regular spiky-haired gymnast from future-Earth. She would go to future-school, and learn important stuff like somersaulting and marksmanship. Of course, all of that changed when the alien Skull-Face overwhelmed future-Earth’s defences with his unstoppable legion of automata.
Spiky-Do is not one to shy away from a challenge, however: she’s proficient in the use of every kind of firearm, and should she ever run out of ammo, she could probably turn anything into an instrument of murder. When form-fitting armor isn’t enough to get through the day, she has an extensive wardrobe—including a spiffy sniper cloak and a cozy parka.
[Artist note: About here, I realized that maybe Etienne was talking about the girl who wears yellow that got caught in the great big kerfuffle about butts in video games. Oh well, I was committed now. Plus this was fun as hell to draw.] The main antagonist
The sinister Skull-Face started out as an intern at the Amoral Interstellar Corporation that harvests the magic of angel-winged future people. He was a real go-getter, and his no-nonsense approach to violating the fundamental rights of angels soon caught the attention of his superiors. After a vertiginous climb up the corporate ladder, Skull-Face now manages his own branch of Amoral Inc.
Skull-Face doesn’t have anything personal against Spiky-Do or future-Earth: it’s just that robots run on angel magic. Skull-Face is at least half-robot himself. And telekinetic? Yes. We’ll go with that—he’s a telekinetic alien cyborg who runs on magic.
[Artist's note: I'd like to think Unpaid Intern Skull-Face was also super good at getting everyone's coffee order from that terrible overpriced coffee house that was totally gentrifying the neighborhood.]
Okay, but what about this?
That’s Melissandre in her clubbing outfit. And when I say “clubbing,” I mean she goes to the future-Earth’s Rifle Club, where she likes to club everyone with the butt of her magic rifle.
[Artist's note: This is the sort of clothes you wear to the gun club, right?]
And this?
That's a scene from Spiky-Do’s raid on Mélissandre’s library. She is assisted by Janette the Techno-Witch, who is actually from one of those low-gravity planets where the heels she is wearing might be considered reasonable fighting attire. Spiky-Do and Jannette are BFFs.
And this?
That’s a snapshot of a secret meeting between Spiky-Do and an angel whose power has been harvested by the Amoral Corporation. They will not part on good terms, however: Spiky-Do could never condone the former angel’s vengeance-fueled guerilla.
Yes, but is it feminist?
My version sure is! It’s a classic tale of two women overcoming impossible odds in order to be together—like Frozen, only intergenerational. And with robots. A lot more robots.
I do wonder why all future women have roughly the same body type, though. That definitely stretches my suspensions of disbelief. Etienne Domingue is not currently on fire. Ask again later.
Miz Opifex is a union electrician by day and a champion of feminine geekery by night. She lives in the American Rust Belt with her cat and a staggering amount of books, movies, and albums on vinyl.
The rumors were true! Blizzard’s latest addition to Overwatch has been announced, and it’s Ana Amari, support sniper and YOUR MOM (that’s a shout out to Pharah. Sorry, kid, you’re gonna have to deal with it). While Pharah might be less than enthused about her mother showing up to work, how do the fans feel? Here at Critical Writ HQ, we decided to get to the bottom of it by asking ourselves.
Adrian: My co-worker first showed me Ana while our boss was speaking in a team meeting, so I had no choice but to smile and nod quietly, rather than cause any disruption. I’m very excited and intrigued. What was your first reaction?
Ivonne: My first initial reaction was SQUUUUEEEE!!! Because Overwatch! But then I calmed down. Honestly, I was hoping for a Latin woman, because you don’t see many of those as heroes in video games. Latin women often just show up as sexy lampposts at the poolside of drug overlords or whatever. That said, Ana is a welcome addition. An older woman, a woman of color, and she’s lost an eye. I’m totally in and very excited!
James: My initial reaction was that she has a very Mad Max vibe, with the damaged, loose cloth draped over the top, it has a very lived-in feel, not like say, Widowmaker who looks like she drops in/out of missions. We don't normally see a relationship opportunity between parent/child, whilst both being adults; Ana seems quite doting, but Pharah is probably going to be more abrasive, I'd prefer them to be happy, because Genji and Hanzo are already doing the whole bad blood thing.
Adrian: You both touch upon a relevant topic in presentation and representation. First, it’s so often that the old, grizzled “I did what I had to do” veteran who kept his family at arms-length is a man, so it’s refreshing to see a mother and daughter’s relationship play out under those dynamics. I love the animosity and resentment Pharah is harboring for her mother, as it makes for a really intriguing story! Taking that back to what James said, Ana’s clothes look lived-in, and in my opinion sensible and functional for her job. Characterization has gone a long way to make the female heroes of Overwatch more than “sexy lampposts.” What do you think of Ana’s design, characterization, and skins?
Ivonne: What I love about Overwatch are the different kinds of female heroes and different body types. And now we have Ana. An older woman who’s both a mother and a freaking sniper, and who carries herself with a wise weariness, like she’s totally seen some shit, if you’ll forgive the language.
Much like broad-shouldered and large women (like Zarya), you don’t see older women celebrated in media in general, much less video games. I think she’s fabulous and ground-breaking. I would also like to point out that the internet, as full of dude-bros as it is, has had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the old lady! This tweet is truth:
@innesmck Blizzard: "Our new character is a sixty year old woman"
Industry: 😂😁😂
Internet: ❤❤❤ yes plz!
Industry: 😮😲😤
James: I find her alternative skins to be poor overall, except ‘Captain Amari,’ which is glorious and goes well with the Morrison skin for 76. The ‘Wasteland’ skin and the Witness me vocal line, tip the hat to Mad Max: Fury Road being a conscious reference point, we could tell that anyway... but having it lampshaded like that, feels like a wink and a nod.
Ivonne: The Captain Amari skin is 100% glorious yes, but as much as I love it (and the fact that it goes with the Jack Morrison skin perfectly), using it would also erase the tired old woman Ana, which is what makes that character unique. I don’t care too much for the other skins, though, so I wish she did have better ones. They are just OK.
Adrian: I love both Ana’s Epic and Legendary skins. ‘Merciful’ has a cool, clean look, and ‘Shrike’ just looks badass. It reminds me a bit of Tali from Mass Effect and armors sets from Destiny. The ‘Wasteland’ skin brings to mind Tusken Raiders from Star Wars. ‘Captain Amari’ is adorable.
James: I do have a slight issue because now looking back, it's painfully obvious how sort of un-Arabian Pharah is. Without that comparison Pharah could go under the radar. Now it feels like she needs the developers to do another pass of her design.
Ivonne: Pharah’s skin are a whole other topic. I mean, I don’t think she’s completely un-Arabian. And I really like the Horus eye tattoo on her face. But of course, then you get the crazy and baffling decision on Blizzard’s behalf of having Native American totemic imagery in some of Pharah’s epic skins. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they are gorgeous. But what does that have to do with her character? And why don’t we have a Native American hero to use them instead? I admit, the pessimist in me waited for Ana’s epic skins to be just as tone deaf as Pharah’s in some way… I was relieved that they weren’t.
Adrian: Yes, Pharah’s ‘Thunderbird’ skin is a real conundrum for me. It looks amazing, I want it, but it’s crossed the line into cultural appropriation, where heritage becomes a costume. There’s another example of this with Roadhog’s ‘Islander’ and ‘Toa’ skins. They look wonderful and are very well-done, and part of me is thrilled to simply see Asian-Pacific culture in a mainstream, AAA game, but it also reminds me of how Blizzard has handled Islander and Native cultures in World of Warcraft. It’s a real problem how people of color are so typically “goblinized” in fantasy and science fiction media.
Now, Hindu leaders are asking Blizzard to remove the ‘Devi’ and ‘Goddess’ skins from Symettra’s skin library as it “trivialized Hinduism’s highly revered goddesses.” These are all contributing reasons why I’m feeling pretty satisfied with Ana’s skin options.
Click here to check out Ana's 'Legecy' prequel comic!
“I forgot to mention before, her heroic stance seems like she is cradling the rifle like a baby.” - James
Adrian: Have you had a chance to play as Ana on the PTR? From early reports and videos, it seems like she’s quite effective. How do you see her being used in matches?
James: I haven't tried her, I'm a XP hound and just play the regular servers. Send help ;)
I see her as utility healing like Zenyatta (but much better), her other abilities are mixed between disruption/(de)buffing. She doesn’t have any special mobility abilities and her effects last for a duration so I don’t think she needs line of sight all that often. I’d certainly play her by moving round the back of a payload for protection.
Let's look at her talents:
Sleep Dart: Potentially has a 50% uptime in an ideal situation, taking damage wakes the target so splash damage from Junkrat or Pharah will be a problem. 5 seconds of nap time on Reinhardt, not much competes with that ability. Biotic Grenade: AOE and boosting team healing looks good for making an unbudgeable Roadhog with his 300 self-heal, both are low mobility characters so they can stick together better than Mercy who likes to fly from teammate to teammate. Blocking healing makes a big scare for enemy Roadhogs and 4m AoE makes it risky to crowd round a payload, but good for your own team. Nano Boost: Holy smokes, that is a boost: Damage: +50% Damage: Reduction 50% Speed: +30% Duration: 8 seconds
Mercy's damage boost was also raised to 50% in the PTR, I'm drooling at a combo like that, especially since Caduceus Staff doesn't have a cooldown, it makes such a combo on-the-fly practical.
Be very interesting if an enemy sleep dart can effect a Nano boosted character.
Ivonne: I haven’t played on the PTR, but early Youtube videos have shown her making Genji a stronger faster murder machine, which is not a buff he needed. Ana buffs other characters and their ultimates, and I kind of have a feeling that she may get nerfed in the future. But for now, I look forward to playing “Mama Bear” in live. And if you haven’t checked out the videos and comic that Blizzard released for Ana, you should do so! They are beautiful!
Adrian: I can’t wait to play as Ana, get her ultimate, and miss the shot and waste my ultimate. It’s going to be glorious!
If you are like us, you might be addicted to Steam sales. There's the thrill of the hunt as you find great games for great prices. We're here to point you in the right direction, brave hunter.
My absolute top recommendation for today is This War of Mine. If you haven’t played this game, you need to. It’s hard to pin the genre on this one. It combines elements of survival and strategy in a glorious mashup that's unlike any other game I’ve played before. In most games you play the hero leading the charge with guns blazing; in this game you play as a group of civilians just trying to survive a war. You have to survive through lack of food, lack of medicine, and with hostile soldiers and even other survivors trying to kill you. You can craft items and scavenge for stuff, so it bears a greater resemblance to a survival game in that regard. Graphically, it’s a side-scrolling game in the vein of Mark of the Ninja, so not my usual cup of tea, but the gameplay and concept are just so awesome. It is available now for $4.99. (Ivonne Martin)
My recommendation is Gone Home: a first-person, story-focused exploration game set in the 90s. The story centers on teenager Samantha, but you play as her older sister Kaitlin, who has just come home from traveling the world. The whole game takes place in the same house, where you walk around exploring, looking at objects and getting glimpses of the lives lived there. It plays rather like a detective story, where clues spread throughout the house add together to tell you about people and events. Some information you get simply by turning things over and reading notes, but certain objects also trigger journal entries by Sam, addressed to Kaitlin, which are read aloud to you while you continue playing (or stop to listen, if you prefer that). At the heart of the story is Sam’s relationship to a girl called Lonnie, but you also get to know what Sam’s life was before meeting Lonnie, and a little about the parents’ hopes and disappointments. The level of detail is outstanding: from boxes of photocopied zines to X-Files posters; from pamphlets of the mother’s forest conservation agency to empty pizza boxes with fat stains on the lid. The riot grrrl-heavy soundtrack (largely provided through in-game cassette tapes) is also great, and connects wonderfully with the story. Gone Home is 80% (!) off during the summer sale, so it’s currently $3.99.
My second recommendation is The Stanley Parable. The easiest way to describe this game is as an 1.5 hours long mind-fuck. Though the play-time depends on how you play it, and in fact you can spend very different amounts of time on the game... But explaining why would spoil it. As would most things I could tell you about the game. Sorry! Similarly to Gone Home, this is a game that focuses on experience rather than problem-solving, though here it’s more about raising questions and making you think than about telling a story. It’s not a soothing game, and it doesn’t give you the satisfaction of a neatly tied-up ending or clear tasks to finish—but it’s clever and, occasionally, riotously funny. I'd recommend The Stanley Parable to people who enjoy walking simulators, philosophy, or absurdity—or all of those things. It also seems to be especially entertaining if you've played a lot of video or computer games before, which I discovered while discussing the game with my friend who's a more experienced gamer (let's just say there were some jokes and clever references I didn't get). The usual price may be a little steep for such a short game but its current price of $2.99 is definitely worth it. (Tova Crossler Ernström)
I’m going to go with a really obvious choice: Lego Marvel Super Heroes. While the mechanics are at an "all-ages" level of simplistic, it doesn’t stop this game from being absolutely delightful. It has a fun storyline that skillfully incorporates most of the main aspects of the Marvel Universe from New York to Latveria to Asteroid M. It also has a massive roster of over 150 characters, with all the major heroes and villains from the MCU movies in addition to many of those from the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics. In addition to the story mode, you get a massive open world in the form of a Marvel-ized version of Manhattan, with side-quests and races aplenty.
Overall, I’d highly recommend this game for any fan of Marvel or Lego, and very highly for a fan of both, such as myself. It, as well as another ten games in the Lego series, is discounted by 75% at $4.99. (Aranwe Quirke)
If you're like me, you like hard games. These games aren't so punishing that they're unenjoyable. The Dark Souls series challenges you by stripping away gameplay mechanics that we take for granted today. The first entry in the series, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition ($4.99) is a steal. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin ($13.59) and the critically-acclaimed Dark Souls III ($44.99) are also not to be missed.
I also recommend The Long Dark ($6.79), a first-person survival game that does not feature zombies! The game is presently in Early Access, currently featuring a sandbox mode: you’ve crash landed in the Canadian wilderness after a worldwide geomagnetic storm knocks out all electrical devices; no hope of rescue, you must survive the cold, stave off starvation, and avoid hostile wildlife. Two story modes are being developed, featuring both a female and male protagonists.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown, where you can play dolls with your soldiers, just like I do
Darkest Dungeon ($14.99), as described by the developers, is about making the best of a bad situation, and probably the most punishing of my recommendations. XCOM Enemy Unknown ($7.49) is a very addictive turn-based strategy game which, among many other positive reasons, is popular for how you can play "paper dolls" with your soldiers, not only changing their appearance, but also their nationality, voice accents, and gender-neutral body armor. Lastly, if you don’t already have Tomb Raider ($4.99), what are you even doing. (Adrian Martinez)
A couple of us are Overwatch fanatics here at Critical Writ HQ, so we'd like to take some time to have a very important discussion about very important topics concerning Overwatch, Blizzard's amazing new IP.
Adrian: First, let me start by saying, I'm a little angry. I'm angry that I'm not playing Overwatch right now! There's something about when you first launch the game and the theme song starts, soft and quiet, it just makes you feel right and good.
Ivonne: True story! I get angry being at work and not playing Overwatch! My coworkers and I gush about it daily. I actually just put D.Va’s special as my text message notifications, so I am getting “Nerf this!” all day. But yeah, this game makes me feel happy, even when I’m dying a lot. I’ve yet to feel the need to ragequit. It’s just too much fun.
Adrian: Alright, who is your fav and are there any characters you ship? I don’t normally think about ships, but I was recently tipped off that when Symmetra gives Widowmaker a shield, that she says thank you without her normal brand of aggression and condescension towards others. Symmetra is my favorite, so I'm finding myself into this pairing.
Ivonne: Lúcio is my jam! I love that kid. And can I just say how wonderful it is for Blizzard to give every character a unique back story, and to diversify their characters so much! I’m not Brazilian, but being of Colombian descent, I do carry some pride that there is a South American character in this game. Lúcio’s back story is awesome and they clearly did some research on the culture, where music is super important, especially to the poor living in the crowded favelas.
Adrian: We've already got so many great characters in Overwatch, but what you do you think of the rumored upcoming character, Sombra (supposedly a support sniper)? What would you like to see in a new character?
Ivonne:#Birst is who I want! No but really, I’ve read the fan theories, and I’m super excited about the possibilities behind Sombra. As I noted above, I’m Latina, and I can assure you that I have never played a game with a Latina protagonist. When you see Latin women in video games, they are either sex workers in a game like Vice City, or mafia women in tiny bikinis at the poolside of the mafia Don. So a Latina hero? Sign me up!
Adrian: I agree 100%, I’m excited for Sombra for mostly the same reasons. I’m also intrigued by the other new characters (Liao and Doomfist are two other rumored additions) but I'm not sure we've all had a long enough time to learn the meta game with the existing characters. Which characters combinations do you like most? And what do you think of the latest nerfs?
Ivonne: All I have to say is that McCree needed the nerf. No, sir, it is NOT high noon! As far as new characters go, in Blizzard I Trust. I was reading an interview with Jeff Kaplan where he talks about how during beta they released Mei, D.Va, and Genji all at once and people kind of hated them. So they want to release new characters one at a time and let the game find balance. I think that’s a great way to do it. Release one new character, let people get used to them, let people find their rhythm.
Adrian: I’m not against nerfing and play balancing, but I’m often frustrated by how quickly some of these balance patches hit; again, I feel like we haven’t had quite enough time to make the judgments we do. You can’t complain that five or six Torbjorns are unbeatable when you haven’t tried running five or six D.Vas against them. I think players need to get used to switching up and trying new strats before running to the forums to complain. That being said, the McCree nerf made total sense. Being able to Genji with a stun and right-click make sense, but being able to melt a tank with a right-click is another matter.
Ivonne: There is a twitter account called @reapernames, self explanatory; some of them are kind of gross and misogynistic, I'm afraid, BUT... this one here is one of my favs:
Ivonne: Because Reaper is TOTALLY the kind of emo edgelord who would drop the hard truth on you about Santa!
Adrian: I'd go further and say being crushed by the truth about Santa is what made Reaper go edgelord in the first place! I'm going to wrap this up with a really sweet 'Pharah saves Mercy' GIF where Pharah knocks Roadhog off the platform with a concussive blast right as Roadhog hooked Mercy, dragging her into the pit with him:
Adrian: I like to think that they were on voice and the Mercy was like "oh my gad im falling!!" and Pharah was like "noo turn around fly to mee i've got u" and then the rest of their team was "like yaaaay nice save gj everyone" 😃
Ivonne: I dunno why this game makes me so happy but it does. ❤️
Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good. Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.
The Mass Effect development team answered a few questions at E3 2016, in particular the following details from that Q&A were shared on NeoGAF:
Suggests a Ryder family and "more than one Ryder".
Female is the official default.
Confirmed they are in the last leg of development and expect a 2017 spring launch.
Is she Commander Ryder or does she have another title? We need to know more! In any case, feel free to begin worshiping your newest queen, FemRy or Lady!Ryder— or maybe just, Ryder.
Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.
The 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us this week and we're off to a fine start with some new, tantalizing trailers, and with them many more questions:
Mass Effect 4 Andromeda Trailer
The word around the Internet campfire is that Andromeda's story begins where Commander Shepard (previous to the finale of Mass Effect 3) sends an ark-like ship full of aliens to colonize Andromeda, in the event of a Reaper victory, ensuring that humanity and its allies lived on. Who are these faces we see in the trailer? Who is the Asari? Who is the human woman who wakes at the end of the trailer? Is that the player character or a potential companion?
EA Star Wars: A Look Ahead
There are so many little teases here, but Star Wars: Battlefront 2 looks fun, I'm very excited to see what Bioware has coming, and it looks like we get a little peek at Visceral Games' mysterious new Star Wars title.
Injustice 2 Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer
I was never that into the grimdark story of Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 continues that story. It's a very well-made fighter, however, and the big draw in the sequel (for me) is the addition of Supergirl. I hope we see some more cool fighter additions.
Titanfall 2 Single Player Trailer
Titanfall was a very good, very underappreciated game. I think part of its failure was the lack of a single player campaign, so I'm glad to see they've addressed that for Titanfall 2. No game does mech action like Titanfall.
Titanfall 2 Multiplayer Trailer
Quake Champions
I see a lot of Quake characters I recognize from the series except this new lady, with the blue hair and teleportation ability. Whoa! This new game seems to be an arena-type shooter like Quake III Arena, but now with a more contemporary twist, where each character has their own unique abilities. I welcome the new blue-haired lady to the arena, but I wonder if we're going to see the previous cast of ladies: Crash, Slash, Lucy, Angel, Mynx, and Daemia.
'The Walking Dead' Third Season Teaser - E3 2016
More Clemetine, more walkers, 'nuff said.
Mafia III Trailer
I haven't played the previous games in the Mafia series but I'm pleased and intrigued to see a black male protagonist in Mafia III. I'm going to be keeping my eye on this.
Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an indie game developed by Ninja Theory centered around a Pictish warrior named Senua. Her story is a mash-up of Celtic myth, mental health, and a recently recovered Roman goddess. On Thursday, the developer has updated their Developer Diary with new, in-development footage of in-game combat.
Gameplay
Ninja Theory has made a conscious design choice to eliminate any use of a heads-up display, instead conveying gameplay cues and feedback entirely through visuals and sound. Certain animations, lights, and particle effects indicate the efficacy and follow-up potential of strikes, while enemy health is shown through actual cuts, wounds, and bleed effects. Even the lighting and weather effects in the game have been coded to shift dynamically in sync with Senua's status and moods. This makes the graphic and visceral quality of the game far more than eye candy, potentially taking the gaming experience to another level.
Character
The gameplay and graphics of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice are not the only reasons this game is looking good for gamers interested in something new and willing to push boundaries, in large part due to its strongly-written female lead. In an early development diary, Dominic Matthews of Ninja Theory explains:
"Common wisdom in the games industry is that it's risky to have female lead, as games with a female lead are harder to sell than those with a male lead. But given that Hellblade is an independent, self-published, and self-funded game, we were only concerned with creating a character that's right for our story."
The story is as layered as it is dark. Senua's island home of Orkney is invaded by Vikings, her people are wiped out in apocalyptic fashion. Rather than centering this on a straightforward war or revenge narrative, Senua simultaneously embarks on a personal journey that explores her own mental health: the underworld you traverse as Senua is constructed from both the Viking invasion reality outside her mind, and psychotic manifestations from within.
I'm highly intrigued and excited by this game, which causes me to analyze and critique certain aspects; as with all incredible and inspiring pieces of art, the engagement of it is at least a two-way street and for me, certain questions arise.
Questionables
The story and character of Senua is the brainchild of Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory's Chief Creative. He can recognize sexism in game design, but is perhaps a bit oblivious to his own problematic statements. Still, Antoniades seems interested in challenging sexist industry norms in his original notes about Senua:
"She is a challenging female form: not sexy, not skimpy, not young, not skinny, yet stunning, compelling, and believable." – Hellblade Development Diary 3: Senua
Looking at the final Senua design, I have to question if they've achieved all of those goals. On the positive side, they've abandoned the "scantily-clad savage" trope and her outfit avoids usage of the inscrutable pseudo-modern waist cincher that so many games are guilty of inexplicably tossing in. Senua is appropriately-muscled for a warrior: larger than your standard female Hollywood action star and more in line with what see with mixed-martial artists of today.
Although, the original facial captures (done wonderfully by Melina Juergens) for Senua's design included pores and wrinkles, yet her in-game face appears somewhat flawless, other than "sexy dirt" and a few strategically-placed, but still attractive scars. Like Melina, she has the face of an angel, and I'm left wondering if they could have pushed the boundaries a bit further. Additionally, Senua's hair is in dreadlocks, which is a common but historically-inaccurate portrayal of Viking, Celtic, and Pictish cultures. Historical evidence suggests that these cultures didn't wear them, but film and TV series inaccuracies have nonetheless fueled belief in this falsity among some fans and enthusiasts. This inaccuracy could be borne from misconceptions about how dreadlocks (or locs) are formed. Locs are formed naturally from clean and naturally kinky hair, which is why it's commonly seen in black African culture. The hair of white Europeans does not loc naturally, and requires weeks of what would otherwise be considered neglect to achieve a superficially similar appearance. Thus the belief that dreadlocks (a term whose origins are from white Europeans denigrating black African locs) are the product of unwashed and unkempt hair is doubly inaccurate in this usage. Historical evidence indicates that Vikings, for example, were known to take great care in combing out and washing their hair and bodies.
VERDICT
I'm very impressed with the gameplay Ninja Theory has shown of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice so far and despite what is a glaring misstep for me, I think it's clear that a lot of consideration and care has otherwise gone into main character's design. I'm looking forward to the day that I can get my hands on what seems like a very surreal, technical, imaginative, and emotional journey. If you're as interested as I am, I encourage you to follow the game at its various social media touchpoints and support this cool indie publisher. Game: http://www.hellblade.com Developer: http://www.ninjatheory.com https://twitter.com/NinjaTheory https://www.facebook.com/ninjatheory Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.
While I'm a veteran Souls player, this is my first time playing through the latest installment, Dark Souls III, following the adventures of my pyromancer, Vedekka. In the last episode of DSD, I met Greirat of the Undead Settlement who asked me to find "old Loretta" and deliver her a Blue Tearstone Ring. This got me thinking. The short amount of time I've been in this game has already felt like a massive journey, but I haven't even met the area boss yet. So, I put my nose to the grindstone and start trudging my way through the remainder of the zone, including backtracking to areas I haven't yet explored.
Remember the rotund fellow circling the courtyard? He's toast now. Pyromancy is super powerful.
Remember the zombies with living oil that explodes from their bodies to murder you? Found another one.
Remember that giant dragon? Yeah, he's still alive. But I stole all his treasure out from under him! See my new axe? It's very powerful and has dark magic damage on it. I still use it! I found it here, under the dragon...
...in this treasure chest! Except that's not a treasure chest. That is actually a mimic monster, which the user-shared hint on my left alerted me to. If you try to open that chest, it opens up to a massive set of bladed teeth, and you get to be lunch.
After clearing most of the level, I come to a long staircase leading to a cathedral. At the bottom of the stairs is a massive set of doors that I assume leads to other areas, perhaps even the Undead Settlement that Greirat referenced. I opt to look at the cathedral first as the way out which likely has the boss. I fight a pair of knights who are pretty tough. I DIE a few times, but I'm earning lots of souls, so it's okay. Then I see a knight with his back turned. Now, see, NPCs in the Dark Souls series are often found out in the world and you are completely free to attack them at will, taking on any rewards and consequences that accompany that choice. I like to be nice, so I take a chance and approach normally rather than attempt to sneak in the first blow. He could have items to sell, a quest to give, or at least have some interesting story to tell--NOPE, HE HAS RED EYES AND IS CHARGING ME.
In hindsight, I probably should have given more credence to the fresh pools of blood in the area.
He chased me a remarkably long distance before finishing me off. :(
After he kills me, I decide to leave him alone. Seems wise for now. I still venture nearby to the cathedral to see what's inside but I get nervous. It's a dark, deep chamber and someone is sitting at the far end in a red cloak. Creepy. Could be risky and I'd rather go face the boss. I make my way down the massive stairs, flanked by the dead bodies of the devout, all of whom apparently expired before completing some long and brutal pilgrimage. I enter a huge chamber and... nothing. I'm sure this is a trick, but it's time to spring the trap. I head to the double doors which are choked by roots to have a look see.
How am I going to get through all this mess?
Suddenly, a humming sound heralds the opening of a strange and dark portal behind me. The boss climbs out of the portal and now I'm sealed inside the hall with a beast known simply as Vordt of the Boreal Valley.
Imagine a giant knight as a dog. Emanating cold magic and carrying a big mace. That is how we get to die today.
I DIE. A lot. After the first couple attempts, I use the player co-op system so I can learn the fight in other players' games with no risk to myself (and earn buckets of souls in the process). This also earns me Embers which are consumable items that allow me to "enkindle" myself so that I can summon player co-op helpers in my own world. Even after I get the fight down, I still make a lot of dumb mistakes and die a lot. I'm playing late at night now and I'm slipping, but I rally one last time and take Vordt down.
Reader, insert Xena battle cry here.
Success! Kinda. I head through the doors to find the bridge is out, completely collapsed. It's a straight drop down to death, but I notice that the game seems to want me to place an item here. I figure I missed something, probably in the cathedral I avoided. Sure enough, I head inside and find Emma, High Priestess of Lothric Castle sitting in the red cloak.
Tell me about it, I climbed out of my own grave to be here.
Emma hooks me up with a mark of the Way of Blue covenant. See, when you're enkindled, there's a chance that other human players will be able to invade your game and gank you. If you equip the Way of Blue parchment, it will summon another player to defend you (those in the Blue Sentinels covenant, which we'll get to later). She also gives me a small Lothric Banner which is somehow going to help me leave High Lothric.
So, I head back to the drop and things... take an unexpected turn.
Okay, place the banner and... what's the scuffling sound down there?
Surprise!
"Uh, hey guys... I, you know what, I can just head back the way I came, I don't want to trouble anyone--"
"No, no, really, I can see myself out. Guys? Why, where are we--"
"WHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT"
Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.
