Tag: author_name|Jessica Conditt

Still Wakes the Deep is a modern horror classic

Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Waves the size of skyscrapers explode beneath me as I creep across a busted metal beam in the middle of the North Sea, suspended at the base of an oil rig that’s in the process of collapsing. I’m crawling swiftly but…

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Neva hands-on: A grand achievement in emotional game design

Neva is going to make me cry. It very nearly did at Summer Game Fest, as the game’s introductory cinematics faded to black, literally just one minute into my time with the demo. I won’t divulge what happens in those initial frames, but it shattered my heart. It also perfectly…

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Phoenix Springs offers breathtaking beauty in a desolate neo-noir world

Take me to Phoenix Springs.  I didn’t make it all the way to the remote desert oasis and its mysterious community of misfits while playing the Phoenix Springs demo at Summer Game Fest, but after spending a brief time in Iris Dormer’s neo-noir world, I’m desperate to get there. I…

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Skate Story hands-on: Kick, push, shatter

Push. Push. Push, push, push, jump — All four wheels reconnect with the glowing pavement in a slap of crisp plastic and crunching wood. Push, push, push, push, jump kickflip — Another slam, a quick screech. Push, push, push, ju — A shattering crash. The world flips on its head…

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Astro Bot is a supremely silly and incredibly smooth platformer

Astro Bot is as precise as it is ridiculous, and this is exactly what makes it so damn delightful. During my 30-minute demo at Summer Game Fest, I crashed into spiky obstacles, flew off the side of sky-high platforms, bounced into deadly projectiles and popped my little robot protagonist like…

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Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess feels as luscious as it looks

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is lush. Set on the side of a mountain that’s been covered in a terrible black defilement, Kunitsu-Gami’s world is an ancient, psychedelic dreamscape packed with magic and otherworldly horrors. It’s also mechanically dense, with moments of slow strategizing and rapid-fire hack-and-slash combat. After playing…

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