Since getting to be able to go to Pax East in the spring as press, we’ve gotten many more opportunities to check a bunch of cool new games and our new feature, Gamebox 2.0, will let you know what we’ve checked out and also big game trailers and possibly even reviews of older games. For right now, I’ll let you know about some of the recent things I’ve gotten to check out recently.
Westerado: Double Barreled: You may have played the flash version but Adult Swim Games has recently released the full PC version of Westerado on Steam. If you liked the open world Western world of Red Dead Redemption, Westerado delivers a retro version, as you explore the frontier and try to gather clues to figure out where the bandit who killed your mother and brother and destroyed your ranch. You do odd jobs to gather clues and there’s tons of places to explore, like spooky mines, and lots of hilarious characters to interact with, like the oil baron and a lazy sheriff. The fun gameplay gimmick of Westerado is that, at any time, you can pull your gun. This usually results in the person you are talking to either getting pissed or running away, but sometimes, you can gain info this way. The action is fast paced shootouts that take a little bit of getting used to because you have to be on the correct plane to shoot your enemies but that’s the only real nitpick on this funny, action packed game.
Game of Thrones Episode 4 “Sons of Winter”: Things are getting tense in the Game of Thrones Telltale game. We’re past the halfway point and almost everyone is in dire straits. Ashur Forrester’s plot is still the best as he meets Daenerys in Mereen and agrees to fight for her in freeing the city, in exchange for possibly getting a squad of Second Son mercenaries to take back to Westeros to fight for his family’s home in Ironrath. There’s some Wildling action above the wall and intrigue in Kings Landing as well. My only nitpick is that things are not quite as connected as I had hoped. Based on the fact that you are playing as multiple characters, I was hoping they were going to expand on the great Telltale decisions and fact that characters remember your decisions to have things you do as one character effect the story of the other characters but there’s not really that much of that. Besides that, this is one of the best Telltale game series I’ve played and an excellent complement to the HBO show.
Please, Don’t Touch Anything: I recently stumbled across this game on Steam and it’s simple but fantastic. The premise is that your co-worker needs to use the bathroom and asks you to watch his mysterious console that has a monitor and a giant red button. He tells you not to touch anything but that’s obviously not going to happen and, as you press the button, switches and dial pads and other gadgets start popping out of the console. Depending on how you use clues in the game and experimenting, you can get one of 22 endings. It’s a great puzzle and the in game clues are subtle but obvious once you unlock the trick. Keep an eye on it during the upcoming summer Steam sale, it will probably be a steal.
Duck Game: Another crazy Adult Swim Games game, Duck Game is set in the far off future of 1984 as a group of ducks pick up guns and battle each other to the death. It’s very fast paced and I think the main draw is going to be the multiplayer, which I unfortunately have not had a chance to play yet. The single player puts you through a series of challenges and I really like the speed running levels where you have to get through a level in a certain amount of time. I’m definitely going to try and get some more time into this one.
The Masterplan: Coming from Shark Punch Games, The Masterplan is set in the 70’s and has you controlling a thief who plans more and more elaborate heists in order to stick it to the man and get what he feels he deserves. What’s cool is that you have to case each location and decide on a strategy before executing. The game features a slow mo mechanic that lets you set actions for your gang before you go back to normal time and they do the actions you’ve assigned. What’s also cool is that you gain the locations for the next heists by picking up flyers in the current heist and you can also do a quick smash and grab on the locations cash register and you’ll still unlock new levels but you have to figure out a way to get all the money from the location to really progress. It’s officially releasing on June 4th, so go check it out.
(Oh and in case you are wondering about the feature’s title, it’s inspired by the wonderfully terrible movie “Game Box 1.0” starring Nate Richert and Danielle Fishel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUswEB4EXZs
