Shadow Hearts
Review by JenJune 2002
When I first started Shadow Hearts, I was not impressed. Well, that’s not entirely true. When I first started Shadow Hearts, I was floored by the beautiful, gruesome opening cutscene. After that I was not impressed. The first real gameplay screen looked like something for the original Playstation, with a big character superimposed on an out-of-proportion, grainy background. And all I was doing was fighting, fighting, fighting, on top of more fighting. Blech. But the fighting was easy and I continued playing, and within about half an hour I was completely hooked.
During the opening credits, the story begins to unfold. Rouen, France, 1913. A priest is killed and his daughter is missing. China, a month later. Aboard a train full of Japanese soldiers, a dapper little European gentleman, wielding some unholy powers, kidnaps young Alice, who is clutching her Bible tightly to her chest. Alice’s Japanese army escort is no match for this man, and the soldiers all lay shattered, splattered on the train floor. Enter Yuri, our hero. Roger Bacon, the abductor, deals Yuri what should be a mortal blow, but Yuri picks himself up and continues unharmed, chasing Bacon and his female prize onto the roof of the train for a showdown. Yuri too has powerful magic at his disposal but he has not the strength or control to defeat Bacon. Nevertheless he is able to rescue Alice and make good their escape.
Now we find ourselves on the initial gameplay screen. Alice and Yuri are lost in the Chinese countryside, and monsters are everywhere. Alice is a nervous little thing, petulant and frightened. Her father was the priest who had been killed by Bacon only a scant month before, and now it seems all the dark forces in the world want to use her undiscovered abilities to unleash pure evil upon the earth, all to their own ends. Yuri is a rough young man, unschooled in the social graces, and he looks Alice over with a salacious glint in his eye. Suddenly he is felled from within himself and an eerie, almost unheard voice whispers, “must… protect… girl…” A frightened Alice runs off, and you as Yuri set out to locate her, figuring somehow she is the key to quieting that voice inside your head.
Almost immediately monsters start popping up and Yuri must do battle. There was a little bit of get-used-to-the-controls battling during the game opening, but now it’s real. Yuri is weak but fortunately so are the monsters. Yuri has very limited options available to him, and he deals blows by selecting his attack and then striking three highlighted areas of the “Judgment Ring.” Where your strikes land determines the strength of your attack. There are great big yellow areas that are fairly easy to hit, and there are thin red slices where landing a strike increases your attack power enough to make these worthwhile to aim for. If you miss the strike areas altogether, you miss your turn and must meekly take blows from your enemy. If you hit the enemy but don’t finish it off, you still must stand still and take your medicine.
Amidst a slew of slaying, Yuri finds Alice and together they make their way to a series of sluice gates, take the handle from one and use it on another to dry up a stream so they may cross. This, I’m sorry to report, is pretty representative of the puzzles in Shadow Hearts. Puzzles are few and far between, and while they do get a wee bit more complex they will never tax the average brain.
After crossing the stream, Alice and Yuri happen upon a village. All is not right here, though, and a suspicion grows … Are these people cannibals? Well, no, not exactlywhile they do like to eat humans, they themselves prove to be inhuman. No rest for the weary here, good peopleyou must first locate and excise the evil from this place. Here you meet your first new party member, Zhuzhen Liu, an old Chinese sage with some useful magical powers. The demonic catpeople populating this village are no match for the three of you, and you level up with frequency and speed.
All this is but the very beginning of this rich and varied game. How did Alice become orphaned, and why do all of the world’s bad guys want to harness her untapped powers? What of Yuri’s dead father? Was he good or evil? What of Roger Bacon? How does he fit into the grand scheme of things? Ultimately you will be unable to prevent the capture of Alice, the demise of Shanghai, the death of Yuri … or not?! The story is so compelling, so detailed, that I was forced to keep playing just to see what would happen next. I literally could not keep my hand off that controller.
At the beginning, I had said that the gameplay graphics were crappy, but that proved to be not at all true for the bulk of the game. For the most part screens are clear and smooththere are only two or three locations out of hundreds where they look dated and pixelated, and that opening gameplay screen just happened to be one of them.
Battles all have a certain sameness to them. Yes, there is quite the variety of monsters and, sure, your attacks and abilities increase over time, but the increase of monsters’ powers parallels yours so that the overall difficulty of the battles remains about the same throughout. There are frequent “boss” monsters, and you have to learn how to use the various items and equipment at your disposal in order to give yourself the best advantage. Occasionally I had to die to find out how best to defend myself; you cannot change your equipment midbattle but instead must outfit your party ahead of time based on what you expect might happen. You can, however, use items freely during fights, and these include things that will give you stronger or special attacks or heal you or what have you.
I got through the first half of the game simply by using the “Choose Strongest” option in equipping my characters with armor and weapons. Each character has one conventional weapon, one piece of armor, and three slots where you can choose items that will enhance their attacks, enhance their defense, or protect them from certain types of enemy blows such as confusion or poison. In addition to increasing your experience points, enemies killed also bestow cash and items, and you can use this cash or sell these items to buy stronger armor and weapons, as well as healing items, from the peddlars and merchants in the various towns. As well, you will occasionally encounter the gay acupuncturist, and you can pay him to increase the power of your physical attacks or widen the hit areas on your judgment ring. However, this treatment is expensive (and uncomfortable, for the hetero male members of the party).
I wonder what a psychiatrist would make of the monster designs. The closing credits of Shadow Hearts showed three people were responsible for conceiving these beasts, and it’s plain to me that these are some twisted individuals. Most of the monsters are made of people and/or animal parts, including thinly disguised genitalia, rearranged and combined, enlarged or shrunken, in some perverse ways, as well as grossly exaggerated here and there.
In addition to each character’s physical (hand-to-hand) attacks, each has one or more mana powers, and as the game progresses each character learns new mana skills. Using these depletes your MP, or mana points, but refills are readily available in the form of various talismans or herbs that are either found or taken from fallen foes or purchased.
In addition to mana points, you have HP (hit points) and SP (sanity points). Hit points are purely physical, and you lose some every time an enemy lands a blow. These too can be restored via inventory items. Sanity points generally deplete steadily throughout the course of a battle, and losing them all causes a party member to go berserk and attack the nearest target, be it friend or foe. Sanity points are refillable as well.
Talk of sanity points brings me to my next topic: the graveyard. In that early scene just after the train crash, Yuri learns about the “malice.” After Yuri has killed several monsters, he encounters a mysterious being called Foxface. Yuri fights Foxface and loses. He finds himself in an otherworldly graveyard with six headstones, one each for fire, earth, water, wind, darkness, and light. Also there are four talking, mocking masks that will ask whether you wish to quiet the malice.
Malice builds up as enemies are dispatched and their souls collect en evil masse in the afterlife. Yuri has a malice meter that changes color as the malice level increases, and he must enter the graveyard and battle the malice before the level gets too high. Battling the malice in the graveyard is easy, but if Yuri neglects his malice level, he is subject to having some unexpected extra evil show up in the midst of an ordinary monster battle, adding an undesirable and much more difficult element to the mix. Later in the game, although to my regret I did not do this, it might be advantageous to let the malice build up to the danger level and finish off these elements once and for all.
Meanwhile, as enemies are defeated, in addition to experience points, Yuri gains points in one of the six “headstone” areas, depending on the nature of the enemy defeated. When he fills up one of these headstone bars, he can return to the graveyard and choose not only to battle the malice but also the “fusion soul.” When he defeats the fusion soul, he returns to the mortal plane with the ability to change his being into this type of fusion creature. There are six available fusion souls, each with three different levels, and Yuri can equip any three at a time. Fusing with one of these souls during battle depletes Yuri’s sanity points but increases his attacks considerably, especially if he chooses a fusion soul that is in opposition to the enemy’s soul type. I found it didn’t really matter what type of fusion soul Yuri chose, except that if he used one that matched the enemy’s type his attacks were much weaker.
There is no indicator of enemy soul typeyou can tell after the fact by what types of “headstones” get leveled up, and you generally encounter each type of ordinary monster numerous times. A particular one of your party members will learn a mana power that will reveal the enemy’s defining characteristic, but she must waste one of her attack turns to use this. It didn’t matter much to me since I rarely used the fusion attacks on ordinary enemies, reserving this power instead for the boss fights, at least early in the game. Later on, bored with the neverending battling, I just wanted to open up the proverbial can of whoop ass and had plenty of MP and SP to use these fusion souls to send the baddies into kingdom come with one blow.
After some experience, you can also determine the enemy’s characteristic from the types of attacks it uses and equip your fusion soul appropriately. You cannot exchange your three fusion souls midbattle; you must again guess ahead of time and choose the ones you think you might need. You can, though, change from one to another of the three equipped fusion souls in the middle of a conflict as long as you don’t mind wasting a turn and you have enough sanity points to spend on this costly maneuver.
Certain of the boss enemies deal mortal attacks that are impossible to defend against until you are defeated once and learn what type of item to equip. For instance, one megabad guy, Wugui, packs an “instant death” wallop. There is no way to know this until your party gets wiped out in one fell swoop and you curse a blue streak, and then you must restore from a previous save and equip the items beforehand to protect yourself against this particular attack.
Throughout the game, if you learn how to equip yourself properly and you have plenty of restorative items, boss battles are simply a matter of patience. They can last a very long time, from half an hour for the biggest bosses up to well over an hour for the final battle, but as long as you keep yourself healthy and at the same time get your chops in, you can last forever and ultimately prevail. I only died four or five times over the course of the entire game, and all of those deaths were as a result of not defending myself against a particularly deadly enemy attack because I didn’t know what it would be until I experienced it for myself.
Save points are plentiful; only twice can I recall having to fight two bosses one on top of another with no saving in between. One of these times, though, was the endgame battle, and I thought I was done for. Luckily for me, I was pretty well prepared because that was the battle that took over an hour and I would’ve hated to start that one over again.
“Why all this talk of battling and the battle system,” I hear you ask. “Is that all there is?” Well, the short answer is “yes,” at least as far as gameplay is concerned. There are several very simple puzzles scattered about in the various landscapes, but these are few and far between. The enthralling story and captivating music are what propelled me ever forward.
The music is absolutely worthy of mention. It serves very well to set the mood of each of the various areas. Sometimes it is light and airy, other times ponderous and somber, and in turn it gets your heart racing when attack is imminent or lets you know it’s time to relax in the not-so-dangerous areas. This music was played by real musicians on real instruments, running the gamut from wind instruments to violins, cellos to guitars, classical chamber music to postmodern rock. The battle music is an exception, though; while high-quality, I’d swear the ending “tada” flourish was the same exact one used for battle scenes in Anachronox. Plus this music is the same for nearly every battle.
There is very little voice acting; most of the dialogue occurs in the form of onscreen text. The voice actors employed did a fine job, mostly narrating tales of bygone days in cutscenes.
The story weaves together the history of two continents across half a millennium, incorporating elements of Christianity in general, Catholicism in specific, actual historical events, ancient Chinese legends and superstitions, and tons of magic and evil straight from the mind of the designersand all this with nary a mention of Egypt or Atlantis. The main characters are fleshed out with complete personalities, and part of what kept me so engrossed in Shadow Hearts was that I cared about how they would fare. There are plenty of plot twists and surprises around every corner and yet the story doesn’t ever get lost within itself; it just keeps building and branching and finally comes together at the very end.
I feel as if I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to describing this game adequately. I could easily go on for another six pages, but I’ll leave the rest for the player to discover.
I loved almost everything about Shadow Hearts: the characters, the story, the music, even the battles (except there were too many of them!) once I got into the groove. And I am a diehard point-and-click adventure gamer. Shadow Hearts offers the kind of satisfying gaming experience that is simply not present in very many recent adventure releases. I’m sure it doesn’t break any new ground in terms of console-style RPGs, but these types of games are unfamiliar territory to me … and I like them! Shadow Hearts is in turn tragic and comic, deeply philosophical and completely fluffy, and overall a great gaming experience that I was sorry to see come to an end.
The Verdict
The Lowdown
Developer: Sacnoth/Aruze Corp. Publisher: Midway Games Release Date: December 2001
Available for:
Four Fat Chicks Links
Screenshots
Copyright © Electric Eye Productions. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.
Pages
Category Archives
- Alliance of Awesome (RSS) (13)
- Announcements (RSS) (35)
- Editorials (RSS) (341)
- Celebrity Guest Editorials (RSS) (11)
- Culture Clash (RSS) (25)
- Ephemera (RSS) (68)
- Features (RSS) (205)
- A Weekend With (RSS) (4)
- Dark Souls Diaries (RSS) (14)
- Death in Fire (RSS) (4)
- Diary Of A Call Girl (RSS) (3)
- Games of the Year (RSS) (35)
- Kermdinger Chronicles (RSS) (9)
- Local Flavor (RSS) (12)
- MrLipid's Closet of the Odd (RSS) (2)
- My Idea of Fun (RSS) (7)
- On Tap (RSS) (7)
- Quest for 7:00 on the Nordschleife (RSS) (7)
- Superficially Relevant (RSS) (7)
- Tap Dance (RSS) (58)
- Tap vs. Tap (RSS) (9)
- Tapping Down Memory Lane (RSS) (4)
- The Log of Shame (RSS) (5)
- FFC Archives (RSS) (419)
- Impressions (RSS) (195)
- News (RSS) (366)
- Reviews (RSS) (175)
- Uncategorized (RSS) (8)
Blog Posts
- Side by Side: Space Beast Terror Fright (0)
- Side by Side: Morkredd (0)
- Side by Side: Scavenger of Dunomini (0)
- Side by Side: Buissons (0)
- Side by Side: DYO (0)
- Side by Side: Sky Rogue (0)
- Side by Side: Feud (0)
- Side by Side: Samurai Gunn 2 (0)
- Gregg B’s Games of 2022 (0)
- Side by Side: GourMelee (0)
- Side by Side: Windjammers 2 (0)
- Side by Side: Spirits Abyss (0)
- Side by Side: Very Very Valet (0)
- Side by Side: Bämeräng (2)
- AJ’s Games of the Year 2021 (6)
- Boyfriend Dungeon (1)
- Dozen Days of Demo #9: Project Haven (1)
- Dozen Days of Demo #8: My Time at Sandrock (1)
- Dozen Days of Demo #7: Severed Steel (0)
- Dozen Days of Demo #6: Reshaping Mars (0)
- Dozen Days of Demo #5: Chernobyl Liquidators Simulator (0)
- Dozen Days of Demo #4: Blaster Master Zero 3 (0)
- Dozen Days of Demo #3: Sable (3)
- Dozen Days of Demo #2: Bandit Simulator (0)
- Dozen Days of Demo #1: Terra Nil (2)
- Steerpike’s Dozen Days of Demo (1)
- NieR Replicant ver 1.22474487139… (3)
- Mad Devils Heads For Steam Playtest (1)
- Tenderfoot Tactics (0)
- Side by Side: Season 5 Deleted Scenes (0)
- Element TD 2 Launches Into Early Access (2)
- Fancy A 2.5 Space Adventure? BlazeSky’s Available In EA (0)
- Impressions: Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise (3)
- The Last of Us Part II: Hateful. Brutal. Beautiful? (0)
- Steerpike’s Games of 2019: Wait—Isn’t He Dead? (5)
- Gregg B’s Games of 2017-2019. Yeah. (4)
- Xtal’s Games of 2019: Born at the End of the Universe (4)
- AJ’s 2019 Video Game Roundup (5)
- The Rise of Skywalker (10)
- Side by Side: Disobedient Sheep (1)
- Side by Side: At Sundown: Shots in the Dark (0)
- Side by Side: Totally Reliable Delivery Service (0)
- Side by Side: On Trailers (0)
- Side by Side: Wand Wars (0)
- Side by Side: Daka Dara (0)
- Side by Side: SSMP (0)
- Side by Side: BADBLOOD (0)
- Side by Side: Inversus (0)
- Side by Side: Double Takes (0)
- Side by Side: Battle Bolts (0)
- Side by Side: HELLFRONT: HONEYMOON (0)
- Side by Side: Chambara (0)
- Side by Side: LazerGrrl (3)
- Side by Side: Fling to the Finish (2)
- Ground, to Major Tom (6)
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (3)
- There’s No Hentai at MomoCon (1)
- Impressions – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2)
- Devil May Cry 5 (3)
- Xtal’s Games of 2018: “The earth has music for those who listen” Or: The King Is Gone But He’s Not Forgotten (9)
- Twilight of the Wii Shop Channel (4)
- Games I Liked in 2018 and Also in 2017 (5)
- Road to Redemption (4)
- Catch Us Live from PAX Unplugged (0)
- Side by Side: Witchball (2)
- Side by Side: Chronobot (0)
- Side by Side: Birdsketball (0)
- We Nerds Ruin Everything (3)
- Side by Side: Nuclear Reaction (0)
- Some of the Games of PAX West 2018 (4)
- Side by Side: Hacktag (0)
- Donut County (3)
- Side by Side: Totemori (3)
- Side by Side: Cuckoo Curling (0)
- Side by Side: Anyball (0)
- Side by Side: Tuned Out (0)
- Side by Side: Muddledash (0)
- Side by Side: Regular Human Basketball (2)
- Side by Side: EGX Rezzed 2018 (1)
- Entertainment versus Affliction in Hellblade (4)
- Xtal’s Games of 2017: Helpless Like a Rich Man’s Child (5)
- The true Demon’s Souls ends Here (4)
- Girls Behind The Games Hashtag is So Good, So Pure (1)
- Side by Side: N++ (1)
- Greetings from PAX Unplugged (2)
- 2017 Is the Best Year for Games of All-Time, And It’s Not Even Close (4)
- Side by Side: Johann Sebastian Joust (0)
- The Last Guardian: Brief thoughts and Thanks (3)
- Side by Side: Sumer (0)
- Side by Side: The Unholy War (2)
- Side by Side: Cryptark (0)
- PAX West 2017: The Good Life with SWERY65 (1)
- PAX West 2017: Dungeons & Dragons, Playing and Watching (2)
- Side by Side: Gang Beasts, Abyss Odyssey & Season 3 (1)
- Side by Side: Vomit Crabs (1)
- Help a Brother Out, Part 9 (0)
- Heart Quest Books: D&D Adventures for Girls (4)
- Too Many Games and the Philadelphia Game Scene (2)
- I Play Fighting Games for the Story (10)
- Checking in from the D&D Adventurer’s League (1)
- Let My People G-OHGODWHATISTHAT (3)
- Nier:Automata (mostly) & Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (sort of) (19)
- Apparently It’s Not the Last One (1)
- Side by Side: Crawl (0)
- Side by Side: Magicka 2 (4)
- Catch Me on Twitch! (3)
- Xtal’s Games of 2016: Journey Milestone Accomplished (5)
- Gregg B’s Games of 2016 (12)
- AJ’s Games of the Year 2016 (11)
- The Drake Incident: Harbour Master vs. Hellkite (4)
- Death in Fire: A RimWorld Saga, Part 4 (16)
- Death in Fire: A RimWorld Saga, Part 3 (0)
- Death in Fire: A RimWorld Saga, Part 2 (7)
- Death in Fire: A RimWorld Saga, Part 1 (1)
- Obduction (4)
- Side by Side: Affordable Space Adventures (0)
- Oh look, a list (A Top 17 list) (10)
- Hands on with Torment: Tides of Numenera at PAX West (3)
- Feelin’ Iffy: Pathologic Remake Delayed (10)
- No Man’s Diaries: Prologue (13)
- Hate Expectations (7)
- Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma (5)
- Bastard Bonds (4)
- Too Many Games in Philadelphia (1)
- PAX East 2016 – Part 5 – Roundup (0)
- Games of PAX East – Part 4 – Indie Minibooth (0)
- Games of PAX East – Part 3 – Interviews! (2)
- Games of PAX East – Part 2 – VR (2)
- Indie Games of PAX East – Part 1 (2)
- Fire Emblem: Fates (3)
- Side by Side: Archon (3)
- Impressions: Salt and Sanctuary (4)
- Games and Music at MAGFest 2016 (3)
- Steerpike’s Games of 2015: Somewhat Enriched (5)
- Gregg B’s Games of 2015 (7)
- AJ’s Games of the Year 2015 (6)
- Xtal’s Games of 2015: “And the wind will lift away our rot” (3)
- Help a Brother Out #8 (4)
- 2015: To Pimp a Bunch of Miniature Reviews (5)
- Tales from the Borderlands (0)
- MrLipid’s Closet of the Odd: Black Viper – Sophia’s Fate (3)
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (7)
- Side by Side: Crypt of the Necrodancer (1)
- Three Thoughts about Undertale (9)
- Steam Hardware Impressions Part 2: Steam Controller (18)
- Steam Hardware Impressions Part 1: Steam Link (6)
- Side by Side: Rocket League (5)
- Microsoft Acquires Havok from Intel (3)
- Batman: Arkham Knight (9)
- Side by Side – Season 2: Assault Android Cactus (1)
- Voice Actors Vote on Strike (3)
- “In My Heart I am a Gamer” (7)
- Rumors of Our Demise, etc. etc. (5)
- Zeke Iddon Presents: Gaming for Profit on YouTube (0)
- Mineclass (1)
- Journey to the Center of Hawkthorne – A Real Actual Game (2)
- Impressions – The Witcher: Wild Hunt (10)
- Axiom Verge (3)
- GameLoading: Rise of the Indies (4)
- Gregg & Steerpike vs. the Overworld (3)
- Local Flavor: Connor Hart from OverReact (0)
- Local Flavor: What Pumpkin Studios and Hiveswap (2)
- Local Flavor: PHL Collective and ClusterPuck 99 (2)
- GDC 2015: GDC Microtalks and #1ReasonToBe (3)
- Find Me at GDC (2)
- Local Flavor: CleaverSoft and EarthNight (1)
- The Order | 1886 (21)
- Impressions: Life is Strange, Episode 1 (2)
- Local Flavor: Golden Ruby Games and Extreme Exorcism (3)
- Hyrule Warriors (7)
- Local Flavor: QuadraTron Games and Threshold (1)
- Side by Side: The Series So Far… (2)
- Games I played in 2014 and thought were gud. (5)
- Steerpike’s Games of 2014: Unfinished (11)
- AJ’s Games of 2014: The Wicked, the Weird, the Wacky (5)
- Bravely Default (5)
- GSC Game World Returns (4)
- Impressions: Elegy For a Dead World (3)
- Local Flavor: The Sheikh Zayed Institute’s Pain Medicine Care Complex (2)
- Tap Dance: Introducing ‘Side by Side’ (1)
- Learning to Fly (7)
- Tap-Repeatedly Returns (0)
- Dreamfall Revisited (11)
- A Journey Inward (6)
- Local Flavor: Schell Games and Team Enemy Mind (2)
- Impressions: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (9)
- In My Life (2014 Edition): A Collection of Miniature Reviews & Impressions, Disguised in the form of incoherent ramblings (10)
- Don’t Fear the Creeper: Microsoft Mines Mojang (7)
- Local Flavor: Michael Silverman of Silverware Games (1)
- Review: Shadowgate (2014) (1)
- Local Flavor: Ryan Morrison of Island Officials (3)
- Why I’m Extra Excited About Minimum (3)
- Why The Emerald Dream Can’t Be An Expansion (3)
- Local Flavor: Shawn Pierre of OriGaminc (8)
- Impressions: The Forest Early Access (7)
- Review: Shovel Knight (5)
- The Wolf Among Us (9)
- Aiden Pearce is the Worst (18)
- Help a Brother Out, Part Seven (5)
- On Tap #7 (0)
- The Endless Night of Kentucky Route Zero (8)
- Storming the Castle (7)
- Iron Man Mode Suicidal Aeroplane Charity Livestream Extravaganza! (0)
- On Tap #6 (6)
- Child of Light (3)
- Impressions: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Lost Alpha (11)
- On Tap #5 (3)
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (5)
- Avengers Alliance Disassembled (5)
- Moebius: Empire Rising (1)
- On Tap #4 (8)
- Never-Ending Battle? (26)
- Trip Report: PAX East 2014 (3)
- Review: Escape Goat 2 (2)
- Impressions: Lifeless Planet (7)
- Guest Editorial: Arkham Identity (5)
- On Tap #3 (7)
- EGX Rezzed 2014 (4)
- On Tap #2 (5)
- Impressions: Enemy Mind (2)
- Oculus Rift and the Future of VR (12)
- On Tap #1 (10)
- Adventure Games from Phoenix Online Publishing at GDC (3)
- Soul Pain (20)
- Dispatches from the GDC Narrative Summit and Critical Proximity (3)
- One Last Night in Arkham (15)
- Impressions: Broken Age (7)
- South Park: The Stick of Truth (4)
- Impressions: Thief (44)
- Impressions: Banished (3)
- Irrationalia (7)
- Indie Games in Public (4)
- The Last of Us: Left Behind (8)
- The Castle Doctrine (3)
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (12)
- Early Excess? (20)
- Don’t Look, the Rapture is Here (10)
- Impressions: Horizon (7)
- Proteus (2)
- A Speedy Million Dollar Game Charity Run (5)
- Gregg B’s Games of 2013: List Off* (7)
- Xtal’s Games of 2013: The Good in Everyone (5)
- Steerpike’s Games of 2013: Silent Night (17)
- Dix’s Games of 2013: Family Ties (9)
- AJ’s Games of 2013: You Have My Axe (9)
- Impressions: FORCED (4)
- First Person Literacy and BioShock Infinite (7)
- Impressions: Ossuary (7)
- I’m Irrationally Angry About Transformers Legends (12)
- Knee-Deep in the Dear John (3)
- The Bridge (3)
- State of Decay (10)
- XCOM: Enemy RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY SNIPER MAJOR AND SHE STILL CAN’T HIT IT (15)
- Can You Steal A Franchise Back to Health? (37)
- Batman: Arkham Origins (10)
- Extra Life – Play Games – Heal Kids (5)
- The Stanley Parable (10)
- Beyond: Two Souls (13)
- Knock-Knock (11)
- Revisited: Heavy Rain (11)
- Signal Boost: Help Support Game Design Research (5)
- Closure (2)
- Review: Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller: Episode 4 (5)
- Announceosaurus: Valve’s SteamOS [Updated] (25)
- Impressions: Escape Goat 2 (2)
- Glad We Got That Sorted Out (3)
- Tap-Repeatedly Joins the Previous Decade (8)
- He Could Only Rule the World (19)
- Review: Everlove: Rose (4)
- I’m Not Buying Grand Theft Auto V – I Bought Saints Row IV Twice (20)
- Gameplay for Fun and Profit (4)
- Sacrifice (34)
- What a Difference a Year Makes (12)
- Review: Dragon’s Crown (41)
- Everlove: A Romance Game for Women (11)
- The Soulless Social Payne of Rockstar Games (9)
- Kermdinger Studios Unveils Stunt Runner (A Kermdinger Chronicles Update) (4)
- Shadowrun Returns (7)
- Assuming Direct (Star) Control (9)
- Fifteen Hours of Eight (14)
- Review: Face Noir (6)
- The Tapcast of Us: Kristine, Dix, xtal, and Steerpike! (0)
- Help a Brother Out, Part Six (17)
- Culture Clash: Storyville, Population One (9)
- The Walking Dead: 400 Days (2)
- The Last of Us (5)
- Age of Broken Promises (33)
- Review: Deadpool (12)
- When Online Multiplayer Games Die (8)
- Review: Neverwinter (7)
- Metro: Last Light (11)
- Deadly Premonition – The Director’s Cut (17)
- Impressions: The Last of Us (10)
- Trip Report from the Gotland Game Conference (3)
- Culture Clash: A Camel (11)
- Tomorrow’s Harvest (1)
- Tap vs. Tap: Xbox One (16)
- The Night of the Rabbit (8)
- Let’s Watch Let’s Plays (11)
- Star Trek: The Video Game (A Cooperative Review) (4)
- The Part You’re Missing (8)
- Culture Clash: The Fourth Letter (2)
- Antichamber (5)
- Selling Survarium (6)
- Neverwinter Beta Launch Interview (2)
- Celebrity Guest Editorial: NYFA’s Zeke Iddon! (24)
- Thomas Was Alone: A Micro Review (8)
- Defense Grid 2 is Go (11)
- Impressions: Don’t Starve (7)
- Culture Clash: You Just Had to Be There (2)
- Enraptured by Sadness: BioShock Infinite and the Depressing Reality of AAA Game Design (34)
- Review: Retro City Rampage (3)
- Do You Divekick? (7)
- Revisited: Alan Wake (24)
- Talking Cognition and Mystery Adventures at PAX East (4)
- My Idea of Fun: Bioshock 2 (18)
- PAX East Hands-On: Outlast and Remember Me (4)
- My Friday at PAX East 2013 (7)
- There’s the Door, John (10)
- The Games I Saw at IndieCade East (7)
- Impressions: Impire (11)
- The Ultimate Triumph of Beer Pong (15)
- Game of Moans (2)
- Culture Clash: That Used to Be Us (3)
- …And a Stick to Steer Her By (2)
- Impressions: Neverwinter – Beta (4)
- Revisited: Defense Grid (4)
- Impressions: Dead Space 3 (17)
- Discontinuity (6)
- Industry Attrition Continues (4)
- How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Backlog (10)
- Did Anyone Actually Need for Lightning to Return? (21)
- Xtal’s Games of 2012: Beauty Lies in the Eye (8)
- Culture Clash: Play it Some Author Way (2)
- Gregg B’s Games of 2012: Distractions (14)
- Steerpike’s Games of 2012: Special Achievement (13)
- AJ’s Games of 2012: And I Feel Fine (6)
- Tap vs. Tap: Authorship (8)
- Gamer’s Block (22)
- Merry Christmas from Your Android Device (1)
- Obstacles & Introspection, Part 1: The Way Out Is Through (8)
- Review: Cognition: Episode 1 (5)
- Review: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (32)
- Gamers Give Back (0)
- GSC Game World Resurrects Itself; Sends Nastygram; Vanishes Again (8)
- The Naked Vulnerability of Halo 4 (14)
- The Dissent, Part 2 – Journey and Dear Esther (21)
- Tapcast: Ben and Steerpike Talk Mass Effect (3)
- Crowdfunding and the Mysterious Oton Console (13)
- Review: Primordia (4)
- Impressions: Miasmata (10)
- The Dissent, Part 1 – S:S&S EP (13)
- Games Don’t Need Much Story (24)
- More-ment (4)
- The Final Ultimate Red Vs. Blue 10 Season Box Set Review (4)
- The Continuing Mission: The Search for Great Star Trek Games (Part 4) (4)
- Difficult Choices in The Walking Dead (5)
- The Seventh (34)
- Culture Clash: The ABCs of AAA (9)
- Star Citizen Kickstarter on its Final Countdown (2)
- Tales from a Halo Household (12)
- A Preview of Gender and Diversity in Primordia (5)
- Consider Wreck-It Ralph (5)
- Group Impressions: Guns of Icarus Online (Beta) (5)
- We’re Not Here for Integrity (5)
- Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds (10)
- Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (4)
- Impressions: Dishonored (23)
- FTL: Faster Than Light (2)
- This Shrivels My Game Sack (17)
- Culture Clash: World of Wonkcraft (3)
- Site Maintenance Tomorrow And Maybe Longer (0)
- Eurogamer Expo 2012: Mind Dump Part III (8)
- Eurogamer Expo 2012: Mind Dump Part II (5)
- Eurogamer Expo 2012: Mind Dump Part I (7)
- Review of “The Best Red vs Blue DVD Ever” (3)
- Impressions: Prison Architect Alpha (3)
- Thoughts on the Smithsonian’s Art of Video Games Exhibit (8)
- Tap vs. Tap: Dix and Steerpike Battle Bosses (17)
- The Continuing Mission: The Search for Great Star Trek Games (Part 3) (0)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Epilogue (37)
- Project Eternity Kickstarter Breaks All the Banks (10)
- Culture Clash: Meta Effect (4)
- Review: The Walking Dead (Episodes 1 – 3) (20)
- Tap Dance: HM and I talk At A Distance (2)
- Puzzle Clubhouse Launches, and It Has Lasers (1)
- Steam Goes Green (36)
- Shameless Self-Promotion: Podcasting Edition (1)
- Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (9)
- The Continuing Mission: The Search for Great Star Trek Games (Part II) (2)
- You Can Help Uwe Boll Create In the Name of the King 3 (5)
- The Continuing Mission: The Search for Great Star Trek Games (Part I) (4)
- Commemorating 100 Weeks of Failure (4)
- Dominique Pamplemousse in Another Crowdfunding Project You Should Check Out (1)
- Culture Clash: Something I’ll Never Do Again (3)
- Impressions: RaiderZ Beta (12)
- Exclusive Interview: Hidden Path’s Jeff Pobst (7)
- Guild Wars 2 (Noob) Beta Impressions (24)
- Bethesda Maybe Acquires STALKER Publication Rights (5)
- Tap vs. Tap: “Pink” Games (3)
- Celebrity Guest Editorial: Ernest Adams! (42)
- Yes: It’s a Game (26)
- My Idea of Fun: Game of Lordly Caliber (1)
- Culture Clash: Dangerous to the Last Drop (14)
- Impressions: Polymorphous Perversity (9)
- Impressions: Gratuitous Tank Battles (4)
- Impressions: Endless Space (4)
- Cherry Capital Con (1)
- The World Zynga Made (7)
- Tap vs. Tap: Women in the Game Industry (16)
- Obvious Bias: Cute Robot Destruction (2)
- Nintendo’s Imaginary Friends (5)
- Tap vs. Tap: The Game/Feminism Discourse (6)
- DIY Diagnosis (8)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 1,170-1,259 (9)
- Impressions: Splice (2)
- Culture Clash: It Might Be Fun to Run a Newspaper (13)
- Apologies to Lara Croft (22)
- Persistence of Revision (16)
- I Am Your Sword And Your Shield (5)
- A/B vs. W&Z, Final Round (10)
- Gremlins in the Wires [Updated] (11)
- The Log of Shame: May Day, May Day (18)
- Impressions – Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (11)
- Harley Quinn’s Revenge (6)
- Con Coverage Continues (2)
- My Idea of Fun – MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (4)
- Tap Dance: Cat’s Away Chronicles II (starring me!) (3)
- Boldly Go Somewhere Else Entirely (5)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 1,103-1,169 (9)
- Passage Is Not About Me (15)
- Marvel Rolls Infinite Sevens (15)
- Culture Clash: The Magic in the Machine (10)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 1,044-1,102 (17)
- Monsters We Have Met (4)
- Fez (13)
- Impressions: Dragon’s Dogma (7)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #9: Jammed (6)
- Do go down to the woods tonight… (48)
- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Now on Steam! (7)
- Indie Impressions from PAX East (2)
- How Not to Learn to Use Rifles (12)
- Alliance of Awesome: Cat’s Away (2)
- The Log of Shame: April Showers. Showers of GAAMEZ (16)
- SquareSoft Demos at PAX East (1)
- One Hundred Years of Tragedy (11)
- Culture Clash: U Know U a Playa (6)
- Kiss Me, Kill Me (6)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #8: The Little Reveal (4)
- On The Fragmented Future of Dungeons & Dragons (15)
- Neverwinter Dawning (3)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 898-1,043 (9)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #7: THE FINAL EPISODE (0)
- Important Pre-April Gaming News (1)
- Guild Wars 2: Separating Wheat From Chaff (26)
- Journey (19)
- Alliance of Awesome: Cats, Carts, Causes and Context (0)
- Vessel (6)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #6: GDC Edition (0)
- A Preview of Gunpoint (4)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 735-897 (27)
- Among the Cool Things I Saw at GDC (4)
- In Memoriam: Ethan “Finkbug” Sicotte (23)
- I’m Commander Shepard, and This is My Favorite Flavor-Aid on the Citadel (22)
- I Like Women in Games Initiatives, But It’s Complicated (15)
- Wipeout 2048 Is Cool As Fuck (2)
- Game (almost) Over! (24)
- I’m Tapping GDC 2012 (2)
- The Log of Shame: March of the Backlogs (27)
- Dear Esther (12)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #5: A Very Special Episode (4)
- Boomblastica (5)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 697-734 (7)
- My Idea of Fun, Episode 4: Forgotten Planet (15)
- Analogue: A Hate Story (7)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #4: Indie Developer, Free to a Good Home (1)
- Kick It: Auditorium Duet (1)
- Guild Wars 2: Mesmer PvP (6)
- Playstation Vita: First Impressions (8)
- A Legion of Story Problems (30)
- Impressions: Guild Wars 2 Beta (18)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #3: The Pitch (4)
- The 3DS Is Doomed (2)
- Planned Site Outage [UPDATE] (0)
- The Log of Shame: Love Log Edition (42)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 651-696 (10)
- Guild Wars 2: Unleash The Beta! (36)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #2: Mystic Crystal Revelations (2)
- Lunchbreak Game: Super Mario Crossover 2 (1)
- What’s Wrong With AAA Today? (25)
- And Yet It Moves (11)
- Fine Time (14)
- Kermdinger Chronicles #1: Meet the Team (7)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 581-650 (19)
- My Idea of Fun: the Time Bandits (6)
- Scenes from the Game Jam (10)
- Stealing Beauty: A Thief Retrospective, Part 2 (0)
- Pardon Our Dust (0)
- Impressions: Frankenstick (5)
- Happening Now: Global Game Jam (2)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 472-580 (13)
- The Log of Shame: Backlog Battles for the Masses (Now Recording for January!) (Updated with Q&A!) (51)
- Saints Row: The Third – No Longer By Proxy! (8)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 332-471 (16)
- Armand’s Unsolicited Games of 2011: You’ll Never Guess the Winner (9)
- Xtal’s Games of 2011: Not Another Fetch Quest (8)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 200-331 (11)
- Impressions: Katawa Shoujo (5)
- AJ’s Games of 2011: I Will Take It Personally (9)
- Mat’s Games of 2011: The Times They Are A Changin’ (6)
- Gregg’s Games of 2011: Too Many Games. Sob. (7)
- Steerpike’s Games of 2011: Small Batch (20)
- Dix’s Games of the Year 2011: My Funny Friend & Me (6)
- More Adventures in my Steam Backlog: NightSky and Jamestown (9)
- My Idea of Fun: The Interloper And The Twisted Tourist (15)
- The Steam Holiday Sale Will Do Strange Things to My Backlog (15)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 134-199 (7)
- Dark Souls Diaries: Deaths 1-133 (19)
- This Joker Isn’t Funny Anymore (14)
- Guild Wars 2: Mesmer (1)
- Tap vs. Tap: Game Journalism (8)
- Miles Jacobson Looking To “Next Gen”, Tablets “Catching Up With” PC (1)
- Confirmed: GSC Game World Shuts Down (11)
- The Incredible Threat of Failure (23)
- To Mii, To You (0)
- My Idea of Fun: Tri-Optimum, Tanks, Tentacles, and Terrorists (7)
- Tap vs. Tap: Villains (10)
- Pride and Possession (7)
- You Go Hide, I’ll Count to Ten (14)
- Happy Thanksgiving! (6)
- Impressions: Jurassic Park: The Game (6)
- Are We Approaching Travel Games? (12)
- Impressions: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (72)
- Battlefield 3 (PC) (9)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (10)
- Culture Clash: A Zero-Sum Game (9)
- A Weekend With: Bloodline Champions (7)
- Rodentia (22)
- You Make It Easy (6)
- It’s Not All About You (8)
- Discuss: Reviewing Battlefield 3 (17)
- On Cosplay and Privilege (19)
- Armand and I talk Ruins (21)
- Impressions: Batman: Arkham City (7)
- Introducing ‘A Weekend With’ (6)
- Watch As I Die A Little Inside (7)
- Alliance of Awesome: Armand’s IndieCade Roundup (7)
- Men of Science: HM and I play Portal 2 co-op (2)
- Impressions: Trauma (4)
- [UPDATE] RAGE: It’s A Looker – Now With Extra Technical Support (12)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Bobby Stein (13)
- It’s Interactive Fiction Competition Time (8)
- Ico (Remastered) (9)
- The Binding of Isaac (15)
- Impressions: Star Wars: The Old Republic (59)
- Impressions: RAGE (15)
- Tap on Tour: Eurogamer Expo 2011 Impressions (7)
- Alliance of Awesome: EuroPodcast! (7)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Colin Johanson (11)
- When Is A Spoiler Not A Spoiler? (6)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (26)
- Impressions: Guild Wars 2 (21)
- Social Strawberry Season (14)
- Meaningful Play: How Games Can Help Solve Real-World Problems (7)
- The Beaver (9)
- We Don’t Really Do “Reliability” Here (0)
- Tap on Tour 2011: Euro Gaming for the Masses (8)
- Heads Up: SEEEEGAAAAA (3)
- Are You a Gamer? Plan for a LAN (8)
- Impressions: City of Heroes Freedom (4)
- Culture Clash: Every Day is Kids Day (6)
- Alliance of Awesome: Bits ‘n’ Bytes Celebrate Gaming 2011 (0)
- Alliance of Awesome: Where He Came From (1)
- Isaac Must be Into S&M (10)
- Trackmania² Canyon (5)
- 21st Century Criticism: Reviews in Four-Letter Words (12)
- Alliance of Awesome: Now With Extra Steam (3)
- Revisited: Brink (9)
- What Is and What Should Never Be (10)
- The Official Tap-Repeatedly Post of Crap Nintendo Peripherals: Version 1.0 (4)
- Farewell, Doctor (7)
- Meta Watch: Dead Island (17)
- Hide (5)
- Dust 514: Producer Interview On “The Marriage of EVE and Dust” (0)
- Video Game Addiction and You (8)
- SW:TOR: HUTT! HUTT! HUTT! (1)
- Guild Wars 2: News Round-up (1)
- Into EVE Online (2)
- Proto-Celebrity Guest Editorial: Jacob “Bear” Elert! (5)
- First Impressions – Deus Ex: Human Revolution (39)
- Alliance of Awesome: Cheer Up, Rock (3)
- Adventures in User Generated Content (6)
- Sylvari: Gender Defined (9)
- Celebrity Guest Editorial: Amanda Lange! (38)
- Mania Potential – Trackmania 2 Beta Impressions (5)
- Heads Up: Brink Big Weekender (3)
- Anti-War Has Never Been So Much Fun (18)
- First Impressions: From Dust (18)
- Revisited: Limbo (11)
- Culture Clash: History Became Legend, Legend Became… Well, You Know (4)
- 3DS SOS (7)
- Alliance of Awesome: Making Sacrifices (1)
- Coppers for Nothing and Tracks for Free (2)
- The Humble Indie Bundle – VVVVVV Edition (4)
- We’re Watching the Watchmen (12)
- Rock Anthem for Saving the Franchise (12)
- If Stabbing a Puppy Would Make it Cooler, I Would Stab a Puppy. Bring Me a Puppy. (18)
- Good Fortune for the Uncharted Movie (7)
- Drunken Guest Editorial: Armand K (11)
- Do You Want Some Juicy Sales Figures? (2)
- From Dust to Silence (22)
- First Impre- no, Fuck it. This Game Sucks. (20)
- May I Have This Dance? (14)
- Back to the Future: The Game (5)
- Slugged In The Brain (5)
- Newer Vegas (6)
- First Impressions: SpaceChem (22)
- I Am Ready (45)
- There’s No Fun Here (13)
- They’re inside (15)
- All Your Mats Are Belong to Master Race (14)
- SWTOR: Alderaan Highlights Trailer Arrives! (2)
- US Supreme Court Does Right by Constitution (9)
- Supreme Court to Rule on Freedom Monday (Maybe) (4)
- Guild Wars 2: Open House and Underwater Combat! (1)
- Mario Marathon Turns Four (1)
- FIFA 12 Equalises on PC (5)
- Impressions: Child of Eden (15)
- First Impressions – Alice: Madness Returns (20)
- Viva La Vita Tequila (5)
- Enter Trackmania (5)
- Alliance of Awesome: The Dying Auteur (1)
- Fact Check! (4)
- Filling the Pipes (12)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Jon Peters and Jonathan Sharp (35)
- SWTOR: E3 Tatooine Walkthrough (11)
- Help a Brother Out, Part 5 (8)
- Wii U. Wake Me Up When The Nightmare Is Over! (24)
- From Dust: E3 Trailer. Yum. (6)
- L.A. Noire (16)
- Culture Clash: The Open World (9)
- DNF DNR? (22)
- The 8th (17)
- God Did It (18)
- Brink (15)
- First Impressions: The Witcher 2 (33)
- June Is: Honeymoons and Game Shows (2)
- Guns of Icarus (6)
- Suspending Disbelief (25)
- Guild Wars 2: ArenaNet Announce The Engineer! (1)
- Someone Thought it was a Good Idea (12)
- Proto-Celebrity Guest Editorial: Brandon Perdue! (10)
- Every Day Is Exactly the Same (9)
- Guild Wars 2: Lions Arch Official Video (4)
- RIFT: 7-Day Free Trial (4)
- There is a Monkey in Our Wrench (7)
- If It Wasn’t Valve, I Wouldn’t Care (12)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Bobby Stein (13)
- The Eleventh Colossus (47)
- Anomaly: Warzone Earth (3)
- Another World: 15th Anniversary Edition (16)
- Pointing Fingers (35)
- Alliance of Awesome: Overrated (20)
- Culture Clash: Fun with Franchising (2)
- Total War: Shogun 2 (7)
- XOC Plays Super Mario Bros. 3 (6)
- Guild Wars 2: The Domain of the Charr (0)
- Vocal Coaching (37)
- ESRB to Computerize Game Ratings (6)
- Introducing the Alliance of Awesome (7)
- Guild Wars 2: Charr Week Looms (4)
- Two Conversations (36)
- E3: Wii Follow Up Imminent? (16)
- IGDA vs. Amazon App Store (15)
- Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Trailer Goes Live. Yeah, About That.. (11)
- The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle Is Now Live (4)
- Creating Concepts (4)
- Do No Harm (5)
- Everything is Personal, Especially When it’s Not (11)
- High Five (3)
- Let Me Finish (6)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Daniel Dociu #3 (24)
- The Sun Makes a Right Page 3 Tit of Itself Again (10)
- Portal 2: Aperture Investment Opportunity #3 “Turrets” (1)
- Prematurity (8)
- Resident Evil: 15th Anniversary Trailer (1)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Daniel Dociu #2 (20)
- Going Platinum (8)
- What I Hate (And Love) About Nintendo 3DS (24)
- Portal 2: Aperture Investment Opportunity #2 “Bot Trust” (1)
- Public Service Announcement: Tweet, Tweet (3)
- GameStop Gets Impulsive… but what Does it Mean? (3)
- First Impressions: Love (15)
- Killzone 3 (7)
- Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet’s Daniel Dociu (39)
- First Impressions: DarkSpore Beta (15)
- 2011: A Vintage Year for Zombies (21)
- First Impressions: The Dream Machine (9)
- Crysis 2: Storms The Chart (8)
- EVE Online: A Future Vision (4)
- Culture Clash: Suffer the Little Children (13)
- Guild Wars 2: Meet The Hylek (0)
- Portal 2: Aperture Investment Opportunity #1 “Panels” (7)
- Microsoft’s Vision of the Future of PC Gaming Is.. (14)
- Revisited: Grim Fandango (17)
- PAX East: Cosplay, Alive And Well (6)
- I Don’t Want An All Digital Future. This is Why. (14)
- Apocalypse Soon (9)
- Crafting A Future (14)
- EA to Win Multiple Awards for Kickass PR Week (19)
- Breaking Barriers (14)
- RIFT (7)
- First Impressions: Pokemon Black/White (8)
- The Often of Action (21)
- First Impressions: Stacking (14)
- Now Printing In 3D (0)
- RIFT: It’s A Long Wait… (10)
- Atlus Shrugs – No Catherine Outside Japan (18)
- Gemini Rue (11)
- Culture Clash: The Innovation Pinata (1)
- Marvel vs Capcom 3 (3)
- Guild Wars 2: New Norn Video! (7)
- Game Gorging (18)
- First Impressions: Bulletstorm (22)
- The Stars, Like Dust (10)
- PC Gaming Alliance Shrinks by Two Sizes (4)
- Reverse Me (16)
- Bulletstorm To Include Bullets, Storms (5)
- Culture Clash: The Beauty of a Living Thing (14)
- EVE Online: Captain’s Quarters (7)
- Guild Wars 2: Norn Week (10)
- The Gameification of Everything (3)
- Trade Fortress 2 (19)
- Steam: Total War: Shogun 2 Demo (2)
- Steam: It’s A Bit Popular (26)
- To Mod or Not to Mod (24)
- A Casual Revolution (8)
- World Of Pokemon? (12)
- How Ninja Theory Earned $60 (31)
- Dark Souls Announced (8)
- First Impressions: RIFT (21)
- Debbie Does Demo Downloads Directly (10)
- It Really Does Strike Twice (4)
- Beyond Black Mesa (16)
- HM and I talk Immortal Defense (5)
- Alone for All Seasons (54)
- VVVVVV (15)
- Boob after Reading (9)
- Rue the Whirl (5)
- 2011 Belongs to Handhelds, 3D (7)
- The End of Identity (2)
- Celebrity Guest Editorial: Drew Davidson, Part 2! (15)
- World of Warcraft: Diary Of A Call Girl (9)
- Kinect Sells… a lot (29)
- Celebrity Guest Editorial: Drew Davidson! (26)
- A&B vs. W&Z, Round Four (1)
- Shafer and Stern Join Stardock (3)
- Season’s Greetings! (23)
- Weep for Your Shattered Lives (22)
- Why Pay To Play? (5)
- Build a Patch to Stand the Test of Time (3)
- Alan Wow (6)
- Do Not Steal This Book (10)
- The Rumble of the Humble (9)
- Discuss: 2010 FOTY (13)
- First Impressions: World of Warcraft – Cataclysm (8)
- It’s Tricky (6)
- Wherefive Elder Scrolls? Right Here (16)
- Irresponsible Hate-Filled Rant (13)
- Season of Giving (2)
- It’s an Elephant (26)
- Yesterday Seems So Far Away (6)
- R18+ Now a Reality (Sort of) in Australia (5)
- Culture Clash: The Price of Freedom (0)
- First Impressions: Killzone 3 (BETA) (16)
- Happy Thanksgiving! (21)
- HM and I talk Titans (7)
- The Mighty w3sp (5)
- What Rhymes with “Man Furismo Jive”? (8)
- Emergent-cy (10)
- First Impressions: Revenge of the Titans (Beta) (13)
- The Indignant Bat (25)
- And in it, they will Stalk. (18)
- Here We Go Again: Black Ops Edition (10)
- Wherefive Elder Scrolls? (8)
- First Impressions: Fate of the World (4)
- Bitter (And Not So Sweet) Symphony (13)
- Supremely Unconfident (17)
- I Never Liked the Place Anyway (4)
- Developer is About to Die (25)
- Now I’m No Longer Alone (30)
- FIFA 11 vs PES 11 (15)
- Microsoft Relaunches GFW (13)
- Just Dance 2: Shock And Awe (2)
- New Vegas Glitchy. Also: Sky Blue (38)
- It Creates Unfair Expectations (6)
- Tim Langdell Ousted from IGDA (3)
- Culture Clash: The Game of Life (0)
- Penumbra: Black Plague (11)
- It’s Not Just Black and White (26)
- Final Fantasy XIII (16)
- Langdell Over the Edge? (0)
- Team Fortress 2: Micro-transactions Are Go! (9)
- Discuss: The Sony PlayStation Turns 15 (19)
- Kinect: Things It Doesn’t Work With #604 (18)
- No. No, No, No. No No No NONONONO (4)
- B, G, and E go H and D (23)
- Tentacles Are Scary (8)
- First Impressions: F1 2010 (4)
- The Bobby Kotick Show: BWAAHAHAHAHAHA (14)
- Tom Chick vs. All of Civilization (23)
- First Impressions (Sort of): Enslaved (14)
- Bioshock: Infinite: In-game Footage Released (9)
- Great Expectations (5)
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent (21)
- Sales Chart: Halo Reaches For The Top (5)
- Alien Breed 2 – Assault: Incoming! (0)
- Global Agenda: Beggars Can’t Be Choosers (0)
- GoG GaGs? (45)
- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (4)
- The Bobby Kotick Show: Money, Money, Money! (6)
- Maybe It’s the Second-to-Last Guardian (11)
- Arcen Games Need You (8)
- Culture Clash: The Sounds of Silence (0)
- Guild Wars 2: Book Your Annual Leave NOW (20)
- Halo Reach: Oh The Embarrassment (18)
- Revisited: Starcraft 2 (21)
- Horror Tomorro’ (40)
- Appreciate/Forgive (10)
- Simon of the Dead (3)
- My Inner Child Just Peed Itself (11)
- PSP Gone? (5)
- On the Perils of Over Anticipation (7)
- Warhammer Online: Diary Of A Call Girl – Chapter 2 (4)
- Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty (20)
- Alien Breed: Impact & Alien Swarm (11)
- First Impressions: NHL 11 (10)
- Elemental May not be Fundamental (21)
- Sexy Beast: Atlus Preps Catherine (9)
- Looks Like Someone’s Angling for a Job at Valve (2)
- Warhammer Online: Diary Of A Call Girl (6)
- Portal 2: Johnny & Bonnie 5 (9)
- The Last Bastion About to Fall? (2)
- A Chance at Karmic Reclamation (6)
- That is Whack, Yo (16)
- Karma, We Have a Problem (24)
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. People Disregard Steerpike’s Opinion (16)
- Holy Shit, It’s BioShock Infinite! (25)
- First Impressions: Mafia II (6)
- Revisited: Warhammer Online (10)
- Sometimes the Stories Write Themselves (3)
- Men Who Hate Women (29)
- People of Walmart (14)
- Revisited: Dead Space (12)
- Also: Godzilla. (11)
- The Bobby Kotick Show: Get Harassed, Get Fired (5)
- Immortal Defense Now Name Your Price (28)
- Discuss: Rage Against the Rage Quitters (14)
- Celebrity Guest Editorial: Ben Hoyt! (6)
- Kieron Gillen is a Stud (2)
- Starcraft 2 is “Unfinished,” Say People Who will Buy it Anyway (17)
- Impressions: Deadly Premonition (15)
- Limbo (20)
- Comic-Con 2010: Handin’ Out An Ass Whoopin’ (5)
- Alan Wake (8)
- Dream A Little Bigger Darling (27)
- You Pay for Quality, You’d Better Get Quality (15)
- Kinect Priced, New 360 Bundles on the Way (9)
- Modern Conflict HD (3)
- Wordy and Pretentious. That Sounds Right, Yeah (14)
- Tim Schafer Tells Truth, Apologizes (5)
- Ikaruga: Hardorah than Hydorah (3)
- Welcome to the Slaughterhouse (2)
- A/B vs. W&Z, Round 3 (1)
- Anonymity vs. Exposure (18)
- (Not In) Limbo (32)
- The Bobby Kotick Show: Armageddon! (5)
- Opening the Mouth (7)
- Meta Watch: Crackdown 2 (5)
- Snakes of Avalon (2)
- It’s OK, We’re All Insane Here (4)
- In The Mouth of Madness (8)
- Let’s Talk About Zombies (20)
- Steerpike Bricks His iPhone (14)
- Sony Plugs The Hole, New Firmware to Wage War on Wallets (2)
- Polycount Sets The Bar (0)
- Pardon Our Dust (0)
- If Only Professional Developers were So Dedicated (3)
- Paul The Psychic Octopus Says: Auf Wiedersehen, England (10)
- PlayStation Plus/Negative (8)
- Lady Luck, Shine On Me (5)
- The Bobby Kotick Show: Blame the Victim (7)
- Discuss: 3D, Or Not 3D? (19)
- Top Kill (16)
- Don’t Stop, Believ… erm. Journey. (7)
- E3 News: Return of Eric Chahi and Tetsuya Mizuguchi (5)
- E3 2010: A Change of Name, A Diet and Lots of Dancing; It’s the Microsoft Keynote (12)
- Do Not Be Alarmed (10)
- APBeta (7)
- Dreamcast Resurrection (3)
- Huh. (1)
- An Alarming Confluence of News (6)
- Video Games Matter. Video Game reviewers…maybe not so much. (16)
- GoldenWhy (10)
- Lotus III: The Ultimate Tune (1)
- Hmmm. (7)
- First Impressions: Alpha Protocol (29)
- Steam May or May Not Be Evil (15)
- Suspending Disbelief and Roleplaying (6)
- Eurogamer Snags first Alpha Protocol Review (7)
- Tap-Repeatedly Votes YES (12)
- Wow, I Was NOT Expecting That: Killzone Edition (1)
- XCOM Arrives (9)
- Red Dead Redemption Strolls Into Town (2)
- Alan’s Take (25)
- WHAT! Same Screen?! (4)
- First Impressions: Steam for Mac OS X (10)
- The Slope Just Got Slippier (13)
- The Mirror Crack’d (3)
- Metro 2033 (10)
- Blizzard: There’s An App For That! (2)
- Aion Falters (0)
- Guild Wars 2 Surfaces (0)
- Actiblizz Begins Call of Duty Franchise Rape in Earnest (4)
- Shavings from Other People’s Nightmares (14)
- An iPad Adventure: Part Two – The Pre-Order (6)
- Fractal Demo Now Available (2)
- Bronzemurder He Wrote (and Illustrated) (7)
- iBone.. Just Not Tonight, Darling. (7)
- Frozen Synapse (6)
- Taking The ‘Um’ Out of Humble (23)
- Just Dance Falls! (4)
- Keep It Simple (23)
- Alan Waste (6)
- Gothic II: Night of the Raven (11)
- The Future ex-Mrs. Steerpike (3)
- Sony Gets Sued (7)
- Floppy Goes Limp (14)
- Site Misbehavior (0)
- Football Manager Handheld 2010 (2)
- “I Can Feel The Epicness Flowing Through My Balls” (3)
- Hamlet (3)
- Like Tiny, Mysterious Comics from Another World (16)
- They Keep Going, and Going, and Going (10)
- Impressions: Just Cause 2 (8)
- Site Maintenance this Weekend (0)
- X-COM to be Developed by Irrational’s Red-Headed Stepchild (8)
- Yes, Yes, the Upper Banner will be Fixed (20)
- Valve Know A Good Thing (7)
- A/B vs. W&Z, Round Two (2)
- Just Dance…All The Way To The Bank! (14)
- Wow, I Was NOT Expecting That (11)
- Battlefield Bad Company 2 (9)
- New York Gets PWN3D By The 80’s (4)
- A.I. War (7)
- Red Dead Redemption is Best Game Ever (or else) (13)
- What’s Your Favourite? (20)
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (10)
- First Impressions: Darkfall (3)
- From The Cutting Room Floor (17)
- Watch 2 Stupid People and a Gardener Talk About Games on TV (23)
- Review: Near Orbital Vanguard Alliance (N.O.V.A) (6)
- Wuv, Twue Wuv (7)
- First Impressions: Battlefield Bad Company 2 (6)
- Badger Watch (21)
- Laying Foundations (13)
- SA AG to Step Down in 2014 (2)
- First Impressions: God of War III (5)
- Swiss Game Ban Passes (12)
- First Impressions: Metro 2033 (14)
- Jason! Jason? Jaaaasssoooon! (10)
- An iPad Adventure: Part One – Justification (22)
- First Impressions: Mortal Online (10)
- Oh, THIS is Gonna End Well (2)
- Starfeld: Not Starfield (7)
- Strangely Silent at Infinity Ward Exit (1)
- First Impressions: Final Fantasy XIII (31)
- Verbal Warfare (19)
- Walk the Line (28)
- A/B vs. W&Z, Round One (8)
- Eastern Promises (14)
- Review: Heavy Rain (14)
- IGF 2010 (17)
- Freedom Doesn’t Exist (40)
- The Long, Sordid Tail of DRM (29)
- Goons Loom at Infinity Ward (33)
- Peggle (6)
- It is, in Fact, Pouring (22)
- Off the Rails (9)
- Fear Factor (14)
- First Impressions: Heavy Rain (17)
- Beneath A Steel Sky: Remastered (19)
- God Dammit, Satan, I’m Warning You for the Last Time (16)
- A Guardian Angel (11)
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Remember Diapers) (12)
- PC Gaming Diagnosed with Lung Cancer (67)
- The Bobby Kotick Show: Nice Try Edition (5)
- STALKER Engine Creator Says STALKER Engine Not Used for STALKER-Like Game that is Not STALKER (2)
- Down Under (24)
- It has Something to do with Math (3)
Ahh this is part of the Indie Love Bundle. I’d buy it and dole out some of the other titles that I own to others as gifts but alas, the house is really lightening my pockets this month so I doubt I’ll be able to.
EDIT: Just followed the link and it looks wonderful, regrettably I’m at work so no sound…
I cannot say enough about Auditorium and recommend it to everyone I can. Its concept is intriguing, the game play is flawless, and its artistic vision and execution is impeccable. You can play several levels for free from their website or pay a well-worth-it price of $10.99 for the full game. I can’t wait for Fractal, and by the quality and attention to detail with which the former was created, I am confident it should be another hit.
Argh, you’re making me want to get that there Love bundle… will definitely check it out. Cheers HeddHunter, oh and Welcome To Tap!