Review by Steerpike Prince of Persia Developer Ubisoft Montreal Publisher Ubisoft Montreal Released December 2, 2008 Available for Windows XP/Vista, Xbox 360 (version reviewed), PS3 Verdict: 2/5 Rotten Egg “…Prince of Persia is a lazy, careless game, both stubborn and annoying due to clumsy mechanics and constant repetition. It is neither innovative nor particularly fun to play. At moments it teeters on the very edge of greatness, but always it falls back, as though afraid …
It seems obvious, when you think about it. Activision/Blizzard recently announced that Zork Legends, a browser-based, presumably free massively multiplayer game! Now you can visit the Great Underground Empire with your friends, and reflect in live chat on the various inadequacies of the Flathead Dynasty, leading all the way up to Lord Dimwit Flathead and the collapse of his kingdom. Zork’s natural silliness seems to lean well into MMO territory, as oddly-named players behaving badly …
Word has recently come across the FFC teletype that Phantasy Star Zero, the latest installment in Sega’s long-running series, will be arriving on western shores in convenient Nintendo DS-compatible cartridges in Q2 of this year. Once again we all have a chance to put on thigh high stockings and battle improbable monsters! Wear big blue hairstyles! Sport unnecessarily pointed ears! All the tropes we love from Phantasy Star. The franchise has come a long way …
Well, it gets my vote. While the film biz is busy with its annual gold-plated hand job telethon, Errol Morris has quietly submitted what may be the most important film of 2008. Standard Operating Procedure I just watched it for the second time and was pretty much devastated. I’ve been watching this filmmaker since his 1978 Gates of Heaven, a pretty okay documentary about pet cemeteries and the people who take them seriously. Morris has …
Originally, driving games were not a genre I pursued. Even a minimal dose from the annual demo of the Need For Speed series was enough to satisfy the urge for some arcade like driving action. I’ve always felt real life motor sports were silly, harebrained endeavours but maybe that’s due to lack of proper exposure. European racing is difficult to find in North American media, and even things like NASCAR are about as far away …
This was a fine year for Adventure games, with these five titles being, in order, the best of the two dozen I’ve owned and played: The Colour of Murder Diamonds In The Rough Professor Layton and the Curious Village The Lost Crown Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches Check below for comments and the complete listing.
Where to begin. Much worthier games than A2M’s upcoming Wet have been threatened with premature death on account of the Activision/Blizzard merger that killed Sierra. In fact, some people thought Wet would toddle off into the sunset, unremembered. After all, the game has no publisher, and Activision/Blizzard CEO and super-genius complete moron Bobby Kotick has indicated that his company will only produce 10-year, $100-million franchises from now on. Wet is new IP, and that don’t …
In more amusing than average news, recently disabarred attorney Jack Thompson has shared his view that God has caused Take-Two Interactive’s stock to plummet to all time lows in the wake of EA’s abandonment of acquisition talks. Take-Two, as you know, published Grand Theft Auto – among other games, though Thompson neither knows nor cares about that, he’s very single-minded – and therefore have earned the ire of the almighty. The full email exchange with …
Snow blankets the ground – in four foot drifts through much of the midwest – and the season of cheer draws nigh. From all of us here at Four Fat Chicks, have a safe and happy holiday season with family and friends. Posting may be down over the next week, but fear not… we have even bigger and more exciting plans for 2009, once we recover from the party celebrating its arrival. Thank you all …
FFC fans, please welcome Jason P. Sage as our latest contributor to the Fat Chicks Celebrity Guest Editorial Section. Jason is a hard-working independent developer on the technology and coding side of things. He and I have communicated fairly regularly over the past 12 months, discussing new technologies, the plight and promise of the indie developer, and various other topics. Jason is also the lead of Jegas, LLC, a hosting and consulting provider offering innovative …
Review by Old Rooster Everlight: Of Magic And Power Developer: The Games Company Publisher: The Adventure Company Released: October, 2008 Available for: Windows XP/Vista (System Specs Below) Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up “Grandpa, What Is A ‘Dom-i-na-trix’?” My 3rd grade grandson has great reading skills, including an interest in new words to embellish his rich vocabulary. Unfortunately, one day he happened to be looking over my shoulder at the gorgeous fairy tale setting presented in Everlight …
Need more gaming to go? France-based Agharta Studio has released the first episode of their interactive adventure, 1112 for the iPhone and iPod touch. This first of six planned episodes will introduce players to Louis Everett and his wife, Anna, of Jalonsville, NJ as they attempt to uncover the mystery of Louis’ constant headaches and bizarre dreams. The game features gorgeously hand-drawn 800×600 environments, multi-touch zoom feature, an intricate dialogue system (both multiple choice and …
This is how things work. Out of the blue. Not as planned. When you least expect it, never according to common wisdom, but otherwise. Always otherwise.
“Mike Thorton is a partially written slate. Tabula ‘kinda written but still with room for you to customizus’, if my Latin serves me right. He can’t be a sea elf, an escaped mental patient or a were-cabinet – he’s an educated, multi-lingual clandestine operative, and that rules out being a chaotic neutral Urdlen-worshipping deep gnome bard /cleric.’“
Review by Old Rooster Murder In The Abbey Developer: Crimson Cow Publisher: The Adventure Company Released: August, 2008 Available for: Windows (System Specs Below) Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up Murder In The Abbey (aka The Abbey in Europe) proves to be a delightful, pleasantly surprising medieval mystery featuring colorful graphics, stiring music and excellent voice acting. Only a few rough edges and some discordancy between cartoonish visuals and serious storyline keep it from our coveted …