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buy generic levitraorder cialisThe Binding of Isaac is frustrating. The Binding of Isaac is disgusting. The Binding of Isaac is short, repetitive, and the controls are a bit loose and dodgy. The Binding of Isaac is also loads of awesome fun.

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I first played the game a few days ago when it was released, and I have yet to really put it away. The roguelike/arcade/dual stick shooter from Edmund McMillen is pretty much exactly the kind of game you would expect him to make, right down to the gorgeous artwork, the retro-inspired gameplay, and the “not safe for life”… everything. So much of it is just “wrong”, but that’s half of what makes it so right. You’ll play it, die, play it some more, play it again, and keep playing it just to see what oddities you’ll discover in its randomly-generated dungeons next. Do yourself a favor and pick up this low-priced game right away.

After buy generic viagrabuy cheap levitragrabbing the demo a few days ago and getting quite excited about the new FPS release buy viagra onlinebuy viagraHard Reset, I worked my way through from beginning to end. Every gun, every enemy, every ammo cache, every boss. Done. And now I have an opinion about it, too!

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The first thing you need to know: Hard Reset is a very short game. Less than four hours, and that was taking my time. Normally I’m an advocate of shorter, better-built games, but this felt like it was artificially concluded to save development time. In fact, the ending was so jarring, I thought I had to go back and beat it on insane mode to get the “real” ending. But no, it ran its course. Just when the story and the game itself started to get really interesting, too.

The second thing you should know is the game isn’t nearly as genre-busting as it wants to be. Different weapons system, yeah, no reloading, ok, sounds good. That’s about the end of the list of diversions from the main FPS trunk. I found the puzzles pretty average, maybe even a bit below average at times. How many electrical barriers did I need to disable? Fifty jabillion? Not so inspired. At least there were no annoying puzzles like in every other game I’ve played.

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There are 50 odd secret areas to find, something that reminded me of old school first person shooters like Duke Nukem and Outlaws. A great many of them are little more than corners tucked in the opposite direction of the main path, but some tease you with their contents out in the open, giving you no clue as to how to get them. One thing I love to do in games is run around and see what I can climb on. Borderlands is, for some reason, perfect for this, and naturally I tried the same with Hard Reset. You would think its intricate environments would lend well to exploration, but the game is so riddled with invisible walls you’d think you were Ray Charles in a fun house mirror maze. Combine that with the linear levels and you’re pretty much playing a game that’s on rails. The secret areas encouraged you to explore, but there’s precious little reason to do so other than getting that full percentage at the end of the game.

Enemy AI, strength and versatility was slightly above average, which ended up saving the game from the digital junk pile. The weapon upgrades system was also pretty interesting, though so many of the unlockables were almost entirely useless. Zoom scopes? In a game where you never get a chance to stand still and shoot an enemy? Waste of in-game currency!

In short, Hard Reset was a decent experience that felt just different enough from the glut of shooters out there to make it worth trying. You won’t find groups of polarized players who love/hate the game, but it’s a good, if short, ride that will satisfy your FPS craving without resorting to too many tired old tropes.

You’ve probably seen the story circulating about the iOS game Phone Story being approved by Apple and then removed for “objectionable content”, among other things. Hubub was thus created, cries of censorship started to sound, and a nice bit of buzz was created around the little game. Not long after the App Store ban, the developer mulled about what to do, finally deciding to release the app on the un-policed Android Marketplace. Which is where I went to grab the so-called controversial game!

I bought Phone Story, I played Phone Story, and I’m here to report that it’s safe to stop talking about it. The game is just a collection of four dull, poorly-implemented mini-games that feel like no one ever play tested them before release. If it was never pulled from iTunes, no one would have cared it existed. Faulty controls plague Phone Story to the point where I sat the game down in disgust after running through it once. The narrative, which informs players about the sad state of affairs that make up the gadget industry, isn’t very informative at all, and you could learn more by skimming a Wikipedia article or two (although I’m sure it will enlighten a few people, which I guess is the point). In short, Phone Story is a bunch of empty hype with practically no game-worthy content behind the talk, even though I’ll admit the retro pixel graphics are kind of nice.

That’s all, people. It’s safe to move along to the next tragic App Store banning!

• Phone Story’s website (contains far more info than the game)
• Phone Story on Android Marketplace
• Developer’s website

Flying Wild Hog, the team behind the unique first person shooter Hard Reset, has taken the “we’re going to make something smart, different, and awesome” approach to game design, and after playing the demo, I have to say it looks like they got it right. Lots of secrets to find, massive enemies to take down, a smart weapon upgrades system, and a setting that looks and feels like a true cyberpunk masterpiece. Hard Reset could be a reboot for the FPS genre (get it?), and for the first time in years, I’m actually looking forward to a shooter.

Above is a “panoramic” shot I pieced together (click for larger size) after checking out the upgrades screen. Operating menus like this doesn’t remove you from the game. You actually stand there and look around to check things out, clicking to accept choices just like in that crazy computer on Minority Report. It’s a small touch, but it really brings the environment alive and keeps you engaged in the world around you. Also, you get to shock enemies by shorting out power kiosks in the game, which is more satisfying than you’ll want to admit.

• Hard Reset website
• Hard Reset on Steam (demo out now, full game release date: September 13)

I really like From Dust. If I were to describe it in the length of a tweet, I would say something like “From Dust is a sandbox/god game similar to Populous where you manipulate water, dirt, and lava to keep your villagers safe #awesome #weeeeee”. If I had a few more characters I’d drop Eric Chahi’s name, creator of Out of this World, who designed From Dust, which should make it a must-buy on anybody’s list. Plus, you get to pretend you’re a magical bulldozer, picking up elements and dropping them off to shape the living world around you. Neat!

From Dust can be very frantic, but it’s also captivating. It’s less of a strategy game and more of a “patch everything together and hope you make it work for a few moments so you can accomplish something before it all goes to hell” game. That, unfortunately, is why it can be such a frustrating experience, but something about it makes it very good all the same. Your goal is to guide a group of really, really stupid villagers (seriously, these guys are dolts) to totems that act as villages. Each totem gives you an ability that’s useful in that stage, a temporary power such as evaporation, the ability to turn water into jelly, etc. You can also find knowledge totems that teach individual villages how to repel water/lava, which is boatloads of useful provided you can keep one pilgrim safe as he/she walks to the totem and then carries the info to each village.

The problem with From Dust is that it’s incredibly obtuse at times, asking you to work against the clock with imprecise tools when a little more time and better control of where you dump materials would practically eliminate the frustration. Heck, if you could pause the game for a few moments and take a look around the map I’d be thrilled. There’s a sense of disconnect between you and your subjects, and I think to make things really work, you should at least care that they don’t die instead of protecting them out of obligation. As it stands, From Dust attempts to meld an arcade-style experience with a god game, and that doesn’t work.

I can’t really stop playing From Dust despite how angry it makes me at times. Currently, I’m stuck on the next to last level. I’ve tried to save those little villagers more than a dozen times, but each time something crazy happens and they all drown/burn within seconds. Oops. I can’t help but think that mouse-based controls would serve the game much better than the Xbox 360′s controller, so when the PC version hits in a few weeks, I’ll at least try the demo, just to satisfy my curiosity. Until then, I’ll keep plugging away at those levels, watching my villagers drown ten times for each time I successfully keep them alive.