The Warp Zoned crew was all over the place in February! The only thing we could agree on was how much we love Pokemon. Well, two of us, at least. It was a good month to dip into backlogs, though, because most of us were pretty snowed in. We’re looking forward to the Spring thaw, but until then, read on to see what we played in this icy month!
John Scalzo
Editor-In-Chief
My February screen time was split between my continuing quest for one million geoms in Geometry Wars 3: Dimension and Bulletstorm, a game that has been sitting in my backlog for a long time.
Bulletstorm is a big shooter, the kind of shooter that Wolfenstein: The New Order brought back last year. So why didn’t Bulletstorm get all the acclaim that eventually went to Wolfenstein? I think it’s because Bulletstorm is a very weird game. Early on, the main character’s partner undergoes surgery that makes him half-man and half-machine. And in those scenes, the game ramps up the drama and seriously ponders the question of what it means to be human. But then the game segues into an on-screen prompt that encourages you to shoot a group of enemies in “The Dick.” These shifts don’t entirely work, but Bulletstorm’s signature lasso/whip weapon is pretty great, and it’s probably enough to get me to dive back into it in March.
Nicole Kline
Senior Editor
The game I played the most this month was Persona 3 Portable, which I still haven’t been able to put down. I’m a little more than halfway through the game and I love it. There’s a lot of grinding, but if you know me, you know I don’t mind that at all! Speaking of which, I also played more Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire, which I’m close to finishing.
On top of that, I’ve also been struggling through Dying Light, which I haven’t had very much fun with, unfortunately. And after how disappointing the PC version was, I went and bought all the expansions I was missing from Ascension on iOS and played those a ton.
Anthony Amato and I are still making our way through Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. We’ve also found a brand new game to be addicted to: Mini Metro. You can play the browser version if you’re curious, but be warned: it’s highly addictive, partly because it’s just so soothing.
Andrew Rainnie
UK Correspondent
Literally all I have played is Dark Souls. It has me gripped in its skeletal fist, and I’m not giving up until it’s done.
Mike Ryan
Staff Writer
This month I spent a lot of time playing Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire. After putting a good amount of time into it, I thought to myself, “Self, why on Earth did you wait this long to play a Pokemon game?” Stupid self. I’m having such a great time with that one. In addition to the usual Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition, I dove into my backlog and fired up Batman: Arkham Origins. I don’t get all the hate – I haven’t encountered any glitches thus far, and it’s actually a fun title. Maybe I’ll find something as I get further into it.
Finally, I located a website (the Internet Archive’s Games Library) that lets you play classic DOS games in your browser, and I played a game that I absolutely loved as a kid: Paganitzu. It’s an Indiana Jones-esque title heavy on the puzzle elements. Man, I miss those old VGA graphics and PC speaker-based sound effects.
Holly Scalzo
Mobile Editor
New York in February saw some extremely harsh weather, with temperatures as low as -9° F. Factoring in wind chill, lack of sun, and diminished will to live, there weren’t many opportunities for outside activities. So video games it was!
This month I played mobile games exclusively, partially because they’re easier to play huddled under blankets. My favorite was TwoDots, by far, with Shades a close second. Other old-standbys revisited were Threes, Kami, and Letterpress. I think I even pulled out my old iPod Nano (click-wheels! Oh 2008, what were we all thinking back then?) and played a now-defunct version of Trivial Pursuit that was like a time capsule with all the questions referencing then-current pop culture phenomena like Beyonce singles and that new show, The Office.
