Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Reviews
Shovel Knight PS3/PS4/Vita/Xbox One Review: Still Digging It
What a difference a year can make! This time last year, Shovel Knight was just a promising platformer that was still two months away from release. A lot of people backed its Kickstarter campaign and still more got their hands on it at PAX East and PAX Prime, but most people were probably unaware of its existence. While we liked what we saw at those preview events, we had no idea just how good the game would actually turn out to be.
So here we are in 2015. Shovel Knight made its debut last June and instantly won the hearts of gamers everywhere. Perfect review scores (like this one from us) piled up like the sacks of gold collected by the title character. Six months later, a gaggle of “Game of the Year” awards rained down from outlets across the Internet (including a selection to Warp Zoned’s “Apocalypse List”).
So what does Yacht Club Games do for an encore? They put the exact same game on the PS3/PS4/PS Vita and the Xbox One and add a pair of platform-exclusive bosses. If you bought it last year, there’s no need to buy it again, but everyone else needs to fill the Shovel Knight-sized hole in their tool shed right now. (more…)
Mario Kart 8: Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack Review: More Tracks! More Characters! More Speed!
Nintendo has released Mario Kart 8’s second downloadable expansion during an interesting time for add-on content. Other publishers have been very welcoming to the new revenue stream, some perhaps overly so, but Nintendo has mostly shied away from creating additional content for their games. However, with Mario Kart 8 and the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles X, the company seems to have found the perfect balance between releasing extra content that generates more revenue while offering value for money. The Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack is priced at $7.99, just like the earlier Zelda-themed expansion. However, players can pick up both packs for $11.99, which would add four additional Cups to the game, each with a mix of old favourites and new challenges. Players who buy both packs will receive 16 new tracks on top of the original 32, which is 50% more game for only a fifth of the price.
Not only that, they released it a month earlier than expected!
But this second DLC add-on brings something special with it, a free update that adds a 200cc Class to the game, which is a faster gameplay mode than the Mario Kart franchise has ever included previously. The new speed setting is a game changer, and the best part is that it is free to everyone, not just those who bought one or both DLC packs. But is this new, challenging speed setting perhaps a step too far in this fun-filled game? (more…)
Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8
Westerado: Double Barreled Review: Fastest Pixel in the West
At first glance, Westerado: Double Barreled is just a pixelated spaghetti western with a silly name. The longer you glance, the harder that feeling sets in. Developed by Ostrich Banditos, the latest game to be published by Adult Swim Games takes the style of the third-person top-down RPG of yore and combines it with an overly-dramatized and often fourth wall-breaking western revenge story. For those “in-the-know,” this is a remake of a 2013 browser-based title originally just named Westerado. (more…)
Posted in PC, Reviews, Top Story
Tagged Westerado: Double Barreled
White Night Review: This Old House
I’m a real sucker for horror games. Ever since I played Shadowgate for the NES, scary and macabre games really struck a chord with me. One of the things I love most about horror games is that there is so much variety. I can paint a wall with zombie brains in one game, outrun a silent killer in the woods in another, and avoid an unstoppable space creature in a third. In the case of the recently-released downloadable title White Night, I found myself in one of my favorite horror settings: the haunted house. Nothing spooks me more than being stalked by an unseen entity. Add in a dark, decrepit mansion and an ever-dwindling supply of light, and you’ve got all the makings of a real fright fest. But where White Night shines in style, the substance makes you feel a bit like you’ve been left in the dark. (more…)
Shades Review: Do Mess Around With the Guy in the Shades
Lovers of puzzle games and easy-peasy mobile games will enjoy a fun new challenge with the recently released Shades, a puzzle game from Uovo that bears a resemblance to Tetris, except instead of using differently-shaped blocks, Shades requires players to consider the color of a series of rectangular blocks when placing them. The blocks are all uniform in size and shape; however, they are all different shades of one color (sort of like virtual paint swatches) which must be stacked to ultimately create rows of a single shade. Complete rows disappear, a la Tetris, and earn extra points as well as clearing the way for more blocks falling from the top, while like-shaded blocks stacked on top of one another meld together into a single block of the next darkest shade. Points accumulate through the placement of blocks, whether they blend into another shade, and when rows disappear. (more…)
Bastion PS4 Review: Narrating The Kid’s Must-Play PS4 Debut
Four years ago, a small team of six known as Supergiant Games introduced themselves to the world with their debut game, Bastion. Bastion layered a nostalgia-heavy isometric action RPG over an impressive audio experience with a narrator that reacted to the on-screen action and an amazing soundtrack that I still spin every chance I get. It rightfully earned a place on hundreds of “Best of 2011” lists (including our own) and is often considered one of the best titles the Xbox Live Arcade has to offer.
Does it still hold up in 2015? Yes, it most certainly does. (more…)
Axiom Verge Review: Hack to the Future
Each generation of video game consoles has that one defining characteristic, that one aspect that changes the paradigm of gaming as we know it. The Nintendo 64 / PlayStation era introduced us to the analog stick and disc-based media. The joys of online play were introduced in the Xbox / PS2 era. And the Xbox 360 / PS3 generation expanded on what it meant to be an “entertainment system.” That, and we were subjected to microtransactions galore. Well, some distinctions are better than others.
I believe it’s fair to say that the significant shift in this current generation is the quality of indie titles, games made by small groups of talented developers who understand that a game doesn’t have to be a Michael Bay-esque explosion-fest in order to be enjoyed. Granted, there were a lot of fantastic indie games last gen, but the scene has grown tremendously over the past few years. These dedicated folks make games that they themselves want to play. And we love them for it, because the love and enthusiasm poured into these games are evident in both the art and quality. Additionally, they offer a breath of fresh air to otherwise stagnant genres. And every so often, a game is released that’s pieced together so lovingly it reminds even the most jaded gamer why they got into this hobby in the first place. Axiom Verge is one of those games; a true masterpiece. (more…)
Posted in PC, PS4, Reviews, Top Story
Tagged Axiom Verge
Elegy For A Dead World Review: Is This the Real Life? Or Is This Just Literacy?
Words. They are the foundation of our civilisation. In the early days they allowed for more complex communications beyond the grunts of cavemen, while today they inspire and enthrall. Our age, more than any other, has come to rely on the written word through reading, advertising, and most importantly, social media and the Internet, which has given rise not only to a whole host of new words and terms, but ways of using them. For this alone, Elegy For A Dead World may be one of the most important games of the decade. (more…)