Spider-Man feels like one of those series that’s never quite going to get it right — one that always passes the bar for greatness, swings effortlessly around the barrier for excellence, but stops short just a half inch of being 100 percent coherent.
I feel it’s necessary to preface all this by admitting that, as a man who plays a lot of games, I’m not the type of person to anticipate new releases. Games are just too expensive of a hobby, and getting caught up in hype trains all the time is a quick and reliable way to lose your shirt. If I didn’t write this column, I’d never pick up a game the first day it was out. With the exception of Nintendo and a few particularly smart indie game developers, every company drops the price of their games drastically a few months after release.
The city of Madison is home to many successful video game studios. Raven Software has helped develop entries in the “Call of Duty” series, while PerBlue signed a deal with Disney to make mobile games for the media juggernaut. For those who aspire to work in the industry, UW-Madison’s Game Design and Development club gives students the opportunity to make games of their own.
Less than two weeks ago, 680,000 concurrent viewers watched Richard “Ninja” Blevins play “Fortnite: Battle Royale” on Twitch, a new record for the video platform. It was a record Blevins had already broken back in March, when 628,000 watched him play the same game with rap mogul Drake.
“God of War” was one of those series back on PlayStation 2 that delighted in being an oddball and benefited from it. It sits up there with “Silent Hill,” “Ico” and “Shadow of the Colossus” as one of those staples that was willing to be a bit more experimental than its contemporaries, playing with mechanics other developers hadn’t before.
A lot of ink has been spilled on the art of how video games make us feel. How they can make us feel powerful.
If you’d have told me a few months ago that Subset Games, the makers of “FTL: Faster Than Light,” were going to come out with one of the tightest, most interesting strategy games ever made, I’d have laughed in your face.
Jordan Tannenbaum has been a fan of video games since the day his parents got him a Game Boy in kindergarten. During middle school, he and a group of friends played “Super Smash Bros.,” a series of fighting games starring Nintendo’s favorite characters.
As the most baffling game in the most baffling series ever made, “Metal Gear Survive” has reasonable claim to the title of “Weirdest Game Ever.” But break down the forces behind its creation, and it suddenly becomes one of the most sensical, cynical business decisions made in the video game industry.
Anyone with two working hands and eyes can play “Celeste” and enjoy it without feeling guilty about it. That’s remarkable.
“Shadow of the Colossus” is the best kind of miserable — it paints a painful picture of a cold and empty world that just doesn’t care anymore. It’s a beautiful world, but any attempt of building something here fell into decay long ago.
Pick a weapon you feel comfortable with, try to ignore how bland the characters and their struggles are and start doing missions out in the field. You’ll quickly discover what “World” really is: the most enjoyable hunting simulator on the market.
Deck Nine’s recently concluded “Life is Strange: Before the Storm” is one of those rare prequels that manages to surpass the original in every aspect.
Our video game columnists outline this year's best games.
2017 has been an incredible year for video games; Nintendo released the Switch with success, Sony gave us a slew of exclusive Japanese titles like “Persona 5” and Microsoft premiered the most powerful console to date with the Xbox One X. “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (“PUBG”) took the digital distribution platform Steam by storm, and starting next month, it will do the same to Xbox Live. Whether you own a console or gaming PC, there were generation-defining experiences to be had.
“Star Wars: Battlefront II” is one of the most interesting unintentional tragedies ever put forth in the games medium.
“Call of Duty: WWII” is a return to the series’ historic setting and “boots on the ground” gameplay. In some ways it succeeds, but the final product is a jack of all trades rather than a quality experience throughout.
“Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus” is one of those special sequels that is given the mission of expanding a stand-alone piece of art into a multi-installment franchise.
When Mario was first introduced as Jumpman in 1981’s “Donkey Kong,” video games were in a much different landscape.
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