Al's Review of 2020 In Video Games

With a global pandemic dominating much of 2020, most of us have had to stay indoors for a long time. Time enough to sit back and binge on some video games. 

Naturally, as I've found ample amounts of time to watch films and such, I also took the chance to dig through my library and play games new and old. In the drollest parts of the year, new games offered a refreshing and much-needed avenue of escapism. It was especially timely that the epic new chapter of Doom came out the very same week I had to quarantine at home--as you can guess, I spent much of that week enthralled in its eye-popping, fast-paced combat. Not sure if it'll be remembered in another year, but this was also the week Animal Crossing dropped, so there were quite a few amusing memes suggesting a crossover. 

Hype peaked again when The Last Of Us Part II released. I never would have predicted the crud-storm that would follow, with half the fans praising the game and the other half decrying it as an abomination. It's probably the most vicious schism of opinion since Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It's a shame though--the game looks beautiful, it has a heck of a story to tell with pointed themes, but I won't deny that the character arcs are unbecoming. Who knows what kind of fallout will come out of this.

Of all the most-hyped games, Cyberpunk 2077 seemed to disappoint fans the most--at least for console players. The thing looks perfect on a PC, but given the countless issues on the PS4 and Xbox, its launch seemed tainted. Which is a shame, since this was in the works for nine years. I gotta say though, even with long load times and glitches, I love the game all the same.

Few other highlights were pleasant surprises--Ghost of Tsushima being one of the biggest, with its beautiful open world and empowering combat. Snowrunner turned out to be engrossing in its own way. I have no complaints over Dreams, Civlization VI, or Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. Most other games haven't been great necessarily, but I must admit that I enjoyed the heck out of Watch Dogs: Legion, Terminator: Resistance, Maneater, and Stranded Deep.

Within the last quarter of the year, a new generation of consoles launched. With higher resolution and frame rates, and more speed, I've been tempted to make the jump to a PlayStation 5. Given that there are only a few new PS5 games on the market, I decided to wait a while--it's not like you can find any of these in stock anywhere anyway. In another year, when more games are out and the bugs are worked out, maybe I'll reconsider. It's hard to get excited over the next generation at the moment when the PS4 and my PC gives me all the gaming power I need (although faster load times are certainly welcome). I definitely have no shortage of PS4 games to go through, so what's the hurry?

Gamers everywhere have plenty to gripe about (buggy launches, video game prices, everything involving The Last Of Us Part II). Regarding the games themselves though, I've been quite satisfied with the titles I've played this year. There have been some phenomenal experiences I treasure, and may continue to treasure in the coming years. Video games might actually be one good thing to come out of 2020.

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AL'S TOP 2020 GAMES

15: Stranded Deep

Clunky, glitchy, and unwieldy, Stranded Deep lacks the sophistication to deliver its promise on an open-world desert-island survival experience. That being said, I still liked the stupid thing. Time generally flies by when I mind-numbingly (but relaxingly) harvest resources and craft things. I'm sure it's more because of the endorphins in my brain, so the game does a fair job of making me feel rewarded. Could chalk this up as a guilty pleasure, but the requirement to slay sea monsters kills this experience for me.

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14: Demon's Tilt

A straightforward pinball game with a lot of pretty neon colors and explosions of sprites. With only one big board, it's short and simple. I do enjoy it for a quick session--I am ultimately enamored by the game's graphic style and music. Can't say I found the modes easy, but it can feel rather empowering when the ball plows through monsters and everything lights up vividly.

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13: Maneater

This is a game where you play a shark. A little messed-up considering that you have to eat people to progress, but I found the game addicting thanks to its open-world design filled generously with challenges and collectables. Even though the levelling system is empowering, the combat is limited and can lead to a few frustrations.

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12: Terminator: Resistance

Good Terminator games are few and far between, unfortunately. Thankfully, Resistance is one of the better ones, with a good amount of polish and plenty of love put into the design and story. It matches up with the original two movies well and tells its own original story, making this a good experience for fans. It's not particularly long or innovative. The potential is there for an open-world RPG game, but the game falls short. It does make me wish they could make a Terminator game in the scope of Fallout, but for a few bucks, this isn't too shabby.

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11: Watch Dogs: Legion

Despite my enjoyment of the Watch Dogs franchise, I didn't expect much out of the third entry. It offers a unique mechanism that allows you to pick anybody off the street as a playable character, but this is both a blessing and a curse. As endless as the possibilities seem, there are only so-many skills you can harness from the populace (and they didn't have that many voice-actors for them all). Worst of all, the game loses its subjectivity since there's no main character to leverage a story on. The story remains interesting only through the detailed worldbuidling, and holy cow, the map of near-future London is pretty awesome. I love the way it's designed, and there was always something to do. Shame the map doesn't allow you to filter much. I had fun playing this game, but despite a plethora of interesting ideas and premises, it comes off as a little forgettable. Glitches ultimately killed my enjoyment too often to push this further up my list (yes, even moreso than Cyberpunk 2077).

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10: Post Void

I stumbled across this watching gameplay footage on Youtube and figured why not? It's a hyper shooter you can play in short bursts, with the levels lasting for only moments. It's a bizarre mechanism that demands constant attention and sharp skill. Garish color schemes, rough sprites, and creepy creature designs makes this a visual standout. If you have a few minutes to spare, this is a compelling challenge for shooter fans.

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9: Snowrunner

Sometimes it's rewarding to complete something as simple as making a delivery, especially after trudging through the elements. I haven't played any other games of this type, but I found Snowrunner pleasant in its quality and format. The open world begs for exploration, but the challenges it offers are compelling and much more difficult than they appear. One could spend hours getting lost in the snow and mud across the sizable, detailed maps.

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8: Cloudpunk

Oh cool, I get to fly a little car through a Blade Runner style city. That, and the simple focus on making deliveries, is rewarding enough for me. Can't say I like the Minecraft-style method of making everything blocky and cubic, but the game's ambience (to include its synth-heavy score) is nice. I kinda like the main character and how depth is revealed as the game goes on. It's a little early for me to tell how this game plays all the way through, but I like what I see so far.

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7: Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

The latest Assassin's Creed game is on-par with the last few. It's still quite an enjoyable romp to scour a map of ancient historic settings, on foot or by ship, with a pet bird in one hand and an axe in the other. There's no shortage of quests, raids, and side activities. I had worried that the Norse setting would be trite for this series, but it turned out to be beautifully-rendered and quite badass. I haven't played enough of the game to judge its story or much more of its experience, but from what I see so far, it's one of the better entries of the series.

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6: Cyberpunk 2077

This comes so close to being my personal Game Of The Year. However, it is notorious for its launch issues on the consoles, and playing this on the PS4 I have to admit that the crashes and slow rendering are annoying. I haven't had nearly as many problems as others have, but even I can't ignore how crummy it runs sometimes.

That being said, I am completely enamored by the game's experience. Night City captures every cyberpunk trope imaginable--including Keanu Reeves himself. The story and character build mechanism echoes everything I've read out of William Gibson. In fact, the sheer number of references blows my mind pretty often. Despite all the tropes and stereotypes, it never comes off as trite thanks to how deep and detailed the world is, which is always a thrill to explore through the numerous side gigs. I can't deny that the experience suffers from some missed potential--choices you make amount to little (even with dialogue options), vendors in the city don't offer much of anything useful, and some skills seem outright useless (like the throwing knives--why the actual hell can't you pick them back up when using them?). Still, the first act had me at the edge of my seat, with reveals and twists I found jaw-dropping. There was some serious thought and passion put into the script, and it shines in its best moments--that, and the empowering experience of being a street samurai--is enough for me to love this game and forgive its flaws (many of which may become non-issues with patches, or on the PC).

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5: Civilization VI

Seems like more of the same as #5, but a little more pared-down. The experience is generally the same, and I find it immensely addicting to play turn-after-turn to build up an empire and explore the world. I experienced nothing that annoyed or disrupted the experience for me--I think it's a solid strategy game, plain and simple.

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4: Dreams

Yes, I made this nightmare.

Dreams bears all the charm and quality of LittleBigPlanet, but with greater scope and greater ambition. As a creation tool, Dreams extends its capabilities beyond mere platforming and can allow for just about any 3D game you can think of (or an arty presentation if you wish). The creative tools are intuitive once learned, and surprisingly robust.

As far as the central gaming narrative, the campaign offers a heartfelt tale that flip-flops between fantasy and reality. The platforming sections offer fair challenges for gamers of all ages, while scenes in-between change up the gameplay style to satisfy those who desire something different. It comes off as a family-friendly experience that's maturely told, similar perhaps to a Pixar story (why does it remind me of Soul so much anyway?). 

Ultimately, I value this the most for the game-creating tools, and the chance to explore a whole universe populated by other gamers' imaginations.

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3: Ghost Of Tsushima

I once fancied that Assassin's Creed should have a game set in feudal Japan--this original title, however, captures everything I'd want out of such a title, and goes even further than I'd expect. Inspired by the classic samurai pictures of Akira Kurosawa, the game offers a simple, efficient (and maybe too easy) combat system that feels empowering. The Japanese landscapes are beautifully rendered, and playing the part of a chivalrous samurai fighting oppression and saving the common people is an experience I find satisfying. I won't deny that the base story doesn't offer particularly deep characterization or plotting, but I admired the way this simple story is told and how it's cleanly embedded in the gameplay. Whether working to save the land of Tsushima or wandering aimlessly, I found it easy and fun to lose myself into the role of a lone samurai.

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2: Doom Eternal

Bigger. Bolder. Bloodier. The latest Doom title escalates the gameplay of the 2016 reboot in a way that invokes awe and terror--and if you can get a handle on the flow of combat, it will empower you as a formidable slayer and make you feel like a total badass.

In an effort to upset the balance of gameplay and keep gamers on their toes, developers made the unique decision to make you search for ammo constantly (easily obtained by chain-sawing lesser enemies, but easy to miss if you've already crushed them all) and by adding platforming to the levels. The interruption of shooting, especially with the platforming sections, has thrown off many frustrated gamers. Not me though--even though it took some getting used to, I found it rather easy after a few runs. With the epic-scale monsters and level design, this started to feel less like a Doom game and more like God of War--and I was cool with that.

The story's simple and there's not much to the characters, but hell, this is Doom. Depth was never a requisite. The experience of slaying monsters and saving the world is an empowering journey, beautifully-rendered and quickly-paced. There are compelling challenges, but the game remains laid-back thanks to its campy, over-the-top tone. I daresay I enjoy and remember this more fondly than its predecessor, and it comes very close to being my favorite game of the year. 

Only one other game knocked my socks off even harder though, but you might not like it...

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1: The Last Of Us Part II

Let's get this out of the way first: I know this story is upsetting and fans are furious. One particular death scene is perhaps the ugliest scene I've seen in a game. The experience is even more unbecoming since you are forced to play the villain for a while, putting you in the odd position to fight one of the main characters you originally loved and rooted for. Some things in this script probably don't work as well as they should (that ending fight especially elicits more exasperation than catharsis).

However...

I know why the game does what it does. Instead of delivering us a straightforward zombie-killing game with Joel and Ellie again, it challenges the characters and underscores the flaws that make them less heroic than we want to believe. At the same time, it also rounds off characters we'd think as villainous, asking us to sympathize and understand them (except the Rattlers...seriously, eff those guys).

I'm personally floored by all of this--the moral ambiguity and focus on gritty, realistic characters, versus the cliched black-and-white us-vs-them mentality that all games (and society at large) subscribe to. This game has the guts to shift our perspective to understand all sides and illustrate how destructive rage and revenge is. I find the game's treatment of the story structure and timeline fascinating, as it relies on flashbacks and dialogue to drizzle information on us that we must piece together (including some fascinating details embedded in the levels themselves).

The actual meat of the game remains the same as before--the exploration and stealth combat is often rewarding as you crawl through the ruins of Seattle and stalk infected and human enemies (maybe a little odd that you have to kill so much in a story that preaches against killing). I am quite enamored by the level designs and the cold ambience they capture. It's all beautifully rendered, with a superb soundtrack and fantastic sound design.

I know why gamers are upset over this game, but the artistic intention is clear to me and I accept it for what it is. In another universe, this could have been written much worse, as a bland and generic rehash with nothing new to say. Part II of this story does have significant themes to explore and it finds ways to progress its characters. You won't like the game, but you're not supposed to. It's a bold and sobering storytelling experience that I find far more valuable than any other game I've experienced this year.

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AL'S NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• Won the platinum trophies for The Last Of Us Part II, Subnautica, Death Stranding, Watch Dogs: Legion, Saints Row: The Third, Terminator: Resistance, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, Maneater, Goat Simulator, and Everything. 
• Completed the DLCs for Control, achieved 100% of the trophies.
• Completed the main campaigns for Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Entwined, and Rage.
• Achieved 100% of all trophies for Bad North, Doom 64, and Aero Fighters 2.
• After spending so much time on the PS console, I successfully made time for more PC games. Most especially Civilization VI, Disco Elysium, and older games like Phantasmagoria. 
• Even made time for a couple of the old pre-90s adventure games you have to input with a keyboard (namely Leisure Suit Larry and Space Quest). I never got into these because I've been spoiled by VGA graphics and sound cards, and anything older always came off as garish and clunky to me. Toying around with these games though, I actually found them charming and felt rewarded for making progress. I really need to load these up again and finish them.
• I started on quite a few older titles, mostly because of remasters (Jedi Outcast, Prototype 1 and 2, Doom 1 and 2, Battlezone Commander, Black Mesa). 

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GAMES AL IS LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2021

• Far Cry 6. It'll probably be more of the same, but hot dang, the thrill of stalking enemies and overthrowing a savage totalitarian power in an exotic location will never grow old. The premise of the next one sounds just fine to me, and I expect it to be as enjoyable as the last one.
• Horizon Forbidden West. The first game was so good, I can't wait to re-enter this imaginative, beautiful world of robot animals and primitive tribes. If any game entices me to dive into the next generation of consoles, it'll be this one.
• Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. So, it's an old game presented that's been polished and re-sold to us, again. I'll take it though. Mass Effect is one game I believe deserves the "Legendary" moniker. I'll be looking forward to revisiting this superb sci-fi story, with its all its fantastic worlds and characters. I hope it'll be as breathtaking as the developers make it out to be.
• Scorn. I'm not even sure I want this one. Existing gameplay footage emphasizes grotesqueness and an oppressive atmosphere, and it might induce too much anxiety for me. With the HR Giger inspired designs, I am curious to see the final gameplay footage. This might be one rare case where I'd rather see a stream of it rather than to take direct control.

Al's Review of 2019 In Video Games

Last updated January 22 2020.

The new decade begins at an exciting precipice. The modern generation is as slick as ever, as gamers enjoy a variety of old and new games on 4K displays, powered by high-end hardware, often with the option for virtual reality and motion controls.

Honestly, I haven't even taken advantage of the full range of technological marvels. My PS4 is the older model that outputs in 1080p, and I've never invested in a VR headset. I'm still not even sure if VR is a good idea or not. Chances are I'm missing out on a whole world of gaming opportunities by skimping out on Nintento products and the X-Box.

Regardless, the games still look pretty smooth and clean on the equipment I have, and in 2019 I enjoyed a consistent amount of gaming time. I wish I could say I played a lot of great new games, but it's only amounted to a handful. What is surprising is that many old games have received ports on the PS4, and they've been a hoot. This includes 2009's Ghostbusters (which rightfully could stand in as a viable third chapter for the motion pictures), 2002's Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, and collections of old arcade classics like Contra and Castlevania.

What is disappointing about 2019 is that many of the titles I looked forward to the most (like Doom: Eternal and Cyberpunk 2077) were ultimately pushed back into next year. I'm not entirely mad about it though--if the additional development time churns them into better products, then so be it. What will make the next few years more thrilling will be the possibilities of new generation consoles hitting the market. Rumors indicate that the PS5 may be a beast of a machine, able to render games in unprecedented speed and quality. Chances are that other consoles will follow suit and may even surpass the PlayStation, although I look forward to the 5 specifically for its supposed backwards compatibility. It is my hopes that the games I have on the PSN will still be playable on future systems.

It's hard to believe that it's now been six years since the PS4 came out, and twelve years since I bought the PS3. I still have a gaming backlog on both systems. Regardless, I did make some time for the latest releases that interested me, and it's been a pretty interesting year. After a long, dry stretch with nothing really interesting, I took a chance on some titles that caught my eye: The Outer Worlds, Control, and Death Stranding. The latter two struck a chord with me in particular, since my writing ventures have drifted into the realms of surrealism, cosmic horror, and the paranormal--these games fed my imagination in quite incredible ways. Death Stranding, despite all its indulgences and mundane gameplay, managed to captivate me the most with its unique worldbuilding and addicting reward system. Control, however, is a game that strung me along with its captivating mysteries and enigmas--even as its story is unveiled and the combat becomes more powerful, the game still bears an aura of something dark and otherworldly. These were the games I didn't even know I wanted, but they turned out to be just what I needed.

With the hype of Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker, EA surprised everybody with its own franchise entry, Jedi: Fallen Order. It had been a long time since a Star Wars game captivated me, but this one did the trick. Loved the gameplay and I liked the story. Earlier in the year, games like Far Cry: New Dawn and Borderlands 3 satisfied my gaming itch, and they've been satisfying.

Aside from some titles being delayed, I haven't experienced any disappointments this year.

AL'S TOP 2019 GAMES

7: Observation 

Through the many eyes of a space station's computer, you play an artificial intelligence that watches its fellow astronauts, guiding them from danger and solving problems that inevitably lead them across an interstellar odyssey. It's a bit of a slow-burner, given that the cameras move and zoom rather slowly as you scour the cramped modules for data and things to control. It is a neat story though, full of surprise, atmosphere, and emotion.

6: Far Cry: New Dawn 

It's a pretty meaty expansion on yesteryear's Far Cry 5, offering a lengthy post-apocalyptic epilogue to the last game's story. It's practically enough content to be its own game, but the gameplay and controls remain the same. The story is fine and all, carrying over the same themes as previous games. It's the world that makes it awesome, and it is a fabulous sight full of detail and color. The map is pretty stuffed with things to do, but even if you explore the whole thing, there are expeditions that take you to other unique areas with their own set of challenges. Sneaking and combat remain satisfying as ever. Even in the blazes of a nuclear inferno, the fundamentals of Far Cry remain the same, making this a solid entry in the franchise.

5: Borderlands 3 

For a time, this was my most anticipated release. It did not disappoint. It's very much more of the same, but with more. As in, a bajillion more weapons, interesting new characters with new powers, a bunch of new worlds brimming with quests and challenges. The story broadens the Borderlands universe in an immersive and fun way. Even at their most psychotic, the characters remain an endearing bunch thanks to their comedy and chemistry. It all looks great and runs well. Above all, the gameplay is deep enough to warrant endless hours of playing and slaying.

4: The Outer Worlds 

It's basically a mash-up of Fallout and the Firefly TV show. I think that's a good thing--the gameplay alone keeps me enthralled with simple things like looting, leveling, exploring, and questing. Combat is fair, but it's the RPG aspects and story that kept me invested. Like it was with Mass Effect, it became very gratifying to find a ship, assemble a crew, and take off on exciting missions. In this case though, the retro aesthetic offers a unique flavor that I find classy and cool.

3: Jedi: Fallen Order

This plays like a modern Tomb Raider game, but with the checkpoint system of Dark Souls and the combat of Shadow of Mordor. Combined, these aspects make Jedi: Fallen Order a rather compelling challenge--fighting stormtroopers and Sith inquisitors takes patience, but becomes rewarding as the character levels up and gains more power. I was addicted to exploring the maps to find all their secrets. Above all though, this is an interesting story that fits well into the Star Wars canon, but without falling back on excessive nostalgia. There are a lot of cool new things to experience in this game, even if it feels familiar.

2: Control 

This game hooked me with all the same narrative tricks a good book or film would use--compelling mysteries and story questions, surreal details that demand explanation, character motivations that are gradually revealed, and bizarre world-building. The first few chapters of this game gave me a strong David Lynch vibe, before answers came and this became something like inFamous meets the X-Files. Once you unlock weapons and powers, the game blazes through some gripping paranormal combat, while its story continues to dive into dark, unreal dimensions. I found this whole experience refreshingly unique and satisfying--easily one of the most original games I've seen in a long time, which could only be surpassed by...

1: Death Stranding

Death Stranding is an experience that demonstrates how gaming can be a work of art. If for no other reason than it's bound to be polarizing. Even Kojima confessed that many gamers will be put off by the core gameplay, which amounts to nothing more than walking across a rugged map to deliver tons of cargo to people in bunkers. Not only is it tedious, but the game also demands an aggravating amount of nuance as you're forced to balance yourself, evaluate weight and sizes, and optimize routes. All of that while defending against cargo-addicted bandits, sneaking past ghosts, and protecting an infant attached to your chest.

The game initially sold me on its stranger aspects--the world-building involved with this game is elaborate, to the point where it feels excessive at times. What I admire, however, is that the game uses its premise to deliver a unique and challenging kind of gameplay. As any good game should, it takes its time to slowly immerse the player in its story and train the player on how to handle its various challenges. You don't even get a gun in this until much later in the story--killing is not even the focus (and the game seems to make it a point to steer players away from outright violence, going so far as forcing the player to handle the consequences of a dead body). What the game teaches you instead is stealth and how to care for your packages.

The focus on logistics is where the game may lose its interest--as a person employed in the logistics field, I can't help but to get a little excited when the game draws its thematic parallels between a logistics network and "building bridges." Connection is the point of the game, and your success not only depends on rebuilding America coast-to-coast, but in tapping into the Chiral network to share other players' structures and resources. I found it gratifying to build things that other players used, and it was very rewarding to have other players' things appear when I needed them to.

The story for this sprawling monster of a game is very twisted and involving, to the point where it's often indulgent, and it doesn't even make that much sense in the end. Some of the reveals are simply too hard to stomach. Most of the dialogue is exposition. It's hardly the best-written game, but I'm rather forgiving of it because I liked the characters and was drawn to their personalities. I was pleased with the actors and the overall quality of the game. All of that, and the simple pleasure of being rewarded for making delivery after delivery, kept me engaged for hours. It all added up to one of the longest, deepest, most unique gaming experiences I've had all year.

AL'S NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

•  In the months leading up to the release of Borderlands 3, I replayed Borderlands 1 and part of 2, this time on the PS4. I dug through most of the DLCs that I never played before.
• Won platinum trophies for Control, the remastered Ghosbusters, Destroy All Humans! (the port, not the remake), Blackwood Crossing, Far Cry 3, and the first Borderlands game.
• Played a good chunk of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. It is probably my favorite of the series, but since I put it down I forgot about it and became distracted by other games.
• At the beginning of the year, I was still fooling around with Hitman 2.
• Started a new playthrough of Shadow of Mordor, this time with the GOTY edition.
• Started a new playthrough of Catherine, this time with the "Full Body" edition on the PS4.
• Dabbled with some horror titles in October. I'm not even sure if I can handle some of these--games like Amnesia, Outlast, and Alien: Isolation can give me some serious anxiety. However, I was enjoying Until Dawn.
• Started a lot of games that I need to finish, including some of the ones listed above. Other games started: Dark Souls, Darksiders, Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, Everspace, and Diablo III.

GAMES AL IS LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2020

Cyberpunk 2077: The game trailer has me sold. Cyberpunk is a genre I admire, extending to the Deux Ex games, although I'm certain that Cyberpunk 2077 will put more emphasis on combat and "punk" than atmosphere. It looks cool, slick, and exciting. And it has Keanu Reeves. Whoa.

Doom Eternal: My enjoyment of the 2016 game and the preview footage floating around Youtube has me excited for the next installment. What I've seen so far looks quite extreme, over-the-top, colorful, gory, and it ought to be just rip-roaring fun.

The Last of Us Part II: The first part remains on of the most emotional stories I've seen in a video game. The second chapter is bound to be just as punchy. Existing previews look intense, promising interesting new directions and characters, but with brutal new challenges.

Video Game: First Impressions for Horizon Zero Dawn

I judged this game by its cover art, and took a chance on pre-ordering it. Now, like any good game it rules my life. In a good way.

Took a selfie with Thunderjaws...lol

Horizon: Zero Dawn is an open-world third-person sci-fi adventure game. I think the best way to describe it would be as a combination of:

• The gameplay of 2013's Tomb Raider, including:
• Hunting/gathering for crafting supplies.
• Raiding areas for hidden secrets.
• Frequent use of bows, arrows, and melee weapons.
• Small amounts of climbing and acrobatics. 
• Emphasis on hardening one's resolve through survival, experience, training.
• Strong female heroine.
• A sublime GUI that highlights what you need to know without getting in the way too much.
• A story like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, swapping out giant bugs for robot animals.
• Dialogue trees that resemble Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
• The landscapes of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah.

I've seen other folks compare it to Far Cry: Primal, but I haven't played that one yet, I'm not sure how it compares.

So far, I've put in probably 20 or so hours into the game, completing about 25%. It hooked me right from the start. The game kicks off with an involving prologue sequence that slowly introduces you to the gameplay (you learn to hunt a robot, gather herbs, and explore an ancient ruin). Once you get past that, the world opens up a little more, and you're free to complete a few sidequests and hunt. But once you get past the first act (past the Proving), the game just explodes open and you're free to a massive world of warring nations, huge mechanical beasts, and so many side quests and activities. It is a big game that will suck up time and effort. Fortunately, it is rewarding and addicting. Earning experience, finding collectables, completing missions, finding secrets--it all feels rewarding and keeps you running all over the map.

Combat can get pretty tough--machine enemies are powerful and will wham themselves into you. Some spit fire and ice, others have lasers or rockets. A combination of stealth, strategy, and improvisation is a must. You can set up traps, sneak up and take out individual units, and override some. It is possible to become over-powered in time, but it is a tough challenge at first. Human enemies can be a challenge as well.

Graphics are top-notch. Even though I don't have the ability to play it in 4K, it still looks smooth, sharp, clear, and very colorful on a normal HD display. It runs smooth, I haven't had any frame rate drops or crashes. Sound and music are nice. Environments are rendered beautifully with gorgeous weather effects. The game has a nice photo mode to take some great screenshots.

At first, the story impressed me greatly too. The first act is incredibly successful at eliciting sympathy for Aloy, the main character. The prologue shows her birth and childhood, and you can't help but to feel for the girl as she's shunned and outcast for reasons unknown. It's actually kinda frustrating watching this kind of suffering, experiencing it through the character, so it makes you want to succeed and it keeps you playing. To me, this came off as perfect storytelling--firmly rooted in character, using the gameplay and cutscenes to show the conflict as it rolls out, rather than having it spouted off as exposition.

I was also impressed by the story's handling of the world-building. In the first act, the Nora tribe is pretty much all that's shown and all you care about. Once you get to the Proving, you see glimpses that show there's an even bigger world beyond the tribe. And just when you complete the Proving and feel accomplished about it (because you're living the main character's ultimate dream), it all falls apart and plunges you into the even larger conflict far beyond the mother land. It's mind-blowing to go through all that, only to find the scope of everything is much bigger.

On top of that, the world itself is designed with immaculate detail. All the collectables, environments, and ruins give enough hints to show how things were before the events of the game. The dialogue and design for costumes and places illustrate how future generations regarded the past and developed their own unique culture. It's the stuff of intelligent sci-fi, as well as being a grand epic.

This was all fantastic--at first. Once I reached Meridian, the personal stakes and motivations backing Aloy evaporated. I'm not sure if it's just because I got sidetracked from the main quest to do all the other things, or if the story really will head in some off-beat tangent. As it is, the same feelings I had at the start aren't quite there anymore, as I'm running around killing Thunderjaws and helping random strangers. But I am hopeful that it'll all connect and continue to paint Aloy as a deep and rich character.

Few other complaints to be aware of:

• Climbing sucks. You could spend hours trapped in a valley trying to find a good spot to climb. And when you do, it's not always intuitive.
• Crafting pouch upgrades--you have to check each one individually, the game doesn't tell you automatically or on the crafting screen what you can craft and what you need.
• Tutorial quests have to be activated to make progress. If you accomplish a task for them, they won't count unless they are active. Every other quest doesn't work this way. So you may have to stop in the middle of combat to go into the quest screen to make sure it's active.
• Finding the stuff for pouch upgrades is tough. Fox bones, raccoon skins, fish guts--you will have to take the time to hunt wildlife for these rare drops, and it can be frustrating.
• Got stuck under the floor once. Couldn't move out of it. Had to reload.
• Game saves happen automatically only at certain points (some happen as you progress through missions, everything else only when you use campfires). There is a chance you could die and lose some progress between save points.
• Lip synching is awful.
• It has the chance of becoming tedious.

The positives outweigh the negatives. But I fell in love with the game instantly for its gameplay (which is right up my alley) and the storytelling (which is great, at least to start with). It gets an easy recommendation from me. I know I'll be playing the heck out of this all year, at least until that new Mass Effect game comes along...

Al's Inspiration Shelf For Video Games

I've recently taken it upon myself to parse out some of my favorite things from my collections and put them on their own dedicated shelf. These will be my "inspiration shelves," containing media and things that will directly inspire and influence my own imagination and creativity. There's a shelf for books, film, and music. I don't actually have one for video games, but there should be one. So I plan on listing the games here that would be on an inspiration shelf if one theoretically existed.

My History With Video Games

I've had the good fortune to witness the rise of video games as a medium from the 80s onwards. My parents had an Atari 2600--I believe it was bought from a garage sale or from somebody else, and it came with a whole box of game cartridges. From that, we would experience a ton of retro classics--Dig Dug, Pac Man, Missile Command, Yar's Revenge, Berzerk, Pitfall 1 and 2, Dodge 'Em, Centipede, Asteroids, and oddles more. I even remember a cartridge for Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was interpreted in glorious 8-bit in a very weird and involving way. I probably remember the colors and sounds of these games more than the actual content. I also remember my dad could progress a lot further in these games than I could (especially Dig Dug).

Atari was what we had--we did not upgrade to Nintendo right off the bat. We did get a Nintendo console later on, probably used but I don't remember. I probably already knew about Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt playing it on other kids' consoles. When we got our own console, it was Super Mario Bros 3 that wowed me the most--I loved the smooth gameplay, the map-style level selection, and graphic quality. I would replay that game ceaselessly, until I got to the point where I could beat the whole thing in 3 hours every Saturday morning. I also remember playing Gauntlet with my best friend, and he seemed to love it. I remember a RoboCop game (which was awesome), a Back to the Future game (which I liked, but could never get far in it), and a game for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (which I remember loving, but couldn't get past certain parts).

When the Super Nintendo came out, I was enamored by the 16-bit graphic upgrade. I always loved Super Mario World, and it remains my favorite Mario game that I've played. It's smooth. It's well-designed. It's varied. It's full of secrets. And for once, it supports saved games. I played this game every chance I could get, but those chances were few and far between, because we never got a SNES console of our own. I would experience SNES games through other friends' consoles and at the rec center. I know I've seen and played other SNES games here and there, but I don't remember them.

Around 1993 or 1994, I laid eyes on a game that thrilled and excited me even more. It was Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, on a friend's PC. I was already begging my parents for a PC of our own for other, simpler games. Eventually, we got one, and I got to play Indy for my own. It was a marvelous adventure in its own right, and I always wished it could have been made as an official film of the series. The game had pretty nice graphics for its time--blocky perhaps, but everything looked as detailed and realistic as a game could get back then. The actual story was sprawling and had some very thought-provoking puzzles. I played it through several different ways (there are two possible endings and three possible paths to get there), and it remains one of my all-time favorites.

Other point-and-click games would dominate most of my childhood. First time I loaded Space Quest IV, I couldn't stop laughing--it was hilarious from the opening logos onwards. Finishing it would be tough, but I did it eventually. A friend would play Space Quest V and VI, but I wouldn't pick them up for myself until later. King's Quest VI was one of the first I played, and that was quite an adventure too--I remember mapping out the labyrinth to find all the pitfalls and rooms and stuff, it was a brutal trial-and-error endeavor to beat that game (and that also had a couple of possible endings, if I remember right). My grandfather bought me King's Quest VII and Star Trek: A Final Unity as gifts--both were phenomenal experiences I cherished (shame I never did beat the Star Trek one--didn't understand how to reach the end until I looked it up recently). My best friend would play Sam and Max Hit the Road, and I'd play it myself later (it's a hoot). I had a copy of Day of the Tentacle, and I managed to beat it (and I replayed it in 2016 via the remastered PS4 edition--ah, the memories). Full Throttle was also a big hit for us.

Sometime in the early 90s, I would have seen Doom for the first time. My dad and I watched a friend from his work play it. Watching it in motion, I could see right away what made it unnerving--it didn't matter that it was violent, what bothered me was knowing that you, the gamer, could be jumped by a demon around any corner or corridor. For some reason, just knowing that something was lurking around freaked me out. With the game's gnarly textures of rusty metal, red stone, cybernetics--it just came off as a unique thing. Somehow, it gave me nightmares for three nights. I don't even remember what they were about, I just remember having them. I wouldn't touch a Doom game until my 30s (which is strange, because I played Quake games in my 20s, and Wolfenstein games even earlier). I suppose I would go on to have a strange love-hate relationship with scary games.

That trend would persist in 1996 or 1997 or so--my parents got me The 7th Guest as a Christmas gift. I was a little freaked out, because it was rated for an age group higher than I was at the time. It's funny, I was more sensitive to parental guidance ratings than my parents were sometimes. But I waited until I was old enough, before me and my friend worked through it. That game freaked me out--even though you couldn't die in it, just the atmosphere, macabre graphics, sound and music was enough to make it a freakshow.

Around then, I would have also played Rebel Assault II, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Dune, Conquest for Glory, Warcraft II, Command and Conquer II, Mechwarrior 2, and occasional demos. With Mechwarrior 2, I discovered that I could take the CD-ROM and play it in a music CD player--skip the first track, and the rest was music. That game had a pretty cool music score, and I listened to it incessantly. Few other games had the same capacity (including some Star Wars ones).  With my parents, I would have played an old game on a floppy disc called Cyber Empires--a cool turn-based strategy game where we conquered lands with giant robots. I also remember Castles II (which was neat), some kind of Lotus car racing game, and various smaller games (including cool variants on Breakout, Asteroids, and other classics).

Consoles seemed to come and go--the N64 was big in the late 90s, but I'd only experience it at the rec center with friends (back then, it was pretty much all GoldenEye, which was a cool game at the time). I wouldn't catch up on any N64 games until much later (emulated on the PC). For me, the PC was all I needed. By high school, I was digging Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight the most--the graphics, gameplay, and level designs don't hold up, but I was smitten by the story, characters, and the ability to make moral choices. The latter point is something I'd come to value a lot in future games (such as inFamous). Above all, I was able to download editing tools for Jedi Knight, and I worked with them tirelessly until I found out how to make my own rooms with working doors and elevators, populated with bad guys and working scripts. I used this to try and map out my stories--I made a campaign for my novel Rider of the White Horse turning various battles into game levels. It was cheap, but it worked. I designed battlefields, cities, ruins, all with puzzles to solve and enemies to fight. I didn't keep these files or any screenshots I took--my work was pretty lame anyway. But I hoped this would help visualize my stories.

Around that time, I also beheld Rainbow Six for the first time (somebody snuck it to school and I saw them playing it). I was intrigued by it--a shooter that required strategic thinking. For computer class, we had to go to the middle school and work on their computers for various issues. I think I was the only one doing anything--the other two guys played Sim Tower for whatever reason. I did find a copy of the first Command and Conquer in a cabinet--when nobody was looking, I played that on a school computer.

WarCraft III came out in 2003. And I still play it to this day, because I got my dad addicted to it and we play co-op matches most weekends. I also got him into C&C 3. WarCraft III had a decent story and I liked its gameplay, but I would also play around with its level editor (in fact, I plan to keep working with it on current story ideas--why not?). Around 2006 and 2007, I would get involved with World of Warcraft. I never got involved with the multiplayer scene before, but playing a MMORPG for the first time is a pretty scary and thrilling experience. For two straight years, I played a Night Elf hunter named Rukenada (the name was discovered while playing Scrabble one day). I got him over level 70. I played as part of a guild, and I found it gratifying to help guild members with quests. I even remember staying up late some weekends to participate in guild raids and dungeon runs. It was a blast. I started up a couple of other characters (a mage named Danja and an undead warrior named Sturgis--the latter was on the PVP server, so it was brutal), but Rukenada was my primary character.

After two years, I stopped for some reason and I couldn't get back into WOW. I tried, but I couldn't get back into the pattern of it and it somehow lost its appeal. I realized that it was an immense drain on time and money, and it was probably for the best that I left. After so many add-ons (and it looks like it's still going on and on), it just never ends. It's fun. It's addicting. It's a social virtual interaction. It's also something that requires attention, directing my attention away from school, writing, or working. A game without end is a good way to waste a life.

On top of that, I would have played Jedi Outcast, Command and Conquer 3, No One Lives Forever 2, XIII, Max Payne, and more.

In 2008, I finally got a game console of my own. I totally passed over PlayStation 1 and 2, and X-Box. This time, I picked up a PlayStation 3 (the "phat" model bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4, which I was told was a great series and the game had some hype back then). What excited me more was knowing it could be used as a Blu-Ray player--I resisted the move to collecting HD formats in 2006, but when Blu-Ray won the format war, I relented and discovered that movies do look sharper and clearer. When it came to games though, the PS3 delivered countless experiences I would treasure. That also meant I stopped gaming on the PC. I have no regrets though--the PC may give gamers more options, variety, and freedom, but consoles are convenient. Don't have to worry about hardware requirements and space, just pop in a disc and play.

From then to now, I would have played over 230 PlayStation games. Everything from Bejeweled 3 to Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The first batch of games I played felt smooth and slick at the time, but I found that they didn't always age well--later games in the generation pushed the envelope further and hold up. Throughout the whole generation, I'd discover a good wealth of games with moving and involving stories. Some of which is of a caliber I've never seen before.

To this day, if I'm not watching a film, or writing, or traveling, I'm gaming. Games are currently the most immersive form of escapism there is, thanks to the way they get players involved in the characters and story. They have the capacity to plunge gamers into the heart and soul of a story and move them on a level just as profound as literature or film. That is, assuming they aren't plunged into the fray of a Modern Warfare map, or a basic Tetris puzzle. But even simple games, combat games, strategy games--just about any game can offer an experience that can't be had otherwise, and whether it's for passing time or actually having a moving experience, it all adds up to shape the way the mind and imagination works.

After all this, I've come to the conclusion that I am progressive with games. I don't hold retro games and classics up on a pedestal, to be raised beyond reproach. I believe games have come a long way for the better--every generation brought advancements, not only in graphics and sound, but in gameplay mechanics. Game saves, checkpoints, respawns, the way loading screens work, the way GUIs work, controls--they've all been refined over the years for each genre, to empower gamers better and make the experiences more balanced. I don't ask for a game to be easy, but I have been frustrated when games are punishing, glitchy, clunky, or poorly-designed. When a game offers a challenge that can be overcome, with handling that's intuitive, and quality showmanship, then a game becomes a great platform for some great storytelling.

Games That Would Be On The Shelf:

As I said, I don't have an actual shelf for these, this is largely theoretical. For a game to be "inspirational," I focus on the ones that had stories that truly blew me away somehow. They can be old or new, but I think most games that impressed me deeply have cropped up in the last couple of generations. Some, I may post because the experience is great enough to lend multiple playthroughs. Some games have environments so immersive they make you feel like you are there. And there are some where the experience is profound or beautiful enough to become genuinely inspiring experiences.

Of course, if a game wasn't fun, I wouldn't post it here. ;)

• Assassin's Creed II (PS3)
• The Bioshock Trilogy (PS3 / PS4 Remastered)
• Catherine (PS3)
• Day of the Tentacle (PC / PS4 Remastered) 
• Dead Island (PS3 / PS4 Remastered)
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3 / PC)
• The Dig (PC)
• Dragon Age: Origin (PS3)
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PS3)
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3 / PC / PS4 Remastered)
• Fallout 3 (PS3 / PC)
• Fallout 4 (PS4)
• Far Cry 4 (PS4)
• Flower (PS3 / PS4)
• Full Throttle (PC)
• God of War (PS3 Remastered)
• Heavy Rain (PS3)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)
• inFamous 1 and 2 (PS3)
• King's Quest VI: Heir Today Gone Tomorrow (PC)
• King's Quest VII:  The Princeless Bride (PC)
• The Last Of Us (PS3 / PS4 Remastered)  
• The Mass Effect Trilogy (PS3 Remastered)
• Max Payne (PC)
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3)
• Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (PC)
• Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight (PC)
• The Talos Principle (PS4)
• Tomb Raider (2013) (PS3 / PS4 Remastered)
• Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4)
• X-Com: Enemy Unknown (1993) (PC)
• X-Com: Enemy Unknown (2012) (PS3 / PC)

Video Game Review: Thomas Was Alone

At first glance, I didn't think much of this game, where you have to maneuver a bunch of sentient rectangles across a landscape of blocks.  That's right...you control rectangles.  They jump.  That's pretty much all there is to this game:  jumping from area to area, dodging obstacles and dangers in order to get to the exit.  It's a platformer so simple, the only thing simpler would be Pong.

And yet, the game makers did their best to make something special out of this bunch of rectangles.  They all have personalities, more or less, which are mostly conveyed by their shape, color, name, and the cute ethos expressed by the narration (which, in turn, provides a feel-good sentimentality similar to the narration in LittleBigPlanet).  Above all, each shape has a different range of characteristics.  Some jump really high.  Some don't.  One can float on water.  One can make other shapes jump higher.  One defies gravity.  And when you have to move them all to their respective exits, the levels get substantially challenging, because you have to use all the shapes' strengths and weaknesses in inventive ways to complete each level.  As a result, each level is a unique puzzle or challenge that will stimulate some brain cells.

There is a story behind these little rectangles.  They're actually artificial intelligences growing sentient in some company's lab, and the game chronicles their evolution and eventual liberation.  That being said, the story is very understated, and some more explanations, especially in the last levels, would have been welcome.  As it is though, it's a clever enough set-up for an otherwise bizarre game.

The game plays smoothly.  Controls are as easy as they come.  Graphics are minimalistic, but the backgrounds, lighting effects, and particle effects are great.  Each level is designed pretty smartly.  Voices and sounds are good.  Music is quite lovely too.

This is probably the most fun you can have moving rectangles across a screen.  The game is worth playing once.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Good | Story:  Pretty Good | Game:  Very Good)

Video Game Review: Prince of Persia (2008)

After the ups and downs of the Sands of Time trilogy, game-makers kicked off a reboot of the Prince of Persia series.  This game from 2008 is a colorful, cartoony affair with a less serious protagonist going on a grand adventure that involves a lot of acrobatics, puzzles, and combat.

Once the story is kicked off, you're set on a quest to cleanse the land by exploring four different corners of the map.  Together with Princess Elika, you spend your time traversing across the labyrinthine sprawl of ruins with your mad parkour skills.  Most of the time, you'll have to make calculated jumps and launches while running vertically along walls or clinging to ceilings or any number of other complex moves.  As far as combat goes, it's strictly one-on-one with occasional monsters.  The most intense of fights occur with four different bosses, who guard each area, but won't really die until you kill them in their respective lairs.  And once you liberate an area and cleanse it, you have to collect light seeds, which will unlock the ability to use special pressure plates that can propel you to new areas.  You just keep working at this until you can open up the temple and face the final boss.  It's an extremely structured game with a bigger focus on platforming, puzzles, and collecting things, but it's pretty relaxing that way.  You never really die in this game; even if a villain closes in on you, or you misjudge a jump and plunge down a lethal drop, Elika will save you every time with her magic.  That leaves you free to work through the game at your own pace and skill; some of the acrobatics can be frustrating, and the combat is not really all that smooth or fun, but it is a more laid-back experience and a great way to pass the time.

The story is pretty limited in scope and scale, but it is an interesting enough tale with a cast of endearing characters.  The actual Prince of Persia is a young, arrogant, wisecracking dude, and he shares great chemistry with Princess Elika, who proves to be just as sharp and able as the Prince himself.  There is a history to the princess and the ancient kingdom you're made to explore, which adds up to a pretty interesting and exotic mythology.  The characters often break out into discussions on free will vs destiny, and it all comes to full circle by the bittersweet ending.

This game is rendered with a cartoony, cell-animated look.  It is rendered with decently-sharp and smooth-looking textures, lighting, and frame-rates.  Particle effects are often pretty decent.  The writing is not bad, and the voices, sounds, and music are decent.  Designs for the settings, objects, characters, costumes, and overall worldbuilding is decent too.

2008's Prince of Persia is a fun game, plain and simple.  It's a simple structure that offers hours of challenges, and is thankfully not punishing.  It's not necessarily groundbreaking or profound, but it's satisfying nonetheless.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Good | Story:  Pretty Good | Game:  Good)

Video Game Review: Tomb Raider: Legend

Upon celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Tomb Raider franchise underwent a pretty heavy-duty make-over in Tomb Raider:  Legend.  With a new developer, the series would start with a fresh new direction, ensuring that Lara Croft's adventures would continue for a while longer.

Legend definitely has its share of coolness.  As before, you play Lara on a quest to raid tombs and fight bad guys.  This time, the relic in question is Excalibur, and the Arthur legend is interpreted in a pretty loose way that spreads the tale across multiple countries.  As always, you are required to climb seemingly-impossible obstacles with precise, complex acrobatic moves.  You occasionally fight armed goons and supernatural bosses (although, I don't recall many animals in this game).  In addition to the main story, you can also explore the Croft manor for bonus collectables, and you can unlock a plethora of bonus material.  Overall, the experience is an adventurous rush, much akin to a regular Indiana Jones or Dirk Pitt story.

All that being said, the game had its frustrating parts.  I found myself breezing through parts of it satisfactorily, but then I'd be held up with some obstacle or crazy boss fight that just kept me stuck for hours.  Part of the problem is that the game has a few iffy glitches (at least on the PS3's HD collection, I'm not sure how this game actually fared when it was first released for the PC and older consoles).  Lara would often die an inexplicable, stupid death (especially in the last boss fight, where swinging Excalibur suddenly backfired and caused her to fly off the map).  I had plenty of moments where a jump was miscalculated, either by me or the machine.  It was never a smooth or fully-enjoyable experience, unfortunately; the game has a pretty even mix of good and bad moments.

The story that's told here is at least most of the way relevant, given that it explores more of Lara Croft's backstory and uses it as a focus for the main conflict.  It is still episodic in a contrived way, stringing together exotic locations for the sake of giving you a series of unique levels with unique challenges.  The game ultimately hits up some decent character-building points, but the plotting feels like more of the same.

This game boasts some adequate graphics, especially for its time.  It is most notable for its animation and movements; Lara's climbing and acrobatics are quite flexible and dynamic, and offer its own array of challenges.  The gameplay and control scheme overall is pretty sublime and easy to master.  Levels are well-designed, and features okay-looking settings, items, costumes, and creatures.  Sounds and voices aren't too bad, and the music is lovely.

Playing Tomb Raider:  Legend is pretty fun, but with a few frustrating moments.  If you're a casual fan of adventure gaming, it'll be worthwhile as long as you're patient and able to stick with it.  Fans should love it though.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Pretty Good | Story:  Pretty Good | Game:  Good)

Video Game Review: inFamous: Second Son

After two great games (and one interesting add-on), the inFamous series closed off the saga of Cole MacGrath in a truly grand and epic manner.  For the PS3 era, it was not only an addictively fun saga, but also a thoughtful story and a well-developed universe that reflect heavily on human nature and morality.

The PS4 era commenced with this new tangent of the inFamous universe, introducing a new character in a new city with a new range of superpowers.  This time, you play a kid named Deslin Rowe, who's a bit of an arrogant punk, but with his heart in the right place.  Experiencing an accident by chance that endangers his loved ones, Deslin gains powers and has to use them against an armed force that's occupied Seattle to fight "bio-terrorism." Through this setup, the game inhabits the same style and manner of gameplay as its predecessors; you're given free-reign over the city, unlocking more districts and more of the story as you fight the powers of oppression.  As before, you have the power to fly, to perform strong melee attacks, to zap things and thunder-drop on bad guys, and so on.  But while Cole used purely electric powers, Deslin starts off with smoke powers, giving him the ability to throw cinders, to dissolve and fly through vents, and to incapacitate enemies with vapor.  But that's not all; as the story goes on, Deslin can absorb other mediums of power; you're eventually made to use neon powers (allowing you to shoot lasers, send our powerful energy blasts, and turn to light and run really fast), video powers (allowing you to turn invisible, swing and shoot holographic swords, and fly with glowing wings), and concrete powers (allowing you to shoot rubble).  With four different sources of power, the possibilities are expanded, and taking out bad guys is not as repetitive or straightforward as before; you're given more flexibility and power than ever before.  And it is necessary, because the game throws a lot more challenges at you; enemies are tough, numerous, and more well-armed than before.  The game excels at giving you power and allowing you to run free with it.

As before, you're given the choice to be good or evil; you can save or heal citizens, or you can hurt them.  Certain story decisions can also contribute to your karma, and your path will inevitably alter the direction of the story and characters.  The themes of good and evil are played with in interesting ways towards the story's end.  It's not quite as sublime or mind-blowing of a story as the first game, and some gamers may find it flat and disappointing.  Side quests can be rather repetitive for many (although I found it perfectly addictive playing those missions to free up the city little by little).  The game does have its strong moments though; I think Deslin has way more personality than Cole did, making him a more appealing character with plenty of room for growth.  Deslin learns much as he goes on, making sacrifices and suffering to the point where he matures into a proper hero or villain.  He comes to learn that other characters (including the main villain, whom I think is pretty well-developed) go through the same.  It may not be a fresh story, but it is still a strong one.  If there's anything to really complain about, it's that the game is short (it must have taken me 20 hours or more to finish), and they could have easily included more to the main story that would allow you to use those concrete powers.

The game's greatest strength is that it is masterfully-crafted.  It makes full use of the PS4's hardware to render extremely smooth, clean, colorful, and highly-detailed graphics.  Seattle may not resemble the real-life city much, but it is well-rendered with impressive textures, effects, particles, and lighting.  It's also much more realistically-proportioned than before, giving you a better idea of the city's size (whereas the older games made the cities seem really small in comparison to its people).  Characters look phenomenally realistic, thanks to quality texturing and animation.  Sounds are good, voice-acting is great, and the music is fantastic.  The game has okay writing, and the designs for all the settings, props, costumes, creatures, and everything else is decent.

Second Son is only disappointing in that it's short and its story/gameplay doesn't offer that much new to the table, but it is still a blast thanks to its beautiful graphics, its plethora of superpowers, and a colorful main character.  Casual PS4 owners may be impressed by the technical qualities of the game, but may be put off by the repetitiveness of the missions.  If you're a fan of the series, this game is a no-brainer.  As for me, I think this might be my favorite of the lot, and can't wait to see if more will be made down the line.

If you get the Collector's Edition of this game, you'll have a few bonus missions that help connect this game with inFamous 1 and 2.  They're alright.  This edition also gives you a couple of free in-game costumes, which are neat, but don't really affect gameplay.  The CE is really best if you want the swag (the hat, buttons, patches, and stickers, which are neat).  A free DLC is available - the inFamous Paper Trail mission - which offers a really neat detective story sidequest that can reward you with more karma.

5/5 (Entertainment:  Perfect | Story:  Good | Game:  Perfect)