Recent reviews by SPEEDSHIFT

I bought into the hype for this game, but the illusion of choice and the dogged pursuit of it's own twisted narrative left me behind in its enthusiastic boast of self proclaimed cleverness. Instead, I was left to only enjoy the mechanics of the game, of which players familiar with the gameplay will be able to inform you there is very little enjoyment in. The broad monster closeted hallways of broken environmental triggers and poorly pathed AI alternately frustrate or provide no challenge at all, making every encounter feel like the arbitrary decision of broken programming. Finally, the conclusion of the game left me feeling like no artificial decisions offered to me made any difference at all, despite the misery of learning there are multiple endings??
Many may say I am missing something, but it is clear to me that this game did not deserve some of the praise it has received, and I humbly implore that you skip it.

Are you ready to Rock like it's 1985?

Gone Home... an appropriate name, taking so many of it's players straight back to childhood memories of the wonderful 90s. And, it gets it oh so right. From the moment you show up on the front porch and start looking at the ceramic decorations, all the way to the last homeade mixtape, Gone Home is a pitch perfect time machine, and a story of heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking family discovery.

Playing the role of the oldest daughter in the family come home to an empty house, it's your job to Nancy Drew your way to truth. There are no puzzles besides locked doors, and frankly the game has more in common with a seek and find game in it's mechanics. Don't be fooled though, the atmoshpere manages to take you from checking out each object, straight to being immersed in the life of this family - you reach a point where you really step into the role of the older sister. The story telling sticks to a main arc concerning the younger daughter, but through careful discovery and contexual clues, multiple interwoven sub-plots emerge and both sadden and delight.

That's about all I am going say. It would be a crime to spoil a single bit of this game, and it's a shame that playing it twice won't yield the same sense of discovery and that the reveal at the end won't be nearly as emotional... but still, it's worth at least one dedicated playthrough, as this is sincerely one of the most moving video game experiences I've ever had the pleasure of immersing myself within.

Visit Alien Planets. Be a badass. Die.

All but for the middle step, the above is guaranteed in this game. You'll start off feeling like the difficulty curve is way too high, and then after spending enough time with the game to learn the items and monster patterns, you'll soon be cranking out kills at the highest difficulty level like the badass this title promises.

- I'm getting bored with the creature spawns. - There are artifacts to collect that radically change up the play.
- There's too much of the same type of combat! - Multiple characters with vastly differing combat styles will make you wonder if you're even playing the same game.
- I want a game that I'll be able to play through multiple times! - Randomly selected levels and enemy spawns mean that no two play sessions will be the same.

The music is fantastic, the gameplay is unique, and the art, though simple, is pure retro fun. You can't go wrong with Risk of Rain, because hey, it's fun to romp around in the downpour sometimes.

Like the MarioKart of sidescrollers, this fantastic early access title is already ridiculously fun to play! Stretch your platforming skills to the limit to beat your friends around the varied courses, and watch out for the nefarious tricks they'll try to play on you to make you lose! To make it to the far edge of the screen and push your contestants off will require knowledge of the level and perfect timing.... LOOK OUT FOR THOSE SPIKES!!!

When first watching this game be played, I thought it was an amusing idea and certainly heralded a fun concept for fighting games. It then took nearly three years for the game to be released, and it kind of slipped off my radar. Upon launching on Steam for $15, I was immediately taken aback at what seemed a steep price for what I considered to be a very simple and one dimensional game.
I'm glad to say that I was wrong. While over a friend's house, an impromtu Nidhogg tournament broke out and three hours and many laughs later, we all went home to buy the game for ourselves.
The game contains a dark sense of humor, simplistic but stylish retro visuals, and extraordinarily tight controls. It is compatible with three out of four of the controllers I have tested with it, and it's online is stable. I would reccomend playing against human opponents as much as possible (preferably in a hotseat fashion as the reactions of your live opponent is part of the attraction), but the AI is perfectly servicable for practicing your fighting strategy, if maybe just a little cheap every now and then.
For $15, if you play games with your friends often, this is a very reasonable and frankly excellent purchase, and I don't think you'll regret it!

Broken Age, is a game for gamers. It's a game for nerds. It's a game for people who love art. Let's be honest, it's more a work of art than it is even a game! Tim Schafer and his resident team of Double'ly Fine geniuses have rarely released a game that is not amazing, and they certainly haven't broken that trend now. Littered with homages to classic adventure game ideals, the dialogue is witty and the voice acting is superb. The experience of playing through a bit of history while still being fully locked in the present is a feat of gaming design that is masterfully executed, and if that isn't enough you'll be able to buy the documentary that lets you watch behind the scenes and see EVERYTHING that went into this work of classical love.
As for the game itself, it plays solidly, the game mechanics are simple and the clickable interface with no 'action verbs' is a nice throwback without being overly archaic. The game art is beautiful, albeit low resolution at many points in the game, and the animation brings things to life in a fashion that no other adventure game has ever achieved. The puzzles, while simple, generally follow a logic that is clear and identifiable, and rarely are you left scratching your head over a puzzle only to solve it through spamming everything and cursing backwards thinking on the part of the creators.
Stability-wise, the game was still in Beta when I played and it did crash once, but it's something I imagine will be easily ironed out before it fully releases. The game also has the added benefit of being extremely compatible with older PCs, so rest assured, you can take this on the go with your work laptop!
While the game only takes a few hours to beat, it a trip of wonderment through the fantasy of Tim Schafer and his wonderful team - and with the promise of part two to come and woo us again, it's a trip well worth taking!