You could be forgiven for not knowing about the gigantic solar war that took place in the 1940s. Most of it happened in space.
I am of course referring to the defence of Earth’s massive stellar satellite system, which was mercilessly attacked on the outer edges of Pluto, first by the Gorg inhabitants of the mysterious Planet X, and then later joined by the bloodthirsty Brain Riders of Venus, led by the treacherous and beautiful Sereia.
In The Unstoppable Gorg, you control the actions of Captain Adam Huxley, who is manifested as nothing more than a mouse cursor, as he takes on the teeming endless hordes attacking the various Earth space stations. Yes, it’s tower defence, although much like Anomaly: Warzone Earth, it adds a surprising and worthwhile twist on the old formula, while keeping the Flash Gordon/Ed Wood pulp sci-fi cheese amplified to level 11.
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(Single-player campaign review)
There’s an old expression that my dad used to use: when you are holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Maybe it’s our tool-oriented brains doing this trick, because it’s also true that when you are holding a gun, everything looks like a target. Guns are popular in videogames because of what they represent: they are the very definition of empowerment, of fire congealed into metal and placed into a pleasing, sturdy, ergonomic package. Cliff Bleszinski (of Epic) once remarked that guns let you touch the world in games, at a distance, the cause-and-effect of seeing an explosion or consequence immediately after pulling the trigger completes the interaction circuit in the brain. I mention all this to point out an interesting dichotomy: in Resistance 3, you hold a very large, very satisfyingly destructive arsenal in your hands at most points during the campaign. And yet, you often feel powerless, unable to cope, the weight of the task at hand seeming not epically heroic, but courageously doomed, despite your power.
Resistance 3 is a shooter full of despair. And you really don’t see that very often.
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[PS3 version reviewed]
It is telling, our state of post-post-meta-modernism, when a game like Deus Ex: Human Revolution seems slightly old-fashioned. Cyberpunk. I mean, how long ago was it that you read Neuromancer and Snow Crash? Or played Syndicate? What was once a cutting-edge science fiction trope now seems almost old hat. We’ve since moved on to looking for whatever comes after nanotechnology.
That’s what makes the setting of DXHR, in 2011, so interesting. When we were first introduced in the late 80s and 90s to the idea of cybernetic implants, and well, Deus Ex* and cyborgs in general, the technology seemed feasible but not exactly on the close horizon. It was easy to imagine humans with interface implants and extra-strong limbs and organs in the future – surely, someday, obviously, right? But, today… today much of what is portrayed in the game, a mere 16 years hence, suddenly seems that much closer. We’ve seen nimble robots. We’ve seen the rise of the global internet, fabrication technology, huge leaps in computer power, artificial materials with new properties already.
This new perspective on cyberpunk makes DXHR that much more interesting, and disturbing. Now it’s near-sci fi.
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… as we give this thing a fresh coat of paint, you may notice some irregularities. Especially if you’re on an iPad. We’re working on it!
By now you’ve no doubt noticed the fusillade of articles (or podcasts, ahem) decrying chairs as a cancer on Western Civilization. We spend so much time in chairs, and yet they are sucking the life-force right out of you, no matter what your fitness activity level; laying low your metabolic rate and squeezing vitality directly from your ass. As near as I can tell.
Do not despair. I’m going to describe to you two reasons to stop folding your meat-husk in half: one, because it’s easier than you think to ditch the chair, and two, because I think you’ll want to anyways, regardless of the supposed health benefits.
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