Austin Paul Adamson
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MonsterVine 
KeenGamer Latest Reviews
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a collection of tech demos, mini games, and education that’s surprisingly not free and simultaneously worth the price of admission.
New to Lumines Remastered is a feature that Lumines creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Lumines, REZ, Every Extend Extra Extreme…) has been known to have in : “Trance Vibration.” The thought behind this is to immerse players into a trance by connecting multiple extra controllers (which pulse to the sounds of the game) to the system, and placing them around various parts of your body. I hooked up my extra Xbox One controllers and placed them around me as I played, and I must admit it is a more sensational way to play. It is a bit inconvenient, and I don’t see myself trying it more than a few times, or to show friends, but it is a cool concept and I do recommend giving it a shot. The Xbox and Switch versions support 8 controllers (7 vibrators and 1 to play the game), while the PS4 only supports four because of the platforms bluetooth limitations. I did not get to test the Steam version, but I am told as a general guideline: “all connected rumble-enabled controllers (Bluetooth, USB or combination of both) should vibrate.”
The PVP is an example of something that has been fixed, even though it wasn’t broken. The new maps and game modes are a lot of fun, and the competitive playlists have a larger consequence for death (limited number of lives per round). But some of the fundamentals of the Destiny PVP have been changed. The Crucible has been cut back, only allowing teams of four instead of teams of six. I enjoyed the larger scale battles, because it meant there was always action on the map and it also meant that you and your entire raid team could all hop into the competitive modes on days when you wanted to fight some other players instead of the AI. Additionally the stats during, and after a game have been changed. Players can no longer see their individual kills and deaths. Want to know how many head shots you got, your deaths versus kills, or your assists? You can only make estimates using the cryptic stats surfaced like efficiency rating and opp. def. number, unless you keep track yourself. Bungie dropped the traditional post-game carnage report, which they perfected with the Halo series, in favor of something that feels soft and...
The gameplay in these scenes is mostly focused on light, environmental puzzles with the rare ‘don’t get spotted by this creature’ moments. Looking at the right part of a room, walking in the right sequence of doors and even occasionally connecting multiple objects together as imagery symbolism bombards the player in a dream like manner. This can be problematic, but the environmental design by Bloober Team does a great job at directing the player where they need to go. Audio, lighting and good level structuring shine as I rarely felt lost even when the rooms around me were a labyrinth in layout, and playing with the sense. The confusion on Observer is deliberate and intentionally there to stress out the player, and blur the lines of reality. There is a downside to the deliberate confusion: multiple times during my playthrough of the Steam version, I encountered sections where a necessary world object wouldn’t load. When these glitches pop-up it undid some of good faith I had with the world. “Is this me not understanding the puzzle, or is the game broken?” is something I had to ask myself a few times, luckily the saves are generous and the loads are...
The gameplay in these scenes is mostly focused on light, environmental puzzles with the rare ‘don’t get spotted by this creature’ moments. Looking at the right part of a room, walking in the right sequence of doors and even occasionally connecting multiple objects together as imagery symbolism bombards the player in a dream like manner. This can be problematic, but the environmental design by Bloober Team does a great job at directing the player where they need to go. Audio, lighting and good level structuring shine as I rarely felt lost even when the rooms around me were a labyrinth in layout, and playing with the sense. The confusion on Observer is deliberate and intentionally there to stress out the player, and blur the lines of reality. There is a downside to the deliberate confusion: multiple times during my playthrough of the Steam version, I encountered sections where a necessary world object wouldn’t load. When these glitches pop-up it undid some of good faith I had with the world. “Is this me not understanding the puzzle, or is the game broken?” is something I had to ask myself a few times, luckily the saves are generous and the loads are...
Superhot is sizzling with style and mixes the first-person shooter and puzzle genres in a way that truly feels innovative. In every level the player choreographs a blockbuster movie’s action scene, rewarding them with the satisfaction of feeling like a badass at regular intervals. The lack of post game diversity is only disappointing because the core content and “dystopian VR retro-future” story is so hard to put down.
Layers of Fear uses environmental trickery to paint an unsettling creepy depiction of a crazy artist’s mind. Bloober Team puts their own twist on the changing, looping hallway concept from P.T. with it’s horrifying atmosphere and fleshes it out with interactive details, voice acting and a disturbing narrative. However the clunky interactivity and lack of meaningful story content left me disappointed. There is something special about this haunted house simulator, but it gets misplaced in one of the drawers in the back. Layers of Fear has a great atmosphere, but you may have to overlook a lot of design choices to immerse yourself in what ends up an experience just over three hours long.
As a narrative driven experience there is only one specific order in which tasks must be accomplished, but the player still has quite a bit of freedom in exploring the environment. The open world is easy to navigate thanks to an in-game paper map that the player has access to at all times. Luckily since this is a videogame, Henry’s real-time location and last few steps are always represented. I liked how Campo Santo struck this balance between giving the player precise location information while still conveying the experience of using a paper map and a physical compass to navigate. Firewatch is not without it’s flaws. The PS4 version suffers from an inconsistent framerate with some stuttering and tearing, but as a whole didn’t take away from the beauty and sense of wonderment that filled me. That being said, If you have a modern, moderately powerful PC you will find the best experience on that platform, with an added feature tied in with the in-game disposable camera.
The Witness is not just a game with puzzles, but it also one giant puzzle in itself. The environment offers great mystery. Various structures partially damaged as stone statues decorate the land and profound thought provoking ideas are scattered about. Multiple times throughout the game I was blown away with what The Witness was doing and the more I discovered, the smarter it made me feel.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great improvement on the 2013 design and continues to develop Lara from where the first game left off. The game blends third person shooting with exploration and gives the player a lot of freedom in how the different scenarios can be approached. Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the strongest, most entertaining, single-player experiences of 2015. Xbox One owners should grab this timed exclusive, and PC/PlayStation 4 owners have a lot to look forward to when it releases in 2016.