Tim Turi
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Game Informer Latest Reviews
With Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens on the horizon, plenty of fans are left daydreaming how'd they make a living in deep space. If you've ever wondered what Han Solo might have been up to before he met Luke and Obi-Wan in a certain Mos Eisley cantina, Rebel Galaxy does its best to deliver that fantasy but suffers from stretches of repetition.
Shutterbugs with a flair for the paranormal have waited seven years for a new core entry in the Fatal Frame series. Apart from one entry on the Wii, the bulk of the Fatal Frame franchise still remains on the PlayStation 2 (watch us play the original Fatal Frame on Replay). The latest title, Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water for the Wii U, turns the Gamepad into your very own Camera Obscura. Despite that new novelty, it still has one foot firmly planted in a PS2-era grave.
With titles like Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, developer The Chinese Room has been a pioneer in the field of interactive storytelling. Restrictive linearity has been a weakness of the studio's titles, but Everybody's Gone to the Rapture allows players to meander off and explore the aftermath of a gorgeous post-apocalyptic English countryside set in 1984. Rapture is an ambitious attempt at abstract storytelling, but ultimately the only reliable way to experience it flies in the face of untethered exploration.
Good music can make or break a game. A catchy stage theme can burrow into your head longer than a radioactive earwig, while the most abrasive offenders suffer music's worst fate: the mute button. Crypt of the Necrodancer pulls off the improbable, delivering three awesome soundtracks and allowing you to weave your own music library into the core of its punishing roguelike gameplay.
Boss battles provide some of the most potent memories we take away from our favorite games. I'll never forget the first time I batted Agahnim's magic blasts back at him in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, or took down the first lumbering stone giant in Shadow of the Colossus. Developer Acid Nerve recognizes the appeal of a good boss fight, and they've combined the essence of the incredible games I mentioned into a unique package that trims the fat and focuses on big confrontations. More than just a tribute to either game, the studio infuses the core concept of hunting down giant ancient beasts from Shadow of the Colossus with enticing elements like extreme lethality, top-down Zelda-inspired battles, and a captivating sense of mystery.
The PlayStation-era of games is often criticized as a generation that has aged poorly, thanks to muddy 3D visuals and controls. The 2002 GameCube remake of 1996's Resident Evil fixed the former, but some still found the infamous tank controls cumbersome. This new remastered HD iteration frees the game from its sluggish shackles like a doberman freed from its winter booties.
WayForward knows retro game design. Side-scrolling gems like Contra 4 and DuckTales Remastered are proof the developer appreciates the essence of 8- and 16-bit game design. While the studio generally succeeds in recapturing the wheat and discarding the chaff of older games, this 3DS Shantae title's reliance on pesky backtracking detracts from an otherwise capable action-platformer.
Childlike imagination is generally considered a happy, wondrous thing. Krillbite's first-person horror game turns this expectation on its head, tossing players into the psyche of a child coping with a turbulent family life. Among the Sleep packs fewer scares and puzzles than I traditionally enjoy in horror games, but its surprising storytelling helps it succeed despite these shortcomings.
Coffee Stain Studio’s main page for Goat Simulator describes it as “a small, broken, and stupid game.” These aren’t the words I’d typically use to begin a review, but I found them appropriate. The developers’ humorously dismissive statement accurately sums up the wacky, physics-based sandbox, but it doesn't encompass the entirety of the title’s shortcomings and goat-related chaos.
World War II was the golden age for aerial warfare. Fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and anti-aircraft guns evolved rapidly, and victory in the sky became as crucial as conquering land and sea. Flying aces emerged from their respective nations, single-handedly gunning down hundreds of enemy planes. Luftrausers is a frantic, sepia-toned 2D shooter by developer Vlambeer (the studio behind the mobile hit Ridiculous Fishing). It places you in the cockpit and makes you feel like one of history’s soaring champions.