Co-operative games are great. I adore working as a team to solve problems and experience stories in games. Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator takes cooperative gameplay to a whole new level of role playing and fun.
Stellaris is a deeply engrossing experience. It’s a member of the 4X genre (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit,eXterminate) of strategy games from Paradox Interactive but with a real focus on story telling through the strategic gameplay and emerging narratives.
What Remains of Edith Finch is now the bar set for all Interactive Dramas going forwards. It’s a compelling anthology of little narratives that build up to much more than the sum of it’s parts.
Space Marine always stands out as an amazing example of capturing the feel of a universe through adaptation. It’s an exercise in showing how understanding a property can lead to a great game.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a fascinating adventure game that navigates themes of Grief, Teenage Friendship and finding your place in a changing world, all with the signature charm and attitude that’s come to be known of Life is Strange.
Even to this day, I’m still kind of stunned that Machine Games Wolfenstein: The New Order is quite this well written and designed as a game. Wolfenstein is the literal grandaddy of shooting games. You are B.J Blascowicz. A man with a gun, shooting from the first person.You shoot Nazis. Till there are no more. Sometimes the Nazis have magic, sometimes super science, sometimes both. You shoot them till they fall over.
Rust is an online only, always active survival game where your player character is random and fixed and the world is full of other players who want to ruin your day. Yet it’s a game that I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into, and it is fascinating to play.
Let’s get it out of the way. LA Noire is not a game for everyone. The story is cliched, oddly paced and tropey. The incredibly expensive facial recognition tech is somewhat let down by the clunky dialogue system. But in spite of all that, it does a fantastic job of capturing the feel of being at the heart of Noir Detective stories. Even Better, LA Noire is a perfect game to play with a group of friends. Following the clues, making connections and catching lying witnesses out is better with company
Thomas was Alone is a short, indie puzzle platforming game created by Mike Bithell as a browser game in 2010, and then again on PC/OSX in 2012. Since then it’s been ported to almost every system available. So why are people so willing to buy and rebuy this game after so many years? And Why do we recommend it?
Stories are great. Not all stories get the audience they deserve though. Every week, Geek Errant is going to pick one Book, Game, TV Series or Film and give it the spotlight. Some of these will be very niche, something that only a few people will ever care about. But that’s why they matter. Everyone deserves to get their story heard. This week, LoadingReadyRun’s Qwerpline Radio Comedy is what’s recommended.
