[Originally posted on PopMatters] Gears of War gets a lot of undeserved criticism for being as popular as it is. Third person, cover based shooting is old hat and haven’t we had enough of burly, neckless thugs gargling curses through gravel and testosterone? The aliens are bad, the good guys are good and Gears of … Continue reading For the Horde: Marxism in Gears of War
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Chrono Trigger. Enough said. The title alone ought to evoke a wave of nostalgic appreciation. Its mechanics and its story are simple and straightforward but solid and effective. Its cast is memorable and interesting, the score is one of the best of the era, and even today, few games offer as … Continue reading Often Classic Means Dated: A Look Back at Chrono Trigger
[Originally posted on PopMatters] There’s no mystery behind Crazy Machines Elements. Everything is laid right out on the surface. There are machines based on the elements that could quite fairly be called: crazy. This is a physics-based puzzle game that uses Rube Goldberg inspired machines to solve each puzzle. The titular twist is that most … Continue reading Review: Crazy Machines Elements
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Last week, G. Christopher Williams wrote an article explaining that games may not be art1 because the interactivity of games mutates the relationship between audience and work. The essay speaks better for itself than I ever could but an interesting point that came up was that those arguing games are “just … Continue reading League of Legends Is “Just a Game”
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Every so often a game will come out that prompts game journalists to take a second glance at their terminology. When Mass Effect 2 trimmed most of the original’s already spartan RPG elements, many wondered, “What is an RPG?” When Starcraft II was developed with more competitive consideration than story, the … Continue reading The Problem of Genre in Video Games
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