Deadly Premonition
It’s hard to think of many games as divisive as Deadly Premonition. Over the years, it’s probably made an appearance in just as many “best of” list features as it has “worst of”. Yet even its staunchest supporters wouldn’t argue against the fact that the game played extremely poorly, at least in its original guise. A wonky camera and a downright awful combat system meant actually playing Deadly Premonition was a bit of a chore, and that’s where most of its bad press is derived from.
In terms of its actual story, however, there’s plenty to enjoy. This survival horror adventure game has its own unique b-grade movie flavor, complete with a whimsically cheesy protagonist and a bizarre cast of oddball characters. Deadly Premonition blends an off-the-wall murder-mystery story with some genuinely decent moments of horror — from Zach’s absurd one liners to being haunted by creepy twin children, it will have you laughing and cowering in equal measures.
The Director’s Cut is the definitive edition that brought the PS3 exclusive to other platforms, and it fixed up some of the technical issues that plagued the original. There aren’t any major improvements, but if you’re in the mood to finally give Deadly Premonition a shot, then make sure you pick up this version. This is one cult classic that everyone should find out which side of the fence they fall on.
Alpha Protocol
On paper, Obsidian’s Alpha Protocol is the spy action role-playing game that we always wanted. It featured deep levels of customization and a branching espionage narrative in which players could make meaningful decisions of genuine consequence. Few games pull off this balance so deftly, and virtually none have the same Splinter Cell-like thematic setting.
Unfortunately, where Alpha Protocol did earn praise for its uniqueness, it failed to impress critics with inconsistent AI and poorly executed gameplay. On a fundamental level, Alpha Protocol’s gameplay feels broken in its early stages before characters are leveled up sufficiently. Its presentation, too, wasn’t up to Obsidian’s usual standards at the time, especially when compared to epics such as Neverwinter Nights.
It was, however, doing something completely unique, moving away from the swords and sorcery premise that virtually every other RPG had copied. On that basis alone, Alpha Protocol piqued the interest of many gamers, and for those that persisted through its ungainly features, they were rewarded with a game that provided near infinite replayability. The sheer number of ways the story can branch and the extent to which your decisions affect the way missions play out is still accomplished by today’s standards. Even if Alpha Protocol feels a bit half baked in most departments, there’s an x-factor here that keeps it interesting if you can get over the lack of polish.
Dynasty Warriors 7
Dynasty Warriors started life as a pretty nuanced fighting game, but when it later found success as a Mosou-style hack-and-slash adventure game, subsequent sequels never strayed far from that blueprint. The franchise quickly descended into a rinse and repeat of the same monotonous formula used over and over again. That isn’t to say the franchise didn’t find success in this vein, but it took a succession of poor games before Koei Tecmo steadied the ship, and Dynasty Warriors 7 is often remembered as the final straw. It reviewed poorly and its lack of inventiveness over previous entries didn’t win it much adoration from most critics. Save for its flashier visuals, Dynasty Warriors 7 just didn’t offer anything we hadn’t played before, and yet, it was impossible to put down.
There’s just something about obliterating waves of enemies that Dynasty Warriors makes so satisfying. It might all just boil down to somewhat mindless button mashing, but with the objective so obvious and the gameplay almost effortless, beating down a path towards your objective is almost therapeutic. And while you could make that case for just about any entry in the series, Dynasty Warriors 7 does actually tell a reasonably interesting story. Like all of the Dynasty Warriors games, it revolves around the famous Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century. So there’s at least something to keep you motivated through endless hours of monotony.
Pokemon GO
Twenty years after the series first exploded into pop culture, Pokemon briefly took the world by storm all over again when it found its way into the back pocket of every nostalgic millennial. More than just leveraging the familiarity of the franchise, Pokemon GO’s clever use of augmented reality created a video game that encouraged people to exercise and socialize. It was lauded as a new sort of gaming experience, and its accessibility as a mobile game gave it an unrivaled reach. There’s arguably no other time in gaming history when a mega popular, household name franchise has combined with a universally adopted platform to produce the same level of fever pitch success.
Yet, the strangest part of it all was that the game itself isn’t actually very good. For all the hype, the critical reception was hardly stellar, and once the realization of its limited scope became apparent, its user base wasn’t shy in vocalizing disdain.
Even if it is “just a free game”, Pokemon Go is woefully limited in design, missing key features one would have hoped for in a Pokemon mobile game. The major issues in this regard are the lack of trading and no player-versus-player battles. Not to mention, there was no in-app social capability of any kind. Niantic has promised to rectify these issues with an incoming patch, but the developer is taking its sweet time, with delays adding further frustrating.
But has any of this slowed Pokemon GO down? Well, sure, it lost a significant amount of its players since launch, but even factoring in those losses, it still commands a significant player base. Loathe as we might its (for the time being) wasted potential, the “gotta catch em’ all” grind in combination with its outward bound augmented reality gameplay is still an addictive loop that is apparently a super hard to put down.
Lollipop Chainsaw
Game designer Suda51’s Lollipop Chainsaw isn’t particularly flash as far as action games go, but its tongue-in-cheek vulgarity and often hilarious writing have turned it into something of a cult classic. Critically, it won little adoration as a result of its uninspiring gameplay. Admittedly, for a game about decapitating zombies with a chainsaw, Lollipop Chainsaw’s gameplay really isn’t as fun as it ought to be. The enemy variety is limited, the weapons aren’t as entertaining to use as they should be, the animations are somewhat awkward, and the boss fights are also decidedly poor. Through all of these frailties, though, there’s something about its whacky premise that draws you in and urges you to keep playing.
Lollipop Chainsaw really is a one-of-a-kind experience that is totally unforgettable. Ok, the over-the-top violence and over-sexualization of its main character is a little crass, but it’s also oddly entertaining that it’s hard not to have a soft spot for Lollipop Chainsaw.
The game flaunts its shock factor and comedic crassness proudly, and the story doesn’t really care to get you back on board if that’s not your thing. It might be pretty sterile as far as action games go, but its out-there-ness made it curiously enjoyable, and it won over the affection of gamers for its point of difference.
Published: Sep 1, 2017 09:40 am