This week, it’s all about gaming experiences that don’t seem like they will be all that entertaining but turn out to be anyway. It may not sound fun to be stalked by a bloodthirsty alien as you lurk through a death trap masquerading as a space station, but Alien: Isolation manages to make fleeing for your life from a seemingly invincible predator a great time.
Likewise, it may seem frustrating to pay $75 for a game, only to learn that you will have to spend much more to get the most out of it, but the action figure-mongering Skylanders Trap Team proves that it’s possible to love being exploited by a marketing machine geared to get you addicted to buying game add-ons. And while it may seem pointless to spend $60 on a current-gen rerelease of a game that came out in 2012, the exotic and stunning Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition somehow makes it seem like a privilege to do so.
Reviews by Phil Villarreal. Phil is an author, blogger and Twitterer. Publishers provided review copies.
Alien: Isolation
(PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, $60, Mature)
Every time a game comes out based on the Alien movies, the developer claims to be megafans of the films who mean to copy the look, feel and tension of Ridley Scott’s creation. And then the end result turns out to be a glitchy, haphazard disappointment. Developer Creative Assembly succeeds where others have failed by going the less-is-more route, pitting you, as the daughter of series star Ripley, against a single, all-but-unbeatable menace. Rather than picking up high-powered assault weapons that let you mow down swarms of bad guys, you are left with only your wits and rudimentary tools to elude and fend off a beast that is far more powerful and savvy than you.
For both better and worse, Alien: Isolation is survival horror in its purest form. It’s an ulcer-inducing struggle to slink from one manual save point to the next, bringing to mind the harsh, earlier Resident Evil adventures. Resources are scarce and barely helpful, and much of the playtime involves sitting and waiting, listening for signs of the creature being distracted so you can advance. A trial for masochists that won’t much appeal to the Call of Duty crowd, the game bears riches for those willing to suffer and struggle through its punishments. An add-on mission that comes with new copies of the game rounds up the original cast for a side mission that Alien geeks will savor.
Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!
PS3, (Vita, $40, Teen)
If you’ve ever wondered whether naughty girl ninjas, naughty schoolgirls, naughty witches or naughty cheerleaders were better at fighting, the all-female, 2D Japanese fighter Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!! will sate your curiosity. The Dead or Alive-like concept blends sex appeal with combos, speed attacks and special moves. Characters can summon beast-like alternate forms to deal out heavy damage, and the downscaled graphics and old-school, arcade-style square-screen presentation brings to mind the Street Fighter II heyday. The game nails its 90s aesthetic so well, it’s a shock that the game was made in 2011.
Limited online options and a head-shaking story mode add little to the core package. giving you little reason to stick with Love Max!!!! once you’ve beaten arcade mode with a few of your favorite characters. Since the fighter market is so crowded, it’s doubtful that a sizable enough community will build up around the game to keep it relevant. Look elsewhere for your fighter needs unless you’ve got some roommates who are always hungering for living room bragging rights over obscure fighters.
In Space We Brawl
(PS4, PS3, $12, Rating Pending)
Starcraft may seem to have the monopoly on PVP online space throwdowns. but In Space We Brawl is a solid indie pretender to the throne. The game swarms with rapid and brutal competitive multiplayer action, as you steer and shoot your aircraft with the left and right sticks. Choosing from among 11 spaceships and as many weapon loudouts, you contend with opponents, as well as NPC aliens that vie to gun you down. You can use neutral baddies, as well as solar winds and black holes, to set your enemy at a disadvantage and move in for easy kills.
If you grew up on shooters such as Defender and Galaga, — or, more recently, the PS4 title Resogun — you’ll be right at home here. Twitch reflexes and hyperactive, bullet hell environments keep the excitement flowing like a steady IV drip. The content is slim, but the price is right and the mechanics are as airtight as your pilot’s space suit. Since space shooters are in such short supply these days, especially on the PS4, In Space We Brawl is an out-of-nowhere treat to snatch up and savor.
Skylanders Trap Team
(PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, $75, Everyone 10+)
With four games in as many years, it’s surprising that the Skylanders series has yet to hit a same old, same old wall that drag down perennials such as Call of Duty, Battlefield and Need for Speed. But the series keeps reinventing itself with impressive innovations that remain true to the core concept of using action figures as in-game heroes. The ingenious new wrinkle — at least from a marketing standpoint — in this outing is a set of crystals that of crystals that let you capture bosses and use them as heroes. Since each elemental class of villains has its own crystal you need to trap them, you’ll need to head out to the store and buy all the necessary crystals in order to unlock most of the game’s playable characters.
Just as with past Skylanders outings, all action figures from previous games work in the new one. That sort of consumer loyalty eases the sting of shelling out two or three times the sticker price to buy enough stuff to make you feel like you aren’t playing a gimped version of the adventure. But buyer beware: Although the hack-and-slash, light puzzle-platformer action is as fun and addictive as ever, you will need to shell out at least $100 in order not to feel left out by the game’s offerings. That’s fine for action figure collectors, but gamers on a budget — especially those with nagging kids — will need to proceed with caution.
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition
(PS4, Xbox One, $60, Mature)
One of 2012’s, well, sleepers, gets reborn as a slick-looking open-world gangland saga. Set amid the Triad-controlled streets of Hong Kong, you play through an exciting, cinematic and emotionally resonant tale of betrayal, vengeance and redemption. An offshoot of the True Crime series, Sleeping Dogs thrives on the gritty detail of its cruel streets. Many of the missions play like a harder-edged version of Grand Theft Auto or the earlier Saints Row entries. Missions are an engrossing mix of car chases, pop-and-stop cover shooting, street brawling and strategic maneuvers. The already solid graphic have been thoroughly remastered, giving the game a polish that makes it seem new.
In addition to the graphical overhaul, there are also 24 pieces of previously-released DLC included, encompassing the Year of the Dog and Nightmare in North Point expansions. Since the game costs $60, it would have been nice to have seen a fresh expansion thrown into the mix, especially since the original game was recently available for free on the Xbox 360 and PS3 for Gold and PlaytStation Plus members. But because current-gen systems are so young, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition is still a worthy investment because the only other sandbox shooter around is Watch Dogs.
