Most gamers like to blow off steam with empowerment fantasies and brutal kills, but games like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter go the opposite way, stripping away enemies, obvious puzzles and cutscenes to leave you on your own, using nothing but your wits to explore a mysterious world and put together a story. It’s worth a look for those yearning for something out of the norm. The polar opposite of that game is Godzilla, which lets you control the massive, atomic-breathed kaiju as he lays waste to cities, swats away helicopters and throws down with other giant creatures, such as Mothra and Mechagodzilla. Also, we catch up with Batman: Arkham Knight, which was released last month but is now hitting its stride with DLC.
Although Batman: Arkham Knight has been out for more than a month, we finally took a look at it now that the first couple pieces of DLC have dropped.
Reviews by Phil Villarreal. Phil is an author, blogger and Twitterer. Publishers provided review copies.
Batman: Arkham Knight
(Xbox One, PS4, $60, Teen)
Buy Batman: Arkham Knight on Amazon
Released last month amid the chaos of E3, the capstone to Rocksteady’s genre-changing Batman trilogy is the early frontronner for game of the year on almost everyone’s list. You grapple, glide and, thanks to the introduction of the Batmobile, drive around a miserable, decaying Gotham City that has been overrun by criminals. With storylines that were influenced by comics, as well as continuity-breaking sidelines that provide fresh takes on the Dark Knight’s twisted mythology, this is the series entry that does the best job of making you feel like a masked vigilante using his heightened physical abilities and finely-honed detective skills to seek out and punish the evildoers. More than ever before, Batman struggles with his self-imposed mandate not to kill his enemies, battling Joker-inspired visions inside his head that urge him to snap.
One of the most visual stunning games available on current-gen systems, the game’s graphics and sound suck you into the lost and desperate world. Mission variety and story twists provide a constant flow of thrills. The only drawback is your versatile, tank-style ride, which developers try to force on you too often. At least you can sense their enthusiasm, because they are obviously so proud of the way the Batmobile handles; tearing around tight turns to smack passers-by, plowing through obstacles on the road and firing neutralizing projectiles to stop criminal cars. New copies of the game come packed in with Harley Quinn-themed DLC, while a Batgirl-emphasizing story has also just dropped. Developers have promised to pump out regular DLC for the rest of the year, and you can grab it all with a $40 season pass.
Godzilla
(PS4, $60, Teen)
While admittedly as much of a mess as the Tokyo streets the lumbering behemoth lays waste to, Godzilla at least does what it promises. If you’re looking for a game that lets you take control of the giant monster, whip buildings down with your tail and fry electric generators with your atomic breath, this is just that. So what if it’s as big and dumb as the beast on its cover? A variety of modes mix things up, with the story campaign being the worst of them. Surprisingly charming is a fighting game-like slugfest mode that has you take on six of Godzilla’s rivals, one after another, in a speed-based challenge. You can also slug it out with players online.
There’s a suite of upgrades available for each monster, with heightened attacks and movement upgrades available. The improvements are cool and welcome, but the way the monsters control at the beginning is so awful that it may turn off players before they can get into the action. Godzilla and crew move with the much-derided tank-style controls reminiscent of the first Resident Evil, but even more slowly. It too often feels like you’re controlling an elderly Godzilla suffering from arthritis. While more fun than it has any right to be, the $60 price tag is way too high. Wait a few weeks and you’ll no doubt be able to pick this up for half the cost.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
(PS4, $20, Mature)
The gaming equivalent of a mystery novel, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter ignores just about all gameplay conventions to emphasize exploration and writing. One of the first screens warns you that the game won’t hold your hand, then it lives up to the promise by dumping you in the middle of the forest with no explanation. There are some decayed old railroad tracks and overgrown trails to follow. As you meander around, your character, some sort of detective, starts filling you in on his motivation. Slowly, a story begins to take shape involving a string of hauntings going on at nearby residences and your own character’s attempts to escape from a dark, troubled past. You learn you’re a paranormal expert tasked to find out what happened to a missing child. From the outset, you know you’re in for a grim ride, with your character muttering about how he knows it will be his last case.
Relying on ambient noises such as breezes whipping through trees, the crunch of leaves and rocks beneath your feet and sudden and a sparsely used musical score, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter nails a creepy, foreboding vibe from the outstart then keeps on pounding it home as you sink deeper into the game’s dark embrace. Even benign activities such as looking around a creaky train car or searching the firewood-stacked backyard of an abandoned shack take on as much heightened tension as any blast-heavy Call of Duty setpiece. While the playstyle will frustrate those looking for instant gratification, it’s one of the most exciting releases of the summer for players looking for thrills that you have to build and discover for yourself.
