Life Through The Pixel Glass-07/16/2014

s I write this, I’m sipping on the cool refreshing double fisted cocktail of Gatorade’s Lime ‘n Cucumber swigged with a Rockstar Zero Carb Energy Drink; it’s a concoction that’s quite literally not for the faint of heart.

I’m staring at the screen, going over appointments for PAX Prime, reviews, and other stuff; it’s starting to sink in that we’re in a really slow period in video games right now—I honestly love these sort of periods too. We all work hard, play hard, and live hard; it’s hard to stay on top of something that eats away at our precious time and money. Don’t get me wrong, it may sound like I’m complaining but I’m only trying to illustrate that we can all use a break from playing games—let’s just idealize in other ways like cool art and shit.

Yup, you know where this is going, welcome to another edition of Life Through The Pixel Glass; I missed it, and I hope you all did too, let’s get this rolling.

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QCF: Life Goes On

ired of survival horror, first person shooters, and basically every other video game forcing you to stay alive in order to play? Life Goes On takes the conventional gaming strategy of trying to survive as long as possible and turns it around - to beat the levels, you have to kill your character several times, and use their corpses as stepping stones to get to the prize. Morbid? Yes. A metaphor for capitalist society—possibly…but aside from being an interactive existential social commentary on our pointless lives, it can also refreshing and fun.

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Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 104 - Crimzon Clover: World Ignition

After years of requests for a Crimzon Clover review, it's finally time! Does Crimzon Clover deserve the "God-Tier" status it has garnered? It's time to stack up the newly steam-released Crimzon Clover: World Ignition to find out!

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Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 103 - NYXX

ndie games always have an uphill battle for recognition, especially when they're not backed by bigger publishers like Rockin' Android and Nyu-Media over services like Steam and Playism. Infinite Vile's NYXX is one such game. How does it stack up?

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QCF: Entwined

hether you choose to side in the camp that video games are art, or sit with the folks who think they’re too dumb to be art, there’s generally one consistent consensus that both parties can agree to; gamers from either belief can attest to playing at least one game in their life that made them feel something.

Granted, while there are few games where a majority of people can civilly agree on the game’s merit to elicit whatever emotion they felt, these game do in fact exist, and some of them share even considerably larger common ground within the gaming community than most would accurately presume; some games just have that it factor.

Entwined is such a game, one that’s entirely capable of rendering any who play it into puddle of feelings that they can’t quite explain articulately into words, but can’t deny that the presence of them either.

I’m going to try my best TO articulate these feelings, and why it’s important that Entwined brought them out of me, and became a memorable experience in the process.

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QCF: Tesla Effect- A Tex Murphy Adventure

or all of the long lost franchises to reappear, Tex Murphy might just be the most obscure property to surface again. Let’s get one thing straight: Tesla Effect has probably got to be one of the most bizarre game releases in recent memory—not in style or content, but just its sheer existence. For those not in the know the following game reviewed here is a Tex Murphy adventure; as in an FMV Tex Murphy adventure, a “last seen in 1998” Tex Murphy adventure, a “originally appeared on the Commodore 64” Tex Murphy adventure. 

Despite the quality, because of this the game is at least worth some degree of admiration that unfortunately may just be the only thing it deserves from you at all.

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QCF: Retro Game Crunch

t's certainly no secret that in my faded, old, dying eyes, the golden years of gaming are now a bygone era with only reminders of its glory remaining in my collection of cartridges and CD ROMs that, for the most part, currently reside in the closet of my studio. Pixels and bits trump system specs and polygons. FOR LIFE!

To that end, I'm loving PC gaming more and more, especially with the increasing number of retro-inspired and old-school feeling titles on services such as Desura, Steam and the Humble Store. Sure, there are typically zero physical copies appearing for the PC platform for these games, but that doesn't make the games any less fun and often times, they are nice and affordable.

One game that is sure to strike the fancy of any retronaut like myself is Retro Game Crunch, a delightful collection of 3^rd generation-inspired titles, complete with the huge pixels, lo-fi sound and often-brutal difficulty old-timers like myself crave the ever-loving bits out of. Each title is totally different from the last yet somehow manages to stay just as fun and fresh between games. But for $15, is it worth your time? Get ready for a Ser Flash Seven-Part Machine-Gun review for Retro Game Crunch!

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QCF: Republique-Episode 2: Metamorphosis

 This Review was Frelanced by Rob Rich; you can find his other work here.

 few months have passed since Hope first began her desperate escape from implied brainwashing at the hands of her rather nefarious captors. Or are they her protectors? Nothing is entirely clear or as it seems in the world of Republique, and Episode 2: Metamorphosis keeps things just as confusing.

This new episode takes Hope through The Library as she attempts to get in touch with the one person she’s relatively sure she can trust in this lavish prison. But can she get to him in time? Well, that’s for you to find out.

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