Day Z Standalone: First Impressions

Tuesday, December 31, 2013


My first character lasted 30 minutes. After washing up on the beach, I stumbled into the first town I came across. I scraped together a couple cans of food from the buildings before I was spotted by a zombie. I didn't bother thinking about which way I was going and just ran. I lost the zombie  and found myself in a swamp. My character had been screaming for a drink since I started the game, so I crouched in the brackish water and took a few drinks. Bad idea. Before long, I was sick, and not long after that, I was attacked again. Without any medical attention, my vision blurred, color drained from the world. I could feel the blood on my clothes, and could see spurts of it coming from my side. I lost consciousness on the road and died a few minutes later.

Walking Dead Season 2: Getting Serious

Thursday, December 26, 2013

The closing episode of The Walking Dead's first season left me in tears. The season told an incredible story of survival and hope in a world overrun by death. Most of the first season is spent doing whatever possible to protect Clementine; a little girl encountered early in the first episode. The bond developed throughout the first season is strong, and it's this honed, protective instinct that Telltale is taking advantage of in Season Two. This time, you are Clementine.

My Eight Year old Writes More Efficient Code Than Me

Tuesday, December 24, 2013


My oldest daughter never ceases to amaze me. She's in second grade, and obsessed with Doctor Who, loves dragons, books and games. We play chess at least once a week (she's teaching her little sister to play as well), she's my co-pilot when playing War Thunder, and  is always in pursuit of games we can all play together.

Not long ago, she came home beaming. She took a certificate out of her backpack saying that she had participated in the Hour of Code. The our of Code is a national movement to get computer science and coding into the classroom. This year, my daughter's class joined thousands of other students to learn some basic code from developers themselves. 

Is This the X-Wing We've Waited for?

Thursday, December 19, 2013


Star Wars is one of my favorite things (despite the prequels). When I was six years old, I would pull my brown corduroy game chair to the TV and put A New Hope in the VCR. I'd tuck pencils into the folds in the upholstery and pretend they were the controls of my X-wing. When the rebels attacked the death star, I would tip and rock the chair to mimic their maneuvers. For a while, that was as close as I could come to flying a starfighter. 

Then came the heady days of X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and X-Wing: Alliance. I could fly virtually any ship and could enlist to serve either Alliance or Empire. Since then, I've waited for another game in the series to surface. While the Rogue Squadron series lightly scratched that itch, it put me on too short a leash. My wait has been long, but might be ending soon.

[UPDATE] Reset; A Beautiful Game with a (possibly) Troubled Future

Tuesday, December 17, 2013


Indiegogo is home to a lot of interesting games seeking support. Tonight I'd like to turn your attention to one game in particular. Reset, a game from Finnish developer Theory has only six days left to meet it's goal. It's a beautiful looking game with a very interesting premise. It's got a ways to go before it meets it's goal, but with a kick of support, it could still make it through.

[UPDATE] Darkout; It's Always Dark...Out

Thursday, December 12, 2013









[UPDATE]: I've been informed that due to a mix-up, I was playing the Beta build of the game. I will post a re-written piece of the recently patched retail release soon. Please read on, with this in mind.

Darkout is an indie survival game from Allgraf. It's a sci-fi game that crashes the on dark, forbidding planet. Forced to fend for yourself, players must construct shelter, learn, research and adapt to the environment. It's atmospheric environments are intriguing, but forbidding. There is  a great deal to discover and do in Darkout, but players will have to struggle through the games numerous issues to get there.

Tales From The Borderlands; Commence Joy Puke

Tuesday, December 10, 2013


While the public opinion of the VGX Awards has been less than sensational, it would be silly to say that nothing good came from the event. Big name titles like Destiny and Titanfall gave us new material to ogle at, the announcement of No Man's Sky made many swoon and Ubisoft's Snowdrop Engine strut it's stuff for viewers. One announcement completely stole the show for me. Telltale and Gearbox are collaborating to bring an episodic adventure series set in the Borderlands universe.

DARPA Verigames Make you Unintentionally Productive

Thursday, December 5, 2013
DARPA is a name I associate with unmanned drones and terrifying robots. It is not generally speaking, a name that comes up in talk of videogames. And yet, I would be wrong. DARPA has released five puzzle games. They are free to play and most are browser based. What's the catch?  By playing these games, you are helping create more stable software for the military.

Two Take to the Skies

Tuesday, December 3, 2013


World of Warplanes has been my primary source for aerial combat. I like it's selection of planes, and the attention to detail and customization I expect from Wargaming. I've been hearing a lot about War Thunder, the aerial combat game from Gaijin Entertainment (War Thunder will eventually offer tanks and warships as well). After some research on the title, I decided to check it out.