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Game Essays

Deponia

Deponia: Down in the Dumps

(I was assigned to do a review on Deponia, was given a review copy and everything from Nightmare Mode. It was written, editing and ready for posting. Then the day before it was scheduled Nightmare Mode went on hiatus to restructure itself into its present form. I was given my …

Indie Game Spotlight: p0nd

Indie Game Spotlight is a weekly feature where I highlight an independent game that deserves attention. Given the difficulty these developers have in being heard, every little bit helps. Some will be free, some will cost money, but all are deserving of some attention. P0nd is a one-button, flash game …

Indie Game Spotlight: The Stanley Parable

Indie Game Spotlight is a weekly feature where I highlight an independent game that deserves attention. Given the difficulty these developers have in being heard, every little bit helps. Some will be free, some will cost money, but all are deserving of some attention. The Stanley Parable is a Source …

The Morality of inFamous

Probably the most talked about part of inFamous is the moral choice mechanic. The idea is to split the choice between good and evil options, which can be interesting, but the criticism has been leveled at how it is handled. Reasoning in later choices makes less and less sense as …

The Propaganda of inFamous

(*minor spoilers*) While the story of inFamous is told through the standard methods of cutscenes, found messages and calls from allies and mission handlers, it adds aftermath commentary. In the form of propaganda the game provides story related and world building feedback on your actions. The messages only relate to …

The Milieu of inFamous

I would place the introduction of inFamous as one of the better opening levels in open world gaming. I say this because it sets the stage to not just for the game, but also more importantly for the milieu. Milieu is the French word for environment or setting, but it …

The Killer 7 Argument – Braid

It took a while, but I’ve played another game worthy of the Killer 7 Argument. I just finished playing through Braid for the second time after my first complete save was lost to a corrupt hard drive. The second playthrough was a huge help in getting my head around what to make of the game and figure out what I specifically thought of it.