Throughout my time with Crisis 3, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was trapped inside of a Hollywood film. This became especially true during the more predictable moments of the script. At one point in the campaign, my partner and I, a man called Psycho, quietly snuck through the sewers as we attempted to evade C.E.L.L. -- a private military outfit ordered to find and capture us. Pyscho was formerly a Nanosuited military bad boy like me, but he had his outfit surgically removed by force somewhere between the last Crysis game and this one. Relegated to a life as a regular soldier, Psycho tugged at a rusty crank to open a set of sealed double doors until he felt fatigued; a loud creak reverberated through the environment -- a sure sign to anyone in earshot that they weren't alone.

About an hour into Aliens: Colonial Marines, it's hard to find a reason to keep playing. At least that's exactly how I felt during my solo campaign run. Xenomorphs -- the creepy, black-suited extraterrestrials from the Hollywood films -- often slipped past my dimwitted allies to attack me directly. In some instances, they visibly brushed shoulders with my teammates, as they pounced towards my avatar and took a swipe at my head. Honestly, it's a strange sight to witness at first. Can the nimble Xenos even see my allies? It's hard to tell, but one thing became clear to me at this point: I'm the only target on the field that matters, and unless I round up four buddies for a coop session, no one is coming to my rescue.

If pop culture has taught us anything, it's that space can be a pretty lonely place. Like Ellen Ripley before him, Dead Space's Isaac Clark had to endure two full games of solitary terror in order to arrive at where he is today. To give the guy a break, EA and Visceral Games decided to expand the third installment in the series by allowing a second player to assume the role of John Carver, and officer in the Earth Defense Force with a bit of a troubled past. Together, the two of them journey from the familiarity of decrepit spaceships to the unfamiliar hell of Tau Volantis, a frozen planet that holds the key to saving humanity. With this newfound importance placed on cooperative play, we decided that it would be best for 1UP editors Jose Otero and Marty Sliva to team up and review Dead Space 3 together.

Marty Sliva: Before we delve into Dead Space 3, I feel like we should first state our history with the series. How versed are you with the prior games?

]]>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:59:00 PSTREVIEWhttp://localhost/reviews?cId=3188188Chris Pereira

Oftentimes the approach developers take when designing a game in an established genre involves adding layers of complexity in the hopes it will add up to a game with depth. What we don't see as frequently is a developer that comes at things from a much different angle, paring back at the excess, and in the process, delivering a more streamlined, yet still deep, game. That is exactly what 17-Bit have come up with in Skulls of the Shogun, and although that notion may be objectionable to diehard strategy game fans who want their games to be anything but approachable, Shogun manages to provide a highly enjoyable game that it just so happens almost anyone can play without hours of practice.

Being a Mega Man fan these days feels kind of like being an angry teenager. Even though we're justified in punching our pillows and mumbling about how Capcom Japan doesn't understand us, our tantrums haven't changed much; Capcom Japan has not done right by their blue bomber lately. The developer hasn't even done anything noteworthy to celebrate Mega Man's 25th birthday, and that's a shame because a quarter century of existence is an impressive feat for a video game character -- even if said character is a near-immortal android to begin with.

Capcom USA, on the other hand, is trying its hardest to help fans keep themselves together while Mega Man's makers slowly decide what to do with him. In one particularly admirable effort, Capcom USA adopted Street Fighter X Mega Man, a sprite-based Mega Man/Street Fighter crossover initially conceived and partially programmed by Singaporean fan Seow Zong Hui.

"Outsider."

If any single thread runs through the small (but growing) fabric of Studio Pixel's Cave Story universe, it's that of the outsider. In Cave Story, the first time you hear the term "outsider" comes in reference to Sue, a young girl who appears to be a half-rabbit Mimiga. Yet the dwindling population of the Mimiga Village view her with suspicion for having come to their home from parts unknown. Eventually, the Mimiga's collective plight outweighs their contempt for Sue, but even then the stigma of the outsider continues to permeate the tale as the player controls the greatest alien to be found in the tale: A war robot who formerly fought in a war that raged across the world outside the caves. Lost and essentially alone, he aspires to escape to the outside world, and his efforts are regarded with diffidence and suspicion.

I really don't need to tell any of you adventure game fans that we're in the midst of a genre renaissance. This past year has seen a wealth of titles that present many different takes on one of gaming's oldest genres. From Telltale's award-winning adaptation of The Walking Dead, to iOS showcases like The Room, to beautiful sleeper hits like Kentucky Route Zero, those looking for narrative-based puzzle solving have no shortage of options. But each of those games I just mentioned come from relatively young voices in our medium, despite their respective levels of quality being more reflective of seasoned creators. It's with that in mind that we enter The Cave, Double Fine's latest straight from the mind of adventure game pioneer Ron Gilbert.

For the Maniac Mansion/Monkey Island creator's latest tale, we're immediately introduced to an omniscient, devious, and hilarious narrator who also just so happens to be the titular cave. As our Sherpa on this downward quest, The Cave himself (itself?) provides many of the game's most memorable moments, and is immediately a strong contender for 2013's best new character. In the spirit of Maniac Mansion, the first decision the player makes stems from choosing a trio of heroes to send into the dark depths of Gilbert's world. These adventurers range across all genres -- a Time Traveler, a Buddhist Monk, and a pair of creepy, Shining-inspired kids are all at your disposal. Each of the seven tortured souls has a specific reason for journeying into the cave, which is conveyed through single-frame paintings that you find scattered throughout the environment. As you descend deeper and deeper, you'll realize that each character may or may not represent one of the seven deadly sins, and parsing out their darkly-comedic backstories is one of the true joys to The Cave.

For better or worse, and to the chagrin of some of the series' more outspoken fans, Capcom stuck by their decision to shake up Devil May Cry and try something new. Understandably, news of this reboot set off major concerns from loyal followers, some of whom have painted a bleak picture for the future of the series. In their eyes, Dante should always have white hair, a cocky demeanor, a touch of Japanese wackiness, and a deep arsenal of weapons and combos to use in his fight against demons. Nothing could ever change it.

As someone who enjoyed the first and third installments of Devil May Cry immensely, I couldn't help but feel conflicted by this change. Our first look at the new "Dante" had a disturbingly beat-up and dark motif, but one the developer has subtlely dialed back over time. Just take a look at Dante now! New developer Ninja Theory has wisely toned down some of the off-putting characteristics their rebooted hero initially displayed, making him a much more approachable leading man. As far as looks go, he still bears similarities to professional Portuguese soccer player Cristano Ronadlo over Hillary Swank and Twilight, but he also retains the same irreverent attitude as ever -- not to mention a collection of fantastic weapons and fighting styles to use against his demon opponents. And, most importantly, he's still cool.

Warning: the following review contains significant, life-shattering spoilers. You have been warned.

Bob Mackey: I've been following Telltale's efforts since they revived Sam & Max in 2006, and while I've played and enjoyed nearly everything they've put out so far, none of their productions to date would have ranked as my favorite game of their respective years. Yet here we are, just a few weeks after the release of Episode 5, and I can't think of a single game of 2012 -- or in recent memory, for that matter -- that drew me in more than The Walking Dead. Granted, it reduced the classic adventure game formula down to a series of choices and QTEs instead of the typical mind-bending puzzles, but this humble little game did for me what the bombastic and high-budget Heavy Rain could never do. Telltale made me care about each of their flawed characters, and forced me to make some very tough choices -- choices that many games wouldn't be brave enough to force on an unassuming audience. At the end of Lee's journey, it took minutes for me to recover from the emotional exhaustion of watching this compassionate character meet his undeserved end. Most game stories -- regardless of their ambition -- have me feeling seriously disconnected from the players on screen; with The Walking Dead, I eagerly anticipated each episode just to see what would happen next. That's damned impressive.

Marty and Jose have also been playing along with The Walking Dead since its summer debut, and our excitement over Telltale's latest project inspired us to write this review as a group. So guys, how did you feel about the overall trajectory of the story? Did it sag in any particular areas? Do you think Telltale earned the game's bittersweet ending? And how about The Walking Dead as a game: do you think this medium was the best format for its story?

Absolution's stealth mechanics may seem difficult to wrap your brain around at first, but developer IO Interactive gets things rolling quickly and confidently tosses the player into a fairly open second mission, titled "King of Chinatown," with nothing more than a pair of silenced pistols and intuition -- a feature that slows down events in the world and highlights enemies though objects to show their intended patrol routes. Using a careful mix of environmental distractions, social camouflage, and intuition to maneuver around enemies, players can carefully creep through Hitman's heavily guarded areas without a lot of the guesswork that typically comes up in stealth games.

Undoubtedly you've heard of the Chinatown level, as Square Enix has used it as their go-to for public demos at events like E3 2012, and for good reason: It's possibly the single best example of Absolution's freedom and the surprising number of ways protagonist Agent 47 can MacGuyer his way though any scenario. Carefully searching through the environment reveals a variety of different approaches to take out the target, from poisoning his meals to blowing him up along with his exotic sports car. In the end, you decide how to best handle the murder, but Absolution tends to reward the one that looks least incriminating and injures the fewest bystanders -- i.e., poison, construction accidents, or some other natural-looking phenomenon. Of course, you could bypass all the exploration, locate the target, and take the obvious trigger-happy approach, but doing so comes with its own set of consequences -- in this case, a dangerous shootout against the local police and SWAT. Regardless of what you decide, improvisation becomes a core element of Absolution and always needs to be taken into consideration.