http://www.pixelsocks.com Where games go to find out what they're worth Mon, 14 Dec 2015 17:25:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/12/19/joe-danger-special-edition-review/ http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/12/19/joe-danger-special-edition-review/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:54:53 +0000 http://www.pixelsocks.com/?p=5353 It's the holiday season and there's a hell of a lot of cheer going around. So I'd like to call you back to one of your less pleasant memories. Recall opening up your presents on christmas morning as a wee tyke. You're drunk on the last six weeks of advertising and nothing eclipses your love for a toy car playset. There's gonna be ramps and loops and racing and crashing, and it'll be the best toy ever. Now recall what it actually was: a bunch of boring plastic that barely fits together and is fated for the first garage sale of the season. Remember that disappointment. Joe Danger: Special Edition promises to right that wrong, and for the most part it delivers. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/12/19/joe-danger-special-edition-review/feed/ 0 http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/11/30/orcs-must-die-review/ http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/11/30/orcs-must-die-review/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:57:25 +0000 http://www.pixelsocks.com/?p=5329 It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago tower defense was mostly confined to cultish flash games. Indies have have since stretched the genre into multiplayer, dropped player perspective to the trenches, and even stripped out the walls. Orcs Must Die is best understood against that backdrop. It's a payoff game that emerges from so much industry to refine innovation into polish. No related posts. 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Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/11/16/data-jammers-fast-forward-review/feed/ 0 http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/31/still-sick/ http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/31/still-sick/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:53:57 +0000 http://www.pixelsocks.com/?p=5295 Batman: Arkham City The flowing rhythm-based combat is fairly forgiving and doesn't demand lightning reflexes. Also, the game's 400+ Riddler trophies are so pervasive and the corresponding play so repetitive, it's only really suitable for players who are just conscious enough to be bored. Dungeon Defenders Can you say infinite level treadmill? Furthermore, DD is flexible take on the tower defense genre, suitable for both strategic and tactical play. So while you lay dying, you can focus on low-pressure tower building, leaving the hectic action part to your automated defenses. Then, if you recover, you can start working on your melee skills. Now if they'd just get their banner feature (cross-platform play) working. Seriously guys, this is supposed to be a joke. Hopefully those'll keep you busy while I finish recovering, because it is seriously impossible to update when I just want to sleep. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/31/still-sick/feed/ 0 http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/18/indiecade-winners/ http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/18/indiecade-winners/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:55:19 +0000 http://www.pixelsocks.com/?p=5293 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/18/indiecade-winners/feed/ 0 http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/11/muramasa-the-demon-blade-review/ http://www.pixelsocks.com/2011/10/11/muramasa-the-demon-blade-review/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:14:10 +0000 http://www.pixelsocks.com/?p=5272 Developers tend to have a signature--a type of game they make. Nippon Ichi makes grindy strategy games. Bethesda makes overambitious open world RPGs. Bioware remakes KotOR every few years. It's not ubiquetous or anything, but when you're in the biz, you tend to stick to what you're good at. Vanillaware's makes a particular kind of brawler. They take a rich cultural tradition of myth, realize it lovingly in pixel art, and then insert some characters to punch everyone in the face. They did it to Norse myth (which didn't really need more face-punching), and they've hit Japanese myth now with Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Mercifully, Vanillaware seems to have learned something between the two games, sparing Muramasa the ennui that ruined their first brawler. No related posts. 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