Geek of Oz

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (hereafter just referred to as " Storm" for brevity of word count) is the kind of prequel which will produce two responses. One will be distinct for those who've played the original game, and thus experience the prequel with knowledge of what's to come. The other will render a story for those who've never played Life is Strange before. Unlike most examples of prequels, in any medium, those responses will probably be vastly different. So to that end, I'm reviewing this game twice. First, for those who have no idea what the hell Life is Strange is, and secondly - with spoilers - for those who do. If you're just looking for a brief summation on my thoughts: I enjoyed it to a point, and am tentatively awaiting the next episode. FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T PLAYED LIFE IS STRANGE   Chloe Price is your average sixteen-year-old. She's skipping school, mouthing off to her mum's new boyfriend, breaking curfe...

THE SHORT VERSION First things first - yes, it's a lot better than Final Fantasy XIII (and this isn't the only time I'll say that, too). Second things second - no, they are not  a boy band. STORY Part of the reason this review is going out a fortnight after release date, in addition to Final Fantasy XV 's sheer length, is because I've had to mull my thoughts over quite a bit more than I normally would for any game, let alone a Final Fantasy entry. A big chunk of that has a lot to do with the story. Noctis Lucis Caelum is many things. He's the Prince of the Kingdom of Lucis, betrothed to the Oracle Lunafreya, a skilled combatant and, most notably, an adolescent man with an irritating temperament to match. So what do you do when you're all of those first things on top of being a burgeoning adult? You go on a road trip with your three best friends - including a peppy young gunslinger, a boisterous, shirtless man with python-thick arms, and a ...

THE SHORT VERSION Much like my assessment of Lian Hearn's recent work , there are times when my critical and subjective opinions clash. On the one hand,   Deus Ex: Mankind Divided  is a solid, visually luscious and intricately-detailed action-RPG that nonetheless could've done with a slightly meatier runtime and some more engagement in the main story arc. On the other, though, it's a beautiful cyberpunk game that puts me back in the stylish trenchcoat of one of my favourite video game protagonists ever. There are call backs to the previous game, call forwards to the future ones, and all of it wrapped within the same immersive,   Blade Runner -esque experience that made   Deus Ex: Human Revolution   such a joy to play. So take this review for whatever it's worth. I am a sucker for   Deus Ex  and the cyberpunk genre, and was thus able to overlook a few of   Mankind Divided 's deficiencies (minor though they ultimately are). As a ga...

This is the second in a series of reviews that cover the new, episodic Hitman  game across most of 2016. Each episode will be reviewed and scored as it is released. Check out Episode 1 here . --- THE SHORT VERSION After the cold-toned mansion in Paris, Hitman uses more vibrant and thrilling locales for episodes that are mechanically solid but narratively shaky. STORY I've gotta be honest - I have no idea what the story of the new Hitman is anymore. On the margins, it seems as if a grizzly older guy - who may be a former ICA operative, or is perhaps just a nutter with an aptitude for murder - is after something being held by an organisation called Providence. Though we keep getting cutscenes at the end of each story mission that attempt to convey the narrative, the game makes Agent 47 feel divorced from the larger plot going on around him by its alarming lack of focus within gameplay. Sure, one of the Paris targets might have turned out to be involv...