QCF: Sunset Overdrive

t’s no secret that I take a particularly guilty joy out of the dichotomy that defines the éclat of video games—it’s a pretty silly identity crisis that I can’t but find amusing. On one hand, I want to the art and impact that video games create to continually expand into legitimate expression of art that can stand on par with some of the greatest literature and film ever produced by mankind, and yet on the other, I still want games to indulge into some of the stupidest shit imaginable.

Sure, that sounds unreasonably flippant, since making headway in one of directions would congruently set back the other, but I’d like to think that we can live in a world where gaming can cater to both of these worlds respectively—Insomniac’s Xbox One exclusive, Sunset Overdrive, is living proof of that.

Yeah, we live in a world where things like Deadpool and Tumblr have saturated our culture with facetious satire and fourth-wall humor to an obnoxiously pandering degree, but the latest effort from the same people behind Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, is one of the most refreshing games to have released in 2014. A world and action woven by the over-the-top chaos and fiction of this modern open-world odyssey of caffeine and attention-deficit youth has all the makings that truly define the special kind of enchantment that only a video game could offer.

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PAX Prime 2014: Getting intimate with Far Cry 4

hen Far Cry 3 first hit the scene, it was the sequel that few were excited for, and the surprise experience that no one ever expected when it eventually became a sleeper hit. Ubisoft Montreal was quick to chase the lucky break of possibly striking lightning twice, by ostensibly amplifying the all too familiar ingredients of its predecessor to a level that further pushes technical limits, and any remaining suspension of disbelief left in the brand to boot.

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QCF: South Park: The Stick of Truth

eventeen years and going, that’s nothing to sneeze at as far as commitment goes, and even more so when you factor all the consistency to be found in this ever mounting legacy—well, except for one; the shitty video games it’s spawned.

In what’s nearly amounted to almost two decades, I have continually found it strange that a solid property like South Park (one that has faithfully employed satire on the culture of video games on several occasions within its run) has failed to inspire developers to truly capture the spirit of the license in a video game five times.

That’s what makes The Stick of Truth so special; Obsidian and South Park Digital Studios didn’t aim to deliver one of the most ground breaking games to release in 2014—no, they instead have labored towards crafting the most satisfying vehicle of interaction for its property first, and above average game design to shoulder it secondly.

Ironically, this direction is makes The Stick of Truth one of the first must play games of 2014.

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