This is my last column, ever, and I realize there's a lot of games I didn't review. So, for a last goodbye, here's the motherlode of reviews: four in one! They're each just very quick, but they get the job done. So, enjoy!
Killing Floor
Rating: M
Score: 9.0/10
It's a simple basic for an addictive game. Your squad (you and your friends) must survive waves of zombies. Each character can have a different perk, and each perk has different abilities and strengths. Specialised guns have boost in effectiveness in some manner with these perks, and you get discounts on those specialised guns. For example, Support Specialists deal in shotguns, so damage and penetration are boosted with that perk, along with a good discount in buying shotguns. There are only six levels for the perks, so each level gives a significant increase. Likewise, each level takes a lot of work to get to in a cheap way to pad out the experience. Speaking of experience, there's a good amount of fun in the solo, but the Co-Op is the whole reason to buy the game. You and several friends survive as long as possible, using all your wits. The hordes are hard and VERY unforgiving, so every person is worth something. It strengthens and breaks friendships in the best of ways.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Rating: M
Score: 9.0/10
VERY few "survival horror" games are scary at all. An enemy comes at you slowly in a well-lit room, that's not exactly scary. Most survival horror games have cheap scares: a monster comes out of somewhere unexpectedly and startles you, nothing more. Truly scary games make you scared without doing anything, you're scared to turn around in case the monster is there, but he's not going to pop out unless you do. The worry of what he could do lingers, haunting your thoughts, and that's what very few games can master. Amnesia has this down, having the entrancing atmosphere without jump scares needed. The premise is that you're a man with amnesia, and you must escape a deadly mansion. When you stand in the darkness and witness extraordinary events, you lose sanity. When you stand in light, you gain sanity again, but you're much easier to spot by monsters, and you have nothing to defend yourself with. The whole feelings of vulnerability you have and the fight with your sanity the whole way adds a beautiful touch of unease and entrancement, making for a surreal experience.
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2
Rating: T
Score: 8.0/10
BlazBlue, for those who forgot my review of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 1, is a flashy 2-D fighting game. It focuses on combos and, thanks to Continuum Shift, is quite easy to learn combos with the challenge mode. The original Continuum Shift on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 a year or so back is fairly unchanged here, which is quite amazing when played on a Nintendo 3DS. The modes are the same, a few new characters are added, and existing ones have been changed around as far as combos and strengths go. The Nintendo 3DS version uses the directional pad instead of an analog stick, which is quite wonky. Also of note, the consoles use a patch to UPDATE Continuum Shift 1, while the 3DS uses a whole new game, with the world's WORST announcer. The monotone and lack of care is a bit impressive, actually, but painful to hear. Even still, it's great fun and fixes a few things, while adding a few things. Nothing too bit, so it's only an amazing purchase for fans and any who haven't played the series yet.
Super Meat Boy
Rating: T
Score: 9.0/10
A lot of games cash in on the fact older gamers love platforming games, but none are quite this...relentless! This game brings gamers back to the old days, where games were unforgiving and were almost always platforming games, due to lack of power for much else on the systems. The controls and animations are super-fluent, surprising for a small game like this. Not small as in short, this game has over 300 levels. Each increase in difficulty until it almost seems like a miracle to complete, but no level seems to take a huge difficulty jump. For those wanting a challenge, Super Meat Boy delivers well.
So, that's the end of it. I would like to thank any loyal readers that read right until the last word. For them, I collected all my columns and put them in one spot: http://sites.google.com/site/gamerscorneronline/
I hope it's been as fun to read them as it's been to write them. To all my readers, game on!