The Forgotten City by Modern Storyteller released on Xbox One and Series X, Playstation 4 and 5 and PC in 2021. It's one of the most unique games I've ever played and also one of the best: it's a roleplaying game with immersive sim and first person shooter elements as well as some exploration and multi-level traversal. If that all sounds like Greek to you, it's like if you took the gameplay elements from the Elder Scrolls series like Oblivion or Skyrim (which this game started out as a mod for) but just emphasized the writing and mystery story. And what a story it is. It's not like any experience you're ever likely to have so give this a watch and find out why!

State of Decay was a big deal when it launched back in 2013 on the online Xbox Live Arcade store, and it's now sold over 2 million copies. Unlike most other zombie games like Dead Island, Dead Rising, Dead Space, Call of Duty Zombies, and Red Ded Redemption: Undead Nightmare, State of Decay focuses on more than just the adrenaline rush of combat. The game requires that you that you scavenge for supplies and manage resources, upgrade your base of operations, and keep your survivors mentally and physically healthy.

So given all the updates the series has now received, was this promise of depth within the overcrowded zombie genre actually fulfilled? Did State of Decay 2 adequately improve upon the foundation and earn its fanbase of millions and millions of players? I'll answer these questions and more by giving you some boots on the ground insight into the series to date and also a little about whether you should be worried about State of Decay 3's development over at Undead Labs - (https://www.cgmagonline.com/news/stat.... Let's get stuck in!

Antarctica 88, the second title from Russian indie developers Euphoria Games, is an action horror game inspired by John Carpenter's the Thing and features first-person shooting, environmental puzzles, and driving sections. It released on mobile platforms and Steam in August 2020. Check out the review to see if this one's worth your time and money!

2017's Gray Dawn and 2022's Last Days of Lazarus may be five years apart and from technically two different companies, but they share quite a lot of the same DNA from primary developer George Remus (Poiana) formerly of Interactive Stone and now Darkania Works (with assistance of Catalin Marcu of Grimtalin for Lazarus). They're both visually striking religious horror experiences drawing on rich Romanian culture and folklore, including beautiful iconography, mysticism, and alchemy. While their daring, sometimes stomach churning stories go astray sometimes, their value as interactive experiences can't be underestimated. These are some of the most unique walking simulators you'll ever play. Find out why!

Kingdom of the Dead is a 2022 action horror first person shooter by Dirigo Games, previously known for Depths of Fear, Syscrusher, Stowaway on itch.io and Reactor in the Dread X Collection. It's fortunately not just another boomer shooter. Its real draw (haha) is its unique pen and ink art style where the textures are handdrawn and then scanned into the game as 3d environments. It's transfixing and reminiscent of classic Universal monster movies like Frankenstein or Dracula. But does its gameplay hold up? Find out within...if you dare!

Please note, the actual game looks much better than this footage. The game probably has some optimization improvements that could be made but I want to be clear my setup's a little outdated and for whatever reason, no combination of bitrate/rate control could get this game to record correctly on my machine so just wanted to let you know it's me, not the developer, as they made a really sharp looking product. If nothing else, take my review as an aid for knowing whether it's for you and peruse the several other reviews out there for footage purposes. Thanks!

Indie developer Alexander Reshetnikov, otherwise known as Emika Games, is famous for his August 2021 Twitter post lamenting how his games were getting refunded on Steam because people were beating them in under two hours. Fortunately, he's back at the grind with Father's Day and From Day to Day, so the setback was momentary.

So I decided to check out his catalog and having played his first three Steam released games Locked Up, Find Yourself, and Summer of '58 on sale, I can give you the inside scoop as to what we are missing out on if he and other indie devs have to abandon their passion because of bad business practices and customers taking advantage of the situation to essentially steal from creators. So check it out and see if these games are just streamer bait or scary good!

Chasing Static is a first person psychological horror game released in 2021 by Bristol based developer Headware Games, a nearly one-man team led by Nathan Hamley. This isn’t your average walking sim horror experience though: it doesn’t rely on jumpscares or gore and feels more like a harrowing episode of the X-Files if David Lynch directed it. While it has a little trouble earning its ending from its suspenseful buildup, the journey is so meditative and moving you won’t quite mind the destination. So let’s get stuck in and see if this short but sweet experience has enough of the good stuff to move you too!

You may have heard of Doom clones but there was a small pocket of time between Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM's release where Wolfenstein clones should have existed and really didn't, except for the Blake Stone series. The first game Aliens of Gold released a week before Doom and was totally overwhelmed by that title's popularity. Its sequel Planet Strike in 1994 did little to change that. So take a gander and see if this series is best left to the recesses of time or whether you pull it out from the shadow of DOOM and try it for yourself!

0:00 Introduction

1:35 Aliens of Gold Development History

8:45 Aliens of Gold Weapons

10:01 Aliens of Gold Final Impressions

11:10 Planet Strike Design Changes

13:43 Planet Strike's New Weapon

14:40 Planet Strike's Enemies

16:18 Planet Strike's Surprising Omissions

16:53 Final Verdicts on Blake Stone Series

1993 was the year of DOOM. Wolfenstein 3-D may have staked a claim to first person greatness but DOOM put the genre and id software on the map. Its incredibly addictive gameplay loop, catchy soundtrack, punchy sound effects, and campy but chilling atmosphere won over gamers the world wide and still does to this day, winning my vote for the most well-aged game ever made. Come get stuck in and we'll find out what holds up and what doesn't and just how far DOOM's legacy reaches!

0:00 Introduction

1:40 - Concept & Development of DOOM

6:18 - DOOM's Developer Contributions

8:36 - Music of DOOM

9:56 - DOOM's Level Design

15:20 - Weapons of DOOM

18:24 - Demons of DOOM

23:32 - Thy Flesh Consumed

26:20 - Overall Impressions of DOOM

27:45 - DOOM II: Hell On My Patience

28:26 - The Super Shotgun

29:12 - DOOM II's New Enemies

32:32 - DOOM II's Inconsistent Level Design

38:17 - Final Impressions of DOOM & DOOM II

After several experiments with design in Hovertank 3-D and Catacomb 3-D, id software would finally nail their particular brand of fast rendering technology, bloody action, and trademark edgy style in 1992's Wolfenstein 3-D. It would usher in a renaissance for the fledgling first-person shooter genre and inform the success of their next big hit in 1993's Doom. Check out how the game came to be, whether it's still worth playing, and the impact it left on the industry. Enjoy!

A Startling Revelation 0:00

Introduction 1:04

Development, Story, Impact - 1:50

Sound and Music - 4:00

Graphics and Level Design 5:11

Weapons 6:35

Enemies 7:53

The Not So Well Aged - 9:25

Spear of Destiny 10:28

Conclusion 13:30

In 1992, 3D first person gaming branched into two distinct directions: the action-packed shooter Wolfenstein 3D by id software and Ultima Underworld: the Stygian Abyss by Blue Sky Productions (later known as the legendary Looking Glass Studios). Whereas Wolfenstein 3-D was all about speed and violence, Ultima Underworld focused on designer Paul Neurath's ultimate goal: to make the best and most immersive dungeon crawler ever made.

The game included survival and simulation elements like having to eat and rest regularly, engaging in intuitive conversations with NPCS to solve quests, and a non linear and sometimes open-ended structure to the order and manner in which quests could be completed. It was also the first game to have an almost entirely 3-D space, with right angled corners, multiple planes of elevation, texture mapping on floors and ceilings, and the ability to look up and down, jump, and fly, just to name a few.

These technical achievements set the standard for gaming going forward, but Ultima Underworld's utopia in ruins setup would also inspire the settings for games like System Shock and Bioshock as well as provide the mechanical framework for much of incredibly popular Elder Scrolls series. In addition to influencing quite a lot of modern RPG design, the game's attention to detail and open-ended solutions would prototype the immersive sim(ulation) design ideas that Deus Ex, Thief, and many others would iterate and improve upon.

0:00 Introduction

1:22 Development

2:32 Story

4:31 Presentation

5:54 Character Builds/Skill Breakdown

8:24 Controls/Interface

10:28 Quests and NPC Conversations

12:30 The Bad

13:23 Is Ultima the First Immersive Sim?

16:25 Legacy of Ultima Underworld

Into the Gloom is an indie horror game by Emmanuel Ramos aka EARRGAMES that uses red, white, and black pixel style graphics. You are trapped in a nightmarish urban limbo and you must solve puzzles and evade evil spirits like the Shadow to return back to the land of the living. Besides Amnesia: the Dark Descent by Frictional Games, I've not played a scarier game.