Kurt Of Cambridge

Sometimes, in the business of critiquing games, there comes a moment where you have to ask yourself if your expectations of the creators behind projects are too high. Are you holding people, and their work, to too great a standard? Would you be strong enough, focused enough, bold enough to make the choices that lead to this game existing in the first place? Can you really say that, in their position, you’d do better than they ever could? I think about all of that, and then games like GORDY fall into my lap to remind me that having standards is important too. Sometimes, games are hollow, ambling, and slapdash in their construction - being able to acknowledge those failings and examine them in detail helps us understand and celebrate how other games prevail where this particular experience fell short. And if there’s one thing to be said in GORDY ’s favour, it’s that it isn't lacking for teachable moments, however much I may wish it did. Developed and published by MyGrandfather Games...

Once, in a bygone era called the 1990s, full-motion video was the latest fad sweeping the games industry. Wing Commander, Night Trap, Command & Conquer, The 7th Guest – many a studio saw potential in recordings of live actors performing scenes as a foundation for their games. Alas, between the relentless advance of technology and the inherent cost in building a game around FMV sequences, the practice would fall out of favour by decade's end.  Still, from time to time, games emerge that tap into that peculiar moment of history to interesting effect. So it is that we have Contradiction: Spot the Liar! , a crowdfunded murder mystery game wrapped in the FMV aesthetic. Though peculiar in some of its creative choices, the passion for the craft and the novelty of its main conceit do manage to shine through. Developed & Published by: Baggy Cat Ltd. Released for PC Set in a village in the UK, Contradiction follows the efforts of one Detective Jenks as he attempts to uncover the cir...

Time Loader builds itself upon a premise that's hard not to empathize with, utilizing the concept of time travel and environmental puzzles as both narrative hurdle and thematic weight. Everything about its construction rings with a certain profound sadness, a longing rarely put to words yet always there, like background radiation.  It is a game about being tied to the past and being unable to escape on every level. That inherent quality, though, begs the question: is Time Loader rooted so deeply to formula and familiar trappings that it cannot also be compelling or profound on its own merits? Do its preoccupations and occasional flaws stop it from going as far with its premise as it intends to? Title: Time Loader   Developer: Flazm Publisher: META Publishing Version Played: Xbox One   Release Date: March 10th, 2022 Note: Review code provided by HomeRun PR, on behalf of publisher When weighing the worth of this game, one needs to take into account that much to its cred...

I'm still cooking up the next new piece, so this week I thought I'd dig through some of my past work and find something that still actually holds up well. The following is a retro review of 2003's Call of Duty , originally written for and published on a previous blog that I created and ran for a number of years. While there may be individual points and observations with which I now disagree or regard in different terms, and while certain details about the wider franchise may have changed in the time since publication, I feel that this is a solid piece from the end of that blog's run and that there's much to be learned from revisiting one's earlier productions.  So, for your reading pleasure (I hope), here goes... When I think about how the first-person shooter has evolved, my first instinct is to turn to Call of Duty . The little-remembered 2003 war epic turned a niche genre – the military shooter – into a full-blown phenomenon, earning millions for publishe...

"I am the crushed one. It crushes my heart to see you not doing your best." Release Date: August 25, 2021 Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X Note: writer contributed to 2015/2016 Fig campaign funding the game's development  In an age where sequels and reboots are in abundance, particularly where video games are concerned, sixteen years is a hell of a gap. Yes, it can help cultivate a nostalgic longing for the return of something beloved from a bygone era... but it can't be helped that in that time, everything from the basics of design priorities through to the greater-scope concerns of the world around us has shifted more than once in inescapable, inevitable fashion. So it's an interesting position for Double Fine's latest work Psychonauts 2 to find itself. It needs to not only stand on its own merits but also ride the line between honoring its cult classic predecessor and growing beyond its roots, while also reckoning with the reality t...

I’ve sat on some opinions about a handful of games, most of which released in the hell year that was 2020, for a while now. This is owed largely to having being previously occupied by other concerns – professional and personal – as well as not feeling inclined to dedicate whole articles to them (at the very least, not while the pay for such work is... limited, let’s say). However, that ends now. I’ve decided to compile these together as a kind of loose round-up of sorts, a highlight reel of the highs and lows of a year in gaming where so much went wrong... but sometimes a few things turned out alright.  Before we go any further: if you enjoy this piece and want to support the creation of more work like it, please consider checking out (and potentially signal-boosting) the Kurt of Cambridge Ko-Fi and Paypal pages. With that out of the way, LET'S BEGIN. Carrion So this is easily the best thing Devolver Digital has published since Hotline Miami . The remarkable simplicity of the gam...

Yep, 'tis another work of mine - a video review of Crackdown 3 scripted and with captured footage by yours truly.

So! I've been a busy fellow, it seems. Yes, in addition to continuing to work on QueueTimes pieces behind the scenes (one's coming up soon, keep your eyes open) I've also been asked to join the Review team for MojoPlays , an off-shoot of WatchMojo.com .  My first review , for the first episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season: And review number two , for the indie puzzle-platformer Planet Alpha:

Yes, I have indeed begun reviewing for QueueTimes.  First up: my take on the delightful retro platformer Squidlit.   Read on...

Developer/Publisher: Penumbra Games Release Date: January 26, 2018 Version Played: PC Copy purchased for review There’s a definite hole to be filled where once stood classics like Silent Hill, Siren and Alone in the Dark .  Those seminal works of the survival horror genre knew better than most how to toy with audience expectations, using a synthesis of cutting-edge audio-visual technology and compelling writing to scare the living crap out of you.  Everything from the underplayed cosmic horror of Lovecraft to the familiar yet grotesque extremes of Barker was drawn upon for inspiration, and it enriched rather than undermined these vital entries in the genre. Later On doesn’t quite hit that same level of quality or cultural relevance, not by a long shot.  It’s constrained very much by the tools and scope of its construction, and feels like it pulls punches or avoids essential detail where such elements would do the most good.  Yet there’s a hard-to-resist a...

Developer: Turquesa Studios Publisher: Turquesa Studios Release Date: January 17, 2018 Version Played: PC Copy purchased for review Some games break my goddamn heart, that's for sure. I see their potential, I recognize full well that there's genuine effort and care being put into (some aspects of) the production, and I brace for the inevitable realization that this work in question just isn't very good. Alma has wound up being one such game. It drew me in initially with a compelling premise and visual style, before grinding me down to seething contempt with game mechanics as infuriating in practice as they are half-baked in conception. Every time it seemed like something might potentially work - rare as the prospect was - the game ended up pulling out the rug from underneath me. After the first few instances of this, it soon became clear nothing would redeem the failings of Alma . Not. One. Damn. Thing. The setup's not half bad, though. Our heroine of c...

Developer: Rusty Lake Publisher: Rusty Lake Release Date: January 11, 2018 Version Played: PC Copy purchased for review When talking of horror media, the concept of fearing the unknown is key. It’s not exactly a novel sentiment, but I nonetheless maintain that it’s vital to understanding why a given work - film, literature, video game, et cetera - works at provoking a terrified response. For many, there’s an innate impulse to draw back and flee when faced with grotesque and incomprehensible imagery; we retreat to safety in a bid to keep calm whilst trying to make sense of our observations. This feels pertinent since, on top of everything else, Rusty Lake Paradise is remarkably adept in its usage of horror iconography to evoke fear in the audience. It’s unsettling in mood, slow-burning in narrative progression, and quite effectively builds in suspense up to its finale. For the uninitiated: Paradise represents the latest work in the Rusty Lake series, sharing its name with t...

Release Date: January 12th, 2018 Developer: Daniil Titner Publisher: Daniil Titner Version Reviewed: PC Copy Purchased There's a saying in certain circles that you can make a good movie out of anything, but to do it sometimes you have to rip out the source material's guts.  The intent of that saying is, I feel, quite clear in its central focus - highlighting how some projects have to work harder than others to hammer competency out of flawed material - but I think the sentiment can also apply to other mediums, like gaming. Take, for example, the first-person platformer, a sub-genre which exists primarily as an extension of the first-person shooter genre being so prevalent for sooooo long.  Make no mistake, I like works like Mirror's Edge (or, say, Jumping Flash ) for at least trying to offer something different from the gun-toting norm, but the execution of such works tends to leave a lot to be desired (no matter how much time, energy and money is thrown at the d...