MadCap's Game Reviews - "Horizon Zero Dawn"

So...humanity has a weird fetish for post-apocalyptic fantasies, doesn't it?

I'm not making a joke here, it just amazes me how many games, television, and films use the time after the end of civilization as the entry point to their plots. Such as it is with Horizon Zero Dawn, a game from the loving arms of Guerrilla Games and Sony. And if Guerrilla isn't familiar to you, don't worry, it wasn't to me either. Their most known for the Killzone series of games...which I haven't played.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age"

Isn't fanfiction just super fun?

No, really. That's what this is. Believe it or not, The Shadow of Mordor saga isn't the first time that someone's taken the epic saga of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and gone completely and utterly off the rails with it.

That would be Rankin/Bass. NO! END SENTENCE, BEGIN ANEW!

MadCap At the Movies - "Logan"

The character of Wolverine aka James Howlett aka Logan is a character that is definitely a breakout character among the X-Men. His past is long and storied (and overdone multiple times in the comics as well as in film) and many alternate futures see him as either an old, bitter man who has outlived everyone around him or a...actually, no, it's pretty much just that. Hence, we come to Old Man Logan, set in a dystopian future where the Red Skull has become President of the United States, the Abomination, Doctor Doom, and Magneto have likewise taken over portions of America. Naturally, being that FOX only had the rights to 50% of the aforementioned characters, some cutting down had to be done for this film.

I haven't read Old Man Logan, but it seems a natural choice for Hugh Jackman's final (or so we're led to believe at the time of this writing) stab at the character he has played now for seventeen years. The entire film, in fact, feels like a good last hurrah for the character overall, whether he's further played by Jackman or not (and indeed, I do hope Wolverine fades a bit more into the background in years to come).

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Final Fantasy XV"

So, I have danced with the Devil and committed the unbearable sin of playing a Final Fantasy game. Why? Because I was honestly feeling cocky and figured I could handle it. Alas, the game has changed and yet feels so much the same.

I spent a tutorial and then about five minutes learning that apparently anime Satan was a big threat to to Techno-Medieval Fantasy Kingdom #5306 before I spent about ten minutes pushing a car through a desert.

No, I'm serious. Pushing a car through a desert.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Pokemon Sun and Moon"

Okay, so...first and foremost, because I just have to get this out of the way. I don’t have to wear a stupid hat anymore!

...yes, that is something to celebrate. Shut your damn mou-anyway, Pokemon Sun and Moon. Yay!

Nintendo taking another stab at that wildly and hilariously successful franchise that has managed to stay relevant for over two decades with very little change. It’s really surprising, in all honesty. For a series that’s all about evolution (or, transformation to be more scientifically accurate concerning a fictional universe where clumps of garbage are apparently sentient - has anyone acknowledged that Pokemon is kind of weird yet?), the series hasn’t really changed much beyond the core concept of “find monsters, train monsters, fight monsters”. Of course, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since Nintendo and Game Freak have shown that they really know how to change things up just enough to keep things from getting stale.

...nine times out of ten, anyway. Hoenn still has way too much water.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition"

Well, honestly, this is about five years overdue. Seriously, this game shut down my blog for SEVEN MONTHS! Seven months where I didn't post a thing, I didn't do anything. It completely consumed by gaming life for seven months, fueled on the insane amount of hype. At the time, this game was literally everything I could have hoped for in a fantasy RPG: running around the landscape with a sword in hand as I completed quests, stood stalwart against the forces of evil, and battled...wait for it...FREAKING DRAGONS!

Had I reviewed this game in 2011, it would have been me gibbering in fanboy-induced insanity, likely in the form of a video of me belting out a Dragon-themed version of the Narwhals song at the top of my lungs to a montage of me killing said dragons.

...in an alternate universe where I can make videos that aren't me sitting in a room with really, really poor lighting and bad audio, but I'm working on it!

MadCap's Game Reviews - "The Best of 2016"

Wow...2016 was a shit year, wasn't it? Let's get on with some of the good games I played in the Year That We Wish Never Was. Remember, like my worst list from last week, this is a list of games that I played within the year 2016 and reviewed, not necessarily games that came out in 2016. So, without further adieu, here's some shining gems that I managed to dig out of the cesspool.

10. The Movies
review here

I'm not much for the god games, but this was just fun. Managing the ins and outs of a Hollywood movie studio was an enjoyable experience, getting to be a part of every facet of it from the writing of scripts (as sophisticated as that wasn't) to casting to shooting to post-production and beyond! Sure, it could be monotonous at times, but overall its a very enjoyable experience and there's plenty of wiggle room to allow the creativity to flow.

...also, Randy Pitchford is still off my Christmas card list.

9. Until Dawn
review here

 Now, I know a lot of people really don't like this game, but I did. Sure, it barely qualifies as a game in the strictest sense that you can move an avatar and complete objectives, focusing a great deal more on the story (such as it is), but I did really like the story despite the fact that it hit pretty much every single horror trope ever in rapid succession. The only reason this isn't higher on the list is because of the fact that, ultimately, your choices don't really mean anything, which ultimately hurts the experience overall.

8. Far Cry Primal
review here

Caveman. Beating things with sticks. No need to go any further.

7. Super Star Wars
review here

I hate myself for having this on this list, considering how much I absolutely abhorred so much about it. I still call it completely and control-eatingly unfair...but I can't deny it's just damn good. It's a slog to get through, for sure, but there is a clear feeling of elation whenever I do actually manage through either skill or sheer luck to plow through a part I've been having difficulty on. It's...not an elegant weapon...and one could hardly call the early 90s civilized, but...

...yeah, nevermind. The metaphor is dead. Next game.

6. Doom (2016)
review here

Like I said last week, I do genuinely like this game. It drives me absolutely mad, but I love it. Like the original, it's fun, it's visceral, and there's something about the masculine brain that gets a lovely itch when we're tearing apart Hellspawn with big guns.

5. Fallout 4 - Automatron
review here

Building robots? Yes. Fallout 3 reference? Yes. Complete waste of time? Yes. But, like I said in my review, it's a fun one. It really makes it worth to it to go looking for the components you need to make yet another robotic sidekick.

...still need more adhesive opportunities though, Bethesda.

4. Shovel Knight
review here

Retro homage to the likes of Mega Man and Super Mario, set in a universe of medieval shovel and sorcery? Sign. Me. Up!

3. Fallout 4 - Nuka-World
review here

What if there was a place with all the zip of Nuka-Cola? Wouldn't that be the cheer-cheer-cheeriest place in all the world?

...eat me, the song is really catchy.

Also, the DLC in general feels well thought out, oozing with creativity and ingenuity, and fitting right in with Fallout's major theme of things that seem all bright and clean and pretty being some of the deadliest and most frightening things out there...from before the Bombs fell and ended the world.

QUENCH YOUR THIRST FOR ADVENTURE A NUKAAAAAAAAAAAWORLD!!!!

2. Dragonball Xenoverse 2
Review here

Pretty much improvement on the first game in every way, minus the constant attacks on Guru's House. Also, humans are still lame.

1. Broforce
Review here

HIGH FIVE ME, BROS!!!

...seriously, this game is great. Absolutely, completely, and utterly great. Free Lives. Revolver Digital. You guys are forever on my good list and I hope to see great things from you in the future.

Let's look forward to some more great games in 2017!

For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.