Mike Wehner

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Stories By Mike Wehner

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    Entertainment
    Entertainment By Mike Wehner

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare review: Give peas a chance

    There are some well-established rules when it comes to making a successful online shooter – character progression, unlockables, and a stable multiplayer component are all big pluses – but converting a cartoony tower defense game into an online frag fest isn't exactly a common starting point. But that's exactly how Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was born, and somewhere within the smoke of an exploding Chili Bean Bomb, a layer of purple goop from a Chomper preparing to consume its next victim, and the toxic haze of a Zombie Stink Cloud, the relentless charm of the franchise has managed to fuse brilliantly with an unlikely genre.

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    Gaming
    Gaming By Mike Wehner

    'Stiq Tips: DayZ

    You wake up on the shore of a mysterious land with nothing but the clothes on your back and a flashlight. You have no idea what to do, no objectives, and there isn't another soul in sight. No, this isn't a bad dream; you finally decided to buy DayZ. Playing DayZ is a unique experience, but it can also be confusing and can be frustrating if you're not sure what to do. It would be impossible to go over every strategy, item, weapon, and location in the game without forcing you to read a novel-length walkthrough, but here are some basics that will get you started.

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    Technology
    Technology By Mike Wehner

    Wii Party U review: Party pooper

    The original Wii first gained popularity thanks in large part to Wii Sports. The various mini-games in Wii Sports were entertaining, in that they were easy to play and the well-implemented motion controls made players look a little ridiculous in the process. More importantly, Wii Sports remained enjoyable long after the launch of the Wii in 2006. Wii Party arrived several years later, and despite boasting a much larger collection of games they were bland, generic and entirely forgettable. Now, with the Wii U struggling to recapture the magic of Nintendo's previous console, we have Wii Party U. Tallying over 80 mini games, Wii Party U tries desperately to present itself as the perfect fallback for bored Wii U owners, but in its quest for greatness it spreads itself far too thin. Most of the games included are enjoyable exactly once, and some of them don't even manage to hit that low watermark. It's not that the mini-games are broken – they all work fine, and if you lose you won't feel cheated – but the vast majority of them just aren't fun for more than a minute or two.

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    Reviews
    Reviews By Mike Wehner

    Rayman Legends review: Smiles undeniable

    Growing up with platformers on the original Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis, I didn't just have favorite games – I had favorite levels within those games. I'd grab my friends and force them to watch me play through the Quick Man stage of Mega Man 2, or the Yellow Planet of Bucky O'Hare. I was a kid, and games were all about having fun. I'm not sure at what age I lost the impetus to label a specific portion of a game my favorite, but as I called my wife into my office to watch me replay a level of Rayman Legends, I realized that, if only for a moment, I had gotten it back. Rayman Legends isn't just the finest platformer released since its predecessor, Rayman Origins, it's also one of the few games thus far to make me happy that I have a Wii U in my entertainment center. Legends doesn't worry too much about its nonsensical nature, and aside from making it clear that some evil Teensies are up to no good, the game doesn't bother with a coherent story or plot points. Instead, it focuses on its massive hand-drawn environments, branching pathways, and delightfully absurd enemies. In one stage you'll be pounding belligerent frogs into the ground and in the very next you'll come face to face with a dragon that swallows up the entire screen, and at no point will this seem crazy to you, for this is Rayman's world and having fun is the only thing that matters.

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