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Yesterday's gritty, gutsy style makes us excited for tomorrow
Welcome to the Renaissance.The point-and-click adventure is back and it has nothing to do with Tim Schafer, Double Fine or Kickstarter. This particular revolution is being led by Pendulo Studios' gritty, stylized PC thriller, Yesterday, which marks a departure from the developer's previous title, The Next Big Thing, in a few crucial and exciting ways: Yesterday is not a comedy, though the dialogue retains a brilliant wit. It has nothing to do with the film industry. It involves the psychological analysis of a homeless man who believes his son, who was definitely killed in a tragic subway-tunnel collapse, is still alive.Maybe you have to be just as disturbed as Pendulo's fictional homeless man to really appreciate that last one, but if you are -- boy is it a treat.Pendulo has a solid track record in the point-and-click adventure genre -- they liked it before it was cool, even -- with the Runaway series and The Next Big Thing, but the studio had something to prove when it boldly announced that it was giving up comedy to offer an original, dark thriller with Yesterday. The game retains Pendulo's trademark art style, exaggerated features and colors that appear hand-painted over 3D models, and it is just as appealing as it was in 2003. This time around, however, not just the story is darker, but the palate is as well, with much of what I played taking place in a derelict, abandoned subway channel (I bet you can guess which one).
Infernal: Hell's Vengeance is a choking hazard [update]
Update: A Playlogic spokesperson commented on the matter: "Infernal: Hell's Vengeance does not come packaged with any type of ball or choking hazard. We are in touch with Amazon and they will be removing the erroneous warning as soon as possible."When creating a game called Infernal: Hell's Vengeance, you may catch some flak. Whether it's from Bible-thumpers or those protesting the inaccurate depiction of a vengeful underworld (seriously misunderstood place, folks), you just have to be prepared for some backlash. Well, that isn't the only thing developer Playlogic will have to handle, as this Amazon listing for the game is bound to bring out the anti-choking activists around the globe. Sure, we could blame Playlogic for deciding to add "a small ball" to the package or for the game's "small parts," both of which present a pretty big choking risk for children under three years of age, but the company is putting out mature content here. If Playlogic stopped to think about every child in the world while creating games, then we'd never get to see what Hell got so pissed about to begin with. And, in the end, who does that really help?
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (or, a field day for Jack Thompson)
We're not particular fans of EA, generally lackluster licensed games, or the mafia. Still, seeing this trailer excites us a little, if for nothing else than to beat the crap out of everything that moves. The gesture-based control system includes such perks at beer bottle throwing, choking, slapping, and throwing people into walls. Yep, our buddy J.T. is gonna have a grand ol' time with this one, and to be honest, we're a little worried. If hyper-paranoid parents get a look at this stuff, Nintendo could land in some hot soup. For now, though, simply kick back and enjoy the abject violence.
