Video Game Review: Dragon Age: Inquisition

/ Mike Chen, Video Game Reviews

While Inquisition isn’t a true open-world game, it certainly feels like one thanks to extremely large playable spaces and segments. However, unlike open-world comparables in the Elder Scrolls series, you never quite get the feeling of filler or traveling for the sake of traveling when you’re moving from point A to point B. Areas feel just large enough to give you a sense of scope and purpose without exhausting the soles of your party’s shoes.

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Video Game Review: Assassin’s Creed: Unity

/ Mike Chen, Video Game Reviews

The first Assassin’s Creed game felt a bit like an empty tech demo, but each successive iteration usually added some significant gameplay element to round out the overall experience. Perhaps that’s the biggest issue with Unity. It’s Assassin’s Creed to the core, and rather than any substantial gameplay changes, it provides a single-city focus with a plethora of content and more customization issues.

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Video Game Review: Shadow Warrior

/ Mike Chen, Video Game Reviews

There’s definitely an old-school vibe to Shadow Warrior, and the game gets you in the mood by showing gameplay footage during the initial load screen. From waves of enemies to health kits, this is a far cry from modern FPS games, and some will certainly appreciate that. This is augmented by a power system with RPG-style advancements, which allows for partial healing, super weapons charging and more.

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Review: NHL Gamecenter Live 2014-15 App

/ Hockey, Mike Chen, Product reviews

The new NHL season is upon us, and with it, fans are inundated with advertisements to purchase NHL Center Ice (the TV package) or NHL Gamecenter Live (its online counterpart). For years, Center Ice was the most convenient way to get wall to wall NHL action. However, in recent years the functionality of NHL Gamecenter has propelled it to the forefront. The new iteration of Gamecenter is upon us, which leaves two big questions. First, is it any different from last year’s version? Second, is it worth your money?

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Video Game Review: Styx: Master of Shadows

/ Mike Chen, Video Game Reviews

On paper, it’s hard to believe that there hasn’t been a game like Styx before. It’s essentially a combination of PS2-era Metal Gear Solid with a dash of Assassin’s Creed, all set in a D&D-style world. As a character, Styx is likable enough, the environments are big enough to allow some flexibility in how you get from A to B, RPG-style character progression gives you choice in how you grow, and Styx’s magic abilities add a unique flavour to the genre.

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Video Game Review: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments

/ Mike Chen, Video Game Reviews

Traditionally, adventure games have been about finding items and solving puzzles by using those items. The developers at Frogware recognized in the age of online tutorials and help videos, this model is a bit outdated. Their approach, then, is for players to experience the gradual accumulation of clues and information on cases, all leading to an ultimate accusation and sentencing. It’s a twist to the old formula and it works well — Crimes & Punishments feels like the type of adventure game that has evolved into modern sensibility.

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Video Game Review: NHL 15 (PS4/Xbox One)

/ Hockey, Mike Chen, Video Game Reviews

Hockey Ultimate Team and Be a GM are still largely menu driven, and if there’s one area that EA Sports consistently mucks up, it’s the user interface. Clunky and slow, the UI looks like it was built for tablets rather than consoles. It’s a relatively minor quibble but it does add to irritation when trying to do something simple like sort your roster.

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