Although Halo 4 introduces great new enemies, weapons, and environments, 343 Industries ultimately plays it safe with this new chapter by skillfully iterating on the canonical Halo experience. One of the most disorienting experiences a critic can have is liking something, but not knowing why. In the context of video games it’s an epistemological hazard I usually…
It seems like a lifetime ago that I sat staring blankly at my computer screen in the windowless copy room at my graduate school that served as my makeshift office. It was then that I decided to launch Applied Gaming, because sanity desperately demanded I write about something that wasn’t “high-dimensional approximation of positive semidefinite…
One of the problems with writing game reviews is that the process compels you to rush through each game as quickly as possible, so that you have an opportunity to share your opinions on a title while most people are still talking about it. While I enjoy having an excuse to tear through in a…
Though it suffers from some of the common issues of first-person stealth games, Dishonored’s rich world and engaging gameplay make it well worth your time. I’ve always found extremely frustrating the style of gameplay typically engendered by stealth elements. In games like Metal Gear Solid or Assassin’s Creed, no matter how hard I try, I…