Tag: Rezzed 2016

Preview: Syndrome

During Rezzed 2016—a couple of months ago, though it feels a lot longer—I played a variety of games but only one of them was a 1st person horror set in a derelict spaceship. You know System Shock 2 and Event Horizon have special places in my heart, and I love the idea of a character waking up on a ship once filled with life and laughter and now just knee deep in hell. Death and suffering around them, with people they once knew and served with now turned into hideous abominations hunting the character for their blood, or flesh, or both. Or perhaps they seek to indoctrinate them, to turn them to the cause of their dread masters.

Yeah, this is my kind of Sci-Fi Horror, the one in an oppressive environment, a metal coffin floating aimlessly through space. So with that said, you should understand how quickly a game like Syndrome grabbed me back in April. I’m, admittedly, a scaredy-cat. As much as I love this setting and as much as I enjoy watching and playing horror media, I scare very easily in them and while I don’t dive for a cushion the instant something scary pops up, I do tend to pause or even quit games and films midway through a session to calm down and relax before I tackle them again. Sadly, recording previews doesn’t give me that freedom. Because I’m doing the work for all of you, to show you the games that developers send me to test out and give my feedback on, I can’t just say “Nope!” but instead have to push on and face the fears, which is the only way to make it through alive and not soiling your trousers. Continue reading Preview: Syndrome

Rezzed 2016 – Best of Rezzed

This week I’ve gone over everything I saw at Rezzed. I mentioned meeting friends, talking to developers and above all, I spoke of the awesome games I played. It was a fun trio of days and I can’t wait to see the final versions of the titles I tried.

To think of the “Best of Rezzed” is a daunting task, because there as too much good stuff there. Last year during EGX I gave an award to AAA games and another to Indie games. This time around, there aren’t any AAA titles to mention, only indies and so I have a giant list of candidates and one slot to fill.

To make my life easier I’ve broken the “Best of…” into a few categories. From those, I’ll pick up my true best of Rezzed.

But before I do that, here are some opinions from good friends. Continue reading Rezzed 2016 – Best of Rezzed

Rezzed 2016 – Versus Evil and The Indie Room

Rezzed is a gaming event and there are AAA titles on show, but ultimately it’s about indie developers and their products and much like last year, the number of amazing titles was simply astounding. From the ones independently published to those in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign, they all had something new and interesting to offer to our beloved industry.

One of the stops on my first day was the Versus Evil room, as they had not only The Banner Saga 2 there, which I previewed recently—and the reason I’m not including it in today’s write-up—but also a couple of new games I wanted to try. After that, I went to what would become my usual haunt during the following days: The Indie Room, where they collected most of the indie developers that weren’t part of another group, such as the Square Enix Collective sponsored developers.

Here are the games I saw while visiting the Versus Evil folks and the massive indie room! Continue reading Rezzed 2016 – Versus Evil and The Indie Room

Rezzed 2016 – Square Enix Collective

One of the more surprising announcements in my inbox was that the Square Enix Collective would showcase games at Rezzed. I looked the titles over and liked what I saw enough to try them at the event.

I wasn’t disappointed. Continue reading Rezzed 2016 – Square Enix Collective

Rezzed 2016 – Skylar & Plux and Furi

One of the first interviews I booked for this year’s Rezzed was for a game called Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island. At the same time I did this, because they both use the same Public Relations firm, I also booked one for Furi.

At first I’ll admit I wasn’t too keen on Furi, as the promotional material kept talking about responsive combat, a phrase I’ve heard and read many times in the past with the sudden realisation when playing the game that it was a lie. But I’m nothing if not open-minded so I decided to give Furi a shot anyway.

It was the right choice. Continue reading Rezzed 2016 – Skylar & Plux and Furi

Rezzed 2016 – It’s all Fun and Games

Last year’s Rezzed was my first one, first time heading to the Tobacco Docks to see dozens of indie developers and their creations, book interviews and come in with press credentials. Last year, as I intended to use Rezzed as the first step in my push for The Mental Attic, I overbooked and spent time running around from one interview to another.

This year I decided to book fewer interviews going for the stuff that really caught my attention and, because it was a new one for me, the games for which the developers, publishers or public relations officials contacted me personally. This is not me being humble, and you can ask my friends—if you can find them—it really isn’t, but I’m not the guy people recognise, I’m not used to video game industry professionals contacting me directly to set up interviews or even telling me they follow The Mental Attic, that’s something that happens to my friends and colleagues but not me. But for this Rezzed it happened, more than once, and it still as new for me now as it was at the start of the event.

Continue reading Rezzed 2016 – It’s all Fun and Games

Rezzed 2016 Kickoff!

It’s that time of year again isn’t it? It’s Rezzed time, baby!

For those of you who don’t know Rezzed is a yearly gaming event, the little brother to the massive EGX—formerly Euro-Gamer Expo—with a greater focus on independent developers and titles. It starts today and will run until Saturday at the Tobacco Docks in London. Continue reading Rezzed 2016 Kickoff!