Games of 2018


1. Spider-Man by Insomniac Games, Inc. [PS4]
One of the only times I bothered with - nay, felt compelled to - collecting 100% of the unlockables and tropies. What a masterpiece of a game. Swinging through an almost-photorealistic New York City has never been so fun. I think I swung (sporadically) for over a year before I finally started with the quests and the actual game. Just one letdown: all storefronts are generic. There isn't a single CVS, Duane Reade, Mickey D, etc. It takes you out of the experience, because you know there's an abundance of those stores in the real NYC. In addition, it would have been cool to be able to enter all bodegas, because you know that's what Peter Parker would do. Would be technically impossible to pull off, probably. Oh well. Other than that: highly recommended. Can't wait to sample Spider-Man: Miles Morales (I don't have a PS5).

2. Jurassic Park: The Game by Telltale Games [PS3]
The now-defunct Telltale Games (sniff) impressed with their Back to the Future: The Game point-and-click affair, but this other Spielberg-affiliated video game is surprisingly mediocre. Not a bad game by any stretch, just a little boring and underwhelming. Not being able to play as any of the main characters we know and love from the movie(s) doesn't help the proceedings either. Then again, I paid a mere $3.99 for the download file in the PSN store - complaining about a bargain sounds lame. I'm not one to be enthusiastic about a download, but there's no physical release for PS3 - only for PC and Xbox360 (in the US).



Julian De Backer, 22 July 2022