Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis

Whether you're a fan of the Jurassic Park films or you just like the Tyrannosaurus Rex roar, you'll simply adore this game. I love it so much that it was a primary motivation for going through four XBOXes, replacing each one after it went off to Germany for repairs that didn't hold up for long. Unfortunately, each time an XBOX died, I lost my parks. Nonetheless, the quality of the game is such that I yearned for it until now. I was recently considering purchasing yet another XBOX so that I could play it, but instead we went with the PC version. And so, I bring you this review.

Project Zero

"Zero" in its native Japan and "Fatal Frame" in America, this is survival horror with a twist. No weapons to battle the dead, just the mysterious Camera Obscura with the ability to capture them.
You start out as Mafuyu Hinasaki in the dilapidated Himuro Mansion, apparently based on a real site outside of Tokyo, where gruesome deaths took place. Inside, shadows mislead, hair traps door handles and candles are somehow lit. Obvious nods to releases like Ringu and Ju-On abound. A friend of Mafuyu's, Junsei Takaminé, is known to have gone into the mansion for research, along with his assistants Koji Ogata and Tomoé Hirasaka. The three have been missing since, and so too now is Mafuyu, as the game switches to his sister.

Pandemonium 2

In my opinion, this instalment certainly lacks the charm of the first. The character personalities, particularly that of Nikki, have changed beyond recognition and they may as well have been new characters altogether. The aesthetics are far too psychedelic for my liking.

Limbo

This interesting little gem came out a while ago but we recently got around to playing it. In black and white but never ceasing to be visually interesting, Limbo centres around a young boy, whose background you know nothing of. You don't know why he is there, but he's in a forest, and things are sometimes literally topsy-turvy.



There is an unmistakeable sense of macabre while guiding this boy's fragile and floppy body through such disturbed scenery. Someone so small and delicate just shouldn't be there. But he is, and the only way to solve the problem is to keep going forward.

This isn't always easy. In fact it is mostly frustratingly difficult. I am glad that I have played Limbo, but many of the tasks just had an unnecessary level of difficulty, and the longer I was stuck somewhere, the less I was interested in the game as a whole. However, I am thankful that at least progress is saved every few moments and you emerge never very far from the dreadful thing that finished you. Limbo features continuous gameplay, rather than being broken up into levels.

If you relish a challenge and have a penchant for unsettling imagery, Limbo is a game for you. Much like in Abe's Oddysee, you can expect to die during most puzzles before figuring out what you're meant to do. Some things are obvious, they look like they can be moved around a certain way, but eventually up, down and sideways gravity comes into play, along with highly volatile moving objects.


Limbo isn't an especially long game, but its length is comfortable when you consider the bursts of difficulty. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, and there are countless theories surrounding it (don't read if you haven't played the game). All in all though, I recommend Limbo.

Pandemonium!

This game has a certain charm to it. Quirky and loveable it is. Pandemonium is the tale of Nikki, a sorceress, Fargus, a jester, and his puppet Sid. One night they accidentally summon a monster called Yungo, who eats their village. In order to put things back to how they were, they must have a wish granted by the Wishing Engine. And so commences their journey.