By Benjamin Fitzgerald Release Date: June 24, 2015 Developer: Sam Barlow Publisher: None [Independently Released] Genre: FMV, Detective System: PC, OS X, iPhone, Android Full-motion video (FMV) games once occupied a significant niche in video game history. They were popular for a number of reasons, one of them being that they were far more expressive […]
Author Archives: Benjamin Fitzgerald
Video Game Violence – A Personal Reflection
Video games often get a bad rap. They are subjected constantly to a stream of criticism from many sources. They are accused of wasting time, encouraging violence or laziness, derided as simple entertainment – the list goes on. In particular, though, many people seem to believe that video game violence makes people violent. Sociologists and […]
Hall of Fame Review – Planescape: Torment (1999)
by Benjamin Fitzgerald Developer: Black Isle Publisher: Interplay Release Date: December 12, 1999 Genre: Role-playing Mode: Single-player Rating: T for Teen ***Before I begin, I would like to send a huge wave of praise to the amazing artists whose representations I have used in this review. They really helped bring a lot of […]
Last Token Gaming Hall of Fame Review – Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (1996)
Developer: Revolution Software Publisher: Virgin Interactive Release Date: September 30, 1996 (PC), January 31, 1998 (PlayStation) Genre: Point-and-click adventure, mystery Mode: Single-player Rating: T for Teen “Paris in the fall: the last months of the year, and the end of the millennium. The city holds many memories for me: of cafes, of music, of love – and of […]
Retro Review – Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero (1992, Sierra On-Line, PC)
by Benjamin Fitzgerald I love role-playing games; I love adventure games. They are my two favorite genres of video game. Naturally, when I heard about the old Quest for Glory series by Sierra from the ‘90s, I was very excited. I bought the whole series in a single volume. So far, I have played the […]
Hall of Fame Review – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
by Benjamin Fitzgerald Developer: BioWare Publisher: LucasArts Release Date: July 15, 2003 (Xbox), November 19, 2003 (PC) Genre: Science fiction, role-playing Mode: Single-player Rating: T for Teen BioWare has done wonders for the world of role-playing games. They entered the world of cRPGs in a big way with Baldur’s Gate and its sequel, […]
What’s the Point of Casual Games?
by Benjamin Fitzgerald Have you ever sat at your computer, bored into a stupor, only to find yourself engrossed in Minesweeper half an hour later? Or have you ever wandered into a nickel arcade, found an old Pac-Man machine and gone crazy? If you have, I hate to break it to you: you’re a […]
A Tactical Combat Game Worthy of Star Trek
by Benjamin Fitzgerald ***To continue my coverage of Star Trek computer games, I turn my attention to one of Interplay’s most critically acclaimed titles, Star Trek: Starfleet Command.*** Except for the latter half of Deep Space Nine, Star Trek has never really been about space battles. Starship battles played a prominent role in only four […]
Indie Piñata Review – Desktop Dungeons
by Benjamin Fitzerald Desktop Dungeons is one of the games I bought through Indie Piñata. Part roguelike dungeon crawl and part lighthearted kingdom building, Desktop Dungeons offers many hours of light-hearted yet grueling entertainment. It has a pretty steep learning curve, but there are a lot of tutorials to help you learn the game […]
Hall of Fame Review – Baldur’s Gate (1998)
by Benjamin Fitzgerald Developer: BioWare Publisher: Interplay Release Date: December 21, 1998 Genre: Fantasy, role-playing Mode: Single-player, multi-player Rating: T for Teen Ah, Baldur’s Gate. Ugh, Baldur’s Gate. I don’t know if I’ve ever played a game that’s so simultaneously rewarding yet antagonizing. I’ve plugged around 100 hours into this game, and as […]