Idris Elba stars in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Just when you think you've reached the edge, it'll push you right past it - the way it uses its teleportation motif is nothing short of mind-blowing.īetween its jaw-dropping environments, creative boss fights, and flow-state-inducing puzzles, Cocoon is a rare gem that's undoubtedly worth your time. As you progress through Cocoon, it'll really push the boundaries of what seems possible. It feels like a better compromise than the start-stop nature that defines a lot of other puzzlers. Not a minute is wasted either instead of filling the moments between each victory with extraneous mechanics or diversions, developer Geometric Interactive opts to stack puzzles back-to-back. Without uttering a word, the game seamlessly ties that intuitive sensibility to its story, moody music, and stunning polygonal universes, making it feel like you and your moth-like avatar were born in synch for the explicit purpose of solving each conundrum. Each solution feels innately satisfying and naturalistic. The gameplay has you jump between realities using orbs that each contain their own little worlds, bursting with environmental puzzles. Where many puzzle games insist on teasing the brain with a far-off solution, Cocoon feels intent to please. Am I going to be kidnapped by my downstairs neighbor? Could I be hypnotized by subliminal messages in music? The Fabulous Fear Machine brings freaky thoughts to the forefront and provides a delightfully spooky spin on the strategy genre.Įxplore a multiverse of puzzle-worlds in Cocoon.Ĭocoon is dazzling. The scariest part for me was imagining the inhumanities occurring in real life. The game features sardonic twists of fate reminiscent of Twisted Metal, and disturbingly violent scenes that would fit right in an issue of The Walking Dead. Although your opponents' demise is not mission critical, your saboteurs can spy on them, unveiling their secrets and ginning up plots to turn the world against them. You'll encounter actors fighting against your cause, and you'll need to tactfully deal with them with dialogue options that allowing for temporary peace or escalating to all out war. You'll have several tools to maximize your efficiency: 'legends' that can be deployed and leveled up to generate fear and 'agents' who can explore new territory, farm resources and more. Of course, by making a deal with Kirlian, the malevolent entity who offers the Machine's power to grant wishes, the contenders you meet are woefully unaware of the atrocities to come.Įach mission starts with your character needing to spread fear across the map, with certain conditions to win, much like the board game Pandemic or mobile game Plague Inc. The campaign follows morally bankrupt aspirants eager for selfish conquest. This strategy title published by AMC Games elicits uneasiness throughout each mission. Modern cannibals and the Boogeyman The Fabulous Fear Machine will have you afraid to do anything. But if you've got rose-tinted glasses for the original Assassin's Creed games, Mirage certainly looks like a refreshing oasis.Ĭontrol the world through horror and occult chicanery in The Fabulous Fear Machine.Ĭontaminated water supplies. The voice acting can be stilted and the acrobatic traversal feels more sluggish than I remember (which may be due to a controls layout that didn't quite make sense to me). Mission locations are back to being smaller arenas that seem designed to give you a bit of an edge (the local guards never learn to use the buddy system, making it easy to pick them off!).Īssassin's Creed Mirage is not perfect. The balance between methodical stealth and lively sword combat (when I was inevitably bad at the stealth) felt thoughtfully adjusted. After the staple slightly-too-long prologue, you're parkouring through the streets of 9th century Baghdad, sneaking around guards, planning out which to kill first, and performing exquisitely-animated silent takedowns.Ĭombat has been simplified and treated as more of a last resort - a decision I welcomed after my frenzied, death-filled attempts at the previous installments. Call it fan-service or nostalgia but after playing the first four or five missions, Assassin's Creed Mirage feels like a proper time-machine. For the most part, it gets it very right.

Assassin's Creed Mirage, however, promises to return to the franchise's slower-paced, stealth-based gameplay. Ever since the series took on a more open-world, RPG-esque persona, I haven't made it very far into the games. I haven't been the biggest fan of the last few Assassin's Creed titles. Scheme, skulk, and take down threats in Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Keep it coming on song