3 Up, 3 Down – October 2021
I really wish that all the best and worst games from this past October were all Halloween-themed, all the time. One of our best-reviewed games is meant to instill fear, and another to instill Dread. And by definition, all of the worst-reviewed games are terrifying in the sense that you could’ve gotten something better with that video game money. Alright, I’m pushing it, and October was a pretty great month for games. Read on for the highs, and lows.
The Good
Inscryption
***click here for our review***
Who would have thought that one of the best reviewed games of October 2021 would be a horror-themed card game? I sure didn’t. Inscryption is based upon the card mechanics of the game Sacrifices Must Be Made, and creates a very unique horror experience. There are lots of modes and secrets to unlock over the course of the narrative. Our review described Inscryption as “a genre-crossing meta-adventure the likes of which I’ve never seen before”. Any players looking for original experiences shouldn’t miss this indie gem.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
***click here for our review***
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy takes the micro-transaction-laden multiplayer Avengers game created by Eidos Montreal, and uses those mechanics to deliver a story-driven, linear, single-player experience, and it all makes for a much better game. Just like in Avengers, this Guardians of the Galaxy game doesn’t stick to the rules laid down by the films, and might catch some movie-goers off-guard. In our review, we hoped Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy would “captur[e] the quirky nature of the characters and their complex dynamics”, and found that it definitely did.
Metroid Dread
***click here for our review***
For the first time in 19 years, Nintendo has released an original side-scrolling entry to the Metroid franchise, and, luckily, it was worth the wait. Actually, to most, it wasn’t a very long wait, as the game was officially announced at E3 2021, and was many people’s happiest surprise of the entire show. Metroid Dread was developed by the same team that did the remake of Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS, and improved upon that title in nearly every way. In our review, we found that “Dread uses environmental and mechanical elements to keep the player tense and terrified”. What more could a player want from one of the best-reviewed releases of 2021’s spookiest month?