Die Young Preview

I may have mentioned in the past my fondness for a certain game called 'Dying Light'. In addition to all of the zombie goodness, the best thing about it was the way it offered the first truly functional parkour system. So I was obviously excited to see that parkour mechanic and animation dropped into another game - the fact that the game itself is pretty high-quality is just a bonus.

You can check out my first hour with horror/parkour title Die Young below!

HOGuru Previews Slime-San

There's an upcoming Super Meat Boy-style game! It's called Slime-San, and it's pretty amazing - here's the first half-hour!

Guts and Glory Preview

There's a new wacky physics game coming out - it's called 'Guts and Glory', and it features people being torn apart by traps as they try to drive to safety. It's violent, silly, and oddly soothing when it isn't making people scream.

Here's my trip through the game's available levels!

HOGuru Previews Eventide 3: Legacy of Legends!

That's right, Artifex Mundi's beta program has come through once again, this time offering a half-hour glimpse back into the world of Eventide, the second-best series featuring a continuing character! I mean, I love these games, don't get me wrong, but Enigmatis is just amazing.

You can see what the herbalist has been up to since the events of Sorcerer's Mirror below!

HOGuru Previews - Modern Tales: Age of Invention

There's an exciting game coming soon from Artifex Mundi, and through their beta test program, I was able to preview it! So check out the video below for the first half-hour of Modern Tales: Age of Invention!

Vidar Preview!

The game Vidar comes out tomorrow, which makes this the perfect time to check out my preview of it! It's a game about a cursed town built atop a cave of mystery! Also a random person gets killed every night, severely limiting your ability to finish their quests.

And, like, a huge number of slippery floor puzzles.

Anyhoo, check it out!

HOGuru Previews - Modern Tales: Age of Invention

It's another preview from the Artifex Mundi beta program! This time a steampunk adventure involving blimps, towers (both Eiffel and non-), and a kidnapping at a trade show!

Thrilling!

HOGuru Previews - Adam Wolfe

So I was contacted about covering an upcoming Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (too good to make a HOG, huh?) from Mad Head Games - I'm always interested in trying out new Hidden Object-related games, so naturally I said yes - and these are the screenshots they sent along - obviously you can click to bigafy them.

HOGuru Previews - Persian Nights: Sands of Wonders

It's another game preview from the good folks at Artifex Mundi! This time it's Prince of Persia-themed, as well as being another entry in the unofficial 'herbalist' series of games that give players a chance to make the healing potions that keep adventurers spry and vigorous!

While the game may be a little short on Hidden Object Screens at the moment - there are only two, but both are fully integrated into the story - the art is fantastic, the monsters adorable, and the puzzles clever! Of the hidden object betas I've played, this has edged out Grim Legends 3 to be the most promising one.

Enjoy the preview, and check back here once the game has been released!

(Hopefully they'll drop that last S before it's released, though.)

Preview! Eventide 2: Sorcerer's Mirror

A new month, a new game preview! That's right, Artifex Mundi has come through with another opening slice of one of their upcoming games!

This time it's Eventide 2: Sorcerer's Mirror, the tale of a mountaineering trip gone horribly awry!

You know, I've had Eventide: A Slavic Fable gathering dust in my Steam Library for a while, but this bit of the sequel has me determined to finally break it out and see if it's any good. I suspect it will be.

I Am Intrigued by a Mystery Game!

So I follow OWL Hidden Classics on twitter (@OWL_HC) to keep up to date on new HOG releases. Doing so is why I'll soon be reviewing a HOG themed around The Great Gatsby! More importantly, though, there's a 'coming soon' on their website that has me incredibly interested.

Check out their promo video-



A sled dog with a Ruby eyepatch? Digging a stethoscope out of the ice? What could it all mean?

And here's a screenshot of the coming soon page-

Click for all the gorgeous embiggened detail!

That's a ruined Antarctic (or possibly Arctic, but bear with me!) research station, isn't it? Snow cats, pre-fab workspaces, dogsleds... this leads to only one possible conclusion, doesn't it?

An adaptation of all-time great movie The Thing.

Well, okay, not exactly The Thing - after all, the main page promises it's a 'literary classic' - which The Thing absolutely was based on, as anyone who's seen the credits can tell you. John W. Campbell (writing as Don A. Stuart - fun fact - that was his wife's name!) wrote the story 'Who Goes There' which concerns a shape-shifting alien who begins assaulting a military outpost in the Antarctic, turning people into monsters while working on an anti-grav belt to take it to the mainland.

It's the second-best story based on the premise, right after The Thing and well above The Thing From Another World.

So, given my feelings about 'Who Goes There' and 'The Thing', you can imagine how excited I am about the prospect of it getting an adaptation into my favorite genre of game... which makes me a little bit uneasy, since there's a piece of evidence pointing in another direction in the image above-



That's a mysterious spire at the edge of the text ribbon. It doesn't look like the architecture of the rest of the buildings, and could easily be an interpretation of the 'strange architecture' which filled the Elder City of 'At the Mountains of Madness'. While this isn't the kind of telling detail that a a giant blind albino penguin would be, it certainly puts a wrinkle in things...

So is it Lovecraft that's being adapted? Is this, given the modern technology depicted, some kind of a 'return to the Mountains of Madness' type of situation? Only time will tell!

Preview! Crime Secrets: The Crimson Lily

It's time for another HOGuru Preview! Hidden Object Style! Which makes it a 2-peat! Although I guess they just have the word repeat.

Once again, Artifex Mundi has provided this game through their beta testing program, and just like with Grim Legends, they're allowing me to post my playthrough of it! So strap in for this 'unique' opportunity!

Crime Secrets: The Crimson Lily isn't available for purchase yet, but Artifex Mundi has plenty of other games on offer.

Fun fact: There really are Crimson Lilies! So it's not just something they made up for this game!

Okay, that wasn't technically a 'fun' fact, but it is true!

Preview! Grim Legends 3: The Dark City!

It's time for another HOGuru Preview! This time it's actually a Hidden Object Game! Will wonders never cease!?

Artifex Mundi was nice enough to provide a copy of Grim Legends 3 as part of their open beta testing program, wherein their fans play a slice of one of their new games and then fill out a survey about its content/playability. So there's really nothing exclusive about how I got the game - but AM was nice enough to allow me to post a playthrough video of it, as well as some screenshots.

Obviously I'm not going to attempt a review at this early stage - the game is still a ways from complete after all, but as of right now I'm fairly impressed. The setting and characters are interesting - my first thought was that these roof-running monster hunters would best be described as a mixture of Castlevania and Assassin's Creed, but then they started calling themselves 'The Order' and I realized that AM were deftly ripping off that title, which is already kind of a combination of the things I mentioned.

While the premise may be overly familiar, what blew me away about Grim Legends 3 was how much AM manages to innovate within the HOG/point and click adventure genre. There's a great scene where the player must craft a plan to deal with a monster, rather than just have the game spoon-feed them the answer as part of the plot. There's one of the most visually interesting "hit all the points on a map without doubling back" puzzles I've ever encountered. The real stand-out, though, was the way the game kept managing to offer exposition during puzzles, including a wonderfully touching puzzle box that explains the relationship between two characters.

Check out the video for my thoughts on and experiences with this upcoming title!

Grim Legends 3 isn't available for purchase yet, but Artifex Mundi has plenty of other games on offer.

Preview! Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders!

In a stroke of good fortune, I wound up with an advance copy of The ABC Murders for the XBONE - I've agreed to only post the first chapter for now, so enjoy, then tune back in for the playlist of the entire game when it's out!

There likely won't be a formal review, since it's an adventure game, as opposed to a HOG. Still, Poirot! Yay!