15 years ago, moviegoers packed theaters to watch Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day, a movie in which a group of pilots team up to fight off an alien invasion. The movie was nothing short of an epic in its day. Sadly, the obligatory movie tie-in video game was no where near as epic. Basically its a screw up of a flight simulator with repetitive missions, crappy play control, and worse flying physics. You fly around each level, take out all the enemies, then destroy the enemy superweapon in 45 seconds, rinse, and repeat. At least you can unlock new planes, but they play like crap too. Oh, and there’s a Will Smith soundalike! So yeah, this game’s a bust. You want to battle aliens while flying around? Go play some Star Fox.

The Digital Novel is a genre of gaming that isn’t popular over on this side of the Pacific due to its heavy emphasis on story rather than action. However, this title from independent developer Christine Love is worth checking out for its non linear storytelling, although clearly it isn’t meant for everyone. Designed as a spiritual successor to her two previous games Digital: A Love Story and Don’t take it personally babe, it just ain’t your story, Analog’s deep story and 59,000 word count will keep open-minded players hooked.
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Despite its steep learning curve, Jet Moto became a cult classic on the original Playstation, and is one of the many franchises that Playstation 1 gamers wish to see revived. Developed by SingleTrac(Twisted Metal), Jet Moto was the future version of motocross, as you took control of a hoverbike with a rocket engine on the rear. Playing as one of several unique characters, you make your way through several unlockable tracks as you try to win each race. The game’s physics system made the handling something special, although proper handling was downright chaotic for new players. The game’s steep learning curve scared many players off, but players who stayed on board were well rewarded as they mastered their vehicle, along with each curve and bend of the game’s tracks. The comic book art style (featuring some sexy pin up girls) and Pulp Fiction-style soundtrack also helped to keep players hooked. The PC version of the game improved on the Playstation original’s graphics and multiplayer, and two sequels added even more features to Jet Moto. After the Playstation 1 years, the series basically disappeared as two planned sequels were canceled early in development. All three Jet Moto games are available on the Playstation Network for download, so if you like hardcore racing, check them out.

Bastion was developed over the course of two years by a 7-man team of Independent developers. It debuted last year as part of Microsoft’s annual Summer of Arcade promotion, and was recently included in the last humble indie bundle. Playing as a character known as “The Kid”, you explore the broken landscape to find out the secret of “The Calamity”, an event that ruined the world long ago. You wield several upgradable weapons as you travel through a landscape that puts itself together as you travel on it. There is a narrator in the game that provides commentary on everything you do. With its unique art style, Bastion stands out among independent titles, and its gameplay is reminiscent of 16-bit action RPGs like Secret of Mana. If you’re a fan of old school level grinding, you’ll love Bastion.

Master of Magic can best be described as Civilization with Magic instead of technology. This 1994 4X strategy title had several bugs when it was released, but a patch released later on improved the game significantly, taking it to the top of many strategy fans lists even today. Taking place on a fantasy world, players take control of one of several wizards and enlist in one of several disciplines of magic. Starting with a tribe of settlers, you colonize a randomly generated world. You research spells instead of technologies. There is a much greater focus on combat than in Civilization as you go into a turn-based strategy mode when you encounter an enemy. It’s fantasy-strategy gameplay was an inspiration for the Age of Wonders series, another classic strategy game. This classic title is only $6.00 on GOG.com, so do check it out.

The Mount and Blade series is a different kind of medieval RPG. Note that I said medieval as opposed to fantasy, because unlike games like Skryim and Dragon Age, there aren’t any dragons, wizards, magic, or demons. It’s just you, your army, and thousands of miles of a land torn in strife. Turkish developer TaleWords has developed a true sandbox style game, as you are free to approach it anyway you wish without the experience being structured by a plot. You can gather an army, purchase land for business development, participate in large-scale combat, and even marry into royalty. Warband is the standalone expansion to the original Mount and Blade, meaning that you don’t have to own the original in order to enjoy everything Warband has to offer. Warband improves on the original game with numerous additions, the most significant of which being multiplayer.
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While the Fantastic Four may not be as cool as Spider-Man, as epic as the Avengers, or as badass as the X-men, but if you’re a fan or Marvel Comics, you should be familiar with them, ans for good reason: they are Marvel’s first superhero team since The Golden Era of Comics. They are well known enough to spawn a slew of spin-off comics, three animates cartoons, three movies (though one was unreleased), and a series of video games. Two of them are of course, based on the movies. Those weren’t very well received, but compared to this Acclaim Playstation clunker, they are like BioShock and Mass Effect.
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L.A.Noire was one of Rockstar’s most ambitious projects. Developed by Australian group Team Bondi, L.A. Noire is a detective story taking place after WWII. Playing as Cole Phelps, you set out to solve a series of crimes in post-war Los Angles, among them being a series of killings inspired by the real life Black Dahlia Murders. L.A. Noire’s gameplay and graphics make this a unique open world experience. It’s just too bad that we may not see much more from the developers.
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