I had the chance to sample four different video-games this week. When the time presented itself I dipped my toes into the titles and played them anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I clearly can't offer a true review but can say whether I intend to play the games further or not as a semi-review. Many of these titles are on multiple consoles but I sampled the ones below with my PlayStation 5. Now then...
Foamstars
This is basically a, "Spaltoon," rip-off where you shoot players instead of the environment with foam in lieu of paint. I didn't hate, "Foamstars," despite seeing some horrendous reviews. I just was relatively indifferent to it. "Foamstars," is a live service game that you can get for, "Free," this month with PlayStation Plus but you pay for cosmetic upgrades and the like. Matches consist of hitting other players with foam and using a little surfboard to bonk them out of the arena. Surfing on foam is kind of fun but the guns to shoot foam are slow, awkward to aim, and lack any kind of pizazz.
Will I play it more: No, I uninstalled it.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
After a messy pre-launch, this game is finally functioning correctly when it connects to the servers (which is necessary if you're playing solo as this is yet another attempt at a live service game). I rented a copy of, "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League," from one of my local Vintage Stock stores and found I had a mix of feelings about it. I enjoyed moving about the levels as Deadshot and King Shark so I mainly played as them through landscapes that had a lot of going somewhere, shooting purple alien creatures, and then repeating those steps and getting bored until a fun cinema scene kicked in.
I liked the story and wasn't put off by the fact I was playing as cynical villains (some folks online have said the game is too mean-spirited). I was annoyed by the unending cycle of boring go-here-and-shoot-this gameplay and disliked when I had to control Harley Quinn or Captain Boomerang as the way they move around a level is just awkward to control (she swings around a bit like Batman but haphazardly and Boomerang has super-speed but it operates in a jarring way that feels more like he teleports than anything else). Considering how delayed this thing was I wish the actual gameplay was as fun as the cinema scenes and the general vibe created by all the plentiful (but generally fun) character chatter. Oh well.
Will I play it more: No, I returned my rental as I didn't want to pay for another five days. I'll just the rest of watch all the cinema scenes I enjoyed on Youtube.
Evil West
A straightforward and simple game where you kill vampires with your fists and various weapons. I kind of got, "Gears of War," vibes from this and that is by no means a bad thing. A straightforward game where you smack vampires into spikes when you're not lumbering around (actually pretty good-looking) environments makes this almost feel like a throwback to before every game needed complicated development trees or wanted to be a live service title as with the two above. "Evil West," is clear what it wants to be and doesn't tack on anything unnecessary in addition. That's admirable in a way. I got this for free in January thanks to PlayStation Plus so I can always try it out more if/when the mood strikes.
Will I play it more: Maybe a little when I want something simple and uncomplicated to decompress with.
Rollerdrome
Currently on Xbox Game Pass and on PlayStation Plus, this game came out in 2022 and it is a hoot. Set in the near future but with an old-school aesthetic that reminds me of the movie, "Rollerball," (the good old one, not the terrible remake) I found myself having a ton of fun with, "Rollerdrome." You rollerskate in arenas shooting at enemies while doing tricks (tricks refill your ammo). It takes a lot of skill to combine, movement, tricks, shooting, and more. I am not ashamed to admit I at best scored a, "C," in the levels I played in terms of my grade. Between the vibe and having fun, however, I really liked what I've seen of, "Rollerdrome," so far even if it is quite tricky at points. I'd agree it is a must-play as some have said.
Will I play it more: Yes, it is a really fun (if difficult) game.
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