I have another website which I run, and the name of it is the title of this article. On newsworldweekly.com I consolidate only the gaming related articles on that site. Exclusively games from itch.io, Steam, or XBox Game Pass, newsworldweekly.com features games that I have reviewed and personally played through. You could say it’s a list of games curated by me personally. The articles always hit the main site first (https://zettabytes.org) and then make it to newsworldweekly.com in a day or two.
The articles all feature a short write up by me, where I got the game, and if it’s a free game from itch.io or Steam, there will be links directly in the article. I try to make it a one stop shot. Come in and get my opinion on the game. I won’t even bother to write an article on a particular game if I don’t have the intention of completing it so at the very least all games I write about which make it to the site I’ve enjoyed enough to finish the game, or am currently and actively playing the game. I usually have 3 or 4 games going in rotation of which I play regularly a couple hours a day on each title. But some sessions are better than others so I may do less time wise or may spend all day playing a single game, in which case you can pretty much imagine I was having a good time with whatever game that day.
About once a month I will go on a downloading binge and download anywhere from 20-30 titles to check out. It’s usually the newer or just released indie offerings on itch.io and Steam. I also download the occasional demo and if it inspired me enough I might write an article on it; caveat emptor, not all demo’s become actual games, which is tragic in most cases. I’ve seen a lot over the years with great potential gaming wise, with pre-installed fan base waiting to spend their cash but said game never developed into a full fledged game because of time, money, staff, boredom, whatever. I’ve played a lot of demos and still hold out hope for some hardcore personal favorites to be developed into full fledged games (here’s looking at you Lurk in the Dark: Prologue & Dark Fracture). I also have an Xbox Game Pass subscription which usually brings in at least a few titles each month. This month I am playing through Total Chaos, Indika, Replaced, and one of the classics of modern survival horror, The Evil Within 2. I have already written articles on Total Chaos and The Evil Within 2. Those are the 4 titles I am actively playing this month from XBox Game Pass and I average about 2-4 games a month which I enjoy enough to playthrough from that service which makes it well worth the subscription. Plus with the XBox Game Pass subscription you can also select titles from Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. I definitely download a lot more games than I actually write about so I might have played 30-40 games in a month but a lot of the time I won’t go much further than the intro of most games if it looks or I imagine it might be some boilerplate checkbox horror which I more likely than not have any interest in, or a gaming style I don’t particularly like, so you’ll never hear about those.
Right at this moment before I came back to type this paragraph I was playing Replaced. After about my 6th try, I finally beat the encounter with my first “boss.” In fact the the music from the game is still subtly playing a congratulatory guitar riff and wherever it is in that game world, it’s raining. ‘Cause I can hear it. Replaced is one of those sort of infinitely moving to the right scroller games very much akin to the “beat’em ups” of the old days. There are some interesting segments that present “stairs” so you can seemingly move backward or forward on the screen or around a room but this is used more as a transition effect rather than game obstacles or progression points. You’ll need to search areas thoroughly to progress however so keep that in mind. Basically you run around screen to screen, defeating a bunch of lesser enemies, and at the end of the level there is a “boss” enemy. Rinse, repeat, make progressively harder levels and it’s recipe for disaster but in the case of Replaced the awesome music, that good feeling I got when I finally defeated the boss, and the interesting story that’s starting to develop will have me playing this one through to the end. But that’s not the only thing.
Let’s talk about the Replaced combat for a minute, because this is probably the main reason I will play the game to the end. You would think with only two directions to move, a couple of different attacks, and something akin to a “slide” or “jump” mechanic how interesting could the combat really get? Well, it get’s interesting. So far I think there have been at most 5 enemies in the fighting “area” at any one moment. Two of those enemies might have a ranged attack. But you do have some defensive capability. You can “speed-jump-burst-slide” in any of your two directions and if timed right you can dodge those seemingly un-dodge-able projectiles. Your player combat is limited to melee so you need to get close to the enemy to kill it but combined with your two directions of movement, a couple different attack styles, and timing the attacks so you can speed-burst around projectiles while attacking a closer attacker, the combat actually gets very interesting, and at points even “twitchy”. It’s possible at some point hte player will get a ranged weapon but I’ve only played through 3 or 4 of the levels so far. The combat sequences in Replaced are the high points of the game for me. I am currently in the process of writing the article for Replaced so that will be coming soon.
I just wanted to let all my subscribers know I have this additional site if you are only interested in seeing the gaming articles I write/curate. If you’ve kept up with the gaming articles on the main site (https://zettabytes.org) you’ll know I like a particular kind of game. I guess my favorite types of games are survival horror games or horror related, and to a lesser degree, reverse horror. Reverse horror is a genre defined by the fact that YOU the player are the monster and everything in the environment needs to be scared of you, as you are the most dangerous character in the game. Some have labeled Resident Evil 2 and 3 as reverse horror which I don’t 100% agree with but a game which might typify reverse horror is a game by the name Carrion. I personally didn’t play too much of Carrion when it was released as it’s mostly a “level” game with up and down and side to side scrolling. Kind of like how platform games are setup and in the case of Carrion you are the monster who has escaped containment and is doing everything possible to free itself and leave the underground laboratory complex. There’s also a great backstory and lore for Carrion and it’s a game which I may revisit in the near future. As I learn more and more about Carrion and running into different YouTube playthrough’s I’m starting to think I didn’t give Carrion enough of a chance before putting it down.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. There are more gaming related articles and even an article or 2 of movies made about games on newsworldweekly.com. I even feature an article on a Logitech joystick I purchased from thrift store which is excellent if I need a XBox compatible controller for use on my PC.
