Alec Meer

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·May 10, 2017

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Scanner Sombre is at its best when you're left to your own devices, lonely yet in awe of the sights you see and make, but suffers when the game itself is pulling the strings, whether that be to evoke empathy or terror. I absolutely recommend it, for its four or so hours of dot-matrix world-generation have pleased me greatly, but you should go in knowing that it stumbles over its storytelling hurdles and should instead be treated as, like the titular scanner, a remarkable technological toy.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Apr 10, 2017

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Throughout, I was conscious that I was playing something that was almost aggressively designed to be disposable, and for that reason I can't say it feels close to my heart – but at the same time, I might just keep it hanging around my hard drive to fill idle half-hours now and again.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Mar 31, 2017

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This could, as I say, have been all comic pratfalls and Goat Simulator destruction, but instead it's an extremely careful study in how snakes navigate their bizarre bodies around, then transplanted into broadly well-done puzzle-places. I feel in awe of how well-realised this is, almost more than I actually enjoy it. I really do enjoy it though, so much so that I ended up picking it up for my Switch too (making it only the second game I own for Nintendo's latest toy).

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Mar 17, 2017

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Pixel Privateers knows exactly what it's doing, and though it's about as deep as a microwave lasagne, it's almost impossible not to lose yourself to it for a few evenings.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Mar 15, 2017

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There's no escaping that you're essentially playing arena-based score attack, but quite clearly a shit-ton of money and expertise has been gone into this, and it looks and feels some distance ahead of the VR shooter pack.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Mar 14, 2017

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Clearly, a lot of money and skill has gone into making Shards Of Darkness, which only makes the fact that you have to battle past this woeful characterisation to get to the strong stealth meat below all the more tragic.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Mar 8, 2017

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Funny, strange, sweet, accessible, as intricate as a Gordian knot with it. Loot Rascals is a smart piece of game design executed with delightful style. Even so, it feels as though the mechanics overwhelm all else – I do think it would benefit from offering more structure and goals in order to then earn the daily-play status it clearly desires.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Mar 3, 2017

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The single greatest thing about PC gaming is that it's a medium which will explore every niche, and I was glad for a brief nose at this one. It is a bit crashy in its current form through, and that paired with the feeling that it needs a little more meat on its bones makes me more inclined to suggest waiting a month or two.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Feb 28, 2017

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Torment is the weird, wordy, wise and wicked roleplaying game we've so desired during these long years of heightened spectacle. Not a total triumph, no, but close enough.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Feb 28, 2017

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No, you don't need to have played 1999 weird fantasy roleplaying game Planescape: Torment to enjoy this spiritual sequel. There are references and commonalities, but they're not in any way necessary to understand or appreciate it. What is required is a reasonable degree of patience, and an enjoyment of reading and of big ideas.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Feb 23, 2017

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Sadly it's all too brief and only stands up to one playthrough, realistically. I'd definitely be up for a dedicated bundle of a half dozen vignettes like this, though. It utilises and clearly understands exactly what it has in Resi 7's best element – the twisted Baker family – and keeps its hands clean of the excess that characterises Resi 7's final act.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Jan 5, 2017

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Don’t be fooled by screenshots to this effect. Glittermitten Grove is nothing but misery. Build, wait for meters to refill, endure, repeat, self-loathe.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Dec 15, 2016

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Singleplayer felt so mechanical, so repetitive – whereas with humans and no unlocks to pursue in multiplayer, it felt tense and organic.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Dec 9, 2016

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You’ll have a good time with Dead Rising 4. But you won’t feel as though you earned it.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Alec Meer·Nov 29, 2016

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This has an intensity that vanilla Skylines does not have, this race against time element, this coping with cataclysm factor. You don’t have to play Scenarios – you can just have disasters as a randomly-occuring risk in a standard game. But the Scenarios do provide a backbone to something that sometimes seems a bit stuck on the fence between ‘game’ and design tool.