More Articles in playing

Death and Education: Learning in Limbo

By brian longtin • Aug 5th, 2010 • Category: playing

By setting its action in a literal out-of-body experience, Limbo changes our perception in two major ways that make it essentially and marvelously different than its peers.



Machinarium: The Beauty of Simplicity (and Beauty)

By brian longtin • Jun 17th, 2010 • Category: playing

Despite bigger games pushing the boundaries of technology, a short little Flash game about robots has more personality and charm than any number of its blockbuster competitors.



Being and Nothingness and Farmville

By brian longtin • Apr 2nd, 2010 • Category: playing

A desperate letter from inside the biggest game ever.



Choosing Your Own Adventure: Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, and The Da Vinci Code

By brian longtin • Feb 9th, 2010 • Category: playing

The troubling implications of Uncharted 2’s distaste for genuine problem-solving, as compared to Assassin’s Creed II and The Da Vinci Code.



Modern Warfare 2: The Most Right-Wing Game of the Decade

By brian longtin • Dec 3rd, 2009 • Category: playing

What Modern Warfare 2 does as a game makes it a must-buy. But what it says, and how it says it, is a much more fascinating question.



The Ballad of Gay Tony: Bailing Out on High Hopes

By brian longtin • Nov 24th, 2009 • Category: playing

Just as Rockstar are verging on gaming’s closest thing to a Scorcese film, they swing the needle back toward a big zany playground for something that’s bigger, but not necessarily better.



Heavy Schafer: How ‘Brutal Legend’ is the ‘Chinese Democracy’ of Video Games

By brian longtin • Nov 10th, 2009 • Category: playing

Though there are moments of brilliance, elements of the game fight against each other and prevent it from being the instant classic it could have been — not unlike another long-awaited metal masterpiece.



Living with Sequel-itis: The Most Promising Follow-ups of E3 2009

By brian longtin • Jun 11th, 2009 • Category: playing

Tired of the same old games? Here are the top 7 sequels shown at this year’s E3, and why it may be worth revisiting them instead of just wishing their creators would move on.



The Perils of an Open World: What Far Cry 2 Can Learn from Burnout Paradise

By brian longtin • May 22nd, 2009 • Category: playing

Far Cry 2 is an exceptional game buried beneath a pile of inconveniences. Burnout Paradise is a decent game condensed down to the purest, most concentrated fun.



The City That Never Sleeps: GTA Grows Up with ‘The Lost and Damned’

By brian longtin • Apr 3rd, 2009 • Category: playing

What makes this downloadable ‘Grand Theft Auto’ a big step forward for the series, and what they can learn from an unlikely source: ‘The Simpsons’.