Toronto Thumbs

Review
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: An Afterthought; Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the CoD

I don’t get first-person shooters. To me, it’s the equivalent of trying to understand the intricacies of a UFC fight night when you don’t know the first thing about mixed martial arts. On nights like those I usually find myself dodging Vin Diesel clones, making a beeline to the server, and participating in a quick-time event to pay for my drink and make a run for the nearest patio. Only then can I sit back and shake my head in absolute amusement. You might think I have gone bonkers comparing UFC fans to the Call of Duty gamers but it’s true! One thing I have noticed (in either camp) is: those that “get it” are rabid fans to the bitter end; these people are willing to put relationships and sleep cycles on the line just to watch Fighter A duke it out with Fighter B and/or level up while improving their kill-to-death ratio. It’s a Jersey thing, I think.

Then something happened. I called a friend out, we met for drinks, and on impulse (and partially drunk) we decided to wait out the last half-hour to Modern Warfare 3’s midnight launch. We both grabbed a copy but unlike the rest of the kids in line, the first thing we did when we got home was pass out – with Infinity Ward’s take on World War 3 in tow.

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Posted in PC, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | 5 Comments »

Review
Stealth Bastard (The Game You Should Be Downloading Right Now)

It’s really quite appropriate that Stealth Bastard: Tactical Espionage Arsehole has several swear words in the title, because once you get going in this game you’ll find yourself spewing a litany of curses and loving every second of it. Curve Studios (makers of Explodemon) released this bastard child of Super Meat Boy and Metal Gear Solid this week for the low price of zero dollars, which means you really should start downloading it right this second.

I’ll wait.

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Posted in PC, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Review
SteelSeries Sensei Pro Gaming Mouse

In the world of PC gaming, there is probably no better controller than your mouse. First-person-shooter nuts and real-time-strategy aficionados alike will tell you that the flexibility and speed of a mouse will always be better than any other type of console-esque controller. In short, if your game requires pointing, you need to turn to a mouse. Many companies have been making mice for a long time; two names that pop into mind are Microsoft and Logitech – many mice on the market are by these two giants (or are 3rd party re-brands*).

Gamers have more options than this, though (even though, to be fair, Logitech does make some good gaming mice). Razr and SteelSeries are other well-known makers of both well-constructed and well-designed gaming mice. Usually, these mice are specifically created for a particular genre – with unique layouts for customized play meant to aid the user in their battle against control inefficiency. Now, SteelSeries raises the bar like never before with their latest product: the SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Gaming Mouse.

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Posted in Gadgets, PC, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Review
Age of Empires Online

When you look back at the classic names of PC gaming – I’m talking the realm of franchises such as SimCity, Civilization and such – it is impossible not to bring Microsoft’s Age of Empires series into the conversation. Age of Empires II, in particular, is one of those games that everyone -no matter what their level of gaming expertise- seemed to own. I have vivid memories of visiting my cousin in college (a cousin whose biggest exposure to gaming was arguably her brother’s NES and Genesis) and spending a large portion of the night playing AoE2, learning the finer points of rushing to the second age before swarming early melee troops in hopes of a quick victory. It’s an experience I imagine occupies a similar space in the memories of no small amount of gamers, which explains the existence of Age of Empires Online.

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Posted in PC, Reviews | No Comments »

Preview
They Bleed Pixels

Move over, Wolverine.

When I think H.P Lovecraft, I think “OMG I’m scared. Hold me tight!”; never once did I ever say to myself “This stuff would be awesome as a beat-em up starring a little girl” – oh how naïve I have been. Spooky Squid, a local indie developer, has shown me how wrong I was in previous assumptions. I recently had a chance to sit down with Miguel Sternberg and go hands on with They Bleed Pixels, Spooky Squid’s new game that is drumming up some huge buzz in the indie community. Before I picked up the control Miguel said to me “Don’t worry, you WILL suck at first”. Pfft! Please, I’m no scrub.

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Posted in First Impressions, LIVE, PC, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Interview
David Board – Stage 2 Studios

David Board, from Stage 2 Studios, recently sent us a note about his latest venture: Lifeless Planet. Pitched as an action/adventure gaming experience in the spirit of games like ICO, The Dig and Out of This World, LP follows the adventures of a skeptical astronaut searching for life on a distant planet. However, instead of coming up short, this space traveler discovers a Russian laboratory. Wondering if this is a hoax, he is saved by an unlikely being from a deadly phenomenon.

The visuals look great (especially for an indie developer) and the premise is pretty cool. We had a chance to ask David a few questions about this neat-looking game.

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Posted in Indie, Interviews, PC | No Comments »

Interview
Alfe Clemencio

A few weeks ago, we had a brief chat with Alfe Clemencio, from Sakura River Interactive. His game, Fading Hearts, was a welcome surprise to us and we thought we would ask him a few questions. We held onto this interview until we posted a review of the game to give our readers some context.

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Posted in Interviews, PC | No Comments »

Review
Fading Hearts

Dating sims are not my thing; I find them tedious and repetitive. Sakura River Interactive’s Fading Hearts struck me as a PC dating sim at first, but quickly followed up with a palm strike to my jaw, revealing a more interactive-novel-type side to the game that made it much more appealing to me. It’s a title that I’m glad I got to play; shockingly, I might go back to play through it a few more times!

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Posted in PC, Reviews | No Comments »

Double Take
Patrician IV and Defy Gravity Extended

Why this picture? Association, that’s why! “Double take” = “Number two”. It’s not rocket science, people.

Here are two games that we at Thumbs would like to revisit. It’s not necessarily the case that they were bad the last time we looked at them; sometimes it’s just worth repeating what we have said. The first of the two games is worth repeating because it is somewhat of a buried treasure. The second? Well, additional work was done on the game to make it even better than it was the first time; this is definitely worth mentioning.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, PC | No Comments »

Interview
The CRPG Addict

Dave found a really interesting site run by a very cool guy. I’m just going to let him explain.

If you’re a fan of classic game and RPGs, I highly recommend you check out The CRPG Addict. The site author has the extremely ambitious mandate of playing through every PC-based role playing game ever released – from the very oldest game on through to present day releases. He is early on in his journey at the moment, but he is making good progress and writing diligently about his experiences along the way. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the CRPG Addict about his experiences so far.

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Posted in Interviews, PC | 2 Comments »