Adventure/Explore

Puzzle Paradise

HIGH Finally snagging the chain whip.

LOW Forgetting to save.

WTF How is Lameza's laptop able to pick up Wi-Fi underground?

Like a Tall Glass of Lukewarm Water

HIGH Expansive, detailed environments.

LOW Getting a fetch quest from magical, talking, invisible termites.

WTF How can zombies, ghosts, and ghouls exist in a world where death is explicitly stated to never occur?

Extra Credits adds to a previous discussion on exposition in games. GLaDOS fans will probably enjoy this episode... Professor Fitz Quadwrangle fans, not so much.

Extra Credits talks about the "exposition dump." What is that, you ask? The "exposition dump" is one of the easiest ways with which a developer can tell a story, explain a game world or explain a game world's rules. Even lauded game designers like Hideo Kojima use this method to tell a story—and why not, if Metal Gear Solid's success is any indication, there are few repercussions for overusing it. Thankfully, there are examples of doing the opposite and being rewarded for it. The Half-Life series, Fallout 3 and Journey are examples of doing it right.

The Thin Yellow Line

HIGH Destroying every Lego object in my path.

LOW Lengthy load times.

WTF Pig cannons and chicken guns? Okay, I'll roll with it.

Where one story ends—sorry Aliens: Colonial Marines Wii U—another begins anew. Welcome to the new, but pretty damn familiar GameCritics.com podcast with brand new co-host Sinan Kubba of Joystiq—yes, co-host—more details inside... Join Sinan and regular ruffians Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, Chi Kong Lui, and Brad "The Guy You Know" Gallaway as they summarize GDC and PAX East in two seconds, explore the depth of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, sink to the depths of Aliens: Colonial Marines, and fathom how the growing prevalence of broken-at-launch games is hurting the industry. All this and more in a GameCritics.com podcast episode that will rewrite history, woo-oo.

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Missing Treasure

HIGH Climbing the Queen's sanctum as it shatters in a storm.

LOW Spending 20 minutes trying to glitch my way past a showstopping bug.

WTF "I hate tombs."

Bigger, Better, Badder

HIGH A new Monster Hunter is finally available! It's not a dream!

LOW The game’s first few hours are painfully slow.

WTF How many damned carpenterbugs am I going to need here?

Few booths were as busy at PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) East 2013 as that of Supergiant Games. Over the last two years, the Bastion creators have become indie superstars. Despite the circus, I found a few minutes to speak with Logan Cunningham, the voice of old man Rucks from Bastion, on how it feels to reprise his narrative role trapped inside of the eponymous weapon in Bastion's next venture: Transistor.