Mike Chen Blog Posts

Next, there's Daud's actual powers. Take careful note when you do your first set of upgrades because Daud's setup is a consolidated version of Corvo's. In short, Dark Vision and the Heart have become one... so have Blink and Stop Time. Therefore, upg...

The only real significant change in controls comes from the swing mechanic. This manifests in two forms. First, for your player, you can customize your swing style -- power or control, swing shape, shot trajectory, and favoured hand. EA Sports has im...

Add in Fett himself flying around the board, along with several mini games helping to defeat the infamous bounty hunter's enemies and you've got one highly entertaining table. Just remember -- no disintegrations. This is just an article tease. Visit...

In addition to Blade Mode, Raiden can parry attacks simply by pointing the left analog in the direction of the attack while tapping the light attack button. This will effectively stun most enemies, opening them up to quick strikes which can then lead...

I really don't want to spoil anything. And as The Walking Dead series has let us explore how we build relationships with people (along with choosing who lives and who dies), you could have a different bond between characters than my playthrough. So t...

Given all of the different controls, there probably is a way to create a more refined solution -- using the face button to fire does feel a little outdated but it's not something that necessarily brings the game down as long as you give yourself time...

As this is an indie game based mostly on storytelling and puzzle-solving, it's understandable that the first-person movement is good, not great. There are times when loose jumping might get you in trouble, though you're never too stuck behind. This...

There's exploration, puzzle solving, new characters, and very clumsy gunplay (Telltale should never, ever make a first-person shooter without refining its interface skills). The series' technical limitations still show up, and it actually gets in the...

In short, the controls themselves aren’t bad -- it’s the execution of how they’re implemented in the world that can be frustrating. This is just an article tease. Visit RotoRob.com for full articles, plus plenty of daily fantastic Fantasy spor...

Nutmegs and other tricks are possible too, and much of this involves timed usage of R2 while you have the ball. Off the ball, defense is based on containment-style approach -- holding "X" down locks you to an opponent while the left analog finesses y...

I can't tell if it's real-time physics (spin, speed, bounce, etc.) or if it's algorithm-based, but it's implemented well enough to be present without overwhelming. As a casual footy fan but an avid sports gamer, it's little touches like this that imp...

While it may sound like only a marginal expansion, the tag mechanic actually adds quite a bit of new strategy, particularly because you can do tag combos based on timing. The regenerating health also leads to new ways of approaching when you want to...

TPS is designed to try to bring real-life skating technique to the video game world. It really boils down to momentum. If you play hockey, particularly on ice rather than in-line, you’ll know what I mean. EA does a pretty good job of simulating thi...

When we last left Lee, Clementine, Kenny, and whoever you chose to save (by now, the cast will be based on several of your key decisions), they'd just escaped a horrific scene at the farm of a surviving family. Now they're back at their fortified mot...

When we last left our heroes -- well, survivors or protaganists -- Lee and Clementine decided to fortify an old motel with high-strung father and daughter, Larry and Lily, along with Kenny and his family. And, depending on whom you saved, either IT t...

For the Playstation Move, the problem really comes with the camera control. Holding the trigger button allows for camera movement -- left/right to rotate and up/down to zoom in. However, this clunky scheme winds up being floaty at best, making it dif...

Control is primarily divided into two types -- moving around the environment and doing Move-specific actions to interact with objects. For basic movement, the Move button advances you forward, the circle button puts you in reverse, and angling the Mo...

As this isn't an official license of the AMC TV show, you won't hear the familiar theme song, though its rippling violin line was obviously the inspiration for the game's theme tune. Like the show, the use of silence and low atmospheric music is done...

There are other ways to attack enemies, as the "X" button shoves them down -- a necessity at times if they have spiky red hair -- or uses a weapon. The "A" button activates the boy's special power (Kenny has a super jump, Cartman bumps through walls,...

Golf game controls tend to focus on just a few very specific things -- swing timing/power, placement, and club selection. For the previous two, EA has given players greater control over the variables. Swing speed, stance, backswing arc -- all of thes...