What's the weekly feature with old games of quality? T-H-E J-i-G V-A-U-L-T! And welcome Vaultkateers, to Anything-Can-Happen day at the clubhouse, where we're featuring some wonderful platform, adventure, and strategy games this week. Forever let us hold the banner high! High! High! High!
- Hello Worlds! - "Tech Demo" games sometimes get a bad rap, with detractors making the point that it is often the technology and programming skill on display, rather than engaging or entertaining gameplay. Hello Worlds, a 2010 platformer made by students at the University of Washington for their game-design class, is a potent counter-argument. To be sure, the aesthetic is as sparse as a first-year dorm room, but the pure strength of the premise, where multiple screens combine into a single platforming challenge, makes one hope it got an A+. You'll truly be beside yourself with platforming fun.
- Bow Street Runner - Produced in conjunction with Channel 4's crime series City of Vice, Little Loud's 2008 mystery adventure Bow Street Runner offers players an exciting look into the murky depths of 18th century London. Perhaps the best Live-Action FMV game ever made (or at least a heck of a lot better than Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective), Bow Street Runner lets players feel the grime of dried blood under their fingernails as they match wits with a collections of rogues both vile and tragic. High production values and intense atmosphere make it a must play for fans of the dark side of history. And hey! You just might learn something too!
- Pandemic 2 - Dark Realm Studios' 2008 disease-based strategy game has a lot to offer: a darkly engaging simulation of the possible spread of a worldwide contagion, a textbook case in how a developer can turn a moderately entertaining game into a true classic of a sequel, and, of course, a demonstration of the hyper-efficacy of whatever Madagascar's equivalent of the Center for Disease Control is. Seriously. One person coughs in Alaska, and those guys will SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING. Quirks in the AI aside, Pandemic 2 is a morbidly fascinating work that allows you to create your own doomsday like no other.
While we welcome any comments about this weekly feature here, we do ask that if you need any help with the individual games, please post your questions on that game's review page. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and rediscover some awesome!
MADAGAAAAASCAAAAAAARRRRR
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