The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (Xbox One, 2018)

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Developed by DONTNOD Entertainment
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox One (6/26/2018)
Also on PC/PS4

Released as a demo for Life is Strange 2, the Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit released in late June 2018. The game follows a 9-year-old boy, who has a crazy imagination and escapes to a fantasy version of reality where he becomes his superhero alter ego: Captain Spirit. Since this is classified as a free demo, there are no achievements or gamerscore to unlock, which unfortunately many will skip over this one. Let's take a look and see if the Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is worth the download...

A playthrough of the Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is only going to eat up an hour or two of your time, so there's not much to lose going into this. The game puts you in the shoes of Chris, a young boy with a hyperactive imagination, who creates a superhero alter ego by the name of Captain Spirit. Chris is an only-child that lives with his father and they are both struggling in the aftermath of losing Chris's mother in a tragic hit-and-run accident. Chris's father has turned to alcohol to cope with his loss and during the course of the game he drinks himself to sleep while watching a sports game. Captain Spirit basically entails the adventures of Chris while he does some chores around the place, using his vivid imagination to make these mundane tasks seem exciting.

Arrow Diamond (XBLIG, 2013)

Arrow Diamond
Developed/Published by Hitmark Brothers
Released for XBLIG (9/19/2013)

If you've read through any number of the XBLIG reviews here, you know that I've described many of those games as weird or strange (which they are), but I think this game might take the cake for the most mysterious piece of software that I've encountered on the service. Rather than just simply giving the game a proper name composed of letters like everything else, the Hitmark Brothers decided that this title would be named using symbols. GameFAQs has it listed as Arrow Diamond, but in the game library and back when it was sold it was simply listed as ->♦, which I suppose could be directly translated to Arrow Diamond. Naming your game with symbols is a sure-fire way to make sure that your game is nigh impossible to find, so its doubtful that many were even aware of this game's existence. This is just the beginning of the weirdness that lies within the game that will be referred to as Arrow Diamond...

After starting up a new game, you'll take control of a giant green hand that belongs to presumably a god, looming down from the sky above. Everything is viewed from a 2D perspective and the first thing you'll notice are the little green seed things walking around on the ground level. Some of the seeds will grow a sprout which can pushed down into the ground using your finger. You can also flick them to quickly move them or pick them up to manually relocate them. Once a seed has been planted, you'll need to nourish it with water. There's water on either side of the little island you have to work with, so using your giant hand you'll need to cup a handful of water and dump it on the plant.

Contra (XBLA, 2006)

Contra
Original Game Developed by Konami
Ported by Backbone Entertainment
Published by Konami
Released for XBLA (11/8/2006)
Also on Arcade/C64/CPC/Mobile/MSX/NES/PC/PS2/PS4/ZX
Backwards Compatible on Xbox One

The original Contra game was an important release in the history of video games and the classic run 'n gun shooter got its start in the arcade back in 1987. Featuring 8 action-packed stages and allowing 2-player simultaneous co-op gameplay, Contra was an incredible game when it came out. A mysterious meteor has landed in the jungle (presumably somewhere in South America) that has brought with it deadly alien lifeforms called the Red Falcon. So of course the first course of action is to send 1 or 2 commandos to the island to put a stop to the deadly aliens. It's not much of a story, but it's enough to justify some blasting excitement.

The first 4 stages of Contra alternate between side-scroller and behind the back levels, but all stages following these are side-scrollers. There are a total of 8 different areas, though the last 4 are linked together and many consider stage 5 to be 1 level with 4 sections. It feels a bit uneven though there wasn't much more Konami could have done with the base levels and it would have gotten a bit monotonous had there been any more of them. The existing 2 base areas where you play behind the back are quite similar, but there's a solid amount of variety between the side-scrolling stages. The mission begins in the jungle and will take you through the waterfalls, snow and a few others before ending up at the alien base.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Xbox One, 2017)

Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Developed by Deck Nine Games
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox One (8/21/2017)
Also on Android/Linux/Mac/PC/PS4

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a prequel to Life is Strange (2016) and was handled by a different studio called Deck Nine Games. Before the Storm consists of three main episodes, with a fourth bonus episode that's included in the deluxe edition but can also be purchased as DLC. The 1st episode was released in late August 2017 and the final bonus episode hit the store in early March 2018, so it took roughly 7 months for all of the content to release. All of the achievements and gamerscore can be unlocked through the initial three chapters, so the bonus chapter feels like a bit of an afterthought and unessential, though if you're a fan of the first game it's still worth a look.

The voice acting in Before the Storm is well done, very much in tune with the quality of the first game. While the voice acting itself is delivered excellent, there is a reverb to much of it that makes it sound as if it was recorded in the bathroom or something. Presentation-wise, the game looks pretty much the same as it did in Life is Strange and while the Unreal Engine 3 was getting a bit old at this point, the visuals still look nice. The menus are easy to navigate, text is easy-to-read and the characters that do a good job conveying emotion at times.

Xbox Live on the Original Xbox | Xbox Overview

Xbox Live on the Original Xbox

Active 11/15/2002 - 4/14/2010

Xbox Live made its debut on November 15, 2002, exactly one year after the initial system launch. Microsoft were by no means the first to offer online functionality on a home gaming console, but there were several aspects about the service that they got right the first time around and later became industry standards.

Sony beat Microsoft to the punch by quite a bit, with the online service for the PlayStation 2 making its debut in Japan back in July 2001. North American users would receive online support for PS2 in August 2002, a good 3 months before Xbox users were playing online. There are some key differences between what the 2 companies were providing. The biggest difference that most will bring up immediately is the fact that Xbox Live was a paid subscription service while the Sony online broadband was free (as long as you had an existing internet connection). While Microsoft's online service was unified under Xbox Live and ran through official servers, the PlayStation 2 online offerings were completely left up to the third-party developers, meaning there was less consistency between online experiences. While the Xbox was built with an ethernet port from the beginning, those who owned the early fat PS2 models had to buy an adapter in order to hook up an internet cable. So while Sony's online was free, there were several aspects about Xbox Live that were ahead of the competition.

The online servers enjoyed almost a full 8 year life-span, which is longer than I think most people expected it to stick around. Many players hold fond memories of playing Xbox Live; An old friend of mine used to wax nostalgic about playing Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell online on his Xbox back in the day, telling stories that obviously left a lasting memory. Many people fondly recall playing Halo 2, which was likely the most popular game on the service. Personally, I had a PlayStation 2 back in this time so my memories of Xbox Live on the OG Xbox are very limited, though I do recall playing Capcom vs SNK 2 EO at a friend's place and being impressed by option to fight  an opponent online. While these days everybody knows and expects Xbox Live to be a primary feature of any Xbox console, t's interesting to think back about the times when online gaming was fresh and exciting for many.

Over the course of its active years, Xbox Live also allowed you to download new content for some games and even digital-only titles that could be downloaded via the Xbox Live Arcade. Xbox Live on the original Xbox helped pave the way for easy access to online gaming from your console, a feature that had been mostly limited to computer users in the '90s, and this is one of several reasons why the Xbox was such an important release in the history of game consoles.

Related Links:
Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox - Xbox Overview

XBLA Origins | Xbox Overview

Xbox Live Arcade Origins

Since Xbox Live Arcade was so prominent on the Xbox 360, it's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the service began on that system. Originally announced at the E3 2004 press conference, XBLA would launch in November that same year. The service launched with a limited number of titles, with a few being added as time went on. By the time the console was reaching the end of its life cycle, there were 27 (as far as I could find) titles released for the platform.

On the 360, XBLA offered free trial versions for any of the games listed on the marketplace. The original XBLA offered this feature as well, allowing an Xbox Live subscriber to play a 30-minute trial of any of the titles on offer. Full versions of the games could be purchased as a digital download and as far as I can tell they ranged in price from $10-20. While there were some solid titles being offered on the service, the prices were a bit much considering how simple some of them were.

As you can see from the list below, there was a decent variety of games on offer. There were several titles aimed at casual gamers, like PopCap's  Bejeweled and Feeding Frenzy, but there were also some arcade classics for the older folks with titles like Ms. Pac-Man, Gauntlet, Smash TV and Robotron 2084. Many of these titles would make the transition over to XBLA on the Xbox 360, though there were also several that didn't, such as Atomaders, Fuzzee Fever and Hamsterball Gold. With the Xbox Live servers shut down, there's no way to play these unless you have a modded Xbox. It's interesting to look back at the list of games that helped kick off the Xbox Live Arcade service, which would become a huge part of what made the 360 so great.

Following is a list of all known titles released on the original XBLA with links to gameplay on YouTube (credit to uploader FEU3RSTURM). While much of the menu text is in German, you get to see these games in action without having to go through the trouble of modding an old Xbox. Here is a link to the menu where you would navigate your XBLA games.

Alien Sky
AstroPop
Atomaders
Bankshot Billiards
Bejeweled
Bookworm Deluxe
Dangerous Mines
Dino and Aliens
Feeding Frenzy
Fuzzee Fever
Gauntlet
Guardian
Hamsterball Gold
Hardwood Solitaire
Joust
Marble Blast
Ms. Pac-Man
Mutant Storm
Namco Vintage (Dig Dug, Galaga, Pole Position)
Orbz
Pipeline
Ricochet Lost Worlds
Robotron 2084
Smash TV
Super Collapse II
Think Tanks
Zuma Deluxe

Related Links:
Xbox Live on the Original Xbox - Xbox Overview
E3 2004 Complete Microsoft Press Conference - YouTube
Mark Plays Live Arcade on the Original Xbox - YouTube

Armikrog (Xbox One, 2016)

Armikrog
Developed by Pencil Test Studios
Published by Versus Evil
Released for Xbox One (8/23/2016)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/WiiU

Armikrog was developed by Pencil Test Studios and released in August 2016, funded by a successful kickstarter campaign. Armikrog is the third entry in the Neverhood series, with the original game titled the Neverhood being released for PC back in October 1996. The Neverhood was ported to the PlayStation in April 1998, but was only released in Japan for that platform. The sequel, titled SkullMonkeys, was released exclusively for the PlayStation in January 1998, this time receiving a release in all territories. There was actually a third Japan-only release featuring the Neverhood characters released in November 1999, but it's an air-hockey game and was not developed by the original creators, therefore is rarely mentioned in the Neverhood franchise. Enough history, let's talk about the Xbox One release of Armikrog....

The Neverhood series remained dormant for quite some time, until September 2015 when Armikrog was released for the PC, Mac and Linux. The PlayStation 4, WiiU and Xbox One ports would arrive a bit later in August 2016. Armikrog is considered more of a spiritual successor than a sequel and was the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising almost a million dollars in order to fund the venture.

Armikrog is a point and click adventure with graphics consisting entirely of clay-molded objects that utilize stop-motion animation.The game starts off with our main character, Tommynaut, crash landing his ship on a planet called Spiro 5. On this planet you'll explore a mysterious fortress, where you find a baby named P that you must protect along the journey. Tommynaut will be accompanied by his dog, Beak-Beak, who you can switch to and control at any point and you'll need to utilize him to access tunnels that are too large for Tommynaut to enter.

The gameplay in Armikrog is simple; you move a cursor around the screen and click to move or interact with whatever object you're highlighting. There are no inventory menus to mess with, since items you collect will automatically be used when you select the correct object. While the gameplay is basic, the game delivers a strange and interesting world and the portions of the game you spend exploring are one of the game's high points.

There are several different puzzles throughout the game and some of these are a bit challenging compared to the rest of the game. Particularly, there are several slider puzzles where you have to rearrange tiles between four slots that can be a major pain in the butt without looking up a solution. The game features an option where the cursor will snap to objects in the environment that you can interact with, which is incredibly handy during the exploration sections of the game but can be a real pain when you're trying to solve the puzzles. Due to this, it's recommended to turn this off when you enter into the puzzles, which can be easily toggled from the pause menu in-game.

Armikrog looks great in general, but there is a contrast between the video quality when comparing the cut-scenes to the gameplay screens. The cut-scenes have a noticeable decrease in resolution when compared to the gameplay sections. This stood out right from the beginning and is a bit disappointing, especially after reading the developers released a hi-res texture pack for the PC version that vastly improves the quality of these. Why not make this an Xbox One X enhanced title and release a patch for console users? The Xbox One port was never even mentioned on the Kickstarter page, so I suppose this port was more of an afterthought.

I was a bit shocked when I saw the almost million dollar budget that went into Armikrog, but when I saw the voice talents it helped make a little sense out where a good chunk of that coin went. Featuring the likes of Michael J. Nelson (Mystery Science Theater 3000) as main character Tommynaut, Rob Paulsen (Animaniacs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as Beak-Beak and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as the villain just to name a few, Armikrog features a rather impressive list of voice talent, especially considering that there's really not all that much dialogue in the game.

Armikrog is only going to appeal to a small portion of folks that enjoy point & click adventures, so if you're not into the genre this one isn't going to convert you. It's easy to recommend the game just for the excellent clay-animation and it's fun while it lasts, but beware that this game is incredibly short. There are also a few slider puzzles that were a bit annoying, but other than that it's a solid but short point & click. It's worth a play, but you might want to wait for a sale before snagging it up.

Final Verdict: Armikrog is a short point 'n click adventure featuring a unique clay-animation art-style. Fans of the genre or the Neverhood games might find something to like, but due to the shortness you may want to wait for a discount.

Related Links:
Buy Armikrog - Microsoft Store
Pencil Test Studios - Official Site
Versus Evil - Official Site
Armikrog - Kickstarter
Armikrog - Metacritic
Armikrog - GameFAQs
Armikrog - True Achievements
Armikrog Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

Away: Journey to the Unexpected (Xbox One, 2019)

Away: Journey to the Unexpected
Developed by Aurelien Regard Games
Published by Playdius
Released for Xbox One (2/8/2019)
Also on PC/PS4/Switch

French developers Aurelien Regard advertise Away: Journey to the Unexpected as a "feel-good FPS." Those coming into Away expecting shooting action will be disappointed, as that is only a small part of the gameplay. The feel-good part of the description is apt as the game exudes a goofy charm in its delivery. While there will be points in the game where you'll fire and shoot from a first-person perspective, the majority of the game will spent exploring and swinging melee weapons. There's also a roguelike aspect to the whole thing, allowing you to unlock extra perks for your character as you die, making the game easier in the long run.

Away deserves some praise for its presentation. The 2D sprites living in a 3D world blend together well thanks to the excellent art and texture work. The anime-themed music fits right along with the game's wackiness. Away has a look of its own and delivers on the feel-good vibe of the game on all accounts, with cutesy enemies and NPC's to encounter throughout your journey.

The gameplay in Away combines several genres, most notably it uses elements from both first-person shooters and roguelike games. There are randomly-generated dungeons and some exploration, but thanks to the ability to unlock perks with XP after each playthrough, Away is much easier than your traditional roguelike. The game starts off at home, where you find out that evil forces have been unleashed and your parents have gone missing, so now it's up to you to embark on a journey to find them and vanquish the evil from the land.

After leaving your house, you'll enter into one of four different areas that serve as a hub-world to access the dungeons, explore and meet new characters that you can eventually recruit. When you recruit a new character, you'll gain the ability to switch over to them on the fly and you can have up to 3 characters in your party at once. In order to recruit one of these characters, you'll first need to find a friendship cube. Once you've obtained one of these, you'll also have to select the appropriate dialogue response in order to convince them to join you. Make the wrong selection here and you'll have to attempt to recruit them again next playthrough. Once you've selected the proper responses and recruited the character, in subsequent playthroughs you won't have to worry about the dialog choices. Each character you recruit will add a star point to your total, which will grant you access to new rooms back at the main house. You'll also need a certain amount of star points in order to reach the end of the game, ensuring that you'll have to recruit all of the characters across several playthroughs in order to see the end.

While Away: Journey to the Unexpected features an excellent overall presentation, it falls a bit short in a few gameplay areas. The randomization aspect only applies to the dungeons, which only have a few variations and feel quite similar to one another so this hurts the roguelike aspect a bit. Though the environments are detailed and look nice, they are a bit boring to explore as they tend to feel a bit desolate. Another issue with the game involves the melee combat, particularly with the stick that the main character wields. The hit-detection is a bit off and you'll take a bunch of cheap hits until you get the hang of keeping your distance from the enemies while you swing. The characters with projectiles control fine and while the melee is manageable, it could have been much better.

The characters, art-style and overall cheerful vibe of the game still makes it worth a look for certain players. The campaign can be completed quick, but the game requires you to build up your stats which will require several attempts before you're strong enough to make it through. Depending on how quick you complete the story, Away will last you anywhere between 3-5 hours. There's a bit of replayability due to the fact you can only recruit 3 characters per playthrough, allowing you to mix up your crew. If you're looking for a first-person game that offers something a bit different, you may want to check out Away: Journey to the Unexpected and its cheerful vibes. I'd recommend waiting for a sale due to the short length, but despite its flaws there's some fun and originality in this one.

When I saw the trailer for Away: Journey to the Unexpected, I was immediately drawn to the game from the art-style alone. I knew there was something strangely familiar about it, but it wasn't until researching a bit for this review that I found out one of the developers was the co-founder of Arkedo, who developed some fine XBLIG/PSN games we've looked at on this site.

Final Verdict: Away: Journey to the Unexpected is a first-person roguelike with an anime-inspired feel-good vibe and colorful graphics. Away has a unique style and charm to it, though it's short in length and the melee combat is a bit clunky so I'd advise you to wait on a sale before checking it out.

Related Links:
Buy Away - Microsoft Store
Rogue-Like - Xbox Overview 
Arkedo - Xbox Overview
Aurelien Regard - Blogspot
Playdius - Official Site
Away - Metacritic
Away - GameFAQs
Away - True Achievements
Away - Xbox Achievements 

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 (Xbox, 2002)

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2
Developed by Rainbow Studios
Published by Activision
Released for Xbox (8/12/2002)
Also on GBA/GC/PS2
Backwards Compatible on Xbox 360

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 was released for the Xbox in August 2002, developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Activision. The first game in the series was released on a number of platforms, but made its debut on the original PlayStation back in May 2001. The series was a spin-off of the highly- successful Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise, which was created by another development team but featuring similar gameplay. The disc of this game will work in your Xbox 360, which if you're like me, you'll appreciate the upgrade in controller. Let's have a look at Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 and see if it's still worth a look almost 2 decades after its release.

The road trip mode is the equivalent of a story mode in Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2, featuring 8 levels spread out across the USA. Starting out in Oklahoma City, you'll pass through Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Hawaii just to name a few. Each location will feature a number of objectives that you'll have to complete in order to move on to the next location. The objectives are usually the type of stuff you'd expect from this type of game: do a certain trick at a certain spot, collect X number of objects, score a certain amount of points within a time limit; you get the idea. Road trip mode is decent but uninspired and should last you quite a while, so long as you can get a feel for the controls.

Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition (Xbox One, 2015)

Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition
Developed by [bracket]games
Published by Digerati Distribution
Released for Xbox One (11/27/2015)
Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch/Vita

Originally released for PC & Mac in August 2014, Three Fourths Home was developed by [bracket]games. In late 2015, the game would a receive a release with added content called the Extended Edition for PlayStation 4, Vita and Xbox One. Three Fourths Home is a visual novel where you'll have to make dialogue choices to progress the story. Since the story is really all there is to Three Fourths Home, I found it near impossible to write this review without some degree of spoilers in it. I won't ruin everything, but just wanted to give a heads up if you don't wish to know, as I'll delve into the ending of the main story briefly in this review.

Three Fourths Home features a very minimal graphical presentation, with everything colored in black, white and grey. The objects are simple but discernible and the visual display only takes up a small portion of the top part of the screen with the bottom section reserved for text. The main story has you playing as a young woman named Kelly, who is driving home in a rainstorm while speaking to her mother on the phone. You'll have to hold the right trigger to drive and releasing it will stop the car and conversation, so it's a way of pausing the game. You can also press the Y button to toggle the radio if everything is too quiet for you.

Kelly's conversation revolves around how long she's been away from home, had a recent fallout with her partner (lover or friend is never really specified) and various problems at home with the family. The story is only presented in text and while it is well written, spoken dialogue would have helped the game feel a bit more engaging. Three Fourths Home will consist of talking with various family members over the phone while driving and occasionally selecting from a few dialogue choices, with the scenery changing up occasionally as you cruise. The ending of the story leads you to believe tragedy has struck at home, as there have been storm sirens going off warning of tornado activity while you were on the phone.

There's a bit of stuff to do post-main game, giving Three Fourths Home a little replay value. The main story will take around an hour to complete and afterwards you'll unlock the epilogue. In the epilogue you're in a snowstorm, waiting at a bus stop, with the choice to either call mom or just wait for the bus. If you call mom, you get to go through a lengthy conversation with dialogue choices. This conversation is a bit more harsh than the one in the main story and Kelly really spills her guts to her mother here. You can walk to the right while having the conversation, but you're not required to keep moving like in the main story. After you've completed the epilogue and main story, there are a few extras you can view. Kelly's brother, Ben, who reads you one of his stories in the main game, has some additional stories that you can read through. You can also view Kelly's photo project, which was a college assignment that is mentioned in the epilogue. Last but not least, you can also listen to the radio which will play the game's soundtrack.

Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition isn't a bad game, but it will certainly not appeal to everyone. There's not much gameplay to speak of, other than holding the right trigger while reading and selecting dialogue decisions. The visual presentation is very minimal and there are no recorded voices, so you'll have to do quite a bit of reading, though the entire game with the main story and epilogue shouldn't take any longer than 2 hours. Due to the shortness of the game, I'd recommend picking it up sale if you're interested, as the game is a bit light on content for the $9.99 asking price. Overall, Three Fourths Home isn't bad for what it is, just be aware there's not much for graphics and gameplay, but the game does come through in the story department. If you can relate to feeling distant from those closest to you, this one might hit close to home.

Final Verdict: Three Fourths Home is a visual novel with a minimalist graphical style where you drive home while having a phone conversation with several family members. If you like these types of games, this one's not bad but it is a bit short so I'd advise grabbing it on a sale.

Purchase Links:
Buy Three Fourths Home - Microsoft Store

Related Links:
Digerati Distribution - Official Site
Three Fourths Home - Metacritic
Three Fourths Home - GameFAQs
Three Fourths Home - True Achievements
Three Fourths Home Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements