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.

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.

Forgotton Anne (Xbox One, 2018)

Forgotton Anne
Developed by Throughline Games
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox One (5/15/2018)
Also on iOS/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

Forgotton Anne (no that's not misspell, it's the actual title) is the first release from Denmark-based developer Throughline Games. The best way to describe Forgotton Anne would be, in the words of the developers, a cinematic adventure with light puzzle platforming and meaningful storytelling.
The game first released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in May 2018. June 2018 would see a release for the Mac and then the Switch in November of the same year. The final port (as of April 2020) was for iOS devices in June 2019. Throughline Games did a good job getting the game out to multiple platforms, so without further ado let's look at what it is and if it's one you should play...

Forgotton Anne takes place in the mysterious Forgotten Lands, where Forgotlings dwell. Forgotlings are everyday objects that were tossed aside and forgotten by their owners, longing to be remembered by them. These objects are all alive and each have their own personality. Early on in the game, while having a conversation with a blanket I was reminded of The Brave Little Toaster, an old Disney movie I saw as a kid with a similar premise of objects taking on a life of their own. Speaking and interacting with objects might sound silly at first, but you'll quickly warm up to it as more characters are introduced, some of them being quite memorable.

The game places you in the shoes of Anne, an enforcer in this magic land that helps keep order among the Forgotlings. Anne reports to Master Bonku, who is building an Ether Bridge which he claims will send them back to the human world. Master Bonku informs you that there's been a problem with rebels who are interfering with his plans to activate the Ether Bridge. As Anne sets off to thwart the rebellion, she'll learn many truths and discover quite a bit about herself in the process. There's some excellent storytelling going on here and the voice actors did a great job delivering the dialogue. You'll have to sit and watch cutscenes often, so if that type of thing bothers you this is probably not the game for you. It's never overbearing with its cutscenes and none of them felt like they ran too long. I'll refrain from dropping spoilers since the story is definitely one of the game's strongest points, but I'll tell you it's well-delivered and there's a nice payoff at the end. There are also 2 possible endings to help add a bit of replayability. Upon completing the game, there's an epilogue and also an area you can explore and use to access certain chapters through the story to replay them.

The platforming aspect of Forgotton Anne reminded me a lot of the old cinematic platformer classics like Another World and Flashback, with a similar method of climbing up platforms and a familiar run/jump mechanic to cover gaps. The platforming is a tad stiff but you'll warm up to it and the game never presents anything to difficult in that regard. There are light puzzles, which typically involve Anne transferring power to and from objects using a device on her wrist. There are also lots of levers and switches to pull along the way, but none of the puzzles are too perplexing so you likely won't find yourself getting stuck at any point. There's quite a bit of exploring and talking to Forgotlings to be done, with the game doing a good job of balancing between the platforming/puzzling/exploring/conversing so it never feels like you do any of these more than the other. The gameplay loop is simple, but the story is compelling enough on its own to keep you moving forward.

Featuring an orchestral score, hand-animated visuals, excellent voice acting and an interesting story, Forgotton Anne delivers on a lot of fronts. The visuals are striking, with hand-drawn sprites featuring an impressive amount of animation along with some detailed backdrops. This is one of the better-looking games I've seen running on the Unity engine and it really looks like you're playing a cartoon at times. Forgotton Anne will last you around 8-10 hours and while these aren't the types of games you typically come back to, this one's worth that one playthrough if you like a good story with some light puzzle & platforming mixed in there. There's a lot of polish and effort that went into this one and it really shines through in all departments. While the premise will likely be too silly for many, those who dig in and give it a shot will be pleasantly rewarded.

Final Verdict: Forgotton Anne is a cinematic adventure with puzzle and platforming elements, featuring hand-drawn art and an excellent story, this one is easy to recommend.

Related Links:
Buy Forgotton Anne - Microsoft Store
Throughline Games - Official Site
Square Enix - Official Site
Fogotton Anne - Metacritic
Fogotton Anne - GameFAQs
Fogotton Anne - True Achievements
Fogotton Anne - Xbox Achievements

Life is Strange (Xbox 360/One, 2015/16)

Life is Strange
Developed by DONTNOD Entertainment
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox 360 (10/2015) & Xbox One (1/2016)
Also on Android/iOS/Linux/Mac/PC/PS3/PS4

Life is Strange is a point 'n click style adventure game originally released for the Xbox 360 in October 2015 and in January 2016 the game received a port to the Xbox One. The gameplay is similar to the Telltale Games titles, but rather than using an already existing license the developers have created the characters and story specifically for this game.

The game is broken up into five episodes, with each episode initially being released around two months apart. As is the case with games of this nature, it tends to work out best to wait for the entire story to be released before digging in since it can really suck waiting months to see what happens next. While the first episode was released in January 2015 for the Xbox 360, the final episode wasn't put up for download until October 2015. That's way too much time for a game of this nature, but luckily the end product turned out well and doesn't feel rushed. By the time Life is Strange received a release for the Xbox One, all episodes had already been released so the game was released in its complete form right from the start.

The story has the player take control of Max, an 18-year old attending Blackwell University who loves photography. Max discovers early in the story that she has the ability to turn back time and has to put it use quick. She witnesses one of her old childhood friends, Chloe, being shot and killed in the bathroom. Using her newfound powers, Max is able to go back in time and change the outcome of the event. As the story unravels, Max and Chloe get a chance to catch up and try to unravel the mysterious happenings at Arcadia Bay. The pacing of the story is very well done, giving Max several interesting scenarios to manipulate time and multiple outcomes as the result of your decisions. Each episode also does a great job ending on a cliffhanger and keeping the player anxious to come back and see what happens next. The story also deals with a lot of issues that will hit home for many players including bullying, friendships and loss of loved ones.

The cast of characters are excellent, offering a nice diversity and the writing/voice-acting makes them all believable. The characters are memorable as is the setting of Arcadia Bay and Blackwell University. Gameplay consists mostly of walking around, examining things and talking to people. Occasionally Max's time manipulation powers will come into play, allowing you to rewind time using the left trigger. There's a good balance between playing and watching, and it feels a bit more interactive than your average point 'n click from Telltale Games. The controls are simple and work effectively, making the game easily accessible to players of all types.

Rather than your standard collectibles, each chapter in Life is Strange features ten objects that you can take photos of. Once a photo is taken, it can be viewed in Max's journal which can be accessed by hitting the back button. It's an original take on collectibles and it was fun trying to find them all. If you miss any of them while playing, there's a handy chapter select available from the main menu to make it easy to hop back in to find them.

While Life is Strange is an excellent point and click adventure, no game is without its faults. The game crashed on me twice while playing on the Xbox One, but luckily both instances occurred at the main title screen so I didn't lose any story progress. The only other thing I found worth complaining about is that the lip-sync seems a bit off at times. One sequence had Max speaking with no mouth movement, making the whole scene look a bit silly. The lip-sync isn't a frequent problem as I only noticed it in a couple of scenes and most players likely won't even notice or care.

In closing, Life is Strange is up there as one of the best point and click adventures I've played in recent years. The characters and story are interesting enough to keep the majority of players invested until the end. If you enjoy a good point 'n click adventure or are intrigued by time travel, make sure you give Life is Strange a play. Try to go in as blind as possible though, as spoilers can really hamper the impact of the events that happen within the game. The game was released in physical format for the Xbox One and is available digitally on both the Xbox One and the Xbox 360.

Final Verdict: Life is Strange is an excellent point 'n click adventure, featuring a main character with the ability to manipulate time, an interesting cast of characters and a well-delivered story. Point 'n click fans should definitely give this one a play.

Related Links:
Buy Life is Strange for Xbox One - Microsoft Store
Buy Life is Strange for Xbox 360 - Xbox Marketplace
Search Life is Strange on Xbox One - eBay

Related Links:
DONTNOD Entertainment - Official Site
Square Enix - Official Site
Life is Strange - GameFAQs
Life is Strange Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Life is Strange - True Achievements 

The Turing Test (Xbox One, 2016)

The Turing Test
Developed by Bulkhead Interactive
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox One (8/2016)
Also on PC/PS4

The Turing Test is a first-person title where you solve puzzles in order to progress to the next area. Upon reaching the next area you'll be greeted with another test and so on until you reach the next level. The game is similar in structure to Portal or the more recently released Pneuma: Breath of Life. The tests generally focus on activating switches, with some of them utilizing cameras and robots to assist.

The Turing Test does have some sort of narrative, but I'm going to be completely honest with you I really didn't pay much attention to it. More than half of the time I played this game I had music or videos on. That's not to say that the sound design is bad, just that there's really not much going on in this game and if you're like me (not the best attention span) this can cause drowsiness, which I would combat by putting on something else as I played. Unfortunately, I missed out on a lot of the dialogue as I didn't think to switch on the subtitles until I was almost done with the game. Since The Turing Test is a puzzle game, missing out on tidbits of the story doesn't really have any impact on the actual gameplay. Besides, if you know anything about what the Turing Test actually is chances are you'll see the ending coming from a mile away.

The Turing Test is a bit short and most people who play it all the way through will probably spend around 4-5 hours in order to complete the 7 levels. Puzzles typically involve picking up and placing power cubes into slots to open doors/activate switches. Later on in the game you'll be able to use your gun to suck up and shoot the power orbs into the slots. While there is a bit of variety and a few puzzles that almost stumped me, overall I didn't find the game too challenging. The sterile environments, while nice-looking, tend to be a bit generic. The minimalist music and monotone voice-over that talks to you throughout are a bit boring as well, though it could also be seen as a laid-back type of game that doesn't get too difficult.

During my time with the Turing Test the game locked up on me once, but with a system reset I was able to pick up from the last checkpoint and didn't run into the issue again. Also, the game's loading screens are long. There were several instances where I was just about to reset my console when the loading bar would stop for a while, but it would always load up the game eventually. Considering that the game's graphics really aren't that spectacular, one really has to wonder why the loading takes so long. Also, while traveling through the tunnels that connect the areas together the game will stop to load again, so you'll be seeing these lengthy load sessions quite a few times through the game.

While I do admit the game did bore me a bit at times (partially due to playing at late hours), I didn't hate the game at all and at times rather enjoyed parts of it. There are a few challenging puzzles and I don't regret spending the time it took to complete the title, though I don't see myself ever coming back to it. If you're a fan of first-person puzzle games or just want something a bit chill, you may want to give the Turing Test a look.

Final Verdict: The Turing Test is a first-person puzzle game which is rather short in length but is still recommended for those who enjoy solving puzzles, though it isn't terribly difficult.

Related Links:
Buy Turing Test - Microsoft Store

Related Links:
Pneuma: Breath of Life Review - Xbox Overview 
Bulkhead Interactive - Official Site
Square Enix - Official Site
The Turing Test Achievement Guide - XboxAchievements.com
The Turing Test - GameFAQs
The Turing Test Trailer - YouTube

Sleeping Dogs (Xbox 360, 2012)

Sleeping Dogs
Developed by United Front Games
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox 360 (8/14/2012) | Xbox One (10/9/2014)
Also on PC/PS3/PS4

Sleeping Dogs was originally going to be the third entry into the True Crime series that released on the previous generation of consoles. The project was cancelled by Activision and then Square Enix came in to salvage the game, where it eventually turned into Sleeping Dogs. This is an open-world crime game set in Hong Kong and is obviously very similar to the Grand Theft Auto games. The main things setting this game apart are the setting and your character being a cop. If you don't like graphic violence or language in your games then this is definitely not the game for you as the swearing is constant and the combat is pretty brutal.

You play as undercover cop Wei Shen, who is making an attempt to infiltrate the Chinese Triad gang the Sun On Yee. The voice acting is solid in this game and the story remained interesting throughout, filled with lots of betrayal and murder, the types of themes that should definitely be present in a game involving Triads. The game also stays relatively down-to-earth, never blowing things too out of proportion and manages to stay at least somewhat believable.

Sleeping Dogs one-ups the Grand Theft Auto series in at least a few aspects, especially when you take into consideration this came well before GTA5 hit the market. The hand-to-hand combat system is lifted right out of the Batman Arkham games, though the counters aren't quite as reliable as they were in those titles. You are able to grab your foe and from there you can punch him or drag him over to the nearest wall or object and smash them into it. This is extremely satisfying and many props have been laid out in the game environment for your use. You can smash goons into telephone booths, slam their heads in car doors, push their face into an operating fan and many others. Needless to say, the melee combat is definitely one of Sleeping Dogs finest points. Also unique to the game is the action hijack, where you can jump from one moving car onto another in order to steal a new ride while on the go. This works very well for the most part and helps keep the pace moving nicely.

The gun-play is your standard third-person stuff, where you can take cover and from there either blind-fire or vault over your cover. The game is definitely more focused on the melee battles, but you will get the opportunity to use firearms at several points in the game. The controls on foot are very easy to use and work well, allowing you to quickly jump over most objects in your path and traverse most areas with ease. The driving is quite basic but is responsive, which is more than I can say for some of the open-world games of the past and it's quite easy to fire your weapon while driving. You have a drift button to help you slide around corners. Overall the controls for the various styles of play all work well, but the game really excels in the melee department.

Outside of the main campaign, there are tons of side-missions scattered about. There are street races, cop jobs, security cameras to hack, drug busts and several other variations on these events. There are also several different types of mini-games, including karaoke, hacking, lock-picking and call-tracing. Most of these are pretty creative and are definitely welcome additions to vary up the game-play a bit. One thing I found a bit annoying is that during some of the drug busts that use firearms, enemies tend to spawn out of nowhere right behind you and you can't react fast enough before you're filled with lead and there goes another trip to the hospital and a bunch of your money. As far as the races go, there were a couple times I felt as if I'd rather just be playing a game focused solely on racing (particularly the bike races), but some of them are pretty fun since you can ram and disable your opponents when racing in cars.

In the end, Sleeping Dogs doesn't really do a whole lot you haven't seen before, but it combines great aspects from several games and it does it rather effectively. I enjoyed the story and had fun completing the side-missions for the most part as well. I ran into quite a few bugs and glitches throughout my play-time, several freezes (admittedly after leaving the game paused for a lengthy time) and some weird instances where my character went flying sky high for no apparent reason, but it was nothing bad enough to make me put the game down or anything. This game can be found regularly on the cheap now, so if you haven't played it get out there and try it! This game was also later released on the Xbox One (as the Definitive Edition) with some slightly improved visuals and all of the DLC included.

Final Verdict: Sleeping Dogs features an awesome open-world portrayal of Hong Kong to explore, solid gunplay, excellent melee combat and a nice variety of side missions to tackle. If you're a fan of open-world crime action games and you somehow skipped this one, go back and give it a shot!

Purchase Links:
Buy Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (Xbox One Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Sleeping Dogs (Xbox 360 Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Sleeping Dogs (Xbox One Disc) - eBay
Buy Sleeping Dogs (Xbox 360 Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Open-World Games - Xbox Overview
Square Enix - Xbox Overview
Square Enix - Official Site
Sleeping Dogs - Metacritic
Sleeping Dogs - GameFAQs
Sleeping Dogs Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Sleeping Dogs - True Achievements

Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox 360, 2014)

Murdered: Soul Suspect
Developed by Airtight Games
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox 360 | Xbox One (6/3/2014)
Also on PC/PS3/PS4

For fans of supernatural thrillers, Murdered: Soul Suspect sounds like a dream come true. An interactive supernatural murder mystery, gameplay mostly consists of exploring your environment and collecting/examining stuff with a little stealth and some quick-time events here and there. Right off, let me advise you that the performance of this game on the 360 is very questionable. This game was released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and as seems to have been optimized for those systems, being ported/released for the previous gen as an afterthought to possibly rake in some extra money.

The framerate on this game is insanely bad, especially when you're wandering around in the game's hub-world in the streets. I played this from the downloaded version yet it feels like it's loading off of a disc, constantly skipping frames especially bad in wide open areas. It's playable, but it's very unattractive and takes alot away from the overall experience. That said, the environments are detailed and everything looks nice, it's just a shame it runs so sloppily.

The game itself is a cool murder mystery from the perspective of a ghost. If you like collect-a-thons you're going to love this game as there are over 200 things to collect! The voice acting is quite good and the story, while kind of cheesy and cliche, is interesting enough to keep the player engaged until the end. It's pretty cool to play as a ghost, you can possess people, read their minds and walk through walls and such!  A little after halfway through the game, you get the ability to teleport which I ended up wishing the game would have made a little more use out of. Overall, Murdered: Soul Supsect is playable but very rough around the edges on the 360, but is an interesting game and worth a play if you have one of the newer systems.

Final Verdict: I really wish I would have played Murdered: Soul Suspect on either a next-gen system or PC, which is the only way I'd recommend you play this game. The game itself is alright it's just that this port was obviously not optimized at all for the aging 360 hardware.

Purchase Links:
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox One Digital) - Microsoft Store
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox 360 Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox One Disc) - eBay
Buy Murdered: Soul Suspect (Xbox 360 Disc) - eBay

Related Links:
Square Enix - Xbox Overview
Square Enix - Official Site
Murdered: Soul Suspect - Metacritic
Murdered: Soul Suspect - GameFAQs
Murdered: Soul Suspect Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Murdered: Soul Suspect - True Achievements

Note that these screens are taken from the Xbox 360 store, but they are most certainly taken from one of the next-gen consoles. It's really tough to find screenshots of this game running on the older hardware and I lack the screen capture software/motivation to take my own shots. They still convey the general idea of what the game is just the same, just felt it was worth stating.

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