Category: video-games

Marathon: A Unique Game in Sea of Imitators and Nostalgia

Marathon, Bungie’s new Extraction shooter was released today and one thing that I found really interesting was the artistic style of the game.

The original game, which was released in the 1990s was made in a style about the internet before the internet ossified into websites. Cyberspace was seen as a place not as infrastructure. That shows up in how the game appears. The neon lights and high contrast colors are divisive but to be honest, I rather this game have this style than having the earthy style that almost every high budget game seems to have in this age.

Marathon has been struggling with some players, who just see as more content than a creative vision being brought to life in our stale age. People have a right to be cynical here. However, I think that this game is better than all those independent games which are just copying those 16-bit games.

I think that games with a unique visual style is what we need more of in this age.

Growing up with Web 1.0, I think that that era gets unwisely maligned by people now. There was a lot more experimentation in that age and some styles would work and others would not. I think we need to be more charitable. The internet was seen as a place not entirely yet as a place dominated by money. We need to remember that mentality and I think we should try to recapture some of it here.

Marathon is a niche game, and I think Bungie was right to put the price at $39.99. This is the right price for a game which will be getting more content in more seasons. In comparison to Battlefield 6, they need to make sure that the player’s choices actually have an impact on the game and they respect the player base.

Too many games have been issues recently and it would nice to see AAA game have some success here.

YouTube is the best place to discover new games in 2026

Steam has been the most dominant platform for buying and selling games since the early 2010s. Retail barely exists for PC games now; consoles are the remaining stronghold for physical releases.

One cannot go into the store anymore to see polished or not polished games on display now. The magazines are generally speaking outdated and more about the culture of video games than about the games themselves. So where does the player go to get the latest information about video games? Steam or so I thought.

Steam is a great platform and one that I truly loyal to in a way that GOG would wish to emulate here. However, there is one issue with it. Finding games which are not AAA quality.

AAA has been not as good as it once was but I still have a bias towards them. Independent games are still quite variable in quality and its tough to know what games on Steam are worth your money.

Enter YouTube.

At this point, YouTube has matured enough that there are many creators who make money professionally reviewing games. They are basically replacing GameSpot and IGN here.

How to get a good feed for game recommendations. Follow a creator who plays games consistently. After a while, you will get videos that show you videos from other creators as well as the one you were watching here.

I have found many more games through this way in comparison to searching on Steam. There are simply too many hobby games clogging up the browser on the site.

So if you wish to see what is happening in video games and to play games that worth your time, seek out the video jungle that are YouTube Creators and gamers.

Wild West Pioneers: An intriguing independent concept

More gameplay footage has been seen of Wild West Pioneers by Toplitz Productions. Generally speaking, the game has great environmental graphics. The lands around the starter town in the demo is very realistic and the river looks quite natural in here. However, the human characters seem rather rough. I am aware that they are only a small team but they need to get it close to Manor Lords quality so that they can carve out their own niche.

Strangely, in spite of the success of the Red Dead Redemption games, Old West city builders are not popular. The Old West city builder is just great fit for the genre. Most of these towns were small in size but huge in character. That is great way to have scale without having to compromise on the unique nature of the people in the towns.

I think that Wild West Pioneers is a great concept, but it will take time for it to be truly a great game. This is why early access is a great way for small developers to get their game out and get feedback on the mechanics. Of course, they need to keep themselves productive and make sure that deliver a great game which makes everyone appreciate that they spent time testing it in early access.

Here are some issues I have with the gameplay right now:

  1. The game’s usage of AI characters is too obvious. I think it would be better to handmake these characters as they look too much like avatars someone would use online. They need to have more distinctive styles.
  2. The game needs to more than an economic simulator.
  3. The game needs more character to its buildings, they seem too generic right now.
  4. The townspeople need to have more personality so that we can actually build Old West towns where they seem alive here.
  5. The voice acting is too conventional right now.
  6. The game needs to have more random events which actually effect the physical nature of the town.
  7. The game needs fauna to moving around so that the environment has more vibrancy here.