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Top 20 Girls from ‘09-’18 Girl of our Decade Ana Cheri
Photography by Andrew Gates and OG foto
On This Page On The Cover
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On The Back Cover
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All Access
The Latest Albums Reviewed Albums Reviewed: Papa Roach Who Do You Trust? Wiz Khalifa & Curren$y 2009 By Silas Valentino
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All Access Spotlight
Artists/Bands Featured: Slim Thug Suga Daddy Slim: On Tha Prowl Bring Me the Horizon Amo Rival Sons Feral Roots By Samuel Wendel
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All Access Top 10 Top 10 albums from ‘09-’18:
Silas picks his favorite album from each year over the past 10 years. By Silas Valentino
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Game On
The Latest Games Reviewed Games Reviewed: Resident Evil 2
By Joshua David Anderson
Anthem
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Game On Spotlight Games Featured: Days Gone Control Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy By Jesse Seilhan
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Game On Top 10
Top 10 games from ‘09-’18: Jesse picks his favorite game from each year over the past 10 years. By Jesse Seilhan
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Andrew Gates All Access Editor
Silas Valentino Games Editor
Jesse Seilhan Art Director
Andrew Gates All Access Contributors
Silas Valentino & Samuel Wendel Pit Pass Contributors
Andrew Gates & Greg Emmerson Game On Contributors
Jesse Seilhan & Joshua David Anderson Contributing Photographers
OG foto, Andrew Gates & Rupa Begum Social Media Guru
Rupa Begum Contributing Make-up Artist
Alisha Baijounas, Kimberly Hill, Bioanca Robinson, Andrew Ybarra, Lyndsay Gabrielle, Regina Pacheco, Arianna Jimenez, Gaby Ramos, Kasey Hill, Marie Madore Contributing Hair Stylist
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Andrew Gates
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Copyright Š 2008-2019 RUKUS, LLC. All Rights Reserved! January/February 2019 issue, Volume 11, Number 1. ISSN 2161-4369 (print) ISSN 2161-4377 (online) Visit https://www.RUKUSmag.com for more images and content.
Trust Us...
Words by Silas Valentino
The pride of Vacaville, California return with their tenth album – the rhetorically questionable: Who Do You Trust? However pertinent this query may be in the era of fake news and social media wool pulls, Papa Roach aren’t here to stir debate. They’re here to pump you full of distorted guitars, cymbal crashing drums and screaming hooks. 22 years since their debut album, Papa Roach are still finding new reasons to avoid that last resort. Rage Against the Machine. Where would we be without the only rock and roll band to properly blend hard rock, funk and masterful MCing? They burned bright, then burned out, but now Rage burns with everlasting influence through Papa Roach’s “Renegade.” This song sounds as if “Killing in the Name Of” had a kid who spent its whole life trying to avoid becoming its parent but ended up sounding a whole lot like ‘em instead. “Are you ready for some new shit?/Stand up, this is renegade music,” singer Jacoby Shaddix howls in complete earnest. It’s hard not to smirk at this claim of “new shit” when hearing a song that even ends with the same growling “motherfuckkerrr” that concludes Rage’s signature tune. Washy guitar chords and all! It’s just funny, you know? There’s nothing wrong with cribbing
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from the best but why make the chorus about making something new when clearly it’s a song attached to the past? Why not – and I’m speaking directly to you, Papa Roach – why not make a song about cherishing the artists who inspire us and then giving them writing credits when it’s this blatantly ripped off? Who Do You Trust? came together unexpectedly. The band had intended to tour with Of Mice and Men last year but when that band’s singer came down with a sickness, Papa Roach decided to capitalize on this freed space and head into the studio. Speaking to Rock Sound in 2018, Shaddix explained how it all came together: “So we went in and created five or six songs. Then we went back in June and July and took another stab at it. We have 12 songs – there’s bangers in there.” We’ll let you be the judge of what’s a banger and the implied plurality. The album’s title track continues to pay homage to Rage with a pulsating guitar lead and rambunctious chorus that deals with Molotov cocktails and roaches. The target of this songs appears to be the bourgeoisie (no irony is acknowledged for how Papa Roach have sold millions of albums certifying them as rock’s One Percent) but regardless, Shaddix lays into his invisible character of wealth, an almost Monopoly Man caricature: “Are you people savage?/Pull the knife out from my back/In the company of rich/I’ll take loyalty over royalty.” The rest of Who Do You Trust? relies on familiar methods; “Problems” is an obvious ballad about, well, dealing with personal issues and right on cue, the third to last song is a three-chord punk smash “I Suffer Well” that’s loud, punishing and wildly incoherent. Papa Roach leave us with “Better Than Life” that’s hard rock and hard goth and features Shaddix pining for his lover to tear him up in some sadomasochist fantasy. “Break me into pieces/Take away the breath I’m barely breathing/I can feel you running through my blood, the adrenaline rush/Hits my heart like a drug, lift me up.” He also begins with the phrase “Fuck me like you mean it” and honestly, it sounds like he does mean it. For all their rested laurels and Rage Against the (copy) Machine songs, Papa Roach have crafted an album for 2019 and anybody who scoffs at that can’t appreciate the simple showmanship from Vacaville, California’s greatest hard rock quartet.
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Gettin’ Back
Words by Silas Valentino
It’s been a long ten years since the last time Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y collaborated. Barrack Obama is long gone from his days as Commander in Chief, Facebook is a 24/7 advertising channel and one of this year’s biggest hip-hop singles is equal amounts country as it is trap rap. Same goes for the careers of Pittsburg’s Wiz Khalifa and New Orleans’s Curren$y; the former went onto the stadium-level pop success with one of the biggest songs of 2015: “See You Again.” And Curren$y continues to be your hip-hop head friend’s favorite rapper with a consistent string of underground releases across the last decade. When it was released in the summer of 2009, How Fly was a successful independent mixtape that elevated the careers of both MCs. Hoping to capture some of that fairy dust again, the duo returns with 2009. It’s a 41-minute hazy album that doesn’t stray far from conventional rap tropes and features both rappers casually passing the mic to and fro with the sort of ease that comes with experience or two-and-a-half burnt blunts. This is an album for every fan of How Fly who dared to dream of a reunion between these two. The wait is over. The first three tracks are produced by Harlem producer Dame Grease who provides a gripping rush of big beats to help settle us back into Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y’s shared world. Opener “Garage Talks” features an almost RUN-DMC big bass beat held together by a brass horn hook. Wiz Khalifa wastes no time updating us where he’s been since ’09 with his opening bars: “I just got the fuck off a plane 6 car garage/I got more than one job/Be a boss, go hard.” Whereas Curren$y feels a little more sentimental about his reunion with an old comrade: “2009, all kind of high/How Fly had fools on the moon trying to drive/It’s a stoned duo, solid gold judo.” “10 Piece” follows next and is about as complicated as Curren$y’s flow: “I don’t watch soccer, but I like the jerseys/They look good with my jewelry on.” This isn’t Kendrick or DOOM, we’re not putting on 2009 for novel wordplay or new perspectives. This is a party where everyone is welcome to forget the woes and relax by wherever the stereo goes. Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y already made a name for themselves as individuals so this isn’t an album to reinforce their talent. It’s a simple gift for the thousands of fans who downloaded the thing off DatPiff and blasted it from their Corolla speakers. The album cover art includes a nod to the Grant Theft Auto series and “From the Start” seeks to capture some of that juicy nostalgia. With a beat that could have been on MTV circa 1994 and lines from Curren$y like “I put the cheat code in/I got the money and the infinite lives, this Vice City bitch,” suggests that the game is just a game for these two and the hustle isn’t important anymore. They’ll record a few songs together, hash out a one-dimensional idea behind a track and, since they’re household names, release it and people just might hear it. It’s already been a month since 2009 was released but it’s already lost in time. What were you doing in August ‘09?
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instagram.com/slimthug
Words by Samuel Wendel
Slim Thug, Suga Daddy Slim: On Tha Prowl
Last year, prolific Houston rapper Slim Thug celebrated his 20th year in the music biz, a career that’s included dozens of albums and mixtapes. Now, Slim Thug is back with another entry to his broad discography, entitled Suga Daddy Slim: On Tha Prowl. As with his best work (like his 2005 mainstream breakout Already Platinum), Slim Thug shines brightest when his booming voice takes center stage. On Suga Daddy Slim: On Tha Prowl, the beats and Slim Thug’s lyrical prowess are often overshadowed by his guttural delivery, a thundering drawl that gives momentum to tracks that would wilt in the hands of a lesser rapper. But the times are also changing, and the veteran Slim Thug doesn’t lean exclusively on his tried and true staples. He mixes things up across Suga Daddy Slim: On Tha Prowl, switching between gritty raps, slow burners and heavily R&B influenced cuts. Longtime fans on the hunt for something new should find plenty to dig into. Standout tracks include “Paid The Cost,” “I L.A.M.B.” and “Same Girl.”
Bring Me the Horizon, Amo
instagram.com/bringmethehorizon
British hard rockers Bring Me the Horizon look to bring something new to the table with Amo, their sixth studio album. It’s a genre-bending affair that finds Bring Me the Horizon further infusing pop sensibilities into their foundation of hardcore rock. The band experiments with new sounds, adding everything from electronic elements to orchestral flourishes, which they blend over muscular drums and cascading riffs. The album clearly aims for more accessibility, evidenced in particular by the radio-friendly hooks on the single “Medicine” and the ballad “Mother Tongue.” Still, Bring Me the Horizon also take some risks here, like “Nihilist Blues,” a throbbing dance track they created in collaboration with Grimes. Although the shift towards a more mainstream sound may worry long-time listeners, Bring Me the Horizon still provide plenty of heavier moments on Amo. On a whole, it’s an intriguing direction for Bring Me the Horizon, showcasing a veteran band unafraid to tweak their sound. Standout tracks include “Medicine,” “Wonderful Life” and “Nihilist Blues.” instagram.com/rivalsons
Rival Sons, Feral Roots
California’s Rival Sons cook up another batch of hard-charging blues rock with Feral Roots, their sixth studio album. They find a sweet spot between showing reverence to storied groups like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin while aiming for a modern-rock hit in the vein of other genre revivalists. (See: Gary Clark Jr., Raconteurs etc.) Throughout Feral Roots, Rival Sons adeptly mix energetic riffs and roaring rhythms, taking listeners on a rollicking rock ‘n’ roll ride. The album is driven by strong instrumentals, particularly the guitar work, which often steals the spotlight from frontman Jay Buchanan’s soaring vocals. And though they’re firmly rooted in a well-trodden genre, Rival Sons still find a way to add a unique twist to each track, keeping listeners on their toes from start to finish. All told, it’s a wellcrafted album that should appeal to anyone longing for a concentrated dose of hard-charging blues rock. Feral Roots should please long-time fans, while serving as a nice introduction to the group for new listeners. Standout tracks include lead single “Do Your Worst,” “Stood By Me” and “Shooting Stars.”
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Silas Valentino RUKUS and I share a birthyear. The magazine began ten years ago about the same time I started to write about music. The pages were my first published byline outside of school and it’s where I learned how to deploy em dashes. I’ve treated this music section as a breeding ground for (hopefully) entertaining musings on contemporary rock and hip-hop with frequent facts about the artists baked in. My goal has always been to amuse you as I learn you something new because at its core that’s music journalism at its most instrumental. For why else would you read about, and not listen to, music? 2009 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion Animal Collective managed to make kaleidoscopes out of music with their 8th album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. From the opening notes of “In the Flowers” that blossom into a digitalized crescendo to the crashing waves of sonic splendor heard throughout “Daily Routine”, Animal Collective have never sounded as experimental as they were accessible at this stage in their wavy career. The group was relatively obscure prior to their 2009 magnum opus – only the cool indie kids into psychedelia were fond of them, which is a subculture within another subculture – however, the group struck a universal chord with the unexpected hit of their ode-to-simplicity “My Girls.” Co-singer Panda Bear strips away at the complications of desire to refine a simple chorus-turned mantra: “I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things (like a social status)/I just want, four walls and adobe slabs for my girls” he croons, somehow turning this ridiculous phrase into a focused calling of a generation embracing their 30s. Named after the iconic music venue in their home state of Maryland, Merriweather Post Pavilion continues to transcend the senses. Like the optical illusion that serves as its cover art from artist Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Merriweather Post Pavilion enlivens the senses. 2010 Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy When Kanye West began to debut songs from what would become his most ambitious and redeemable album during the autumn of 2010, he was the most vilified hitmaker in all of music. (A role he’s since firmly fell back in.) Interrupting Taylor Swift’s award ceremony speech earned him the title of king douchebag but instead of defending himself on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he spent much of his hip-hop opera exploring the reasons as to why. “See I can have me a good girl and still be addicted to them hood rats/And I just blame everything on you, at least you know that’s what I’m good at” he explains on “Runaway”, coming off like a narcissist who finally too that long look into the mirror. MBDTF proved that baroque strings and Bon Iver have a place in hip-hop while Nikki Minaj’s iconic roar during “Monster” is one of the greatest verse features of the decade. But with respect to the artist’s current state of mind, an unforgivable flaw is now revealed. The Gil Scott-Heron spoken-word autopsy of oppressive America that closes the album appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Kanye might have made this album but every time he wears that dumb, red hat it suggests he’s never even listened to it. 2011 Real Estate Days Real Estate have been churning out records filled with the same song played over and over again. It’s a downtempo groove full of lyrical nostalgia that’s pin pointed to jangling guitars which glimmer as they pop. It may seem dull however, that one song they keep repeating just so happens to be one of the greatest songs ever recorded. The Ridgewood, New Jersey band’s consistency should never be misinterpreted as complacency. Days, their sophomore LP, remains their most satisfying with songs that develop into full-fledged jams (“All the Same” and “Green Aisles”) or keep it under three minutes to evoke simplistic beauty (“It’s Real” and “Wonder Years”). It was on Days that Real Estate solidified and sounded their most influential. Their golden combination of tight surf rock riffs with expansive rhythmic patterns that channel the Grateful Dead never sounded as fully realized as it did in “Municipality”, in which singer Martin Courtney describes a relationship in motion as he watches idly; not out of dissatisfaction, but in a state of mindful tranquility. 2012 Alabama Shakes Girls and Boys The story goes that a young Alabama Shakes were on stage in Decatur, Alabama when they started fiddling around with a new riff. Singer Brittany Howard began improvising lyrics mainly about remaining positive and not losing faith in herself, but as she sang and the band played on, something remarkable started to happen. While belting the improvised chorus “You got to hoooold on”, the audience started to sing along, joining in as the song was developing in real time almost as though the music was timeless and required no introduction. The Alabama Shakes seem to recreate this magical musicalism with every song on their debut Boys & Girls and they’ve continued to do so throughout their steady and flawless career. The high-riding guitar riff that gallops over “Hang Loose”
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later transforms into a woodpecker that taps away on the melodic sweet spots in “Rise to the Sun.” Either in her heartache or triumph, Howard is incapable of hitting a sour note and has proved she’s one of the most fierce and dependable voices in modern rock ‘n’ roll. 2013 Toro y Moi Anything in Return Chaz Bundick saw the box closing in around him and decided to break free. Using an artillery of backbeats and basslines he locked in the pocket and then wrapped in layers of warm keyboards, Bundick’s project Toro y Moi broke away from the Chillwave peg he endeared for years. His third LP, Anything in Return, mastered a new style: electronic soul. Moments like “Harm in Change” and “So Many Details” are lyrically revealing without missing a beat and “High Living” takes the Dr. Dre whistle on a drug-induced frolic into strawberry fields. The tracks were more fleshed out and developed as compared to anything he had done before but his homely, DIY aesthetic wasn’t lost in the mix. 2014 Parquet Courts Sunbathing Animal The greatest rock band of a generation cemented themselves with this sophomore LP, a straightforward rock record that had them navigating between the freedom and captivity that ensued following their heralded 2012 debut Light Up Gold. Through relentless touring, where they spread their rock ‘n’ roll gospel marked by razor-sharp hooks that cut through the minutia of the human experience, Parquet Courts established themselves as cognizant rockers. The 7-minute masterpiece “Instant Disassembly” slouches towards the finale of a romance in ruins. Singer Andrew Savage offers his fading mamasita his best explanation as to why it’s over and why “There’s nothing left to dismantle the house it just collapsed on itself.” “Instant Disassembly” redefines of the phrase “breaking up”, capturing the details in the grueling processes of separation scored to the white noise murmur of the “last classic rock band’s last solid record.” With that line alone, Parquet Courts picked up where their elder statesmen had tapered off to inherit the leadership role in rock ‘n’ roll. 2015 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly Terrace Martin, a predominate collaborator and producer behind To Pimp a Butterfly, told a sold-out crowd at the Museum of Modern Art crowd in Queens, New York sometime in early 2016, about the direction Kendrick Lamar gave him before recording what would go on to become an aural zeitgeist. “I want it to sound like earth,” Lamar instructed the trumpeter. What followed was raw and spiritually grounded, an album that encapsulated an entire social movement into an 80-minute hip-hop suite that paid homage to the past (jazz, soul) with eyes to the future. “Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright” became a rallying call for Black Lives Matters as well as a mantra for perseverance. A deeply personal album, with lyrics that appeared to be ripped from the pages of Lamar’s diary, To Pimp a Butterfly confirmed what was already known: hip-hop is the most compelling poetry of our time. 2016 David Bowie Blackstar First comes everything that surrounded this album: the 25th studio effort, released on David Bowie’s 69th birthday three days before his surprise death from liver cancer but after the glitter faded we were left with Bowie’s finest music in decades. Blackstar was Bowie’s grandiose conclusion, like a famed quarterback retiring after winning the Super Bowl. Alongside his longtime producer Tony Visconti, the pair recorded a jazz album with accessible appeal that quickly became shrouded in mystery following the icon’s passing. Were there clues sprinkled throughout? “Look up here, man, I’m in danger/I’ve got nothing left to lose/I’m so high it makes my brain whirl/Dropped my cell phone down below/Ain’t that just like me?” he sings during “Lazarus” as though it was his final wink to his adoring fans. But Blackstar ultimately ends with the somber “I Can’t Give Everything Away”, a graceful bow where Bowie reminded us once more of his human limitations just as he boarded his transport to the great beyond. 2017 The National Sleep Well Beast What is the sound of a marriage teetering on the line? Where lovers quarrel and trade barbs but remain together in hand. The National spend their 7th album examining the other end of a “will they/won’t they” scenario where the uncertainty of love’s persistence is explored. “For years I used to put my head inside the speakers/In the hallway when you get too high and talk forever” Matt Berninger sings in “Day I Die” sounding like a lover finally getting the truth off their chest for the first time. Elsewhere Sleep Well Beast turned its attention to politics, either quoting an alleged Karl Rove monologue during “Walk It Back” that brazenly defended American Imperialism or in the single “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” which captured the urgency in restoring balance following the 2016 Election. The National have always sidestepped mischaracterization, evading the pigeonholed “dad rock” label, and Sleep Well Beast exhibited their ability to unravel the detail in everyday disorder. 2018 IDLES Joy As An Act of Resistance Anger isn’t just for the numbskulls no more. The thinking man is capable of expressing rage and no other contemporary rock band is better at articulating such social vexation quite like Joe Talbot and his merry band of post-punkers from Bristol, England. Joy As An Act of Resistance, their 2nd album, was a soggy embrace between those who can differentiate between anger and hate. Plenty was up for analysis for this album – the xenophobe that prompted Brexit, the emotional fallout following a stillborn child and the disillusionment caused by television – but IDLES were their most disruptive during “Samaritans”, a takedown on toxicity. “The mask/Of masculinity/Is a mask/A mask that’s wearing me,” Talbot howls before erupting: “I kissed a boy and I liked it!” Joy As An Act of Resistance is conscious act of defiance that showed nothing is more punk rock than revealing your vulnerability.
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Top 20 Girls of ‘09-’18
R
UKUS magazine is celebrating ten years of bringing our readers some of the most beautiful women. It’s been a long journey and a great pleasure helping these girls gain popularity and growth along the way as well as giving our readers what they want year after year. To celebrate our Ten Year Anniversary we’ve decided to bring you our Top 20 Girls from 2009-2018 and crowning the Girl of our Decade. We look forward to bringing you more great content for years to come and appreciate the support you’ve given us along the way. Thank you.
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Dead And Loving It
Words by Jesse Seilhan
It feels like remakes and re-releases are as inevitable as death and taxes. With every new console comes the opportunity to make money for fewer resources. Not that remakes don’t take hard work, but it depends on what level of attention, care, and detail goes into the project. While most studios are happy to throw in some high-res textures and call it a day, Capcom decided it was time to give the fans something they’ve been clamoring for: a true remake of Resident Evil 2, one of the most important and influential games of its time. While the PlayStation classic spawned a franchise (even more than its predecessor), only RE4 has come close to achieving the high-water mark set by its older sibling. Luckily, this 2019 refresh may become the definitive edition of a beloved title by improving just enough while staying true to the original. Remakes don’t always need to be prettier copy-and-paste jobs, especially when the gaming world has evolved in so many accessibility and quality of life areas in 20 years. RE2 benefits from these advances, as annoying things baked into the original experience have been smoothed out with the power of modern consoles and game development philosophy. For instance, when a room has been completely searched and no more items are present, the room becomes greyed out in the map, giving you a quick way to determine if you need to head back there or not. The same goes for locked doors, unsolved puzzles, story-based items, and more, all of which are given clever visual cues to help you beat the game. Narratively, the game follows the same story as before. While you get the chance to play as either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield, their paths are extremely similar save for a few sections further into the game. The plot mostly revolves around the Raccoon City Police Department, the only “safe” place for you to be during a zombie outbreak. From there, you’ll traverse underground, into sewers and secret laboratories, before attempting to escape the city and your death. This time, the beautifully rendered cutscenes really show you how horrific your foes are, with gorgeous visuals, animations, and spooky noises. Throw in an indestructible beast chasing you through the whole game & a horde of zombie dogs and you’ve got a reason to get your ass from point A to point B. The other point of focus for this game is how good it feels. The series has been maligned over the years for popularizing “tank controls,” a stiff and uncomfortable control scheme that plagued many games of the era. As one would expect, this remake fixes that by putting the power of movement back into your hands, with plenty of reactive controls to make you feel nearly fleet of foot while dodging undead dogs and all matters of evil incarnate. The notes, inventory, and saving systems all got improvements, from the ability to save without the need of typewriter ribbons to the fact that you can now pick up ammo and instantly reload your weapons without needing a free inventory space. It was maybe a gamble to stray so far away from what made the game feel the way it did so long ago, but by doing so, they made the game more fun and that’s what matters most of all. Remakes are tough to pull off: go too far toward nostalgia and the newer audience may bounce right off the classicbut-frustrating gameplay. Go too modern and traditionalists will disavow the game for losing the heart and soul of what it remake-worthy in the first place. With Resident Evil 2, Capcom obviously took their time and crafted a love letter to potentially the most important entry into the survival horror series of all time. All of the original scares and feelings are present, enhanced and improved by modern trappings and controls. It’s a perfect blend of what made the PlayStation a great console in 1998 and what you love about video games in 2019. Even if you’ve never given the series a shot, this is better than most games on the market this year, remake or not, and deserves a place on your digital shelf and Games of the Year list in December.
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Failure to Launch
Words by Jesse Seilhan
Anthem was announced and immediately turned heads. Closing out the Xbox press conference a few years back, people interested in a myriad of things (robots, Bioware, RPGs, and more) perked up to see what this new IP had up its sleeves. 18 months went by and very little information hit the streets before the game did, resulting in a discovery phase by gamers and skeptics alike. What nearly everyone came away with was that Anthem was definitely something different, but by failing to pay attention to the rest of the market, it was nearly dead on arrival. But is there anything redeeming about EA’s newest franchise or should you stay away at all costs? I would start with the story, but there isn’t much of one to cover. The game handles nearly all storytelling through radio communication and a few cutscenes, most done with fairly modern quality in both the performance and delivery departments. But the substance, the who, what, when, why, and where of it all is lacking in nearly each of those areas. Much like Destiny, an evil force is destroying the planet (or planets, in Destiny’s case) and you’re tasking with stopping it. There are a few main characters that you speak with in the single visitable city in the game, none of which are memorable or impactful. The main baddies are either giant bugs or evil Dominion forces that feature crazy space monsters, magical beings, and regular dudes with guns. A couple (and I do mean a couple) big bosses rear their heads along the way. Luckily, they are all very fun to shoot! The biggest thing Anthem has going for it is how it moves and how it plays. By giving the main character a jetpack and a ton of weapons and suit powers, each Javelin handles different and all of them offer a mix of on-the-fly strategies to employ. While the roles are traditional (big guy goes slow, small guy goes fast, etc.), the weapons are impactful and the various powers, like fireballs, electric beams, and rocket barrages, make it a joy to take on the enemies you face. All of this is only made better when combined with others, and the four player co-op actually does a great job of making each person’s artillery intermingle and create a more devastating offense. Your partner can set up a big attack with some ice blasts before you throw out the flamethrower to make a big COMBO go across your screen and fire some endorphins off in your brain. Unfortunately, nearly every other aspect of this game is disappointing. The sheer number of technical bugs, from crashes to glitches, are overwhelming. And because the games doesn’t give you XP for kills but only once a mission is fully complete, it only takes a single crash to make you realize that you just wasted 5-20 minutes of your life. The UI for both managing your equipment and selecting missions is confusing, to the point where multiple patches still haven’t made the final product much better than the buggy mess at launch. While the shooting is fun, all weapons and items you find on your journey are locked out until after the mission is over, so you better hope the two guns you blindly choose for your current mission are effective! I could go on but the design decisions that went into this game completely missed the mark on nearly all attempts, leaving a bad version of a very popular and crowded genre currently dominated by the likes of The Division and Destiny. It’s tough to make video games: always has been, always will be. The sheer amount of thought, effort, time, and precious resources to put out a digital product in 2019 is high, but the benefit of an experienced developer and publisher is that most of these things are accounted for. With Anthem, Bioware had decades of experience to pull from while Electronic Arts publishes some of the biggest games in the world. When issues arise during production and things come off the rails, the final product suffers. Anthem is barely better than its parts, but those parts are rough. If it weren’t for the smooth locomotion and satisfying power fantasy, this game would be nearly unplayable, but only those looking for something extremely frustrating should come to Anthem for any extended period of time.
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Words by Jesse Seilhan
Days Gone
Sony wants desperately for this game to work out. In development for years and taking center stage at multiple press conferences, Days Gone is a post-apocalyptic Sony exclusive focused on a single-player story of an older, grizzled white man. No, not The Last of Us, not even close, as this game features bikers, “freakers,” and not a lot of hype. We’re morbidly curious, as even when Sony blows it, the games end up looking like digital money. Like The Order 1886, we’re optimistic that the powers that be have put together something we can casually enjoy at least for a few hours, even if it doesn’t spawn a TV show, movie, and various sequels.
Control
We got a chance to see this one back at E3 and walked away impressed. Remedy doesn’t make too many videogames, and while they all have not been amazing (sorry Quantum Break), they have all been interesting, to say the lease. Control looks like X-Files meets Max Payne, a combination we didn’t know we wanted until we saw it. With trippy enemies, transforming weapons, and a location that changes with every room you enter, we’re ready to give Remedy another shot at entertaining us without the need to watch a TV show. It’s out for Xbox, PC, and PS4 in August, so plan ahead!
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
The beauty of this digital era is the ability to get games that only lived on a single console on nearly everything in 2019. The Ace Attorney series was a DS favorite, putting out lawyer game after lawyer game for those with a handheld preference. But now you can object in the court of law on all modern consoles and the PC. The game is a bit of Perry Mason meets a comic book, as you’re tasked with solving cases using your brain and some excellent questions in the courtroom. The series features wacky characters and hilarious writing and many Westerners slept on the releases back in the day, so pick up three games for the price of one this April!
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Jesse Seilhan
2009 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Uncharted 2 was the first PS3 game I ever played. My TV had just died, so I had to go out and buy a new one. Best Buy had a deal that threw in both a PS3 and this game when you purchased one of their newer models so I got it all home and sat there for at least 15 minutes when the first Uncharted 2 cutscene was over. The graphics were stunning, but the seamless animations paired with great voice acting and incredible scope was overwhelming. And while Nathan Drake is a stone-cold killer, his charm, bravado, and ability to make fun of himself made the dozen-plus hour adventure fly by. 2010 Mass Effect 2 The sequel train kept rolling in 2010, as Mass Effect’s universe got just a little bit cooler with this fleshed-out romp through space. While the first game dabbled with player choice and consequences, its sequel decided to ramp up the sweat-inducing decisions and tell a space opera still unrivaled to this day. The combat was tighter, the voice acting was much better, and the ending made you crave the final piece of this intergalactic trilogy. ME2 also ushered in some near-perfect DLC that most games hadn’t taken the time to get right, a bonus for die-hard fans that wanted more Commander Shepard. 2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda was back at it again, this time taking their high-fantasy adventure to new heights. The ability to play any way you want, something tried and true to this franchise, was liberating as you leveled up every particular aspect of the game that you focused on. The world felt never-ending, the DLC only fleshed that out further and getting dragon powers made for some badass fights. This game has been ported and remade so many times over that it may be the game of the 21st century, thus far, but Minecraft and Fortnite might have something to say about that. 2012 The Walking Dead Before the AMC show, there was a comic book called The Walking Dead. Most people know that, but few seemed to see the jump to video games going as well as it did. Telltale took a risk by putting together a modern adventure game set in this brutal world, but decided not to follow Rick Grimes and his unmerry band of brothers and sisters, instead telling a quiet story about Lee and the little girl he’s sworn to protect, Clementine. Few games task players with making as tough decisions as this game did and the episodic nature of its release caused them to wait weeks and months before they got any relief from those decisions. It kicked off a massive run of games in both this franchise and others and still remains the best game the studio ever released. 2013 Bioshock Infinite Bioshock and its direct sequel were stellar first-person shooters in their day, combining magic powers and firepower in a way that few games have ever attempted. But its dystopian world of post-utopic underwater mayhem had wrapped up nicely, without a clear direction for future games. Infinite proved
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to have more tricks up its sleeve, with a mind-bending story, incredible locomotion, and an unforgettable ending. Booker and Elizabeth’s relationship was one gaming’s best and the final DLC pieces added even more intrigue to an already bewildering and enchanting universe. The Last of Us may have made us cry, but it didn’t match the heights of Bioshock Infinite. 2014 Transistor Few indie darlings break through on lists like this, as tons of money, years of development, and a marketing budget can unfairly separate the wheat from the chaff. But Supergiant Games made an experience so unique and engrossing, it stomped on the competition in 2014. Transistor sees you taking the role of Red, a lounge singer that is on the run with her talking sword. Sleek and cool doesn’t begin to describe the aesthetic, but it’s the gameplay that sets it apart. You are given dozens of powers to mix and match through your playthrough, with a second playthrough allowing you to break the game by duplicating some of those skills and just mow down anything in your path. Also, maybe the best soundtrack on this entire list! 2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt This may be the best game on this list, as CD Projekt Red’s third and (hopefully not) final entry into the Witcher series is bar-none the best Western RPG of all time. Geralt of Rivia’s story is one of joy, sadness, wonder, and mystery, all voiced, acted, and built out better than any high-fantasy book or movie of its time. You could spend 300+ hours in this game and still not see everything, or you could just mainline one of the best narratives in gaming and still come away stunned. Few games look as good, play as well, and leave a memory the way Witcher 3 does and if this Geralt’s last story, he went out on the highest note possible. 2016 Hitman There is no other game like Hitman. The murder puzzle genre has its only and best entry in 2016, as even the prior Hitman games didn’t get it this right. Your ability to hide in plain sight, set up a murder mousetrap, and then slink away without anyone even knowing you existed is pure, unrivaled digital joy. Agent 47 has always been a stoic character, but the wacky situations he can sometimes find himself in helped flesh out his personality quite a bit, much like the well-acted and directed cutscenes helped tell a much larger story of intrigue and betrayal. The episodic nature of this title also helped give it legs, as there was always a new reason to keep coming back for more. 2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Few games have captured the imagination the way this Switch launch title did. Link was back, as he always is, but this time he had to eat, hunt, camp, cook, and survive in a way few mainstream games ever ask you to do. Those modifications were worth it, as behind seemingly ever corner was a secret or physics puzzle waiting to be discovered or solved. Each dungeon had fun mysteries and each battle was a risk/reward decisions, as weapons and items broke after extended use. While certainly not a traditional Zelda game in nearly anyway, it may end up being the best on in the franchise as Nintendo took plenty of risks and every single one of them paid off. 2018 Hollow Knight This year was a weird one for games, as these “next-gen” consoles are seemingly hitting their peak. Hollow Knight showed that a contained story with tight gameplay can still dominate in a world of overthe-top shooters and open worlds. Going through the darkest environment since Bloodborne, your little bug fighter in this oppressively depressing world dashes, swings, and slices his way through boss after boss on his way to the truth. Few games can still deliver new tricks and compelling puzzles after 30 hours and this is one of them. The Switch ended up being the best platform to play this on and we’ll see if they get a third Game of the Year in a row in 2019!
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