Video Game Reviews: Edith Finch, Turok 2, Mooncrash

Prey: Mooncrash still looks good on my ancient PC.

Prey: Mooncrash is a roguelike expansion to 2017's Prey, one of my favorite games of the last few years. You play as several different characters trapped on a moonbase overrun with Typhon, the shapeshifting aliens of the original. The goal is to escape with all the characters in one run. What one character does affects the simulation for the next character; for example, your engineer can fix a broken teleporter, so all your remaining characters will then be able to use the elevator. The simulation gradually corrupts, however, and each level of corruption spawns more difficult monsters and hazards. Eventually the simulation becomes too corrupted and it resets, so your playthrough is timed. Also, resources used by one character won't be there for the next, so if you grab that medikit, it won't be there for your other characters. The result is a surprisingly difficult and tense experience. By the end of Prey, my character was overpowered, which robbed the game of much of its atmosphere and tension. Because you have to play as other characters, some of which aren't very good at combat, you'll find yourself racing to each objective, hunting for a medikit or ammo while Typhon follow at your heels. If you played the main game, then Mooncrash is highly recommended.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a so-called "walking simulator" that I grabbed for free off the Epic store awhile back. You play as the last survivor of the Finches come home to confront the legacy of death that has haunted her family. While exploring a maze-like house, you relive the death of each Finch, most of which are either tragic or bizarre. The most memorable sequence has you transforming from a cat to an owl to a shark to sea monster while a little girl narrates her insatiable hunger. This is a game that has you playing as a fetus in a womb and a baby in a bathtub (the latter is an emotionally trying sequence). Though the ending is unsatisfying and the game brief, What Remains of Edith Finch is like playing through an excellent piece of magical realism. An actual work of art in a field crowded with derivative commercial slog.

Turok 2 improves upon the original in many ways, yet I can't make myself finish it. The shooting is better, with a memorable arsenal including the cerebral bore, a gun that shoots a little drill that burrows into your enemy's skull. The graphics, restored by Nightdive Studios, look really good, closer to Quake 2 than an N64 title. Yet the level design has not been improved. Turok 2 has only six levels, but each of them are massive and some of their objectives are hidden, which means you can trudge through a mission for over an hour and find at the end that you missed something, which means you'll either have to start the level over again or backtrack. The original had this problem too, but somehow I managed to make it through that game. You can have all the pieces for a good shooter, but if you don't have good level design, then your game won't come together. Not really recommended, even for retro shooter fans, unless you like scouring the internet for hints.