Explosion

Charles Battersby

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Charles is a proud contributor to Explosion, as well as the Xbox/ PC Department Lead at Player Affinity, a weekly columnist for Default Prime, a reviewer at The Indie Game Magazine, and a Special Agent at the U.S. Department of Electronic Entertainment.

  • Arma 3 and the Sandbocalypse

    The term “First Person Shooter” doesn’t truly sum up the Arma franchise. The Arma games are military sims that favor hyper-realism for players who want...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    The term “First Person Shooter” doesn’t truly sum up the Arma franchise. The Arma games are military sims that favor hyper-realism for players who want more than the “One man army” experience of most other shooters.  As in real war, there are no regenerating shields, guns aren’t magic wands that send bullets unerringly towards their...
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  • Rising Storm

    Red Orchestra 2 hit two years ago, introducing gamers to a very realistic World War II experience.  A first person shooter that ignored many of...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Red Orchestra 2 hit two years ago, introducing gamers to a very realistic World War II experience.  A first person shooter that ignored many of the tropes of the shooter genre and taught players about the fragility of the human  body.  Red Orchestra 2 focused on the European front of the war, recreating the brutal...
    803

  • Hands-On With Doodle Jump Kinect

    Before Angry Birds came along, Doodle Jump was that game your friends were always playing on their phone. In its mobile incarnation it’s a vertical...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Before Angry Birds came along, Doodle Jump was that game your friends were always playing on their phone. In its mobile incarnation it’s a vertical platformer where players guide a cute critter upwards through a series of platforms while avoiding enemies and trying to not miss any jumps. As a “Autojumper” it would probably be...
    823

  • Cognition Episode 3: The Oracle

    The first episode of the adventure series Cognition introduced players to Erica Reed, an FBI agent with psychic powers.  Erica’s ability to see into the...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    The first episode of the adventure series Cognition introduced players to Erica Reed, an FBI agent with psychic powers.  Erica’s ability to see into the past of locations she visited was an innovative twist on the adventure genre.  The series also tackled mature and gruesome subject matter by having Erica investigate a series of grizzly...
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  • Sanctum 2

    With big gaming franchises there is always the fear that sequels will be “The same, but MORE”.  Shooter franchises add in new guns, fantasy games...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    With big gaming franchises there is always the fear that sequels will be “The same, but MORE”.  Shooter franchises add in new guns, fantasy games have more loot, and MMO’s pack in redundant classes with each new installment.  But with indie games “The same but MORE” is often a great way to go with a...
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  • Sanctum 2 – Hands On Preview

    Tower Defense is among the most heavily-refined genres in gaming.  The concept ain’t broke, don’t need no fixin’ and players have fun with these games...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Tower Defense is among the most heavily-refined genres in gaming.  The concept ain’t broke, don’t need no fixin’ and players have fun with these games even though there has been little evolution since Tower Defense began as a Starcraft mod years ago.  But still, developers are always on the lookout for new ways to modify...
    819

  • Shootmania Storm

    Listen up grumpy old gamers, it’s time to grab your easy-open arthritis medicine, glue your toupees on extra tight, and buckle up for some old...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Listen up grumpy old gamers, it’s time to grab your easy-open arthritis medicine, glue your toupees on extra tight, and buckle up for some old school shooting!  These punk kids today with their Battlefields and Calls of Duty are all a bunch of spoiled little sissies!  Back in the old days, we knew how to...
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  • The Golden Arrow

    Some game genres are so refined that there is little call for innovation.  JRPG’s, online FPS, Visual novels have swarms of near identical games that...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Some game genres are so refined that there is little call for innovation.  JRPG’s, online FPS, Visual novels have swarms of near identical games that keep their fans happy.  Autorunners are a new breed of such game that rose up with touchscreen mobile devices.  The characters run along the levels automatically, building momentum and the...
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  • Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller Episode 2 – The Wise Monkey

    Last year a new franchise entered the adventure game arena.  Cognition combines a gritty police drama with the supernatural by putting players in control of...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Last year a new franchise entered the adventure game arena.  Cognition combines a gritty police drama with the supernatural by putting players in control of a psychic detective named Erica Reed.  Erica’s first outing in Cognition Episode 1: The Hangman was a promising debut for the project, and now that Episode 2: The Wise Monkey...
    852

  • PAX East Day 2 – Wrap Up

    Another day has passed at the Penny Arcade Expo East and yet more fun was had by tens of thousands of video game fans in...

    Features
    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Another day has passed at the Penny Arcade Expo East and yet more fun was had by tens of thousands of video game fans in Boston.  Explosion.com was present to learn all about the upcoming hits of 2013. Saints Row IV has had a perilous journey.  Its original publisher THQ went out of business at...
    815

  • PAX East Day 1 – Wrap Up

    The annual geek invasion of Boston began Friday as Penny Arcade and their legions of fans stormed the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.  Explosion.com was...

    Features
    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    The annual geek invasion of Boston began Friday as Penny Arcade and their legions of fans stormed the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.  Explosion.com was there to get our hands-on upcoming blockbuster games  as well as independent titles and gaming oddities.  Here’s a look at what we played on the first of this three-day expo....
    815

  • EA’s Full Spectrum Takes A Step Forward For LGBT Gamers

    The video game industry walks a social tightrope.  Games are held to a ridiculous amount of scrutiny from both sides of the political spectrum, with...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    The video game industry walks a social tightrope.  Games are held to a ridiculous amount of scrutiny from both sides of the political spectrum, with controversies erupting over issues like race, gender, violence and sex.  Electronic Arts has taken a beating over many of its games, especially titles like Mass Effect and Dragon Age where...
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  • Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate

    The Castlevania series is coming up on a thirty-year anniversary.  The franchise has had such an impact on gaming that many 2D action/exploration games are...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    The Castlevania series is coming up on a thirty-year anniversary.  The franchise has had such an impact on gaming that many 2D action/exploration games are succinctly described as “It’s like Castlevania”.  Despite the knock-offs, the series has maintained a strong presence through every console generation since the 8-Bit days  A few of the more recent...
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  • Tomb Raider

    Tomb Raider defined the Playstation generation back in the 90’s.  The first game was a huge hit and a well-deserved classic.  The lovely Lara Croft...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Tomb Raider defined the Playstation generation back in the 90’s.  The first game was a huge hit and a well-deserved classic.  The lovely Lara Croft could fight dinosaurs while exploring tombs rendered in 3D, and her AI was smart enough to auto-aim at enemies while the reliable over-the-shoulder camera angle managed itself (A technological miracle...
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  • Fractured Soul

    Game designers try to find a balance between the Player’s head and hands.  Some games, like turn-based strategy, are focused entirely on making the Player...

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    1
    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    Game designers try to find a balance between the Player’s head and hands.  Some games, like turn-based strategy, are focused entirely on making the Player think.  Others, like bullet hell shooters, test their reflexes.  Fractured Soul puts players in command of a character who runs and shoots like in an action game, but it also...
    805

  • The XAPPR: Smartphone Shooting

    For all of the potential that the iPhone has as gaming platform, it is hamstrung by the lack of buttons.  Early shooter games for iOS...

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    Charles Battersby
    by Charles Battersby
    For all of the potential that the iPhone has as gaming platform, it is hamstrung by the lack of buttons.  Early shooter games for iOS used virtual thumbsticks to try to simulate the layout of a console gamepad.  This rarely worked well and gave rise to shooters that took advantage of the accelerometer in mobile...
    821

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