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Fall diversions

The choices you make determine the fate of a plague-torn world in “Dishonored.” Improvise and innovate to craft your own style. Courtesy of Bethesda Softworks
By Sam Laney
Published: November 10, 2012

October was another busy month for the joysticks of Stars and Stripes game reviewers. From the amount of wonder and amazment in reviewer Brian Bower's eyes, Betheseda's "Dishonored" has grabbed an early lead for Game of the Year contender.

Grant Okubo had high praise for the most recent Transformers, finding the fun parts were certainly no decepicon: “'Transformers: Fall of Cybertron' is hands down the best Transformers game I’ve had the pleasure of playing."

The struggle with realism

“Medal of Honor Warfighter” takes elite troops around the world on highly secretive missions. EA Games
By Brian Bowers
Published: November 9, 2012

Realism has been a double-edged sword for developers of the “Medal of Honor” video games.

The Navy recently handed seven U.S. Navy SEALs nonjudicial punishment for their roles advising developers of the most recent edition of “Medal of Honor Warfighter.” The Associated Press reported that they were reprimanded for failing to gain permission to work on the project and for showing game developers equipment that was specific to their unit.

No coddling, no mercy

This screenshot provided by Bohemia Interactive shows "DayZ," a post-apocalyptic survival game that takes place in the Russian countryside. Since its release earlier this year, the mod has garnered more than a million players. Courtesy of Bohemia Interactive
By Sam Laney
Published: November 3, 2012

You come to life on a deserted shore. No map, no gun — no scrap of anything that might tell you who you are or where you came from.

After wandering for a time, you might find a road. Should you follow it? There’s strange writing on the signs you pass — Russian, perhaps? You see a small village in the distance. Meandering shapes dither between the cottages, walking with little to no direction. As you walk a little closer, bleak, you hear rhythmic percussion. Now you can see faces — they look hungry, and they’re coming full-bore.

 
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About the Authors

Brian Bowers is Stars and Stripes’ Assitant Managing Editor for Europe and Mideast and one of its video game reviewers. He joined the newspaper in 1992 in Germany, where he worked on the news desk and the city desk. He has a wife and three children, who are always eager to help him test games.

Sam Laney joined Stars and Stripes’ in 2007 as a copy/layout editor, and slowly convinced upper management to support his video game habit. Since then, he’s added game reviews and previews to his list of duties and moved on to the iPad. When he’s not rocking newbies in “Left4Dead2,” he covers PC and Nintendo systems.