SUPERLIMINAL

Superliminal

This is a game about perspective and our perception of it that uses a lucid dream as a concept as much as it is a mockery of modern attempts to solve individual problems by exploring the depths of the subconscious. Yes, there’s a good bit of the Stanley Parable and Portal in it, but it’s to be expected since all three explore the hopelessness of the human condition. There’s so much that makes Superliminal a unique gaming experience. You manipulate perspective and objects by placing objects above or below you to make them bigger or smaller in order to solve spatial puzzles in each room. The game designers experiment with game’s mechanics and other physical aspects of its world as you progress making you confused and disoriented, and this is also part of Superliminal’s charm. No amount of stale dialogues or seemingly awkward treatment of subjects and philosophies can change the fact that you’re partaking in a unique gaming experiment treating gaming, happiness and life.

BOONG-GA BOONG-GA / SPANK 'EM

No, I haven't actually played it. Serbia was unfortunately done with arcades around '98-'99 and it's a real shame we didn't get to play any that came out since.

I don't see anything extreme about this game. Each nation has its own set of stupid rules they go by. Here in Serbia we go about kissing other people's rears just like the Japanese do, and so it was only natural they did something about it without putting their careers and families in jeopardy. There's a universal, unisex rear dressed in jeans sticking out of the arcade you physically hit and inflict some humiliating pain on the characters in the game. Facial expressions of the characters being spanked are ludicrous, and I guess it feels good to let go of the frustration thinking one spanking might inflict some serious damage to those you hate. Con artists, child molesters, gangsters, mother-in-laws, gold diggers of both sexes should all be paying for your sweat equity not rising, though  they could have done without featuring prostitutes and ex-girlfriends (ex-boyfriends  and male prostitutes should have been there as well). Spank 'Em is revolutionary in a sense that it bringsall the insecurities and frustrations and anger (and sick drives) into the open and allows you to vent it, transforming it into  something else. When I was a kid I was advised to picture people I was scared of as babies pooping their nappies. This game performs a similar function, and I applaud the creators of the game for realising how groundbreaking it was .

THE NOVELIST

Never have I found a game that explored family struggles so vehemently as much as THE NOVELIST did , nor a story-based game I bought into more whole-heartedly. A struggling novelist fighting his writer's block that's taken a toll on his family comes to a summer house with them in hopes of getting back in the zone creatively while hoping to become a better dad and husband. You play an ectoplasmic entity monitoring their interactions, entering their thoughts and memories and trying to make them reconnect and solve their problems by inobtrusive interventions.

The minimal settings, the sollid, mellow background music, the repetitive movements and locations all allow the player to focus more on the story and feel its grasp more intimately, as it's honest and relatable (despite the fact that some dialogues and thoughts may seem forced at times)

Each time I played it I experienced a different sequence of events, and I didn't find the rndings as limiting and abruptly stupid in comparison to the subtleness of the story that unfolded as other people seemed to have had. Are we really in control of our own decisions, even with benevolent voyeur ghosts by our side?

OPERATION WOLF

I was so impressed by this game and played the proots out of it and dreamt it and dreamt of taking it back home with me (or at least  ripping out the massive machine gun and taking it home).All other FPSs I played never got even remotely close to this gem in terms of their hold on me. The detailed graphics, the moving screen and the magnificent sprites, a difficulty level on a par with Green Beret's- any one of these characteristics would have won me over. It had the 80s-Rambo-like-soldier-plowing-through-some-third-world-country-boondocks grit and exaggeration written all over it, and an impressionable kid like myself was instantly hooked (Little did I know my country was going to become a third-world country in just a few years after that). There are 6 stages  the completion of which bring their respective goodies, with  on-the-go energy and ammunition boosts you would snatch off the screen as you enjoy the feel of a cold machine gun in your 8-year old hands.Lovely. All the Dooms,Bloods,Quakes, Half-Lives appeared  after the novelty wore off for me. I'd still pay for the arcade cabinet to own and have displayed in my room today - a subtle reminder that wargames leave a nasty taste in one's mouth after shite hits the fan and  the war appears on your doorstep when you're a teen.

BATTLEZONE

This game was the first to drop the vector graphic bomb on the gaming world- nothing was the same afterwards. It still looks and plays beautiful and may tickle even a present-day kid's curiosity with just enough sensory data and beauty to try it.And by beauty I mean being able to take any screenshot while playing and use it on a contemporary synthwave/electronica  album coverart before any other design. I definitely see the smooth vector display inspiring the makers of the original Tron movie as well. The game screen is divided to give the illusion of space and  shooting UFOs , tanks and missiles invokes just enough of a wargod in you to be in a state of constant excitement while playing. No wonder it stirred quite a buzz in the day.
Battlezone shouldn't be admired for its historic value but for the very play value that made it a gem among gems.

THE TALOS PRINCIPLE

The best game ever made in any of the countries that were once collectively known as Yugoslavia!

The game can easily be enjoyed without getting philosophical about androids and volition and laws of robotics and demiurges and the meaning of life and intelligence and communication and the Tower of Babel and be played for the appeal of its puzzles that get increasingly more difficult as the game progresses.The game looks wonderful, plays well and the accompanying music algorithms are spot on.Utmost care is given to all the sets , objects and artefacts. But neglecting the original intention of the creators to perceive of this title as of a philosophical game simply results in dumbing it down. This is one of the most powerful , if not the most powerful philosophical statement in gaming I have seen so far (alongside the unparalleled The Stanley Parable, of course). Making people think about their life and how free in their actions and thoughts they really are as they play the game is the greatest gift  a player can be given.

A game worth every penny.

A SLOWER SPEED OF LIGHT

I 've  only recently found this game and I was completely blown away by it! My ESL skills are virtually non-existent when it comes to physics and explaining scientific concepts and how they translate to video game parts . Therefore I strongly recommend  viewing the video below to get the grasp of what the game is all about.

The first time I tried it I figured it would just be a single afternoon's worth of  fun , but it transposed  a series of highly sophisticated concepts and physical phenomena to  your average 3d game mechanics and surroundings  making you somehow experience these so vividly that you almost feel smarter as you progress. Sure, it got mixed reviews , but mixed reviews have been en vogue for the last couple of years, haven't they?