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by Videogameschronicle.com
Hardback (8.5×12.0 inches). 195 pages. 2025.
As you might deduce from the website “author,” the text was originally online and was repurposed, rewritten, and edited in a magazine-style layout.
The multi-sidebar layout seems more late 1990s-2000s than 1980s-early 1990s — or at least that’s my memory. I was only an occasional reviewer of video games (back in the day, cartridges for the consoles) but lots of computer games (floppy disks and CDs) for various computer magazines such as A+, Creative Computing, Computer Shopper, PC Sources, Windows Sources, and Personal Computing. I was also a sysop for Computer Gaming World forums on Compuserve and Prodigy. And yep, I still have some of the T-shirts…
The book divides into sections: Quick look back at 2024 releases, preview of announced 2025 releases, and reviews of 60 2024 releases. These are almost all twitch games — see something and shoot it or drop it or run over it. Until my X-box died, I was a big fan of Halo first-person shoot-’em-ups (FPS).
Just to prove video games embrace recycling, there was a new Doom game. While not the first FPS — as far as I know that award goes to (1982? 1983?) Asylum on the IBM PC using ASCII characters — it proved the breakthrough FP perspective, although I’ll grant you Castle Wolfenstein was a minor hit and preceded Doom.
And a new Tetris game was released as well. Amazing to me was a recent sports broadcast on cable TV showing tweens or teens playing in the World Tetris Championship. Imagine that after 40 years.
Anyway, the highs and lows of the games receive scrutiny. Most of them receive ratings of 4 stars out of 5, with only a couple 2s, a few 3s, and a bit more 5s.
One typo (p114): “On the trial of…” should be “on the trail of…”
It’s nice to see a paper version encapsulating such wisdom. I didn’t read each one, but instead paged through and read here and there as the multitude of graphics entranced me.
Most of the games are action, adventure, or RPG, with some puzzle and sports games tossed in. I didn’t see any turn-based strategy wargames, but that’s not exactly a console’s strength.
One thing not in the book is an index. Or even a table of contents that lists each game. Blame that on the younger crowd that just does a search. In a paper publication, the index is the search function.
So, lots of big, graphically-sophisticated games released in 2024 and many more for 2025. The delivery system (streaming for the most part, I imagine, or a subscription service like Steam or Xbox) changes as technology advances, but one thing you’ll find in every review is an emphasis on entertaining game play. Boring or exciting, you’ll find plenty of video games that might pique your interest.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
