Game of the month, April 2012

You didn't even need to leave your house for the two best games of April

Words: Hollander Cooper on April 30, 2012

Winner: Fez

The best puzzle games have the ability to make the player feel inversely smart and stupid. Fez takes this further than any game we’ve ever played, giving us the feeling of being both cackling genius and babbling idiot within minutes of each other. It’s an absolute triumph in creating something new both in terms of its platforming and its puzzle solving; blending together genres in ways we’ve never seen.

It’s about opening doors, exploring, deciphering languages, and dipping your toe into the well of insanity just enough to hopefully come out with the knowledge needed to open one more door, to get one more cube. We’re sure some will be turned off by the dense, unorthodox style – it’s absolutely not for everyone – but we’re in love, and expect to spend many more hours unraveling the game’s secrets.

Runner-up: The Walking Dead: A New Day

Read The Walking Dead game review.

Telltale did a fantastic job of turning The Walking Dead into a videogame, trumping its attempts at adapting Jurassic Park and Back to the Future handily. The mix of old-school puzzle solving and action-based quick-time events spoke perfectly to the source material, creating an absurdly tense, emotional experience that blindsided us completely. If it can keep up the pace with future episodes The Walking Dead could be one of the developer's best, and we're really, really hoping that ends up being the case. We're also hoping we eventually get to kill that one guy - if you played the game you know exactly who we're talking about.

Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Topics:

Game of the month

35 comments

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yasmarc - May 1, 2012 10:46 a.m.

Trials should have taken it. Fez was interesting for about 5min and then you realize all you do is spin the world around until the answer is obvious. Trials' user tracks are amazing already too and so much easier to get than the last version! Yes I love Trials....
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FemJesse - May 1, 2012 5:31 p.m.

Then you haven't scratched the surface of Fez...
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thomas-buxton - May 1, 2012 8:53 a.m.

It's probably due to it having come out last year, but for 360 gamers I'd hope I wasn't the only one who regarded The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition as their Game of the Month. Since between Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3 there seem to be very few major releases, it was refreshing to get an RPG which provided such a challenge and such innovation alongside a compelling (if convoluted) lengthy storyline.
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BurntToShreds - May 1, 2012 8:10 a.m.

I do not believe that Fez deserves the title of "Game of the Month". When you compare it to other indie games, it's pretty much the same. It has retro graphics, and it involves manipulation of the world around you. I have seen free Flash games with a higher amount of effort placed into them. I am not trying to be caustic, I truly mean that I have seen more effort placed into a flash game that the effort I have seen placed into Fez. I think Skullgirls would have been a much better candidate. It is based around solid mechanics and with art that took a lot more effort than arranging pixels.
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CitizenWolfie - May 1, 2012 2:24 a.m.

Good month for Downloadable games! Any idea on when Skullgirls is out for the PS3 yet? I prefer the PS3 controller for fighting games. I give Fez a try but I didn't like it. It was very clever I have to admit, but nothing made me go "Wow! I really gotta download the full version." I played the Walking Dead right through just yesterday and I really enjoyed it. If that's the sort of game Telltale makes I might give some of their other titles a go. Love how loads of choices you make seem to actually affect how people react to you and have consequences. It feels like the game that I really wanted Heavy Rain to be.
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Shazamin - April 30, 2012 9:14 p.m.

Good to see the downloadable titles getting some recognition this month. I'll probably wait for all the episodes of The Walking Dead to release before I buy it though.
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Nikku7 - April 30, 2012 8:14 p.m.

Seriously people, give the indie games and lesser known titles a chance every once in a while. The "these games don't deserve to get critical acclaim because they aren't even a full game" bullshit is incredibly shallow. Games like this obviously don't have the kind of resources that AAA games have, but that usually just means they have to stand out by being really good for what little they have to work with.
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TheMcFinder - April 30, 2012 4:43 p.m.

i feel your pain, haha
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fatdog12300 - April 30, 2012 3:46 p.m.

Wow, how is this the first time I'm hearing about Fez? It looks pretty good. Too bad it's not on PSN.
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Kibosh - April 30, 2012 3:28 p.m.

I would've liked to see Trials Evolution. Fez is great, haven't had a chance to investigate The Walking Dead yet.
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MetroidPrimeRib - April 30, 2012 3:28 p.m.

Fez? Seriously? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Ifue2xGFY
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BladedFalcon - April 30, 2012 5:23 p.m.

Yeah, because the opinion of someone with the name Rockcock64 in a feature called "The best gamers" (very humble, inspires confidence with no doubt all the credentials they must have to back it up *rolls eyes*) is doubtlessly law, and proof that whatever they say, is. *Rolls eyes again*
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MetroidPrimeRib - April 30, 2012 5:35 p.m.

Did you even watch the video? He gave valid reasons for why the game is bad and has no depth.
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BladedFalcon - April 30, 2012 6:01 p.m.

I started watching it, but after 2 minutes I decided it was not worth wasting my time with it.
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EroticInvisibleMan - April 30, 2012 6:24 p.m.

Congratulations on your continued voluntary ignorance! TheBestGamers generally make joke reviews (confusing footage, names, etc of one game for another) but this is a really apt review and MPR is right, the game is terrible and shallow.
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The_King_of_Nothing - April 30, 2012 6:31 p.m.

Watched and agreed. It looks boring and without any challenge, which is idiotic. Seriously? 5 years? What a waste. The reviewer did get too preachy and annoying at the end though.
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BladedFalcon - April 30, 2012 6:42 p.m.

I happen to disagree, and found the reviewer's tone and way of talking annoying, and what I heard of his opinion I didn't really agreed with. Funny how opinions work, isn't it? Much as you'd like, your opinion doesn't make it a fact, and while mine doesn't either, I at least don't have the conceitedness to believe it is. So yes, congratulations for you to have that! (:
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Fox_Mulder - April 30, 2012 8:10 p.m.

Yeah I took a hammer to my computer when he said the graphics were "blatantly offensive". Glad that chode finally shut up.
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Redeater - April 30, 2012 8:15 p.m.

Meh. I watched the whole thing and it seems to me like he went out of his way to crap all over this game. I have no intention of buying it anytime soon (maybe not at all) but I think Fez is one of those games where the concept looks easy enough but the actual creation of it would be a pain in the ass. Did you ever watch that brilliant video about how the camera worked for Super Mario World? I played that game over and over again and never once gave it a single thought. Point is, I dislike fighters these days but just because I could say that fighting games are just bland button mashing fests doesn't make it true.
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Redeater - April 30, 2012 8:18 p.m.

Bah! I got it. Fez is XBLA and not on PSN. MetroidPrimeRib is well known for his inexplicable hatred for Microsoft. Well played sir. You trolled us good.
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