All Articles: Metrico+

Metrico+ Review: This Visually Unique Puzzle Platformer Charts Its Own Course

Posted on February 8, 2017 by John Scalzo

Graphic designers who spend their days translating statistical findings into a series of colorful bars and charts are working in the interesting new field of infographics. And if you’ve opened an Internet browser at all in the last five years, you’ve more than likely seen dozens of them.

Companies love infographics because they’re able to distill complex statistical studies down into an image that is easily shareable across Facebook and Twitter. Audiences love them because they provide easily digestible primers on subjects as frivolous as the many on-screen deaths of Sean Bean to serious societal problems like income inequality.

Dutch development studio Digital Dreams used this same philosophy to create Metrico, a puzzle platformer that was released for the Vita in 2014. The team expanded on their original concept, and launched Metrico+, a remake/sequel, for the Xbox One last month. (more…)

Posted in PC, PS4, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox One | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Metrico+, I Am Bread, Toby The Secret Mine, more

Posted on January 20, 2017 by John Scalzo

It’s Friday, and Microsoft has added another batch of games to the Xbox Games Store today…

Digital Dreams will finally bring Metrico+, their minimalist infographics-themed puzzle platformer, to the Xbox One today. It’ll be joined on the Xbox One by I Am Bread, Bossa’s engaging tale about a sentient piece of bread who longs to become toast.

Finally today, Toby: The Secret Mine is another minimalist platformer, and it asks players to help little Toby rescue his friends from the foreboding deep forest.

More information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Madden NFL 17, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, King of Fighters XIV, more added to PS Store

Posted on August 23, 2016 by John Scalzo

While the fourth quarter is still ahead of us, publishers are running up the score with today’s PlayStation Store update.

Let’s start things off with Madden NFL 17, the latest entry in EA Sports’s long-running football franchise. A rebuilt Franchise Mode is the focus of this year’s game, which is now available to download for the PS4 and PS3. Developer EA Tiburon is also touting improvements to the gameplay on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Also available to download for the PS4 this week is Square Enix’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The latest game from Eidos Montreal picks up where Deus Ex: Human Revolution left off and explores the aftermath of a terrorist attack that’s left mechanically augmented humans “deemed outcasts and segregated from the rest of society.”

And if you think elective surgery to become some kind of cyborg is crazy, then the future portrayed in The King of Fighters XIV is just as wild. More than 50 humans, robots, demons, and monsters have come together to compete in a new fighting tournament from developer SNK and publisher Atlus on the PS4.

Finally this week, a trio of side-scrollers will surely appeal to retro-minded PS4 owners. Inside is a mysterious platformer from Playdead, and after a short round of Xbox One/PC exclusivity, it’s now available to download through the PlayStation Store. Inside shares a minimalist aesthetic with Metrico+, a PS4 platformer that was inspired by infographics. And Worms W.M.D. brings the strategy series to the PS4 for the first time.

More information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And don’t forget to visit the PlayStation Blog for a complete rundown of this week’s new add-ons and discounts. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita | Tagged , , , ,

Metrico+ will be released for PC, PS4, Xbox One on August 23

Posted on July 31, 2016 by John Scalzo

According to developer Digital Dreams, Metrico+ is “a living world filled with infographics,” and a new trailer confirms that we’ll get the chance to explore that world on August 23:

You have to navigate through Metrico, while all the bar charts, line diagrams and pie charts directly react to your movement, actions and input. One bar diagram might grow for every step you walk to the left, while another could decline with every jump you make. You will have to explore Metrico and carefully analyze your every move to see how it affects the world, and whether it will get you further. This mechanic is called “Input Morphing” and it makes you think about actions you normally don’t think about. Metrico is a combination between exploration, skill, experimentation, and most of all: thinking outside of the box.

Metrico+ will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and priced at $13.99. But players who purchased the original Metrico for the Vita will be able to grab the PS4 version for just $6.99.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Dear Diary: Saturday and Sunday at PAX East 2016 I Played…

Posted on April 26, 2016 by John Scalzo

paxeast-deardiary-header

Another PAX East has come to an end, but Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, Jerry “Tycho” Holkins, and game developers from around the world will return to Boston next year for more shenanigans. In the meantime, I’ve got an overflowing notebook and thoughts on more than a dozen titles from the final days of the expo. (more…)

Posted in Features, PC, PS4, Retro, Top Story, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,