If you're the kind of person who likes to argue over whether something qualifies as Lovecraftian or not, you probably won't have fun with his game. But if you like blowing up monsters with the power of SCIENCE (and guns), you're going to LOVE THIS GAME! This is one of the most satisfying Twin Stick shooters I have ever played. Everything just feels right - the weapons, the abilities, the ridiculous amount of enemies and the perks - OH, THE PERKS! You know how it is: 5 health points here, 2% critical chance there - that. Yeah, Tesla vs. Lovecraft has such a system to advance your character over the course of the game. But there is also a separate set of perks that will only apply for your current mission/level. And those are real game changers. Additional projectiles, making enemies slower, 20% more damage - good stuff. AND THEY STACK. They probably won't make you overpowered, but they certainly contribute to making the game a lot more satisfying than it already is. If I had one thing to criticize it would be that for the amount of levels, there aren't enough maps, so you'll encounter many repeats. But I can't bring myself to subtract a star for that, because the maps are well made and the game is just so much fun either way. Tesla vs. Lovecraft is definitely bigger than the sum of its parts.
Since I loved Descent, Forsaken just seemed just right when it released many years ago on the N64. But while the former still holds up in many aspects, Forsaken does not. It's style over substance. The levels of Forsaken still stand out, resembling old military bases, subway tunnels, banks, ships and more. Incredibly detailed (for the time) and brought alive by colored lighting, animated textures and models as well as tons of environmental hazards. However they also tend to be quite claustrophobic, not giving you a lot of room. Which is where the problems start. At least on Medium difficulty onward, (some) robots tend to be more agile than most player bikes (which have different stats) and can outmaneuver you. And since you have often little room to dodge, shields go down pretty fast. That wouldn't even be a big deal if the game wouldn't love to spawn enemies or mines right behind you. Backing up from an enemy just to be killed by a mine is something the game pulls multiple times and together with some environmental hazards which are occasionally badly telegraphed and can kill you within a second, this makes the game more frustrating than fun to play. Playing on Easy makes things a little better, but only by trivializing the damage output from enemies, not fixing the actual issues. But if you think that this is just the right kind of Gameplay for you, then feel free to add one more star to the rating and ignore these previous paragraphs. Apart from the Gameplay, the port itself gave me some grief. I respect Nightdive a lot, but this isn't their best work. As of November 2019, Version 1.4.1, I had a handful of crashes, a corrupted savegame and when you load a game, glitches occur with doors (showing half-open) and switches (which show as off, even if activated). None of this managed to softlock my game, but it might be possible. There are not many 6DoF games out there, but if you love them, you might still enjoy Forsaken. Otherwise, go give Overload whirl.
Trying to ignore the time gap as good as possible, I think Ion Fury might just be the best Build engine game (sorry, Blood). It's just paced so well, plays exactly right, has fun and varied weapons - some specifically made to counter Hitscanners and enemies waiting around the corner. The only downside may just be that the movement can feel a bit floaty at times, which can lead to some tricky situations, given the sheer detail present in the level design, but that's just an artifact of the Build engine. Speaking of level design: It's glorious. Engine from 1996, level of detail and complexity from 2019. Large, intricate (in a good way) and while full of interactivity and references, never losing focus on design, especially when it comes to enemy encounters. What was especially fun were the secrets. Ion Fury has two kinds of them: Normal secrets you'd expect from any other game ... and then there are secrets the game actually counts as such. If there's one thing I could criticize, it would be that I cannot buy the soundtrack as a DLC here. Because the music is just as awesome as the rest. Anyway, if you're still reading this, you're doing it wrong because you're not playing the game.
In short, it would be easy to say that Vaporum is "Legend of Grimrock meets Bioshock". And while that wouldn't be necessarily wrong, I think Vaporum stands nicely on its own. And that is in big part thanks to its great atmosphere, which is the reason why I chose Vaporum as my first Dungeon Crawler. I love the Steampunk setting and the game captures it nicely while adding a creepy twist to it. However, even tho, I came for the setting, I stayed for the gameplay. However with different weapon types, exoskeleton rigs (your 'character class'), gadgets (your 'magic/spells') and character progression options, Vaporum encourages different playstyles which adds greatly to the replay value. And you will need to put some effort into refining your chosen specializations since the difficulty will eventually ramp up. Enemies require different approaches (depending on your skills). It's a challgne, but doable. Hard but fair. And that goes for puzzles, too. As a newcomer to the genre, I was at first intimidated by the puzzles and while I found them challenging, they weren't illogical at all. And being able to make notes on the map helped a lot to solve some of the more elaborate puzzles and not getting lost in general. All in all, I greatly enjoyed Vaporum and if you like the genre and setting, I think you will, too.
Coming from the heart of the community that kept the Descent games alive with new levels for over 20 years, the nine levels of the Eodem Sequitur campaign as well as the new Challenge Mode levels are easily on par in terms of quality with the main content of Overload. The maps are well thought out, sprawling, twisted and some of the larger areas gave me flashbacks to Descent 2. In terms of difficulty, the campaign picks up where the main game left off. Especially the first mission, Pyre Repository, proves a challenge and warning of what lies ahead. If you're a bit out of the loop, playing on ROOKIE difficulty may be the best way to ease you in. Depending on your speed and how much you're looking for secrets (of which there are quite a few), it may take you areound 4-5 hours to finish Eodem Sequitur. However the 12 new Challenge Mode levels can add a lot on top of that, depending on how much you like this mode. All in all, this pack is a steal and well worth the asking price.
I've never been big into strategy games, but the Dungeon Keeper games were always an exception. Especially the first game is one of my all-time favorites! When War For The Overworld hit GOG, it was everything I wanted... and more! Before, I heard a lot of mixed opinions, since the game has it's problems taking off. However as it arrived on GOG, it was extremely well developed and the recent patches and additions make it one of the best in the genre, even surpassing DK1 for me. Something I didn't think was possible. And here's why: What I always loved with with DK1 is how it allowed you to take every level how you liked. There's a lot of freedom in how you solve a situation. DK2 expanded mechanics but ultimately limited you (largely) to play a level "how it was intended". War For The Overworld gives you even more options, more mechanics, units, room types, spells, constructs, and much more! The missions are more varied and structured similar to DK2, but it retains the freedom *how* to play from DK1. The best of both worlds! On top of that, levels typically come with multiple objectives (required, optional, challenges, etc), are massive and completing is incredibly rewarding. On that note, it's only a little tradeoff, that the main campaign has only half the levels present in DK1. Quality over quantity! Nonetheless, Brightrock Games never rested, and added a ton of more content: Heart Of Gold (5 level campaign), Crucible (DK meets Tower Defense), My Pet Dungeon (Sandbox with Objectives) and last but not least, the final expansion: The Undergames, a tournament that sets four different Underlings against each other, all with their unique abilities/gameplay! Plus Multiplayer and level editor on top of that! Brightrock Games truly understands Dungeon Keeper and they put their heart and soul into this game for over 3 years now. And so, War For The Overworld is wonderful. I can fully recommend it to all fans of Dungeon Keeper and everyone who likes strategy.
I've never been big into strategy games, but the Dungeon Keeper games were always an exception. Especially the first game is one of my all-time favorites! When War For The Overworld hit GOG, it was everything I wanted... and more! Before, I heard a lot of mixed opinions, since the game has it's problems taking off. However as it arrived on GOG, it was extremely well developed and the recent patches and additions make it one of the best in the genre, even surpassing DK1 for me. Something I didn't think was possible. And here's why: What I always loved with with DK1 is how it allowed you to take every level how you liked. There's a lot of freedom in how you solve a situation. DK2 expanded mechanics but ultimately limited you (largely) to play a level "how it was intended". War For The Overworld gives you even more options, more mechanics, units, room types, spells, constructs, and much more! The missions are more varied and structured similar to DK2, but it retains the freedom *how* to play from DK1. The best of both worlds! On top of that, levels typically come with multiple objectives (required, optional, challenges, etc), are massive and completing is incredibly rewarding. On that note, it's only a little tradeoff, that the main campaign has only half the levels present in DK1. Quality over quantity! Nonetheless, Brightrock Games never rested, and added a ton of more content: Heart Of Gold (5 level campaign), Crucible (DK meets Tower Defense), My Pet Dungeon (Sandbox with Objectives) and last but not least, the final expansion: The Undergames, a tournament that sets four different Underlings against each other, all with their unique abilities/gameplay! Plus Multiplayer and level editor on top of that! Brightrock Games truly understands Dungeon Keeper and they put their heart and soul into this game for over 3 years now. And so, War For The Overworld is wonderful. I can fully recommend it to all fans of Dungeon Keeper and everyone who likes strategy.
