When Quake II was released in 1997, Id Software licensed its engine to several businesses for development. Out of all the products that uses the engine, it's SiN that proved to be the most influential. SiN is unique for three factors: The storyline, the gameplay, and More so, the Level Design. The story is very fun and pulpy, not taking itself too seriously. The voice acting and characters are also surprisingly top notch, with the protagonist John Blade being one of the most underrated protagonists in FPS history. But that's not what you're here for. As a shooter, SiN is top notch: The weapons are downright incredible to use, with the Chaingun, Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, Lightning gun and even basic Magnum pistol/handgun being the ones that especially stick out. The game, rather than using basic hitboxes, uses a unique Armor system, where the armor is split into different categories. This means that scrounging enemies for leftover armor pickups is basically essential, and that headshots are practically a must (which is why the Magnum is so good.) Unfortunately, you're barely given ammo for some of these weapons, and in some levels, there are cheap hit scan snipers. In fact, even in its current state SiN is loaded with bizarre bugs and jank, making me hold out more for the upcoming Reloaded version of the game. However, the highlight of the game is the Level Design: There are differing branching paths that lead to different levels throughout, and the game varies up the core combat with different objectives. Because of this, SiN has endless replay value, and overall I can safely say that I enjoyed my time with SiN. If you're going for an Id Tech 2 game, make it a tie between Raven's Soldier of Fortune and This, because they're easily the most memorable, and FUN games on the engine (no offense to Quake II).
The Doom series of first-person shooters is often a go-to for me and many others, but although many are enamoured with the oldschool genre-defining smashes of Doom 1 - Final Doom and Doom 64 and the mega-blockbusters of the new trilogy My personal favourite aside from The Dark Ages is the darker, edgier, and terrifying horror-themed oddball Doom 3. UPDATE: They added the original version now. So now my earlier review has been invalidated. Now you should go for this and play it, because the original version, with the Dhewm3 source port, is an amazing horror-themed FPS with a dark Sci-fi atmosphere, intense gameplay, cool takes on the iconic weapons, impressive graphics, and some truly intense scares that I think will catch first-time players off-guard. Turn off the lights, bolt up the door and crank the volume up for this one, because it is unlike anything else in the Doom series and a must-play.
Man, this shit is so bad, on so many motherf--king levels, yo! I learnt from this game through Jarek the Gaming Dragon's review of this malodorous tripe, and he talked about how bad it is, leaving off by hurling profanity. It sounded hilariously bad, so I (in my idiocy) bought a copy. I installed both the game and an FOV fix, started playing, and said "Yo, what the f--k?" Then the opening level began in all of its janky, cheap glory, and I was like "Yoooooo!" THEN HE LANDED ON THE F--KING PLANET, AND I WAS LIKE "YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" It was horrible! Pure eurojank at its worst! Despite being set in the future, the characters used REAL-LIFE WEAPONS. Yes! In the future, people are apparently still going to be using weapons from 60s-90s! The difficulty was unbalanced and the gameplay is just generic and repetitive. Finally, the writing and story are horrendous. Most of the game is taken up by overlong MGS2-style cutscenes, and whilst in MGS2 this worked because the story was engaging, here we get a generic, cliched cyberpunk story. So, I ask of you, DON'T PLAY A GAME TITLED CHASER. Remember what I'm saying to you customers!
I mainly played this through Steam, but make no mistake: This IS the best one. It plays out like a best-of reel, with the atmosphere of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Raven's Wolfenstein, and the alternate history setting and gameplay of New Order (which this game serves as a prequel to). Combine it all with solid writing, visuals and the best version of protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz, and you basically have a Must-own for any self-respecting shooter fan, as well as the perfect jumping-off point for newcomers to the Wolfenstein series. 9/10 (the only reason why it's not a 10 is because it uses Id Tech 5 and requires a file called the idTweaker to run properly, unlike New Order/Old Blood's sister game, Doom 2016)
F.E.A.R.. It's great. The Extraction Point expansion. also great. F.E.A.R. 2? Honestly fantastic as well. F.E.A.R. 2 is consolised and actionised, but nowhere near the extent of its B-team followup, as it displays a willingness to take the original's horror and bleakness and push it to its furthest excesses. Michael Beckett's ill-conceived and ultimately futile attempt to kill Alma Wade is loaded with the bleakest atmosphere of the series, some of the most frightening setpieces in game history, and a genuinely unnerving and shocking downer ending. It's a dark, mature story which IMO is handled even better than F.E.A.R.'s and puts more modern games to shame. Also, the gameplay still rocks; the combat has been simplified a fair bit, but it's still fun to blast through as the GOAP AI system which made F.E.A.R. so revolutionary is back for round 2, result in some genuinely fantastic firefights with Nathan Grigg's new score blaring in the background adding to the poetry. It's visceral, pulse-pounding and epic. Overall, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is the American remake to F.E.A.R.'s Japanese original: It takes the DNA and approaches it in a slightly different way whilst still being true to what made it so good to begin with, resulting in a more than confident follow-up to one of the best horror FPSs of all time. And honestly? I actually kind of prefer it to the original, but that's just me. Pick up both games and see which one you prefer as they're both spectacular.
I'm not even joking. F.E.A.R. is one of the freakish fusion of The Matrix, Pulse and a John Woo movie that you never could believe existed and that you never knew you needed. The atmosphere and horror are extremely well done, giving the game an intense, pulse pounding "What the F--K will happen NEXT?!" feel that will have you on the edge of your seat. The gunplay is extremely well done, and the addition of Bullet Time as a gameplay feature ends up being a life-saver most of the time. The story is extremely well-written and intense, with what starts out as a simple psychic/paranormal incident snowballing and escalating into a full-on crisis by the game's pulse-pounding climax in the Origin Facility. The main characters, whilst likable, are nothing to write home about, but it's the side characters and the main antagonists (Paxton Fettel and Alma) will stick with you, for better or worse. Oh, and there's also the AI. Most people have said this in depth already, so I'll keep it brief: They flank. They try to flush you out with grenades. They call for reinforcements, etc. Long story short, F.E.A.R. is a masterpiece, and it is required playing for any gamer with a PC. Oh, I forgot... The expansions. Extraction Point is a fantastic follow-up with brilliant level design, cool new weapons and difficult new enemies, and a bleaker, more nihilistic storyline that compliments the base game's tale of an escalating paranormal crisis well, whilst Perseus Mandate is... Fun, but suffers from some unbalanced areas, a weaker plot, and some far less polished visuals. EP is the better, but they're both worth playing. Anyway, F.E.A.R.. It's definitely worth fearing.
Once upon a time, I relied on my dad's GOG account. One of the games I had in said account was Unreal. I liked it, but I focused on the UT games. Then, I learned that Unreal was going on free for a while. I got my own account, and Unreal was one of the first I got. I WASN'T disappointed. Unreal is one of the better oldschool shooters you can play. The weapons are varied and strong, with each having it's own use (I.E. The Automag is accurate and effective on smaller and weaker enemies, whilst the dispersion pistol is good for opening crates). My personal favourite is the Flak Cannon, the game's shotgun, which can rip enemies to shreds at close range and has a secondary fire that launches the whole shell. The enemies are lethal, and tough to fight against, from the Skaarj scouts who can tear you to pieces to Mercenaries who shield themselves and use a rocket/machine gun combo, and, of course, the Skaarj Infantry. Good lord, is there the Skaarj Infantry. The level design is something else, with huge sprawling levels that you can easily get yourself lost in, with the likes of the green, Merc-infested hellhole that is Terraniux, the Nostromo-inspired ISV Kran, more regal places like the various temples you visit and the Nali Castle, and the final levels set aboard the nightmarish Skaarj mothership. Everything else, from the dated but somehow timeless graphics, to the haunting, melodic and pumping, intense soundtrack by Alexander Brandon and Michel Van Den Bios is nothing short of breathtaking. Unreal holds up well in today's market, and it's worth a revisit. As for the Return to NaPali mission pack... It's alright. the Combat Assault Rifle and Rocket Launcher are decent additions to the armory, and some of the levels are good, but there are some bugs including one where the final boss doesn't show up, and its new enemies will probably make you want to rage quit at points. I'd still recommend it, but you've been warned. P.S. The spinoff, UT99 is recommend as well.