Legend of Grimrock is exactly what it promises to be - an old school first person dungeon crawler made in a modern engine. True, this brings across some of the genre's foibles as well - the interface is a tad clunky at times, especially when trying to give your poisoned fighter that vital antidote or trying to cast a complicated spell on the fly. And it does get a little bit formulaic at points. Overall though, it's great as both a coffee break game and a sitter, meaning that it's a good play in any situation. The puzzles are interesting without being frustrating, and the graphics and sounds are both polished and run smoothly. If you're a fan of dungeon crawlers, you owe it to yourself to get Grimrock.
I remember playing Deus Ex the first time... it blew me away then, and even the several times I've played through it again since have been massively enjoyable for me. Deus Ex is one of the first FPS/RPG hybrids out there, and although it does of course push it a bit towards the FPS side a bit - it balances the sides admirably. Want to charge in gung ho with guns blazing? Invest in combat skills and augs and pump away. Or you could sneak and hack your way through the game. But unlike many games even of today it didn't limit your choices to gameplay effects - the way you interacted with others, the way you do your job, all conspired to form a pattern of what kind of person JC was and how others would react to you later in the game. The story, while cheesy (to be completely fair) still draws you in. The acting is a bit wooden but you just don't care - the story is played out in a way that makes you really feel a part of the world in the 2050s, aided greatly by the surprisingly vibrant, darkly atmospheric world - it may not have changed every second but it nevertheless felt alive. Well, yes, rants aside, I highly recommend this game to just about anybody who finds it even mildly interesting. You won't be disappointed.
Brutal fights, button mashing, combos for everything - GGX2 brings you back to the old days of going to an arcade and spending all your money without even realising it. It does have it's issues - the interface is a bit unintuitive, and it has saved games turned off by default (which means until you look in options you'll be wondering why your progress resets every time you start the game), as well as the default keyboard controls are just a bit naff. Otherwise - a great game. Very smoothly animated sprites and vibrant, colourful moves, characters and environments, awesome rock soundtrack and a good variety of unique characters. All of this tied together with a well done fighting system.
