This game is kicking my butt and I couldn't be happier. Granted, I'm playing on the hardest difficulty and I'm intentionally using a lightly-armored and armed loadout but I am simply in love with the smooth gameplay, the hard (but fair) AI and the crispy comic-style graphics. Story? Who cares! You're brother is dead and you want revenge. It's nothing to write home about but, then again, the stories for the Sonic and Mario games are equally as bare-bones. The gameplay is what matters and it is there that this game shines. Stealth? Sure. Crawl to the target, turn off the lights and hit them with a silenced pistol or a blade. Loud? Go for it! Assault rifle to the face and take the return fire with some ballistic armor! The game doesn't punish you for picking a playstyle; it punishes you for not playing the style. Heavy gunners can't stealth and stealth players can't take a punch. It's cheap, plays well and can run on just about anything made in the last decade. I can't recommend this enough,
Ever play a game that, despite what technical problems may exist, feels like a game that will be talked about years from now? This is one such game. Thanks to a superb set of patches from the developer, this has become an excellent open-world adventure game. The story and setting mesh quite well together; this is 15th century Europe so: - Women have little say in the affairs of state but control the home with an iron fist; - The clergy has as much power over the people as their leige lords do; - Speaking of, feudalism is still in swing (so commoners can't excel too highly in the world unless their lords are exceptionally weak or far-sighted); -The world is steeped in Catholism (Jan Hus is just making his complaints in Prague during the events of the game); Martin Luther and the Reformation are almost two centuries away! You are Henry, a blacksmith's son. Your father is making a sword for the lord of your town, Skalitz. (This means that you can almost taste the priveleges of nobility but never grasp it.) Just as the sword has been finished the town comes under attack from - supposedly - the Hungarians. The sword, the attack, your lord - all will weave their way into a story involving love, revenge, faith and honest work. This game demands role-playing. Want to be a thief? Start sneaking in the woods, backstabbing enemies and pickpocketing from nobility and commoner alike. Want to follow in your father's footsteps? Hit the grindstone and fix those weapons you pilfered off of that brigand's miserable body before you sell them to make enough money to rent a room at the inn. Only through training and constant missteps will you gain levels in skills and become proficient. (The first hunt you partake in will demonstate that in painful detail.) Historically accurate, beautifully realized and a story that is both wide-reaching and personal I cannot recommend this game enough. Say a short prayer to the Lord and be thankful of the bounty you are about to recieve.
I've spent some time playing this game and it didn't really click until I was informed for the third time that my title was too long...this is a pseudo-noir choose-your-own adventure book made visual. You wake up sporting a hell of a hangover. To make matters worse you trashed your hotel room, your mind is actively working AGAINST you finding out what happened to...everything, and one other thing: you have a murder to solve. What follows depends on you; a booze-soaked, cocaine-laced trip of a game where the lines of reality and madness blur together, a straight-laced tale of redemption through immense adversity, a comedy of tragic errors or something in between. The game's narrative plays out both through the visuals and through exposition. Revachol is a city of history and ruin, grandeur and war. The characters have desires, intentions, phobias and cracks to exploit (assumuing you have the skills to recognize them). Brute force can solve problems that cold analysis or warm empathy cannot - though the opposite is also true. The character that you build will determine how you can proceed to solving the murder and solving yourself. The visuals are quite amazing; they require little computer resources while also conveying a style that emotes something out of post-Revolution France: destruction, decay, decadence and hope somehow mix in the pale colour palette and garish scenery. The art style is a blend of watercolour mixed with a slight acid / weed trip; it not only forces the imagination to fill in details (like any good prose would) but also perfectly mirrors the state of your character. This game is not for everyone; as most reviews attest there is no combat to be found. This is a book made visual so text dumps are the norm. I like something different, something that doesn't require me to split skulls or blow up fuel dumps. This game is, if nothing else, an excellent way to cap off a day before going to bed and dreaming of watercolour and adrenachrome.
I have tried for the better part of a week to describe Hellpoint in a way that would both satisfy potential buyers and my own experience. The best I can come up with is, 'A cheap and easy Souls-like.' Let me be clear; this is not a bad game. In truth I love the art direction (elements of Dune and Event Horizon are spread throughout), the combat is pulled from Souls and the basic elements of the 'genre' are here. It's simply an easier, cheaper to buy Souls-like - and I can't really complain too much about that. You are an Avatar, printed (yes, tech has gotten to THAT point) onto Novo Irid, a colossal space station orbiting a singularity (presumed to be Sagittarius A*). Something has gone terribly wrong and you need to find out what (while maybe getting out of there yourself). Like any Souls-like the plot is rather bare-bones on its own and requires digging to get any tangible bits out of it. The combat is fast, reflex-based and rewards pattern learning. Dying is not only inevitable but, as many a Souls fan will attest, necessary to learning the mechanics of the game/level/boss. The art style and level design makes up for the graphical...ho-hum nature. This is not going to win any awards for beauty (but expecting revolutionary graphical fidelity out of a game that costs less than half of a Dark Souls title is, in my humble opinion, asking too much). The difficulty is rather easy for a title in this 'genre;' there is a certain 'je ne sais quoi' about the feel of the characters attack strength and the enemy attacks...they feel too skewed for the player. The game has no clear objectives but with a bit of time (and perhaps a Youtube video or two) most new players will find their way. This is a commendable effort from Cradle Games and tinyBuild. It allows people curious about the Souls 'genre' to get a taste on the cheap. It won't reinvent the wheel but that's not the point; it wants to be a fun game and, for anyone who likes this sort of game, will love it.
In my review for Thief: Gold I said that it was very difficult to run on my computer in those heady days of 1999. This, however, ran just fine on software emulation in the summer of '98. A graduation present for completing elementary school (oh, the days before the ESRB was truly a thing!) this game was my introduction into FPS titles. When I finished the game two weeks later I felt that I had undergone a religious experience; my eyes were opened to a world of more than NHL '99 or Super Mario Brothers. There existed a world of gritty and beautiful titles that demanded muscle memory, key memorization and a decent sense of direction. How fitting that just as I was entering my teens my hobbies would change and grow as well. So, why wax nostalgic about a video game? Even now, 23 years after I first played it, Unreal (now Unreal Gold) still holds up. Epic knew how to make a compelling and, for the time, beautiful game. Lush trees, flowing water, animal life; nothing like it had been done to this scale before. It might not look as good as more modern titles but it fits surprisingly well when compared to modern retro shooters like Graven or Dusk. None of this means anything if the enemies and the gameplay don't meet the challenge. The enemies, I can happily report, are just as nasty as I remember - dodging fire, anticipating your dodging by firing in advance, multiple attacks...the AI truly makes the player work for their win. My only complaint comes from the weapons - they feel underpowered. (Surely a belt-fed minigun would cripple an opponent in less than 75 rounds!) Unlike my first encounter with this title, Unreal Gold runs like a dream; no hitches, no crashes, no corrupt save files. This is how it should have run when I was a kid. Unreal Gold is (still) an amazing title. While I wish that the weapons were a little more powerful (or the enemies a little less spongey) that is not enough to ruin my enjoyment of this game. A solid recommendation.
Rather than go on with some lengthy review, I will instead go over my first 60 hours in the game: - I began hungry, and stayed hungry until I built up enough sneaking to steal food from the shopkeep. - So, I moved from that s***hole of a town and made my way to the nearest real city...until I was ambushed by hungry raiders. Goodbye food. I crawled into town, barely alive. - Three days later my wounds healed and I wanted revenge. I found a Shek who was willing to come to my aid for 1000 Cats..because she was a useless Shek and was outcast for her uselessness. Oh joy. - Killed the raiders. They ate my food but I took their stuff - including a pretty good crossbow...wait, is that two?!! Moneeee!!! - So, I'm in jail. It seems that the guards are not only doing their job but nearly beat me to death, only to strip my weapons, toss me in jail...and then completely heal my wounds? - Get my Shek to break me out and steal my weapons back. (It seems that the Shek undervalued her skills.) - Mine copper for money. Trade money for food and meds. - Mine copper for money. Trade money for food and meds. - Mine copper...you get it. This took a while. - I finally got some money and, needing a break. headed further south. Nearly died (twice) because of 'blood spiders,' though I like to call them 'b****ards from Hell's ar****le." - A job here, a theft there, killing wildlife, and boom! A team of ten, ready to kick some desert ass. - I now have the materials and manpower to start building a base. Nothing big, mind you, just some walls, a house, and a few crops, but it's mine.... -Until the Shek, the Bandits, and Black Dragon Ninjas all want in. They all get a bolt in the face. -The bodies attract bonedogs - which make for good eats on the fire. And that's my time so far. Every knockout, every lost limb, every kill - made me want to keep playing. Now, I want to find this bandit lord I've read about and introduce him to my crossbow.
When I started playing this game I thought, "why are people saying that this game is superior to Thief: Gold? It doesn't really bring anything new to the table!" Then I got past the first mission... This game is, simply put, one of the most amazing, fustrating, make-me-want-to-smash-the-keyboard experiences I have ever played and I couldn't be happier for it. The graphics are markedly improved from what we got in T:G, the sound is somehow richer, lighting sources are now even more dynamic than previously and the whole thing still tops out at less than a gigabyte of space! Then, there's the gameplay. More or less untouched from T:G, Garrett's movement set and equipment are mostly untouched; he gains a new throwable item and two new potions but nothing that really rocks the boat. That is one of Thief 2's strengths; don't fix what isn't broken! Movement, combat, stealth, situational and environmental awareness; all are intact and still work flawlessly! The level design now matches the ambitions of the designers, featuring pristine banks, ornate mansions, technocratic bastions and even forests for Garrett to ply his trade. The Hammerites, having faced their nemesis in the previous game have fractured; the Mechanist Order has arisen to take the City by storm. Gone are the days when men and women walk the streets of the City in fear; a crackdown by the City Guard and new inventions by the Mechanists ensure than order is maintained. But, beneath it all, something dark is brewing...something that could spell the end of Garrett and the City. And to think that all Garrett wanted to do was pay his rent... In my review of Thief: Gold I finished by stating that my inner teenager couldn't be happier; I think my inner teenager is still picking his jaw up off of the floor. Buy it...and spread the Word of Karras.
A fun, no-nonsense flight combat game. I'm more used to sim games like Elite Dangerous and older Mechwarrior titles so when I say that this reminds me of Armored Core titles, don't take it as an insult! It runs like butter, looks more refined than it has any business being for the asking price...and then there's the combat. Fast, frenetic, intense but not overwhelming - somehow Sector D2 managed to make an arcade sim that feels great with my HOTAS and an Xbox controller! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to fly my *ahem* not-an-F14-but-is and blast some Kenny Loggins while I don my Raybans and kick some Feddie butt!
