Duke returns to GOG in this side-scrolling, alien-blasting adventure. Manhattan Project is something of an homage to the old Duke games (which were also side-scrolling shooters) and delivers plenty of action and witty one-liners. Duke's in top form and has a quip for everything. This time around he's delivering snark while blasting holes in mutants created by Mech Morphix. No aliens, but there are still plenty of babes; each stage has one that must be rescued before you can exit. The chapters are divided into three stages each and to progress you must survive an onslaught of mutants while rescuing babes and hunting down the keycard for the exit. There are also secrets and ten collectable 'nukes' that give you stat boosts if you grab 'em all. Manhattan Project is a title thats a blast to play. There's a nice variety of enemies, Duke's signature "charm", some entertaining boss battles and item hunting to keep you busy. If you're at all a fan of the Duke and don't mind a little light jumping exercise then give it a whirl. Not a bad way to spend six bucks. Hail to the king, baby.
These days a lot of FPS games are caught up in flash, pointless sidequests and convoluted stories you won't pay any attention to anyway. Duke Nukem is not one of those games. Duke is a brainless, fun shooter with more attitude and machismo in it than a gun store filled with an army of Ted Nugents. The premise is simple; aliens are invading. That's it. You're dropped into the mighty boots of Duke Nukem and asked to slaughter your way from A to B (with the occasional stop at a stripper). There are other games like this, of course. Painkiller, for one (here on GOG!), but before Painkiller, before Serious Sam, there was Duke. Not playing this game is like disrespecting your elders.
Painkiller is in the same vein as Serious Sam, Duke Nukem and Doom. There's no physics puzzles, no epic story, no tactical choices. It's all testosterone and violence. Painkiller swarms you with wave after wave of enemies, arms you to the teeth with a wide variety of wierd weapons (a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning) and tells you to get from point A to point B in one piece. That's it. There's a story here about demons and your dead wife or something but it's largely passable and is pretty much only used to establish the fact that you're killing demons. Painkiller: Black comes with the original game and the expansion, Battle Out Of Hell. While the first game is excellent all around, featuring some really nice level design and trigger-happy gameplay, the expansions seem to fall flat on their face and really aren't worth touching. That said, it's still a pretty good steal to get Painkiller for ten bucks. This is a classic mindless shooter. You can't do much better.
Those wary of the point 'n' click adventure genre; do not start here. The first two Broken Sword games were masterpieces, combining an intriguing story, competent voice work and logical puzzles to create memorable adventure games. In the previous two titles (and in this one) you take the role of George Stobbart, a patent lawyer who seems to regularly stick his nose where it doesn't belong and as a result, winds up repeatedly saving the world (or at least France). The previous games, pixel-packed adventures, were great because of their logical puzzles and intriguing story. The third entry makes a leap into 3D and while it's great for the overall presentation, it's bad for the gameplay. While there are still a healthy number of logical item-usage puzzles (though a few of these are rather insane, like jamming elevator doors with a bottle opener [!]) twords the end of the game they seem to be almost entirely replaced by crate pushing. No matter where George ends up going it seems there's a big stack of crates arranged carefully. Intriguing. Fun at first, these puzzles quickly become tiresome. It's especially frustrating considering that two crate puzzles are the last thing you'll do in the game; "Well, we'd better hurry up to that epic final confrontation with our nemisis... but wait! Let's move some crates into position first." I don't understand why there are so many of these. Clearly, the developers were capable of creative thought as there are two other puzzles in the game that are really rather clever, one involving a riddle and another involving reflecting lasers with crystals. The story also seems to have taken a hit. It's hard to discuss without giving away spoilers, but the climax of the game is a fair letdown. While the end is disappointing the majority of the plot will keep you playing through the game - if you can endure the crates. Overall, if you're looking for a good adventure game, head over to Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror, which is shorter but overall a much more satisfying adventure. Only fans of the series should give this one a play.
As someone who's not too fond of the point 'n click adventure genre, I feel like I add an unbiased opinion here. I've also never played the series before, but upon hearing so much praise and seeing the low price tag I couldn't resist. The problem with most of these games is that the logic is so insane that most puzzle solutions tend to only be obvious to the person who made the puzzle. You end up rubbing every item against the others in an attempt to hope that something, somehow will work. Other adventure games have problems where they become a pixel hunt and you have to sweep your mouse CAREFULLY over every inch of the screen to find one doodad to progress. Thankfully, this is not the case with Broken Sword. Aside from the very last puzzle at the end, progression is usually logical and the solutions are well thought out. While there are some small items you may miss at first glance, hunting for items in the screens is not too much of a chore. As far as presentation goes, the graphics are gated but the animated movies are charming and the voice acting is top notch - especially with the main character. The story is also very intriguing and will keep you interested until the end. My only complaints; the game is fairly short and the end comes on rather suddenly. Four stars!
This is made by the same people that developed Time Splitters. I really love the character designs, they're unique and offer a lot of personality. The story is also very intriguing as you play as a skeptical scientist who's endowed mysteriously with psychic powers. You live through both current events and flashbacks of the past. The psychic powers are really interesting, letting you lift stuff, take over minds, heal yourself and hit far away switches. The premise and presentation are both great, but the problem with Second Sight is that it's a stealth action game and you often want to remain hidden. The thing is that the camera does NOT want to obey you. The fixed angles are awful and the free camera is unwieldy and twitchy at best. Often times you'll not be able to see patrolling guards and wind up having to fight or run away. I've also experienced numerous crashes with the game at certain parts. Despite the bugs and frustrations this can still be a fun game to experience, though I think Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy has the edge over this one.
