The combat in Quake 2 is just so good. The variation in the way enemies die (taking a few last shots, getting their head blown off but still shooting), the feel and power of the guns, the pacing and non-bullet sponge enemies... its so good. The remaster just makes it better. The biggest problem with the original single player is some of the level design and the way you complete objectives (lots of backtracking) can be confusing. This is fixed with the compass of the remaster. I don't usually like hand holding but I think its quite a good feature here. If back in 97 ID had broken away from the mold a little bit and added a wee bit more of a story, some NPC buddies that helped you out from time to time, or at least had more interaction than wandering around saying "let me out!!!!" and "make it stop!!!" then Unreal would not have held a candle to this game. Dark Forces 2 is my personal favorite Shooter from 1997, but Quake 2 is a close second.
It's really good. Having put many hours into both the originals and the remasters, I can confidently say the remasters are the best way to experience these games today and I think they did a pitch-perfect job of staying true to the originals while upgrading the graphics and adding some quality of life features. The new modern controls do work well, but there are limitations. I think my one complaint would be that a slightly less-faithful but more modern control scheme with new animations for strafing added would have been preferable for combat because the modern controls I found to be less than idea for fighting. Usually I just ran from things, then used the roll button to flip back around and get off a few shots. Jump Flipping around was more reliable, I found, with tank controls. However, the modern controls work really well for exploring and adventuring and I love that you have the option to switch whenever (and switch graphics to the old style as well with a press of a button). All three games look great and are still very fun to play, though they are a time sink because one slight mistake will send Lara falling to her death in many areas and, true to the original, the designers liked to teach you by surprise killing you with traps and the like. But you can't beat the satisfaction of solving a puzzle or pulling off a perfect platforming sequence that these games give. The newer entries just don't make you feel as skilled and as in peril as these games do. If you don't mind Saving a lot and enjoy old games for nostalgia or historic significance then you can't go wrong. Support developers who restore old games and stay mostly faithful so that more old games will get similar treatment!
I play this coop with my 8-year-old. Its a lot of fun for both of us. The game is more of a challenge than the first one for sure. I found it was too difficult on normal for my kid and even I (veteran gamer that I am- who cut my teeth on unforgiving games from the 80's and 90's) found it frustrating. A lot of enemies were very spongy which I hate in games, but on easy we enjoy it a lot more. Overall an improvement over Cat Quest 1 with ranged weapons and more options for character customization, but it retains the fast paced light hearted fun… and lame cat jokes.
I got this game for free and thought I'd give it a go. The theme and art style did not appeal to me, and I thought I'd likely uninstall it after a few minutes... but it captured me right away. Great little side-scrolling XCOMish type combat is addictive...its very easy to play longer than is healthy for family life. The only thing I don't like about it is that many of the missions only let you have two or three teammates, which is lame because a lot of crewmates never get used. But that has not detracted very much from the overall fun.
A great, but not perfect, old game that brings the tabletop to the desktop. If you are not used to DND, it might take some getting used to how the rules work, but once you get the hang of it there is a vast treasury of fun to be had. I'm a fan of the Infinity engine games as well, but I think NWN does a better job of recreating the "tabletop brought to 'digital' life" feel than the RTS style of those games. If you are more into 'roleplaying' than hack and slash style rpgs, give this one a go. Also, Enhanced Edition is solid.
Outcast is a classic. Its one of the best games ever made. When it came out, there was nothing else like it, and still... there is nothing quite like it. It is a nearly perfect game and I can think of only one real flaw: Jan's Test of Sneaking. I hate Jan's Test of Sneaking, and you will to. But everything else is pitch perfect.
I love the original Outcast. I is one of my top ten games of all time. Second Coming is a great remake of the original. It stays true while making it look purty and making combat a little more snappy. I don't like the way twon'ha works now... but that's a small issue. Outcast does not try to be an RPG, which I personally think is great. It does not have leveling up or any other RPG mechanics that tend to seep into every genre this days. Nor does it have any of the annoying collectibles that have became so popular (I don't know why) in open-word games. Instead, it focus on taking you on a incredible adventure with a great story, awesome world building, and some really fun action. If you've never played the original, give this one a try... if you are a fan of the original, try a play through of Second Coming and enjoy the nostalgia with upgraded graphics and gameplay.
Monkey Island was a great game and its still great. I really liked the remake. You can switch back and forth between the old style and the new, so that's cool if you find the new stuff off-putting. Yes the control can be a little bit weird, but so where the originals, and it did not detract from the overall experience. I played through it with my kids and the whole family had a great time and the updated graphics, awesome voice acting, and new hints system all helped make the experience better and more accessible for my young brood. Its the second greatest adventure game I've ever played!
I really wanted to like this game but it was disappointing in every way. First off, its a tiny game. A tiny game that's made slightly longer because its frustratingly hard at points and you'll have to redo the same stupid fight over and over again. Secondly, I did not relate or enjoy the main character at all. I found her annoying and unlikeable from the start. Eventually its revealed she's a lesbian and there was this obnoxious duel you have to fight against her former lady lover which just did not fit with the setting or tone. Not to say there were not lesbians in the 17th century, but finding two feminist expert sword fighting women who don men's clothing and flirt while fencing would have been a strange event in those days. Its really quite a heavy topic, and not one that a comical, childish, swashbuckling tale is really best equipped to deal with. The platforming sections feel like an after thought, and are too easy, whereas the actual core gameplay (the fencing) can be stupidly hard. Knocking guards back into water, down stairs, into pillars that cause vases to fall on there heads, or into weapons racks is a lot of fun... a couple times... but that's really the only time the gameplay shines. When you have to fight an enemy that is immune to the your kick attack and can't push him back into the environment, the fun meter goes way down because the actual sword-on-sword fencing is mediocre. The game tries to be funny, but most of the jokes fall flat. We could use more funny games... but you need funny writing and funny voice actors which apparently was not in the budget. There is no cohesive story, each act just starts and stops as its own little mini story, and so there is no incentive to push through and endure the mediocre gameplay, cringe worthy jokes, and obnoxious heroine. I got it refunded... thanks for that GOG!
It's a fun little game. I really enjoyed my first play through. I like the mix of stealth and action. Everything is pretty simple but it works. You basically have the choice of either distracting the "hunters" (who really just feel more like traditional video game guards) trapping or fighting them in order to retrieve the pieces of the device. This does make for some pretty fun and intense moments, but there is just not enough going on this game to hold your interest for long. There is really no plot, the ending is lame, and although the game can randomly generate new worlds on every play through, there is just not enough to keep coming back for. You can't go inside buildings, they are just glorified "crates" and 90% of the items you find don't even do anything. At least if you were able to throw more of the items for distraction, or maybe combine some items to make something useful... There is a lot of trial and error which can be frustrating in a game with limited save features. For instances some of the enemies are seemingly invulnerable (I emptied all my bullets into them before dying...) which teaches you avoidance, and yet other enemies have very important items on them, which encourages combat. There is no hint anywhere that I could find as to when you should engage and when you should flee, you just have to test it out for yourself. This, to me, is flawed design in a stealth game where every decision should be calculated. Not, try and die, then repeat. Again, there are books and letters you find stashed around, and these could have offered some hints as to how to interact with the world, but all the ones I read where useless. Still, I really enjoyed the combat, the stealth and the survival aspects. The key here is each one of the main aspects of the game could have just used a little more content, a little more flushing out. Then you'd have a great game. The bottom line is the game is fun but just feels a little unfinished.
