The graphics look really, really bad. I've played some old games but there is really nothing much to look at in this one. It generally feels like a game that is still under development. A lot of the story is told via loading screens and there is way too much exposition. This could have been forgiven if the gameplay was fun and engaging, but the combat just feels bland and stealth sequences are just a drag. In the end, I just couldn't bear to play through this game and dropped it.
I haven't played any of the other Tomb Raider games, so I am completely new to this franchise. I really wasn't expecting a lot, partly because a lot of reviews mentioned how the gameplay was watered down and scripted most of the time. Although I can confirm there is a certain level of handholding in this game (even on the hardest difficult), the game is still nothing short of spectacular. The storytelling and environment design are especially remarkable. Travelling across the island really does feel like an adventure in a way many other open world games fail to do so. The story itself is pretty mature and the cast is pretty solid. Lara herself is pretty kickass and the way she moves while traversing makes it doubly so. The combat is quite unlike other shooting games I've played and is really engaging. The only negative thing I have to say about is the lack of tombs. The tombs in the game were really fun and I really wished they could have added more of those puzzles to the game. There's also no "New Game Plus". Anyway, I recommend this game for anyone who enjoys survival action-oriented stories with a dash of puzzle solving.
I just played this game for 8 hours straight. I wasn't sold on this game before, but I can definitely see why this title is such a classic. Please note that the Director's Cut version does actually have a couple of issues with it as other have mentioned, such as in-built telemetry/tracking and performance, but there are easy workarounds for most of them. (Check PCGamingWiki for more.) Thanks to the Gold Filter Restoration mod, I was also able to play the game with its iconic "gold filter" like in the original version. Despite its flaws, this is a ton of fun and this version also includes revamped boss fights which were a bit of a letdown before. Now, I haven't ever really played the original release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution or the first Deus Ex, so I can't really say much about it. However, my own experience of this game has been a ton of fun and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of this genre.
There is no mistake - this is a good game. However, it's also been made difficult by the severe lack of useful information presented to the player (especially at the start of the game).This may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your perspective, but I would have preferred if at least the base mechanics were explained a bit more. It wasn't until I read about 5 or 6 community guides that I actually got how to properly play the game. For example, navigating the levels was somewhat challenging for me because there is no map and the path to take isn't always so clear-cut. It was only later that I can take out the journal and use the compass to find the general direction (towards north). "Filters" and "MGRs" are other crucial aspects of the game where it leaves the player hanging. To the game's credit though, once I got over the initial hurdles, I was presented with a pretty deep and engaging story. The diary notes were especially useful in giving additional context to some of the story elements and the characters were pretty well-rounded.The gameplay was also quite fun and engaging. I even had quite a few jump scares on several occasions. I definitely recommend this game, but I also encourage reading a couple of community guides on some of the gameplay mechanics first. NOTE: The game randomly crashes for me. Quite a few people have reported similar issues (on the GOG Forum, Steam Community, PCGW and even Reddit). Although it's still quite playable, since it autosaves pretty frequently, I'll be deducting one star for that.
The last game — The ABC Murders — was really one of my favorites and got my hooked on this series. Although the gameplay and visual style ended being quite different from what I expected, it was still just as engaging and fun to play. If the last game was focused on finding evidence and solving puzzles, this one placed greater emphasis on interrogating suspects and drawing conclusions based on what you know. There are some annoying bits, like having to constantly press a key to continue a long conversation, but it didn't detract from the experience that much. Even though I do wish that the puzzles with "complex mechanisms" (requiring you to find hidden evidence in various contraptions) from the last game weren't completely removed, this game is really enjoyable with a compelling story to boot. I definitely recommend this game.
This was a game I was looking to play for a really long time but it ultimately disappointed me. Although the game promises thrilling action set pieces filled with parkour, I was instead met with an interesting mishmash of ideas that were poorly executed. For one, it's really hard to get any sense of speed. This is mainly because it's also not always clear where you must go and what you need to do. It slows the pace of the game down drastically and makes it super frustrating as you are trying to figure out what to do. While "Runner Vision" should highlight objects you can interact with, there were several instances where this didn't happen which makes the problem worse. On the other hand, the combat in this game is really rudimentary. It was, by far, what I hated the most in this game. The game tries to be overly realistic, so there is no health bar or ammo meter (for any guns). All of the guns are also single-use only, which means you have to dump them after the ammo runs out. Since you have no way of knowing how much ammo is left in one gun, it's difficult to know how long you can last in a battle. The "countering" system is one more thing that is super finicky and requires absolute precision. In the end, all of this kind of breaks your momentum and causes you to slow down. I applaud this game for experimenting with some interesting concepts for its time, but the final product was far from satisfactory for me.
I am playing this right after Arkham Asylum. Even compared to that, this game does have several noticeable shortcomings. For one, the combat isn't as satisfying to me as the first game. Things like the Quick Batclaw not bringing enemies further away as close as it should and Batman's punches having less of an oomph really add on to that feeling. Traversal in game world can also be a bit of a pain. Sometimes, there are places where you can't find grapple points and certain large buildings you can't scale. There are also times where it seems like you should be able to climb over something but the game doesn't allow it. Certain platforming sections can also be a bit frustrating because of this. For all the places it falls short, this game is still a pretty fun game. The main story really is pretty awesome. I especially loved the drama between Joker and Batman. It really explains how and why their whole rivalry started. If you liked the other Batman Arkham games, you should play this at least for its story. It may not be as good, but it still stands up well.
I really liked the narrative and story-telling of this game. It definitely surprised me. Many of the puzzles were truly quite challenging for me, and I enjoyed that. There were a few puzzles that did get a bit repetitive but, overall, they were really good and made me think. (There is a "Clue" system, but I mostly avoided it.) The most annoying aspect of this game were actually the controls, though. I tried playing with both a mouse and a controller. With the controller, it was actually difficult to do some of the puzzles which require you to drag stuff around. On the other hand, the mouse didn't always work as expected and gave me a bit of trouble from time to time.
