The game dose take a good care to create atmosphere even tho the estabilishing helicopter incident (the thing that creates all the undead) felt very wildly paced and confusingly cut. Most rest of the game the narrow paths even on larger streets feel little bit too claustrophobic and could have instead been used as good contract to evoke fear of open spaces since well in open space undead can be any one of the apparently substantial populace of Keen Sight (yeah nice pun) , or rather formerly living population now kinda not. Weapons and their usage feel satisfying the jumpscares are far less annoying than in most games that employ them. And believe you me i HATE jumpscares. The puzzle element whilst intending to add something interesting and different seems to sometimes be applied in most baffling places and even more baffling ways (realy fire suppression sytem on and off are puzzles? why?) , i could do either without or with it being dessigned in more natural style than separate interface. Storyline is... i do not know the switching perspective for now is not that interesting and the crossover is not yet pronounced enough to make me feel anything towards it it also means i conflate stories of Raven and Samuel bit too much. The focus would be beter if it was solely on Samuel and the Helicopter bit was a flashback or even outro or even better have those events take blace retrograde in comparision to Samuel. As is its presented in very fractured way that i find particularly dissatisfying, altho there is nothing naratively wrong it feels bit conffused as result fo the presentation (and my limited brain abilities). All in all a decent enough game you can play if you are either fan of genre or just curious about said genre, tho in that case i heard its sequel (err prequel? its DM94) is superior in every way. There are fun little tribute posters here and there in the game that i think are possibly most enjoyable thing about game that and some enviroments (Galery).
Sure they can no longer use the incredible rush hour music (some copywright related sheninigans i am sure, music companies pfft) but it is still basicaly the same game as that and i am glad for that. That being said it dose lack several things that future installments do have (like doing soup to each order or lasagna is wierd) so i do have to duct second star... yes song on its own is worth one whole star to me, it was the star of the show .) Plenty of improvements: more challanges, i do not remember iron cook for example from O.N.R. , i do believe the recipies are almost same and the dishes have seen only minor increase in the scope so this game sits in bit of an awkward middle between its free to play and much more refined sequels. If you are connesur of the series from its roots or curious owner of later installments it could be interesting choice but as first dip into the series it is supersceeded by 2 and i assume 3. Oh yeah also you are restauran owner of do it it all yourself style eatery and well do it all yourself .) tons of stressses when complex recipies pile up in your queue of orders might not seem liek fun but getting that perfect day with no averege or bad orders is all that much more satisfying (also it is veeery hard to outright fail a day so fear not you may not be perfect but you CAN make it through persistance... allbeit slower).
i was looking for this type of racing done well for decades, MX series had good reputation, was even from THQ publisher (back when it was still THQ as opposed to deep silver pretending to be THQ) - company that gotten MotoGP and MotoGP2 off the ground. After nearly 14 hours i can confidently say that i have given this game a shot - the biggest problem i see is that i never know weather the rider will flop off the motorcoss bike or not on specific jumps, second most irritating is the computer competitors jsut randomly being unbetably fast, thirs flaw is just sheer lack of competition - motorcorss in real world at the time had up to 50 fielded riders per session... here we only get 8 or even 6 some places.... As direct result of these shortcomings majority of aformentioned time i spent re doing race weekend (you can restart each session while you are in it but if you do not achieve certain results - usualy podium, you are forced to start from quali 1, or can opt to do practice before that). Whish is devastating especialy in championship where the point is to have close points contest based upon long term results. Sounds feel bit too flat too, (compared to likes of Ski-doo X-team racing) both 2 and 4 strokes lack some kind of interesting mechanical depth, i can hear no suspension or brakes. Music selection is what you'd expect from the era, but be warned featuring Nickleback. Graphics are servicible but not breathtaking even compared to aforementioned MotoGP (which was up to 3rd by this poiint i beleive). I can wholeheartidly recommand you look for your offroading motorbike racing anywhere else. This is simply not worth your time no matter the price tag it comes with.
Relatively small French studio span off a mythos (of orks and men) into this immersive stealth game with mostly open level design. Wonderfull atmosphere, looming dark fear creeping down my spine when i aam trying to find some cleverly placed perch or good spot from which to unravel each room of enemies. one body at the time.... Clearlly the people directly involved in aking the game gave their hearts to this project and it shows - now sure tehre are minor bugs but it feels to me that each level was thorrowly planned and consequently tested to permit more organic playing experience. If there are single solution rooms (you have to do everything in exactly one way and order or you will not clear the room) i certainly either never noticed or cared at least. The visceral feeling i get from sneaking a kill on enemy juuuust before some other one comes into view, only to meet same fate or evading pursuing guards when i do get detected by leaping wildly onto wall mounted catches (i mean Styx is no slouch but he aint build for direct confrontation - striking from shadws is better option 9/10 times) is highly entertaining. But most important thing is that each room is slightly different puzzle and seems to at offer multitude of solutions. Fact that this game still looks gorgeous, sounds this good (i mean the voice actor frot Styx had the gruff aged rasper that gives charakter so much depth), the sound that plays when detected or even one that you hear when someone's neck bone crunches... oh this is world i love to sneak about. Obviously this is not for everyone - you HAVE to want to play stealth game, and whilst it is not as brutal as some or as expansive as big budget titles it dose have colourfull realm, satisfying gameplay and decent story. I hpe that everyone who worked on this game is proud of it and thank you for making such a gorgeously macabre game!
Impressive single screen puzzle where the goal is to clean all the human life. Many a funny traps and multitude of unlockable (by gmeplay not pay) charakters that generaly seem to serve (as someone who unlocked grand total of 2 out of some 8) a challange for replaying a level - say you have the crank 2 condition or you have to attack more times. If you like logical puzzles and do not mind a bit of the dark hummour associated with morbid subjects this might be excellent choice for you. General gameplay loop is that player charakter (whichever one you've chosen if unlocked or default) will be dropd to part of a map and given X people to play with - than you proceed with using some itneractive objects (such as a gas canister to set thigns ablaze, horse to kick people directly behind it or car/cart to cleave trail of blood through people) to aid your progress, you CAN hide bodies in sewer or trash but... its more chaotic if you dont .) i like the more chaotic pla myself. There is also option of random event player CAN summon via phones (same ones NPCs use to call cops) - sometimes good sometimes bad something both. Such random events can be calling zombies or more partygoers. Graphics are pretty low resolution but unlike its sequel that helps things stand out better. i would strongly recommand getting this first and only if you want more of simillar play conssider the PH2. Music is an aspect where the game also shines bright - be it copywright free or not version of OST it has very retro clubbing feel from 80s/90s scene and sometimes dose reach heights so dazzling i do occasionaly play the main menu theme without playing the game.
Spiders have baan on GoG on sale few times, their work on the TEchnomancer and Mars war logs has made me their fan. I do draw parallel to how Larian did things with Divinity (tho offcourse Spiders do not own the series rights) in terms of skills that the team demonstrated and how each game just leaps over thee previous. So yes biased review offcourse but given the costs of these games i strongly recommand getting both to anyone who likes more action role playing game style. Graphics are... managible and games will run on quite aged machines too. Yes there are some issues due to the pressumed miniscule budget these games struggle from some serious navigational issues within areas and they are instanced areas rather than continuous. All that cna offcourse be forgiven because well its small studio afterall... and besides the strenght of this game are charakters and let me tell you i fell in love with how vivid some charakters are, good drawing on backstories and some revelation (in particular regarding Scott Seeker's backstory regarding research and progression of relationship with Mjr. Eliza are my personal favourite for partymmembers but also Scum has incredible arch of his own and one hell of a speech. i am quite taken aback just how fluid the combat can be - most action role playing games that use this stup of mouselooking tend to force things like lock on to players but not here. and yet is works excellent (only problems i run into are of my own questionable play style). Lenght of the game depends, as usual, on how much players want to engorge themselves in side stories, so do note that i do and it is taking maany a hour to get through to the finale (21h and counting). definitively worth trying if you cna spare the jestfull sum it can be on sale for. possibly evne worth full price if you are realy into RPGs.
Fascinating worlds that inexile makes were always their strenghts, Now offcourse nothign is perfect and this one is no exception, Some events occuring mind conbat that are not meant to be happening can be bit... dissheartening (say an NPC gets executed) , few confusing layouts in maps and even very much corridor based locations (tho those are usualy just saved for random encounters so it is not as much of a problem) and that is on top of the slow burner type storytelling deployed here so it is certainly not for everyone. Core tennants of role playing game ARE here - multitude of viable charakters (tho you do want to have wildly diverse party at the star to cover your weak spots as you will encounter two or three ways to progress in majority of situations), solid turn based combat, interesting and entertaining NPCs, and offcourse comprehensive and rewarding combat, dialogue. I can recommand this to patient people - and suggest to play 1-3 hour per session to get the most out fo it.
It is rare to see a tribute to your own work done by yourself to succeed, there are many examples where things were horrible. But from the recollection of Kickstarter backers and general udnerstanding it seems that Stainles were in right mindset - their goal was to bring first carmageddon (reincarnate it so to speak) into than modern age. they did that, and whilst ommiting few thigs from splat pack and ... certain FEARARRI F666 because marenello has no sense of hummour what so ever. They did compose what i think of as one of the best games in car combat genre. Sadly i am in minority on the subject. So a bit later they made changes according to their audience's feeback and Max Damage edition was more closely alligned with carma 2 - tighter more responsive cars being one very notable way it was improved (i realy like floaty ones of C1). So yes if you like gory fun, if you think boming down a mainstreet at speed of plaid staring into headlights of mother trucker wilst compact unit: Nil threat impotently tries to stop you than this game can be for you. Offcourse due to this being legacy game it did have to grandfather in some duplicate powers (turbo and more turbo, damage and more damage etc. - there is quite the history with those and some fans would have problem with some of them missing) which would likely have been steamlined out in most contemporaries of the era it was released in. but it is managible. The cocpit cam is also missing but i guess they did not have much time for funny vignettes this time around as they made the game themselves on indie budget. Overall i do perosnaly love the series and the fact that they (unsuccesfully) tried to bring carmageddon back which as fan of first gem i greatly appretiate. + its carmageddon (aka everything i expect from first game is here) runs well looks well plays well sounds well - music is bit forgetable but i get the urge not to work with pricks liek iron maiden again, duplicate power ups no F666 its dead again .(
Whilst the gameplay is nothing special, storry barely even matters the game can be fun at times, Some quite exciting abilities and some rather amusing abilities that you can slot into various ship parts (who act in same manner that both as action bar and equipment slots in most role playing games). these also allow fo some decent customisation in terms of how you approach battle. Example of this is pirate party an AOE around your ship that dose nice damage, tho i personaly prefer a ghstly tentacle that dose take finese and timing but dose massive damage to enemies. there are also utilities like speed for the ship (that one is why i do not have pirate party equiped - same slot) sure it dose minor fire damage to hostile crew but its negligible i use it entirely for speeding out of troubble or towards objectives. Visualy he game is fairly well stylised, most charakters look like an intentional satire, which dose add to game's not serious at all atmospere. Music is nonintrusive and dose not realy get annying even after hours. Can not realy expect this to be on par with big budget games sure but maybe something little... interesting could be more befitting this game. Overall it is just below averege game - worth your time, pretty good for discount purchase. not somethign you go out of your way to play and own especialy since there are other titles frm 90s with same perspective and different systems. (you cna not capture enemy ships after combat or have a swashbucle in 1st/3rd person tho you can have a boarding party damage enemy's crew.
Yep it all comes down to having Sean Murray be but in position he was ill fit for at the time. Sadly he promissed so much that even Mollyneux would try to curtail the expectations. Still it worked well enough for Hello games and through some incredible hardships they pulled together a game with interesting visuals, dream-like atmosphere and rather overly ambitious scale. It is not freelancer type game i personaly approach it as base builder with side of grind... or other way around some days. Resource, mission, even dealing wih settlements is very grindy conceptualy but noone says you NEED to do these things. just play about in creative mode for few hours and see what catches your fancy. Plethora of concepts half fullfilled. This game has staggering feature creep that resulted in systems not being all that well laayered into one another nor having much deapth - minimal ship customisation, limited interactions with NPCs and even more sparse management of fleet, settlement etc. As mentioned i basicaly play predominantly for the decent depth baase builder aspect which dose have some gorgeou assets you can place. But even there i do struggle with certain itnerior decorating ideas (all my bases look same all he time because of my and game's limitations - in that order i am not creative enough to figure out way around these). I do think that if you are looking for allright game with plenty to do but little mandatory forward momentuum this COULD be your choice. there are several enjoyable aspects but it also could be something you may play like few times and gve up because it just lacks the depth. I am giving it above avarage 3/5 because i like the assets, the freedom to approach things as i please (you CAN raid planetary depot whilst still sitting in your ship for example thats funny to me) but ultimatley if you are not going to engage with large amounts of systems in some form of do it all challange you may be dissapointed by any individual present mechanic.
