Red Faction is one of those games that my sister and I used to watch our father play back during the early 2000s. It stands out particularly through its setting and the destructible environments, which were quite literally groundbreaking at the time. Unfortunately, there is a very prominent bug involving a submarine on-third into the game that explodes instead of lowering into the water, making the game completely unwinnable. This bug was present back then and is still a serious problem in this version. You need to either cheat to skip the section or download a fan-made patch to fix it. I cannot recommend a game that needs an outside source to be fully playable.
I want to rate this game higher, I really do, but I cannot in good conscience recommend playing it in its current state. There are a lot of things to like here, such as some lovely atmosphere and getting to see Lovecraft's famous Innsmouth being faithfully brought to life. The first third of the experience is definitely the strongest, for me at least, as exploring the fishing town early on and then being forced to hide and escape from the crazed townsfolk That said, the game is marred with some design choices I do not agree with, such as certain parts halfway through spawning an infinite number of enemies until you figure out how to proceed. This can also be pretty tricky sometimes, as a few of the puzzles feel... dare I say, esoteric. For the most part figuring out what to do isn't too difficult, but I did have to pull out a guide now and then because I missed something that blended into the environment a bit too well or the solution wasn't clear. I did feel a bit stupid sometimes in hindsight, I admit. There are a few optimization complaints I have, like the game outright crashing if you try to tab out and flat-out not starting if you run it at the highest resolution. The enemies also bugged out a few times, but nothing major for the most part. That is until the ending, which ruins everything. If it weren't for the ending of the game, I would've given Dark Corners of the Earth a solid 3/5 and recommended it, but this is just inexcusable. It's not that the ending itself is bad (though the final boss was buggy and did test my patience), but the real problem is this: The game cannot be completed. That's right, this particular version of the game is impossible to beat without messing with the game files, because it somehow omits the running feature. You can only move around in a comfortable jog, which is fine until the very last section, where you have to escape from a collapsing cave. It is not possible to make it to the portal that leads to the ending.
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, much like its predecessor Rayman 2: The Great Escape, was an integral part of my childhood and I spent a lot of time with it. Being able to play it again many years later is very gratifying, as it is still a solid platformer. While the humor can be a bit hit or miss, the entire game has an unforgettable charm and the stylized graphics still hold up very well. Sadly this version's controller support is quite lacking, but the controls are otherwise responsive (though I wish I could bind the attack key to the mouse instead of the keyboard) and combat surprisingly satisfying for a platformer from this era.
Rayman 2: The Great Escape more than earns the great, even though there is actually very little escape happening. Colorful, stylized graphics that allow the game to stand the test of time, responsive controls (though I wish it had some custom keybindings support), a memorable soundtrack... the game is just as good as I remember it being back when I was a little boy.
