I enjoyed Dread Templar. It is one of those action games that manage to tow the delicate line between power fantasy and genuine challenge: sure, you play as a badass with great mobility and an arsenal of formidably satisfying guns, but the enemies are many and can easily chew through your health. While DT looks out of 1997, it benefits from modern mechanics that make battles more survivable: dashes, slow-mo and weapon upgrades make the combat a fast and stylish dance where all enemy attacks can be dodged. Most levels are also fun to explore and well made. They do a good job making it clear where you need to go next, so DT can be played with your brain turned off… But the game also knows to reward committed players through the inclusion of numerous secret zones, and even bonus areas and “super secrets” that require you to solve puzzles for great rewards. All in all, DT is pretty darn clean for something made by a solo dev, and a lot of fun for the most part… But it also has its faults. For instance, some levels overuse invisible walls, you get little feedback from being spotted or hit by enemies, and most weapons are strangely underpowered if not upgraded - the rocket launcher being the worst offender. Plus, DT’s idea of a challenge is to throw droves of increasingly tough enemies at you, so some frustration is to be expected. While I have to praise the badass weapon and enemy designs as well as the solid work on the low-poly models and pixellated textures, I also have some issues with the presentation. Only a few of the environments really stand out among the generic castles and tombs that serve as set pieces; and despite being a Metal fan, the tunes constantly blasting in the background (whether or not you’re in combat) kinda got under my skin. In the end, while Dread Templar may not be the best fast-paced / retro-inspired indie shooter, it’s definitely a good one. Those looking for a 90’s-inspired challenge with some modern gameplay elements will love it.
WH40K: Boltgun has a fantastic concept, one we didn’t know we needed. A boomer shooter set in the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, serving as a sequel to the fantastic WH40K: Space Marine? By the God-Emperor, sign me up! And indeed, while it feels fairly modern overall and not quite as retro as marketed, it’s a damn fine FPS. Like Space Marine before it, it gives you pretty much what you’d want from a game where you play as a member of the Adeptus Astartes: awe-inspiring environments, hectic combat, and hundreds of fiends and heretics to turn into red paste with ridiculously powerful guns – the titular Boltgun being the most versatile. It’s a satisfying, fast-paced slaughterfest with some genuinely clever game design, like how the melee system works. The visuals and mood are on point. It looks deliciously chunky and colorful (although too elaborate to really feel straight out the 90’s), and features a variety of iconic and distinctively 40k-esque environments: giants cathedrals, barren canyons, mechanical superstructures… Fans of the franchise should be satisfied by the atmosphere. So, Boltgun delivers on action and gets the WH40K vibe well... and yet, a bunch of things don’t quite click, at least not for me. The movement tends to feel heavy and slippery, which as appropriate for a Space Marine as it may be, is sometimes awkward. A lot of enemy types are bullet sponges: again, this is lore-accurate, but those aren’t very fun and are encountered way too frequently - not to mention the excruciatingly long boss battles. The pacing and quality of the level design also fluctuates wildly: it’s decent overall (with chapter 2 being the best in my opinion), but a few levels are either bland, confusing, or a slog to get through. In the end, while Boltgun is alas not quite the banger it could have been, it's still a well-made and very fun game that I would definitely recommend it to both BoomShoots and WH40K appreciators. I am curious to see if this will get a sequel.
Turok is a fun piece of late 1990’s gaming. Its gunplay is perfectly competent: it’s fast and brutal, the guns are varied and satisfying although some feel a bit underpowered, the bad guys are numerous and fun to kill. The movement feels good, and it has some of the best first-person platforming I’ve seen, which is not a high bar to clear but still. One issue is that the combat is surprisingly easy on normal difficulty (to be fair, the game was probably much harder when played with an N64 controller), but anything above is frustrating. Ammo is also often hard to come by. The game is very light on storytelling but delivers on atmosphere: it’s set in a fearsome jungle full of mercs, dinosaurs and monsters, a cool setting that exudes the type of 90’s pulp energy that we don’t see in games anymore. Interestingly, while its game design is consistent with its era, it is more reminiscent of platform games than of typical “Doom clones”: it has sprawling, labyrinthine levels straight out of Tomb Raider, a hub zone seemingly inspired by Crash Bandicoot, and the way items are collected to unlock levels is similar to something like Mario 64. It’s not a FPS you can play like a mindless gunfest: paying attention to your surroundings is vital to avoid getting lost, and you will need to thoroughly explore levels to find each of their hidden artifacts. As with all Nightdive remasters this version does a very good job of keeping the game how it’s meant to be played, while adding stuff like an increased draw distance and a smoother framerate for a more comfortable experience. Manual saves would have have been a welcome addition, as there is a lot a distance between savepoints. In the end, not every aspect of Turok has aged well, and it’s not as satisfying as other retro shooters...but it’s a fun and well-made relic from a bygone age, wrapped in a solid (if admittedly too pricey) remaster. It’s worth a shot if you like shooting game and can tolerate some outdated game design.
Elderborn is pretty darn sweet, especially for what it is. First-person melee games usually kinda suck, but this one nails its gameplay with style and simplicity: all you do is flailing your weapon at enemies while doing your best to dodge and parry their attacks, which is actually very satisfying due to good attack feels and some smart mechanics. Enemies can easily deplete your health in a few seconds even in the more forgiving difficulty modes, so you’ll need to get familiar with their behavior and attack pattern: while challenging, Elderborn does not get unfair or frustrating, as there’s always a way to bring down your foes without taking too much damage yourself. Managing to place a perfect parry/counter attack never gets old! Elderborn is thus a satisfying romp which do most things right: the level design is fine, and the weapons all find a role to fill. However, the fact that it’s made by a smaller team is a bit too obvious in a few regards: it’s quite repetitive, I was unimpressed by the music, sound effects and gore, and unless you die a lot or look for every single secret, a playthrough is much shorter than advertised and lasts only 4 to 5 hours. This is not much of an issue anyway, as the game ends before running out of steam and has some replayability due to its New Game + mode and customizable stats. The game is also neither particularly pretty-looking nor plot-driven, but the environments and enemy designs are still cool to look at, and it has a bunch of detailed lore you can read about if that’s your thing. Plus, it’s hard to say no to its aesthetic, which is a mix of barbaric fantasy, middle-eastern architecture, and mysterious glowy tech. In the end, having never played a “soulsborne” game I can’t speak for Elderborn’s target demographic, but I personally enjoyed it. It’s very well-priced so I see no reason not to recommend it, especially if you like badass action games about burly barbarians slaying their ways through armies of monsters.
More than an expansion but not quite a new game, Death of the Outsider is a finely crafted epilogue to Dishonored 2. Gameplay-wise, it’s more streamlined: the heroine only gets four magical powers that can’t be upgraded through runes, which is not much of an issue since the campaign is only about one third as long as D2's and ends before their novelty wears off. Those powers work in somewhat weird manners and take a bit of time getting used to, but they can be exploited in a variety of interesting and fun new ways. I also really like how the new self-regenerating mana meter works: you can’t spam powers as much, but don’t have to worry about running out of elixir. Unlike previous games, playing as a pacifist doesn’t give you an achievement or a better ending, so feel free to cause mayhem with the fun new gadgets and weapons at your disposal! Most of them work slightly differently than what we’ve seen, encouraging you to exploit their quirks and adding further diversity to the series’ already greatly satisfying arsenal: I love the hilarious “non-lethal” grenades and mines that tend to accidentally yeet enemies to their deaths. All in all, DotO has many good design choices that I would be happy to see reused in future Dishonored games. The plot is also fine. Serving as a sequel to the second game (and a spiritual successor of sorts to the Knife of Dunwall / Witches of Brigmore DLCs from the first), it lets you play as possibly my favorite protagonist in the series, has really good voice acting, and revolves around one of the most fascinating elements in the Dishonored lore, the mysterious Outsider. It looks as good as D2 and somehow seems much better optimized, as unlike the base game I barely experienced any stuttering. In the end, Death of the Outsider is a solid experience and a good addition to the Dishonored series, despite being perhaps the one I love the least. If you like immersive sims and the previous games, there’s no reason you’ll dislike this one.
If you loved Dishonored, you'll love this sequel. It reproduces what made the first entry great, and is pretty much just “more of the same” (especially if you select Corvo as the protagonist): make your way through open-ended levels! Think out of the box! Find secret paths to your goals! Kick butts in style! It's more than just a rehash however: D2's levels are gigantic compared to the first game, and the gameplay includes many small changes that make big differences. Among multiple control tweaks and a bunch of new gadgets and powers to play with, the increased number of non-lethal options is particularly appreciable. As for the first, the story is not too impressive but carries the game well and has many memorable moments and characters. The worldbuilding and atmosphere are still top notch, especially since D2 is gorgeous to look at. Still leaning heavily into the trademark cool uchronic aesthetics and exaggerated character designs of the series, it has received clear visual upgrades: the environments are not just sprawling, they’re also ridiculously detailed. Sadly this comes at a cost, as D2 is poorly optimized and still stutters on some modern machines... No doubt that there’s a good argument to be made about D2 being superior to the first, but I think it's also fair to have some mixed feelings about it. My personal gripe is that the bigger, more populated levels can get a bit overwhelming and make the game slower-paced: exploration tend to be less smooth, as going through these complex areas and getting past all those foes demands more time and planning. Hunting for collectibles can get especially tedious, since important objects and passageways tend to be hidden in small corners and blend in the detailed backgrounds. In the end, the fact that my worst complaint about D2 boils down to “it’s too big with too much stuff to do” is a testament to its excellence: it’s a masterpiece of game design, arguably the best entry in its series, and a blast to play.
In the tradition of immersive sim games, Dishonored is all about dropping you in wide open-ended levels and letting you reach your objectives by going nuts with a bunch of tools and powers… and it’s not just good at it, it’s one of the best in the genre. Making your way through the city of Dunwall feels excellent due to the fantastic multi-layered level design, the high mobility given to your character (he can parkour AND teleport!), and the high variety of weapons, powers and items that allow you to bypass obstacles and subdue foes in all manners of creative and satisfying ways. For each problem you encounter, every solution you can think of, whether brutal or subtle, simple or twisted, is a valid one! Dishonored ends up being a blast to play throughout. The only issues are that hand-to-hand combat feels a bit clumsy (which is not surprising since it's meant to be avoided)... and of course, that the gameplay is a lot less diverse and open-ended if you play as a pacifist, which is pretty much necessary to unlock the best ending. Fortunately, the included DLCs partially fix this problem by adding more non-lethal options to the arsenal of their protagonist, the assassin Daud. All of this is complemented by solid storytelling and art direction. The plot isn't that remarkable in itself but it provides good justifications for the gameplay, and the fictional world it’s set in has its own detailed lore and a lot of very interesting locations to explore. Similarly, the graphics are not particularly impressive for 2012, but it’s still definitely a nice-looking game with its own unique aesthetics and atmosphere. In the end, Dishonored really satisfies the urge to incarnate a badass skull-faced assassin who kills dudes by teleporting behind them and ramming a blade through their necks - an urge all of us normal people feel, right? It is a fantastic game made by a very competent team, and the first entry in a great franchise that deserves to be expanded and recognized.
As a fan of immersive sims, isometric CRPGs, strange fantasy and wild west stories, it almost seemed like Weird West was tailor-made for me. And I ended up a fan of it, yes… But it took some effort on my part. The reason for this is that it really feels like instead of making WW’s core mechanics fun, the devs focused entirely on adding details and interactivity to the gameplay and environments. The result is a weird mashup of clunky controls and neat implements that, while fantastic on paper, don’t always succeed to enhance the experience. Among many other things, you can for instance soak foes in water/oil so that they’ll take more electric/fire damage... but such cool tactics are usually inefficient and hard to pull due to the clunky controls, so they’re not really worth the effort. To enjoy the game, you’ll have to learn to live with its awkward combat and control scheme, while appreciating its sense of scale, exploration and interactivity... and boy, that’s doable but not always easy. Avoid direct confrontation when possible, max up your upgrades first chance you get, stack up on ammo and consumables, and the experience becomes an enjoyable (if clumsy) romp where you’ll utilize your surroundings to reach your goals and impact the world. WW at least delivers when it comes to the story and mood: the stylized graphics look great and unique, and the journey of each playable character seamlessly blends western and supernatural tropes. The worldbuilding, conveyed through in-game literature and environmental storytelling, is awesome and creative. In the end, I had fun playing WW, and I never doubted that it was a passion project made with a lot of love… But I often found hard to believe that it shared creators with the much more polished Dishonored series! It’s far from bad... but as unique as it is, it’s too much of an overambitious mess to recommend if you’re not “ride or die” for ImSims. A big chunk of it is available as a demo, so give it a try before buying.
With its high production values and daring narrative, Hellblade is as interesting as it is hard to categorize. Its main appeal is its powerful story: using Norse mythology as a background, it is a pretty frontal and uncompromising depiction of mental illness, and the toll such a condition (and the way society treats it) takes on a person. It’s kind of “artsy”, but both the writing and actor performances are so intense and sincere that you won’t blame the game for it. With its beautiful environments and breathtaking character models, it also looks gorgeous for a 2017 release by a smaller company, and seems decently optimized too (I experienced occasional stuttering, but that was on a laptop with some settings maxed out). The art direction is more than eye-candy, and plays a big role in carrying the themes of the story. The issue with H:SS is that its gameplay is… functional, but not much else. The combat has satisfying quirks, but since hostiles encounters are repetitive and drag on for WAY too long, I ended up really tired of it after a while. The puzzles are also a mixed bag, as the whole “finding hidden motives by aligning pieces of scenery” gimmick quickly overstays its welcome. Overall, everything is slow in H:SS: moving from place to place, battling wave after wave of foes… It feels less like you are controlling the heroine, and more like dragging her along. Clearly this is largely deliberate to match the contemplative atmosphere and heavy themes, but still, it’s a constant point of annoyance. In the end, it really feels that much of the gameplay is here as padding, so that H:SS is more than a walking simulator... but maybe a walking simulator would have been better, as the story would have sufficed to carry this game. While its base price is reasonable, I would recommend getting it on sale and playing it on low difficulty (and perhaps with a guide in handy), which should let you enjoy the great storytelling while minimizing the frustration of the controls.
What’s good about Midnight Fight Express? Well, what ISN’T good? It has everything you’d want from it: many enemy types that each need to be handled in different ways, powerful melee attacks and guns, and controls that are simple to get into while also allowing for elaborate combos and stylish action. A new ability can be chosen and trained for after each one of its 40 levels, letting you learn the ropes of the combat and figure out your own style step-by-step, while also insuring that the gameplay remains fresh for the whole campaign. Each fight encourages you to improvise and go all out, and ends up a brutal ballet of broken bones and splattered blood straight out of a martial arts flick. A lot of what makes MFE satisfying comes from its great sense of detail. The mo-capped animations, stylized visuals, sound effects and soundtrack are top notch and a big part of what makes the combat so punchy, the levels are set in varied and detailed urban environments... and there are plenty of cool extra features. Character customization, a training room to practice your moves, a photo mode, and even a function to record gameplay .gifs! The writing is also commendable: it’s pretty wacky in tone, featuring quite a bit of dark humor and pop-culture references, and I was genuinely curious to see where the story was going... which is more than I can say for most action games I play. Frankly, the production values are surprisingly high for an indie brawler, with the fluidity and complexity of the combat surpassing some AAA productions. I only found two or three sequences to be frustrating (those damn motorcycles in the Fight Club), and they all involved gimmicks that weren’t seen again after. While it seemingly didn’t make much of a splash, MFE is an indie beat’em’up gem made with love, talent and commitment by someone with a vision. It’s a fun romp throughout, one of the best things I played this year, and a game I will definitely revisit from time to time. Give it a go.
