Too bad it was pulled from selling, although you can now find a freeware version online. Jumping/side-stepping remains horrible, however.
All the bugs and gameplay issues are now fixed, so recommending this game is easy now. While the story is a bit cliche, it packs a lot of drama and philosophy that will make you think about V's adventure for days. And the characters you meet are amongst the most memorable to date, easily compared to Vampire the Masquerade Redemption/Bloodlines. The graphics hold up extremely well even today. And the expansion - Phantom Liberty - is not just the one of the best DLCs of all time, but brings a lot of new gameplay and story ideas, all packed in a Mission Impossible style and look. All of this makes Cyberpunk 2077 the best Neuromancer-like game of the grim future out there.
When in fps game, you pick up the shotgun and fire it for the first time, that moment wil define the entire game, and in Redneck Rampage series, your double-barreled shotgun is weak and imprecise as you'll need to fire 2 to 4 buckshots to put down the most common enemy. Which means the shooting ain't great, but its cheery spirit definitely compensates a lot. Created in 1997, Redneck Rampage was made as a goof on Southern tropes by Xatrix entertainment, who were famous for making shooters with original concept and extremely complicated level designs. And you can expect both in your adventures as you play a charismatic hickbilly Leonard who is looking for his brother Bubba while the alien invasion is happening. The game has a lot of humor and light atmosphere as you explore backtiown swamps, ditch cities and farms armed with all sorts of traditional and original weapon armament, such as alien teat gun, chicken dyn-O-mite, ripsaw-blade and alien arm gun. Shooting is fun but imprecise, which can and will put your nerves to the test, when tougher and meaner, spongier enemies show up that can decimate your health in a single shot. Another bad thing about this series is that levels can get crazy complex as you're looking for hidden switches in a labyrinthine environment, but that's a part of the charm for the 90's shooters. One of the great things about RR is the amazing soundtrack with a collection of songs from the greats such as Mojo Nixon, The Beat Farmers and Reverend Horton Heat (which thanks to this game I became a great fan of these bands). Voice overs are also amazing and funny, with Leonard taking the cake as a sarcastic, foul mouthed hickbilly. Couple that with having the entire collection of Redneck Rampage games, the original game from 1997 that remains my favorite, the amazing expansion Suckin' Grits on Route 66, and it's somewhat lackluster sequel in 1998. That's a whoopin' 40 levels you have here that can easily last you for 20 hours and more!
If there's something strange, In your neighbourhood, Who ya gonna call? 1930's Ex-Egyptology Student! Wait, what?! Made in the second wave of FPS games in the 90's, and created in the now legendary Build Engine, Killing Time is the game that you'll love in equal measures as you’ll hate, and only if you are an FPS afficionado. For everyone else, this will be a very tough sell. Killing Time must be one of the first games that put a story in the forefront in FPS genre, You’ll learn more as you meet trapped ghosts in the manner of neat FMV animations all throughout the isle that is designed in a series of levels connected with the central hub and its the time-trapped manor. This is another plus for KT because it’s probably among the first hub-level based FPS games, along with HeXen II, which later became a norm in this genre. Most of the locations you’ll traverse locations that have nice art design, with the Temple of Isis and the Manor itself being a sight to behold. End Boss encounter is also quite original for its time that will keep you on your toes until you reach the end. Unfortunately, there are many things that don’t quite gel with KT: all weapons are severely underpowered and not fun to use, except the flamethrower. Enemy design is pretty bad and simplistic with the sole exception of floating red skulls: they have poor attacks and attack patterns, don’t look interesting to look at and not to mention they don’t feel terrifying at all. Many of the levels feel poorly designed and uninspired: too many dank caves and small rooms in the manor; in fact levels in general are way too cramped, which is a death knell for any attempt of strafing. But the biggest minus for KT is your player: he has one of the worst jumps in the history of games and can’t even jump over a feet tall obstacle; you’ll also get stuck on every single wall surface and slow down to crawl, as if you are covered by sticky glue everywhere until you go crazy. Recommended only for FPS history buffs!
Make no mistake: HOMM I has that addictive if primitive gameplay Heroes series is famous for. Graphics look and feels lush, inviting and a little rough around the edges. Sound and music is brilliant, eaasily on par with the rest of the series, with the Barbarian theme song being the greatest, breathtaking music piece in the game. AI is challenging and will keep you on your toes throughout all the scenarious and especially during the campaign, where it can be estremely ferocious. There are some heavy and infuriating shortcomings being the first game in the series: maps are buggy, with heroes units capable of squeezing through the unpassable terrains such as mountains and enemy units. Most of the maps, even though they are varies, are simplistic in their design and the only story campaign barely has a storyin it. Magic is extremely overpowered and unbalanced, and speaking of magic: Biggest fault is the cheating AI that can seamingly do wonders with magic, I had an enemy sorceress hero in a very long battle of attrition just spamming magic every single round, and pulling magic cheats out of her hat, without having some sort of artifact or higher levels of magic guild. This kind of cheating made me reevaluate final score down to two stars. Despite its major flaws, Heroes of Might and Magic was and still is an important cornerstone of turn based strategy and the start of the astounding series, but be mindful of the nasty cheats this game tries to pool over you.
I've been playing games since the days of Amiga 500, and let me tell you, games like the Witcher 3 are very, very rare. I can count with two hands all the games that had such a stellar and gripping story, interesting and memorable characters, refined and exciting battle system, choices that have long and lasting consequences and impressions, beautiful art direction, music and sound design, and above all a heart and a soul. This is one of those games that leave a permanent impression and refinement on you: I love writing short stories and playing all sorts of pen and paper games, both as a dungeon master and as mere hero in a story. Fallout 1 and 2 introduced me to amazing world building and embracing the strange while creating my stories, Baldur's Gate saga has showed me how to build grandiose and bigger than life story campaigns, Planescape Torment taught me how to weave deeper meanings and philosophy in every quest, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines showed me that every character you meet can be fascinating and every quest can flow like an excellent TV episode. Witcher 3 has cemented in me all this knowledge and showed me a way or two on how to make combat interesting and how to subvert players' expectations and more. Witcher 3 is by no means perfect: you only have one class to play, as a witcher, and there are no skills that could introduce many different ways of solving a single quest, but dang it all, it tries hard to awe you and teach you so many useful lessons that all of the games minuses are easily forgotten. I could gush on how unique and one of a kind Witcher 3 is, but wouldn't it be better to try it yourself :) Go on, play it, enjoy it, love it. I promise you it will change you for good. To its developers and creators, I salute you, this is an experience that time won't mend away :D
This game even today successfully captures the spirit of old school first person shooters, before Half-Life appeared and redefined the rules. Blood OUWB tells a campy and interesting, revenge story of an anti-hero Caleb, a crazed gunman who finds true love with a woman that is a member of the notorious cult dedicated to resurrecting a Dark God. When Caleb along with all the people dear to him, is betrayed by this Dark God, he rises from his grave to get his revenge and satiate bloodlust. Made in Build engine, Blood is arguably the best of the lot that is made with this famous engine, besides Duke Nukem. It has six episodes with nine levels each, with a majority of them having great level design, as well as oozing with dread-filled atmosphere. You will be fighting a horde of vile undead enemies in the closed mortuary, abandoned Fun Park, haunted castle, dreaded mountain peaks and much more. Every level, every enemy and every one-liner that Caleb gleefully says amidst the carnage of battle are love-letters and tributes from Blood's game creators to classic horror movies. All the enemies that you'll meet are equally terrifying and cheesy, starting with mad cultists that use their own secret language to taunt you, possessed severed hands, all the way to death-incarnated Phantasms, large stone gargoyles and finally the awe-terrifying Dark God itself. All of them employ different attacks to stop you dead in tracks, thus making every confrontation hectic and memorable. Guns that Caleb uses in liberate dispatching, are also unique and imaginative, All of them have primary and secondary mode of fire, making them fun to use and fit for all purposes and enemies. There are a few fairly big problems with Blood as well: enemies use hit-scans which can make some levels very difficult to trudge through. Also some of the secrets in expansions are bugged as well and a couple of levels are underwhelming in design. But overall, Blood is a sublime FPS game that you have to try :)
