It's like having a tiny galaxy (more than one actually) in your computer. And like the manufacturers of an addictive drug, they've perfected the explore/build/upgrade loop. It's like minecraft in space. I'm nowhere near scratching the surface of the mysteries of the several plots but I see myself sinking many more hours in this game. They've found my weakness and scratching the itch of my wildest space adventurer fantasies. I deduct a single star for the occasional glitch requiring restore of a previous save and some game mechanics that are unintuitive enough that I have to search the Internet for a little assist. As I waited for the game to be years old and on sale, I don't have the same complaints with Hello Games as earlier adopters. To me, the game is magnificent.
As a huge Batman fan, I own all four Arkham games for both Playstation and Windows (so I bought them 8 times in total). And I actually go back to this one more times than the others. Half the reason is that it's one of the very few AAA titles set on Christmas and it's a good distraction during the season. The other half is that it's quick paced and more focused than the others. While you can explore as you like, the storyline seems the tightest of them all. It's a little rougher than the ones developed by Rocksteady but that makes sense as it's a prequel of sorts. The main voice actors do a passable job emulating the originals. City and Knight took a long time to complete and Asylum was perfect but the world was limited to just the one island. This one is somewhere in the middle with an excuse to keep Gotham free of civilians (on Christmas!) so that Batman can beat on almost everybody without prejudice. It's fun to experience a younger, more brutal (year two) Batman who is just raging on the criminals. And in this case, he's very much like Scott Pilgrim against seven evil exes. Each boss has a unique, but straightforward way to defeat them if you pay attention. A lot of players aren't a fan of this one, but I like it. The cutscenes are just as good as the other Arkham's especially the Batcave. If you've played the other three, you might as well play this one too. I didn't really experience anything game breaking although Batman seems to get stuck in the environment occasionally and you have to restart from checkpoint. Also, some missions will lock you in until you complete them and can be frustrating to retry over and over unless you're really good at being Batman.
this game is witcher 3 levels of fun. my pc is not the highest end (minimum requirements) so i run into the issues of occasional crashes and also 20 to 25 minutes waiting for the game to render shadows at the beginning of each play. and also sometimes 2 to 3 minutes waiting on load screens. but i tolerate it all because it's like a monster hunter but with a better plot. the mechanics of stealth, sniping, and melee are easy to pick up after some practice and then become very satisfying. killing bandits and machines is as enjoyable as taking out the orcs in shadow of mordor. i keep comparing this game to others i've played because it combines many of my favorite tropes. there's something for everybody: modding, loot, collectables, and video/audio/text pickups to help provide background story and atmosphere. this is one game i actually played start to finish and there was enough variety in every playthrough that i didn't get so bored that i switched to another game before coming back to this one weeks later. it was designed for the ps4 but i appreciate that it got ported more or less in a functional state to pc. the graphics are top notch on my wimpy pc so i expect that it's absolutely majestic on a high end one.
There are precious few games set in the rich universe of Battlestar Galactica so if you're a fan, there aren't many options. This one is worth a look in my opinion. The developers appear to have a license to the source material and they definitely use it in spades. Much of the background and lore of Galactica not explored in the program is presented (even some callbacks to the spinoff Caprica). Even the soundtrack is similar to what was used on the show. Of these type of games I've played, this one most resembles Starfleet Command or Nexus. There is a light strategic layer with a galaxy map (or rather the system map of the 12 colonies) but the other reviews already make it clear that most of the game is tactics. And it's been aptly described as 3D chess in space. As in every game of chess is pretty much the same, but different. It's also fairly linear as the campaign won't progress without beating each mission. Like Nexus, every mission is like a tactical puzzle to solve. I am less a serious wargamer than one who plays for atmosphere and immersion. So I don't mind what some call an easy level of difficulty because I just like to extend my enjoyment of the show. The interface is not the most polished but I don't think I've played any tactical game that was. Summary: Chess. In space. Versus Cylons.
This game really captures the feel of being a Han Solo or Malcolm Reynolds (in fact some people have used Star Wars or Firefly music for their custom soundtrack). If you follow the single-player campaign straight through, it won't take very long to get to the last mission. But the fun is in taking your time building up your favorite ship (I think Mark 6 is the highest you can go) and taking down pirates. I didn't play as a pirate myself but you could probably do that too and take down the "good guys". It's sort of like a dumbed down Elite or a slightly better version of Freelancer. I used the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack myself because you're basically a space cowboy sort of character. You're not flying a one-man fighter but a cruiser or corvette type ship with multiple weapons hardpoints. And the control scheme is intuitive once you learn it. It's probably one of the best implementations of space travel and combat that I've seen--though it's true that you're only able to move on a 2-dimensional plane. Surprisingly realistic alien linguistics add some spice to what gets to be repetitive bounty hunts. Still, I recommend it for anyone who feels like shooting down a fleet of starfighters in the middle of an asteroid field with a fully equippped dreadnought...
The cartoonish graphics are novel for the first few playthroughs but start to be more noise than art as the game gets familiar. There are some things which set it apart from Diablo such as the pet mechanic but ultimately it becomes a monotonous hunt for mini-bosses among hundreds of similar monsters in endless, uninspiring dungeons. And ifyou play a "summoner" type character, your minions will pretty much do all the dirty work while you stand there so the game can be played on "autopilot". There are some voice acted parts which serve the same function as cinematics in Blizzard's games but there are far more mature and atmospheric ARPG's with clearer goals and more meaningful loot than Torchlight. I would rather play Grim Dawn or Path of Exile to be honest.
The game definitely pays homage to X-COM and has the same technical underpinnings. However, there is little else beyond that. The resolution is higher than the original game but lacks the original's style and presentation. There are sequences of music and acceptable sound effects, but the atmosphere of the game as a whole is very dry. There's not really even any sort of intro to get your juices flowing (unless you read the accompanying novella), you're just dropped right into the geoscape. Other than minor attempts at humor in the text (and there's a lot of text), it comes off as less game and more simulation. To be fair, it does bill itself as a simulation. Unfortunately, unless that's your thing, it's about as fun to play as an accounting game. I'm afraid this is one of those few GOG impulse buys that I am regretting. Supporting a kickstarter developer at a value price is one thing, but I probably should have just saved up for XCOM 2 at full price to get the kind of strategic alien combat entertainment with all the bells and whistles a modern-day gamer expects.
And no, not like Battlefront. Like the other reviewers, I would've have 4-starred this if the CD-ROM version was included. And if only the 1993 version was available, it's only 2 stars. That one did not age well. It gets 3 stars for the 1998 version which improved the play graphics slightly but just slapped the old low-res briefing animations into the higher-res backgrounds. And for the extra tours. LucasArts can do a good single-player campaign when they care to. I didn't really need to buy this since I have the original media but it was in a good bundle with X-Wing Alliance which is the pinnacle of the Star Wars space sims. Good for the nostalgia factor, but for the best space sim feel, Alliance skinned with the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Craft Pack is the way to go.
