For a video review go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGUcfhlPfmw The text review doesn't fit in GoG, go to the following link for the full review or look below for one pro and one con of the game.. http://steamcommunity.com/id/Resoula/recommended/233130/ The gameplay is right as rain for this game. All the controls feel smooth and it is perfect for anyone who likes action. With the exception of some occasional puzzles and the drudgery of trying to navigate the hallways of Shadow Warrior with its lack of directional markers to tell you where to go other than making the doorway you need to progress through glow, this game is constant fighting. The first half of the game is very well paced with short 20 to about 30 minute missions where you get to fight through all different sorts of unique areas and meet all the different enemy types. From these weird flying harpy demons, to giant minotaur looking mini bosses, and to rolling exploding green poisonous demonic balls of death. If you're looking for solid first person shooting mechanics and controls, you've found it. The games pacing is probably the biggest con the game has. While it starts out nicely spread and manageable with up to 30 minute missions...the later missions take 40 to about 50 minutes each which are extremely tiring when some of them don't even give you a cutscene to help advance the story, just some basic comedic dialogue with literally zero story progression. They start packing each level with larger and larger amounts of the same repetitive enemies jumping out at you after every couple of steps and it really just becomes cumbersome to carry on. What's worse is that they even start repeating the levels towards the end. You'll run through the same rooms and hallways more times than you can count with no sight of anything new.
For a video review, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwP9SVFAh5E The text review does not fit into GoG's limited review space so I will leave the conclusion below, and a link to the full text review for anyone that wants it. http://steamcommunity.com/id/Resoula/recommended/234650/ -------- Overall, Shadowrun Returns is a charming indie title so unique in every way I really don't think you should miss it. It gets an 8/10 from me. It was reaching for 9/10, but all the problems with bugs and certain flaws stomped it down a bit, making it just barely retain an 8/10. Is it worth the full price of $15? Only yes if you plan on downloading and playing a bunch of user-created storylines. The base game is too short to justify $15 however, being barely longer than the bare-bones campaigns findable in many AAA first person shooters these days. I definitely recommend buying this if you like strategy or experiencing new and unique settings, but buy it on sale unless you definitely plan on playing every single mod you can.
For a video review, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtCIZH86AyI The text review is too long to fit in GoG's review format (2.5x the max characters) so a shortened version is below. For the full text review go here: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Resoula/recommended/388880/ The story of this game is fantastic. The amount of choices and the amount of different responses is overwhelming. The game itself is so immersive and the characters so believable that this game constantly pulled at my emotions. The top notch voice acting really added to that. If I had a certain reaction, my character would still have a far more believable reaction than I did. The horror as you lose someone, the joy as you're reunited, and the anger as things don't go your way. Oxenfree is only four hours long if you take your time like I did, but in those four hours it managed to deliver the best story I have experienced so far in 2017. And that's not just because it's only February, it's also be cause it's just that damn good. Overall though, Oxenfree is the best game I've played all year. It has some very annoying and glaring issues but also some amazing strengths and I just loved it. As it stands, I have to give Oxenfree an 8/10. It's a great game and a very unique one. Unfortunately it's issues hold it back from being the 9/10 I want to give it. And in addition I just want to repeat, this is a FOUR HOUR game. They're charging $20 for it full price. Is $5 per hour of gameplay a good deal to you? In gaming in general, $5 per hour is usually unthinkable. $1 per hour is on average the highest you see and this is five times that. While I do NOT recommend you buying this game at such a high price for what you're getting, I DO recommend you buy it the moment it goes on a reasonable sale. This game is a gem, and I don't think it's one anybody should miss.
Against popular opinion, I will state mine. Wargame: European Escalation, is the BEST title in the Wargame series IF you are a fan of old-school RTS like I am. This game stays truer to its roots than any other game in the series. Missing only the base building. +Good graphics that hold up even today. +/-A campaign mode that allows you to mission-by-mission test new units and get the hang of the game mechanics. Unfortunately this campaign isn't very interesting. +Truly competitive up to 4v4 RTS battles. +Strategic environments where marching tanks into cities is suicide, marching infantry through fields is suicide, and approaching any forest can lead to instant death from what tricky enemy awaits within. Helicopters are a powerful tool indeed, but be careful or else anti-air will take your prized Apache. +The sounds of the weapons are something you can feel, they hold up quite nicely. +/- PvE is present as you can have matches versus bots that hold up in fun. However just as the campaign was lackluster, the AI is as well. It becomes very predictable and boring without the dynamic of a real player. -There's an annoying blue line on the screen that never goes away. I give this game a 9/10 and will personally deem it the best game in the entire Wargame Franchise. Whereas the newer games really changed how they view "RTS", this game keeps the classic tactical gameplay many of us are used to, minus the base building. My friends all wanted me to play Airland battle (The sequel) though this one kept me hooked. It's so much more of a classic, and I'd definitely recommend anyone play this. Make sure you bring friends though, as this multiplayer is abandoned and dead for the most part.
Shelter puts you in the position of a mother badger watching over her five badger cubs. Your goal is to roam the wilderness while finding food for your cubs and surviving the menacing hawk as well as surviving other natural obstacles such as forest fires and roaring waves. There isn't a single line of dialogue but rather a story you create for yourself with YOUR actions. Will your cubs stay fully fed? With they go hungry? Will the hawk capture any of them for lunch? Will they burn alive in the fires of the forest? Will they be swept downstream during a storm when you must find your way upriver for more food? By the time the hawk first rears it's ugly head you find yourself already growing attached to your cubs, at least I did. You make it your ultimate goal to keep them alive and nuture them as you watch them grow from cub to fully grown badger. Your ultimate goal is to make sure all five make it to adulthood. I unfortunately only could get 4 of them to the end of the game. I lost one to the natural obstacle known only as the river. This game really plays with your emotions. Fear as the hawk arrives, Joy as you catch that tricky fox, disappointment as the mouse crawls into a hole, escaping your grasp. The graphics are very unique in their art style and the soundtrack really helps you to get immersed. The game itself is very linear in its destination and the paths you take, but very open in the choices you get to make along the way. Occasionally I ran into a bug where my cubs would stand on food rather than eat it but it's nothing game-breaking. I give this a 9/10. This is a beautiful game and worth every penny, even more, even for such a short playtime. You can play it through once, play it through until you can finally save all 5 of your cubs, or simply replay it or it's extra "nuture" mode whenver you wish. Nuture mode is essentialy Tamagotchi mode ;). Definitely pick this up wen you get the chance. This is a must-play.
If you liked the original Anomaly (Which I loved), chances are you'll enjoy this. It bares no real differences besides the fact that this is a shitty mobile port where alt-tabbing will lead to certain doom. If you've never played the original Anomaly I'd suggest skipping this, but if you're adamant, let me tell you what you have in store for you. This is a "tower-offense" game, the inverse of the usual tower defense. It's a short game, but there is a splendid variety of units for you to bring into battle, and towers for the enemy to set up. You will take on several story-based missions that serve as kind of a sequel to the original Anomaly (So if you've never played that, you'll have no idea what's going on here). The game challenges you in different ways such as preventing you from calling in more units, stopping you from acquiring more powerups (Very important tools you can use to give your units the edge in battle.), giving you a time limit, and etc. The story isn't as in-depth (Nor is it necessary to experience before moving on to Anomaly 2), about every unit is recycled from the original, there are NO graphics options to speak of, nor any audio quality options. It's a very unique concept but also much better done in the original Anomaly game rather than this crappy mobile port. It's ok, but really not a must-play unless you're head over heels in love with this series. I'll give this a 6/10. It's ok, it's not bad, but doesn't really live up to the name the original Anomaly made for itself. This PC port was clearly just made as a grab for money as the port itself has no effort put into it, and because of that, I cannot recommend you picking this up on PC.
PROS: +From 2002 I never would have expected these kinds of graphics. +The soundtrack is amazing. +And the sound effects aren't too shabby either. +The level design and placement of enemies is genius. +The destruction in this game is fantastic. In buildings during sieges the roof can fall on your head, fatally damaging you. You can slash the beam of a wooden watch tower and bring it falling to the ground. Crates can be broken into flying pieces by explosives that are essentially flying wooden weapons. UNFORTUNATELY. -The story is really...bland. A 3 year old that watched lord of the rings could have thought this story up. -The enemies are very generic and repetitive. No real variety to be seen. -The voice acting is mediocre. -The AI is nonsensical is how it acts. Enemies are jumping and breakdancing all over the place while you're suppsoed to be in a serious fight. -The core element of ARPGs, the COMBAT. Is the worst combat I have ever seen in an RPG in my entire life. Ranged weapons work around a little dot you see in the center of your screen. Place it over an enemy and shoot, and you hit. Miss by an inch and you miss completely. The melee combat is even worse. You just spam left mouse click to swing a sword aimlessly, missing tiny enemies completely unless you can get down to their level most of the time. Your shield is useless because there's a delay between raising it and lowering it that you could have used to get attacks in, that your enemies WILL use to attack you. The swordplay is also very unresponsive as your character loves to do a four-move circus trick fiasco when all you did was hit the LMB twice. It really helps to get you killed later on on this game. Even if you get this for free like I did I would not recommend playing it. Maybe this kind of gameplay was good in an ARPG once, but at the same time, RUNESCAPE had better combat than this. So I could never condone a game that flops on its main element so badly. STAY AWAY.
This game is a true classic. There are many hours worth of content here, it kept me occupied for weeks. The combat is pretty good for the time this game came out. The story is actually pretty interesting and the main characters are memorable enough that youll at least remember the main 2 after a year of finishing the game. If you like RPGs, Id call this a game that you should definitely experience, especially if youre into old school RPGs. While the multiplayer is down, that wont affect your ability to enjoy the singleplayer by a bit if you, like me, enjoy singleplayer games. I give this a 7/10 by today's standards as it shows its age pretty fairly, but it is still amazing nonetheless. But back in the day this would have easily earned a 9/10 from me. Take that as you will.
