You can indeed create a female character with a dick... (how incredibly modern you might think) only to discover that CDPR have removed (post launch) any ability to see your character naked again outside of the tiny Inventory image. A minor issue for many admittedly, but the question has to be asked... Why? Because CDPR don't give a damn about you, the player, and are instead much happier to cave in to 'outside' pressure (i.e China) and treat you, dear gamer, like a total child/idiot. They even closed the Forum to replies on the issue after presumably receiving an absolute ton of (yet more) backlash from seriously fed up players. Promising a unique and socially aware experience, CDPR have now decided to treat their player base like utter crap, lie continually about what they're doing and expect people to pay them for the privilege of buying an average game which is being destroyed or censored with every patch... the same patches that are going to be rolled out continually to finally render this thing playable by most gamers. Except, by then, it'll look almost nothing like the game we were promised! If you enjoy compelling and mature games reflecting the social issues with which we struggle in our everyday lives, crave being treated like an intelligent adult and want to buy a properly developed, original and entertaining game DON'T BUY THIS. At least PC gamers can hope that Modders will eventually be able to deliver a great game... it's doubtful CDPR will!
Simply one of the greatest video games of all time and easily one of the best shooters ever. Dark, mature writing, enthralling to experience and dangerously addictive gameplay. Bioshock is an all time classic now available DRM free. If you remotely enjoy FPS games, do not hesitate to grab this masterpiece.
A blatant attempt at copying the Diablo formula, Shadows is a nice enough looking game. Sadly, for those of us wanting a true Diablo fix Shadows is far too slow and ultimately dull. Instead of a single character to really get your teeth into, Shadows USP is the use of "puppets", individual characters, which break down into the usual 3 archetypes, mage, fighter and ranger, which the player can select 3 of at a time (making a "party" of 4 including a demon who is persistant) and swap out at pre-defined points scattered through the levels (usually one per level) The advertised 19 puppets is misleading because you actually unlock characters who are simply variations on those 3 basic archetypes ie 4 or 5 mages, fighters and ranged users. Some players may find enough here to experiment and discover their favourite line-up and enjoy some uniqueness in play, but due to the inability to properly swap at will between all unlocked puppets and uninspiring nature of the game Shadows never really warrants or allows enough time to discover each one's unique characteristics. Basically, it's a blatant attempt at forcing repeated plays which the grinding nature of the gameplay and generally lacklustre design will almost certainly not really be worthy of. After a few of days of playing i was left feeling that the overly slow pace of levelling was a grind and that the puppets, powers and abilities were not particularly interesting to unlock. Every puppet gets identical abilities too. Some boost damage against different enemy types, one boosts each of your primary stats, another your "survivability" so pretty uninteresting stuff and meaning there are barely a couple of specifically unique abilities for each puppet unlocked as you level. This seems frankly lazy (although, to be fair, it's a pretty small dev team), lacking in imagination and ultimately a side effect of the decision not to use less, but better developed characters. Come on devs! It's not exactly asking a lot to get three entirely different and unique skill trees for each archetype surely? Who wants a mage, fighter AND ranged class getting almost exactly the same 'bonuses' as they level up, let alone several almost identical seeming mages, fighters or rangers to supposedly choose from? Due to the lack of time available with all your puppets, it's hard to develop any empathy with them or to really appreciate their few unique abilities, meaning i often felt like sticking with one favourite and never bothering with the others... but, i am a lazy bugger! This also makes equipping a pain in the @rse, becoming a chore to wade through all your puppets in order to give them the best gear at any time. Loot (the primary motivator in a good ARPG) is fairly generic and uninteresting never seeming to seriously boost the characters stats or provide unique or interesting bonuses, so all in all Shadows really does lack any killer "hook" to drive players on and make them want more! It was a nice attempt to try and set Shadows apart, but i can't help thinking having inspiring loot drops and a more varied range of unique abilities over far less characters would have been much better. Enemies too, often feel like repeating variations of themselves, seeming to be the same types of enemy just dressed up differently for that area. Perhaps that's me being overly critical... Puzzles are another source of frustration. Some will enjoy the challenge presented, others find them simply annoying. As for the story, threadbare at best. That said, it does feature the legend that is Tom Baker, who does his usual stellar job with the generic pulp he was given. Give that man a knighthood!! Happily, Blizzard are promising big Diablo news later this year (2018) so we fans might soon find better ways to while away months of gaming. (Full controller support for PC please Blizzard, it is 2018 after all!) Shadows is by no means a bad game, but for me it just feels somehow too "clunky", grindy and unoriginal in design to really scratch my Diablo itch. For those of you who couldn't care less about Diablo, you may feel much warmer towards Shadows, but for those hoping for a real kick @ss ARPG with strong, unique characters you really want to play, tweak and develop to your heart's content, and a title with a good variety of really interesting design and gameplay i strongly advise having a very good look at some gameplay vidz before splurging.
An enthrallingly beautiful game, Rime boasts some truly gorgeous graphics and a haunting soundtrack. The short but poignant tale will appeal to any fans of games such as Brothers or the unsurpassed masterpiece that is Journey (a game which Rime clearly seeks to emulate). Sadly, some annoying design flaws and baffling decisions by the devs let this game down. Occasional unresponsiveness in control and poor camera angles leading to missed jumps and falls are easy to overlook. Tragically however, Rime's biggest drawback is the developers odd decision to take an utterly simple puzzle concept (basically throwing switches) and force the player to have to do this in a certain time or have the puzzle reset. For me, this added a completely unnecessary level of frustration to a sublime and relaxing game which otherwise begs to be explored calmy and at your own pace. I am baffled as to why they thought making the player endure frantic, panicked attempts at hittng the often unresponsive buttons in time would enhance the gamplay in an otherwise gentle and sublime little game begging to be explored. More patient players than me will undoubtedly enjoy this wonderful game and find much in the gorgeous gameworld to be discovered. Sadly, for others, it's an unnecessarily frustrating experience soon forgotten in the noise of a thousand other games waiting to be played.
Seriously one of the finest FPS games you'll ever play... unless you've passed it by because it's an Oddworld title! If so, STOP!! This really is amongst the finest shooters around and ANY FPS fan should really play this game. At the bargain price you can get this for, it ranks among the finest games you can find. Beautiful, clever, thoroughly engaging and ASSKICKINGLY hard!! This will test the mettle of even the most serious FPS players. The clever use of ammo types, brutal bosses and clever design make for a challenging, fun and utterly rewarding game. The world is gorgeous and brilliantly designed. The enemies are consistantly smarter than Halo and smarter than CoD by a mile! Don't be put off thinking it's "cartoony" because you'll be missing out on one of the greatest, most challenging single player shooters you'll ever play. Do yourself a favour and at least check out some vidz before passing this absolute gem by.
Probably one of the best RPG's you'll ever play. This is the pinnacle of Bethesda's creativity, arguably bettering Skyrim in certain aspects. It weaves a fabulously fraught tale and has more hours of questing than some entire gaming series! The most incredible thing about Oblivion though, is the world simply never feels old or lacks for places to explore. Returning to caves and dungeons you've explored days, weeks or months earlier finds them fully repopulated meaning the world feels persistent in a truly immersive way. Prepare to be wonderfully, happily lost in one of gaming's greatest worlds!
Probably one of the best RPG's you'll ever play. This is the pinnacle of Bethesda's creativity, arguably bettering Skyrim in certain aspects. It weaves a fabulously fraught tale and has more hours of questing than some entire gaming series! The most incredible thing about Oblivion though, is the world simply never feels old or lacks for places to explore. Returning to caves and dungeons you've explored days, weeks or months earlier finds them fully repopulated meaning the world feels persistent in a truly immersive way. Prepare to be wonderfully, happily lost in one of gaming's greatest worlds!
