The developers basically took Half Life and swapped an alien invasion with Japanese horror - and pulled it off in substantial style. Add to that the phenomenon of time-alteration that Max Payne introduced, and you have battles that still outclass any modern FPS. I always argued the best thing about the first Half Life game was the ultra smart marine opponents - the way they talked with one another, the way they REALLY tried to outsmart you. The FEAR devs took that to another level and delivered a fantastically entertaining foe. But the chaos that ensues each time you dispatch a military goon in FEAR is so devastating - you probably feel a bit shocked at the damage you caused to the guy. The mood of the game notches this sense of death/injury up in ways I hadn't experienced in games/entertainment. It's the combination of real world environments mixed with excellent Japanese-style horror that gives the whole ting an edge that feels very unique. What I do remember however, is that the game does become repetitive - certainly in terms of the locations. You will become a bit tired of navigating through warehouse after warehouse long before the end of the game. But this is definitely not something that spoils the overall experience. It's a terrible shame the sequels were rushed-out generic sci-fi junk with only a vague semblance to this brilliant game. But in a way, this should only hone our praise and appreciation more on the original FEAR as a spectacular one-off splat-fest.
If I didn't already own the boxed version from years ago, still in working order, I'd snap this up in a beat (and still might anyway). Curse of Monkey Island is probably the best game from the series - a claim which must seem sensational given the fact it follows the two games which basically pioneered the genre. But this game is stunning; the artwork is comparable to classic Disney cartoons. The sound and music was lifted to a standard we now take for granted in games, and it was the first in the series to recruit voice actor Dominic Armato, who is now pretty much the official voice of Guybrush Threepwood. Listening to the characters chatting away is still thoroughly entertaining, especially thanks to the typically brilliant humour. The franchise peaked with this game, because they simply haven't managed to acheive anything close to it since. Its sequel wasn't bad as a whole, but the controls were terrible, and everything felt comparably lacking in enthusiasm. The Telltale episodic-series that released not long ago didn't feel like they belonged to the Monkey Island world and really lacked in every department. So get this game if you want the very best Monkey Island experience.
I would assume the majority of people who bought Tales of Monkey Island were already fans of the franchise, and like myself were really looking forward to seeing a new adatation of the beloved almost faultless series. As it goes, this one heaped many faults into the series in one fell swoop. The episodic formula was pointless; the humour felt forced; the graphics are ugly and have already aged in a matter of a couple years; and the world which we see Guybrush inhabit is sorely lacking in interactive features. I do believe that Tales has scored well thanks to nostalgia and a faithful following of Telltale games as a developer. Persoanlly, I was left very disappointed and worry we may never see another Monkey Island game worthy of following the previous incarnations.
This game pushed so many gameplay boundaries, it's astonishing how quickly people forgot about it. It was especially jarring when everyone raved about the more modern Jedi Knight - a game that simply lifted everything from Dark Forces 2 and gave it a lick of paint. But what Raven didn't lift was the sense of a living breathing world - in DF2, you encounter civilians going about their normal business and you can have fun tormenting them with your force powers. Jedi Knight only populated its worlds with enemies and therefore it felt empty and lacking soul. The story also felt so much more engaging thanks to the live-acted cinematics. Yes the acting was atrocious - but it was still really enjoyable to watch and carried the characterisation very well - a whole lot better than emotionless game models. Others have already talked about the brilliant game and level design. The fact you can switch between FPS gun battles to 3rd person Light Sabre. Etcetera. But the sound effects and voice-over acting and narration is still to this day superb. If any game deserved a dedicated big-budget faithful remake, it is this one.
