Before the release of the remaster I wanted to take a look at the original and it's quite good, especially the story and the atmosphere (a proper remake would have enhanced greatly the darkness of the Deadside). Gameplay wise, I found the platforming passages easier than the old Tomb Raider but combat wise the game has some flaws like the lock-on which can lose your target if it moves too fast or aiming at an enemy you don't intend to shot (for example, it's a farther enemy you can deal with later). But the main problem of Shadow Man is that, a bit like Zelda, you do a LOT of backtrack to open doors requiring a certain level or a certain power and for that you need to gather Dark Souls but the thing is YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MAP. So if the beginning is quite straightforward because almost everything is locked, around the middle of the game you begin to lose track of where you need to go (to avoid missing some Dark Souls, be sure to check everywhere). The bosses are an interesting bunch of deranged folks even though some of them have an annoying gimmick making the combat tedious (one is jumping all the time and you can't really anticipate his attacks, whereas the last boss is a bit a chore due to the targeting system and his relentless attacks). Otherwise it's pretty interesting game, maybe too vast which impact the pace (more than 20 hours according to my save but maybe more because I got lost many times) and with good controls even 21 years after. If the flaws mention above don't bother you, I really recommend this trip to the Deadside.
If I'm a big of its sequels, I must admit that, until now, I never played Dark Forces (not even on PS1) and despite some flaws, it's still enjoyable. Yes the game has aged technically speaking but it terms of gameplay/ gunplay, the mechanics are simple : shoot first, ask questions later. Because when it comes to shooting, my advice is to avoid playing when you are not fully awake : enemies are numerous, coming from all sides, shooting you on sight, so be quick and aware of your surroundings ! Of course, the main problem is that, even if the screenplay has a good storyline with various objectives, the way to accomplish them is the same : blast your way through. The level design is interesting with a lot of levels outside even though you can be lost sometimes, mostly because you have to pay attention to details in the architecture in the levels (for example, I roamed around in the last level until I saw a small ledge that leads to a platform...). And if it's overall a straightforward game, the normal difficulty has some spikes that makes it quite tedious, like the mission 11 where you have to fight Jabba's pet (a dragon) with bare fist before picking up your gear that was stolen, or the mission in the Imperial City, flooded with enemies, which makes sense but can become annoying in terms of pace, action is good but solace to check your equipment too... So if you're not afraid of highly pixelated graphics and want almost non stop action with a good story in the Star Wars universe, this game is for you (and after that go the sequels !).
To be honest I never heard of this game back in the days, so when it came back with this "enhanced" edition, why not ? Since I'm a fan of the doom-ilke from the 90's... First, the game, despite its "classic" storyline of an order vs freedom fighters is more storydriven than Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem... Indeed it's a kind of semi open world with a central hub and you get assignements BUT exploration can be rewarding with secondary quests that gives some interesting bonuses (money, amuunitions, weapons or stamina/ accuracy). Unfortunately the game falls a bit short at its core : the fights and the level design The former are tedious and become a bit boring thanks to too much enemies which are, more over, bullet sponge (avoid starting on Veteran...). As for the level design...Well let's say you'll need a walkthrough otherwise you'll spend hours or days roaming in the same level. Whereas it's more "complex" than Doom or Quake, idsoftware made it to the point where you can NEVER get lost (and trust me it comes from a guy who has one of the worst sense of direction in the world - in videogame or in the real world-), here even the map is useless since it mixes the various stores, making levels like the sewers a nightmare. Too bad because the universe is interesting, there are 3 endings, a stealth approach is possible but its flaws make this more a curiosity than a "forgotten gem"...
Jupiter : The Nexus Incident belongs to this kind of game that deserve more recognition. Unlike Homeworld or Starcraft, you don't have to manage a base, collect ressources...Here you are "stuck" with you ship and your fleet, and it's up to you to equip them accordingly to the mission. Beware ! Lose one ship and it will be gone for the rest of the game... As you have guessed, Nexus is more focused on micro-management (you can pause the game, select manually which weapon you want to use...). If, at first glance, the interface seems daunting, don't worry, the 4-5 first missions act as a tutorial to make you learn the basics and, if it's not always intuitive, you get used to it quickly. But the main course of the game is his huge story, spread across 26 missions. Even though it could have been shortened (sometime the story becomes confusing, some story-arc are not really necessary...), you really feel the developers enjoyed creating a mythology, new creatures... A bit of warning (apparently it has been of flaw for some), the pace of the game is really special, since you are always in space, you'll need to get use to ships slowly stopping, moving...Personally it didn't bother me and sometimes added tension to some missions. So great screenplay, great gameplay, great graphics why not 5 stars ? If the mechanics are quite clear, the loadout screen is a bit cryptic, as well as the resources point you're allowed to spend. Same goes for the leveling, which is pretty useless (I won 2 levels in the whole game...). There is also a huge difficulty spike in the 25th mission (I won't spoil but be prepared to reload A LOT) and the last one has a tricky moment... Also, if Nexus has been patched for nowadays computers, avoid to tick the screen calibration to x1.4, otherwise it will hide the timer on some missions. Finally, for french users : beware the translation has a lot of typos and subtitles are sometimes missing. So nothing that could stop you trying this game.
I missed this game back in th days and was curious to sse how it is and well, it's not really pretty. I don't talk about the graphics but the first thing that surprised me was the IA...or the "non IA". Red Faction was released three years after Half-Life but the enemies routine is just running around like headless chickens, making the shootouts a ridiculous festival of missed shots (avoid the rocket launcher, its splash damage are non-existent) BUT if you insist, it will become more tolerable once you get your hand on a machine gun, still a chore but less. At the time, the Geo-Mod allowing you to destroy some walls is in turn a kind of gimmick, since it becomes pretty useless after the beginning. So what remains ? A pretty cool storyline and "seamless branching" storytelling (there is no hub or chapters, you go non stop from a place to another) with few interesting variations like some "mini" stealth missions (which end up with guns blazing unfortunately) and, the best part of the game, some sections in a submarine or shuttle, giving a Descent feeling for a few moments (Volition going back to their roots). Oh and enjoy the very last moment of the game with one of the most stupid ideas I've ever seen (my thoughts are dedicated to those who will play on Impossible...).
Even though the first F.E.A.R wasn't a revolution like Quake or Doom, its mix of horror (with a REALLY dark story) and FPS with the addition of the slo-mo gave the game a unique flavor. Not to mention the sound design when you slow down time giving the shootout a feeling of war fights. The adds-on weren't as great, shifting more toward action but nonetheless enjoyable. This sequel begins few moments before the ending of the first episode and continues after. The first thing you'll notice is that now shootouts are...sluggish. The feeling of the weapons has been tone down, their sound is not really impressive (not to mention their more generic design) and even when you acquire the slo-mo skill, you don't feel the brutality of the fights. Moreover, the IA is a step back compared to its predecessor, even on hard difficulty, on numerous occasions enemies were just lined up behind a door. Also, because the game was released on consoles, you cannot lean and you have the ultimate abomination : checkpoints (it's well known the PS3 and XBox 360 don't have a hard drive...oh wait). Yep, say goodbye to manual saves and hello to restart tedious sections. They also get rid of the health booster which increase your hp, so if you play on hard your armor is destroyed in 2 shots and you die in 2 hits. Talking about tedious sections : you'll also have a too long train trip, two boring moments on a mounted turret (I guess the mechas sections were too fun so they made it pretty short) and an ending which is a chore to play, thanks to checkpoints and dying in 2 shots. So in my opinion, stick to the first one which still holds up after more than 10 years and not this dull sequel...
I played this game when it was released and quite agreed with most of the critics, despite some frustrating sections (mostly the Siegfried Forest) and well...In fact this game is just plain frustration. First, if you didn't play the game for a while or just discover, don't do like me and avoid hard difficulty at all cost ! You won't get far... It's more bearable on normal, since you don't die in 3 shots and get more health packs, but what's make this game rage inducing is that, even if you are careful, you'll be killed by an enemy coming out of nowhere (you should check the resistance of your desk before doing the sniper village...) or because you have no clue of his location (except by charging and hoping to dodge enough bullets -though I don't think it works on hard-). Other frustrating moments includes escaping while facing infinite enemy waves (MINOR SPOILER : the best is the last mission where have to escape from acrumbling facility but still chased by enemy soldiers ! That's dedication...). Two stars are for the "stealth" missions and, of course, Michael Giacchino's score. Too bad, I was interested in doing some episodes of the series (mostly Pacific Assault and Airborne) but I think I should have stayed with the memories.
Raven Software was a studio experienced with the FPS genre, so seeing them taking the Quake series was quite an expectation, but unfortunately they are not id Software. Direct sequel of Quake 2, the game tries to give a more "realistic" feeling with heavy inspirations from AlienS or Starship Troopers and why not ? Now you have to reload, cover, do without bonuses like the Quad Damage, Invisibility, Invincibility... The main problem comes from the level design : uninspired (it's just long corridors), it makes the gunfights a chore to play since you have sometimes to deal with large (and/ or heavily armed) enemies in tight areas where you can barely move whereas in the originals enemies size is adjusted to the areas so you have space to dodge (and that makes the fights exciting). They also kept the usual flaw of the series : playing on high difficulty is not interesting, enemies are hp sponge that take ages to die and your amor is just paper towel. So unless you're curious or just craving for a shooter, wait for a price drop. Otherwise stick with the ancestors, which are still masterclasses in level design.
Finally after the little mess Clear Sky was, the developpers went back to the roots : no more turf wars, no more tedious end game... If the missions are a bit more linear, but the fact that you can side with the bandits (or not) give the game a nice replay value (I sided with the good guys because yes I'm can't help being a boy scout -_- ), interesting supporting characters with endings depending on your choices, various missions, good choice of weapons (even though I doubt you'll finish the game with your starting equipment -but it could be a nice idea for a challenge !-) and new areas. So basically it's a kind of lighter version of Shadow Of Chernobyl, shorter, less mystic, more "down to earth" and, therefore, lacks some really terrifying moments (you explore a lab but it's far from being as tense as the X-16 and X-18 in SoC) and interesting fights against the mutants (I don't remember Controllers being such a chore to fight -mostly because of a visual gimmick- and wasting so much ammo the the stupid patterns of the Snorks and Bloodsuckers). But despite these minor flaws, don't resist the Call and enjoy a last picnic in the Zone.
For starters, I'm just a casual fan of Star Wars (I never read book or comic-books and did not watch any of the new movies) and not a great fan of shoot'em up (though I really liked Colony Wars on PSOne back in the days), so why 4 stars ? Because this game is...fun. Taking place between episode 4 and 5, the story is pretty good at keeping you interested, offers various environments to explore and relatively easy to control...but it's not perfect for few reasons. First, if you use too much the acceleration, the camera will lose you and you won't know where to focus which can pretty annoying since a lot of missions requires you to go fast (since your allies are under enemy pressure). Second, the difficulty increases very fast ! If the first missions are quite cool and easy to handle, things get serious in act 2 especially on THAT mission 12 which you'll restart a lot... Other than that, if you are skilled enough (what I'm not sadly) you can grind for medals that will unlock not only new ships but also secret missions. So despite these small flaws, this game succeed by being both for the hardcore shoot them up fan (who will try to go for the gold) AND the casual who just wants to pilot some of the most famous ships of the saga. Good job Factor 5.
