Yep, it's been 20 years and I can still sit around all day and play Q3DM17 with bots on repeat.
Criticizing things such as humor in a game like this is kind of a tricky thing because it can so easily come off as some sort of a personal insult towards developers or other players who actually liked it so let's just say that I wasn't vibing with certain ideas and that the way they were executed somewhat diminished an overall fun and introspective story. It's an equal parts somber, cute, funny, and creepy game with a charming fairy tale flavor to it, told from the perspective of an innocent and naive child. I can absolutely appreciate darker undertones where the main character is oblivious to what's happening around her, even though you as an audience member can clearly see what's really going on and it can be a bit heartbreaking at times. And those parts of this game are great because I feel like it's an interesting look at how differently we view the world as kids versus the more depressing reality that we only start paying attention to as adults. This is the kind of stuff that you seldom see in video games. But then the experience is sometimes punctuated by weird attempts at crude humor that just feel out of place and create this tonal whiplash that just kinda spoils the overall experience. And look, I'm not gonna sit here and act like an indignant parent and wag my finger at you for laughing at kids taking drugs or whatever. I just think that there's a place for jokes like that where I could laugh at them, but this game ain't it. As far as gameplay goes, well, there's not much to talk about but that's okay. It's a linear adventure where the gameplay is simple and accessible, which means that literally, anyone can pick it up without immediately panicking when they press the wrong button. And for the kind of story that's being told here it works perfectly fine, plus it doesn't overstay its welcome by ending in about 2-3 hours, tops. Overall, I'd recommend it but be prepared that there may be some off-putting things to be found here.
Well, to me at least. I own a copy of this game on Steam and I played all the way through it upon the release. I initially hesitated before picking it up because I found the first two Aquanox games super disappointing (my first-ever purchases on GoG, by the way!). But after finishing Deep Descent, I was definitely happy that I gave it a shot anyway. I found this game to have struck the perfect balance in the mission length and variety, as well as in-between-mission dialogue scenes, which provided the right amount of exposition and world-building without wasting too much time on badly written idle chatter. Deep Descent was also the first game in the series in my opinion, where the developer really managed to create an immersive sensation of piloting a combat sub. Unlike the previous two games, which just felt like space shooters with a tacky underwater theme that barely did anything gameplay-wise to capitalize on their unique setting. In Deep Descent, I actually felt like I was trapped deep beneath the surface of the ocean, with the crushing weight of the water pressing down on the hull of my ship like a colossal vice. The action also felt pretty satisfying and the aforementioned variety of objectives and solid pacing always kept me engaged in the gameplay. Clearly, this is not a high-budget game so don't expect any lavish production values, captivating storytelling, and motion-captured voice acting. But visually it looks pretty nice, it plays well and has a great atmosphere, and it's sure to keep you engaged from beginning to end. At that price point, I think it's a solid game to have in your collection and a definite upgrade over the previous games in the series.
This is one of those games that I have a very strong childhood nostalgia for, and the memories of playing it after school as a wee lad are very dear to me. The game features a great, stylized sci-fi aesthetic that I just adore in games from around that era no matter how much the graphics will continue to age over time. The techno music tracks by Jesper Kyd are still bangers and they greatly enhance the game's atmosphere. And the shooting action is still pretty exciting to this day, with lots of particles and green blood effects flying around as you rain down hails of gunfire at funny-looking aliens and robots. There's also a lot of puzzle-solving and platforming for a shooting game and... well, we'll talk about that in a moment. So anyway, the game also has a great sense of humor. It's apparent not only in the funny writing and dialogue but also the overall tone and little details such as enemy animations and sound effects just ooze with character and can be amusing enough all on their own. I remember laughing my ass off at those moments as a kid, and they can still elicit a chuckle today. It does a good job of incorporating humor into the gameplay and making what would normally be ordinary shooting galleries all the more memorable. Alright, I've been putting it off but I guess it's time to talk about the game's shortcomings. And those are mostly limited to levels where you play as Dr. Hawkins, where you have to do a lot of precise platforming which can be maddeningly frustrating. There's also a couple of moments late in the game where you have to do a bunch of platforming with a rocket pack as Max, and I remember wanting to just snap the game disc in half during those particular levels. Some of those platforming sections are the only parts of this game that haven't aged well in my opinion, as jumping controls can be really finicky, and the kind of precision that is sometimes required in order to pull them off always drove me crazy.
And by that, I mean that it bears all of the hallmarks shared by some of the later games made by this developer. It was a visual powerhouse at the time of its release, it had an intriguing premise and gameplay that was fun in the first few levels... but then about halfway through the campaign, it just fell off the cliff and turned into a complete mess. In Crysis, it was the annoying snow level, and in Far Cry it's the appearance of mutants that can either leap at you from 50 feet away and kill you in one swipe, or gun you down from the other side of the level. At this point, I've played this game enough to sort of adjust to its level of crappiness when it comes to dealing with mutants, and I was surprised at how easily I was able to breeze through it on my most recent playthrough. But I wouldn't count that as a sign that it's a good game - that was just me having a lot of practice with it so I'm not the least bit surprised whenever someone who never played this game before picks it up and eventually gets frustrated with it. Another thing that I noticed during this playthrough is just how dumb the human enemy AI is. Very often I will be picking dudes off like ducks and their comrades will just stand around trying to figure out what happened to their friend before I inevitably put a bullet in their skull too. The instances of them doing something incredibly dumb are numerous and the only challenge comes from their inhuman accuracy once they finally spot you and figure out that they should probably start shooting at you. In general, it's not a bad game and the open-ended nature of the levels is certainly one of its most unique selling points as far as the gameplay goes. But it's just a mediocre shooter that didn't age very well and it's obvious today that graphics were its strongest element at the time.
Judging by some of the other reviews I guess I was one of the lucky ones who didn't experience any technical issues with this game and, in fact, I was surprised that it just works out of the box without any major tinkering. Even my wireless Xbox One controller was detected right away and the default mapping matched that of the console versions so I could just jump right in after maxing out the graphics settings. Anyway, as for the game itself, I gotta be honest - never was a big fan of the classic Tomb Raider games from CORE Design so I generally passed on most of them back in the day. However, I am a fan of Crystal Dynamics and their work on the Legacy of Kain series, so I was delighted to find that they were the ones to take the mantle and continue the series back in the mid-2000s. Replaying this game right now, I'm surprised at how well it holds up. The controls are tight, the stylized graphics still look very pleasant, and it has cool music, fun levels, and set pieces... heck, even the story is somewhat engaging. The moment you start the game and right up until the end credits roll, I was just having a lot of fun with it. From nicely balanced challenges in the platforming and puzzles to kickass and over-the-top combat and vehicle chases, it's just a thrilling, globetrotting adventure that never lets you be bored for a minute, and it doesn't overstay its welcome either. I wish that the developers would go back to this style of Tomb Raider instead of continuing with the drab and gritty tone of the modern games in the series. It was fun, light-hearted, and filled with a sense of adventure, as a game about a badass and sexy treasure hunter should be.
Elite Force II overall feels like a huge improvement over the original in almost every aspect. However, the more you play it, the more it becomes apparent that there was just something special about the original Elite Force that the developers of the sequel failed to fully recapture. The visuals are great, there are a tonne of new weapons all of which feel great to shoot, the campaign is lengthy and there's a lot of variety to the missions and locations that you visit. The developers clearly had a lot of love and passion for the source material because the game just oozes with atmosphere and deep-cut references for hardcore Trekkies. Aside from the shooting, the game also expands on the puzzle-solving and platforming aspect by frequently having you use the Tricorder in order to hack a computer, rewire power conduits, find invisible traps, etc. All of this really helps to reinforce the idea that you're a Starfleet officer on a mission, and it's a great way to leverage the game's setting and premise. The story is also decently engaging, although it kinda suffers from a lack of cohesion and proper pacing, as the first game did. What also drags the campaign down is that you will spend the vast majority of it shooting rather generic-looking bug-like enemies, which is a trope that was so common in video games at the time that the decision to make them the main cannon fodder is pretty baffling. I can't think of too many reasons why you shouldn't play this game. It was one of the last hoorahs for the classic Quake 3 engine-powered PC shooters, right before the industry made the jump to next-gen with games like Half-Life 2, and abandoned the design philosophy that characterized so many shooters from the 90s and the early 2000s. In a way, this game feels like a swansong to that long-gone era and it's pretty damn good time to play it. However, I would still recommend the first game over this one, as it simply was more fun and provided a more focused experience.
I never played this when I was younger. I only have a vague recollection of my friend showing it to me once on his computer but that's about it. On the surface it seems like something that would be right up my alley, i.e. a futuristic racing game with that signature late 90s cyberpunk style, techno music, and arcade feel where you race at extremely high speeds, take ridiculously high jumps, and blast your opponents with an assortment of power-ups. All set against the backdrop of cool-looking sci-fi locations. And the fact that it's running pretty flawlessly with gamepad support on modern systems is also a huge plus. And yet, I can't help but to think that I'd rather just be playing Rollcage instead. Because that's essentially what Dethkarz is - Rollcage but without its unique car physics. Plus Dethkarz really suffers from two major problems: 1) it has very little variety to the tracks and game modes, and 2) it's too damn hard. I only reached the second tournament after beating the first one without breaking a sweat, and the game suddenly got brutal with its difficulty, and even dropping it to easy didn't do jack to help. I don't mind a hard game but the difficulty curve in this one is just too steep and it's really off-putting. Again, I guess it's a solid racing game with a lot of nostalgic charm to it that I understand a lot of people are appreciative of, but my childhood was spent playing Rollcage and I'm happy for it because it is just a better game overall.
I spent some time trying to get this to run using some forum guides (even though you'd expect that a GOG version would just run out of the box) but it looks like it's one of those games where trying to get it to run is a total crapshoot, and you'll have to perform some dark ritual in your basement and pray that it will boost your luck stat enough to magically make this game run on your specific system. Waste of money.
