Baldurs Gate 3 is a remarkable game, it has believable, well written and multi-facetted characters, great writing and story porgression and many, many choices along the way that will shape your adventure. Combat is tactical turn-based and plays more or less identical to the tabletop equivalent that it is based on. Is it perfect? No, in some ways it will never be able to capture the brilliance of the tabletop version, but that is an inherent limitation of this being a video game, and Larian did a splendid job to adapt it as much as possible. Another thing that really drives me crazy is that there is no way to move the camera up or down a level. Getting to higher ground can be extremely (and unnecessarily) painful.
Overall Ghostrunner II is an excellent sequel that takes the gameplay from the first game and improves it at basically every turn with new enemies and gameplay mechanics, while keeping the foundation of an adrenaline-fueled, fast-paced killing spree. However there are in my eyes two main aspects that really dampened my enjoyment of the game: 1) Performance. In some parts of the game performance was really bad for me (I have an AMD based system using an Ryzen 5800X and a Radeon RX6900XT @ 1440p). What would happen in some of the levels is that perfomance would drop to below 30 fps and start stuttering like crazy. In a fast paced game like ghostrunner this is obviously extremely bad, since it will hinder your ability to react and ultimately kill you. To be fair, there have been 2 patches since my experience, but I am not sure if I will go back and play those levels again. 2) Pacing. A new introduction to the game is a hub-like area that the player returns to in-between missions to talk to allies, upgrade skills and access features like the rogue-like simulation mode. I really do not like this addition at all. It serves no real purpose and all it does is bring the flow of movement to a grinding halt just so that I have to listen to some dialogue that is - in all honesty - really not that interesting. Having the interactions play out via comm like in the first game would have made for a far better choice in my eyes. Two other minor gripes are the villains, which are mostly forgettable and some of the writing. Overall, still a great game and absolutely worth checking out if you enjoyed the first one!
BioShock 2 is a great, yet flawed game. Even in the base version, I remember having to deal with technical issues all the time. Unfortunately the "remaster" did not make things better. If anything, it is more unstable than before. Other than that I like BioShock 2 a lot. It brings some really neat changes to the gameplay, like being able to effectively have plasmids ready to go at any time and not having to switch to them first. Since you get both games at the same time, I recommend trying which version runs more stable on your PC and sticking with it. The differences are very small between Remaster and original.
Batman Arkham City is one of the best video games I have ever played. It perfectly picks off where the previous game left off and improves it across the board: The great things are made even better and the not so great aspects are brought up to speed to be excellent. The soundtrack is fantastic and fits perfectly, the story and voice acting are top notch, the graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is an improvement in every way compared to the first game, bigger, better more varied and there is an unparalleled feeling of truly being Batman. The only real downside I can think of is that the game has some very nice graphical particle effects that are based on Nvidia PhysX technolgy. In case you have an AMD graphics card you NEED to disable them to get playable framerates - which is a shame because the additional effects are very, very nice indeed. I highly recommend this game! It truly is a masterpiece.
A very relaxing game that does not put any time pressure on you. In my eyes its best enjoyed in short bursts every now and then.
First of all, I am very happy that the game is finally available uncut in Germany. Gunplay and the shooting is fantastic. I dont think you can get much better than this. Only downside is the dual wielding. Maybe its better with a controller, but with a keyboard, managing a gun in each hand is very cumbersome and awkward. Having played the game in the past, I had some serious technical issues. Luckily they seem to be absent from the GOG version. Basically loading any save game would crash my game every single time, even when starting a new game. In terms of the story and characters - it is a mixed bag in my eyes. Some cutscenes are well shot and voice acted with great setup and execution. And others are just terrible at best. Also the overall tone is a lot more "over the top". The New Order is a pretty serious game - but here it can be quite the opposite sometimes. Not everyone will like that. And finally, I am very happy that I can finally play the game with english voice acting. Before only the german version was available in germany and I never liked the german voice actors very much. There are also three DLC packs ... but the less said about those the better. They are very short and forgettable and I urge you not to pay extra for the season pass.
Overall A Plague Tale Requiem was a fanatstic game that I will remember fondly, for a number of reasons. It is certainly not a feel-good game, but an emotional journey. But there are also some odd things here and there, especially concerning some of the characters that you meet. Graphically this game is stunning. it might be the best looking video game I have experienced so far. Beautiful lighting, textures and environments make the world come to life like never before. Unfortunatley this also means you need strong hardware to play the game properly. Especially during scenes where many NPCs are on screen simoultaneously, ther framerate can go down drastically. Where the game struggles a bit in my eyes is in the story telling department and the writing. There are some weird choices made by Amicia and some NPCs they meet that are strange at best. I dont want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that. Gameplay is largely the same when compared to the first game, even though Amicia can and will act a lot more aggressive in this game. The bodycount is a lot higher this time around.
Personally this is my favourite game from the Metro series. The graphics are stunning, especially in the Enhanced Editions (which runs great on AMD cards as well btw ;) ). Gunplay is fantastic - for the most part. Sometimes shots that should have hit a target miss for no apparent reason. This is a feeling I had in the previous games as well and I feel it has to do with the engine. Weapons can now be modified on the go using different attachments. As an example: You can quickly take cover and switch the scope on your assault rifle from a 6x to a holo, effectively turning it from a sniper rifle to a medium range gun. I love this system, since it offers a lot of flexibility, despite only having three slots for guns. But the devs also made some extremely odd choices. The biggest one is probably that Artyom (the protagonist) is still silent. But at the same time there are many extended conversations (some of them can take up to 10 minutes) where Artyom just listens to another person talk without end. It is extremely awkward. What is even more wird is that there is actually a voice actor for Artyom during the loading screens where he talks about the journey so far. This is such and odd choice. The biggest change from the previous game is the inclusion of open world zones in which the player can explore more or less freely. But they work extremely well and are based on intuitive in-world design. What I mean by that is that there are no HUD markers that constantly point you in the direction you need to go. Instead there are usually landmarks like a tower, bridge or something similar that you have to get to. The path however has to be figured out by traversing the dangerous wasteland filled with radiation and hostile creatures. It is quite refreshing to not be constantly guided by a HUD icon and instead using your brain. At the same time, there are many locations off the beaten path that reward exploration with valuable ressources and upgrades.
Art of rally is a very fun game, that lets you drive the most iconic rally cars from historic to modern times. While the cars are not named after their real world coounterparts, it is pretty clear what they are based on. Graphically this game is really beautiful - just look at some of the screenshots. Combined with the music, this is a fantastic audio-visual packages. Locations are varied and each is unique and unmistakeable in their look. The only downside for me is the camera perspective, which is very hard to get used to and actually hinders my capabilities of driving competitive times. It is much more of a helicopter perspective, than a classic third person view from behind the car. Personally I wish there was the option of such a camera perspective. I would still recommend the game without hesitation.
