An atrocious mod made by people who apparently think they can improve on a classic game by making the levels bigger and more complicated for no reason, and also covering the world with unnecessary scenery props, such that you can barely walk a yard without bumping into a garbage bag or burning trash can. Also, everything is very dark for some reason. Apart from that, this mod is basically a mishmash of other, better mods, which improve texture resolution, model quality, AI, etc, all rolled together with no real concern for how they interact. It's shameful that GOG has allowed this, of all mods, to have its own official store page when there are so many brilliant mods that maybe get a mention in a storefront post that's quickly buried, if that. (Probably because THIS mod is officially endorsed by Square Enix, who now own Deus Ex, and apparently don't care much about how Deus Ex itself is treated as long as they can milk a few more sales out of this game that came out over 15 years ago.) Avoid, avoid, avoid.
Dear Esther is a video game about a guy wandering around some islands off Scotland. That is pretty much the game. You slowly walk along an essentially linear path from beginning to end. I don't think this is either a good thing or a bad thing, though it bothers many people; I think it's a legitimate way to present a game. The island is very pretty, and very evocative. The music is also evocative and suitable, though less memorable. So far I've been reasonably positive, and you might wonder why I give this game 2 stars. Well, the answer is the writing. As you wander around this island, at irregular intervals the protagonist (presumably) spouts bits of a monologue in the form of a letter to "Esther". The monologue bits are randomized, so you won't hear exactly the same "letter" on any two playthroughs, but: all of it is extremely bad. Then the game ends with an astonishingly trite "symbolic" image. It is like something written by a middle schooler trying to be "arty". As an example, here's a passage from early in the game (no spoilers): "At night you can see the lights sometimes from a passing tanker or trawler. From up on the cliffs they are mundane, but down here they fugue into ambiguity. For instance, I cannot readily tell if they belong above or below the waves. The distinction now seems mundane; why not everything and all at once! There’s nothing better to do here than indulge in contradictions, whilst waiting for the fabric of life to unravel. " There are SO MANY THINGS wrong with this. The image of passing ships is a good one, but "fugue" is not a verb. Presumably the writer meant "fuse", or maybe "are confused in a way reminiscent of the melody lines in a fugue", but he says neither. The word "mundane" is used twice in close proximity. The last sentence is a broken metaphor: where does "fabric of life" come in? We're not talking about sewing, we're talking about watching boats. I could go on but the review length limit is short and I'm out of space.
