Cyberpunk 2077 is in a far better state in 2025 than when it released in 2020 but it still isn't a great or innovative game. It plays like a cross between Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto V which sounds amazing but the developers never quite got what made those games so awesome or were simply unable to replicate their magic. The backdrop for the game is Night City which for the most part is a generic sci-fi setting which feels superficial and inorganic. Driving around it feels dull as the driving mechanics are slow and sluggish with no sense of power or excitement. The gunplay is also generic and feels repetitive and clumsy. Avoiding fights is rarely an option as stealth doesn't work particularly well in this game, making armed confrontations almost inevitable no matter how you try to play. The in game economy is unbalanced and you'll find that shops will give you a grand for a rusty old pipe you used as a club but only six hundred eurodollars for a fully functioning machine gun! It feels very unpolished and amateurish in places, especially its laughably easy default difficulty but usually impresses with its visuals. What really saves this game is the voice acting and writing. The stories you uncover whilst exploring Night City can be engaging and memorable which really pulls you in to the game. The mediocre gameplay is made far more compelling when you feel a human motivation to help the characters who you grow to genuinely care about. Too much of the dialogue contains long, unnecessary pauses which painfuly slows the pace and some of the accents are a bit hard to understand but overall it does a good job. I'd give this game a 7/10 'good' rating overall. It's managed to pull itself out of the gutter of its 2020 release state but it's still nothing groundbreaking.
At its release this overhyped juggernaut flopped flat on its face. It was an amateurish mess full of bugs, performance issues and underdeveloped game mechanics. It seemed to release in alpha state, which in game developer terms means 'far from finished'. Five years later the game still feels amateurish, like an indie rehash of Grand Theft Auto V and Fallout 3 but without the talent behind either title. Night City feels like a generic sci-fi setting lacking authenticity. It is superficial and lacking real character, offering no sense of place within its many districts. The gunplay and combat are generally mediocre and repetitive with the game being completely unbalanced. Playing in normal difficulty barely even feels like playing a game at all. It's so mindlessly easy that you're more or less just on a loop of 'press A to continue' dressed up as gameplay. The in-game economy is also wildly unbalanced with massive financial gains to be made from the most minor of skirmishes. Rusty iron pipes can bag you nearly a thousand dollars in stores whilst sub machine guns might barely scrape six hundred. It's Amateurish nonsense which makes the game feel like a kiddies sandbox. The story and characters just about manage to raise this game above the sum of its parts. There is authenticity in the writing which elevates the characters above the mediocrity of the gameplay. But the stilted, disjointed delivery of their lines often leaves you bored and wondering if the conversation is still in progress. Long pauses in conversation test your patience and thick accents test your comprehension. But despite it all you'll meet some interesting people you really care about. I'd give this game a 6/10 'above average' rating and can only recommend buying it on a deep discount. The 'Ultimate Edition' is basically what should have been the retail edition of what is essentially an indie knock off of far better titles.
Tomb Raider Underworld is a game which excels at exploration puzzels but lacks in almost every other department. Successful traversal of the environments is a genuine brain teaser and is always satisfying to conquer. Lara has been gifted with interesting new ways to move around the landscape and there is little hand holding so completeing the levels feels like a bonafide accomplishment. The puzzels presented by the tombs and ruins are also interesting and satisfying to solve without being unnecessarily obtuse. The combat however is underwhelming and underdeveloped. Firefights are clumsy and unfulfilling with the enemies displaying very simplistic levels of AI. The camera is also a problem and sometimes actively works against you, frustratingly sending you to your doom despite you doing everything right. The story works well on its own to an extent but makes little sense as a sequel to Tomb Raider Legend. The Lara of the previous game was charasmatic, confident and quippy. Where as now we see an angry, brooding hero scarred by tragedy. When paired with a rewriting of Natla's motivations as well as a debuffing of Amanda's powers from the last games this entry seems divorced from its own story. I'd give it a 7/10 'good' rating overall as it does entertain as an action adventure. But it could have been so much better as an end to the Legend era trilogy.
Slightly janky and dated, Tomb Raider Legend is still a game worth picking up for Tomb Raider fans. The story is an interesting exploration of Lara's past, even if it is a 'rebooted' past which bears no semblance to her actual origins. Lara's writing and voice acting are probably at their peak in this game however. Every line delivered with a charasmatic devil-may-care nonchalance which elevates her above the terrifying chaos all around her. The game has some genuinely interesting puzzles and locations, with Tomb Raider Legend visiting more countries than any other Tomb Raider game. The controls can feel a bit janky and unpolished at times and the camera uncooperative but they're functional for the most part. Just don't activate the 'next gen content' in the graphics menu as it causes horrific graphical glitches and game crashes.
Although Anniversary doesn't quite reach the heights of the original Tomb Raider it's a beautiful and engaging adventure throughout. Occaisionally glitchy controls hold the game back a bit and some of the corridor sections are a chore. But it's surprising how much of an enjoyable challenge the game is, it really doesn't hold your hand and it's all the better for it. The best way to experience Lara's first adventure is Tomb Raider Remastered by Aspyr but Anniversary is definitely a fresh take worth experiencing.
Game doesn't work. Running on windows 11 - controls are unresponsive and game runs in slow motion with bugs galore. UTTERLY UNPLAYABLE!
