I haven't played this game in the past, but played many other Lucas Arts games. Beating it now, I can say it's easily goes into my top 5 classic adventure games. The puzzles are usually logical and fun to solve. Graphics and audio are top notch for their time. Humor is on Monkey Island level. There were a couple puzzle that were non-sensical, but overall I solved them without any guide, and I'm not particularly good at these games. There's a lot of back and forth walking like in Maniac Mansion, which started to get a bit annoying around the second half. The remaster itself is pretty good, with a few quality of life features and bonus materials added. I still preferred using the old graphics, I think they still look better with more detail. It's a shame that you can't use the highlighting feature with the old graphics though. Because of this, I had to go between modes to use it, which was a bit jarring. I'd also liked they included a CRT filter, but you can't have everything. Because of these points, I'm removing one star. All in all, great game, still holds up and very playable, and relatively beginner friendly. Go for it!
Quake II is a classic shooter, and very playable to this day. The remaster not only adds quality of life features and audiovisual enhancements, it also improves the gameplay. Pluses: - Improved visual fidelity - Improved UI and playability - Improved sounds via use of reverb - Music worked for out of the box me unlike some others (on Win 10) - AI is improved with better pathfinding, really amps up the gameplay! I'm yet to play the new campaign by Machine Games, but it looks amazing from what I've seen! It's not Quake 1, which is my favorite in the series, and has more straightforward action with darker atmosphere, but Quake 2 is an amazing game in its own right focusing more on slightly more modern, narrative driven militaristic feel. Really recommend this game to both old Q2 players and newcomers alike.
I highly recommend this games to the fans of the point-and-click or noir genres. Design: Very refreshing design with the addition of character skills. These are unlocked based on your choices, increasing playability and giving your choices consequences. You can solve some puzzles in different ways based on your skills. I love the notebook, where you can hear comments about key characters or clues. It's in fact crucial on how it keeps you on track, making the game less of a random wandering around, and more of an intentional investigation. Puzzles feel meaningful, and they have a good balance of difficulty. Art: I was not impressed at first about the rather bland art style. However, once I got hooked to the story, it felt fitting to the rest of the game, and I started enjoying it. Sound: The sound effects and music are good, without being overwhelming. I like the understated tone of the soundscape. Voice overs well produced. Dialogs flow smoothly. Some side characters can sound a little lifeless. I wish the option for Scandinavic audio with English subs was included, because the Eng. VO feels a bit too "American". Story: The murder case is quite interesting and filled with lots of twists. The post-AI setting feels authentic. Surrounding philosophical concepts are thought provoking, but can feel a little tedious at times. Overall, the story sucks you in and does its job. Technical: Never encountered a bugs. Everything felt smooth. A negative is the lack of resolution and full-screen.windowed settings. Overall: Buy this game, it's worth it. It's the natural evolution of 2D point and click adventures I'd like to see more of. It's contributing to the genre in a parallel way to Detroit: Become Human, in terms of game mechanics and player choices. I'd love to see another game in this universe. Note to the devs: For the love of AI, please don't make another character who speaks as much and as futile as Valter again!
