One of the best and most creative platformers available even today, very fun and engaging for all ages, great world to explore and just simply fun throughout.
Good game for the time and a natural progression from Driver games which came before it. Unfortunately, as this game is a product of its time sadly i do not think they had the budget/time to maximise the potential of this game, and whilst the storyline and environments match the aesthetic of the time era they represent, as you explore the game environment you begin to realise that it is in fact quite an empty world to explore. The voice acting and sounds of this game are extremely good, and also the graphics for the time are very strong except for when viewing places such as storefronts close up. Beyond the storyline of the game, the world just doesn't have enough to keep you interested, easter eggs are limited, secret spots are limited, unlockable items are scarce or very obscure to achieve. Older driver gamers had very fun easter eggs and things to find placed around the game worlds which made exploring fun and worthwhile, however i didn't get the sense that this game world was all that big and lacked the variety of older games, especially when you consider driver 2 had 4 different cities to explore throughout the game. The vehicles and driving do handle well, but again a lack of variety spoils the fun and the vehicles which are supposedly sports models etc all control in the same way with similar levels of power. Overall it is a good attempt but a downgrade from previous games in the series and there are much better open world driving games available today.
TRU retains many aspects of the original trilogy series and refines them into a whole new modern package. The puzzle solving is intuitive but not difficult to a point of frustration, the environments are nicely detailed and not too big or confusing to get lost or feel as though you are backtracking through endless corridors to find obscure pieces of the puzzle as you do during the original TR series. The main character movement is accurate and precise, which is much better than the frustrating tank controls of the original where timing a jump is a matter of luck rather than skill. The gameplay itself is fun and engaging and each level is interesting to explore with a variety of different locations from large ferry vessels to ancient ruins, all of which flow with the storyline. I feel this was a mature upgrade from TR legend, whereas legend is probably more suited to less experienced gamers due to the action focused gameplay, Underworld balances that puzzle/action difficulty to be the best of both worlds for more experienced gamers. I would say this is the best of the older TR games, maybe even one of the best overall, the modern TR games whilst are very immersive lack that classic TR gameplay.
Game is a real time interactive action movie where players can interact to decide the pathway of the plot characters as the sequence of events unfold. Each pathway has multiple narratives however I believe that ultimately they do not effect the outcome of the game itself. The movie scenes and overall quality for the time of release are excellent given that this was a game made during the early 3D era with limited budgets. The cast of characters all did a very good job acting their respected roles, the narrator is also interesting for the most part and asks some very thought provoking questions which makes you really contemplate your own moral choices. This game is definitely not for everyone but it is an interesting interactive game which should be played at least to experience this style of gameplay. Also to note, this is a very adult game with very adult themes such as sex, mental health and trauma, the 18 rating is justified and will probably only appeal to more mature gamers.
Flatout is a good game with good gameplay and decent graphics for the time of release, however sadly the controls hugely let it down and have been very badly implemented for PC gameplay. The keyboard layout is obtuse, whilst also gamepad madding is limited for any type of xb360 style controller, which means you will end up having to use both keyboard and gamepad to play this game fully featured. Sadly, this is an issue which pops up in older games and in the case of this game definitely spoils the immersion and fun of the gameplay, very difficult to recommend when games such as Wreckfest exist today and are easy to jump into and play on modern devices.
The world and game design is immaculate with lots of little details and very realistic environments to explore during playthrough, I also enjoy the story of the game which is intriguing and based on real world folklore. The gameplay itself is basically on rails mostly and is a straight path up until about 1/4 of the way where sadly this game starts to lose momentum. The game contains survival elements and you will find yourself exploring the grounds of the mansion whilst trying to avoid being spotted by the enemies which are constantly wandering around the mansion. The enemies are placed in of course the most inconvenient and frustrating places to hinder your progress, and more often they are just an annoying distraction than actually scary or perceived as a real threat. The problem with this lies in the fact that the game at this stage becomes a giant easter egg hunt searching for missing items and pieces throughout the mansion which can then progress the story. The gameplay eventually comes down to this, and it ruins the flow of the game which would have been just better if it had remained on rails. The game is artificially stretched for longevity due to this and it just becomes repetitive and tedious to be repeating the same actions over and over with very little reward for your efforts. The graphics, voices and sounds are good for this game, however, this alone cannot save the gameplay.
Fun in bursts and the gameplay itself is very engaging lots of action, fans of John Wick will very much enjoy the storytelling and nonstop gunfighting. The game is best played in short bursts as it is relatively short and does get repetitive after a while with environments starting to look very similar upon the half way mark. The game is definitely worth it for the price point it is asking, a good effort from the devs, it could have been better with more variety but then this would probably command bigger budgets to realise this. Perhaps a HKM2 sequel will provide more variety within the game world, I would like to see different locations such as subways, outdoor parks, city streets etc, this would really push this game. The controls work as they should and the difficulty of game is perfectly balanced, although the 1 shot and game over kills can be really frustrating at times especially when the enemies can take multiple hits and still return fire. Overall recommended.
Sometimes a story is best left just as this, a story, which legacy is left as folk lore best captured in books and movies, not a video game. I really do not have too much to say about this game because in honesty there is not much gameplay involved to speak of as such, walk around, follow the coordinates, discover another piece of the story and move on, with the occasional psychological struggle which follows as you go deeper into the mountains during your pursuit to find answers whilst battling prevailing storms. The graphics are good, unfortunately, the game for me doesn't contain enough gameplay to warrant the investment of time to complete it, nor does it have a strong enough and compelling reason to follow the story until conclusion. I did really enjoy the Blair Witch game, which had similar gameplay direction, however, the lore of Blair Witch is what kept things interesting and there was an uneasy tension and atmosphere as you were traversing through the woods with your dog for support, the woods makes for a great traditional horror setting. The mountains unfortunately do not provide that same tension and instead the game relies on cheap scares and effects to capture psychological distress to unease the player, sadly, this is not original and does not favour well against games which already exist in the same category on the market. The game runtime is also short and is really not worth a second playthrough, which equals bad value and therefore not worth the purchase unless you are really interested in the folklore behind this story.
Nice artwork direction and enjoyed the storytelling approach however the game appears to be more of a story than actual game and the sections which do contain gameplay elements appear to be added as a means to simply progress the narrative and distract the player for a few minutes rather than being fundamentally entertaining and engaging to play. I do have to give credit to the art direction which is very good, the story itself is relatable to people who live in the South of England mainly the border regions of London or London itself however for everybody else the personalities of the characters and choice of literacy might be confusing and not easy to follow, the tones are very middle class in terms of conversation and narrative topics, which limits really who this game is really aimed towards as I cannot imagine many younger people being interested in the very real struggles of middle aged middle class adults. I also feel that this game does not offer enough to interest those who would normally choose a book or film. Luckily, the game was free during offer, however I cannot recommend this game to purchase.
Early Atlantis games captivated interest by the unique fantasy world and characters, unfortunately, the series does not appear to have evolved "Ironically" at all and instead lacks the quality, polish and gameplay of the earlier titles. I was also disappointed by the graphics and art style which for the most part look very underwhelming especially when you consider games such as "Syberia" were released in this era. The issue with this is that the world design itself is the main draw to playing these type of games, whilst the puzzles are just a means to progress in the game to discover and interact more with the world. This game sadly should be avoided if you are a fan of point of click, try earlier Atlantis games instead.
