There are many elements of this game that I really enjoyed, and an African setting isn't something you often see in video games, so that was interesting. However, I have to give this one a thumbs down overall, as I found the missions to be somewhat repetitive, and the constantly respawning outposts were extremely frustrating and made this game a real slog to get through.
Escape from Monkey Island moved the series away from the classic point-and-click mechanics of the previous games in the series and it wasn't a move for the better! In following the trend at the time, they made the game less enjoyable and more difficult to control. The trademark characters, writing and humour are all there, but the gameplay is clunky and therefore this is my least favourite game of the series. If you're a die-hard Monkey Island fan, and can live with the problems, then you'll probably still enjoy this title.
F.E.A.R. is a combination of FPS action and horror, and it's an extremely good game. Your enemies provide a real challenge and the environments are well-designed and suitably spooky. This turned out to be one of the best FPS games I've ever played (and I've played a lot!). F.E.A.R. Extraction Point kicks off where the original game ended. As the helicopter which the F.E.A.R. team is on attempts to leave the vicinity, it instead winds up crashing. The F.E.A.R. team is thus forced to seek out an alternate extraction point, all the way battling the now free Alma and her paranormal minions across a destroyed city. F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate: As the first F.E.A.R. team and Delta Force fight for control of the situation, a second F.E.A.R. team is sent in to shed some light on Armacham Technology Corporation's (ATC) dark past. As a member of a secondary F.E.A.R. team, you are brought in to discover more information regarding the secret project at the ATC facilities.
This is where my journey with the Elder Scrolls games began, and I was totally blown away by Oblivion at the time. The graphics were ground-breaking, and the land of Cyrodiil was wide-open to explore. With its contrasting environments from the Imperial City to the snowy town of Bruma, this game pulled me in and wouldn't let go! There is a main quest, but you are totally free to ignore it and do the many side quests, or even no quests at all and just go exploring. I completed the main quest. many side quests and nearly all of the Guild quests, many of which I found more interesting than the main quest. The Assassin's Guild quest line is probably the best of the bunch. Combat is a little clunky, there's a cookie-cutter approach to some of the dungeons, and clearing out the Oblivion gates gets tiresome, but this game is definitely one to play if you're into RPGs and haven't experienced it yet. There are a host of mods to fix bugs and improve graphics and game play for modern hardware. There's even a project called Skyblivion that will run the game in the Skyrim engine, which will be epic. I shall probably go back to Oblivion once again when that is completed.
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood is a first-person tactical shooter set in WWII. It sets itself apart from other WWII games by providing the player with a unique tactical perspective. You command your squad as they fight their way through the villages and towns of Normandy against the German occupiers. Each of the men in your squad has a unique personality, and you have to make some tough decisions under pressure that can sometimes have tragic consequences for your brothers in arms. This makes you very invested in both the story and the men under your command.
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is a first-person tactical shooter set in WWII. It sets itself apart from other WWII games by providing the player with a unique tactical perspective. You command your squad as they fight their way through the villages and towns of Normandy against the German occupiers. Each of the men in your squad has a unique personality, and you have to make some tough decisions under pressure that can sometimes have tragic consequences for your brothers in arms. This makes you very invested in both the story and the men under your command.
The move to 3D was a trend at the time, but this was not a good move for the Broken Sword series. If you loved the point and click mechanics of Broken Sword 1 and 2, then you will be disappointed here. The controls are still terrible, there is a lot of jank, and the story is worse than Broken Sword 3. Honestly, I would definitely skip this one unless you're a completionist.
The move to 3D was a trend at the time, but this was not a good move for the Broken Sword series. If you loved the point and click mechanics of Broken Sword 1 and 2, then you will be disappointed here. The controls are terrible and there is too much focus on box puzzles. The story is OK, but honestly, I would skip this one unless you're a completionist.
Hitman: Contracts is the third game in the Hitman series, so there are many improvements over the earlier titles in the series, including the graphics and gameplay. Contracts remakes many of the missions from the first game in the series, Codename 47, so if you didn't play that game (and i wouldn't recommend it), you can play those missions here in a greatly improved engine.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a big improvement over Hitman: Codename 47, so I wouldn't go back any earlier in the series than this if you want to see how things started. Expect frustration with some of the missions as they can be very unforgiving!
