This game is a mess. Even with the latest patch and community fixes this game still has plenty of bugs and glitches. The game balance is horrible with certain builds being exponentially more powerful than others. The combat is horribly clunky combining turn-based and real-time into a mess that takes the worst of both worlds. At this point you may be wondering how in the world I gave this 4 out of 5 stars? I mean, I just spent a paragraph trashing the game, and rightfully so. Well, despite these glaring problems the game is quite fun and engaging. Why? Because the writing is very good, the characters are interesting and fleshed out, and the setting and atmosphere are fantastic. The game takes place in a Victorian Era-esque fantasy world where magic has started to fade and technology is starting to take over. There is a conflict between magic and technology and those clinging to the old ways and those welcoming the new world. It's a really interesting setting that strays from familiar tropes and really pulls you in and immerses you in its charm and intrigue. This game is a case of story and setting over gameplay. If gameplay is what matters the most to you then this is likely not the game for you because the gameplay is, quite frankly, not very good. However, if you feel story and setting is king, then you will likely love this game.
For years fans of Leisure Suit Larry and Sierra alike have been praying for a new Larry game. This is not it, but it's the next best thing. This is a remake of the original Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of Lounge Lizards, the title that started the beloved series. But there's more than just a new coat of paint, gloriously bouncy double D paint. The humor has been updated, some of the puzzles reworked, there's new original content added, and the famous Sierra death sequences are more hilarious than ever and not punishing (no reloads, yay). Welcome back Larry, we missed you so much!
Pirates represents some of my most cherished gaming memories from my childhood. The original was light years ahead of its time fluidly combining aspects of several genres into one incredible package with almost endless replayability. Sail the seas, collect bounties, raid merchants, attack forts, search for buried treasure, woo the governor's daughter, the possibilities are endless.
This game is about as linear as it gets. The vast majority of the game is spent in corridors, and rarely even branching ones. The few times you do get into a semi-open area it's still just a mask for a completely linear path. The gamplay is mediocre, the story is forgettable, and the RPG elements are almost nonexistent. This is basically a run of the mill, uninspired action game. Never mind the price, this game isn't worth your time.
This is one of the many games of the early 90s Full Motion Video explosion. While many FMV games were fairly crappy using FMV as a cheap gimmick to add shininess to a dull game, The 7th Guest was a terrific game that just happened to use FMV. The game consists mainly of a bunch of puzzles to be solved, What's really great is the variety in puzzle types. What may seem easy to some will be quite challenging to others and vice versa, so there will always be some nice challenging puzzles for every person no matter how their brain is wired. The game has a nice creepy atmosphere a terrific soundtrack. It also features many FMV cut-scenes with some seriously cheese-tastic voice acting, Despite the cheesiness of the acting the story is really good and will keep you entertained throughout, even when you get stuck on a puzzle or two. All in all this is a very welcome addition to the GOG family,
In 2007 little known Polish developert CD Projekt RED burst onto the scene with The Witcher. While the game had many flaws it also did a lot of things right, and the things it did right, it did really really right. The Witcher was a breath of fresh air inthe increasingly stale fantasy RPG genre. In 2011 CD Projekt RED followed up with The Witcher 2. The sequel kept everything that was great about the first game and addressed virtually all the problems. Back again was Andrzej Sapkowski's terrific low fantasy world. His world and The Witcher games alike break many of the fantasy tropes that dominate the genre. While the vast majority of fantasy RPGs use some variation of the tried and true (and rather stale) formula of noble humans, elves, and dwarves banding together to fight some ancient evil awakened The Witcher 2 instead thrusts you into a dirty, corrupt world full of political intrigue, power struggles, debauchery, and discrimination. Elves and dwarves live in poverty in the downtrodden slums of human cities, and those that choose not to subject themselves to such a life are terrorists slaughtering human villagers in their "fight for freedom". Human nobles of the northern kingdoms squabble among themselves and plot assassinations to gain power while the southern Nilfgaard Empire bides its time to strike at them again. Sorceresses and mages plot behind the backs of the very rulers they are sworn to serve. It's a dark, grimy world and The Witcher 2 shields you from none of its ugliness. While many developers have claimed in the past that choices would really matter in their games, the changes these choices bring usually winds up being superficial (a cutscene here, a few lines of dialogue there). In the Witcher 2 choices really do matter, in fact there is an entire chapter (about a third of the game) that is completely different depending on some earlier choices. Different location, different NPCs, different quests. Talk about replay value! What's more, the choices are difficult and not black and white, but shades of grey, Also the choices may have unforseen consequences some of which do not occur until much later. The fighting system, which was one of the weakest aspects of the first game, has been completely overhauled. The combat is now fast and exciting and there are many ways to go about it depending on what skills you selected to build your character around. Visually this is one of the most amazing looking games ever made. The graphics (provided you have a rig powerful enough) are jaw dropping, the animations silky smooth, the effects amazing. What's more the level of detail is incredibly impressive, from the architecture, to the flora, to the clothing, jewelry, and insignia that characters are wearing. The music is great, the sound effects meaty and impressive, and the voice acting is top notch all the way around. What's more all the character, even lesser important ones have a personality and you grow attached to them or to hate them. In conclusion this is one of the most impressive games ever made, not just in the RPG genre. This is truly a remarkable achievement and one of the best RPGs ever made.
First off the disclaimer: I'm giving this 5 stars based on the game with the community patch installed. YOU ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE COMMUNITY PATCH TO PLAY THIS GAME! With that out of the way let's get down to business. Gothic 3 was a really, really ambitious game that was completely flayed by the media, and rightfully so, when it was first released. The game was practically unplayable upon its initial release. The game was in a state nowhere near anything resembling a game worthy of release. I couldn't even call it BETA, it was barely in an ALPHA state at that point. After well over a year's worth of official patches the game became more or less playable and complete, but many smaller bugs remained and the game still had serious balancing issues. This is where the community stepped in and saved the day. The community patches up to and including 1.73 addressed most of the remaining bugs as well as balancing issues finally making this into the game it should have been in the first place. The community then took it one step further with the 1.74 patch which upgraded the graphics. making the game more on par with Risen as far as looks go (Risen uses the same engine). While the game was initially an unmitigated disaster, the fully patched game is actually really great. This is by far the biggest game Piranha Bytes had ever developed or have since. The open world for you to roam is MASSIVE and includes 3 distinct countries, each with it's own distinct climate and architecture. Like previous Gothic games there are plenty of choices to make that affect the outcome of the game, leading to one of several different endings. The biggest choice you face is whether to side with the rebels or the Orc supporters, but there are also other faction choices to make too. I won't get into it any deeper because I don't want to spoil anything. Bottom line is that this is a game that is mostly remembered as garbage because of how broken it was at launch and that's unfortunate because in the end it turned out to be maybe the best game in the Gothic series, certainly the most ambitious.
There are platformers that do single things better than Psychonauts, but I can't think of another platformer out there that does so many different thing and does them all so well. First off, the game has a really good story full of fun, vibrant, wacky characters. There are open area where you can roam freely to get to different levels. There is also plenty to do in the open areas to occupy your time. Where the game really shines though is in the levels. What's great about the game is that each level has it's own backstory and it's completely logical, in a strange, twisted, trippy way. What's more, there is an incredible variety to the level designs. You never feel like you're playing the same levels over and over because each level is so different from the last, and not just on the surface like the layout, each level almost feels like playing a completely different game. Gameplay concepts, objectives, and even mechanics get switched up quite a bit and Double Fine gets it right every time, it's thoroughly impressive. The controls are tight, the gameplay is varied, the story and characters are great, the game is plenty long with lots of extras to collect for completionists, and most importantly it's all really fun.
I grew up on Sierra On-Line adventure games and I love them to this day. They were the definitive adventure games of their time. The Police Quest series was a lot more serious and didn't have the humor of some of Sierra's other series (Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, etc...) but there was a big focus on realism and following procedure. While the games are quite old and have not aged well graphically that doesn't stop them from being enjoyable. The attention to detail of these titles shines through regardless of how chunky the graphics look.
