I was excited for this game after their trailer based on the Duke Nukem Forever 2001 trailer, I thought maybe we were going to get something in a similar vein and wasn't expecting a Ion Fury sequel because I knew Voidpoint weren't on this project. What I got was neither of those things. It's a servicable attempt at a Half-Life 2 style narrative fps that uses what I'm guessing the devs thought might be the over arching plot for DNF but with their characters instead. Level design ranges from okay to pretty bad with some decent gunplay but very few fun to fight enemies. (There's a whole underground base filled with mutants that may be the worst mission I've ever played in an FPS) though the game does take you to a variety of locations to settings never get boring. It should also be known the game was supported for only 2 patches before release and the sole dev was let go soon after release so don't expect any kind of support from 3DRealms for this as there are still a few bugs that went unfixed. If you want a retro shooter you can do so much better but if you can grab it on sale and you're stuck for something to play I still enjoyed it overall.
The new Nightdive port of the original two games is as close as you can get to perfection for the casual player. Fast, with the classic feel to the visuals but running great in modern resolutions with all officially released expansions and a brand new campaign made exclusively for this release by Machine Games. Also included is Hulshult's soundtrack for both games which elevates the experience 100%. if you just want to load up DOOM and have a great time this is the best way to do it. Also, for people complaining about the "censorship" of the first aid kids, the red cross is copyrighted now and they enforced it so DOOM can no longer officially use it, like many games. It's not coming back so pipe down.
Whoever reviewed this less than five stars...We gotta have words.
There's no denying the combat in the original game was fantastic, from the environmental effects to the enemy AI but in other areas it severely lacked. The scares were ineffective once you realized Alma couldn't hurt you and the level design was often confusing and poorly signposted with little in environment variety. The sequel for some reason decided the combat should be less frenetic and the enemies should be a whole lot dumber BUT it also adds much needed variety in locations, NPC's and enemy types. Not only do you get the Replicants from the original, now we have an assortment of mutants to fight too, set against destroyed streets, hospitals, schools, science labs etc. The game also has chances to pilot a mech that just feels great and the scares now are just better with a better sense of dread. I feel that while the original is great for the combat and will always be remembered the fondest, however the sequel is the one that I enjoy playing the most.
....I realise the bar isn't set very high for the Alien game franchise but Alien Isolation shows what can be done with the licence when developers care. Fantastic visuals that still hold up well today with steam filled corridors, lights flashing etc all striking the feeling of the movie perfectly. Sound design is top notch, from the stomps in the distance of the Alien hunting prey, to the ambience sounds when you're alone. Top class. Gameplay is brutal, a one hit kill enemy that stalks you through out the game means this isn't for the faint of heart but there are enemy variations that mean it won't be Xeno all the time. One of my favourite games of all time.
This game means so much to me in terms of my experience with PC Gaming. When it released I'd not had a PC very long and was super hyped for it. I played through the Single Player then immediately delved into the modding, starting a Single Player expansion. During that time was I helped tremendously with support from devs while learning their scripting code and was a regular over at the Raven forums. While the MOD was never remotely finished (I released a 2 level preview for EFPhantoms, finishing around 4 and a half levels in total) my experience with the community made it a great experience. As for the game? Still fantastic even now, I like to think of the Elite Force series as the last truly great Trek games and while the sequel was a decent time, the original will always be something special to me.
After a rocky start to the PC versions release (I finished the game with a broken 30fps mess with more issues than Cyberpunk 2077) the dev team at Rocksteady took over the ports reigns and between their efforts and tech catching up in power to run it smoothly Arkham Knight has been my go to Batman game for some time with over 300 hours logged into the Steam version. Finally introducing the divisive Batmobile into the games open world, Rocksteady didn't just shoe horn it in and made it an integral part of Knights gameplay. With a tank style battle mode for crushing the opposition thrown at you to gadgets to help you solve puzzles Rocksteady really did think of how you use Batmans wheels in every situation. I see a lot of people not enamoured with the car gameplay but I say if you stick at it and master it then it becomes the best part of the game. As well as that are the usual stealth elements and gadgets as well as new abilities such as taking 5 enemies out at once after upgrading. The Riddler challenges return in mixed format from races to simple puzzles so there is plenty to work at after the credits roll. The story for the most part is pretty predictable but competently executed with some good character moments with the Gordons, however a lot of the later Arkham Knight stuff does fall pretty flat. Fortunately other characters make up for the short comings here. The visuals are still decent even 5 years on with an intricate batsuit for Bruce and some impressive skin simulation on the facial tech. There are even more character skins and Batmobile skins available in the season pass that deck Batman out like Keaton or Affleck with the appropriate car. Also, I recommend the season pass of not just for the final DLC in which they brought back Freeze and Croc among others. All in all this was a triumphant end to the series that deserves to be remembered as the peak of the Arkham series.
After a rocky start to the PC versions release (I finished the game with a broken 30fps mess with more issues than Cyberpunk 2077) the dev team at Rocksteady took over the ports reigns and between their efforts and tech catching up in power to run it smoothly Arkham Knight has been my go to Batman game for some time with over 300 hours logged into the Steam version. Finally introducing the divisive Batmobile into the games open world, Rocksteady didn't just shoe horn it in and made it an integral part of Knights gameplay. With a tank style battle mode for crushing the opposition thrown at you to gadgets to help you solve puzzles Rocksteady really did think of how you use Batmans wheels in every situation. I see a lot of people not enamoured with the car gameplay but I say if you stick at it and master it then it becomes the best part of the game. As well as that are the usual stealth elements and gadgets as well as new abilities such as taking 5 enemies out at once after upgrading. The Riddler challenges return in mixed format from races to simple puzzles so there is plenty to work at after the credits roll. The story for the most part is pretty predictable but competently executed with some good character moments with the Gordons, however a lot of the later Arkham Knight stuff does fall pretty flat. Fortunately other characters make up for the short comings here. The visuals are still decent even 5 years on with an intricate batsuit for Bruce and some impressive skin simulation on the facial tech. There are even more character skins and Batmobile skins available in the season pass that deck Batman out like Keaton or Affleck with the appropriate car. Also, I recommend the season pass of not just for the final DLC in which they brought back Freeze and Croc among others. All in all this was a triumphant end to the series that deserves to be remembered as the peak of the Arkham series.
Ignore the backlash politics that people are creating around this game despite always claiming they don't want politics in their games. If you are a fan of 90's FPS's then this throwback is what you've been waiting for. Brilliant level design and combat with each level brimming with secrets. Contender for GOTY.
