Ghostrunner. Ah, a veritable gore-filled-cyberpunk-fueled medley of ideas that, in my opinion, lack a degree of execution I expected from the respective developer(s). To start, the world in which it takes place in is absolutely awesome. You really feel like an insignificant and trying to scale an insurmountable tower of abstract, yet fluid and cohesive architecture. I do very much appreciate the level layouts and utilizing tools and abilities to go from scene to scene, place to place. It reminds me very much of the BLAME! Manga. Very cool. Dystopian, gritty, and futuristic, yet retro-wave in a way, if that makes sense. You can feel the oppression in the game, and that is a quality I admire very much. Your character itself has super-human abilities, of course. Much more agile and capable than the vast majority of foes you face, as well as the dangers inherent in the level design as well. I enjoyed the relative freedom in which I could run and scale walls an leap over and through large spaces as well as the claustrophobic machinations designed to hinder your progress and kill you. You MUST be able to think very quickly on your feet to survive. When you do, it feels great; when you don't, it can get a bit frustrating and feel tedious. This COULD be due to me not being as capable as other gamers, however I feel most people would struggle quite a bit with figuring out where to go and how to get there at times. The combat is intense. Satisfyingly so. It is also frustrating and tedious at times as well. Generally, I found combat to be a trial and error kind of affair. I didn't see a whole lot of diverse or dynamic options when confronting opponents, but again, maybe this is just my own limitations as a gamer. I did(and do) keep trying until I succeed to the next checkpoint, but I do(and did) get tired of dying for the 20th time. Your mileage will probably vary with this game and depend on your reflexes and pattern recognition. It's pretty fun, nonetheless.
There are other reviews here that I think capture the essence of this game and it's merits far better than mine, but I'm throwing this in anyway because the game is so good. When Blood first came out, I wasn't a hardcore PC gamer yet, and found it's difficulty level to be too large a hurdle for my skill level. Now things are different, and I'm a lot better at old PC shooters. Blood is so damn good, the atmosphere is oppressive, humorous, and full of awesome little details. Personally, I think Blood has the best level layouts of any Doom/Duke shooter out there, and making your way through the levels are paced very well, and there will always be many encounters that leave barrels and buckets of blood, limb, and corpses. If you're into games with a crazy body-count, Blood will not disappoint. Blood is sick. Blood is offensive. Blood is difficult. And Blood knows exactly what it is and makes no effort to pretend to be anything it's not. I have to respect that. Blood is awesome.
I missed this game completely when it came out, condemning it as a tomb-raider-like. Upon playing it decades later, I have to admit my shame and man up to my mistake - this game is seriously fun and has kept my attention far more than a lot of other games of similar ilk. The fact that you are Indiana Jones helps, but I feel that the game itself stands on it's own two feet, regardless of Indy being the central character. The level design is great, and even though the game is old, the textures and various character models are realistic enough and kept in tune with the feel of the levels themselves. I have never been a fan of Tomb Raider or the like...until now. This game has been the sole catalyst in my giving platformer/exploration titles such as this a fair shot - and I'm glad I have. As a 34 year old married man with two small children, finding time for games is hard enough; for them to keep my attention is even harder. Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine has been an incredibly engaging experience, and I would give it 5 stars, the exception of one star being the clunky control layout (and I play with a PS2-like USB gamepad). Once you get used to it, it's not difficult to control, but you really have to get used to it first. The levels are long, fun to explore and find treasure, and heavily varied from level to level. I never felt like I "didn't know where to go", it was just a matter of getting there, and that was fun, too. My only complaint about level design was using the inflatable raft and trying not to hit the rocks while careening down the river. Nonetheless - this Indiana Jones adventure is fun, varied, satisfying, and engaging in every way. Heavily recommended!
