Truly one of the greatest games I've ever played. Good plot, good characters and a well-developed companion system as well as the ability to construct your own base. Plenty of main plot and a lot of side missions (important to build your character's strengths and most of them are fun). There's also a lot of fan-created missions and customisation which both irons out imperfections (removing the grenade arc being a good example) and adds a lot of playing time. Also the radio stations return with the usual (mainly) well-chosen - if short - playlist. I could go on but the bottom line is, I think I spent around 18 months playing this before I ran out of content from the main game, DLCs and fan content (plus jsut messing about in the Fallout world. The settlements have flaws (once you build them up most of the settlers are often strangely absent) but are nevertheless absorbing for a while. The last thing I'll say is that of the many enjoyable fan-created missions (all available on Nexus Mods which has a great downloader and manager) one of my favourites is 'Operation Valkyrie' - Valkyrie is a brilliant character with some great dialogue and she can become an additional companion Also '50 ways to die at Dr Nick's' is unmissable There's lots more besides - enjoy!
This is a very good FPS which has some good weapons (the shotgun definitely passes the test), high-octane action and just about enough story to keep you interested. There’s a main story plus side missions (which you can choose from a map at your base). For a game with checkpoints, which I don’t normally like, I found it extremely well put together – there were none of those moments when you gather supplies, open a door, walk along a few corridors, fight, die – and have to do it all over again. Combat movements are good and while I had to dial down the difficulty to beat one or two of the bosses (conveniently you can do it at any time) I was generally able to beat each set piece encounter in 2-3 tries, which feels about right. You have two key attributes, one is to slow down time and the other is to use a cloak – neither last very long but once you get the hang of them they’re very effective, combined with the ability to slide, in defeating many enemies in an enclosed area . Enemies are generally F.E.A.R.-like enemy troops, although there’s quite an amusing group of cultists (“brother, mine weapon has jammed!”) as well. At first it feels a bit underwhelming as you’re put straight into the action but as it goes along you start to get a bit more involved in the plot and it has a good ending. Definitely recommended.
This game is kind of a mashup of some of my favourite games - Doom, Hard Reset, Bioshock, Painkiller, Cyberpunk, Serious Sam, Red Eclipse (original non-Steam version), Sauerbraten and probably one or two others. It’s high-octane fun with a good range of weapons (although if anyone can get alt-fire on the plasma gun to work pls let me know). The story is simple enough but embellished by some well-put-together recordings which play back your character’s earlier life and also others’ conversations, which deepen the plot and add a feeling of genuine pathos towards your character. But the game is very much about fast-paced action, big battles, all in a cyberpunk-style environment, making a change from hell ‘n’ demons stuff. You’re trained (through the battles) as you go along to cope with an ever-greater number of enemies and scenarios. There’s a decent range of enemies, all of which as you’d expect need their own strategies. And if the chainsaw leg idea puts you off, don’t let it, it’s not that bloody and, crucially you can augment it to give you health when killing enemies, which is crucial to beat the game. In fact there’s one particular enemy which seems to be designed for you to gather health :D I played the game on ‘give me pain’ level. Most of the time it was fine, challenging but beatable. But on two or three occasions there’s just too much jumping and/or parkour required to be fun (cue ‘noclip’ cheat). And the boss fights, admittedly not my favourite part of games, are ludicrously difficult (cue god mode - I promise I tried but it just got silly…) Lastly, there’s a lot of this game - even when you think it might be over it isn’t - almost too much although it changes environments fairly regularly, including an epic space battle,
While I never played the original game, as I found it too old and clunky when I tried to some 20 years after it came out, I am, a huge fan of System Shock 2 and have played it several times. This game has some very good reviews, mostly it seems from people who’d played it before. For me the earlier levels lacked suspense and tension due to complex maps combined with the sense of what you’re supposed to be doing too vague. You’re given several objectives early on and it’s not clear how you’re supposed to address them, especially as you’re offered access to multiple levels early on. I realise people say you have to think and write things down, and I’ve no objection to that, but there comes a point when any attempt to feel really part of the story gives way to a frustration at the complexity of simply navigating your way around some of the maps without much clue as to exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. Plus the sound design isn’t as menacing as System Shock 2 which, even without the music (which I always turn off) has some really menacing sounds throughout which really get under your skin. When it’s good though it is very enjoyable, with a good story, range of levels, puzzles, enemies and guns, although in the latter case you can only carry so many at one time (something which meant I was without quite an important one in the latter stages of the game). It also contains some aspects I really dislike in games, including radiation poisoning and also too many boss fights, which I find irritating at the best of times. To try to enjoy it more I did end up using a walkthrough at times, just to get me on to the next phase and navigate the more annoying parts. I actually didn’t bother finishing it once I realised I was just in a realm of the final boss fights. But if those things don’t bother you so much and perhaps you play with settings on level 1 it will be a good game. I just hope these guys don’t touch System Shock 2, it’s a classic as it is.
For years I resented the fact this wasa a third person game when everyone was saying it was immersive - how can 3rd person be immersive - that needs a FPP, you need to be IN the game, not looking at your character's back Then finally someone developed a first-person mod, so i got the game and installed the mod but was then faced with movement so clunky it makes the game almost unplayable, plus you can't save when you want which to me is anathema in a game - I want to be treated like an adult who can make their own decisions as to when to save From the little I played there's a good game there somewhere I don't doubt, but not for anyone who wants a genuinely immersive experience and be able to play it how they want instead of being dictated to Dead Space? Dead Loss more like
This is one of the best games I've played, excellent settings, good plot, a range of enemies that will really test you and a nice balance of simply working to your own ends mixed with situations helping others. The game combine stealth with combat - you need to use both. One big warning though: DO NOT WATCH THROUGH THE CLOSING CREDITS WHEN YOU FINISH THE GAME - GET OUT QUICK!!! One letdown was the 'Mooncrash' DLC which offered nothing except really repetitive play. Apart from that though this is highly recommended - it's a game that regularly pops into my mind and once enough time has passed I'll definitely play again.
I played this once when it first came out and caema way a lottel cold, so I went back out of curiosity as much as anything. This time around I enjoyed it a whole lot more. It looks great, plays really smoothly and maybe because i've played a lot more games since my first playthrough, I found the whole plasmid thing easier to get my head around. I played on the hardest difficulty and found it pretty OK including the boss fights. I also really enjoyed the extras especially the arena battles. Definitely worth getting if it interests you.
I never played the original but this is a straight-out shooter with no other skills needed such as hacking etc. but you do need to plan your way through the battles a bit I did enjoy it and if you like that kind of thing it keeps you absorbed, with a good set of weapons (although some kind of bug meant i couldn't use alternate fire which was frustrating) It's so straightforward it doesn't even have a crouch function which at times is annoying but not a huge issue. Having played a lot of FPS games I was able to beat it on 'Insane' level, although switched down the difficulty level (something you can mercifully do at any time) for most of the boss fights as they're a big step up and not much fun for me. I really liked the look and feel of the environment with the earliar parts in particular not just channeling buy copying Blade Runner to a large extent. It made me wish there was maybe just a bit more to the game though - not just the length but maybe having some hacking from time to time - there's a little bit fo problem-solving but only on a certain level. What is good is the amount of stuff you can blow up to help combat enemies - you quickly learn to scout an area out to see where those pionts are and you can even move exposive barrels around to be better positioned for when those enemies come at you - later on there is some industrial machinery into which you can lead them and then watch them get crushed. There could perhaps have been one or two more enemy types although the game mixes them up a fair deal. Through the game you get to power up weapons and armour and at the end it allows you to play the whole campaign through again with everything you've accumulated, which is a nice way of adding some replayability.
This is a good game but I'm more of an FPS player than RPG so I think that's why I preferred Fallout 3 I guess the beauty of it is it’s designed to be playable whether you’re mainly an FPS or RPG player. So while F3 does have a lot of plot and choices to make, it felt well balanced, but FNV just seems too plot-heavy for me, with not enough opportunities to step away from the main plot and then return to it. I constantly felt weighed down with the implications of everything I was doing in a way that F3 didn’t do (even though I’m not sure it makes that much difference barring how many enemies you do/don’t want to make). And nothing can replace the brilliant beginning to F3 that sets up that world and the character's life within it. To be fair this game doesn’t even try to set things up, instead it just assumes you’ve already played F3. In some ways, while it has its own DLCs, it almost feels like a large DLC itself and the map felt a little smaller than F3. I did really like two of the expansions – Dead Money and Honest Hearts – in very different ways these maps were really impressive and introduced good new characters. FNV feels overwhelming at first, with the amount of items to pick up and recipes for making things, which feels exponentially expanded since F3. After a while though, I realised I could beat the game, even on its hardest setting, by focussing on what I enjoy, which is problem solving and shooting . So if you’re the same kind of player than me then I’d recommend ignoring all food and drink and allocating no points to survival skills, also no points to melee (unless you enjoy it ofc.) I focussed on building my key skills quickly, including hacking, guns, speech, strength, lockpicking and medicine. And I didn’t use VATS once – it just negates all the fun.
