...and you won't go wrong! Pretty intuitive controls once you got beyond the first 15min. Certainly one of the best climbers. In parts, the vistas are great, but not quite "Sword of the Sea"-like, where every screen is a wallpaper.
The title says it all: this is no Ubisoft "check all the boxes" timewaster, at the same time this is also not as complex as, say, an Assassins Creed. This will keep you occupied for about 40-50 hours for 100%, and at this point may I recommend setting it to HARD, or at least NORMAL, otherwise this is barely a challenge from the get go. The OST is full orchestra and reminds me of David Arnold (specifically of his Stargate work), which is very fitting. The visuals are the best you can get out of UE4 engine, thankfully there is DLSS support btw, it is not 100% optimized otherwise. My only real gripe is the writing. At times it was hard to stomach the archetypical Jack O'Neill main character, you know, quippy, sarcastic and a bit on the simple side. He refuses to learn from all the interactions you are having over the course of the journey, till the very last dialogue he confuses the alien side with Earth expressions and even causes a slightly severe last Act conundrum by his instinctive decisions actions. Ah the last Act... it feels rushed, in writing as well as in technical execution. Most likely it was, as the bugs start to mount, nothing serious at least, but annoying. Audio clipping, sound triggers, muffled dialogue, it detracts from a AAA game rating. Some soft locks are possible, so make use of the 4 save slots, again, nothing too severe. I left the credits feeling slightly unfinished, not with the main mission, but with some interactions with the NPCs, especially after things turned "a bit sour" in the last act. You know, words were uttered, things were said, and you do not get a last dialogue to clear things up. You leave with a fanfare but with an uncomfortable number of characters not remembering you as "a true hero in the end", so to say. In the end, it was good to return to Adelpha after exactely 25 years, for me as for the main character. I missed it
melee and ranged combat in the deranged WH40K universe. Dusty graphics and muddy textures, and not so great audio, but old school rail shooter fun.
3D Realms, thy Nukem cometh! In a bombshell of a cop suit, armed with a twin barrel revolver and whatever is needed to get the job done - to get the city clean. The only weak point is the gunplay from a modern POV, even if the weapon modes are fun. Sometimes it feels a bit too hit-scanny.
...but pretty close, and promising nevertheless. This demo must be a slice of a somewhat earlier version of the finished game, and differs pretty much in every point, from different room layouts, differing item placement, much more graphical options (incl. FOV!) and different progression. While I liked the original game from 1994, I was absolutely certain that this would absolutely hit home for me, even after seeing this (at best 7/10) demo Give this a chance, the final game is much better than this, an easy 9/10 for me.
Besides the fact that THIS is THE game that I show to my grandparents when they ask "about them video games" (they were honestly surprised what a pleasant experience it was) it is also the most relaxing game that I have ever played. For the most part this is due to the fantastic soundtrack, an atmospheric, etheral electro-ambient style of music with hints of an earthy banjo, just when you feel you need a bit of grounding. After a while, when you become one with the flight controls, your heart rate kind of syncs up to the relaxed metronome base of many of the best tracks. It fits this game so well, it almost makes you overlook the ridiculously short play time and the kinda empty world. I do hope for a continuation or remake of this.
