True, it's nowhere near as good as Kick-Off or Sensible Soccer from the same era. BUT, when it was released it was possibly the best till they arrived. You can play both normal football/soccer and indoor for a nice change I haven't seen since in a football/soccer game. It's fast action, the ball as with most games of the mid to late 80s, sticks to your feet. There are some options to how to play and overall it's a good game. It's not the best, it's not even the third best of the 16-bit era, but it's fun! When it was released it was a 4/5, a couple of years later it became a 3/5 due to the extreme competition. In 2021? Well, that would be completely unfair. I give it a 4/5.
I played this game a lot when it was released, originally, on the Atari ST. I haven't played the DOS game yet, but they look pretty much similar so outside of the occasional different graphics, I have no doubt they are the same game. You pick young boxers to manage and send them in the ring. There are plenty of stats available and some info like "glass jaw" etc which let you know what type of boxer you are getting. You set up fights and proceed to increase the standing of your boxers. Time wise about half the game is played from the office. The other half is in the ring. There are no graphics for the actual fight. No animations, nothing. Is that unfortunate? Yes, but similarly to the similar (for many years) Championship Manager, there is text description of the fight as it goes. It's actually far more interesting than one would think. You do get to make choices while the fight is on. I can't really say how well the game has aged since I haven't played it in a couple of decades, but if you like the idea of managing boxers, this can be quite satisfying. I won't give it 5 stars as even for me that would require to be able to see the fights, and I do realize that for most people this would be closer to 3 stars than 4, but all things considered I strongly believe this game is worth the 4 stars, if you love the setting.
I recently played this for my twitch stream for the first time. I thought I was going to like the rogue like elements, but I wasn't certain. Same with the presentation. One thing I noticed watching other youtubers playing was that none of them played it as it was, but instead played it for what they wanted it to be. Adding that they didn't really like it, but played it just for views, the end result wasn't the best. I thought I knew what I was getting into and I was correct. The game is amazing if you don't take it as a pure FPS or a pure RPG. It's a mix with decisions, tactical, you HAVE to make while playing. Where to go, which room to avoid, which weapon to use, upgrades to take, etc. If you "get" what the game is about, you will most likely love it. I know I did. You play one or more randomized characters and if/when you die, you lose the items you have collected on that level, but not the upgrades you have acquired/unlocked. You continue with a brand new character on the same journey/campaign/story. You pick next level aka spaceship, and raid it. You can also choose to not and just skip it for another one. When you reach one you want/have to raid, you do so alone. Played as an FPS, without down scope option, and you deal with the task at hand. Finding specific or general loot, dealing with spaceship specific situation. For example a ship might not have power on. Do you try to restart the generator, which might bring lights on and make locked containers unlockable, but risk enabling ship defenses? That's just one thing. There are many tactical options for you to decide. Absolutely great fun. My first and only for now playthrough took me about 16 and a half hours. Worth playing and getting and if you find it on sale, it would be silly not to. I have the backup of the stream on my backup youtube account. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-jDyxfn0ApKLYSr2g5CgGRVMFI_xCcM
One of the best games of its generation. I played it to completion on the PS3 which is very similar to the PC version which obviously looks even better. A semi open world, all things considered, taking place on the aforementioned Asylum. A very large collection of buildings with some action taking part outside (garden etc). You are Batman (duh) and you, no spoilers, have to deal with certain objectives and "bosses". You have an unlockable array of gadgets at your disposal. There are "side quests" and secrets to be completed by you if you desire, to unlock gadgets, costumes etc. So if you are one who wants to unlock everything, there is plenty of meaty game in here to do so. If you don't want such a thing, you can just ignore that and deal with the main quests. When I played it till the end it was a very fun ride. Usually not my type of game, but boy was I hooked with this. I am not even a huge batman fan*. I played it on default difficulty (don't remember if there was setting for that), and god double digit hours out of it. Unfortunately I don't remember how many. BUT, at no point did I feel like I wasn't getting enough game for my (full price on release) money, even though I did NOT deal with the vast majority of the sidequests/unlockables. The combat is very rock paper scissors (or in a way similar to the first Witcher game) where for the vast majority of the enemies you can deal with them with any type of attack, but for the "lieutenants", mini bosses you have to use either a (very short) combo, or specific attack. I HATE combo attacks in games, but I still had NO ISSUE in this one. When you are not fighting, and some times during, you can use gadgets and the "detective mode" where you see everything in a different color scheme and with objectives and items, highlighted, to help you investigate further your quests. A very good game for the fans (and not only) of Batman and/or Action Adventure games.
I played the game when it was first released digitally on...something, anyway years ago. I didn't play it much, perhaps a handful of hours. This is from what I remember, just in case I might help someone. But take it for what it is. It's a European RPG, German IIRC in origin. Has lots of depth, good looking graphics for the time it was released and fun combat system. As you can probably see from the screenshots, the graphics had a very late 00s style, which is natural. If you like RPGs, for the the price on sale it is a no brainer. Take it. For full price, you will get several hours out of it so even if you don't love it, it's not bad. I never finished the game, nothing to do with the game, so please don't take this as a full review.
First to clarify I am talking about the basically same game on the Atari ST and Amiga. Technically not this DOS version, but they are the same game with slight differences in presentation. From kid till today, I was never a fan of puzzle games. Ever. There were only a handful I enjoyed playing and Pushover was one of them. The trailer in this page shows the game and what to expect. You have tiles you set/move with your character and try to have them all fall on their side with the last one to do so having to be the "end/unlock tile". Think of Dominoes where you see set them up to push a single one and see all of them fall down in sequence. Same thing, only here there are special tiles and of course special courses. It's a relaxing game, outside of the time limit for each level. If you like me don't like Puzzle games, but only like a handful of them ( Lemmings, Boston Bomb Club, Jumpin' Jackson, Ugh!), then you might also like Pushover. I recommend it and I will probably end up buying this version too.
My review is for the first and third game which I have played, not the second which I haven't played. Even so, the bungle is worth it, on sale or not. The first game is huge. Mostly linear in terms of story, but never feels claustrophobic, which is funny as large parts do take part underground. :) Anyway, in the first game which yes doesn't look as good as more recent games, but it is still perfectly good with the graphics, you have a very long, seriously with the side missions it can take you over 100 hours, campaign. You will have a long long long walk/fight against a nice variety of enemies, with your customizable character. You can change his skills and his weapons among a nice variety of options. The fights are fun, closer to Diablo than say Arcanum, but still very much fun and deep enough. The only negative thing I can say about the first game is that you cannot just quick travel to stores and sell/upgrade/buy equipment. You have to wait till the next one becomes available in the story/campaign. It annoyed me more back in the day, but in retrospect, you will not have an issue with the amount of loot available. The 2nd game I have never played so I can't comment on it. The 3rd game is definitely more of a game of its time, but it is very much a Dungeon Siege game in everything. It too follows a linear story, but you will get various decisions to make along the way. The fights are again very brutal , but never to the point where they are unfair. Graphics and sound are of course newer and so is the overall feel. The game can take different paths depending on what character you pick, and the combat will also be a different experience too. Both games (1st & 3rd) have the perfect difficulty, including boss fights, and they both feel taking part in huge living worlds, even though open worlds they are not. Even if DS2 is bad, I haven't played it, the other two for even the non sale price are ridiculously good value for money. 100s of hours of.
Without the film part. From the very start of the game it brought memories of film noir movies from the 40s +. The setting is as you might know a mix of sci-fi, fantasy and steampunk. In the end though what stays with you is that you are a private dick, without being one. You find yourself going for one main storyline which while it never stops being true, becomes almost secondary in your search. Plenty of dialogue, but not too much, just enough to lure you in. Turn based battle with an action point system which is just enough. Not as good or complicated as the original UFO Defense, nor as dumbed down as in the xcom reboot series. Your main character can be developed in a few different ways, magic inclined, combat (ranged or melee), tech heavy (cracker). If you pick one, stick with it and focus on improving that. Spread out and you will suffer. No matter what you decide, you will have options for allies to join you who can do the parts that you are not ready to deal with, so don't worry too much that if you go one way, you will have problem with the game later on. The story is good, the game is dark and serious. It doesn't go to the novel level of lines of text, yet it managed to drag you in just fine. I played with the music off so I can't comment on that, but the sound effects were good, with the guns in particular being delightful. The game is linear, so don't expect to do much exploration. You might detect a certain item here and there, or side mission, if you explore, but they are not really part of the experience. If you haven't played a proper RPG in a long time and want to come back, but not with anything that requires a lot of investment in time and mental involvement, this is a very good choice. Good game.
There are good reviews in this section so I won't try to tell you about the game, read theirs. It is fun, it is fast and it has good late 90s rave music for soundtrack. You can switch off weapons and powerups, which is something I wish more games with weapons and powerups had. Oh how I wish that was the case. The only negative I can say about this release is there is no downloadable OST. It's so pure nostalgia that I wish I could download it here.
