ChrisUlrich
Weaksauce
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103.49fps on the bench
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Review the game you finished recently.
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KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
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One or more of your settings might be not maxed out.
Armenius
Extremely [H]
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2014
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- 42,162
If you're just using the Ultra preset than everything isn't turned up to its highest setting.
ChrisUlrich
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2015
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- 117
Trust me. Everything is maxed out. I am not sure what else to tell you.
Dead Space 2
I played Dead Space last year and wanted to continue the journey. While I enjoyed my time playing it , didn't have the horror feeling of the first game (original). This one seemed more action focused. A lot of combat scenes, you would fight a few waves of enemies that you knew were there due to the combat music and then nothing until a few rooms later. Maybe its my familiarity with fighting necromorphs but the first game was more stressful (its a horror game, it should be).
There was some good jump scares, and some good environmental horror but nothing as chilling as I felt in the first game. A few levels really got it down with the unnerved feeling but that was only a few levels/chapters.
I would recommend this to Dead Space fans, it is mostly a good continuation of the games. While I haven't played the first game remake yet, it seems to have gotten positive feedback. I think the game would be a good candidate for another remake but changed in a way to fit the first game more horror feeling.
I played Dead Space last year and wanted to continue the journey. While I enjoyed my time playing it , didn't have the horror feeling of the first game (original). This one seemed more action focused. A lot of combat scenes, you would fight a few waves of enemies that you knew were there due to the combat music and then nothing until a few rooms later. Maybe its my familiarity with fighting necromorphs but the first game was more stressful (its a horror game, it should be).
There was some good jump scares, and some good environmental horror but nothing as chilling as I felt in the first game. A few levels really got it down with the unnerved feeling but that was only a few levels/chapters.
I would recommend this to Dead Space fans, it is mostly a good continuation of the games. While I haven't played the first game remake yet, it seems to have gotten positive feedback. I think the game would be a good candidate for another remake but changed in a way to fit the first game more horror feeling.
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Messages
- 8,331
Spider Man 2. 12/10. Absolutely phenomenal story and set pieces. Just when I thought everything is done they throw in a twister. What a way to end this game.
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,645
Baldur's Gate 3 (PC)
BG3 is interesting in how it approaches the world of D&D and modern RPG gaming. One one hand, it's using a modern 3D engine with lots of flexibility and power. On the other hand, it still has quite a bit of "jank" going on and it makes literally everything a roll of the dice. Some people might appreciate that approach to authenticity. I have mixed feelings about it.
The package: The world is well developed, the acting is good, the music/sound is great, and the story = terrific. The world might be the most dense I can recall, too. There's something to see or do in nearly every inch of every map. It's probably the best example of this type of game that I can recall and it's a worthy successor to the older titles. Want to be creative with your problem solving? BG3 offers that in spades. You can go absolutely nuts trying different spells on different objects to amazing (or funny results). It's a killer game for out-of-the-box thinkers for sure.
The catch is that almost everything you say and do comes down to pure luck with dice rolls. I don't just mean rewards and whether someone likes you or not. The entire game can change in massive ways and you can miss out on large chunks of high-quality game content just because of a bad dice roll. You can just roll with what you get (which can be awful depending on your stats) or you can save/load endlessly to tailor your experience. I get that it's D&D, but I do wish luck played less of a role in every single in-game experience. It's lousy when a bad beat changes your game in a massively negative way. On the other hand, reloading over and over is even lamer. I get that opinions will vary and some folks may love this, but I don't like my whole gaming experience riding on luck. Note that I'm not talking difficulty, either. This is all straight-up things in the game world that you do or don't get to experience.
On the technical side of things, whatever AI they're using to make your team jump = 1/2 broken. You can just about guarantee that any kind of gap your party has to leap over will end up inadvertently breaking up your party. It got really old having to repeatedly select each character, make them solo, make them jump, and then re-form my group. If you don't, you run the constant risk of losing a team member. Sometimes borderline for good depending on where you are. I also found the controls to be unwieldy. I actually prefer the gamepad controls for 90% of the game. They allow you to walk around and control the camera like every other game. Yet the inventory system for gamepads = horrendous. It so bad that I pity the people playing on consoles. Aiming at objects in the world is similarly frustrating. Luckily you don't need to do that often. With keyboard + mouse controls there's no option to use keys for movement. Instead everything involves clicking on objects to move to that spot. While not terrible in theory, the implementation is. You'll find yourself clicking on the wrong objects, characters, etc. constantly. Especially if you're ever in an area with multiple floors or lots of objects. As a result, I play with a pad almost full-time, but pause and grab my kb/m every time I need to deal with my inventory. That's bad UI/UX. I have no idea why kb/m controls can't mirror pad controls with the option to toggle a pointer. On the other side of that coin, I don't know why the pad inventory can't mirror the kb/m version (again) with the option to toggle a pointer. Either way, it's annoying as hell and mods are the only "solution" and I'd call the ones I tried pretty shaky.
Is it good? Absolutely. It borders on great if you take the time to explore, save relentlessly, and are willing to use a pad + kb/m (or mods). Hopefully they can at least fix the control options and jumping AI down the line. I get that most of what I wrote is negative, but it's mainly because I think there's a diamond under there. BG could have been an all-time great, but I'd say it's only a solid B as-is.
85/B
BG3 is interesting in how it approaches the world of D&D and modern RPG gaming. One one hand, it's using a modern 3D engine with lots of flexibility and power. On the other hand, it still has quite a bit of "jank" going on and it makes literally everything a roll of the dice. Some people might appreciate that approach to authenticity. I have mixed feelings about it.
The package: The world is well developed, the acting is good, the music/sound is great, and the story = terrific. The world might be the most dense I can recall, too. There's something to see or do in nearly every inch of every map. It's probably the best example of this type of game that I can recall and it's a worthy successor to the older titles. Want to be creative with your problem solving? BG3 offers that in spades. You can go absolutely nuts trying different spells on different objects to amazing (or funny results). It's a killer game for out-of-the-box thinkers for sure.
The catch is that almost everything you say and do comes down to pure luck with dice rolls. I don't just mean rewards and whether someone likes you or not. The entire game can change in massive ways and you can miss out on large chunks of high-quality game content just because of a bad dice roll. You can just roll with what you get (which can be awful depending on your stats) or you can save/load endlessly to tailor your experience. I get that it's D&D, but I do wish luck played less of a role in every single in-game experience. It's lousy when a bad beat changes your game in a massively negative way. On the other hand, reloading over and over is even lamer. I get that opinions will vary and some folks may love this, but I don't like my whole gaming experience riding on luck. Note that I'm not talking difficulty, either. This is all straight-up things in the game world that you do or don't get to experience.
On the technical side of things, whatever AI they're using to make your team jump = 1/2 broken. You can just about guarantee that any kind of gap your party has to leap over will end up inadvertently breaking up your party. It got really old having to repeatedly select each character, make them solo, make them jump, and then re-form my group. If you don't, you run the constant risk of losing a team member. Sometimes borderline for good depending on where you are. I also found the controls to be unwieldy. I actually prefer the gamepad controls for 90% of the game. They allow you to walk around and control the camera like every other game. Yet the inventory system for gamepads = horrendous. It so bad that I pity the people playing on consoles. Aiming at objects in the world is similarly frustrating. Luckily you don't need to do that often. With keyboard + mouse controls there's no option to use keys for movement. Instead everything involves clicking on objects to move to that spot. While not terrible in theory, the implementation is. You'll find yourself clicking on the wrong objects, characters, etc. constantly. Especially if you're ever in an area with multiple floors or lots of objects. As a result, I play with a pad almost full-time, but pause and grab my kb/m every time I need to deal with my inventory. That's bad UI/UX. I have no idea why kb/m controls can't mirror pad controls with the option to toggle a pointer. On the other side of that coin, I don't know why the pad inventory can't mirror the kb/m version (again) with the option to toggle a pointer. Either way, it's annoying as hell and mods are the only "solution" and I'd call the ones I tried pretty shaky.
Is it good? Absolutely. It borders on great if you take the time to explore, save relentlessly, and are willing to use a pad + kb/m (or mods). Hopefully they can at least fix the control options and jumping AI down the line. I get that most of what I wrote is negative, but it's mainly because I think there's a diamond under there. BG could have been an all-time great, but I'd say it's only a solid B as-is.
85/B
CaptainClueless
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2016
- Messages
- 225
Spider-Man 2
Graphics - Absolutely phenomenal. If it looks this good on a console, I can only imagine what the PC version will eventually look like.
Gameplay - More of the same. Nothing particularly new or innovative. Feels like another Ubisoft title.
Story - Nowhere near as good as the first game IMO.
Wokeness - OFF THE CHARTS.
Had I not played the original (and Miles Morales), this probably would have been a 9-9.5/10. But having experienced the first game, this one is much less impressive. Feels like a (well crafted) cash grab.
Overall I'm going with a 8/10. I want to score it lower just because of the abhorrent in-your-face hypocritical woke BS, but it's still a pretty good game.
Graphics - Absolutely phenomenal. If it looks this good on a console, I can only imagine what the PC version will eventually look like.
Gameplay - More of the same. Nothing particularly new or innovative. Feels like another Ubisoft title.
Story - Nowhere near as good as the first game IMO.
Wokeness - OFF THE CHARTS.
Had I not played the original (and Miles Morales), this probably would have been a 9-9.5/10. But having experienced the first game, this one is much less impressive. Feels like a (well crafted) cash grab.
Overall I'm going with a 8/10. I want to score it lower just because of the abhorrent in-your-face hypocritical woke BS, but it's still a pretty good game.
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,645
Jedi Survivor (PC)
This is a weird one. I feel like this is arguably a 5-star game, but there are so many caveats to that with the PC version. It should be noted that this game came out back in April/May, but was released in such a sorry state that it was nigh unplayable for many people until months later. I have a 7950X3D and a 4090 (which is pretty tip top at the moment), and I gave up trying. Stuttering, terrible performance, crashes, visual bugs, you name it. It wasn't until September that the game finally got an update that smoothed things out, added DLSS, and fixed a lot of early issues.
Graphics: They're pretty great now that things are working right. Apparently there's an underlying stutter with the game's core animation, but I don't know if most people would notice. I played with Nvidia's DLSS frame generation turned on, and it made the game look smooth and clean. The lighting effects in HDR are great, and various planets and environments differ wildly in the best way possible.
Sound: The voice acting, music, and sound effects are top notch. For a game like this, I don't really know if you can get any better to be honest.
Gameplay: Initially, it feels like more of the same gameplay from the original. Basically "Dark Souls + Star Wars." Yet after you start to progress, you'll notice things deviating more and more. Enemies are no longer stunned by parries and will keep attacking. Dodging doesn't avoid most area of effect attacks and you now have to jump. Your own attacks no longer interrupt enemy attacks, either. Instead, the game feels much more like Nioh and (especially) Sekiro. Combat is a combination of parrying, draining enemy stamina, jumping, and attacking only in very specific circumstances. Difficulty can be controlled via the options screen, so the game can be approached by people of all skill levels. I will say that I felt the upper difficulties were pretty rough, even for Souls veterans and people who played the original on Master/Grandmaster. I definitely struggled with certain boss encounters. Still, that difficulty is entirely controllable in real time.
When exploring the world, platforming is a much bigger part of how Jedi Survivor works. Cal can still jump and run on/up certain walls, but you gains a series of other techniques that allow you to traverse things much more vertically than before. It starts to feel like a 3D version of "Metroidvania" games like Guacamelee and Ori with all of the various jumping and flying techniques. I appreciated that and feel like that was needed in order to keep the game from being too similar to the original.
Overall: As you can tell, I have very positive feelings about the core game. The catch is that it's tough to ignore all of the technical issues that have plagued the PC release. I didn't even get into graphical issues that persist to this day, or the horrible, horrible process of trying to remap your controls. I also have the luxury of being able to "brute force" the game into running well thanks to my PC's hardware. For systems with different specs, the game might still be a complete disaster.
If the game were more technically sound I'd probably score it in the upper 80's or even lower 90's. The catch is, it isn't. It took them 5 months to even get point where I consider it to be playable. I can't ignore that. It's probably around a 75 right now (with my exact hardware) and I don't even know if I could give the launch version a score. It's one of the few games where you might be better off just playing the console version even if you have a great gaming PC. It has a few issues, too, but far fewer.
This is a weird one. I feel like this is arguably a 5-star game, but there are so many caveats to that with the PC version. It should be noted that this game came out back in April/May, but was released in such a sorry state that it was nigh unplayable for many people until months later. I have a 7950X3D and a 4090 (which is pretty tip top at the moment), and I gave up trying. Stuttering, terrible performance, crashes, visual bugs, you name it. It wasn't until September that the game finally got an update that smoothed things out, added DLSS, and fixed a lot of early issues.
Graphics: They're pretty great now that things are working right. Apparently there's an underlying stutter with the game's core animation, but I don't know if most people would notice. I played with Nvidia's DLSS frame generation turned on, and it made the game look smooth and clean. The lighting effects in HDR are great, and various planets and environments differ wildly in the best way possible.
Sound: The voice acting, music, and sound effects are top notch. For a game like this, I don't really know if you can get any better to be honest.
Gameplay: Initially, it feels like more of the same gameplay from the original. Basically "Dark Souls + Star Wars." Yet after you start to progress, you'll notice things deviating more and more. Enemies are no longer stunned by parries and will keep attacking. Dodging doesn't avoid most area of effect attacks and you now have to jump. Your own attacks no longer interrupt enemy attacks, either. Instead, the game feels much more like Nioh and (especially) Sekiro. Combat is a combination of parrying, draining enemy stamina, jumping, and attacking only in very specific circumstances. Difficulty can be controlled via the options screen, so the game can be approached by people of all skill levels. I will say that I felt the upper difficulties were pretty rough, even for Souls veterans and people who played the original on Master/Grandmaster. I definitely struggled with certain boss encounters. Still, that difficulty is entirely controllable in real time.
When exploring the world, platforming is a much bigger part of how Jedi Survivor works. Cal can still jump and run on/up certain walls, but you gains a series of other techniques that allow you to traverse things much more vertically than before. It starts to feel like a 3D version of "Metroidvania" games like Guacamelee and Ori with all of the various jumping and flying techniques. I appreciated that and feel like that was needed in order to keep the game from being too similar to the original.
Overall: As you can tell, I have very positive feelings about the core game. The catch is that it's tough to ignore all of the technical issues that have plagued the PC release. I didn't even get into graphical issues that persist to this day, or the horrible, horrible process of trying to remap your controls. I also have the luxury of being able to "brute force" the game into running well thanks to my PC's hardware. For systems with different specs, the game might still be a complete disaster.
If the game were more technically sound I'd probably score it in the upper 80's or even lower 90's. The catch is, it isn't. It took them 5 months to even get point where I consider it to be playable. I can't ignore that. It's probably around a 75 right now (with my exact hardware) and I don't even know if I could give the launch version a score. It's one of the few games where you might be better off just playing the console version even if you have a great gaming PC. It has a few issues, too, but far fewer.
Super Mario Wonder
For the most part, I enjoyed the game. The graphics are how I'd love to see a remake of the Mario games. The controls were fine. The levels, outside of the very last Special World Level, were on the very easy side. I think I spent 50% of my time on the last Special level, 50% of my time on the rest of the game. The main downside is the music. The first several Marios all had memorable music. There just wasn't anything here that was special.
For the most part, I enjoyed the game. The graphics are how I'd love to see a remake of the Mario games. The controls were fine. The levels, outside of the very last Special World Level, were on the very easy side. I think I spent 50% of my time on the last Special level, 50% of my time on the rest of the game. The main downside is the music. The first several Marios all had memorable music. There just wasn't anything here that was special.
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,645
Alan Wake 2 (PC)
This is a game that gave me mixed feelings throughout. I went from loving it, to rolling my eyes, to being bored/annoyed, to having a really good time again. Why? The game starts out like a pretty obvious murder mystery set in reality, but deviates into the supernatural often. Sometimes in fun/entertaining ways, and other times in ridiculous ways. When you have characters who can change the story and environment at will, it's pretty tough to have a cohesive and consistent story. Still, if you can stick with it things eventually do come together.
Graphics: 10/10. This could probably even be 11/10 compared to most everything else out right now. It has some of the best shadows and lighting in gaming history. Those effects give some sections of the game a near photo-realistic look. Along with that, you also have actual filmed video clips interspersed into the gaming world seamlessly, too. While some objects and sections didn't seem to get as much attention as others, it's still pretty amazing. The visual presentation is basically unmatched.
Sound: 8.5/10. This is probably going to come down to personal tastes. It features lots of real music (which I enjoyed), wonderful sound effects, and actors. The catch is that the writing and acting are both a little over the top. I get that they're trying to have dialogue akin to a horror novel, but it's a little schlocky.
Gameplay: 6/10. The gameplay is actually similar to certain Resident Evil titles like 4 and Village. You're wandering around in a semi-open world, interacting with objects, and combatting shadowy enemies with a variety of guns and explosives. The exploration sections are mostly fine, although there are lots of "invisible walls" to keep you confined. Combat never quite feels right. Enemies aren't necessarily super powerful or hard most of the time, but they move erratically. The trick is that your character's movement, aiming, etc. are rather slow and deliberate. It almost feels like the enemies are playing a different game than you are. Then you start to realize that combat is mostly optional. In fact, it's probably better not to fight anything if you don't absolutely have to. Ammo is pretty limited and you don't actually get anything for fighting enemies 90% of the time. There are a few instances where you do have to fight, and those can range from pretty simple to really tough. The difficulty mostly came from the mechanics, though. It's not usually very hard (they dish out health packs left and right), but it's more annoying than fun. Beyond the combat, you also have to repeatedly analyze elements of the story and game world to progress. Sometimes that was enjoyable, other times it was eye-roll worthy. When your characters aren't bound by reality things can occasionally get dumb.
It's worth noting that you end up playing 2 different characters (Saga and Alan), and the game world and mechanics differ for them. Saga's world is mostly grounded in reality while Alan's is more of a dream world. You can play through them in any order you want since they're happening independently of one another. The graphical splendor of Alan's levels > Saga's for sure, but I didn't love the gameplay style for them. I played through all of Saga's and then Alan's, but I wish I alternated to keep things fresher.
Overall: 8/10. Wonderful graphics and presentation go a long way. There's also a lot to see and do, and I appreciate what the devs made. I ended up spending 25'ish hours with the game and enjoyed exploring the world they built...all while avoiding combat whenever possible because it usually wasn't fun.
This is a game that gave me mixed feelings throughout. I went from loving it, to rolling my eyes, to being bored/annoyed, to having a really good time again. Why? The game starts out like a pretty obvious murder mystery set in reality, but deviates into the supernatural often. Sometimes in fun/entertaining ways, and other times in ridiculous ways. When you have characters who can change the story and environment at will, it's pretty tough to have a cohesive and consistent story. Still, if you can stick with it things eventually do come together.
Graphics: 10/10. This could probably even be 11/10 compared to most everything else out right now. It has some of the best shadows and lighting in gaming history. Those effects give some sections of the game a near photo-realistic look. Along with that, you also have actual filmed video clips interspersed into the gaming world seamlessly, too. While some objects and sections didn't seem to get as much attention as others, it's still pretty amazing. The visual presentation is basically unmatched.
Sound: 8.5/10. This is probably going to come down to personal tastes. It features lots of real music (which I enjoyed), wonderful sound effects, and actors. The catch is that the writing and acting are both a little over the top. I get that they're trying to have dialogue akin to a horror novel, but it's a little schlocky.
Gameplay: 6/10. The gameplay is actually similar to certain Resident Evil titles like 4 and Village. You're wandering around in a semi-open world, interacting with objects, and combatting shadowy enemies with a variety of guns and explosives. The exploration sections are mostly fine, although there are lots of "invisible walls" to keep you confined. Combat never quite feels right. Enemies aren't necessarily super powerful or hard most of the time, but they move erratically. The trick is that your character's movement, aiming, etc. are rather slow and deliberate. It almost feels like the enemies are playing a different game than you are. Then you start to realize that combat is mostly optional. In fact, it's probably better not to fight anything if you don't absolutely have to. Ammo is pretty limited and you don't actually get anything for fighting enemies 90% of the time. There are a few instances where you do have to fight, and those can range from pretty simple to really tough. The difficulty mostly came from the mechanics, though. It's not usually very hard (they dish out health packs left and right), but it's more annoying than fun. Beyond the combat, you also have to repeatedly analyze elements of the story and game world to progress. Sometimes that was enjoyable, other times it was eye-roll worthy. When your characters aren't bound by reality things can occasionally get dumb.
It's worth noting that you end up playing 2 different characters (Saga and Alan), and the game world and mechanics differ for them. Saga's world is mostly grounded in reality while Alan's is more of a dream world. You can play through them in any order you want since they're happening independently of one another. The graphical splendor of Alan's levels > Saga's for sure, but I didn't love the gameplay style for them. I played through all of Saga's and then Alan's, but I wish I alternated to keep things fresher.
Overall: 8/10. Wonderful graphics and presentation go a long way. There's also a lot to see and do, and I appreciate what the devs made. I ended up spending 25'ish hours with the game and enjoyed exploring the world they built...all while avoiding combat whenever possible because it usually wasn't fun.
CookieFactory
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- May 17, 2006
- Messages
- 357
Resident Evil 4 Remake (PC)
It's been a minute since I've played a Resident Evil game as RE3 was my last foray into the survival horror series some 20 odd years ago. I tend to play RPG and strategy games so I lost interest as the RE games got more action oriented. After finishing Resident Evil 4 Remake I'm re-evaluating my life choices as this game is a bona-fide masterpiece.
The core gameplay loop is inherently fun. The combat is fast-paced but deliberate, and I loved being rewarded for exploring every nook and cranny which is a far cry from the beautiful but ultimately empty environments of Spider-Man Remastered (which I bought at the same time as RE4R). The level design is top-notch with near perfect pacing, continuously upping the stakes with enough variation that the gameplay never feels stale despite spanning 16 chapters. Baldur's Gate 3 was the game I finished immediately preceding RE4R but it's the latter that has left me more impressed despite not being the type of game I'm usually drawn to. 9.8/10
It's been a minute since I've played a Resident Evil game as RE3 was my last foray into the survival horror series some 20 odd years ago. I tend to play RPG and strategy games so I lost interest as the RE games got more action oriented. After finishing Resident Evil 4 Remake I'm re-evaluating my life choices as this game is a bona-fide masterpiece.
The core gameplay loop is inherently fun. The combat is fast-paced but deliberate, and I loved being rewarded for exploring every nook and cranny which is a far cry from the beautiful but ultimately empty environments of Spider-Man Remastered (which I bought at the same time as RE4R). The level design is top-notch with near perfect pacing, continuously upping the stakes with enough variation that the gameplay never feels stale despite spanning 16 chapters. Baldur's Gate 3 was the game I finished immediately preceding RE4R but it's the latter that has left me more impressed despite not being the type of game I'm usually drawn to. 9.8/10
I finished Alan wake 2, Graphically Impressive. A top scenario with superb direction. The characters are great.
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KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Messages
- 8,331
COD MW3 SP. 6/10.
Thief (2014)
For Thief I found the story was passable and fun enough for me to keep going. I would have liked more free roaming as I felt that alot of the objectives were linear in completing or reaching the location. The stealth mechanics and combat loop was engaging with a good amount of tools to use to stealth through the levels. Also chapter 5 was a very memorable experience.
The game wasn't too long, I didn't feel the need to grind out the side missions, so overall I had a fun time. This was my first entry into the Thief games, I plan to play the older games to see how they are.
For Thief I found the story was passable and fun enough for me to keep going. I would have liked more free roaming as I felt that alot of the objectives were linear in completing or reaching the location. The stealth mechanics and combat loop was engaging with a good amount of tools to use to stealth through the levels. Also chapter 5 was a very memorable experience.
The game wasn't too long, I didn't feel the need to grind out the side missions, so overall I had a fun time. This was my first entry into the Thief games, I plan to play the older games to see how they are.
Armenius
Extremely [H]
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2014
- Messages
- 42,162
The older games are closer to immersive sims and are very open ended. The gameplay of 2014 is solid enough, though. I was never able to play all the way through it because I had an issue where I couldn't hear anything unless the emitters were within 2 feet of my character, which is bad in a game where sound is important. Nothing I tried at the time would fix it. The game used some kind of proprietary API that was new from AMD, if I remember correctly, so it was probably great if you played audio through an AMD video card. That was 9 years ago, though, so I should try playing it again.
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Messages
- 8,331
Alan Wake 2. 5/10. More impressions in core game thread.
t1337duder
Gawd
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2014
- Messages
- 783
God of War: Ascension - 9/10 - Fun game. Reminded me of God of War 3 but different. Enjoyed the combat changes. Amazing graphics (even today). I think the GoW series was better during this style of gameplay.
Not enough T'n'A for you?
Homeworld Desert of Kharak: 8/10. made me miss the original. Graphics good, sound amazing, gameplay solid but not quite over the edge. No bugs on my side but one single crash, and having to reinstall EGS once after a patch. Too short in some ways - and the skirmish is pointless.
Bramble: The Mountain King
I beat it my first day of playing it I enjoyed it so much. Fantastic and gorgeous dark fantasy, horror adventure game based on Nordic fables. Very high production values. It doesn't have a lot of replayability (almost completely linear) and only took me a little over 5 hours to complete, but I thought it was a very impressive game.
In terms of gameplay difficulty, this is no souls game and is best described as casual I think. The foreboding atmosphere is right up there with souls and other popular survival horror games though, and the game will still keep you on your toes at times.
It is currently bundled with Spirit of the North for $25 (off sale), which I feel is reasonable. I purchased it in the autumn sale bundled with two other games and almost feel like I robbed the devs. It seems to be heavily discounted quite often, so just wait for the next sale if the price seems a little high to you. I'd give the game a 9.5/10.
I beat it my first day of playing it I enjoyed it so much. Fantastic and gorgeous dark fantasy, horror adventure game based on Nordic fables. Very high production values. It doesn't have a lot of replayability (almost completely linear) and only took me a little over 5 hours to complete, but I thought it was a very impressive game.
In terms of gameplay difficulty, this is no souls game and is best described as casual I think. The foreboding atmosphere is right up there with souls and other popular survival horror games though, and the game will still keep you on your toes at times.
It is currently bundled with Spirit of the North for $25 (off sale), which I feel is reasonable. I purchased it in the autumn sale bundled with two other games and almost feel like I robbed the devs. It seems to be heavily discounted quite often, so just wait for the next sale if the price seems a little high to you. I'd give the game a 9.5/10.
Spec Ops the Line. 9/10. No, 7/10. No, 8.5... Fuck. Hell if I know.
I've never been more ... torn... on a review than I am for this game. I honestly don't know how I fell about it. I really don't. I started this over the summer and enjoyed it a great deal up till about the midpoint. Came back at it late fall and still enjoyed it... but... that's when it got funky. The graphics are fine - it's an older game. The soundtrack is excellent, and the voiceovers are perfect.
The story... The story is Heart of Darkness, told with a twist, and it's done well. If you find yourself tiring of that particular message these days, however, it can lose much of its lustre and draw - the game is, in fact, a product of its time, one which had such a plethora of 3rd person squad shooters that someone needed to poke at the message they were sending and point out that war is, after all, hell. It's told exceptionally well, although the somewhat aging graphics dull parts of that at times (especially the limited pre-recorded cutscenes, that jar heavily with native resolution in-game-engine ones), and the way it works out in the end is worth the payoff to the point that I'd normally grant it an A- without really thinking about it. Just because the message was a little off for me doesn't mean it was for others, after all, and the little touches (start screen changes) as you progress through the campaign show such a work of love that you can't help respect what Yager did with the game. They had a message to send - and it's certainly not anti-military or "war is bad" or "you are evil" - just... if you want to stop the horror, put down the controller and walk away. You can walk away at any time you wish.
But...
And there's the three letter word. But. The truth is that the gameplay itself was never Yager's aim - and of all the parts of the game, this is the one that suffers the most. The controls are somewhat clunky, with overloaded buttons (shift is both dash, melee, vault, and cover - while space is similar at times) and illogical options (hit space to drop 2 ft off an invisible wall) - and the enemies are the "never miss" side, making difficulty options more of a "health boost" or not as case may be. There are fights in the later game that remind me of COD2 on veteran - you have to have a perfect run to get through, with every shot on target just to survive - and that's on the default difficulty level.
Yet in looking back, once you finish the story, the reason for that makes sense. It fits. I can't help but realize that there was a reason it was that tough, and what you "accomplished" in this game was illustrated by the difficulty. If it weren't for the pre-set checkpoints (often when you find yourself low on ammo and in a tough spot to continue - always right before one of the insanely tough areas) fouling progress, I'd still grant it the A-, but because of that - and because of how hyped this game is, I grant it a B+. No an A-. No a C because fuck that section on the Yacht. Fuck. I don't know.
It's a gem of a game. It's brilliant. It's poignoint. It's... it is what it is. Don't expect perfect gameplay, but expect the story to make it worth it. I have to approve. Yager loved this game, and it shows. It's worth the play. It's worth the effort. It's worth the clunky gameplay. But don't take the 9/10 or 10/10 reviews as "this is perfect" - more of "this is special."
I've never been more ... torn... on a review than I am for this game. I honestly don't know how I fell about it. I really don't. I started this over the summer and enjoyed it a great deal up till about the midpoint. Came back at it late fall and still enjoyed it... but... that's when it got funky. The graphics are fine - it's an older game. The soundtrack is excellent, and the voiceovers are perfect.
The story... The story is Heart of Darkness, told with a twist, and it's done well. If you find yourself tiring of that particular message these days, however, it can lose much of its lustre and draw - the game is, in fact, a product of its time, one which had such a plethora of 3rd person squad shooters that someone needed to poke at the message they were sending and point out that war is, after all, hell. It's told exceptionally well, although the somewhat aging graphics dull parts of that at times (especially the limited pre-recorded cutscenes, that jar heavily with native resolution in-game-engine ones), and the way it works out in the end is worth the payoff to the point that I'd normally grant it an A- without really thinking about it. Just because the message was a little off for me doesn't mean it was for others, after all, and the little touches (start screen changes) as you progress through the campaign show such a work of love that you can't help respect what Yager did with the game. They had a message to send - and it's certainly not anti-military or "war is bad" or "you are evil" - just... if you want to stop the horror, put down the controller and walk away. You can walk away at any time you wish.
But...
And there's the three letter word. But. The truth is that the gameplay itself was never Yager's aim - and of all the parts of the game, this is the one that suffers the most. The controls are somewhat clunky, with overloaded buttons (shift is both dash, melee, vault, and cover - while space is similar at times) and illogical options (hit space to drop 2 ft off an invisible wall) - and the enemies are the "never miss" side, making difficulty options more of a "health boost" or not as case may be. There are fights in the later game that remind me of COD2 on veteran - you have to have a perfect run to get through, with every shot on target just to survive - and that's on the default difficulty level.
Yet in looking back, once you finish the story, the reason for that makes sense. It fits. I can't help but realize that there was a reason it was that tough, and what you "accomplished" in this game was illustrated by the difficulty. If it weren't for the pre-set checkpoints (often when you find yourself low on ammo and in a tough spot to continue - always right before one of the insanely tough areas) fouling progress, I'd still grant it the A-, but because of that - and because of how hyped this game is, I grant it a B+. No an A-. No a C because fuck that section on the Yacht. Fuck. I don't know.
It's a gem of a game. It's brilliant. It's poignoint. It's... it is what it is. Don't expect perfect gameplay, but expect the story to make it worth it. I have to approve. Yager loved this game, and it shows. It's worth the play. It's worth the effort. It's worth the clunky gameplay. But don't take the 9/10 or 10/10 reviews as "this is perfect" - more of "this is special."
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
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- 8,331
Avatar frontiers of Pandora. 8.5/10. Great gameplay even if it was repetitive. Almost canon feel of storyline and amazing graphics, sound, activities, world design etc.
xDiVolatilX
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2021
- Messages
- 2,517
Bro you are the undisputed leader in this thread. You complete so many games It's incredible. Every page has you completing another game lol Not sure how you juggle it lol
The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition
A fun RPG that has a good amount of exploration available with the planets and structures. Enjoyable characters, companions, story and side quests compliment this experience. You have some characters that you care about and also some that you hate (having the option to turn them into ash is a bonus). Also the length of the game is on point, not too long but also gives you enough content to enjoy. There are some decent decisions with some moral implications you have to make as the player that can have some consequences for your playthrough.
Combat was enjoyable for me and more so once I found some weapons that I liked to use.
Overall, was a fun game and I am now looking forward to the sequel.
A fun RPG that has a good amount of exploration available with the planets and structures. Enjoyable characters, companions, story and side quests compliment this experience. You have some characters that you care about and also some that you hate (having the option to turn them into ash is a bonus). Also the length of the game is on point, not too long but also gives you enough content to enjoy. There are some decent decisions with some moral implications you have to make as the player that can have some consequences for your playthrough.
Combat was enjoyable for me and more so once I found some weapons that I liked to use.
Overall, was a fun game and I am now looking forward to the sequel.
modi123
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2006
- Messages
- 7,220
7 Days to Die - I give it about a 7 out of 10. Much like a PvE minecraft run I enjoyed tinkering with base building, leveling up my skills, exploring POIs, and just tooling around. I dug it as a solo play just grooving-an-a-slay'n.
It probably was a waste of resources making the 4x4, but so it goes. SMG is life. ha!
It probably was a waste of resources making the 4x4, but so it goes. SMG is life. ha!
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
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- Mar 19, 2003
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- 8,331
Starfield. Weird game tbh. Started out as an exercise in frustration and turned out to be a worthy time investment. I did some of the big side stuff as well but not all of it. 30/50 achievements. 40+ hours. Level 39. I give it an 8/10 for enjoyment and maybe 7/10 if I am being a critic.
Saturn_V
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2008
- Messages
- 2,297
The Expanse: A Telltale Series C+
I'm not a huge fan of Telltale-styled adventure games. I've tried to like them- going back to the Back to the Future in 2010. For every bright point, The Walking Dead or Batman, there's a Game of Thrones, or Star Trek Resurgence. Always with the freakin' minigames and "quick-time events" that I have to muddle through via a console controller. But I am a big sloppy Expanse fan, and waited nine months for this to break out of Epic Games Exclusive jail.
The story of Captain Camina Drummer in this game just isn't that interesting. You spend most of the game exploring dark and spooky environs, you don't have any greater sense of the universe, nor do you get any greater insight on Drummer that you didn't get in the TV show. The vocal performances (both Cara Gee and Shoreh Agdashloo) are great. But neither is gonna give the big feels.
Buy once it hits $9.99 price point. But you're better off re-watching the show, or listening to audio books if you're starved for this universe's content.
I'm not a huge fan of Telltale-styled adventure games. I've tried to like them- going back to the Back to the Future in 2010. For every bright point, The Walking Dead or Batman, there's a Game of Thrones, or Star Trek Resurgence. Always with the freakin' minigames and "quick-time events" that I have to muddle through via a console controller. But I am a big sloppy Expanse fan, and waited nine months for this to break out of Epic Games Exclusive jail.
The story of Captain Camina Drummer in this game just isn't that interesting. You spend most of the game exploring dark and spooky environs, you don't have any greater sense of the universe, nor do you get any greater insight on Drummer that you didn't get in the TV show. The vocal performances (both Cara Gee and Shoreh Agdashloo) are great. But neither is gonna give the big feels.
Buy once it hits $9.99 price point. But you're better off re-watching the show, or listening to audio books if you're starved for this universe's content.
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,645
Starfield (PC, via Gamepass)
Your enjoyment of Starfield will probably be in direct relation to how you feel about Bethesda's other 3D RPG's (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc.)
Even though it takes place in an entirely new "universe" so to speak, it still follows their formula pretty closely. If you like those titles, you'll probably like Starfield, too. At least for the most part. Don't like them? There isn't much in this game to change your mind.
Graphics: 7/10. It looks like an upgraded version of their other games for the most part. Some things look like they got a lot of effort and/or were made for modern hardware, while other things look straight out of the early 00's. The lighting/shadows in some environments look great one minute and borderline absent the next. Some faces look nearly photorealistic and others look like lifeless and low-detail. Inconsistent is probably the best description.
Sound: 9/10. I like the music, the ambience, the sound effects, and even the voice acting is pretty good for a game this size. At least most of it. There isn't much to complain about here.
Gameplay: 8/10. Combat's fine for the most part. There isn't a ton of depth to it, but there probably doesn't need to be that much. I'm a so-so shooter player, but I mostly found the game to be rather easy. I only died a few times over 75'ish hours, and those were instances where I just wasn't paying attention. Usually because I forgot that I could be killed. Ship battles were a bit more challenging since your flying/fighting skills are mostly gated. No real complaints about either of those things, though.
Presentation: 6/10. The overall package is good, and it's shockingly (mostly) bug free, too. Especially for an open-ended game. The world is pretty "lifeless" though, and nobody/nothing has a ton of personality. After the last few Fallout titles (which are full of personality) and the Outer World, everything feels sterile and kind of boring. Not horrible, but not good. The biggest issues I had were mostly about the UI/UX for all of the menus in the game. Seemingly everything takes too many steps. Essential tasks are only partially explained and 3 menus deep while things you might never use are oddly front and center. I finally felt relatively comfortable with things 10-15 hours in, but even all the way at the very end of the game I lamented how many steps it took to accomplish certain basic tasks. They game showers you with money, but doesn't really give you much to spend it on. I would have gladly spent my entire 2 million credit fortune just to speed up the process of doing minute tasks like buying/selling/upgrading/etc. I guess there's also the issue of giving you an entire universe and forgetting to give you motivation to do much in it. Outside of the core game missions (Main story, UC, Ryujin, Rangers, Crimson Fleet, etc.) there's just a lot of empty space with very little to interact with. They gave you a lot of tools to build fortresses, apartments, new ships, guns, etc. but minimal purpose to anything. They're features that are just kinda there because Bethesda built them for something else.
Overall: 7/10. The game isn't bad, and I found that the quests at the core of the game to be some of Bethesda's best ever. Yet outside of those missions and a dozen'ish specific areas things are sparse and time consuming. I felt motivated to keep playing because I enjoyed the heart of the game. Yet I also kept rolling my eyes at so many other things the game kept throwing at me. It's almost like they wanted to gate portions of the game just to make it more time consuming. Starfield is a good game that has a bunch of so-so stuff duct taped to a strong core.
Your enjoyment of Starfield will probably be in direct relation to how you feel about Bethesda's other 3D RPG's (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc.)
Even though it takes place in an entirely new "universe" so to speak, it still follows their formula pretty closely. If you like those titles, you'll probably like Starfield, too. At least for the most part. Don't like them? There isn't much in this game to change your mind.
Graphics: 7/10. It looks like an upgraded version of their other games for the most part. Some things look like they got a lot of effort and/or were made for modern hardware, while other things look straight out of the early 00's. The lighting/shadows in some environments look great one minute and borderline absent the next. Some faces look nearly photorealistic and others look like lifeless and low-detail. Inconsistent is probably the best description.
Sound: 9/10. I like the music, the ambience, the sound effects, and even the voice acting is pretty good for a game this size. At least most of it. There isn't much to complain about here.
Gameplay: 8/10. Combat's fine for the most part. There isn't a ton of depth to it, but there probably doesn't need to be that much. I'm a so-so shooter player, but I mostly found the game to be rather easy. I only died a few times over 75'ish hours, and those were instances where I just wasn't paying attention. Usually because I forgot that I could be killed. Ship battles were a bit more challenging since your flying/fighting skills are mostly gated. No real complaints about either of those things, though.
Presentation: 6/10. The overall package is good, and it's shockingly (mostly) bug free, too. Especially for an open-ended game. The world is pretty "lifeless" though, and nobody/nothing has a ton of personality. After the last few Fallout titles (which are full of personality) and the Outer World, everything feels sterile and kind of boring. Not horrible, but not good. The biggest issues I had were mostly about the UI/UX for all of the menus in the game. Seemingly everything takes too many steps. Essential tasks are only partially explained and 3 menus deep while things you might never use are oddly front and center. I finally felt relatively comfortable with things 10-15 hours in, but even all the way at the very end of the game I lamented how many steps it took to accomplish certain basic tasks. They game showers you with money, but doesn't really give you much to spend it on. I would have gladly spent my entire 2 million credit fortune just to speed up the process of doing minute tasks like buying/selling/upgrading/etc. I guess there's also the issue of giving you an entire universe and forgetting to give you motivation to do much in it. Outside of the core game missions (Main story, UC, Ryujin, Rangers, Crimson Fleet, etc.) there's just a lot of empty space with very little to interact with. They gave you a lot of tools to build fortresses, apartments, new ships, guns, etc. but minimal purpose to anything. They're features that are just kinda there because Bethesda built them for something else.
Overall: 7/10. The game isn't bad, and I found that the quests at the core of the game to be some of Bethesda's best ever. Yet outside of those missions and a dozen'ish specific areas things are sparse and time consuming. I felt motivated to keep playing because I enjoyed the heart of the game. Yet I also kept rolling my eyes at so many other things the game kept throwing at me. It's almost like they wanted to gate portions of the game just to make it more time consuming. Starfield is a good game that has a bunch of so-so stuff duct taped to a strong core.
I love Skyrim, and really like Fallout 3/NV/4 and Oblivion. I don't like Starfield.
RDR2
I’ve finished this game twice already. Once with good honor and once with bad. On my third gameplay now and I love the randomness of the game. Always something different to change your whole game experience. I just wish there was a bit more verticality in the game. It doesn’t make sense in the context of the game but yeah. Having hot air balloons you can always use would be cool.
I’ve finished this game twice already. Once with good honor and once with bad. On my third gameplay now and I love the randomness of the game. Always something different to change your whole game experience. I just wish there was a bit more verticality in the game. It doesn’t make sense in the context of the game but yeah. Having hot air balloons you can always use would be cool.
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
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- Mar 19, 2003
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- 8,331
Finished MK1. Solid 8/10. I think the new systems take some time to get used to but are OK for SP. In MP the game is just not for me. I came for the story and wasn’t disappointed. Really enjoyed the storyline throughout. I do prefer fighting in SF over this. Having said that I will never get good in these games. They require a ton of time commitment and I simply do not have the time. Good purchase for the 27 bucks I paid for it.
I read somewhere that it took a person 8 hours to finish this on medium difficulty. It took me 6 hours. So not sure what that person was doing for 2 hours.
I read somewhere that it took a person 8 hours to finish this on medium difficulty. It took me 6 hours. So not sure what that person was doing for 2 hours.
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
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- Mar 19, 2003
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- 8,331
Finished Immortals of Aveum. 8/10. More details in OG thread.
Furious_Styles
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Messages
- 4,538
I'd say you definitely HAVE the time to get good, you just don't want to!
KickAssCop
[H]F Junkie
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- 8,331
Saints Row. 5/10.
It was hilariously bad but I like shooting and the game did shooting right. I didn’t do literally any sides. Maybe tried a few side activities. My objective was to finish it asap which is what I did. There is quite a few side content to go through and I might if I get some time. But knowing me I highly doubt this will come to pass.
Not sure what happened with this game but there was something good here but they made it like a goat simulator for 3rd person open world games. Some people will enjoy that shit. I do too at times and for free was worth a romp.
It was hilariously bad but I like shooting and the game did shooting right. I didn’t do literally any sides. Maybe tried a few side activities. My objective was to finish it asap which is what I did. There is quite a few side content to go through and I might if I get some time. But knowing me I highly doubt this will come to pass.
Not sure what happened with this game but there was something good here but they made it like a goat simulator for 3rd person open world games. Some people will enjoy that shit. I do too at times and for free was worth a romp.
modi123
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2006
- Messages
- 7,220
I got Dave the Diver from a buddy over christmas. Really not a game I would dig, being it's a mound of minigames mashed into a 2d side scroller, but oh boy was I wrong. The pacing was great, nice little seven chapter story, quality mechanics, and the additional management sim layers were added just at the right time to keep me on my toes.
The game wasn't super long - maybe 28-30 hours, but fun (and forgiving). Only had a few crashes but I think that was due to steamcloud kicking in.
I would highly recommend.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1868140/DAVE_THE_DIVER/
The game wasn't super long - maybe 28-30 hours, but fun (and forgiving). Only had a few crashes but I think that was due to steamcloud kicking in.
I would highly recommend.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1868140/DAVE_THE_DIVER/
Flogger23m
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2009
- Messages
- 14,378
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
If you're looking for a Star Wars game, sword fighting game or action adventure game Jedi Survivor might be of interest to you. A sequel to Jedi Fallen Order, Jedi Survivor is a fun action adventure game that has technical shortcomings and combat design that isn't perfectly fine tuned but is still enjoyable.
New game, almost a new story.
From a story standpoint Jedi Survivor is not quite as good as its predecessor. Even considering it in a vacuum on its own I cannot say the overall plot did much for me. Like many game sequels Jedi Survivor feels like a soft reboot, taking a goal of the character and then replacing it with something related although different. The first game takes you to a number of places where you gradually size up your crew only for them to drift apart off screen. In Jedi Survivor your goal will shift. In many ways it felt like momentum the narrative created had come to an abrupt stop. There are themes of generic exploration and you must find a certain something, although it feels forced and not very authentic.
This is Moran. He is a minor character who never joins or helps you in anyway. But he has many minutes of dialogue. Probably 6 times more than the antagonist.
Despite that I did not find the story to be bad. It is passable and will be enough to keep the game flowing. Characters also have decent conversations, including large amounts of side conversations. It does add a bit of life to the characters as they tend to have more to say than what most games offer.
The gameplay is quite fun. But it is problematic in a few ways. I find that the overall design of the combat was clumsier than its predecessor. The good additions are new fighting stances, including a blaster/pistol, which adds a fun to use ranged mode of fighting. The parkour is fun and not annoying or frustrating. The fighting stances/attack types are decently varied, fun to use, and there are a number of jedi force powers at the players disposal. Though I find several stances are just not that good and are more of a liability. The blaster fighting mode is great fun, although impractical in most fights as your character cannot charge up special attacks quick enough in almost every combat scenario. Upgrade pacing is okay, but towards the end of the game I realized I would not be able to max out all powers. You can reset your points, though there is little reason unlocking powers/abilities should take so long even after doing all side quests.
The blaster is great fun to use, but it is a big liability.
Requiring a stagger to be depleted to do any damage felt quite odd at times. Even moderate enemies could often refill their stagger meter a bit too quickly. Often, I would run out of stamina and be unable to attack, allowing an enemy to refill their stagger. Playing aggressively despite landing clean hits is certainly not favored. Quirks and annoyances aside, fighting is generally fun. There are decent dismemberment animations, you have some ability to change gameplay style, you can push/pull people off a cliff, and some of the abilities are quite fun.
Fighting the AT-STs is quite fun.
Exploration is okay. There are two large planets and a few smaller moons/stations that are playable. Generally, your missions and side missions will take you to most important places. There is an abundance of collectives and upgrades strewn around, and you can generally get by without having to actively hunt them. You can largely ignore them and just do missions and tackle combat encounters and parkour scenarios that arise. Typically, you can take in the sights; you won't be running around searching for side missions. Those are typically acquired in hub areas.
Main mission design is generally good. Proper mission objectives, lots of supporting dialogue, both before, during and after the mission. Side missions are of okay quality.
The game will take you to a number of places, although most of the content is on two of the larger planets.
Graphically I found Jedi Survivor to be quite good. Characters are detailed, environments are detailed, hair behaves quite realistically, draw distance is good, lighting and art design seemed quite good overall. Ray tracing would result in crashing and stuttering. I disabled it and those issues went away. Ray tracing seemed to be almost unnoticeable and it was probably one of the worst implementations of the technology I've seen. However, the game does have technical issues. There is stuttering whenever it switches from gameplay to in game real time cutscene. Stuttering is quite bad. This is not micro stuttering. It is very noticeable. I've had more than a few whole second long stutters. Gameplay is generally fine, but cinematic moments are ruined due to stuttering. When it comes to stability, I found the game to be mostly bug free. I experience maybe 1-3 crashes. Very few bugs in my experience.
Cutting down enemies can be quite satisfying.
Voice acting, sound track, and sounds were all nicely done.
In summary, I found Jedi Survivor to be satisfying. It is fun to traverse and fight in, despite numerous quirks. The lively characters were let down by a not-so-great story that was just barely interesting enough to keep the game flowing.
- Decent characters, middle of the road main story.
- Nice graphics, although useless ray tracing.
- Massive stuttering problems in cut scenes.
- Fun combat despite a large number of quirks.
- Fun parkour.
- Some odd difficulty ranges at times.
- Mostly bug free.
8 / 10
If you're looking for a Star Wars game, sword fighting game or action adventure game Jedi Survivor might be of interest to you. A sequel to Jedi Fallen Order, Jedi Survivor is a fun action adventure game that has technical shortcomings and combat design that isn't perfectly fine tuned but is still enjoyable.
New game, almost a new story.
From a story standpoint Jedi Survivor is not quite as good as its predecessor. Even considering it in a vacuum on its own I cannot say the overall plot did much for me. Like many game sequels Jedi Survivor feels like a soft reboot, taking a goal of the character and then replacing it with something related although different. The first game takes you to a number of places where you gradually size up your crew only for them to drift apart off screen. In Jedi Survivor your goal will shift. In many ways it felt like momentum the narrative created had come to an abrupt stop. There are themes of generic exploration and you must find a certain something, although it feels forced and not very authentic.
This is Moran. He is a minor character who never joins or helps you in anyway. But he has many minutes of dialogue. Probably 6 times more than the antagonist.
Despite that I did not find the story to be bad. It is passable and will be enough to keep the game flowing. Characters also have decent conversations, including large amounts of side conversations. It does add a bit of life to the characters as they tend to have more to say than what most games offer.
The gameplay is quite fun. But it is problematic in a few ways. I find that the overall design of the combat was clumsier than its predecessor. The good additions are new fighting stances, including a blaster/pistol, which adds a fun to use ranged mode of fighting. The parkour is fun and not annoying or frustrating. The fighting stances/attack types are decently varied, fun to use, and there are a number of jedi force powers at the players disposal. Though I find several stances are just not that good and are more of a liability. The blaster fighting mode is great fun, although impractical in most fights as your character cannot charge up special attacks quick enough in almost every combat scenario. Upgrade pacing is okay, but towards the end of the game I realized I would not be able to max out all powers. You can reset your points, though there is little reason unlocking powers/abilities should take so long even after doing all side quests.
The blaster is great fun to use, but it is a big liability.
Requiring a stagger to be depleted to do any damage felt quite odd at times. Even moderate enemies could often refill their stagger meter a bit too quickly. Often, I would run out of stamina and be unable to attack, allowing an enemy to refill their stagger. Playing aggressively despite landing clean hits is certainly not favored. Quirks and annoyances aside, fighting is generally fun. There are decent dismemberment animations, you have some ability to change gameplay style, you can push/pull people off a cliff, and some of the abilities are quite fun.
Fighting the AT-STs is quite fun.
Exploration is okay. There are two large planets and a few smaller moons/stations that are playable. Generally, your missions and side missions will take you to most important places. There is an abundance of collectives and upgrades strewn around, and you can generally get by without having to actively hunt them. You can largely ignore them and just do missions and tackle combat encounters and parkour scenarios that arise. Typically, you can take in the sights; you won't be running around searching for side missions. Those are typically acquired in hub areas.
Main mission design is generally good. Proper mission objectives, lots of supporting dialogue, both before, during and after the mission. Side missions are of okay quality.
The game will take you to a number of places, although most of the content is on two of the larger planets.
Graphically I found Jedi Survivor to be quite good. Characters are detailed, environments are detailed, hair behaves quite realistically, draw distance is good, lighting and art design seemed quite good overall. Ray tracing would result in crashing and stuttering. I disabled it and those issues went away. Ray tracing seemed to be almost unnoticeable and it was probably one of the worst implementations of the technology I've seen. However, the game does have technical issues. There is stuttering whenever it switches from gameplay to in game real time cutscene. Stuttering is quite bad. This is not micro stuttering. It is very noticeable. I've had more than a few whole second long stutters. Gameplay is generally fine, but cinematic moments are ruined due to stuttering. When it comes to stability, I found the game to be mostly bug free. I experience maybe 1-3 crashes. Very few bugs in my experience.
Cutting down enemies can be quite satisfying.
Voice acting, sound track, and sounds were all nicely done.
In summary, I found Jedi Survivor to be satisfying. It is fun to traverse and fight in, despite numerous quirks. The lively characters were let down by a not-so-great story that was just barely interesting enough to keep the game flowing.
- Decent characters, middle of the road main story.
- Nice graphics, although useless ray tracing.
- Massive stuttering problems in cut scenes.
- Fun combat despite a large number of quirks.
- Fun parkour.
- Some odd difficulty ranges at times.
- Mostly bug free.
8 / 10
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M76
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2012
- Messages
- 14,039
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
It is a great expansion with a better story than the main game, albeit I found the campaign a little short and rushed.
More details on my page: http://madblog.shacknet.us/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty/
This was the first time I played the game since I originally finished it in January of 2021, so this is also a review of the famous 2.0 patch.
It is a great expansion with a better story than the main game, albeit I found the campaign a little short and rushed.
More details on my page: http://madblog.shacknet.us/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty/
This was the first time I played the game since I originally finished it in January of 2021, so this is also a review of the famous 2.0 patch.
Sumanji
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2018
- Messages
- 144
Aliens: Dark Descent
I loved this game! I would describe it as a mash-up of Alien Isolation (atmosphere, difficulty) and Dawn of War 2 (squad-based real-time tactics). The devs really nailed the atmosphere of the original Aliens film, with healthy amounts of fan service. The game inspires a genuine sense of fear as you try to keep your marines alive - particularly in the earlier missions when you are under-leveled and under-geared.
There are some issues with the game: the later level designs are very "on-the rails" compared to earlier missions, the story ending and final epilogue mission are a bit of a let down, and as of the Dec 2023 patch, some achievements are still bugged.
Despite this, I would highly recommend the game to fans of either the real-time tactics genre, or the Aliens universe!
I loved this game! I would describe it as a mash-up of Alien Isolation (atmosphere, difficulty) and Dawn of War 2 (squad-based real-time tactics). The devs really nailed the atmosphere of the original Aliens film, with healthy amounts of fan service. The game inspires a genuine sense of fear as you try to keep your marines alive - particularly in the earlier missions when you are under-leveled and under-geared.
There are some issues with the game: the later level designs are very "on-the rails" compared to earlier missions, the story ending and final epilogue mission are a bit of a let down, and as of the Dec 2023 patch, some achievements are still bugged.
Despite this, I would highly recommend the game to fans of either the real-time tactics genre, or the Aliens universe!
pendragon1
Extremely [H]
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2000
- Messages
- 52,249
guardians of the galaxy. was pretty good, fun, funny, looks good, sounds real nice with proper surround support but could have been longer. only gripe was, as Quill puts it; "the sappy stuff"...
and it was free too!
and it was free too!