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Killzone : Shadow Fall takes place many years after Killzone 3, when Helghan has been destroyed and the survivors and refugees were taken in by Vekta. A wall was built on Vekta that spanned the entire circumference of the planet, half containing Vekta and the other, New Helghan.
Players take control of Lucas Kellen, a VSA operative who, when a new war is brewing, is sent into New Helghan on Special Ops missions to find out what the Helghast are planning.
STORY
I found the story to be rather compelling but I definitely thought the first half of the game had a better narrative and it started to fall apart slightly in the second half, which felt like it was rushed just to wrap up the game. The game took more of a stealthy "one man army" approach, rather than taking part in large battles, which I didn't mind as the game still had its fair share of epic set pieces, which were rather impressive for an early PS4 game. Unfortunately, the main characters in the story and very little personality so I had a hard time caring about them personally, but the world building did a good job of displaying the horrors of war between Vekta and New Helghan. I liked the fakeout ending but the actual ending was a little rushed.
GAMEPLAY
Killzone : Shadow Fall comes with that classic Killzone feel, which is ; heavy, clunky controls. Moving around the world wasn't as snappy and responsive as I would like, but the gunplay itself was satisfying and every weapon packs a punch. The missions had a lot of variety which they needed as most of them were quite long. The missions were a little more open ended than a typical shooter so the player had options of how to approach groups of enemies and to also explore a little to find collectables, but even though the game seemed to want you to use stealth, its was impossible most of the time which led to encounters devolving into shooting ranges. Something that kept the gameplay fresh was the drone that the player had control of, which was needed to take down certain types of enemies or traverse the environments using its built in zip-line.
AUDIO/VISUAL
Considering Killzone : Shadow Fall is a PS4 launch game, its graphics are stunning, even now in 2024, 11 years after its release. The atmosphere it is able to create helps Vekta and New Helghan feel lived in and shows the differences between them with Vektas brighter, blue colour filled environments vs New Helghans dark, grimey, red neon filled underworld. The game sounds very good, with other worldly machinery and weapons and action packed cutscenes really delivering the punch you would expect. The voice acting was mostly ok but the protagonist Lucas Kellen's bland voice acting didn't do much to help his already absent personality. David Harewood as Thomas Sinclair would be the highlight, convincingly showing Sinclairs increasing desperation throughout the story.
SUMMARY
Killzone : Shadow Fall is a decent FPS experience with a rather engaging narrative that carries the rest of an ok game. While there's nothing the game does terribly, it doesn't really do anything great either, other than graphics.
+ good story with good world building and environments.
+ satisfying gunplay.
+ Stunning graphics.
+ Plenty of mission variety.
+ Sounds good.
+ Music was great and builds tension.
- clunky movement
- 2nd half of the campaign not as good and rushed
- underdeveloped characters
- rushed ending
- missions a little too long
- multiplayer now unavailable
Players take control of Lucas Kellen, a VSA operative who, when a new war is brewing, is sent into New Helghan on Special Ops missions to find out what the Helghast are planning.
STORY
I found the story to be rather compelling but I definitely thought the first half of the game had a better narrative and it started to fall apart slightly in the second half, which felt like it was rushed just to wrap up the game. The game took more of a stealthy "one man army" approach, rather than taking part in large battles, which I didn't mind as the game still had its fair share of epic set pieces, which were rather impressive for an early PS4 game. Unfortunately, the main characters in the story and very little personality so I had a hard time caring about them personally, but the world building did a good job of displaying the horrors of war between Vekta and New Helghan. I liked the fakeout ending but the actual ending was a little rushed.
GAMEPLAY
Killzone : Shadow Fall comes with that classic Killzone feel, which is ; heavy, clunky controls. Moving around the world wasn't as snappy and responsive as I would like, but the gunplay itself was satisfying and every weapon packs a punch. The missions had a lot of variety which they needed as most of them were quite long. The missions were a little more open ended than a typical shooter so the player had options of how to approach groups of enemies and to also explore a little to find collectables, but even though the game seemed to want you to use stealth, its was impossible most of the time which led to encounters devolving into shooting ranges. Something that kept the gameplay fresh was the drone that the player had control of, which was needed to take down certain types of enemies or traverse the environments using its built in zip-line.
AUDIO/VISUAL
Considering Killzone : Shadow Fall is a PS4 launch game, its graphics are stunning, even now in 2024, 11 years after its release. The atmosphere it is able to create helps Vekta and New Helghan feel lived in and shows the differences between them with Vektas brighter, blue colour filled environments vs New Helghans dark, grimey, red neon filled underworld. The game sounds very good, with other worldly machinery and weapons and action packed cutscenes really delivering the punch you would expect. The voice acting was mostly ok but the protagonist Lucas Kellen's bland voice acting didn't do much to help his already absent personality. David Harewood as Thomas Sinclair would be the highlight, convincingly showing Sinclairs increasing desperation throughout the story.
SUMMARY
Killzone : Shadow Fall is a decent FPS experience with a rather engaging narrative that carries the rest of an ok game. While there's nothing the game does terribly, it doesn't really do anything great either, other than graphics.
+ good story with good world building and environments.
+ satisfying gunplay.
+ Stunning graphics.
+ Plenty of mission variety.
+ Sounds good.
+ Music was great and builds tension.
- clunky movement
- 2nd half of the campaign not as good and rushed
- underdeveloped characters
- rushed ending
- missions a little too long
- multiplayer now unavailable
Bioshock 2 has players return to Rapture, after the events of BioShock 1, in the form of a big daddy, subject Delta. The stage is very quickly set as we meet our new baddie Sofia Lamb, who is the mother of our little sister, Eleanor. Sofia takes Eleanor away from us and after 10 years have passed, sunject Delta sets out into Rapture once more to find her.
It was a delight to return to rapture and see some new environments and meet some more of the influential characters that shaped them. Though the story doesn't quite match its predecessor, it was still a fairly good time, though there were certain aspects of it that didn't make a lot of sense to me.
The gameplay takes what BioShock did and just refines it, making it feel a bit nicer and tightens the gunplay, which is good as there seems to be a bit more action in this game. It was cool to play as a big daddy and use the iconic drill, as well as buddy up with little sisters to gather adam throughout the game.
I feel like some of the objectives, especially early game, were just re-treading familiar water as the first game, with acquiring your first plasmids and the research camera.
Rapture was as enthralling as ever and is now even more decrepit than the first game as more time has passed. I liked to turn off the objective waypoint as it makes it much more immersive to navigate rapture using signs and the environment.
Bioshock 2 is definitely worth playing for fans of the first, even if it does fall a little short, but interesting characters and a better ending than the first game make it worth it.
It was a delight to return to rapture and see some new environments and meet some more of the influential characters that shaped them. Though the story doesn't quite match its predecessor, it was still a fairly good time, though there were certain aspects of it that didn't make a lot of sense to me.
The gameplay takes what BioShock did and just refines it, making it feel a bit nicer and tightens the gunplay, which is good as there seems to be a bit more action in this game. It was cool to play as a big daddy and use the iconic drill, as well as buddy up with little sisters to gather adam throughout the game.
I feel like some of the objectives, especially early game, were just re-treading familiar water as the first game, with acquiring your first plasmids and the research camera.
Rapture was as enthralling as ever and is now even more decrepit than the first game as more time has passed. I liked to turn off the objective waypoint as it makes it much more immersive to navigate rapture using signs and the environment.
Bioshock 2 is definitely worth playing for fans of the first, even if it does fall a little short, but interesting characters and a better ending than the first game make it worth it.
This review contains spoilers
Minerva's Den is a heartfelt and touching story that takes the best parts of Bioshock 2's gameplay and encapsulates it in a short and sweet story about human emotion. Hearing Porters desperation as he tries to recreate Pearls personality with The Thinker as he realises he's gone too far is heart-breaking, and the revelation that subject Sigma was Porter the whole time was great, though slightly predictable as the end nears.
Valiant Hearts is a charming game that takes you through the First World War through the eyes of a French family and friends. The lovable characters and art style in this game help deliver a unique experience and view of WW1, all the levels were excellently designed and new mechanics were introduced throughout the entire game, ensuring it didn’t get boring.
Each level has plenty of puzzles that are fun to solve and contain war collectibles that give a lot of interesting information on items that were used during the war. Each mission also has trivia to learn more about the events and facts of the First World War.
The story of this family trying to make it through the war hit the emotional beats I would expect it to and left me with a heavy heart at the end.
Each level has plenty of puzzles that are fun to solve and contain war collectibles that give a lot of interesting information on items that were used during the war. Each mission also has trivia to learn more about the events and facts of the First World War.
The story of this family trying to make it through the war hit the emotional beats I would expect it to and left me with a heavy heart at the end.
2010
Limbo is a classic puzzle game and it does very well to encapsulate what you want in a puzzle game.
The game seemingly has no story, other than the player character waking up in "Limbo" and finding their way through a series of deadly puzzles until he is reunited with a little girl on the other side, whom could be interpreted to be his little sister.
Interpret is a good word to use when talking about limbo as most aspects of the game are open to interpretation; who the little boy is, where all these enemies come from and what the traps all represent. I interpret these all to be fragments of his imagination manifesting as a Limbo in-between life and death.
Limbo is very atmospheric and makes good use of a black and white art style, combined with sparse and eerie audio, to create a very uneasy environment.
the controls are very simple, but the traps become very elaborate towards the end of the game as some are actually quite challenging.
Limbo is short and sweet, but its a game I played for the first time many years ago and I've never forgotten it.
The game seemingly has no story, other than the player character waking up in "Limbo" and finding their way through a series of deadly puzzles until he is reunited with a little girl on the other side, whom could be interpreted to be his little sister.
Interpret is a good word to use when talking about limbo as most aspects of the game are open to interpretation; who the little boy is, where all these enemies come from and what the traps all represent. I interpret these all to be fragments of his imagination manifesting as a Limbo in-between life and death.
Limbo is very atmospheric and makes good use of a black and white art style, combined with sparse and eerie audio, to create a very uneasy environment.
the controls are very simple, but the traps become very elaborate towards the end of the game as some are actually quite challenging.
Limbo is short and sweet, but its a game I played for the first time many years ago and I've never forgotten it.
This review contains spoilers
Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty; is an incredibly ingenious espionage story that constantly throws twists and turns at you that has the player re-evaluating and analysing the story differently after its conclusion.
STORY
The player takes the role of Raiden, a spy for an unnamed organization, tasked with infiltrating the "Big Shell", an environmental clean-up site after it is taken over by terrorists and the president is taken hostage. In classic metal gear fashion, the player encounters a squad of larger than life antagonists called DEAD CELL, and the whole story of the terrorist plot, and Raiden's involvement, starts to unravel.
A lot of the story and reveals revolves around the distribution of information in the modern digital world, and is still very relevant today in 2023. I found the story to be very compelling and turned out to be much more than it seemed on the surface, as the whole game of Raiden trying to take down the terrorist's on the Big Shell turned out to be a simulation meticulously crafted by the Patriots to train the ultimate soldier, modelled after Solid Snake during the Shadow Moses Incident.
Then, at the end of the game, it is revealed that the S3 program, thought to train a "Snake-like" soldier, is actually a series of protocols to make certain events happen that would allow the patriots to control humanities free will, thus the human race would evolve into an entirely controllable species. The game ends with the sentiment that every individual decides their own fate, and who they want to be.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of MGS2 expands on a lot of systems from the first game, and refines them making stealth very satisfying. The whole game takes place on the Big Shell, and involves the player unlocking more parts of it piece by piece as the game progresses, using key cards to enter new areas, much like the first game. I found the Big Shell to be a good backdrop for the game and enjoyed exploring it. this time around, the player has access to more gadgets and weapons to play with during the game.
VERDICT
I'm sure nostalgia may play a part in why I like the game so much as it was a favourite from my childhood, but I find it to be a brilliant, thought provoking experience full of great characters and moments, to make a game that still holds up excellently today.
STORY
The player takes the role of Raiden, a spy for an unnamed organization, tasked with infiltrating the "Big Shell", an environmental clean-up site after it is taken over by terrorists and the president is taken hostage. In classic metal gear fashion, the player encounters a squad of larger than life antagonists called DEAD CELL, and the whole story of the terrorist plot, and Raiden's involvement, starts to unravel.
A lot of the story and reveals revolves around the distribution of information in the modern digital world, and is still very relevant today in 2023. I found the story to be very compelling and turned out to be much more than it seemed on the surface, as the whole game of Raiden trying to take down the terrorist's on the Big Shell turned out to be a simulation meticulously crafted by the Patriots to train the ultimate soldier, modelled after Solid Snake during the Shadow Moses Incident.
Then, at the end of the game, it is revealed that the S3 program, thought to train a "Snake-like" soldier, is actually a series of protocols to make certain events happen that would allow the patriots to control humanities free will, thus the human race would evolve into an entirely controllable species. The game ends with the sentiment that every individual decides their own fate, and who they want to be.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of MGS2 expands on a lot of systems from the first game, and refines them making stealth very satisfying. The whole game takes place on the Big Shell, and involves the player unlocking more parts of it piece by piece as the game progresses, using key cards to enter new areas, much like the first game. I found the Big Shell to be a good backdrop for the game and enjoyed exploring it. this time around, the player has access to more gadgets and weapons to play with during the game.
VERDICT
I'm sure nostalgia may play a part in why I like the game so much as it was a favourite from my childhood, but I find it to be a brilliant, thought provoking experience full of great characters and moments, to make a game that still holds up excellently today.
This review contains spoilers
Arkham Origins is a prequel to the arkham trilogy, and is a decent attempt at the arkham formula. Though the game isn't quite as polished as the trilogy, it does a good job capturing the classic arkham gameplay while offering new toys and gadgets, as well as a compelling origin story.
PROS
+ There are a handful of detective segments in the game that let batman show his puzzle solving skills.
+ The story was interesting and is was good seeing how the joker became batman's nemesis.
+ New gadgets were fun, namely the shock gloves (and thermal gloves in the DLC)
+ The main mission design was good and each villain encounter was interesting and memorable.
+ It was good to see a young, angry batman as he learns to manage his responsibility and his strained relationship with alfred.
CONS
- Felt like DLC toArkham City due to same map being used, though there were some different internal locations.
- Riddler stuff is still tedious and i didn't bother doing it.
- A bit buggy and not as polished as i would like.
- graphics seem a little worse than Arkham City.
DLC
The Cold,Cold Heart DLC was good and showed batmans first encounter with Mr. Freeze.
The story was great and offered a few interesting segments and boss fight at the end.
PROS
+ There are a handful of detective segments in the game that let batman show his puzzle solving skills.
+ The story was interesting and is was good seeing how the joker became batman's nemesis.
+ New gadgets were fun, namely the shock gloves (and thermal gloves in the DLC)
+ The main mission design was good and each villain encounter was interesting and memorable.
+ It was good to see a young, angry batman as he learns to manage his responsibility and his strained relationship with alfred.
CONS
- Felt like DLC toArkham City due to same map being used, though there were some different internal locations.
- Riddler stuff is still tedious and i didn't bother doing it.
- A bit buggy and not as polished as i would like.
- graphics seem a little worse than Arkham City.
DLC
The Cold,Cold Heart DLC was good and showed batmans first encounter with Mr. Freeze.
The story was great and offered a few interesting segments and boss fight at the end.
2016
Firewatch is a beautiful game that encapsulated that feeling of escaping from your normal life for one summer and one summer only.
The game is emotionally striking right from the offset by setting up Henry's life with Julia to give context for him escaping to nature for the summer to work in a firewatch tower. The colours, tone and music are all perfect at creating an almost therapeutic feeling while playing.
The voice acting from Henry and Delilah are great and their back and forth is fun to listen to as they start off as strangers and become something more over the summer, only for Delilah to reaffirm at the end that her and Henry must both return to their normal lives and responsibilities. Its a sort of melancholy ending, like a summer fling that you had an amazing adventure with, has come to an end.
There are moments throughout the game where you'll just be hiking to a location on the map and the nice, relaxing music kicks in and its good to just be in the moment and enjoy the scenery.
The story takes a turn about half way through and becomes quite eerie, making wandering through nature, which used to be a nice relaxing experience, a bit more strenuous as it feels like you're always being watched. Of course it turns out that it wasn't how it seemed, which leads to a melancholy, satisfying ending.
Firewatch really felt like going on a one time experience over the summer that just cant be recreated.
The game is emotionally striking right from the offset by setting up Henry's life with Julia to give context for him escaping to nature for the summer to work in a firewatch tower. The colours, tone and music are all perfect at creating an almost therapeutic feeling while playing.
The voice acting from Henry and Delilah are great and their back and forth is fun to listen to as they start off as strangers and become something more over the summer, only for Delilah to reaffirm at the end that her and Henry must both return to their normal lives and responsibilities. Its a sort of melancholy ending, like a summer fling that you had an amazing adventure with, has come to an end.
There are moments throughout the game where you'll just be hiking to a location on the map and the nice, relaxing music kicks in and its good to just be in the moment and enjoy the scenery.
The story takes a turn about half way through and becomes quite eerie, making wandering through nature, which used to be a nice relaxing experience, a bit more strenuous as it feels like you're always being watched. Of course it turns out that it wasn't how it seemed, which leads to a melancholy, satisfying ending.
Firewatch really felt like going on a one time experience over the summer that just cant be recreated.
Knife of Dunwall was an okay experience at delivering more of the same of the main game of Dishonored. Although I didn't find the story to be very interesting and it ended on a cliff-hanger which I assume will be completed with the next and final DLC pack.
Red Dead Redemption 2 made me feel emotions I have never felt playing a video game, I don't think I will ever play anything like it again.
The process of becoming attached to Dutch van der Linde's gang and seeing it all deteriorate and fade away in the 76 hours I spent with the game was heart-breaking and such a rewarding experience. I did not see myself becoming so attached to the characters, specifically protagonist Arthur Morgan, to the point of looking forward to and anticipating every little interaction with them all, good and bad.
I have never seen so much love and care put into a video game and its clear this is Rockstar's magnum opus
The process of becoming attached to Dutch van der Linde's gang and seeing it all deteriorate and fade away in the 76 hours I spent with the game was heart-breaking and such a rewarding experience. I did not see myself becoming so attached to the characters, specifically protagonist Arthur Morgan, to the point of looking forward to and anticipating every little interaction with them all, good and bad.
I have never seen so much love and care put into a video game and its clear this is Rockstar's magnum opus
2023
I think the atmosphere and vibe created in Diablo IV's story is unparalleled. The story is gripping and definitely worth playing through, which surprised me about an ARPG. Lilith was a very captivating antagonist and the cutscenes throughout the story were very well done, especially the pre rendered ones.
2016
The atmosphere mixed with the eclectic group of characters you stumble upon makes Rapture a place I didn't want to leave.
Uncovering the story of the downfall of rapture through audio tapes is riveting and the twists and turns along the way are great. Gameplay has aged well considering Bioshock originally released in 2007, with engaging combat and exploration with a slew of satisfying plasmids to try out.
I'm sure I'll be thinking about rapture long after I have left.
Uncovering the story of the downfall of rapture through audio tapes is riveting and the twists and turns along the way are great. Gameplay has aged well considering Bioshock originally released in 2007, with engaging combat and exploration with a slew of satisfying plasmids to try out.
I'm sure I'll be thinking about rapture long after I have left.
Dead Island shows its age now as combat and traversal proved rather clunky and dated, though visuals still hold up. Story started off as a run of the mill zombie outbreak but got a little crazy when i started fighting tribal gangs in the jungle.
Even though this DLC for dishonored was shorter than the last, it was much better. This DLC concludes Dauds story, with him spending his final days hunting down Delilah to save Emily.
This DLC was much more memorable than the last and contained a better story with better characters and unique locations.
This DLC was much more memorable than the last and contained a better story with better characters and unique locations.
2011
Portal 2 is a great puzzle game full of charm and wit that takes the formula of the first portal and expands on it and improves it in every way.
The characters Wheatly and GladOS are very funny and constantly had me grinning as I listened to Wheatly's British banter and GladOS' sarcastic abuse towards the player throughout the game.
The puzzles get very complex towards the end, making use of multiple mechanics to solve the puzzles, though I found a couple of the later ones to be a little frustrating, otherwise I probably would have given the game a 5.
I loved the story of going through Aperture Industries and finding out more about the facility and all the personalities within, while testing and getting to know the robot AI's.
The characters Wheatly and GladOS are very funny and constantly had me grinning as I listened to Wheatly's British banter and GladOS' sarcastic abuse towards the player throughout the game.
The puzzles get very complex towards the end, making use of multiple mechanics to solve the puzzles, though I found a couple of the later ones to be a little frustrating, otherwise I probably would have given the game a 5.
I loved the story of going through Aperture Industries and finding out more about the facility and all the personalities within, while testing and getting to know the robot AI's.