A solid DLC campaign. It did have some more mission variety than the main game and the emphasis on biker gangs did lead to some fun main and side missions across the board. Having friends that can give you bikes and ammo is cool. The shootouts in the optional gang wars and in the main missions also are a ton of fun. The system of gang members levelling up I felt wasn't really apparent

The story was enjoyable but kind of an unfocused mess not giving it's multiple plot threads enough attention or rushing through them like the Lost civil war or the issues with his junkie girlfriend. It did have some good writing, Johnny's voice acting can range from just fine to kind of overdoing it. He also was not really anywhere near as compelling as Niko and didn't really have as strong of a narrative hook to make him stand out with the other GTA protagonists.

I got to say the constant missions ending with four star police chases started to get annoying. In GTA 4 you need to take slower turns as it is to avoid your bike slipping and turning properly, but in scenarios where you have to outrun all these vehicles coming from every direction I had two missions where it felt like it took ten minutes for me to get lucky to get out of the police zone which was just too much.

I still prefer San Andreas but this was still a really damn good game. Niko at first was a meh protagonist but they really develop him into a much more sympathetic and sarcastic yet brooding man with a dark past and his Slavic accent was just fun to hear. While the story has a lot of filler it does do a good job of immersing you in it's world which is helped by it's really strong voice acting and writing. However the whole morality system where you make decisions on outcomes such as if an individual should be spared or not didn't really affect much in terms of dialogue instead of one choice that changes which ending you get but it was still a neat little thing which made me repeat saves out of curiosity of how dialogue would change .It also does suffer from some tonal issues with the story being a much darker tale of revenge compared to other GTA games yet still having some characters that feel like cartoon caricatures. Even the missions while there are a lot of amazing standouts like the heist mission that pays homage to the movie heat can sometimes just feel like you're doing the same thing again and you really feel that when they make you drive through the same bridges how many times.

Into more of the gameplay there is a steep curve if you're accustomed to the sixth gen GTA games, the vehicle handling took a lot to get used too since they attempted to make it a lot more realistic and was at times pretty frustrating to control with turns needing pre determined slow down to avoid major collisions, you do however learn how to apply brakes more to master quicker turns which was satisfying to get better at. The physics system was really awesome and gave things a lot more weight and risk as well, momentum playing a part in knocking down objects and letting your cars fly was a really fun risky tradeoff for how much more dangerous high speed crashes are in this game. The way the cars realistically get damaged was also technically really fascinating. I do prefer the more arcadey and smooth feeling of how San Andreas's vehicles handled (besides the horrid planes) but it still gets points for trying something new and doing it well.

The shooting also is something that gets a major overhaul with a cover system which impressively allows use to hide for cover behind any appropriately sized object. There is a level of jank to it but it works really well and makes shootouts a lot more fun.

Onto the main attraction, Liberty City itself, it does lack in visual variety compared to San Andreas having mostly cities and watered down suburbs to navigate through but it does make up for it for the sheer amount of things you have to do. Bowling and billiards are implemented nicely well and the social interaction system while can get a little tiresome does immerse you in the world. The NPCs do have a lot more character and things going on as well, they do have their moments of jank AI but you'd be surprised how many unique actions you can spot them doing as you pass them by. This game's world at night especially the central city area still looks absolutely gorgeous all these years later, soaking that view in on a helicopter is really cool.

A much bigger and more dynamic sequel which while that lends itself to having more exciting locations and more diverse characters, kills some of the simplicity that made the first game one of my favorite indie games.

HM1's tighter level design allowed a greater sense of surveying the environment and greater control over what has happening. The bigger levels in the sequel do allow for more sprawling and exciting environments but it comes at the cost of being overstuffed as there's way too many enemies with some being out of sight unfairly sniping you without even being registered on your radar. It leads to a lot of deaths feeling cheap and the feeling of having to restart after making good progress on a floor even more frustrating.

This game's structure functions around the non linear story taking place before, during and after Jacket's rampage in the first game. There's multiple characters you play as throughout so different characters may have different abilities and level design suited around what the story is. A lot of it is really cool with one character having cover shooting come into play and others coming with fun twists on the formula like duel machine guns and a duo character. However this does create some issues like a lack of consistency and apparent progression as the mask system is way less emphasized with the characters that use them being spread out far in the campaign. The story was unfortunately a confusing mess with very little time spent on one storyline before it's jumped around and eventually wrapped up making it's shocking ending leave less of an impact on me.

I was harsh on this game but that's mostly because I loved the first game so much and this game really did change things that made that one great. It's still a fantastic top down shooter and is endlessly replayable thanks to custom levels via Steam Workshop.

First game I started for this year and oh boy this was absolutely amazing, easily the best top down shooter I've ever played. This game really operates in a way with it's lack of HP but generous checkpoints where it allows you to really learn the enemies movement and come up with new strategies. The levels are so well designed around this where choosing which weapons you want to equip to take down certain enemies really gets you to think in a way where finally taking a down is some of the most accomplished feelings you can get in a game. The masks give so much replay value allowing you to complete these levels with a lot of variety. So while this game is difficult it didn't frustrate me as I progressively got better at it's mechanics to really learn how to get through these levels as efficiently as possible. When I was replaying the chapters after I beat the campaign I became so much better that I was clearing them way quicker than I did originally.

The 80's retrowave aesthetics and music really adds a lot more charm to the already fun and brutal gameplay.
Unfortunately the weird interruptions in the story like that terrible hospital stealth level, vague bosses and the meh biker levels hold it back but this is still an outstanding game regardless.

Most of the time this game is really fun and it's just mindless mayhem you can get around to when you're bored.

The 80s aesthetic and pop culture references to wider gaming was played mostly well with it being incorporated into the actual gameplay and missions. However it does so much of them at once that it becomes cheap at times and the story can get pretty incomprehensible. The core freeroaming gameplay can grow tired since there isn't really much to do due to the limited scope as well as the AI being very bogstandard.

Still a really fun timewaster but it is a little chaotic for its own good

A small but more sizeable than expected spinoff using Uncharted 4's engine. It was nice to have Chloe back and giving Nadine some needed growth after her story abruptly ends in 4. The gunplay segments build on the parts that Uncharted 4 did well and while some of the puzzles were nothingburgers there were some solid ones that made me think and were better than base Uncharted 4.

Of course while the story is fun it is pretty by the numbers especially for Uncharted standards, I liked Chloe and Nadine growing to trust each other but it was played in a very cliche and rushed manner at times. Also the one chapter where it's a massive area you can explore while was really cool initially really overstayed its welcome and Uncharted's gameplay style is just simply not designed for open-ended exploration in this way,

I'll applaud the graphics, the technical achievement of getting a Sonic game running on the Doom engine. the fun Nights inspired special stages as well as it's application of modding tools.

But holy shit the level design is such a confusing mess I couldn't make it through. The controls and physics are wack too just making obvious spring jumps impossible. It's way too open making you lose track of your position in the level and a long time wandering in circles. What a shame because i really wanted to like it

Definitely too short and seeing the amount of cut content from the original was disappointing. The replay value is very lacking and the levels aren't as tightly designed besides the hospital which was a highlight.

Still I had a ton of fun with this game. The RE2 remake engine is already fun alone so getting more of that was great. I also really liked the perfect dodge mechanic giving a fresh new way to avoid zombies. Nemesis wasn't perfect but I really enjoyed how menacing he was and how he constantly evolved throughout the game. I enjoyed seeing Jill again and Carlos was a surprisingly awesome character.

I didn't enjoy the first RE remake so getting right into this I couldn't be more pleasantly surprised. The game generally feels really great to play and really perfects the Resident Evil formula and fixes a lot of tedious aspects that hold back the classic formula from being truly enjoyable for me. It gives you so many options to play it your way that even when I came up some frustrating segments I had the freedom to experiment until I mastered some segments.

The general atmosphere, environments and map layout are so well crafted that I was fully immersed in it's world and did legitimately get spooked by some parts when I was on low health. Of course there's still some weaker puzzles and some less than stellar backtracking but it was very few and far between that it didn't bother me as much.

It's a ton of fun, Crash controls really well (besides the slide jump being really stiff) and some of these levels are really well designed especially the final one. I really enjoyed the off the wall humor and the really endearingly goofy ways that Crash and Cortex team up in some segments leading to some fun gameplay gimmicks that spruce things up.

Sadly the nature of it being rushed does lead to a lot of jankiness, awkward structure and really odd glitches that makes you lose a lot of progress. The physics for those little ball challenges were so finnicky that I went crazy. Nina was a fun addition but her being mute was very obviously not the plan and made her scenes really awkward, this also affects some bosses which appear out of nowhere without any build up and some are weirdly designed in general. While Crash and Nina are fun, Cortex's sections are really boring and halt the pacing down.

While it's a really fun game, the rushed nature of it does get in the way of it being truly great. I hope a remake that lets the game live up to it's true potential is on the cards in the future.

The journey I began with Nathan Drake since I've been giving these games a try since February finally wraps up.

The stories of these games didn't completely live up to the endless praise I always heard about it, but it still overall was a solid story as the acting, visuals and earnestness of it all kept you immersed in it's characters and world. I thought it was at least a step-up from 3 and delivering a satisfying conclusion to his character. It's worth applauding that the introduction of his lost brother who hasn't been mentioned a single time in the previous games was handled well. There's great moments of acting and you begin to connect with these characters you've spent the in thanks to the amazing acting and convincing motion capture/ facial expressions. It still does try a little too hard to be emotional just slowing the pace down and taking a long time before you get back into gameplay, like the scenes with a younger Nate and Sam, the first one was fine for reintroducing the mechanics and their relationships. However the second time was just really boring and went on too long, I would've appreciated dialing these back a little
It did however feel like another rehash of the previous games even with the promise of something much more darker toned and challenging for an older Drake. The Uncharted villains have always been the sour spot of their stories, Rafe had some potential for being a better villain but the way his character is wrapped up made him revolve to a one dimensional angry rich kid which was lame, Nadine just disappears and doesn't have a complete storyline, even with Lost Legacy bringing her back this felt unsatifying. The tension feels non existent as the same ridicolous plot armor on a story trying to be more grounded and dark, while it was well presented it didn't feel like it's consequences really justified the whole thing besides setting the stage for a new adventure for Drake to embark on. I'm usually not too hard on the story for videogames like this but when they spend extended downtime feeding you a story you're supposed to take more seriously then I'll critique it harder.


This is still visually one of the most gorgeous games on the market and it's been seven years since it released. The character models and the environments are so life-like that it's pretty insane how so few games have been able to keep up with bar it set. There's some great setpieces here especially the chase in the streets of Madagascar which dynamically changes between different scenarios. It does feel like the other setpieces however are much more automated and don't reach the heights of the last two games.

Finally getting to the gameplay, it's still very similar to the previous games but has an added stifness to it to emphasize his older age. The grappling hook is a really cool addition and adds some more manouverability to the climbing, combat and puzzle sections though by the end of the game it doesn't really do anything new with it so it loses it's innovation.
The puzzles in this game are a lot more simplified than the previous trilogyThe shootouts were solid but their sense of pacing was a mess. The game hardly attempts to keep things fresh in the encounters unlike Uncharted 2 which was excellent in elevating the combat encounters as the game went on unlike this one where most of them felt the same. When the game finally begins to include more dynamic maps for combat and more varied weapons it's pretty much the last hour and it's over quickly after that. It's a shame because the shooting and the animations are so much better than the previous games and while it was still fun it's own right there was more potential to really push it further.

Another repetitive aspect of this game is the traversal, the climbing segments went on for way too long and the amount of times I had to wander around for some vague wall that lead to another box you had to climb was really pushing it by the end. The game's levels are created to be much more open which really did add to a sense of immersion and scale and was a pure joy to but it often lead to me wandering off from where I needed to go, it feels like it clashes with the linear structure of the game at times.

It may seem like I'm going too hard but I did fall for a bit of overhype expecting a masterpiece. I still think its overall a well polished and fun shooter with fantastic presentation and a flawed story that still kept me immersed with great acting and characters.