Plutonia
2016
An always-online singleplayer game that suffers from nearly every symptom of early 2010's "cinematic game design". Scripted, linear, animation-centric, sluggish and unresponsive. With unacceptable checkpoint design and ridiculous loading times even on very fast hardware. Half the story is conveyed via TV show episodes that are streamed from external servers instead of installed locally, and half the exposition of the rest is delivered via incessant overly verbose text-only readables. The only person I can recommend this to is a Sam Lake super-fan, and even then I advise only to watch a playthrough. It's not worth being an interactive product. Also, the day those servers go down, you will lose half of what you paid for.
I bet many players uninstalled in Act 4 part 1. A puzzle with multiple consecutive insta-death timing challenges, and a single failure sends you back before two ladder climbs, two walking sections, four cutscenes and an entire miniboss fight. It's obvious that the checkpoints didn't go through a single second of QA.
I bet many players uninstalled in Act 4 part 1. A puzzle with multiple consecutive insta-death timing challenges, and a single failure sends you back before two ladder climbs, two walking sections, four cutscenes and an entire miniboss fight. It's obvious that the checkpoints didn't go through a single second of QA.
2016
The Simon's Quest of the modern age. A misguided sequel that abandoned most of the things that made the previous game good in order to seek a different audience, without actually putting much effort into trying to cater to them.
2023
A very faithful remake that trades in some of the charm of the original's insane design for a less obtuse user interface. The original is quite literally too far ahead of its time, having a UI that would be best suited for direct neural linking. So, sorry, but no analog character stance system in this one. This remake replaces all that with traditional FPS controls. Also, fortunately it doesn't add any training wheels, so you will have to pay attention to know what you're doing. The objectives and progression make sense and nothing is truly "hidden" so you will find what you need to find by exploring. Damage types are also very intuitive and it's easy to optimize the way you deal with combat. The game has a lot of replayability because of the weapon upgrades and limited inventory that force you to adopt specific loadouds. Apparently I never found one of the available weapons. The music is decent, but it's missing the chaotic dynamism of the original's music, which would mix and change with layers depending on your activities. This game basically just has music for exploration and music for combat, and the music director is lazy and often starts and ends the combat music too late.
It suffers from some minor annoyances, such as unskippable cutscenes and death animations. The item pickup system has some issues that are not present in the original. Keybinding is lacking, since you can't bind things to mouse 4 and 5. You also can't name your save files. The performance, though, is extremely good. A nice thing to see is that the game nearly devoid of all bugs. Only once did I encounter a bug that prevented healing items from functioning, and once I respawned on an unsecured deck even though I should have died, and the game crashed as a result.
It suffers from some minor annoyances, such as unskippable cutscenes and death animations. The item pickup system has some issues that are not present in the original. Keybinding is lacking, since you can't bind things to mouse 4 and 5. You also can't name your save files. The performance, though, is extremely good. A nice thing to see is that the game nearly devoid of all bugs. Only once did I encounter a bug that prevented healing items from functioning, and once I respawned on an unsecured deck even though I should have died, and the game crashed as a result.
Very good pacing between stealth, puzzle, passive and combat sections. Open levels that support multiple approaches by using the added new mechanics. Few puzzles have just a single solution. Also, just like in a proper stealth game, you cannot win a straight-up fight against physically superior opponents. You have to be unfair and deceptive, or avoid engagement entirely. The game has very good options and customization, and runs well despite looking incredible. Warning: There are no quicksaves, and the total reliance on autosaves and the presence of points-of-no-return can cause some issues like missed content or bad reset situations.
Don't play with raytracing on. The default lighting is so well made that the only difference you'll see is in the lowered framerate.
Don't play with raytracing on. The default lighting is so well made that the only difference you'll see is in the lowered framerate.
2023
It's like Penumbra but with gameplay design loaned from Resident Evil and Alien: Isolation, and it succeeds. All of those flaws with Amnesia: Rebirth? This is the antithesis.
This "game" continuously finds new ways to waste your time all the way to the very end. It's a sequel made by people who apparently do not make videogames, and it's a sequel that removed all game design. There is no tension, there is no sense of accomplishment or exploration. There is just walking forward and listening to pretentious drivel. Never allow Chinese Room to fool you into thinking that what they've made is a game, and that you should play it.
2021
Good art direction and nonexistent puzzle and gameplay design (walking sim where you just click on prompts). Control inputs are hard-coded into in-game interaction scripts and can't even be rebound in ini files. It handles the Lovecraft mythos in rather clumsy ways that are not friendly to the lore, anthropomorphizing and needlessly grounding things that should not be within mortal grasp.
2020
The gameplay is just a poor rip-off of the X-Wing/TIE Fighter series. There's just enough to showcase in marketing to convince players that it's being faithful to those games, but enough is missing for that gameplay to not work. Also, even though an attempt is made to have Imperial navy soldiers who just want to do the best job they can, the story still slips to cartoonish evil, because Disney can't help themselves. The villains can never be sympathetic in their eyes.
Here are some of the things that are wrong with the gameplay:
● Unlike XW, throttle presets of 0, 33, 66 and 100 don't exist, just throttle up and down. Being able to set increments is still not enough control, because it's hard to keep track of smaller increments, and big increments don't give you enough control. So, targets always move too fast or too slow.
● On a related note, there is no button to match target speed, which is an essential feature in the XW games
● The yaw-roll hybrid in the XW games seems to be a better form of control for space dogfights than full three-axis control, but there is no option for hybrid axes
● There is no tactical battlespace map, and you can't select targets to assign hotkeys for selecting them
● Dual radar for front and back is replaced by a single radar for front only. That is simply worse.
● Friendlies do not cover you from enemy starfighters even when your combat role is a bombing run. You will essentially have to do everything like it's an Ace Combat game
● The command to ask for assistance from your wingmates simply does not work. It does nothing. Your character clearly tells wingmates to target specific craft via radio, but when you press the support command key, nothing happens. So, all support basically just happens randomly.
● They actually have the audacity of having "return to playing area" warning in a space combat game. Where does the game think I'll go? There is empty space there, not a visible level geometry boundary.
● Capital ship turbolasers deal less damage to other capital ships than the player's normal blasters deal
● Solid objects have inaccurate hitboxes, causing you to collide with empty space if you try to fly close
● Mouse control cannot be unbound from ship steering, so you can't use it just for looking around the cockpit. All you're allowed to do is disable all mouse control, which means menus as well.
● You can select your character's face and voice, but the character is never seen, and only speaks during gameplay. In "conversations" the others just talk at you and you never respond. Selectively silent protagonists make no sense.
● They somehow managed to make an ambush mission as annoying as badly designed escort quests. Good job.
Here are some of the things that are wrong with the gameplay:
● Unlike XW, throttle presets of 0, 33, 66 and 100 don't exist, just throttle up and down. Being able to set increments is still not enough control, because it's hard to keep track of smaller increments, and big increments don't give you enough control. So, targets always move too fast or too slow.
● On a related note, there is no button to match target speed, which is an essential feature in the XW games
● The yaw-roll hybrid in the XW games seems to be a better form of control for space dogfights than full three-axis control, but there is no option for hybrid axes
● There is no tactical battlespace map, and you can't select targets to assign hotkeys for selecting them
● Dual radar for front and back is replaced by a single radar for front only. That is simply worse.
● Friendlies do not cover you from enemy starfighters even when your combat role is a bombing run. You will essentially have to do everything like it's an Ace Combat game
● The command to ask for assistance from your wingmates simply does not work. It does nothing. Your character clearly tells wingmates to target specific craft via radio, but when you press the support command key, nothing happens. So, all support basically just happens randomly.
● They actually have the audacity of having "return to playing area" warning in a space combat game. Where does the game think I'll go? There is empty space there, not a visible level geometry boundary.
● Capital ship turbolasers deal less damage to other capital ships than the player's normal blasters deal
● Solid objects have inaccurate hitboxes, causing you to collide with empty space if you try to fly close
● Mouse control cannot be unbound from ship steering, so you can't use it just for looking around the cockpit. All you're allowed to do is disable all mouse control, which means menus as well.
● You can select your character's face and voice, but the character is never seen, and only speaks during gameplay. In "conversations" the others just talk at you and you never respond. Selectively silent protagonists make no sense.
● They somehow managed to make an ambush mission as annoying as badly designed escort quests. Good job.
A phenomenal pseudo-RPG with realistically merciless combat, and tense and balanced relatively complex stealth mechanics. A huge amount of content, a wide variety of quest types, well-written believable characters, a strong sense of historical authenticity, and the most beautiful medieval countryside visuals you can find. It also has decent mod support.
Unfortunately the game suffers from really poor performance optimization. Unstable 40fps is what you will have to get used to. Also I'm not a fan of over-reliance on "immersive" first person animations for every interaction. Especially ones that flop the character's head around all over the place. Animators should understand what the vestibular system does.
Mind you that this is coming from a fan of Oblivion and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. -so many "horrible bugs" are just endearing to me. Also, the game crashed only once during about 80 hours of playing.
Unfortunately the game suffers from really poor performance optimization. Unstable 40fps is what you will have to get used to. Also I'm not a fan of over-reliance on "immersive" first person animations for every interaction. Especially ones that flop the character's head around all over the place. Animators should understand what the vestibular system does.
Mind you that this is coming from a fan of Oblivion and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. -so many "horrible bugs" are just endearing to me. Also, the game crashed only once during about 80 hours of playing.
A competent stealth puzzle game with surprisingly free approach to the puzzles and very well made tutorials. Very well paced gameplay. Music direction and art style are great. I recommend playing in French even if it's with subtitles.
This game can be very fun if it works, and most of the time it doesn't. The game has always been praised by its team combat, but that is definitely viewed through downright opaquely rose-tinted nostalgia goggles.
▲ The music is fantastic and seamlessly blends official and original songs
▲ The campaign follows the movies very well without taking many liberties
▲ Good characters. ...Well, it's just TMNT. 38 = Leonardo, 07 = Raphael, 40 = Donatello, 62 = Michaelangelo
▼ Horrendous PC port. The only thing that works without third party fixes is that the game runs when you click the executable.
▼ Inexcusably atrocious friendly AI. You can stand in place for 10 seconds with your entire squad around you and an enemy next to you and they will not attack the enemy. Even a "focus fire" directly targeting the enemy has a hard time. coercing your squad mates to attack the enemy. You will play a lot of the game without ammo because you will be the one killing the majority of enemies.
▼ The AI's inability to find targets to attack is exclusive to friendly AI. The enemy has no problem targeting and attacking your squad.
▼ Focus fire command has pinpoint precise input, so it's difficult to engage it accurately with fixed mouse control, and unreasonable to engage with vanilla control. Focus fire can also be cancelled with that same command so you can't even spam the button to get it to stick.
▼ Search & Destroy order does nothing of value since your squad fails to attack enemies they meet
▼ Squadmates sometimes get stuck on fortified positions and no Move On command can dislodge them. You need to run back to them and manually click the position
▼ Ludicrous bullet sponge enemies. When combined with your team's selective grasp of the chain of command, even a focused attack on one enemy, already weakened by a grenade that makes them vulnerable, can take nearly all of your ammo.
▼ Squadmates have a hard time targeting flying enemies unless placed at designated sniping spots
▼ Melee attack has buffered input
▲ The music is fantastic and seamlessly blends official and original songs
▲ The campaign follows the movies very well without taking many liberties
▲ Good characters. ...Well, it's just TMNT. 38 = Leonardo, 07 = Raphael, 40 = Donatello, 62 = Michaelangelo
▼ Horrendous PC port. The only thing that works without third party fixes is that the game runs when you click the executable.
▼ Inexcusably atrocious friendly AI. You can stand in place for 10 seconds with your entire squad around you and an enemy next to you and they will not attack the enemy. Even a "focus fire" directly targeting the enemy has a hard time. coercing your squad mates to attack the enemy. You will play a lot of the game without ammo because you will be the one killing the majority of enemies.
▼ The AI's inability to find targets to attack is exclusive to friendly AI. The enemy has no problem targeting and attacking your squad.
▼ Focus fire command has pinpoint precise input, so it's difficult to engage it accurately with fixed mouse control, and unreasonable to engage with vanilla control. Focus fire can also be cancelled with that same command so you can't even spam the button to get it to stick.
▼ Search & Destroy order does nothing of value since your squad fails to attack enemies they meet
▼ Squadmates sometimes get stuck on fortified positions and no Move On command can dislodge them. You need to run back to them and manually click the position
▼ Ludicrous bullet sponge enemies. When combined with your team's selective grasp of the chain of command, even a focused attack on one enemy, already weakened by a grenade that makes them vulnerable, can take nearly all of your ammo.
▼ Squadmates have a hard time targeting flying enemies unless placed at designated sniping spots
▼ Melee attack has buffered input
Just more of the same as the first game, with some added features. The core gameplay is more fun than before. The story is even dumber than before. The ending is inexcusable because it has you repeat an identical mission 20 times in a row.
A fairly competent GTA clone with fun martial arts gameplay mechanics. It would be a great GTA clone if the driving mechanics weren't absolute garbage. Story-wise it's as if someone fairly competent looked at Yakuza and thought "hmm... We can do that too but we don't actually need to make it into an over-the-top comedy to mask our inadequacy at writing."
2016
This is a very solid backbone of a shooter, with extremely finely crafted controls and great performance optimization. The content that rests on that backbone might be a bit questionable but even if you think it's garbage, it's garbage that you can play very efficiently. The options menus give you an exceptional amount of room for customization, even letting you pick individual mouse sensitivity to each separate type of zooming that happens in the game.
P.S Please don't believe any part of any story that this game tells about World War 1. It's pure fiction, and probably also afflicted by the developers' agendas. -And the last thing you should do is attempt any of the so-called tactics that were used. You do not try to take out anti-aircraft defenses using aircraft.
P.S Please don't believe any part of any story that this game tells about World War 1. It's pure fiction, and probably also afflicted by the developers' agendas. -And the last thing you should do is attempt any of the so-called tactics that were used. You do not try to take out anti-aircraft defenses using aircraft.
2014
A very good starter pack with a ton of features, but unfortunately the vast majority of the game's content is locked behind hundreds of dollars of DLC. The base game even has mechanics that cannot be used because they are entirely dependent on features that were cut out and are sold separately. There are also several basic features that were present in previous installments of the series, that are mysteriously absent from this game.