It's cool to see this series evolve and I really think with this title it is going in the right direction. Instead of an open world, it's more of a hub map where you decide which objective you want to do first and in whichever order.

Gameplay is more or less the same as in SGW3 with some additional gadgets to play around with.

The biggest issue with this game was that it started off strong, but started losing steam quite quickly. The last few missions have few good sightlines, so you are more or less forced into CQC encounters. Strange decision for a game that emphasizes sniping.

Definitely not as bad as most people make it out to be, but for sure there is room for improvement.

If you played the previous titles, you know exactly what to expect. It's more or less the same game as the 2nd one, but open world.

The biggest improvement I'd say is the sniping, since picking enemies off from long distance is extremely satisfying. Totally recommend playing on "Hard Mode", since it disables the sniping aim assist.
The gameplay structure was somewhat reminiscent of Far Cry 2. You pick a mission from your safe house, drive to outpost, kill guy and return to the safe house to do it all over again.

I think the most annoying thing with this series is that it constantly copies big blockbuster titles. It's a shame, since the elements that make this franchise unique are done well, but copying other titles will always make it a victim of harsh comparison.

Overall, a fun game with plenty of potential for future titles, they just need to muster more confidence and stand firmly behind their fundamentals.

While the original Serious Sam titles were great fun, it seems that Croteam really lost their footing after Serious Sam 3.

Serious Sam 4 feels extremely uninspired from all aspects and is a chore to play through. I don't understand how in a game all about shooting hordes of enemies, the action manages to stay extremely boring through out the entire campaign.

I can somewhat forgive the shortcomings of Serious Sam 3, since from a tech point of view, it was a big step up from Serious Sam 2. With this in mind one would only expect improvements on this title, but absolutely none are to be found. The only upside is that you can play the game in co-op, otherwise I really do not see the point in playing it at all.
Strange to see such a tried and true formula done so poorly by the guys who started it.

Without mincing words, Serious Sam 4 is a shitty game hiding its faults behind the legacy of the franchise.

I went into this one completely blind and was not disappointed.

In most media Norse mythology is done fairly boring, but in Rune it definitely feels different. It felt like it managed to capture the grit and atmosphere of the mythos very well. Having played this, I wish the new God of War games would've dared to go more into the same direction, both in regards to the narrative and overall atmosphere.

The gameplay is solid and very responsive with each fight feeling visceral and intense. It also blew me away that a game from early 2000s had such solid platforming and swimming mechanics.

A few things that bothered me:
Many of the levels were too dark. This made finding the way to progress unnecessarily difficult. Also I would have preferred that the energy used for special abilities would've refilled overtime, rather than having to find runes in the world.

Really worth checking this one out, it still holds up very well!

It blows my mind that a game like this was made for a portable device.

If you played Chains of Olympus or any other GOW game, you know what to expect. I would go as far as saying that in many areas it surpasses the original GOW game. Great gameplay accompanied by fantastic visuals and a surprisingly gripping narrative makes this for a very solid title.

It was also cool that the progression felt rather fast and you had most of your stats maxed by the end of the game.

Definitely a great game and a fantastic part of PSP's legendary portfolio.

When compared to its predecessor this one improves upon practically every aspect.

The gameplay is simple yet fun and the campaign does not overstay its welcome which is a big plus. Sequences where you are providing overwatch for your squad from a vantage point were the highlights for me.

It could get frustrating at times, since the AI's sightlines can be highly unpredictable, especially in the "Siberian Strike" addon campaign. Also a shame that quick saves were replaced with a checkpoint system, because sometimes you can lose quite a bit of progress if you die or get spotted.

Considering how cheap you can get this game nowadays, it's worth trying out, especially if you're in the mood for a simple game where you don't need to overcommit.

In a game focused around sniping, there really isn't that much sniping to be found and what little there is, is extremely basic. More or less after the first mission the game forgets what makes the title unique in the first place and tries its hardest to mimic a blockbuster AAA shooter.

It has some fun parts, like when you get to play as a spotter, since it focuses on the core mechanics far more than the rest of the game. Unfortunately sections like these are far too scarce.

Definitely not the worst game I've ever played, but it manages to stay disappointing pretty much the entire way.

Neither better nor worse than the original game, but definitely different.

It went for more "realistic" gameplay, but this shift made the game rather frustrating at certain parts. Poor weapon handling coupled with hitscan enemies that never miss is a bit of a discouraging combo.
Luckily there is a mod called "Weapons Mod v5", which overhauls the gunplay and makes the game far more enjoyable.

The level design was quite strange, because most of the time it's pretty straight forward, but some of the later levels can test your patience, since it's very unclear where you should be going.

Despite the focus on realism, it still retains what made the first game so memorable, so there's still plenty of gory shootouts to be had here. Great fun when it all clicks together.

This game has aged relatively well, especially compared to other games from that era.

The gameplay is simple, but really solid. Shooting is satisfying with gun sounds so loud that they will permanently damage your hearing. I especially liked the ambience in New York levels, they had this nasty grunge feeling, it really complimented the brutal gameplay.

I think the main issue for me was engine related, since the character would sometimes slide around when the framerate was higher than 30 FPS. This could lead to some frustrating moments when platforming or engaged in combat.

Definitely worth experiencing this classic.

After playing Dawn of War 2 along with its expansions, this game feels like a regression in almost every way.

The campaign tries to somewhat strike a balance between the first and second Dawn of War games. You still have hero units, but for most missions you need to build a base and manage your regular units. The main issue is that this core gameplay loop is a chore to play.
Here's an example of 90% of campaign missions in DOW3:

- Capture points to get resources at an extremely slow rate, no matter if you upgraded them or not. There is always a power shortage for advanced units.
- Assemble a huge army to push the objective.
- Watch 99% of regular units die within seconds and hope your advanced ones survive long enough to destroy/capture the objective.
- Repeat.

Almost every mission feels far longer than it should be due to this extremely slow and boring gameplay loop. By far the best missions were the ones that followed DOW2's design, where you only control hero units.
Regarding hero units, it's a shame that gear and leveling up has been removed in this game, since it would've fit well here.

The game does look great and runs smoothly, unfortunately these are not good enough reasons to play it. It's a real shame, since I wanted to like this game, but every time it took a step forward it took 3 back.

I'd recommend playing or replaying the previous games in the series instead, it will be a far better experience.

A solid last expansion for Dawn of War 2 and a great improvement over Chaos Rising.

The campaign this time around lets you choose which race to play as and it's a nice addition, since both the base game and previous expansion focused on the Space Marines.
While the campaign is rather short, it's a lot of fun and can be easily replayed multiple times.

Last Stand mode has been further improved upon from Chaos Rising. You can easily sink tons of hours into this mode alone, as it's highly addicting and fun.

Great game and a nice one to wrap up the Dawn of War 2 storyline.

A rather average campaign compared to the base game one.

I was expecting to be playing as the Chaos forces in this one, instead you just get a corruption system implemented for your old squad from DOW2s campaign.

You get corrupted from certain gear you obtain in missions, but the game is very stingy with dropping any of it. There is basically no incentive to corrupt your squad which beats the point of having this system in the first place.

It's a shame, since on paper it sounds like a cool system, since you wouldn't just be fighting the Chaos faction, but fighting among your own troops or have to sacrifice someone to save another in your squad. There was a lot of untapped potential in this expansion, so it's a shame to see it get wasted.

Most missions felt like side-missions from the base game, so there aren't many highlight moments like in DOW2. This is especially apparent when comparing the endings of both games.

If you enjoyed DOW2 campaign it's worth trying, though I'd recommend playing through it with a co-op partner.

A very solid expansion of the main story and a good improvement over Episode One.

There are many fun and memorable sequences to be had here. I think the cast really shines in this one, they were all really charming and interesting. It was also great that in no way did the expansion ever seem padded out. I will always prefer a shorter play time, but a focused one.

While I know the ending is controversial, it felt like a very Half-Life way of ending things, which I personally did not mind. Both the base game and Episode One ended in major cliffhangers, hell even the very first game in the series did this.

Overall a great addition to a classic series!

A decent expansion, but rather forgettable.

The idea of getting out of City 17 after the events of Half-Life 2 was cool, but it just wasn't handled really well.

You go from an epic confrontation on top of the Citadel to shooting headcrabs in the dark. I just didn't get the feeling that there was any urgency to get out of the city while playing through this.

It felt as if most of this expansion is just a bunch of cut content stitched together to progress the main plot. This is a shame, since Episode One had potential to be really great.