Charming bite size puzzle-platformer that could benefit from a little more polishing.

Mask of Mists is an indie 3D adventure game with puzzles, combat, and exploration. You are a mercenary of sorts, tasked with tracking down an arch mage who has gone missing. This little excerpt of story is all that's needed before dropping the player into a mysterious ruin dotted forest from which they will unravel the many roadblocks between them and the arch mage.

Masks of Mists does not hold many true puzzles, but rather tasks the player with hunting down the correct items (or combination of items) to use to progress similar to point and click adventure games but much less obtuse. Keeping a mental map of where everything is and being able to recall previously visited locations when you obtain a new item is essential to being efficient in finding the arch mage. It would have been nice to see a few more actual puzzles, such as the gemstone statue puzzle, even if they were optional and provided some bonus potions or ammo. There are interiors sprinkled throughout the world, 6 of which being temple-like structures that contain a crystal at the end that must be activated to progress the game. While these 6 dungeons share the same tile set, they each have a unique "theme" that keeps them fresh. Exploring them is surprisingly addictive.

As you explore the world. you will come across 1 of 4 enemy types by which you can dispatch using either your sword or flintlock pistol. You are also able to dash to evade attacks or move more swiftly across the world.
Combat is very basic, and while serviceable, was the weakest part of the game. There is one boss fight at the end of the game which is also just fine. You are also given a large quantity of potions so even if you do manage to take damage, there is never any need to manage your resources.

The game runs very smoothly thanks to the charming cartoon art style. I didn't encounter any bugs, though I did on multiple occasions accidentally fire my pistol, wasting ammo, due to it being bound to the right mouse button with no way to change this. Movement also feels kind of clunky, especially during combat. Music is simple, unintrusive, and sets a pleasant background ambience as you traverse the enchanted forest and gloomy dungeons.

Mask of Mists has a few annoyances that are easy enough to overlook, and while the combat is more of a nuisance than anything, exploring the world and finding how the many items you pick up can be used to slowly unravel the thread leading to the arch mage is very satisfying. If you're looking for a cozy way to spend a few hours, you can certainly do worse than this.

Fun and fast-paced combat system comes packaged with a decent supernatural story.

As of writing this, I have not played Alan Wake so any easter eggs or references to it were lost on me. That being said, at no point did I feel like I was missing a large part of the story because of it. Control gets a lot of praise, and after putting around 60 hours into the game, I can see why but I can also see where it stumbles.

Firstly, Jesse Faden is a great protagonist. She's come to the FBC in search of answers as well as her brother and gets wrapped up in the increasingly bizarre and paranormal events taking place within the walls of Bureau. Courtney Hope does a great job voicing Jesse and it was nice to not be bombarded with quips from her nonstop. Supporting character such as the mysterious janitor, Ahti, or the eccentric scientist, Casper Darling, are also great. The biggest issue the story has in my opinion is that it never really reaches a strong climax and ends quite abruptly. A lot of mystery and intrigue culminates in a finale that feels a bit unfulfilling. Despite that, the world building and lore along the way is very strong.

Combat is stylish, fun, and sometimes quite chaotic. Between your service weapon many forms and your supernatural abilities granted over the course of the game, you are given many options to how your approach fights and with a large enemy roster using the correct tool for the job is important. Additionally, Control features semi destructible environments that create a spectacle as you dash through windows and desks while hurling furniture at your enemies. There are some boss fights as well though only a handful are truly interesting rather than being essentially a named variant of a normal enemy type. Some of these fights can be kind of tough especially due to the camera not giving you a good view of whether you are levitating over a surface or the void (and your death).

The environments of Control are kind of a mixed bag, though mostly great. While this is not a normal government office building, it does still contain much of what you would expect. A plethora of offices, boardrooms, bathrooms, and SO much of the color grey is too be found here. A lot of samey environments can also make it somewhat confusing to navigate the FBC, even with the map you are given. With that said, Control is still very visually appealing, making good use of ray-tracing, and featuring some beautiful set pieces. The ashtray maze was a specifically memorable segment.

The Ultimate edition comes bundles with two major story DLCs, The Foundation, and AWE:

The Foundation is the weaker of the two DLC, taking places under the FBC and featuring a large cave system filled with red sand. After the novelty of the red sand wears off, this rocky network becomes unfortunately dull. The DLC also centers around a side character from the main game who was rather forgettable, only appearing momentarily before disappearing. I found it hard to get hooked on the story here outside of the broader lore tidbits sprinkled throughout. The side missions here are pretty good though such as one where you are cleansing a supernatural film camera by starring in your own action flick. If this DLC was on its own, I would only recommend it on a deep sale.

AWE, on the other hand, was very enjoyable, possibly more so than the main game. This DLC ties heavily in with Alan Wake, and I would imagine hits even harder for those who have played the game prior, but I found it gripping nonetheless. AWE takes you to the investigations sector of the FBC brings the player much closer to the horror genre than anywhere else in the game. Encounters with the main "entity" are intense and can be genuinely frightening. The environments are more memorable here even including a recreation of a moon landing with the real Apollo 14. Side missions are pretty much non-existent here though there is a arcade game mode you can play. AWE was my personal peak of enjoyment while playing Control and would recommend it highly if it were standalone.

Control offers a breadth of content without overstaying its welcome and makes up for its weaknesses with great combat, excellent atmosphere, and a relatable protagonist. You can regularly find the ultimate edition on sale for dirt cheap making for a real steal based on what you get.

A mediocre first half is mostly made up for by a stronger second half in this mid 2000s FPS.

Following the multiplayer focused Quake 3, Ravensoft takes a stab at the Quake franchise with a continuation of the story of Quake II in humanity's war against the cybernetic Strogg, taking place immediately after the events of the 2nd game. Using the id Tech 4 engine, Quake plays very similarly to Doom 3 though with much less of an emphasis on horror. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to debate.

Quake 4's biggest issue is that the first half of the game is a slog. The plot is very basic sci-fi military stuff and the game play isn't very engaging. The player character moves like they are walking through molasses and the experience is brought down by poorly implemented backtracking and hand holding. There is a specific event that occurs roughly midway through the game in which you gain improved movement speed, but more notably the plot becomes a bit more interesting and the game starts to actually feel like a Quake game. The latter half of levels are more varied and bring more interesting combat sections that almost make you forget the tedium you just went through.

Shooting feels pretty good though the explosive weapons feel noticeably weak. There's a decent amount of enemy variety as well even if some enemy types felt underused. Quake 4 can get very dark at times so the decision to make the flashlight only usable with the pistol or machine gun is just irritating. The biggest game play weakness, like many other titles of the time, is the over abundance of middling vehicle sections. There's multiple sections where you either pilot a vehicle or man a turret on one and while some are better than others, they all drag on too long and feel like a large step down from the main on foot game play.

Graphically the game has held up better than I expected probably thanks to the use of mo-cap and a darker ambience. The music and sound design is good as well, but for some reason is mixed awfully. Dialogue is often incomprehensible over background noise and with no subtitle options nor a way to adjust audio levels beyond a master volume control, you'll just need to deal with it. Voice acting is serviceable with a notable inclusion of Peter Stormare as one of the supporting characters.

I didn't play any multiplayer as the servers are pretty much dead, but from what I've researched it sounds like this is one of the weaker entries in the series for multiplayer. The lack of official bot support is disappointing as well given that it can provide an otherwise dead game a method to experience the multiplayer maps populated.

It may sound like I've little positive to say about the game, but I do believe the 2nd half of the campaign is quite good and the first half is fine if not a bit uninspiring. I don't think this is quite as good as Doom 3 and that is probably best showcased by how this game has been somewhat forgotten in comparison to the 3rd doom installment, but if you can grab this game on sale then I'd recommend it for a solid 6 - 10 hours of mid 2000s FPS gameplay.