SuperScabs
2020
A game that's stretched thin on too many fronts. It looks and feels great in VR once you're in the cockpit and the control scheme is intuitive, creating interesting tradeoffs. A lack of budget in regards to the set pieces however really drags this one down.
I literally just wanna blow stuff up and the one mission where it just told me to blow a bunch of things up in succession was easily the best. Escort missions and inflated health pools do nothing to vary up the experience for me.
If there had been some on world missions or some elaborate space stations, even a death star run, i'd have been satisfied. It's clear that most of the environments just had to be mostly skybox and debris based on the budget, which is a shame because what is there looks great.
I just want a stupid game where there are particle effects everywhere and I get to smash up ships, there's bits of that here, but entirely too much nothing inbetween.
I literally just wanna blow stuff up and the one mission where it just told me to blow a bunch of things up in succession was easily the best. Escort missions and inflated health pools do nothing to vary up the experience for me.
If there had been some on world missions or some elaborate space stations, even a death star run, i'd have been satisfied. It's clear that most of the environments just had to be mostly skybox and debris based on the budget, which is a shame because what is there looks great.
I just want a stupid game where there are particle effects everywhere and I get to smash up ships, there's bits of that here, but entirely too much nothing inbetween.
2020
Great experience, but fails to bring HL to the next level. At their core these have always been great tech demo games, it's why I'm glad they decided to do this in VR, but the problem is that it fails to innovate. Every great thing that Alyx does for VR I feel that I've seen other places, that's not a mark against it, quite the contrary. It produces a wonderful showing of some amazing tech by aping QoL aspects from other games. This on its own would be fine, but it also apes stuff from the other half life games, notably the ending of 2. It's a project which has absolutely reinvigorated the series while failing to add anything which makes it unique outside of its platform. Utilizing all of these aspects and smashing them together into a spectacle is a great experience, but it's not a great game.
EDIT: I am wrong, so completely wrong. Not only a hugely interesting game, but almost definitely a masterpiece. Imma make a video on this one.
EDIT: I am wrong, so completely wrong. Not only a hugely interesting game, but almost definitely a masterpiece. Imma make a video on this one.
Still too many scenes where you're waiting for characters to finish talking about nothing, but the pacing is at its peak here. Every section introduces something new for you to explore and the change in setting is certainly refreshing after all the yellow and brown. Still can't believe people had to wait 13 years on that cliffhanger.
More of the same mostly, at least they really played with the darkness this time around, although I would have preferred this have been used in Ravenholm. This crystallizes my problems with 2 though; a ton of set pieces without any variety. This was fine in 1 because there was a new weapon or mechanic being introduced constantly, but here it's just jury rigged aspects of source used to propel a narrative that doesn't have much going on.
2004
An impressive technical showcase with a lot more baggage than last time. There's a bit too much waiting around for story beats to finish out and even more drawn out firefights. While good it seems to play too much off the weaker aspects of 1, hoping the other two episodes improve on the experience.
I went in with low expectations and that was a good thing because it somewhat exceeded them. It's about everything I thought it would be, from the pointless trinkets to the shallow combat. The naval combat in particular is spectacular initially, but it wanes when you realize it's just spam cannons and mortars. It is a good thing then that the world is wonderfully realized, it just feels good to inhabit. Drunkards wander the streets, people talking among each other, workers going on about their day. It feels surly and dirty with rats littering the streets and seedy filth lines the facades. It's then a shame that the story is just kind of fine.
It had been built up as being the pinnacle of the franchise in terms of its story, and I'm sure it is, but it's really just a series of plot contrivances to get Edward into a world he doesn't belong. The assassins and templar stuff is awful, it's boring and it's basic, all this needed was a man dealing with the fallout of his society, but instead it is endless ex-positing and talking. People never shut up, even in the end when you should just be sailing off quietly with your daughter, they talk about nothing, soiling the moment.
I get idea of freedom vs order relating well with assasins:templars and pirates:government, but the execution is bloated and painfully long. There are about a hundred characters whose names you'll forget instantly, and blackbeard, whose whole purpose is just to populate the world. It's hardly a mess, but it does feel like too many cooks in the kitchen, the animus notes is a good indication of that. It was a nice place to inhabit for a while, but not one I think I'll be returning to.
It had been built up as being the pinnacle of the franchise in terms of its story, and I'm sure it is, but it's really just a series of plot contrivances to get Edward into a world he doesn't belong. The assassins and templar stuff is awful, it's boring and it's basic, all this needed was a man dealing with the fallout of his society, but instead it is endless ex-positing and talking. People never shut up, even in the end when you should just be sailing off quietly with your daughter, they talk about nothing, soiling the moment.
I get idea of freedom vs order relating well with assasins:templars and pirates:government, but the execution is bloated and painfully long. There are about a hundred characters whose names you'll forget instantly, and blackbeard, whose whole purpose is just to populate the world. It's hardly a mess, but it does feel like too many cooks in the kitchen, the animus notes is a good indication of that. It was a nice place to inhabit for a while, but not one I think I'll be returning to.