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I've considered myself to be a fan of combat flight games for a while now, and I have been wanting to get into the Ace Combat series for a long time. Playing AC7 back when that game came out only strengthened that desire. I have been wanting to play Shattered Skies for a while now, and I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint.
AC04 is considered to be a return to the roots of the series after AC3's mixed reception, and that will be quickly apparent when you start the campaign. A not-too-long story cutscene starts, telling a story from the perspective of a child whose family is killed indirectly by a pilot from the enemies' side, immediately establishing the presence of a future rival to the player's character. After that, a classic AC-style mission briefing begins, and you're flown into the first mission after selecting an aircraft. This will be the norm as you progress through the game, although the story cutscenes only appear after select missions.
The game's structure is simple and unobstructive, allowing the core gameplay and progression system to shine. You can buy new aircrafts and weapons with the points you'll collect after each mission, and the amount of the points you get depends on your performance. The aircrafts you can buy are limited at first, but you'll get access to more as you finish select missions. It's a straightforward and effective system.
The story is light (especially compared to some other games in the series), but interesting enough to make the cutscenes feel rewarding. Again, it's simple but impactful. The perspective of the young boy in the company of the enemy is quite the fun idea, and is well executed.
The game's control holds up very well. You will able to feel the progression of the aircrafts you obtain, as the improvements in speed and handling will be quite noticable. It's not very far off from the newer games in terms of fun factor.
The objectives of the missions have decent variety, although most of the missions are time limit based destructions. The later games in the series would improve on this aspect. Still, it doesn't get too repetitive in a single playthrough so it's not a big deal.
In the normal difficulty, the game has a pretty decent challenge, although it starts out pretty tame in the first few missions. There are no checkpoints in the missions, which will be the primary source of frustration for most people, especially in the later missions that are longer and can introduce new objectives in the middle of the mission. Most of the enemies can be dealt easily, but enemy fighters later on will prove to be harder, especially when you encounter fighters from your rival's squadron, the Yellow Squadron. Overall it's a pretty fair game, but it also can be punishing when you least expect it.
Lastly, the music is pretty decent overall. This game starts the blending of various styles of music in the series, such as rock, orchestral, and latin. The music here can feel a bit samey and one note at times, but it does have great highlights, like Comona (a very energetic rock track) and the track in the very last mission (epic orchestral vocals!).
AC04 is regarded as a landmark title not just in the series, but in the genre it's in, and it's not hard to see why. The "return to roots" theme works spectacularly, as the game showcases what AC games does best: fantastical yet grounded flight combat. Many of the game's individual qualities have been superseded by later games, but AC04's simpler approach to things makes it one of the more easier games to enjoy in the series. It's a classic title that is not to be missed.
AC04 is considered to be a return to the roots of the series after AC3's mixed reception, and that will be quickly apparent when you start the campaign. A not-too-long story cutscene starts, telling a story from the perspective of a child whose family is killed indirectly by a pilot from the enemies' side, immediately establishing the presence of a future rival to the player's character. After that, a classic AC-style mission briefing begins, and you're flown into the first mission after selecting an aircraft. This will be the norm as you progress through the game, although the story cutscenes only appear after select missions.
The game's structure is simple and unobstructive, allowing the core gameplay and progression system to shine. You can buy new aircrafts and weapons with the points you'll collect after each mission, and the amount of the points you get depends on your performance. The aircrafts you can buy are limited at first, but you'll get access to more as you finish select missions. It's a straightforward and effective system.
The story is light (especially compared to some other games in the series), but interesting enough to make the cutscenes feel rewarding. Again, it's simple but impactful. The perspective of the young boy in the company of the enemy is quite the fun idea, and is well executed.
The game's control holds up very well. You will able to feel the progression of the aircrafts you obtain, as the improvements in speed and handling will be quite noticable. It's not very far off from the newer games in terms of fun factor.
The objectives of the missions have decent variety, although most of the missions are time limit based destructions. The later games in the series would improve on this aspect. Still, it doesn't get too repetitive in a single playthrough so it's not a big deal.
In the normal difficulty, the game has a pretty decent challenge, although it starts out pretty tame in the first few missions. There are no checkpoints in the missions, which will be the primary source of frustration for most people, especially in the later missions that are longer and can introduce new objectives in the middle of the mission. Most of the enemies can be dealt easily, but enemy fighters later on will prove to be harder, especially when you encounter fighters from your rival's squadron, the Yellow Squadron. Overall it's a pretty fair game, but it also can be punishing when you least expect it.
Lastly, the music is pretty decent overall. This game starts the blending of various styles of music in the series, such as rock, orchestral, and latin. The music here can feel a bit samey and one note at times, but it does have great highlights, like Comona (a very energetic rock track) and the track in the very last mission (epic orchestral vocals!).
AC04 is regarded as a landmark title not just in the series, but in the genre it's in, and it's not hard to see why. The "return to roots" theme works spectacularly, as the game showcases what AC games does best: fantastical yet grounded flight combat. Many of the game's individual qualities have been superseded by later games, but AC04's simpler approach to things makes it one of the more easier games to enjoy in the series. It's a classic title that is not to be missed.
Just finished replaying this on the Legacy of Thieves Collection. I can confirm that this game holds up perfectly. The remaster effort certainly helped, with the game running smoothly on 60 FPS and with slightly updated graphics, but the game itself is still a masterpiece. Uncharted 4 is very clearly influenced by the fact that Naughty Dog made it right after The Last of Us, and a lot of the things that ND did in TLOU is weaved into the Uncharted blockbuster action formula. This creates the most mature version of the formula yet, with it finally being bold and patient enough to let the world, characters, and story breathe more. Compared to the other Uncharted games, there are a lot of times where you can just explore the beautiful levels that ND crafted, and spend a bit more time with the characters they lovingly written, without being disturbed by combat, and they're just as good, if not better, than the action-packed scenes. Considering that this game has the best action set pieces and combat encounters overall in the series, that is a very impressive achievement. That maturity is also present in its writing, with it highlighting the flaws of its main characters, and in the process, dealing with how important it is to not take your loved ones for granted. From start to finish, Uncharted 4 always has something up its sleeve that will surprise and/or delight you, and I consider it to be a must-play game.
The Hong Kong Massacre tries it best to be stylish and slick. While it manages to achieve all of those things, it also became a bloody monster along the way.
The game is a mix of Hotline Miami's top down carnage and Max Payne's slow motion bullet dodging. The levels are small and short, with only one objective: kill everyone. This is not an easy game, even with the very generous slow motion ability. The level design gets a bit more elaborate as it goes, and that only adds to the difficulty, as the enemies can show up from more angles and overwhelm you even more. This, combined with the repetitive structure of the game, makes for a fun but very frustrating game. There's also boss levels, which consists of running alongside the boss, trying to kill him while also paying attention for other enemies along the way. They're just okay.
The progression is directly tied to making the game harder for yourself. In order to upgrade your weapons, you need stars, and while you get one after completing a level, you can get more if you complete the challenges. All of the levels have the same kind of challenges, and they consist of a time limit challenge, a "no slowmotion" challenge, and a "every bullet you shot must hit an enemy" challenge. Needless to say they are not worth the hassle, and it's much better if you plan your upgrades from early on instead.
Technically this game can be pretty neat at times. While the visual design of the levels gets very samey, seeing blood splatters, gun smoke and debris fly in slow motion as you're mowing down a room full of bad guys is pretty satisfying. The weapon sound effects are also pretty solid. There are some rough edges though. Occasionally enemies will roll into a wall and never pop back out, forcing you to restart the level. There are also times where enemies blend in to the background, which makes them hard to spot, and thus in very good position to kill you unfairly.
I bought this game at 5 US$, and I wouldn't recommend this at a higher price for most people. It would be neat to see what this developer does next, as there are some promising things in this game, but it's hard to fully enjoy this game with how rough it can be at times.
The game is a mix of Hotline Miami's top down carnage and Max Payne's slow motion bullet dodging. The levels are small and short, with only one objective: kill everyone. This is not an easy game, even with the very generous slow motion ability. The level design gets a bit more elaborate as it goes, and that only adds to the difficulty, as the enemies can show up from more angles and overwhelm you even more. This, combined with the repetitive structure of the game, makes for a fun but very frustrating game. There's also boss levels, which consists of running alongside the boss, trying to kill him while also paying attention for other enemies along the way. They're just okay.
The progression is directly tied to making the game harder for yourself. In order to upgrade your weapons, you need stars, and while you get one after completing a level, you can get more if you complete the challenges. All of the levels have the same kind of challenges, and they consist of a time limit challenge, a "no slowmotion" challenge, and a "every bullet you shot must hit an enemy" challenge. Needless to say they are not worth the hassle, and it's much better if you plan your upgrades from early on instead.
Technically this game can be pretty neat at times. While the visual design of the levels gets very samey, seeing blood splatters, gun smoke and debris fly in slow motion as you're mowing down a room full of bad guys is pretty satisfying. The weapon sound effects are also pretty solid. There are some rough edges though. Occasionally enemies will roll into a wall and never pop back out, forcing you to restart the level. There are also times where enemies blend in to the background, which makes them hard to spot, and thus in very good position to kill you unfairly.
I bought this game at 5 US$, and I wouldn't recommend this at a higher price for most people. It would be neat to see what this developer does next, as there are some promising things in this game, but it's hard to fully enjoy this game with how rough it can be at times.
Insomniac Games has been around for a long time, and with Rift Apart, they made a showcase of their gigantic well of talent, skill, and experience. It is a very fun game, and also a honest to god next gen showpiece.
Rift Apart brings the concept of dimensional rifts into the classic R&C formula, with an approach favoring style over substance. Many of the planets you visit will have enemies spawning through rifts, adding context to an ridiculous onslaught of hostiles. There are also certain rifts that you can teleport to, making you more versatile in the face of battle. The most impressive use of rifts are perhaps the scripted set pieces where you'll be hopping from one dimension to the next, leveraging the PS5's instant load times. These are all fun additions, and there are certain planets that uses the rifts in a deeper way (for example, forcing constant switching between dimensions to progress), but Insomniac definitely could do a lot more with this idea, especially gameplay wise.
The rifts also have a connection to the story, as you would expect. The titular Ratchet and Clank gets to meet their other dimension counterparts after a unexpected incident throws all the dimensions into disarray, and they have to work together to fix this mess. The story shines the most when you get to see the main cast interact with each other. Rivet, Ratchet's counterpart, feels uneasy at first with Clank as she has a losing streak at the hands of many robots, but things get much more wholesome as they bond and open up more with each other. This trend is visible with many of the other character interactions, as Rift Apart successfully does it best to make you feel warm and fuzzy in the inside.
Gameplay-wise, it is perhaps the most well made R&C game yet. The controls and gunplay feel as smooth as ever, with traversal abilities such as the Phantom Dash and Jet Boots enabling you to dance and weave in the battlefield as you look for the right time to blast your weapons. The arsenal of weapons in this game is as creative and fun as you expect from a R&C game, with highlights such as the laser beam Negatron Collider, and the minigun-esque Blackhole Vortex. The feel of the weapons are already great by themselves, but the DualSense features add even more layers of satisfying feedback. There's nothing quite like feeling the adaptive triggers clacking constantly while you're fully blasting enemies with an automatic weapon.
In technical terms, this game is simply sublime. The planets you visit are very varied in vibes, and the atmosphere in each of them are all successful potrayed in wonderful cartoon detail. Abandoned scary bunkers, sunny swamps, storm-filled fortresses, this game has it all. On the Performance RT mode, the balance of smooth 60 FPS with high raytraced fidelity is soul-soothing.
If there's anything flawed from this game, it's definitely the soundtrack. The orchestral instrumentations fail to make it memorable, as the soundtrack seems to be content with being a background filler. It's nothing offensively bad, mind you, but it could be so much more. I also feel mixed about collectibles placement and the level design. Many of the collectibles are placed in very obvious places, and it can make them feel less satisfying to get. The level design also can be a bit too simplistic and linear at times. These aspects are perhaps the only ones where it seems like Insomniac took a step back, considering many of the older R&C games have executed these aspects better.
Overall, Rift Apart might be "just another R&C game", but no matter what, you can count on this game to show you a good time.
Rift Apart brings the concept of dimensional rifts into the classic R&C formula, with an approach favoring style over substance. Many of the planets you visit will have enemies spawning through rifts, adding context to an ridiculous onslaught of hostiles. There are also certain rifts that you can teleport to, making you more versatile in the face of battle. The most impressive use of rifts are perhaps the scripted set pieces where you'll be hopping from one dimension to the next, leveraging the PS5's instant load times. These are all fun additions, and there are certain planets that uses the rifts in a deeper way (for example, forcing constant switching between dimensions to progress), but Insomniac definitely could do a lot more with this idea, especially gameplay wise.
The rifts also have a connection to the story, as you would expect. The titular Ratchet and Clank gets to meet their other dimension counterparts after a unexpected incident throws all the dimensions into disarray, and they have to work together to fix this mess. The story shines the most when you get to see the main cast interact with each other. Rivet, Ratchet's counterpart, feels uneasy at first with Clank as she has a losing streak at the hands of many robots, but things get much more wholesome as they bond and open up more with each other. This trend is visible with many of the other character interactions, as Rift Apart successfully does it best to make you feel warm and fuzzy in the inside.
Gameplay-wise, it is perhaps the most well made R&C game yet. The controls and gunplay feel as smooth as ever, with traversal abilities such as the Phantom Dash and Jet Boots enabling you to dance and weave in the battlefield as you look for the right time to blast your weapons. The arsenal of weapons in this game is as creative and fun as you expect from a R&C game, with highlights such as the laser beam Negatron Collider, and the minigun-esque Blackhole Vortex. The feel of the weapons are already great by themselves, but the DualSense features add even more layers of satisfying feedback. There's nothing quite like feeling the adaptive triggers clacking constantly while you're fully blasting enemies with an automatic weapon.
In technical terms, this game is simply sublime. The planets you visit are very varied in vibes, and the atmosphere in each of them are all successful potrayed in wonderful cartoon detail. Abandoned scary bunkers, sunny swamps, storm-filled fortresses, this game has it all. On the Performance RT mode, the balance of smooth 60 FPS with high raytraced fidelity is soul-soothing.
If there's anything flawed from this game, it's definitely the soundtrack. The orchestral instrumentations fail to make it memorable, as the soundtrack seems to be content with being a background filler. It's nothing offensively bad, mind you, but it could be so much more. I also feel mixed about collectibles placement and the level design. Many of the collectibles are placed in very obvious places, and it can make them feel less satisfying to get. The level design also can be a bit too simplistic and linear at times. These aspects are perhaps the only ones where it seems like Insomniac took a step back, considering many of the older R&C games have executed these aspects better.
Overall, Rift Apart might be "just another R&C game", but no matter what, you can count on this game to show you a good time.
2022
Gran Turismo 7 is a spectacular comeback in (almost) all fronts for the series. At its best, it truly feels like the last 30 years of GT excellence has culminated into this game. At its worst, it can remind you why many people grow so weary with the capitalistic desires of many game companies.
The Bad:
- Online only sucks. The 30+ hour server maintenance incident is a strong showcase of that.
- I'm usually not troubled with microtransactions. I can easily ignore them, provided the game isn't pay-to-win. But the game previously had a period of time where the rewards you get for doing missions are severely nerfed, and at times like that it's hard to say that this game isn't trying to get you to give it real money. Not to mention the game has weird systems that makes it more "predatory", like making some really expensive cars only purchasable for a limited time.
The Good:
- The GT Cafe singleplayer mode is simply sublime. It eases newcomers to the game perfectly by slowly introducing the various features of the game step-by-step. Not to mention that the cafe itself is cozy as heck. Everytime I come back to it after completing one of the cafe's missions, it feels so relaxing, making me more inclined to get back to racing since I'm refreshed already. I also appreciate it giving you a lot of cool cars as rewards for finishing the races. It has a surprisingly satisfying ending too.
- The DualSense features are insane. Easily the best implementation of DualSense in a game since Astro's Playroom.
- The game itself controls like a dream. All the different cars, and all the changes you make to said cars will show their difference in handling in a very palpable way, especially with the DualSense. It really helps you "connect" with the cars more, making them feel like characters that you're working with. It's not perfect (especially the Dirt races), and it's not quite "The Real Driving Simulation" that the tagline promotes, but it's so much fun to play with, and that is what truly matters.
- Doing maintenance and customization to your cars here is quite addicting. Either it's getting the performance points up, installing custom parts, or just tinkering with the handling to make the car drive more like you want, it's all so satisfying when you get it right.
- The graphics are so good! The car models, lighting and weather system in particular are the highlights. Some of the environments has noticeable flaws, but nothing too fatal. Also, the performance is rock solid on PS5.
- The license tests and mission challenges here are so good. The license tests are adequately challenging and frustrating, while the mission challenges are much crazier and harder. Both are as good as you would hope from a Gran Turismo game.
- The soundtrack is classic Gran Turismo, and I love it. Nothing like tuning cars to beautifully relaxing jazz/classical music.
- There's a encyclopedia-esque section of the game where you can learn about the history of many automotive companies and cars, and at the same time also learn about general world history. It's a totally unnecessary, but charmingly presented element of the game that adds so much character to the game.
- The Scapes mode is a photographer's wet dream. The tech they're using for incorporating real world photographs into actual 3D scenes is so good.
Despite the flaws, I'm completely in love with this game. It will be interesting to see how the game evolves and changes as Polyphony keeps updating it.
The Bad:
- Online only sucks. The 30+ hour server maintenance incident is a strong showcase of that.
- I'm usually not troubled with microtransactions. I can easily ignore them, provided the game isn't pay-to-win. But the game previously had a period of time where the rewards you get for doing missions are severely nerfed, and at times like that it's hard to say that this game isn't trying to get you to give it real money. Not to mention the game has weird systems that makes it more "predatory", like making some really expensive cars only purchasable for a limited time.
The Good:
- The GT Cafe singleplayer mode is simply sublime. It eases newcomers to the game perfectly by slowly introducing the various features of the game step-by-step. Not to mention that the cafe itself is cozy as heck. Everytime I come back to it after completing one of the cafe's missions, it feels so relaxing, making me more inclined to get back to racing since I'm refreshed already. I also appreciate it giving you a lot of cool cars as rewards for finishing the races. It has a surprisingly satisfying ending too.
- The DualSense features are insane. Easily the best implementation of DualSense in a game since Astro's Playroom.
- The game itself controls like a dream. All the different cars, and all the changes you make to said cars will show their difference in handling in a very palpable way, especially with the DualSense. It really helps you "connect" with the cars more, making them feel like characters that you're working with. It's not perfect (especially the Dirt races), and it's not quite "The Real Driving Simulation" that the tagline promotes, but it's so much fun to play with, and that is what truly matters.
- Doing maintenance and customization to your cars here is quite addicting. Either it's getting the performance points up, installing custom parts, or just tinkering with the handling to make the car drive more like you want, it's all so satisfying when you get it right.
- The graphics are so good! The car models, lighting and weather system in particular are the highlights. Some of the environments has noticeable flaws, but nothing too fatal. Also, the performance is rock solid on PS5.
- The license tests and mission challenges here are so good. The license tests are adequately challenging and frustrating, while the mission challenges are much crazier and harder. Both are as good as you would hope from a Gran Turismo game.
- The soundtrack is classic Gran Turismo, and I love it. Nothing like tuning cars to beautifully relaxing jazz/classical music.
- There's a encyclopedia-esque section of the game where you can learn about the history of many automotive companies and cars, and at the same time also learn about general world history. It's a totally unnecessary, but charmingly presented element of the game that adds so much character to the game.
- The Scapes mode is a photographer's wet dream. The tech they're using for incorporating real world photographs into actual 3D scenes is so good.
Despite the flaws, I'm completely in love with this game. It will be interesting to see how the game evolves and changes as Polyphony keeps updating it.
1999
As a self-proclaimed PlayStation fan, it's hard not to feel like I missed a lot whenever I think about all the PS1-PS2 games that I missed, considering they're a bit before my time. With Sony's recent attempt to monetize the love of their classic games through a PS Plus revamp, one of their most vibrant franchises is now much easier to access and play.
From front to back, Ape Escape is a jolly game. You're playing as a literal child tasked to catch monkeys under control of a amusement park monkey-turned supervillain to prevent humanity's downfall. And I use the word "downfall" dramatically, because it's all just cartoony fun. If the vibrant graphics don't give you that vibe, then the aggressively eclectic and kooky soundtrack will.
Ape Escape plays like many action platformers from its era, but with the advent of analog sticks, it uses it to provide a more hands-on experience in various in-game actions. In other words, you're gonna move them sticks a lot. Unlike games of today, the right analog sticks are not for camera control, but rather the usage of your gadgets. From flinging the stick to a direction to swing your monkey-catching time net, to wildly rotating the stick in order to propel yourself in the air, it can be quite the exercise for your right thumbs. While the controls can feel clunky and imprecise, the game's forgiving difficulty helps makes it less frustrating. Overall it's surprisingly quick to learn and get used to.
The game does a good job of progressing the difficulty, as the earlier levels start small and simpler in their design, and subsequent levels adding gimmicks and widening the playing field in order to keep you on your toes. Variety wise, there's not much to complain about, as the setting and locales you visit are mostly unique from one another. There is a noticable focus on industrial-feeling areas in the last act.
The game's worst sin is perhaps making it feel like there's three separate climaxes, which makes it feel longer and more drawn out than it should be. The levels in the last act are also much longer and bigger than what comes before, and one can't help but feel that they should have spread these kind of levels out in the previous acts.
Ape Escape is a series that shouldn't be forgotten, and I hope Sony continues to breathe life back to it, and maybe making a new game one day. Nobody should miss the simple joy of catching these apes.
From front to back, Ape Escape is a jolly game. You're playing as a literal child tasked to catch monkeys under control of a amusement park monkey-turned supervillain to prevent humanity's downfall. And I use the word "downfall" dramatically, because it's all just cartoony fun. If the vibrant graphics don't give you that vibe, then the aggressively eclectic and kooky soundtrack will.
Ape Escape plays like many action platformers from its era, but with the advent of analog sticks, it uses it to provide a more hands-on experience in various in-game actions. In other words, you're gonna move them sticks a lot. Unlike games of today, the right analog sticks are not for camera control, but rather the usage of your gadgets. From flinging the stick to a direction to swing your monkey-catching time net, to wildly rotating the stick in order to propel yourself in the air, it can be quite the exercise for your right thumbs. While the controls can feel clunky and imprecise, the game's forgiving difficulty helps makes it less frustrating. Overall it's surprisingly quick to learn and get used to.
The game does a good job of progressing the difficulty, as the earlier levels start small and simpler in their design, and subsequent levels adding gimmicks and widening the playing field in order to keep you on your toes. Variety wise, there's not much to complain about, as the setting and locales you visit are mostly unique from one another. There is a noticable focus on industrial-feeling areas in the last act.
The game's worst sin is perhaps making it feel like there's three separate climaxes, which makes it feel longer and more drawn out than it should be. The levels in the last act are also much longer and bigger than what comes before, and one can't help but feel that they should have spread these kind of levels out in the previous acts.
Ape Escape is a series that shouldn't be forgotten, and I hope Sony continues to breathe life back to it, and maybe making a new game one day. Nobody should miss the simple joy of catching these apes.
2021
At one point in the middle of my playthrough, I had a thought about what kind of people the developers of this game are. My conclusion back then is that they're a bunch of good ordinary folk looking to fill a hole in the world. The thing is, games like Industria are quite rare these days. A slower paced singleplayer FPS game in the year 2021 would stand out easily, as the market is simply filled with wacky crazy fast paced shooters. Industria certainly does a decent job of filling the void, despite having more than enough flaws to warrant descriptions such as "janky", "low budget" and "unpolished."
The story is... weird. It does have a strong emotional moment near the end, and the ending makes it more interesting, but overall it's nothing worth thinking too much about. It's quite a short game (4 hours), and the story felt decent enough to engage through that timespan.
The game takes place in mostly urban levels, and you'll be using your flashlight often since it can be quite dark at times. The level design is just fine for the most part. There's an occasional feeling of things being too spaced out or empty, but that's it. There's barely any unique models which makes the environments (especially indoors) feel samey.
Gunplay feels very loose, as most of the enemies you'll fight will attack in melee range. The guns here feel more like a luxury, as there's barely enough ammo to use against all the enemies. You're encouraged to use your pickaxe to save ammo, and save the guns for when things get chaotic. Enemy variety is not great, since as said before, most of them don't use guns. I guess they do it to hide the weak gunplay. The overall difficulty is good, as you won't be feeling too comfortable at any point, but it's also not too punishing.
Graphically it looks decent on PS5. It's certainly not an AAA game. The game runs okay for the most part, although at the time of writing, there's an alarming level of model pop-ins. Also, The feedback of shooting your guns is just okay, although the sound effects are pretty good.
At this point, I realize that the game sounds more bad than good, but it is what it is. It's one of those games where you know it's not very well made, but you still enjoy it a lot. Like I said before, the game felt like it's made by a bunch of good folk doing their best. It might not be worth $20 for most people, but at a discount, it's worth the shot.
The story is... weird. It does have a strong emotional moment near the end, and the ending makes it more interesting, but overall it's nothing worth thinking too much about. It's quite a short game (4 hours), and the story felt decent enough to engage through that timespan.
The game takes place in mostly urban levels, and you'll be using your flashlight often since it can be quite dark at times. The level design is just fine for the most part. There's an occasional feeling of things being too spaced out or empty, but that's it. There's barely any unique models which makes the environments (especially indoors) feel samey.
Gunplay feels very loose, as most of the enemies you'll fight will attack in melee range. The guns here feel more like a luxury, as there's barely enough ammo to use against all the enemies. You're encouraged to use your pickaxe to save ammo, and save the guns for when things get chaotic. Enemy variety is not great, since as said before, most of them don't use guns. I guess they do it to hide the weak gunplay. The overall difficulty is good, as you won't be feeling too comfortable at any point, but it's also not too punishing.
Graphically it looks decent on PS5. It's certainly not an AAA game. The game runs okay for the most part, although at the time of writing, there's an alarming level of model pop-ins. Also, The feedback of shooting your guns is just okay, although the sound effects are pretty good.
At this point, I realize that the game sounds more bad than good, but it is what it is. It's one of those games where you know it's not very well made, but you still enjoy it a lot. Like I said before, the game felt like it's made by a bunch of good folk doing their best. It might not be worth $20 for most people, but at a discount, it's worth the shot.