ckl1995
BACKER
2016
This might be the one game that I own that I've started and stopped the most times over the years. I became so familiar with the first 2-3 hours of this game because I had played it so many times before switching to something else and not going back to it. I finally decided to sit down and properly play it and I'm happy to say that it was worth the experience.
As someone who values narrative over anything else and will often poke around online to find games with great narratives, it's no surprise that Bioshock came up fairly often. I've known for a while that there was some sort of "big twist" in the game that has become infamous, but I didn't know what exactly it was or when it would happen. As I played the game I sorta got the gist of what I thought it would be, but I was still fairly surprised by what happened.
The narrative here is the game's biggest strength, and I was really impressed by the quality of the writing. The fact that there are minimal in-game cutscenes and that most of the dialogue + exposition happen over radio is a cool choice that I think paid off here. It allowed the game's environmental and sound design to do the heavy lifting, particularly the environmental design.
Bioshock may have the best use of environmental storytelling that I've ever seen in a video game. Rapture is a fuckin cool setting, no doubt about it, and I learned so much about this world simply by exploring it. The audio diaries were a neat way to expand on the world, although I did find that the audio could be a bit hard to discern if there were enemies around who wouldn't stop talking. The different locations all felt unique and eerie in their own ways, and I never felt like I got bored with any of them and wanted to explore every inch of them.
The combat felt fine enough, nothing too special. Being able to swap between the powers and weapons was fun, and the sheer number of powers made for some fun combinations as my playthrough went on. The actual gun fights could feel a bit janky at times, but it's something I can forgive since I wasn't playing Bioshock for the gameplay.
I'm really glad I was able to finally cross this one off the backlog. As someone who has come to more deeply appreciate gaming as art in the last few years, Bioshock always felt like a must-play but I was never able to commit the time and energy for it. This was a blast to play, and I really did love the story that was told and count it among the best I've played. I've heard more mixed things about Bioshock 2, but I'm ready to experience it for myself firsthand.
As someone who values narrative over anything else and will often poke around online to find games with great narratives, it's no surprise that Bioshock came up fairly often. I've known for a while that there was some sort of "big twist" in the game that has become infamous, but I didn't know what exactly it was or when it would happen. As I played the game I sorta got the gist of what I thought it would be, but I was still fairly surprised by what happened.
The narrative here is the game's biggest strength, and I was really impressed by the quality of the writing. The fact that there are minimal in-game cutscenes and that most of the dialogue + exposition happen over radio is a cool choice that I think paid off here. It allowed the game's environmental and sound design to do the heavy lifting, particularly the environmental design.
Bioshock may have the best use of environmental storytelling that I've ever seen in a video game. Rapture is a fuckin cool setting, no doubt about it, and I learned so much about this world simply by exploring it. The audio diaries were a neat way to expand on the world, although I did find that the audio could be a bit hard to discern if there were enemies around who wouldn't stop talking. The different locations all felt unique and eerie in their own ways, and I never felt like I got bored with any of them and wanted to explore every inch of them.
The combat felt fine enough, nothing too special. Being able to swap between the powers and weapons was fun, and the sheer number of powers made for some fun combinations as my playthrough went on. The actual gun fights could feel a bit janky at times, but it's something I can forgive since I wasn't playing Bioshock for the gameplay.
I'm really glad I was able to finally cross this one off the backlog. As someone who has come to more deeply appreciate gaming as art in the last few years, Bioshock always felt like a must-play but I was never able to commit the time and energy for it. This was a blast to play, and I really did love the story that was told and count it among the best I've played. I've heard more mixed things about Bioshock 2, but I'm ready to experience it for myself firsthand.
2012
The best playing of the three Max Payne games but my least favorite story as well. Rockstar absolutely nailed the gunplay here - being able to slow down time and headshot every enemy in 5 seconds never got old. The guns were fun to use and the levels were varied, although it did fall into the early 2010s shooter trap of "run here, cutscene, shootout, run here, cutscene, shootout, repeat" after a while. I feel like Max's character was a bit under-baked compared to the previous entries, although the quippy one-liners and sense of malaise in the performance was just as good if not better than Max Payne 1 + 2. As a Max Payne game, 3 felt like a bit of a step backward (which isn't surprising given that this was Rockstar's attempt at the series) but as a shooter it's an absolute blast. Glad I was able to finish out the trilogy.
FF7 Rebirth is a behemoth of a sequel that improves on Remake's formula in almost every way. I had really high hopes for this game since Remake is one of my all-time favorites, and Rebirth managed to meet and surpass almost all of those expectations. It isn't without its faults, but its strengths are remarkable compared to its weaknesses.
This game's strongest asset is its gameplay - there's just SO much to do in this game. Although I did get a bit fatigued at the open world map marker design after a bit, I found that there was always something to do to switch things up. Between the mini-games, combat simulator missions and exploration I always felt like I had something to do and always had something to switch to whenever I was getting bored. The combat is just as good as Remake, and the addition of the synergy abilities are a great touch that makes combat feel even more fluid and cinematic.
The performances are, once again, amazing. Getting the gang back together from Remake was a joy, and the addition of new characters to the party made the experience that much better. I really love the voice cast for these games - I feel like they capture the essence of the characters perfectly and there wasn't a bad performance among them.
I think something that I have more mixed opinions on is the story, although my feelings lean more positive. I just found the plot to be needlessly complicated at times - I'm sure watching some Final Fantasy Union story videos will help clear things up, but I feel like it unnecessarily bogged down what was already an amazing story. I think the story is very strong overall with some incredibly poignant and emotional moments, but it also felt like it went off the rails after a certain point. I also wasn't super thrilled with how it ended - I know the remake trilogy is taking some liberties with the story to try and create a new experience, but I just wished the ending resonated with me a bit more. I'm hoping on a repeat play-through I'll be able to fully enjoy the narrative a bit more.
It seems like Rebirth was well worth the wait. It doubles down on all the things that made Remake great while adding its own flourishes here and there with the inclusion of an absolutely massive open world that more often than not was a blast to explore. Although I wish the narrative had done a bit more for me, the incredibly fun gameplay, stellar performances/graphics and beautiful soundtrack make Rebirth an amazing gaming experience overall. I know it'll be a while before we get the last game, but I'm already counting down the days.
This game's strongest asset is its gameplay - there's just SO much to do in this game. Although I did get a bit fatigued at the open world map marker design after a bit, I found that there was always something to do to switch things up. Between the mini-games, combat simulator missions and exploration I always felt like I had something to do and always had something to switch to whenever I was getting bored. The combat is just as good as Remake, and the addition of the synergy abilities are a great touch that makes combat feel even more fluid and cinematic.
The performances are, once again, amazing. Getting the gang back together from Remake was a joy, and the addition of new characters to the party made the experience that much better. I really love the voice cast for these games - I feel like they capture the essence of the characters perfectly and there wasn't a bad performance among them.
I think something that I have more mixed opinions on is the story, although my feelings lean more positive. I just found the plot to be needlessly complicated at times - I'm sure watching some Final Fantasy Union story videos will help clear things up, but I feel like it unnecessarily bogged down what was already an amazing story. I think the story is very strong overall with some incredibly poignant and emotional moments, but it also felt like it went off the rails after a certain point. I also wasn't super thrilled with how it ended - I know the remake trilogy is taking some liberties with the story to try and create a new experience, but I just wished the ending resonated with me a bit more. I'm hoping on a repeat play-through I'll be able to fully enjoy the narrative a bit more.
It seems like Rebirth was well worth the wait. It doubles down on all the things that made Remake great while adding its own flourishes here and there with the inclusion of an absolutely massive open world that more often than not was a blast to explore. Although I wish the narrative had done a bit more for me, the incredibly fun gameplay, stellar performances/graphics and beautiful soundtrack make Rebirth an amazing gaming experience overall. I know it'll be a while before we get the last game, but I'm already counting down the days.
A short but impactful sequel that improves on its predecessor in almost every way. Amazing use of camera movement and cinematics as well as the signature comic-book style of the cutscenes to tell a heartfelt but ultimately tragic story. I'm once again blown away by the fact that Remedy was able to make the two Max Payne games as narratively unique and technically impressive as they did in the early 2000s. Really loved this.
I love this series so much. Another absolute triumph from RGG that easily cemented itself in my top 3.
As much as I will always love Kiryu, Ichiban has grown on me immensely between LAD7 and Infinite Wealth. His relentless optimism, goofiness and loyalty is the perfect foil for Kiryu's cool, tough and solemn demeanor. They complement each other perfectly, and Infinite Wealth did an amazing job at giving them both a time to shine.
The gameplay is a ton of fun and is very much an improvement from the already great turn-based combat of 7. Mixing and matching skills from different classes, utilizing combo attacks, finding the perfect team synergy for each battle - I never got bored of the combat. I was felt fairly over-leveled by the end of the story, but the final boss still put up a decent fight that felt fair.
The amount of content in this game is absolutely absurd. I like to focus on the story during my first play-through of a game, although I did manage to do a good chunk of side stories and optional activities but still feel like I barely scratched the surface. I have a lot of clean-up to do, but with so much variety in the activities I know I'll never get bored trying to finish everything and get the platinum, which I absolutely want to do with how good this game is.
The story was also excellent, although I think I liked 7's just a bit more. I'm always impressed by how well RGG can connect all of these seemingly random plot points together into a cohesive whole, as well as how big they can make the stakes feel in each game. Just when I think they couldn't possibly come up with something as grandiose as their previous game, they always manage to outdo themselves in the next entry. I appreciated the globe-trotting adventure of Infinite Wealth, and being able to flip between the two locations and parties (with no spoilers) kept things fresh and allowed the game to keep moving at a good pace. Couple that with their ability to tackle complex themes like the homelessness epidemic, wealth inequality and the harmful effects of Internet virality and you have a really amazing narrative overall.
Before I had played LAD7 I first played through the previous games in the series to catch myself up. Going into 7 I felt really connected to this story and these characters and this world, and I was nervous that with the longer wait between 7 and Infinite Wealth that I would lose that sense of connection and have a hard time feeling immersed in the world. I'm happy to say that isn't the case - playing Infinite Wealth felt like coming home in a sense, and it didn't feel like I had missed a beat when I loaded it up for the first time. This is a really special series to me, and I'm already counting down the days until we hear about the next adventure for this goofy, lovable found family.
As much as I will always love Kiryu, Ichiban has grown on me immensely between LAD7 and Infinite Wealth. His relentless optimism, goofiness and loyalty is the perfect foil for Kiryu's cool, tough and solemn demeanor. They complement each other perfectly, and Infinite Wealth did an amazing job at giving them both a time to shine.
The gameplay is a ton of fun and is very much an improvement from the already great turn-based combat of 7. Mixing and matching skills from different classes, utilizing combo attacks, finding the perfect team synergy for each battle - I never got bored of the combat. I was felt fairly over-leveled by the end of the story, but the final boss still put up a decent fight that felt fair.
The amount of content in this game is absolutely absurd. I like to focus on the story during my first play-through of a game, although I did manage to do a good chunk of side stories and optional activities but still feel like I barely scratched the surface. I have a lot of clean-up to do, but with so much variety in the activities I know I'll never get bored trying to finish everything and get the platinum, which I absolutely want to do with how good this game is.
The story was also excellent, although I think I liked 7's just a bit more. I'm always impressed by how well RGG can connect all of these seemingly random plot points together into a cohesive whole, as well as how big they can make the stakes feel in each game. Just when I think they couldn't possibly come up with something as grandiose as their previous game, they always manage to outdo themselves in the next entry. I appreciated the globe-trotting adventure of Infinite Wealth, and being able to flip between the two locations and parties (with no spoilers) kept things fresh and allowed the game to keep moving at a good pace. Couple that with their ability to tackle complex themes like the homelessness epidemic, wealth inequality and the harmful effects of Internet virality and you have a really amazing narrative overall.
Before I had played LAD7 I first played through the previous games in the series to catch myself up. Going into 7 I felt really connected to this story and these characters and this world, and I was nervous that with the longer wait between 7 and Infinite Wealth that I would lose that sense of connection and have a hard time feeling immersed in the world. I'm happy to say that isn't the case - playing Infinite Wealth felt like coming home in a sense, and it didn't feel like I had missed a beat when I loaded it up for the first time. This is a really special series to me, and I'm already counting down the days until we hear about the next adventure for this goofy, lovable found family.
CDPR once again prove themselves as masters of the art of creating rich, deep and fun-as-hell DLC content. Phantom Liberty is up there with Blood and Wine as one of the best DLCs I've ever played.
As much as I love the narrative of the base game, I really appreciated how tight and streamlined the story here is. Dogtown is just small but dense enough to explore without it feeling overwhelming, and the story beats do a great job of introducing you to it slowly. I never thought a spy thriller in a game like Cyberpunk could work so well, but I really really enjoyed my time with it.
Idris Elba's performance here is downright excellent. He brings his charisma and icy coolness to the role perfectly, and he instantly elevated any scene he was in. I'd love to see his character make a cameo in the sequel.
The ending I got was bittersweet to say the least. It felt like a necessary end to V's journey but rang pretty hollow when the credits started rolling. I found myself staring at the screen wondering if I had made the right choice, and that to me was a sign that CDPR made an ending that didn't neatly tie everything up in a bow, and I'm grateful for that.
Cyberpunk and PL as a complete, interconnected package are some of the best gaming experiences I've had in a while. I think when you separate out the horrendous launch this game had and take into account what the game actually is on its own merits (especially with the 2.0 update), you appreciate just how good of a game this really is. I'll be thinking about this for a long while.
As much as I love the narrative of the base game, I really appreciated how tight and streamlined the story here is. Dogtown is just small but dense enough to explore without it feeling overwhelming, and the story beats do a great job of introducing you to it slowly. I never thought a spy thriller in a game like Cyberpunk could work so well, but I really really enjoyed my time with it.
Idris Elba's performance here is downright excellent. He brings his charisma and icy coolness to the role perfectly, and he instantly elevated any scene he was in. I'd love to see his character make a cameo in the sequel.
The ending I got was bittersweet to say the least. It felt like a necessary end to V's journey but rang pretty hollow when the credits started rolling. I found myself staring at the screen wondering if I had made the right choice, and that to me was a sign that CDPR made an ending that didn't neatly tie everything up in a bow, and I'm grateful for that.
Cyberpunk and PL as a complete, interconnected package are some of the best gaming experiences I've had in a while. I think when you separate out the horrendous launch this game had and take into account what the game actually is on its own merits (especially with the 2.0 update), you appreciate just how good of a game this really is. I'll be thinking about this for a long while.
2020
I'm glad I decided to wait to play through Cyberpunk 2077 until after the 2.0 update - the game feels like a more complete, mostly smooth package compared to when I first played it at release (but it's not without its issues).
The game's strongest asset is its narrative, which I thoroughly enjoyed all the way through. I loved the cast of characters that you meet along the way, and their side stories are some of the best side content I've played in a while. I was genuinely sad to see some of them go, and the messages you get from them during the credits were a great touch. V's story is really interesting, and although I felt like it dragged at points, the story kept up momentum for most of its run-time and didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. I was happy with the ending I got and think it fits the life that I envisioned for V while I was playing as him - I'm eager to see how different endings play out if I do a replay in the future.
Although things have seemingly been patched up performance wise, there are still some fairly glaring issues that I encountered during my playthrough. There were numerous times where cars would glitch out on the street or I'd get stuck on a railing or part of a building. There was one notable instance where, during a pivotal cutscene in a side story, I watched an NPC go through a loop of sitting at a ramen shop table, pulling a bowl out of thin air, eating it, standing up and then walking in a circle to do it all again. It sorta broke the immersion when these things would happen, but they didn't happen enough to where it felt like the game was unplayable.
I also found the gameplay to be a bit one-note as time went on, although that might be due to how I decided to build V as a character. I basically made him into a soldier and put most of my points into gun skills, and so going into firefights over and over again started to lose its novelty after a while. The actual moment-to-moment gameplay wasn't bad, but I wish I could've better integrated some of the other abilities like quickhacks into my arsenal. Exploration was really well done though - Night City is an awesome place to roam around in, and it felt so alive that I often would skip fast traveling just so I could take in more of the environment.
After following the hype for this game for some time, I knew I had to play it once all the major bugs and issues had been ironed it, and the 2.0 update seemed like the best time to do that. I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed my time with this - the story and characters more than make up for any misgivings I have about some of the performance and gameplay issues. While obviously not on the same level as the Witcher 3, CDPR have made another sprawling, deep and well-written game that left me impressed - I can't wait to see how Phantom Liberty builds on this solid foundation.
The game's strongest asset is its narrative, which I thoroughly enjoyed all the way through. I loved the cast of characters that you meet along the way, and their side stories are some of the best side content I've played in a while. I was genuinely sad to see some of them go, and the messages you get from them during the credits were a great touch. V's story is really interesting, and although I felt like it dragged at points, the story kept up momentum for most of its run-time and didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. I was happy with the ending I got and think it fits the life that I envisioned for V while I was playing as him - I'm eager to see how different endings play out if I do a replay in the future.
Although things have seemingly been patched up performance wise, there are still some fairly glaring issues that I encountered during my playthrough. There were numerous times where cars would glitch out on the street or I'd get stuck on a railing or part of a building. There was one notable instance where, during a pivotal cutscene in a side story, I watched an NPC go through a loop of sitting at a ramen shop table, pulling a bowl out of thin air, eating it, standing up and then walking in a circle to do it all again. It sorta broke the immersion when these things would happen, but they didn't happen enough to where it felt like the game was unplayable.
I also found the gameplay to be a bit one-note as time went on, although that might be due to how I decided to build V as a character. I basically made him into a soldier and put most of my points into gun skills, and so going into firefights over and over again started to lose its novelty after a while. The actual moment-to-moment gameplay wasn't bad, but I wish I could've better integrated some of the other abilities like quickhacks into my arsenal. Exploration was really well done though - Night City is an awesome place to roam around in, and it felt so alive that I often would skip fast traveling just so I could take in more of the environment.
After following the hype for this game for some time, I knew I had to play it once all the major bugs and issues had been ironed it, and the 2.0 update seemed like the best time to do that. I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed my time with this - the story and characters more than make up for any misgivings I have about some of the performance and gameplay issues. While obviously not on the same level as the Witcher 3, CDPR have made another sprawling, deep and well-written game that left me impressed - I can't wait to see how Phantom Liberty builds on this solid foundation.
Really appreciate how weird Treyarch was willing to go with this game. It's nothing revolutionary, but it's different enough from most other military shooters to stand out and is one of the stronger CoD campaigns because of it. And a special shout-out to Sam Worthington for his performance as Mason, he nailed that deranged character well.
2001
It absolutely blows my mind this game was released in 2001. Remedy have once again proven themselves to be masters of their craft - to have writing, art direction, cinematics and voice acting of this quality in a game that's 23 years old is just wild. The gameplay was a bit clunky but it never got to the point where I feel like it was unplayable or unfair in any way.
This is an excellent neo-noir shooter and I can't believe it's taken me this long to play it. Can't wait to start Max Payne 2.
This is an excellent neo-noir shooter and I can't believe it's taken me this long to play it. Can't wait to start Max Payne 2.
An astonishingly high quality free DLC that expands upon my favorite game of 2022. This pushed me to master the combat in a way that I didn't in the base game, and even though I haven't played the original GoW trilogy, seeing Kratos confront and overcome his demons was amazing all the same.
This DLC also reminded me just how fucking gorgeous Ragnarok is and how absurd the graphical fidelity on display here is - you can see every pore on that man's bald head. Now one of my all-time favorite DLCs.
This DLC also reminded me just how fucking gorgeous Ragnarok is and how absurd the graphical fidelity on display here is - you can see every pore on that man's bald head. Now one of my all-time favorite DLCs.
2019
An absolute delight to play. Such a nice break from the longer, narrative-driven games I typically play. Finished it in a little over an hour while doing a bit of exploration, but I'll definitely be returning to this frequently since it's such a short but wonderful game.
I enjoyed Spider-Man 2 considerably more than the first Spider-Man and only slightly more than Miles Morales. While I did have some gripes with it here and there, I think it's a really fun game with a surprisingly emotional story.
The traversal is once again top tier, and with some of the added abilities it makes this game's movement that much better. I challenged myself to never use the fast travel function in this game and I'm happy to say that I never even felt the need to - moving around this world is some of the best I've played in any video game.
The combat was fun enough, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn't really open up completely until the end of the game. There are some insane abilities that are great for crowd control but you get them in the last few hours of the story which is a bit of a bummer. The combat is fast and frenetic and it really forced me to get good with dodge and parry windows.
I think the story is where this game truly shines. This is the best story of the 3 games by a long-shot and I loved the way we were able to switch between Peter and Mile's perspectives. The boss fights were much better done this time around (although some of them definitely overstayed their welcome with a few too many multi-phase fights) and the introduction of Kraven and Venom was just awesome. I've never read the comics so I can't compare this game to those but I thought their characterization was really well done and are some of the stronger gaming antagonists I've seen in a while.
I'm glad I was able to sneak this in before the end of the year. I still have some side content to mop up but this was a really solid gaming experience. I don't think this moved the needle as much as it could've compared to its predecessors but it felt more polished in a lot of areas in comparison. Excited to see how Insomniac continues this story (and maybe connect in the Wolverine game they're working on?).
The traversal is once again top tier, and with some of the added abilities it makes this game's movement that much better. I challenged myself to never use the fast travel function in this game and I'm happy to say that I never even felt the need to - moving around this world is some of the best I've played in any video game.
The combat was fun enough, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn't really open up completely until the end of the game. There are some insane abilities that are great for crowd control but you get them in the last few hours of the story which is a bit of a bummer. The combat is fast and frenetic and it really forced me to get good with dodge and parry windows.
I think the story is where this game truly shines. This is the best story of the 3 games by a long-shot and I loved the way we were able to switch between Peter and Mile's perspectives. The boss fights were much better done this time around (although some of them definitely overstayed their welcome with a few too many multi-phase fights) and the introduction of Kraven and Venom was just awesome. I've never read the comics so I can't compare this game to those but I thought their characterization was really well done and are some of the stronger gaming antagonists I've seen in a while.
I'm glad I was able to sneak this in before the end of the year. I still have some side content to mop up but this was a really solid gaming experience. I don't think this moved the needle as much as it could've compared to its predecessors but it felt more polished in a lot of areas in comparison. Excited to see how Insomniac continues this story (and maybe connect in the Wolverine game they're working on?).
I sobbed like a baby at the end of this game.
I can't believe RGG managed to make a short game that bridges Kiryu's story between LAD 6 and 7 this damn good. Kiryu is one of my all-time favorite characters in gaming and fiction as a whole, and getting to play as him again after so long was so nice. The combat was as good as it's ever been and the final boss fight was a satisfyingly tough fight that I really enjoyed. The new characters were all great and the story, while short, did a great job at explaining what happened between 6 and 7 before Infinite Wealth comes out next year.
I love this series so fucking much, and this is up there with 0, 6 and 7 as one of my all-time favorites. Kiryu is such an amazing character, and I truly can't believe how much of an emotional gut-punch the ending was; I don't often cry at games but I feel like I've invested so much time and emotional energy into this man's journey that it almost felt cathartic to cry. This was a such a special gaming experience and I'm so glad I got to play it.
I can't believe RGG managed to make a short game that bridges Kiryu's story between LAD 6 and 7 this damn good. Kiryu is one of my all-time favorite characters in gaming and fiction as a whole, and getting to play as him again after so long was so nice. The combat was as good as it's ever been and the final boss fight was a satisfyingly tough fight that I really enjoyed. The new characters were all great and the story, while short, did a great job at explaining what happened between 6 and 7 before Infinite Wealth comes out next year.
I love this series so fucking much, and this is up there with 0, 6 and 7 as one of my all-time favorites. Kiryu is such an amazing character, and I truly can't believe how much of an emotional gut-punch the ending was; I don't often cry at games but I feel like I've invested so much time and emotional energy into this man's journey that it almost felt cathartic to cry. This was a such a special gaming experience and I'm so glad I got to play it.
I've been waiting to write this review since I played the campaign early. This is the worst CoD campaign by far (even Ghosts has a better campaign and that game is objectively bad) and a major disappointment for me as a long-time CoD fan.
I was cautiously optimistic about the new open-combat missions; I'm always supportive of studios trying to change up their gameplay formula in order to innovate on existing ideas. Unfortunately, they missed the mark entirely with these missions. The missions have essentially no narrative focus outside of a brief cutscene at the beginning and end, and some incessant radio chatter in-between if you're not completing your objectives fast enough. These missions essentially feel like watered-down versions of DMZ maps in Warzone and I ended up dreaded seeing the "open-combat mission" pop-up while I was playing.
Speaking of Warzone, the blatant re-use of assets from Verdansk is wild. I immediately recognized several parts of the map while I was playing and couldn't believe that they had cut this many corners in trying to ship this game out in less than a year.
I've always given this series the benefit of the doubt since I have a soft spot for it, but this kind of feels like the last straw for me. The fact that I paid $70 for a campaign that barely lasted 4 hours and was this low quality is infuriating, and this feels like a low point for the series. I'm hoping with the recent Microsoft acquisition that the CoD teams can take a step back and re-evaluate because this emphasis on micro-transactions and Warzone over a good campaign just isn't it.
I was cautiously optimistic about the new open-combat missions; I'm always supportive of studios trying to change up their gameplay formula in order to innovate on existing ideas. Unfortunately, they missed the mark entirely with these missions. The missions have essentially no narrative focus outside of a brief cutscene at the beginning and end, and some incessant radio chatter in-between if you're not completing your objectives fast enough. These missions essentially feel like watered-down versions of DMZ maps in Warzone and I ended up dreaded seeing the "open-combat mission" pop-up while I was playing.
Speaking of Warzone, the blatant re-use of assets from Verdansk is wild. I immediately recognized several parts of the map while I was playing and couldn't believe that they had cut this many corners in trying to ship this game out in less than a year.
I've always given this series the benefit of the doubt since I have a soft spot for it, but this kind of feels like the last straw for me. The fact that I paid $70 for a campaign that barely lasted 4 hours and was this low quality is infuriating, and this feels like a low point for the series. I'm hoping with the recent Microsoft acquisition that the CoD teams can take a step back and re-evaluate because this emphasis on micro-transactions and Warzone over a good campaign just isn't it.
2023
An absolute masterpiece from Remedy. This game is leaps and bounds better than the first game and is my favorite game in their catalogue by a mile.
Alan Wake II is such a wonderfully strange and passionate project - I'm so glad we have games this weird being made in 2023 without developers needing to compromise on their vision. Remedy has perfected their craft here - the story is absurd and entertaining, the graphics, art direction and presentation are absolutely insane (the mix of in-engine and live-video cutscenes was genius) and the gameplay is fun and doesn't overstay its welcome (probably the weakest part of the package but not bad at all; it felt much better than the first game).
I have to give a special shout-out to the sound design in this game - it's truly top notch. I highly recommend playing with headphones; the music and sound effects create an incredibly tense atmosphere that immersed me the entire time. I was genuinely creeped out from the sound design alone and it made the experience that much better.
As I've slowly been making my way through Remedy's catalogue the last few years I've realized that they're one of the most talented developers working today. You can tell that they put their all into their projects and that they're true labors of love. Alan Wake II was one of the best gaming experiences I've had this year and I'm beyond excited to dig deeper into their Remedy Connected Universe in the years to come.
Alan Wake II is such a wonderfully strange and passionate project - I'm so glad we have games this weird being made in 2023 without developers needing to compromise on their vision. Remedy has perfected their craft here - the story is absurd and entertaining, the graphics, art direction and presentation are absolutely insane (the mix of in-engine and live-video cutscenes was genius) and the gameplay is fun and doesn't overstay its welcome (probably the weakest part of the package but not bad at all; it felt much better than the first game).
I have to give a special shout-out to the sound design in this game - it's truly top notch. I highly recommend playing with headphones; the music and sound effects create an incredibly tense atmosphere that immersed me the entire time. I was genuinely creeped out from the sound design alone and it made the experience that much better.
As I've slowly been making my way through Remedy's catalogue the last few years I've realized that they're one of the most talented developers working today. You can tell that they put their all into their projects and that they're true labors of love. Alan Wake II was one of the best gaming experiences I've had this year and I'm beyond excited to dig deeper into their Remedy Connected Universe in the years to come.