iznaroth
2014
Bashed for being sandwiched between some of the industry's most influential releases. It is very hard to rate this game fairly against all games as a whole when it tries to replicate a formula that has only been succeeded in the some of the best games of all time. I think it doesn't deserve the hate. It's huge, pretty fun despite many more moments of frustration, and has a couple cool moments. The DLC are stronger.
2013
Fond memories of Spite-Command runs going on forever, crushing my puny laptop while the screen basically froze every few seconds. Masterclass in scaling, followed strongly by the sequel.
David Cage is so miraculously stupid, out of touch, uninspired and insultingly self-righteous that I physically cannot rate anything he produces higher than the lowest possible. This game terrifically continues his trend of cramming a bunch of B-movie quotes and meatless setups into a shell of a premise - only this time its a hilariously transparent civil rights allegory (that he tries to deny for some reason?) that treats both its sci-fi inspirations and real-world counterparts with the sort of hamfisted tactlessness only a toddler could reproduce. Quantic Dream has dealt irreversible damage to the progression of games as a medium and probably slowed its maturity by more than a decade. The industrys worst name.
2014
A mystifying product that is firmly niche, but space is so generally appealing that it manages to pull people in from well outside its strike-zone. The process of mastering flight in this game is uniquely satisfying, but the level of engagement with the world around you is shallow, and the developers are far too strict with the game's economy. It does not impact the game whether it takes 50 or 500 hours to max out the best ship, so why make it unnecessarily difficult? There's a point where even the most committed players won't find the ends justify the means.