ja_nathen
1987
This review is gonna be a little short because there isn't I don't have a whole lot to say about the original Metal Gear. I appreciate the ambition this one has, there are ideas here that you wouldn't really expect from a game of it's time; the radio frequency specifically is an aspect I didn't think would be as heavily used as it is. It is not implemented the best, the game flat out doesn't tell you one of the main frequencies you need to progress, but I still think it is cool and an immersive way of giving the player information that was ahead of its time. Other than that the game is pretty simple, stay out of guards literal line of sight, gather items to progress, and fight a couple bosses; it's simple but fun. I would suggest playing with a map, maybe not one that tells you where items are, but one that at least shows you what doors need what key card.
2000
To start off the year I decided to begin my backlog goals by playing through the first Hitman game, I originally wanted the original Metal Gear to be the first game I played this year but due to circumstances outside of my control, I decided to go ahead and start on Hitman. As well, I would like to preface this review with the knowledge that this is my first venture in to the stealth game genre, so take what I say with a grain of salt as this is all new to me.
The best way I can describe Codename 47 is that it seems like the framework for something greater. There are defiantly good ideas and mechanics, like the iconic disguise mechanic and the impressive AI pathfinding, but it is all bogged down by a severe case of linearity. The missions are not sandboxes; you are given your objective and there are specific steps you must take to get those objectives done, and any deviation results in mission failure. There are only about two levels that I can think of that offer the player some creative freedom. "Traditions of the Trade" and "Plutonium Runs Loose" are said two levels; the prior is a great example of what this game does right, and the latter an example of the worst it has to offer. "Traditions" takes place in a big multilevel hotel where you need to explore, learn NPC patterns, and gather information in order to complete the objectives. The level operates on it's own time and really gives the player opportunity to try out different routes. This is in direct contrast with "Plutonium" where it is extremely binary; there are only two choices and both are infuriating to no end. You either have to navigate through enemy patrol routes so that you can go to the other side of the map from where you spawn to grab a car bomb, after which the enemies stop patrolling and become stationary, which means you have to kill them in order to progress leaving a chance that your target might escape; or you go straight to the ship and try to complete all the objectives in one swift go, which doesn't go well because as soon as you take out the target all the guards come running towards you to turn you into swiss cheese. I will also take this time to mention that the gun play is dog water, it was clearly not designed with intense gun fights in mine, but it still asks you requires you to do so in some instances. But those two levels are extreme examples, most fall somewhere in-between and are generally enjoyable.
Overall, Codename 47 is ok, levels are fun albeit sometimes cryptic and infuriating; the story is non existent and not all that interesting, but both the story and gameplay offer a great base for future games to build off of.
The best way I can describe Codename 47 is that it seems like the framework for something greater. There are defiantly good ideas and mechanics, like the iconic disguise mechanic and the impressive AI pathfinding, but it is all bogged down by a severe case of linearity. The missions are not sandboxes; you are given your objective and there are specific steps you must take to get those objectives done, and any deviation results in mission failure. There are only about two levels that I can think of that offer the player some creative freedom. "Traditions of the Trade" and "Plutonium Runs Loose" are said two levels; the prior is a great example of what this game does right, and the latter an example of the worst it has to offer. "Traditions" takes place in a big multilevel hotel where you need to explore, learn NPC patterns, and gather information in order to complete the objectives. The level operates on it's own time and really gives the player opportunity to try out different routes. This is in direct contrast with "Plutonium" where it is extremely binary; there are only two choices and both are infuriating to no end. You either have to navigate through enemy patrol routes so that you can go to the other side of the map from where you spawn to grab a car bomb, after which the enemies stop patrolling and become stationary, which means you have to kill them in order to progress leaving a chance that your target might escape; or you go straight to the ship and try to complete all the objectives in one swift go, which doesn't go well because as soon as you take out the target all the guards come running towards you to turn you into swiss cheese. I will also take this time to mention that the gun play is dog water, it was clearly not designed with intense gun fights in mine, but it still asks you requires you to do so in some instances. But those two levels are extreme examples, most fall somewhere in-between and are generally enjoyable.
Overall, Codename 47 is ok, levels are fun albeit sometimes cryptic and infuriating; the story is non existent and not all that interesting, but both the story and gameplay offer a great base for future games to build off of.
This review contains spoilers
Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great, albeit slightly bloated game. It takes the formula of Tomb Raider (2013) and, in classic Tomb Raider fashion, adds more on top of it without really addressing the problems of its predecessor; though I will say that it does a better job than that of the original ps1 games. The mini open world makes its return from TR 2013 and is stuffed full to the brim with tombs to raid, treasures to find, and enemies to fight. This time around, however, the survival mechanics that took a back seat to the combat and parkour in the first game are now at the fore front. While in TR 2013 you had the option to hunt animals for XP, you are now highly encouraged to because Lara can salvage materials from them to upgrade and craft weapons. On top of that, there are trees, bushes, birds nests, ore deposits, and mushrooms that can all be harvested for resources to for the same purpose. But despite all that effort, the crafting system never goes anywhere beyond mindlessly grabbing upgrades for Lara's gear whenever the game tells you that one is available. The world has so many of these resources to the point that, once clear the first hour or so of the game, you will always have max amount, and if not max then very close to. Its an interesting idea that just didn't get to reach it's full potential. As well, there is now an item shop that you can purchase special items and weapons by spending coins you find while exploring. This shop is almost entirely comprised of items from TR 2013 that didn't make the full jump into this game. Mind you, none of the items in the shop have any real baring on the progression of the game, there are no puzzles that require you to have the rope ascender, and not having the grenade launcher mod wont make the combat any harder. And while that may not seem like a bad thing, I do wish there was more incentive to get these items other than just "it's cool". The combat has also gotten some new additions; you can now craft explosives out of cans and enemy radios using the resources you find, and they've added different gun variants in addition to the standard bow, pistol, shotgun, AR; think a break action double barrel or a bolt action hunting rifle. these new guns allow for a little more play expression during combat and spruce up the gameplay if it begins to feel a little stale. Other than that the game is almost entirely the same as TR 2013, the optional tomb puzzles are highly enjoyable, the combat is fun and addictive, and the movement is fluid. The story even covers many of the same plot beats; accident leaves Lara in a new unfamiliar land, enemy faction discovers her and hunts her down, fights against both said enemy faction and the mystical undead army protecting the mystical mcguffin, Lara saves the day. The only new addition is the good natives that help Lara along the way. Despite the similar structure, the story is a direct improvement over the first games. I wont go into detail for the sake of spoilers, but the antagonists are much more fleshed out than in TR 2013, and Lara's motivation is more personal, which I liked. Overall amazing game, I have really enjoyed seeing the direction Crystal Dynamics has taken the series since the 7th generation entries. The only negatives I have with this one is the slight amount of bloat from the crafting system and that no real substantial improvements were made since the Tomb Raider (2013).
2019
Absolutely incredible game, the peak of the Meto games. The guns have been improved from Last Light, not as drastically as from 2033 to LL, but still great quality of life improvements. The pool of weapons has been decreased to around five to six guns, each filling in your basic FPS archetypes: semi-autos, shotguns, snipers, and pistols. But to accommodate for this, each of the guns have a frame that the player can customize to their liking; a simple Kalashnikov semi-auto can turn long distance hunting rifle, or the shotgun can be outfitted with two to four barrels for maximum fire power. The audio and visual design for these weapons are great too, the shotgun especially got an upgrade, becoming my most used gun almost solely on how satisfying it is to unload the chamber after firing. As well, Exodus does away with the currency system of the prior entries, and instead uses a new crafting system in order to make ammo, med packs, and mask filters. The system is very simple and can be done at any point during gameplay, though I would not recommend doing so during a fire fight. As long as you have the resources you can craft anything you made need, and said resources can be found all around the new semi open world. For this entry, Artyom leaves the cramped walls of the titular metro and goes with a gang of fellow soldiers to find a safe place to live on the surface. This means the player gets to explore the lands of post nuclear war Russia, but not in the traditional way you think. Each chapter takes you to a different, bite sized map that the player can explore through out that part of the story, and each location has a unique aesthetic and story that makes them standout. None of these maps are to overwhelmingly big, or disappointingly small, they are a great middle ground between the two. The staple morality system also makes its return in Exodus, but this time a little easier to navigate. Instead of being extremely vague like in 2033 and Last Light, the actions you must do to gain the good ending are, almost, told directly to you. Often times it is "don't kill anyone" or "free the slaves", which is very apricated, but there are still some unspoken objectives that the player must find on their own in order to get the good ending. I personally liked this much more because I didn't exactly in control with my choices in the previous entries. Overall, Metro Exodus is a fantastic game that is worth any players time, highly recommend.
2022
Wow. Just wow. Tunic is seriously one of the most creative games I have ever played. The method of solving puzzles and gaining new abilities by just reading the manual and going "oh shit, I can do that" is simply incredible. I don't want to get anymore specific at risk of spoiling it for someone, but the puzzles are as good, if not better, than even the likes of Myst. There are still good things about it beyond just the puzzles though. The games approach to respawns is very refreshing, instead of just dying and going back to the last save, the plops you back to the last little campfire thing with a fraction of the consumables that you used before dying. It makes death feel like an actual punishment rather than just a temporary set back; it also makes boss less cheeseable, meaning you actually have to "get good". On that subject, the combat in this game was a very big surprise, as it takes after the souls games more so than Zelda. Lots of dodge rolling, parrying, and memorizing boss patterns till its a science. I've never played a souls-like but I assume that is what it's like. Overall fantastic game, the only knock I have against it were the souls-like elements. Which weren't objectively bad, just not my cup of tea.
2003
Fantastic game. The art style really holds up and makes it stand out among it's 6th gen shooter peers. The gun play all of the guns feel great to use, especially the crossbows and shot guns. The one exception I found to that, however, is the AR and Uzi stand in. both weapons sound and look great, just are not accurate in the slightest, pretty much having to be point blank to get any real damage in. The levels are also really fun; taking elements from the likes of Goldeneye/Time Splitters, albeit slightly more linear. The bosses are probably the worst parts of the game by far. The first is fine enough, it just asks you to avoid the doctors projectile syringes like that one Wolfenstein 3D boss. But the others are all just hitscan shoot em till they die, and are also somehow way more accurate than you with the same guns. The only other complaint I have is the lack of auto save; there are checkpoints throughout the levels, but the player has to manually save in the menu in order to save progress. Which is fine on paper, but unlike other games that use a similar method, the game never prompts you to save at the end of a level. So, if your game crashes once or twice like mine did, you're sent back to your last save like six missions back. Overall, though, XIII is a great game with fun gun play, an intriguing story, and an aesthetic that looks great even today.
1986
oh boy the Konami's arcade roots are strong with this one. It really challenges your memory and your patience. Not to say this one is infuriating, well maybe a little with the later boss fights that seem entirely up to luck, but it really demands constant trial and error to see what works. I wouldn't say beating it is rewarding, instead it's more of a satisfied relief.
1986
Play it with a map is all I got to say really. The Metroid core design is here, just extremally barebones and a little archaic, but that is to be expected with an both the first entry in a series and really any game on the NES. It is very fun to explore, just like the rest of the series, just make sure you got a map handy as the game doesn't give you one.