roger_hunt
2009
Dear lord, everything feels so sluggish and the input lag is insane. Even on real hardware it feels like I'm streaming the game on shitty wifi.
A surprisingly solid puzzle platformer. There are some frustrating sections but they did a good job introducing something new each "world" to keep things fresh.
Their biggest mistake was definitely the game's title. If you're looking for a stealth game you'll be disappointed. Like I said before, it's a puzzle platformer with some stealth mechanics sprinkled in.
Their biggest mistake was definitely the game's title. If you're looking for a stealth game you'll be disappointed. Like I said before, it's a puzzle platformer with some stealth mechanics sprinkled in.
"Hey boss, I know the platforming levels we made for our platforming game are great but what if we sprinkle in some terrible mini games to make sure the player isn't having too much fun. Oh, and let's make the entire final mission a sequence of mini games just to end on a low note."
This seems to be common occurrence among developers from the era, inserting non platforming sections for the sake of "variety". What were they smoking back then.
I had an overall good time with the game, but I constantly bounced back and forth between loving and hating it.
This seems to be common occurrence among developers from the era, inserting non platforming sections for the sake of "variety". What were they smoking back then.
I had an overall good time with the game, but I constantly bounced back and forth between loving and hating it.
2001
The AI cheats in fog of war matches and can make illegal moves. Inexcusable in a strategy game. These missions end up devolving into the same pattern: losing once to memorize enemy placements and then actually trying to win the second try.
Feels like this game doesn't really know what it wants to be.
Not enough control over your squad mates, bad AI and simple objectives makes it a poor strategic shooter compared to Hidden and Dangerous, Rainbow Six, etc. Inaccurate guns, clunky gunplay and uninspired level design make it a poor linear FPS.
It's one of the more immersive WWII shooters and there is fun to be had but I just felt annoyed a lot of the time.
Not enough control over your squad mates, bad AI and simple objectives makes it a poor strategic shooter compared to Hidden and Dangerous, Rainbow Six, etc. Inaccurate guns, clunky gunplay and uninspired level design make it a poor linear FPS.
It's one of the more immersive WWII shooters and there is fun to be had but I just felt annoyed a lot of the time.
1998
I was looking forward to this one but had to give up on it for now. The combination of low frame rate and sluggish controls feels terrible. I'll give it another try when the fan decompilation and PC port are done.
2003
A competent shooter with some stealth mixed in and great visual style. Unfortunately it has various pain points which keep it from being great.
Positives:
- Great visual design inspired by comics. The illustrated sound effects are a nice touch.
- Jazzy soundtrack reminiscent of spy thrillers.
- Large level variety ranging from snowy mountains, desert, submarine, military base, etc.
Neutral
- Shooting gameplay is alright. There is a large variety of weapons. Guns don't feel very powerful possibly due to sound design and hit feedback. Enemy AI isn't that great and they usually just stay still and shoot.
- Stealth sections can be fun if they are your cup of tea. I enjoyed them but there can be a lot of trial and error. The AI also isn't great in this aspect. The limit of their vision and hearing can be inconsistent and hard to pinpoint.
- Cliffhanger ending which wouldn't be a problem if we actually got a proper sequel.
- Voice acting. Adam West is great but David Duchovny sounds like a robot.
Negative
- Bosses are terrible bullet sponges that just run around and shoot at you. It's also pretty jarring to go from mowing down soldiers to having to empty clips into some old dude.
- There is a save system but you will just load in the beginning of the level instead of where you saved. There is also no autosave.
- Few checkpoints with some being terribly placed. Had a few instances where I died after beating a boss after multiple attempts with no checkpoint in between. Dying 5 minutes into a level just to have to rewatch unskippable cutscenes, wait for characters to finish conversations and repeat all you just did is pure agony.
In the end I had a good time, but with just a few tweaks the game could have been great. It's very disappointing that the remake couldn't deliver on that.
Positives:
- Great visual design inspired by comics. The illustrated sound effects are a nice touch.
- Jazzy soundtrack reminiscent of spy thrillers.
- Large level variety ranging from snowy mountains, desert, submarine, military base, etc.
Neutral
- Shooting gameplay is alright. There is a large variety of weapons. Guns don't feel very powerful possibly due to sound design and hit feedback. Enemy AI isn't that great and they usually just stay still and shoot.
- Stealth sections can be fun if they are your cup of tea. I enjoyed them but there can be a lot of trial and error. The AI also isn't great in this aspect. The limit of their vision and hearing can be inconsistent and hard to pinpoint.
- Cliffhanger ending which wouldn't be a problem if we actually got a proper sequel.
- Voice acting. Adam West is great but David Duchovny sounds like a robot.
Negative
- Bosses are terrible bullet sponges that just run around and shoot at you. It's also pretty jarring to go from mowing down soldiers to having to empty clips into some old dude.
- There is a save system but you will just load in the beginning of the level instead of where you saved. There is also no autosave.
- Few checkpoints with some being terribly placed. Had a few instances where I died after beating a boss after multiple attempts with no checkpoint in between. Dying 5 minutes into a level just to have to rewatch unskippable cutscenes, wait for characters to finish conversations and repeat all you just did is pure agony.
In the end I had a good time, but with just a few tweaks the game could have been great. It's very disappointing that the remake couldn't deliver on that.
1997
Okay gunplay, cryptic puzzles and terrible humor. People actually find these kind of "jokes" funny? At least they are so terrible that you can't even get offended by them.
2005
The game looks great and can be fun at times, especially when it mixes puzzles in between platforming and during boss fights.
Unfortunately, everything just feels so sluggish. You start every level with only one gear which limits your mobility and makes the first half of every level a slog. Characters also constantly interrupt you during levels for needless chatter. I quit when I got to the water level which just exacerbated all the issues I had with the game.
Unfortunately, everything just feels so sluggish. You start every level with only one gear which limits your mobility and makes the first half of every level a slog. Characters also constantly interrupt you during levels for needless chatter. I quit when I got to the water level which just exacerbated all the issues I had with the game.
2005
A very memorable experience that is sort of a mix between platforming and adventure games. Great art, story, dialogue and level design. My only complaint is that the platforming can be frustrating due to wonky collision detection like on ledges and ropes.
I used the following to improve the experience on modern systems: set compatibility mode to Windows 95, ThirteenAG Widescreen Fix, 2021 HD AI Upscale and Cutscenes texture mod on Nexus.
The one technical problem that I couldn't fix was a "popping" sound that happened when playing some sounds, especially those that played in loops like the levitation ball.
I used the following to improve the experience on modern systems: set compatibility mode to Windows 95, ThirteenAG Widescreen Fix, 2021 HD AI Upscale and Cutscenes texture mod on Nexus.
The one technical problem that I couldn't fix was a "popping" sound that happened when playing some sounds, especially those that played in loops like the levitation ball.
The platforming itself was good but then they decided to mix in brain dead combat and terrible "auto run" sections like the shells, water ski, slides and pirate ship.
2020
I never had a gaming experience ruined by a checkpoint system before.
I should actually call it a teleport system, because when you die you don't restart the level from the last checkpoint, you just teleport back with the enemies you killed staying dead. This means that difficulty is irrelevant since you can just brute force your way forward. They tried to mitigate this by implementing a score system that penalizes deaths but that is only relevant if you care about scores, which I do not. This all wouldn't be a problem if they included an option to play with them on or not.
Everything else about the game is pretty solid but I completely lost my desire to play after this.
I should actually call it a teleport system, because when you die you don't restart the level from the last checkpoint, you just teleport back with the enemies you killed staying dead. This means that difficulty is irrelevant since you can just brute force your way forward. They tried to mitigate this by implementing a score system that penalizes deaths but that is only relevant if you care about scores, which I do not. This all wouldn't be a problem if they included an option to play with them on or not.
Everything else about the game is pretty solid but I completely lost my desire to play after this.