2022
Official video game of “no copyright intended”
If you can endure the initial barrage of highly concentrated Marvel smarm (I really wanted Stark thrown out an airlock in the first few hours), this is a pretty fun and interesting little tactics game. As a bonus, looks and runs great in HDR on the Steam Deck OLED.
2023
Extremely sleazy Disney gacha piled upon an Asphalt game, the gameplay frankly doesn't even get better with upgrades (much like Asphalt).
Not worth your time unless you are a true Disney diehard, in which case, have fun paying to star up Donald for fractional performance upgrades or whatever.
Not worth your time unless you are a true Disney diehard, in which case, have fun paying to star up Donald for fractional performance upgrades or whatever.
2022
I recently read an older Polygon article referring to Death Stranding's Monster Energy product placement as vandalism and frankly, no, vandalism is putting an inexplicable Billy Idol concert a half hour into the critical path of your game set on an alien world in a far-future post-apocalypse.
Extremely strange inclusions aside, this game is janky but interesting. I'm not sure it's going to hold my attention for the whole run; frankly opening on a pair of bald men kind of set the stage for me to be like okay can you even render hair in this engine (answer: not really), but I am intrigued so far.
Extremely strange inclusions aside, this game is janky but interesting. I'm not sure it's going to hold my attention for the whole run; frankly opening on a pair of bald men kind of set the stage for me to be like okay can you even render hair in this engine (answer: not really), but I am intrigued so far.
2021
Really cute and enjoyable little platformer. Has 90s vibes and some really pretty visuals.
sometimes old things aren't done anymore because they're not good
2020
Extremely ambitious but deeply, deeply flawed. In fairness to it there is some good writing buried in there (the romance subplot I ended up following was nicely written and had some really nice moments tbh), but the moment to moment gameplay is not great, driving is awful, walking around makes the whole place feel empty, hacking feels meaningless, you have to spend an incredible amount of time disposing of junk items, the menus are slow and janky, etc etc.
on the other hand, it is one of the only games I've ever seen to employ montage to full effect in the intro, how they made the engine do that I don't know, because none of it is pre-rendered, it's in-engine, warts and all, but you are cutting between various parts of the city, interior and exterior, with very rapid cuts and it's honestly quite impressive. shame the rest of the game is much less polished than that one scene which stuck with me. the facial animations are really, really impressive, it does some interesting things with first-person interaction and animations, and it will let silence linger in a way I think most games are scared to.
on the other hand, it is one of the only games I've ever seen to employ montage to full effect in the intro, how they made the engine do that I don't know, because none of it is pre-rendered, it's in-engine, warts and all, but you are cutting between various parts of the city, interior and exterior, with very rapid cuts and it's honestly quite impressive. shame the rest of the game is much less polished than that one scene which stuck with me. the facial animations are really, really impressive, it does some interesting things with first-person interaction and animations, and it will let silence linger in a way I think most games are scared to.
2022
finally out on Steam, and so far a few hours in it's a fun new Saints Row game?
decade old pop culture references are not the same as funny writing
which is unfortunate because I kind of wanted to enjoy a little fantasy xcom-type thing
which is unfortunate because I kind of wanted to enjoy a little fantasy xcom-type thing
2023
For a few bucks this is a good fun little romp. Don't expect an enormous amount of depth - it's one city - but it's a good time.
I do kind of wish it had some more objectives to it (maybe making those to unlock the alternate colours would've added a little extra longevity to it?) but I suspect I will be back with some extra players to test that multiplayer mode out.
I do kind of wish it had some more objectives to it (maybe making those to unlock the alternate colours would've added a little extra longevity to it?) but I suspect I will be back with some extra players to test that multiplayer mode out.
The best NFS since 2006.
They've genuinely outdone themselves. The soundtrack bangs. The cars are great. Stylish as all get out. Brimming with personality. Novel game structure which works pretty well. Racer AI is competitive and fun to race against.
Held back by Frostbite and weird business decisions, as is par for the course with modern EA titles. The car performance rating system is flawed, and lets cars with lower numbers be much more competitive.
Deserving of ongoing support or a follow-up.
They've genuinely outdone themselves. The soundtrack bangs. The cars are great. Stylish as all get out. Brimming with personality. Novel game structure which works pretty well. Racer AI is competitive and fun to race against.
Held back by Frostbite and weird business decisions, as is par for the course with modern EA titles. The car performance rating system is flawed, and lets cars with lower numbers be much more competitive.
Deserving of ongoing support or a follow-up.
2020
Way, way, way, way, way too fucking long for its own good. First 8 hours or so are interesting, but then it becomes clear they're out of ideas, and the rest is just rehashes with mildly different skins. Ambitious in attempting to allow recruiting anyone in the world, but it undermines the whole game.
The hackers must be all virtuous and only use non-lethal weaponry (except when they don't).
I haven't felt this level of disrespect for my time from a game since Agents of Mayhem. Huge levels of rehashing of the same shit. Unreasonably difficult arenas where it sends dozens of dudes at you while you're charged with surviving with your pissweak little pistol. No real opportunities to use hacking to level the playing field in a meaningful way.
Play 2 instead and ignore the rest of the series.
The hackers must be all virtuous and only use non-lethal weaponry (except when they don't).
I haven't felt this level of disrespect for my time from a game since Agents of Mayhem. Huge levels of rehashing of the same shit. Unreasonably difficult arenas where it sends dozens of dudes at you while you're charged with surviving with your pissweak little pistol. No real opportunities to use hacking to level the playing field in a meaningful way.
Play 2 instead and ignore the rest of the series.
2020
A very, very, very polished VR game. Story is well told, gunplay is good and fun. Ending is a bit too difficult for its own good. So more or less typical Valve fare, then.
2022
Tedious.
A cute concept, held back by the level layouts being a pain to navigate. You spend a lot of the time bouncing either right to where you were or progressing backwards. The powerups don't help with that very much.
A cute concept, held back by the level layouts being a pain to navigate. You spend a lot of the time bouncing either right to where you were or progressing backwards. The powerups don't help with that very much.
What a delight. This is a game I waited the better part of a decade for, having played its predecessor back in 2013. Preemptive game of the year edition was damn right.
This game is sweet, heartfelt, funny and just extremely endearing. The characters are well-written and have depth to them - you can tell they've been rattling around in the creator's head marinating in creative juices for a good while now.
Combat was a fun challenge and ultimately pretty surmountable for an RPG-averse gal like me. I had a few times where I game over-ed but managed to turn things around after figuring out some weaknesses.
These animals are gay. And thank goodness for that.
This game is sweet, heartfelt, funny and just extremely endearing. The characters are well-written and have depth to them - you can tell they've been rattling around in the creator's head marinating in creative juices for a good while now.
Combat was a fun challenge and ultimately pretty surmountable for an RPG-averse gal like me. I had a few times where I game over-ed but managed to turn things around after figuring out some weaknesses.
These animals are gay. And thank goodness for that.