had an rocky launch but things really turned around for it and it can be considered one of the finest examples of video game collections out there now, every game runs smoothly on both PC and Xbox, has an absurd amount of options ranging from field of view sliders and acessibility across the board, all the online competitive/cooperative multiplayer for each game is available and 6 highly entertaining FPS campaigns in one single package, some of those are easily the best you can find in the genre.

an must-buy for any Halo fan and an obligatory entry point for those who want to experience the franchise for the first time, shame that only Halo 5 isn't that easily acessible considering that is not included in the collection neither is available on PC.

Dead Island 2 gets the zombie killing portion spot on. It's so much with so many different methods. Weapons, both melee and ranged, come in 4 categories, such as "frenzy" or "maiming" each one excels at a different area and gets critical hits in different ways. Then of course you have the actual weapons themselves which can feel different with their speeds, range and so on (so for example a "bulldozer" weapon could be a baseball bat or a sledgehammer).

You can further add variety via perks, including adding an element to them.

You can use environmental hazards to your advantage, though most of them time I found myself just getting shocked or set on fire when trying to take advantage of them. It's also where an area of the game that isn't really expanded upon past the first 2 maps. Like you have electricity, water, acid and fire, but the ways they can interact (setting an oil barrel on fire, drenching a zombie in water then electrocuting it etc) are all shown off very early. It doesn't help that weapons can do most of these faster and better than the environment can, so you'll find these things in the world being more obstacles to yourself rather than tools for killing zombies.

The game does provide a steady flow of other tools for you to use though. Like at the start you just have melee weapons, usually with little to no perks. Then you start unlocking perks, skill cards (perks for your character rather than your weapon), access to ranged weapons, a "special move" and finally full on beast mode.

In other words, there's a ton of ways to kill zombies, and it's a lot of fun.

The amount of enemy variety likewise keeps things fresh. You've got so many types of walking dead. They could differ by simple things like whether they shamble, walk or run (appropriately called shamblers, walkers and runners), but some zombies have elemental elements, like a shocker zombie, dressed up as an electrical engineer, can set off bolts of lightning around itself. Not just offensively, but defensive too - so those shocker zombies are immune to electric weapons, while a firefighter zombie would be immune to all elemental types. This does come with a bit of a downside where due to there being so many zombies immune to all these different types, sometimes it just feels better to make your weapon perk the pure force one with no element, so it can't be resisted by anything, except for things like riot gear zombies which are immune to any damage until you knock their armour off.

The apex zombies are the mini-bosses of the game, which also come in a wide variety. Crushers are huge brutes who slam the floor with their fists, screamers, well, scream, which prevents you getting close, slobbers will spit globs of acid at you etc. They only get better at differentiating themselves when you unlock the ability to harvest zombie parts part way through the game, as each apex will give out different parts, used for some of the better weapon perks.

My favourite aspect of the game though is the huge variety in locales. They chose a great setting for the game. I'd much rather bash zombies heads in in places like huge hotels, pier fairgrounds, beaches, and millionaire houses with pools, than dull grey ruined cities and streets with no landmarks like many games set during a zombie apocalypse. You'll still get some of those darker areas, like the sewers or metro, but they're broken up between much colourful and lively areas.

What can't be said for the variety is the missions. Pretty much all main and side-quests provide little in the way of gameplay changes. They exist purely to tell this games rather mediocre story. While I could understand that with the main missions, the side-quests should really have provided more variety to the usual gameplay loop of "head to area, kill zombies, head back to quest giver". Most of the quests just involve you going to look for someone or something, finding the person the quest-giver talked about is dead and then fighting their zombie self. Rinse and repeat. The only kind I can think of off the top of my head that truly mixed things up is a quest that has you kill off zombies in specific ways, like killing them via fire or electricity. It's such a minor thing too, and that's just how little variety there is.

It doesn't help that it's full of groan-worthy dialogue that I can't tell if it's supposed to be ironic or not. My player character was probably the worst of it, so if you didn't choose Carla maybe you had a better time there.

What also doesn't feel special thanks to not changing things up from the regular gameplay are the bosses. Every single boss in this game is just an apex zombie with a unique name and more health. Granted a lot of the times these are the first time said apex zombie comes into the game, so there's a little bit of a surprise there. But once you beat them, they'll be added to the pool of regular encounters like any other.

So one aspect I find interesting about the game is that stat increases don't come from levels - they come from beating the in-game challenges. Most of these just provide money, but you can get say, extra damage from specific weapon types by killing X amount of zombies with that type of weapon, or more resistance to acid by killing those slobbers who spit acid as mentioned before. It's a very interesting way to get power growth beyond just gaining exp, and promotes fighting as many types of zombies in as many ways as possible.

But it does raise the question of why have an exp and level system at all. There are only 2 things in the game, other than the player, that I can see using levels - the zombies and the weapons. The zombies scale with you, so no matter what level you are, the zombies will never drop below 1 level lower than that. Sometimes you'll find zombies equal, or higher than you, with the odd zombie having a "skull" as its level to indicate "very powerful and can kill you fast". My theory is that every group of zombies has a minimum level, and once you pass that, the zombies will grow with you - until you pass it they will stay at their minimum, and if you're far below it (3+ levels) it will show as a skull. That's fine and all but does it NEED a level system? It's done to gate players from trying to do things out of order, so why not just scale the enemies to player progress instead of levels?

Weapons likewise keep up with you in levels. And it doesn't matter if it's a random weapon on the ground or a special weapon gained from a long scavenger hunt - they'll all be at your level +/-1. Even worse is that these special weapons don't actually have anything special ABOUT them. They do come pre-loaded with some perks, maybe even ones you haven't unlocked yet, but otherwise they seem the same as anything else in the game. Maybe they're stronger, I can't say I compared every stat of every weapon. But the fact they always start at your level means many of them become quickly outclassed. You could use money to "level up" the weapons, but it costs a lot compared to just using material to craft new perks for higher levelled weapons.

It's such a shame too because these weapons are basically the closest thing the game has to exploring the maps. There's very little else to find. You can get materials, journal notes (some of which are pretty fun to read tbf) and weapons. There's a lot of locked boxes where the key is held by a named, and little stronger, but otherwise regular-looking zombie somewhere nearby (not unlike the bosses, but in this case it's fine for them to be regular enemies). It's a fantastic idea, but it lacks any payoff because the reward is a weapon that likely won't differ too much from your current ones, and will be outclassed very fast.

So levels don't provide any benefit in terms of being able to more easily sweep early game areas, or let you access stronger weapons faster. So what's the point? All they do is give you a blueprint for a mod, or a skill card. Those could easily have been tied with challenges like the rest of the player growth.

While I'm complaining I'll just throw in some random QoL stuff I'd have liked:
-A vehicle for backtracking through areas or a way to fast travel without having to go to a safe room.
-A way to sort weapons by most powerful, by type etc.
-Marking which keys you've already used.

The game provides such many fantastic stuff to play with. The arsenal of offense capability, the wide array of different types of things to kill, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and a setting that never gets dull. But it doesn't do anything structured WITH them. It hands you some toys and says "have fun" and when you get a bit bored of mindlessly smashing zombies heads in, you ask for just a bit more to break things up, it just gives you a weak story and says "continue having fun" with no new toys. You wonder if they maybe hid some new toys in the huge sandbox you're playing in. But there isn't.

I had a lot of fun with the game I want to make it clear. I just think it could have been a bit more, and it's more annoying that this game didn't provide it than it would have been if it had been a bad game to begin with.

A MASTERPIECE, AGAIN. capcom really became the kings of remakes. i don't know how they did it, but i like this version better than the original. it improves in so many aspects of it, keeping what made RE4 so special back in 2005. they're still different games, if you appreciate the b movie campyness and over the top nature of the original, it's still there for you.
this one is more serious in tone, and the horror works better for it, yet finds a perfect balance between scary and goofy. leon's personality is perfect here, imo. ashley is less annoying (her relationship with leon is actually cute this time), ada is ada (very sexy), luis is as sexy as ever, KRAUSER is a ridiculous extravagant bad guy i fecking love him, and the other villains (specially saddler and salazar) are WAY scarier and more intone of what they should be. hunnigan is cute and funny af, anyone knows if she's seeing someone? asking for a friend.

in all seriousness, i kept laughing and giggling the entire time while playing this. i'm so happy. i feel like what it must've felt playing RE4 back in the day. and that mid credits scene got me so hyped omggggg
BRING RE5 REMAKE, TAKE MY FUCKING MONEY YOU BASTARDSSHDSD

After a troubled development cycle marked by wild and endlessly creative experimentation, the original Resident Evil 4 launched a revolution of the survival horror and third-person shooter genres. The limited resources and clunky movement system, when combined with the aggressive enemies and looping arenas, made for a gameplay loop that incentivizes improvising and being constantly on the move. It created a feeling of stress and release, a rollercoaster of complete control and utter powerlessness so effective, that it survived for more than a decade after the end of the game's life cycle through the others that it inspired but that rarely, if ever, managed to reach its peaks.

This remake, though not as much of a pioneer, maintains the spirit of the original despite the modern advancements by dialing everything up to eleven. The player is given greater freedom of movement and expanded defensive capabilities while the enemies and arenas are designed so that the player is constantly surrounded. The characters were changed so that the story feels more authentic and more in line with the more serious tone of the storyline of the remakes while villains remain as ridiculous and over the top and the one-liners as cheesy as they were in the original. It plays and looks completely different from the original, but the core of the experience is still the same, and it feels about as incredible to play and replay.

Remakes, remakes, and more remakes.
There’s been an obvious saturation in the video game market as today’s biggest industry champions have turned towards the art of “remaking“ critical hit video games, for better or for worse. Some remakes serve as market testers for relaunches, reboots and sequels, others hold the power to redeem franchises or companies (looking at you Dead Space), and some.. some just don’t need to be remade. They still play wonderfully, or they’re simply just not that old. Some would argue they take time and ressources away from new, original ideas and IPs in favor of nostalgia bait and less commercial risk.

Sure, I adored RE2R, and that remake was totally warranted. The original game was old and outdated, while the remake modernized the classic to beautiful standards for fans old and new. It was inevitable that more would soon follow. But after the commercial flop that was RE3R, was a remake of the cult classic RE4 really the way to go? Would it expand on the original or would it just cheapen the game by modernizing it to current standards while losing the charm and flair that made it so authentic and memorable?

The internet may have had it’s doubts but I’m so happy to say Capcom has done it once again and blown the ball out of the park with this new version of RE4. I’m currently about 16 hours in, with one hardcore playthrough and one professional playthrough currently under way, and the game is an absolute blast.

Almost everything from the original game makes an explosive return here, blending perfectly with the new darker tone of the story while maintaining the camp of the original, as well as some of Mikami’s original cut content that expands on the story and characters. The level of fidelity here feels like a magic trick, with almost every level and area being meticulously reimagined in a way that feels super familiar, but just different enough to keep you on edge throughout it all.

The RE engine continues to do what it does best, graced with revamped, faster gameplay, more responsive enemies and AI and in true RE fashion, a ton of completion items to keep you coming for multiple runs.

I could go on rambling for paragraphs on paragraphs but a simpler way to put it would be to imagine your favorite dish, that you’ve had for many years, reimagined to hit those exact taste buds but with new ingredients and techniques to make it feel like the first time all over again.

It’s genuinely crazy how often I found myself repeating the same patterns I did on my first playthroughs of RE4; and only realizing after. It’s like everything got a new coat of paint that elevates it to a higher level. Even basic combat encounters receive a cinematic touch up, in particular the garradors who have become even more terrifying.

The only nitpicks I would have are so minimal they can barely be considered flaws. The voice actor switch is quite noticeable for Ada’s character, who’s line delivery is a bit off some times, and it could also be debated that the game has lost it’s original “edge“ due to being a product of it’s time, but the new tone and the stellar new story beats from Leon and Ashley completely overshadow the latter.

RE4R once again manages to embody the peak of survival horror action in a completely new era of gaming, while maintaining such an awesome level of familiarity in it’s gameplay loop and environments that will surely keep fans old and new coming back for more in the future. The essence of a remake, like lightning captured in a bottle for the second time.