Bartibit
Opposing Force with it's design reminded me of the Half Life 1 original Xen chapters design, it's not really good impression.
The premise of the expansion is interesting - we are playing as soldiers that covered up Black Mesa incident (well with exception that our squad still haven't recieved orders) and it's actually pretty cool premise. We play as colonel Shephard and the expansion starts with our plane crash landing into the facility and most of the squad dying.
This is of course Half Life, one of the best shooters, so it should play pretty well, right? Well, shooting is one part, because it needs to be supported by: enemies, level design and guns.
Guns are not really bad, some new additions are pretty fun, like: LMG, Sniper Rifle, Alien rocket launcher, Recharging electric eel and literally BFG. And they are all good with only one exception, but we will put pin in that as it's not really used in combat.
Enemies and Level Design is a mixed bag. Enviorment in this expansion is some of the best to look at, as it expands the facility in interesting ways, but most of the time the enviorments feel neither like realistic laboratory complex or enviorment that supposed to enhance moment to moment gameplay. Classic enemies that come from original half life are as fun to fight as ever, but new ones... aren't.
Most new enemies are annoying, with cheap damage and they are not supported with the poor level design, either areas are just corridors, labyrinth corridors or big open space, with minimal or no cover, or very prominent chokepoint; with very sparse health/armor pick ups which reminded me of the weakest aspect of Half Life 1
Some enviormental progression were obtusely communicated multiple times, especially the "barnicle gun" (remember that pin) and it's use for the enviormental traversal - I literally had to guess that alien sacks were also grapple points I could zip line into, as it was either not communicated, or it was very poorly communicated. I had numorous encounters with soft locks, that made progress nigh impossible - I had to use noclip to either know were to go, unstuck myself from elevators, get up to the intended vent that was too high to climb into, I died because of some hurt trigger with large damage that was on the floor.
Final boss was just annoying. No further comment on it.
Overall I never expected to dislike anything Half-Life, but Opposing Force just is the game I mildly dislike. While it is a well done product at the end of the day (despite my expierience with bugs), first ever game from Gearbox devs, which did pretty good job - I just prefer Blue Shift and other HL games. I am just a minority in that opinion because I see that most people really like Opposing Force, so still, give it a try if you haven't, it's usually very cheap so what it hurts, at least it's not bad.
The premise of the expansion is interesting - we are playing as soldiers that covered up Black Mesa incident (well with exception that our squad still haven't recieved orders) and it's actually pretty cool premise. We play as colonel Shephard and the expansion starts with our plane crash landing into the facility and most of the squad dying.
This is of course Half Life, one of the best shooters, so it should play pretty well, right? Well, shooting is one part, because it needs to be supported by: enemies, level design and guns.
Guns are not really bad, some new additions are pretty fun, like: LMG, Sniper Rifle, Alien rocket launcher, Recharging electric eel and literally BFG. And they are all good with only one exception, but we will put pin in that as it's not really used in combat.
Enemies and Level Design is a mixed bag. Enviorment in this expansion is some of the best to look at, as it expands the facility in interesting ways, but most of the time the enviorments feel neither like realistic laboratory complex or enviorment that supposed to enhance moment to moment gameplay. Classic enemies that come from original half life are as fun to fight as ever, but new ones... aren't.
Most new enemies are annoying, with cheap damage and they are not supported with the poor level design, either areas are just corridors, labyrinth corridors or big open space, with minimal or no cover, or very prominent chokepoint; with very sparse health/armor pick ups which reminded me of the weakest aspect of Half Life 1
Some enviormental progression were obtusely communicated multiple times, especially the "barnicle gun" (remember that pin) and it's use for the enviormental traversal - I literally had to guess that alien sacks were also grapple points I could zip line into, as it was either not communicated, or it was very poorly communicated. I had numorous encounters with soft locks, that made progress nigh impossible - I had to use noclip to either know were to go, unstuck myself from elevators, get up to the intended vent that was too high to climb into, I died because of some hurt trigger with large damage that was on the floor.
Final boss was just annoying. No further comment on it.
Overall I never expected to dislike anything Half-Life, but Opposing Force just is the game I mildly dislike. While it is a well done product at the end of the day (despite my expierience with bugs), first ever game from Gearbox devs, which did pretty good job - I just prefer Blue Shift and other HL games. I am just a minority in that opinion because I see that most people really like Opposing Force, so still, give it a try if you haven't, it's usually very cheap so what it hurts, at least it's not bad.
2001
Max Payne proves itself as an excelent Hard boiled Fugtive Cop experience.
A well shaked blend of moment to moment action and narrative of the deeply shaken cop, driven by vengence discovering a disturbing plot of control.
full of intrigue, a lot of very well executed bullet time action and thick atmoshepere similar to action movies like Matrix, Pulp fiction or Hard Boiled.
It may not be the best in terms of pure gameplay or shooting, but it worth to play not only to experience the cult classic, but also to see how Remedy started, and they started with a whisky and a bang.
A well shaked blend of moment to moment action and narrative of the deeply shaken cop, driven by vengence discovering a disturbing plot of control.
full of intrigue, a lot of very well executed bullet time action and thick atmoshepere similar to action movies like Matrix, Pulp fiction or Hard Boiled.
It may not be the best in terms of pure gameplay or shooting, but it worth to play not only to experience the cult classic, but also to see how Remedy started, and they started with a whisky and a bang.
let me just copy my review of half-life...
Half-Life Black Mesa is as classic as you can get... Wait a minute...
Black Mesa is a fan made remake of Half-Life, and to be honest, it's my prefered way to experience this classic.
Everything that made Half-Life great makes Black Mesa great.
Black Mesa still has the base of Half-Life's methodology "Run, Think, Shoot and Live", but it is enchanced with thoughtfull changes to controls and movement. Weaker chapters have been improved upon with more tuned level design; weapon tweaks make the whole arsenal more appealing and already excelent setpieces and excelent sequences were improved upon - something I thought was nigh impossible.
The pacing of the campain is excelent, from one encounter to another encounter, the flow of everything is on par or sometimes greater than in Half-Life. Still escaping the failing facility through it's different sectors, finding survivors and discovering more and more about the facility; it's still all there and witnessing the fallout of our actions is still captivating.
And Xen chapters itself are impressive - they are no longer bad!
Reworked and completely redesigned into something new while retaining most of the beats the original had and conveying them better than ever. Beautiful alien enviorment with sparse interference of Black Mesa temp-facilities scattered here and there, that are joy to explore and retaining all the level design principles and knowledge that Half-Life is known for.
Problem of slowly depleeting resources in later chapters are absent thanks to frankly good move to make scientists from overworld sent you care packages, making them actually help you.
Interloper chapter has still little pacing issue, but it is not bad as it is penultimate chapter and it being longer feels like final stretch to reach finale, so that basically resolves itself.
I would still highly recommend playing the original HL before Black Mesa to appreciate video game history and what an amazing game it still is. But Black Mesa is better and absolutely amazing. A worthwhile play!
Black Mesa is a fan made remake of Half-Life, and to be honest, it's my prefered way to experience this classic.
Everything that made Half-Life great makes Black Mesa great.
Black Mesa still has the base of Half-Life's methodology "Run, Think, Shoot and Live", but it is enchanced with thoughtfull changes to controls and movement. Weaker chapters have been improved upon with more tuned level design; weapon tweaks make the whole arsenal more appealing and already excelent setpieces and excelent sequences were improved upon - something I thought was nigh impossible.
The pacing of the campain is excelent, from one encounter to another encounter, the flow of everything is on par or sometimes greater than in Half-Life. Still escaping the failing facility through it's different sectors, finding survivors and discovering more and more about the facility; it's still all there and witnessing the fallout of our actions is still captivating.
And Xen chapters itself are impressive - they are no longer bad!
Reworked and completely redesigned into something new while retaining most of the beats the original had and conveying them better than ever. Beautiful alien enviorment with sparse interference of Black Mesa temp-facilities scattered here and there, that are joy to explore and retaining all the level design principles and knowledge that Half-Life is known for.
Problem of slowly depleeting resources in later chapters are absent thanks to frankly good move to make scientists from overworld sent you care packages, making them actually help you.
Interloper chapter has still little pacing issue, but it is not bad as it is penultimate chapter and it being longer feels like final stretch to reach finale, so that basically resolves itself.
I would still highly recommend playing the original HL before Black Mesa to appreciate video game history and what an amazing game it still is. But Black Mesa is better and absolutely amazing. A worthwhile play!
1998
Half-Life is as classic as you can get
The game starts slow, with ride to the work through the Black Mesa facility, where we play as Gordon Freeman and just continue our work as theoretical physics scientist as usual, but in our procedure, we accidentally creates an apocalypse scenario, which we will witness the fallout off it.
The combat loop is tight and inherintly fast paced with methodology of "Run, Think, Shoot and Live" through encounter to encounter. Fighting against aliens and against soldiers is exhilarating; two different factions with two different strategies that you need to approach accordingly.
The pacing of the campain, or at least the overworld section, is one of the best made. Escaping the failing facility through it's different sectors, finding survivors and discovering more and more about the facility we worked with. Activating last resort prevention of alien invasion and surviving the warzone to get to the Lambda facility is some of the best sections of the game.
Some of the best shooting campaings next to Half Life 2, Doom Eternal and Titanfall 2 and would have been perfect if not for the Xen chapters.
Xen feels like an afterthought in otherwise easiest 10/10 shooting experience possible I could give. Confusing layout, pacing halts to the snail's pace - especially in Interlopers chapter, complete lack of any resources to survive anything except from some random dead scientists' stash, drab color scheme reminding me of various color of vomit and textures of vein holes, which might have awakened Trypophobia in some of people.
Imagine if there was an alternative game where Xen was not bad...
Regardless, it is still worth playing, at least until the Xen starts.
The game starts slow, with ride to the work through the Black Mesa facility, where we play as Gordon Freeman and just continue our work as theoretical physics scientist as usual, but in our procedure, we accidentally creates an apocalypse scenario, which we will witness the fallout off it.
The combat loop is tight and inherintly fast paced with methodology of "Run, Think, Shoot and Live" through encounter to encounter. Fighting against aliens and against soldiers is exhilarating; two different factions with two different strategies that you need to approach accordingly.
The pacing of the campain, or at least the overworld section, is one of the best made. Escaping the failing facility through it's different sectors, finding survivors and discovering more and more about the facility we worked with. Activating last resort prevention of alien invasion and surviving the warzone to get to the Lambda facility is some of the best sections of the game.
Some of the best shooting campaings next to Half Life 2, Doom Eternal and Titanfall 2 and would have been perfect if not for the Xen chapters.
Xen feels like an afterthought in otherwise easiest 10/10 shooting experience possible I could give. Confusing layout, pacing halts to the snail's pace - especially in Interlopers chapter, complete lack of any resources to survive anything except from some random dead scientists' stash, drab color scheme reminding me of various color of vomit and textures of vein holes, which might have awakened Trypophobia in some of people.
Imagine if there was an alternative game where Xen was not bad...
Regardless, it is still worth playing, at least until the Xen starts.
I am a person who is easely scared, and it's quite the reason why I couldn't really enjoy horror. But lately, I tried to develop taste for it, until I was ready to play Silent Hill 2.
And oh boy, I was not dissapointed. While I were playing another game, I thought "I really want to play Silent Hill", that is a rare sign of something truly special.
Silent Hill 2 is a classic, no doubt one of the most well known classics.
I entered it, not knowing anything except some plot beat here and there that did not make sense without a context.
We start the game, seeing James Sunderland, staring at the mirror of the dirty sideroad bathroom, observing himself, touching his face seemingly to see if he is awake at all. He then reminds himself why he arrived to this town, to find his wife - who has been dead for 3 years.
Exploring the Silent Hill town, shrowded in eternal, thick as milk fog felt uneasy and encountering first monster was immensly stressful. Slowly uncovering the mystery surrounding James and his slowly deteriorating, lonely relation with the world is unnerving.
Meeting other characters in the same town, some struggling with their own demons, some seemingly not seeing the same monsters that torment James, and some seemingly know a lot of personal detail only his dead wife would know...
The entire game is terrific, from the narrative of James, and mirror narratives of Angela and Eddie, being lost souls that wondered into Silent Hill; to James manerism of how he walks with a handgun, and designs of the monsters, giving insight into James' character - especially iconic Piramid Head
And while the game is as subtle as a brick to the face at the end of the game, the lead up to the reveal is excelent thrill of trying to put together what the hell is happening.
The only complain I can have is that some puzzles are a little obtuse and combat may be too easy and clunky for some (I still enjoyed it the same way I enjoyed RE4 in a sense of only positioning and managing recourses).
A game that opened me to the horror experience, and which will stuck with me for the rest of my life, a must play!
And oh boy, I was not dissapointed. While I were playing another game, I thought "I really want to play Silent Hill", that is a rare sign of something truly special.
Silent Hill 2 is a classic, no doubt one of the most well known classics.
I entered it, not knowing anything except some plot beat here and there that did not make sense without a context.
We start the game, seeing James Sunderland, staring at the mirror of the dirty sideroad bathroom, observing himself, touching his face seemingly to see if he is awake at all. He then reminds himself why he arrived to this town, to find his wife - who has been dead for 3 years.
Exploring the Silent Hill town, shrowded in eternal, thick as milk fog felt uneasy and encountering first monster was immensly stressful. Slowly uncovering the mystery surrounding James and his slowly deteriorating, lonely relation with the world is unnerving.
Meeting other characters in the same town, some struggling with their own demons, some seemingly not seeing the same monsters that torment James, and some seemingly know a lot of personal detail only his dead wife would know...
The entire game is terrific, from the narrative of James, and mirror narratives of Angela and Eddie, being lost souls that wondered into Silent Hill; to James manerism of how he walks with a handgun, and designs of the monsters, giving insight into James' character - especially iconic Piramid Head
And while the game is as subtle as a brick to the face at the end of the game, the lead up to the reveal is excelent thrill of trying to put together what the hell is happening.
The only complain I can have is that some puzzles are a little obtuse and combat may be too easy and clunky for some (I still enjoyed it the same way I enjoyed RE4 in a sense of only positioning and managing recourses).
A game that opened me to the horror experience, and which will stuck with me for the rest of my life, a must play!
2019
In the great city at the end of the world...
...there is a dead body behind the hostel cafeteria.
Preciept 57 sent their finest, Kim Kitsuragi.
Preciept 41 sent... you.
"Disco Elysium" is not an 'RPG' genre used by AAA publishers to describe their action open world games with leveling and stats elements.
Disco Elysium is THE Role Playing Game in it's truest essense. And it is the game that showed me that I can enjoy games that are not action focused. Something I thought I was incapable of.
Getting into the role of the Detective, who after the intense, disco indulging drunk bender losses his memories and identity, wakes from the void of nothing except his existential discourse with their own reptilian brain and, after waking with the worst get up headache in his new life, is told that he has an investigation of a lynch.
Dynamic between the playable detective, who we choose how he interacts and what he says in the world, but is still a distinct character (kinda like J.C. Denton from Deus Ex) and best companion pal ever; Kim Kitsuragi is so well written I have no words.
Kim is greatest of all time character that can cure depression, and I felt bad whenever I dissapointed him with my antics or my mannerisms, and I felt proud when he was even humoring my characteristical acting.
From intrigue of the lynch, to ongoing, tethered to lynch, worker union movement with transporting corporation which could evolve into small civil war, dash of dark and regular humor and troubled political history of Revachol with themes of loss, identity, purpose, faith and fate, existence, socialism, morality, moving on and leaving past behind us; World of Elysium is interesting, deep, sociopolitical and darn near impossible to not be mesmerized by it.
While graphically there is nothing to write home about; The style, characters' expressionistic portraits, the colors, roughness of the paint you see at every inch of the world, the atmosphere with music by "Sea Power", the rich lexicon and history of the world, is just simply amazing.
And that world spawned from creative lead's own D&D campaigns. That's fucking cool.
Skills are very unique mechanic, unlike anything I really have seen; each impersonication of cognitive function of brain and brawn: like Logic, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Volition, Empathy, Hand/eye coordination and Endurance; to some abstract ones, like Inland Empire, Espirit De Corps, Authority, Electro-Chemistry, Half Light and Savoir Faire; is each an unique abstracted character in our PC's subconcious and depending how well developed they are, they might inform, suggest or even force certain actions in your inner monolouge.
The same can be said to this game's trait system, known as the "Thought Cabinet" which offers unique conceptualization of thoughts and after internalizing them for some time, giving stat bonuses and sometimes unique effects; although most of the time they haven't helped me in my journey, they are welcome edition as they can give new dialouge options and role playing opportunities.
There is even an option to be racist fuck to get past certain brute, which is kinda amazing it's even an option
One of if not the best games I had pleasure to expierience. Even if that expierience was pain, dirt and pale of the oh so broken world at the brink of civil and world war.
A true breath of fresh air and I wish other games, with focus on story, could even have half as good writing as this one.
Disco Elysium might be my favorite game of all time, Number One in my pile of the Greatest games of all time. I internalized this thought for few years now, and if anything will even come close to Disco Elysium's shadow, I'd still be happy that people try to make great games. A masterpiece of such immense magnitute I cannot begin to describe it. An interwoven game-narrative expierience with expressionistic, pseudo-slavic, intelectual, funny, heardbreaking, deep, amazing, miracle baroque of the game.
I LOVE Disco Elysium, and this review won't even describe my entire love of it. No words will. It inspired me to be better artist, to push my limits of writing and drawing, and I will be forever thankful.
It is simply, in my opinion, an absolute must play!
...there is a dead body behind the hostel cafeteria.
Preciept 57 sent their finest, Kim Kitsuragi.
Preciept 41 sent... you.
"Disco Elysium" is not an 'RPG' genre used by AAA publishers to describe their action open world games with leveling and stats elements.
Disco Elysium is THE Role Playing Game in it's truest essense. And it is the game that showed me that I can enjoy games that are not action focused. Something I thought I was incapable of.
Getting into the role of the Detective, who after the intense, disco indulging drunk bender losses his memories and identity, wakes from the void of nothing except his existential discourse with their own reptilian brain and, after waking with the worst get up headache in his new life, is told that he has an investigation of a lynch.
Dynamic between the playable detective, who we choose how he interacts and what he says in the world, but is still a distinct character (kinda like J.C. Denton from Deus Ex) and best companion pal ever; Kim Kitsuragi is so well written I have no words.
Kim is greatest of all time character that can cure depression, and I felt bad whenever I dissapointed him with my antics or my mannerisms, and I felt proud when he was even humoring my characteristical acting.
From intrigue of the lynch, to ongoing, tethered to lynch, worker union movement with transporting corporation which could evolve into small civil war, dash of dark and regular humor and troubled political history of Revachol with themes of loss, identity, purpose, faith and fate, existence, socialism, morality, moving on and leaving past behind us; World of Elysium is interesting, deep, sociopolitical and darn near impossible to not be mesmerized by it.
While graphically there is nothing to write home about; The style, characters' expressionistic portraits, the colors, roughness of the paint you see at every inch of the world, the atmosphere with music by "Sea Power", the rich lexicon and history of the world, is just simply amazing.
And that world spawned from creative lead's own D&D campaigns. That's fucking cool.
Skills are very unique mechanic, unlike anything I really have seen; each impersonication of cognitive function of brain and brawn: like Logic, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Volition, Empathy, Hand/eye coordination and Endurance; to some abstract ones, like Inland Empire, Espirit De Corps, Authority, Electro-Chemistry, Half Light and Savoir Faire; is each an unique abstracted character in our PC's subconcious and depending how well developed they are, they might inform, suggest or even force certain actions in your inner monolouge.
The same can be said to this game's trait system, known as the "Thought Cabinet" which offers unique conceptualization of thoughts and after internalizing them for some time, giving stat bonuses and sometimes unique effects; although most of the time they haven't helped me in my journey, they are welcome edition as they can give new dialouge options and role playing opportunities.
There is even an option to be racist fuck to get past certain brute, which is kinda amazing it's even an option
One of if not the best games I had pleasure to expierience. Even if that expierience was pain, dirt and pale of the oh so broken world at the brink of civil and world war.
A true breath of fresh air and I wish other games, with focus on story, could even have half as good writing as this one.
Disco Elysium might be my favorite game of all time, Number One in my pile of the Greatest games of all time. I internalized this thought for few years now, and if anything will even come close to Disco Elysium's shadow, I'd still be happy that people try to make great games. A masterpiece of such immense magnitute I cannot begin to describe it. An interwoven game-narrative expierience with expressionistic, pseudo-slavic, intelectual, funny, heardbreaking, deep, amazing, miracle baroque of the game.
I LOVE Disco Elysium, and this review won't even describe my entire love of it. No words will. It inspired me to be better artist, to push my limits of writing and drawing, and I will be forever thankful.
It is simply, in my opinion, an absolute must play!
2005
Used Resident Evil 4 HD Project to play
Resident Evil 4 is a suprising instant favorite of mine, as I didn't expect to love it as much as I do
Some of the best 3rd person shooting combat in... ever, still after all the years. Creative encounters constantly thrown at the player, demanding aim and positioning, doing constant micro decisions of which weapon to use and it's worth the ammo, to excell at impossible odds. It resembles a combat you'd see in John Wick movie, and B-movie horror tone of RE4 helps it's frankly insane narrative and insane accomplishments made by Leon
Controls were suprisingly modern when I switched from controller to mouse and keyboard, making entire issue of tank controls obsolete (and even then, when I played with controller, tank controls weren't that big of an issue), and while inventory controls on MK were uncessecarry deligated to unusual keys, they weren't that much of the hinderance after getting used to it.
The only complain I would do is that going into the inventory to change weapons would kill the pace of combat, I didn't really felt that, but it might be issue for some.
It is an instant classic, a must play!
Resident Evil 4 is a suprising instant favorite of mine, as I didn't expect to love it as much as I do
Some of the best 3rd person shooting combat in... ever, still after all the years. Creative encounters constantly thrown at the player, demanding aim and positioning, doing constant micro decisions of which weapon to use and it's worth the ammo, to excell at impossible odds. It resembles a combat you'd see in John Wick movie, and B-movie horror tone of RE4 helps it's frankly insane narrative and insane accomplishments made by Leon
Controls were suprisingly modern when I switched from controller to mouse and keyboard, making entire issue of tank controls obsolete (and even then, when I played with controller, tank controls weren't that big of an issue), and while inventory controls on MK were uncessecarry deligated to unusual keys, they weren't that much of the hinderance after getting used to it.
The only complain I would do is that going into the inventory to change weapons would kill the pace of combat, I didn't really felt that, but it might be issue for some.
It is an instant classic, a must play!
2018
Celeste is an excelent platformer.
Gameplay is supreme, controls are sharp and rensponsive, level design is some of the most tightly fine tuned i've seen.
Music and SFX are also excelent, and theming of anxiety and feeling of being inadequate is weaved into the entire narrative very well.
Gameplay is supreme, controls are sharp and rensponsive, level design is some of the most tightly fine tuned i've seen.
Music and SFX are also excelent, and theming of anxiety and feeling of being inadequate is weaved into the entire narrative very well.
2017
Beautiful world of Hallownest was a joy to get lost in, exploring every nook and cranny of a ruined kingdom plagued with infeciton, for trinkets and baubles, and fighting against both powerful enemies and barely holding themself together husks controlled by something beyond understanding.
Gameplay is great balance of platforming and combat, with much more focus on the latter; controls are crisp, responsive and satisfing, which greatly complement more combat oriented gameplay.
It has a slow start, but when you're hooked, you will experience a masterclass of the exploration platformer.
Gameplay is great balance of platforming and combat, with much more focus on the latter; controls are crisp, responsive and satisfing, which greatly complement more combat oriented gameplay.
It has a slow start, but when you're hooked, you will experience a masterclass of the exploration platformer.