Never got around to playing this back in the day but I was always somewhat interested. Finally blasted through it in one night. Took me a mere 4 hours to go thru the 8 missions of the game. Not much replay value just a few higher difficulties and a few collectibles I missed.
Pros: graphics look great for the time, all the guns feel great, good feedback hitting enemies, fast paced with constant ammo and health pick ups let you constantly push forward spraying and chucking grenades. Buildings, cars, glass, doors, walls are all destructible and there’s constant debris and smoke across the battlefields. Gun play feels great.

Cons: way too short, no replay value, levels are pretty repetitive, nothing to really set it apart from other shooters. The grenade throw motion sucks. Really would have benefited from some split screen or death match modes.

All and all I enjoyed my time but just another shooter that I probably would never play again but I’m glad I got thru it once.

Really wondering how this game never got a sequel. I had played a little bit years ago but it got lost in my backlog. Finally picked it back up and restarted the other day and blasted through and I gotta say this is one of the best fps campaigns on Xbox. Cowboy vampire hunters vs the evil dead is such and awesome concept and the game takes advantage of the setting. Cowboys, skeletons, vampires and sexy dead girls galore. It’s just a lot of fun. The shooting feels really tight and enemies arms and heads can be shot off which never stops being satisfying. The guns are pretty typical, revolver, carbine, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, etc but the stand out is an awesome shotgun with a battle axe on the hilt which makes for one of the best melees in an fps. Enemy variety is a little weak but just good enough to keep things fresh. The vampire powers are cool and the binary choice system isn’t deep but can unlock you different powers depending if you choose good or evil. This definitely gives the game some replay value as well as two different endings depending on your choices. Level design varies between tight shootouts on trains and big open arenas that take advantage of both your leaning behind cover and your very floaty vampire double jump. There’s lots of verticality and the game pushes you into decisions of “do I want to take the high ground in the sunlight and lost my powers or push thru low in the darkness thru swarms of enemies?” This is just one example. There are a few meh turret sections and one wannabe Halo warthog section that isn’t outstanding but the main gameplay loop never got boring. The game took about 5-6 hours to clear and flew bye. The story is silly but the lore and aesthetic is what really gives it its charm. My biggest gripe is I wish there wasn’t so much hand holding thru the constant cutscenes showing you what to do and every time enemies spawn in. The make the game feel a bit choppy but they are skippable and they get more tolerable when you get into the flow of the game. I wish the Xbox version had co op but I definitely see myself coming back to this probably on Ps2 with a friend. This game’s definitely a gem
7/10

“We have Doom 3 at home”

But in all seriousness the similarities are glaring from the art style, enemy variety, level design and the various weapons which should be a good thing because I love Doom3
Unfortunately it’s a crappy console port with jarring frame rate drops that never make the game unplayable but came close several times and were annoying throughout. The load times in this game are also excessive. The checkpoint system is also frustrating with checkpoints before some unskippable cutscenes which can be a neausance on higher difficulties and I found myself hard saving a lot.
The game also suffers greatly from pacing problems with the first act being pretty slow and the game constantly shooting itself in the foot by adding drawn out boring turret/tank sections which just feel like filler and kill your enjoyment.

This review may sound overly negative but I can say I’m positive on this game. The second half of the game really picks up and you’ll be running though massive gauntlets of enemies. The shooting feels great and some guns really stand out like the nail gun, shotgun, hyper blaster and definitely the dark matter gun. Swapping weapons, circle stafe jumping and ducking behind cover is a ton of fun and all the weapons have good matchups against specific enemies. As a side note I’ve never taken more splash damage from my own grenade/rocket shots as I did in this game.

The art style and especially the dynamic lighting are gorgeous even if some of the textures haven’t aged very well. The sheer amount of blood and body horror also surprised me in a good way.

All in all it ends up being solid but frustrating because with better pacing and optimization on console this would be a game id be coming back to.

6/10

What a massive disappointment. I had this game on my wishlist for years and finally got a copy and started playing last week….I really wanted to like this game but it’s just a slog.

The positives are the punisher is cool as fuck, lots of cheesey action movie one-liners and the game pulls no punches with the gore and M rating. The selection of guns and upgrades are pretty decent and the challenge modes and medals along with being able to pick your load outs gives the game some replay value. The shooting is decent and the rage mode is fun. The interrogations especially all the environmental ones are creative and there’s a shocking amount but here’s where the problems begin…

Why am I penalized for killing a guy after I get information from him then use whatever torture method to kill him? But if I extract info from him then just shoot him in the face my score goes up? Also why the black and white filter when one of these kills are done but not other ones like when I put a dudes face in a bear trap?

The boss fights are some of the worst ever with bullet sponge enemies that run away from you in maze like environments especially on the hard difficulty. Healing isn’t practical because you have to interrogate an enemy to heal so I’d find myself grabbing a goon and walking away with them to interrogate them then go back to shooting the boss. The stick mini game when interrogating was also very janky sometimes and took a lot of the fun out of what should have been some over the tops moments.

I can’t stress how putrid the boss fights are.

My last complaint is why no bullet time? Was the game too afraid of being a max Payne clone? It should have embraced it because the diving shooting just isn’t nearly as fun.

Really bummed by this. Maybe I’ll pick it up again at some point but I can’t recommend this one.

Big missed opportunity here. You would think a game meant to be up to 4 player co op would operate with a smoother frame rate but this game progressively gets worse and turns into a slide show. Even on single player it’s unacceptable. I don’t really get it since this is an Xbox exclusive how it’s so bad but it forced me to abandon this one about 3/4 of the way through.

Frame rate aside the game is fine. There isn’t quite as much strategy as you’d think as you get run n gun through most of the levels. Enemy variety is pretty standard and plays like every other third person shooter.

Each characters unique stats, abilities, and guns they’re able to use elevate the game a bit but a lot of it feels underwhelming. The shooting is fine and there’s a decent amount of pretty good guns but that’s about it.
The gameplay would have benefit from more depth and characters having a dodge/roll instead of a jump that basically isn’t used for anything.

Levels are pretty ugly and repetitive as you go back to the same 3 worlds about 5 times each.

Overall even without the terrible optimization the game would have been mid but would be decent enough to play with a friend. Unfortunately I can’t recommend this one.

I remember vaguely playing this game in my childhood because it was one of the few Teen rated FPS I could get my hands on.

Got it for $5 the other day and replayed for the first time in well over a decade and man…

I don’t want to say this is the worst FPS I’ve ever played but I’m having a hard time thinking of one worse. When there was a turret section about 3 minutes into the game I knew I was in for a doozy. It’s beyond generic. 2 weapon limit. I think there are maybe 5 or 6 guns in the entire game and I basically used the AR the entire time. Lame regenerating Health which I’m never a fan of.

All of the levels are bland with washed out filters and 3/4 of the game take place in the same desert environments. There are maybe 5 enemy types and in a game about aliens you sure spend most of your time shooting copy paste soldier enemies.

The story is lame. Voice acting sucks. Only redeeming quality is the shooting itself feels ok.

There’s no gimmick to this game at all just the most bland Fps you can imagine. There’s a squad mechanic but it’s bare bones as they can basically only open doors for you and get on turrets. The game constantly tells if squad morale is low or high but as far as I can tell it changes nothing.

Avoid at all costs unless you want a last. At least it’s short (4 hours) but this is really scraping the bottom of the barrell.

I’m disgusted and I’m not talking about the gore. I feel disgusted I paid $5 to play this. I thought I had reached the bottom of the barrel for console FPS games last week when I reviewed the pathetic Blacksite: Area 51 but somehow this is worse. The gore and dismemberement is pretty good but the appeal wears off after about 5 minutes. How can I game this gory be so boring?
Definitely a budget title but still inexcusably lazy. Horrible voice acting, boring and convoluted story (they thought they were getting a sequel? Lol). The graphics are mid af with some horrible textures and everything 20 yards out pops in as you approach it. Tons of audio and frame rate glitches as well. The music is stock and all the menus just scream “budget title”

The shooting is mid. All the guns feel exactly the same and there’s no real kick or recoil to anything. You can shoot the magnum like a laser. The animation of the gun kicks but the reticle doesn’t move at all. On top of this the controls are unresponsive as sometimes you can’t reload cancel or have to hit the button to swap weapons 2-3 to get it to work. And of course this game is dull regenerating Health with no gimmick or strategy to it.

The game is just walk forward shooting guys and some brief escort missions. It’s all horrible but nothing is as bad as these boss fights. Good lord! Just regular dudes that are bosses so therefore they are bullet sponges because video game I guess?

Really glad this only lasted 3 hours because I couldn’t take a second more of it. Putrid stuff. I will never touch this one again.

2/10

Monolith was really in their bag back in 2005. Between this and FEAR they released two of the best horror games on the Xbox 360. Although this is definitely the weaker of the two it’s a great launch title and it’s amazing how well it holds up today. Sometimes less is indeed more.

The biggest pro of this game is how incredibly immersive it is. The first person perspective is actually perfect for this game and the environments and lighting still look shockingly good today in 2023. The atmosphere is top notch all the way through with no weak points. You make your way through abandoned buildings, back alleys, a library and of course the stand out abandoned department store. Every single area is oppressively dark and grimy with each one feeling like it was once lived it before it went to shit.

The sound design also elevates the game with some incredible surround sound work where you’re constantly looking over your shoulder hearing footsteps surround you and cans and other debris roll across the ground. Murderous addicts mumbling to themselves and panting as they try to get the drop on you never stops being eerie giving high levels of tension as your character SLOWLY explores the environment.

The level design is linear with just enough exploring to keep it fresh. You can find collectibles, secret rooms and staches of health or guns to give you the upper hand.

The main gameplay loop is the brutal 1st person melee combat which is very simple but always feels meaty and deliberate. Everything in the environment can be used as a weapon with each having unique stats. Large items like desk tops and locker doors are slow but deal more damage and block more effectively. Smaller items like pipes and 2x4s swing quicker. You’re also equipped with a taser that recharges. This is a great tool for crowd control. It never stops being fun tasing a maniac and then grabbing his fire arm while he’s stunned and then blowing him away with it.
The AI is excellent as well as they will retreat when they are disarmed and seek out items in the environment to wield. They will also retreat when you get the upper hand and hide behind corners or pillars to get the jump on you. They will also fake like they are swinging to throw off your block timing. Really good stuff even if it’s simple it’s always satisfying. I’m glad the game doesn’t get too deep and bogged down in extra mechanics.

Last thing to touch on is the detective aspect of the game. All in all it’s pretty weak as it holds your hand for the most part. The correct forensic tool will be auto selected for you and there’s no real agency or way to mess up. There’s a few sections that you have to follow clues or trails with a UV light that are pretty good but overall the detective sections are bare bones and a missed opportunity albeit being nice at breaking up the pacing of the combat and making you feel pretty immersed.

I definitely love the simplicity of this game and the dark grungy atmosphere much like the movie se7en hunting down serial killers even if the plot kinda jumps the shark in the 3rd act. The gameplay is straightforward but fun and it wraps up at the perfect time just under 7 hours.
8/10

Really only played this game to be able to be able to play the sequel which I’ve heard mixed things on. I hardly see any discourse about this first entry and I can see why…

There’s really not much to say here. This is about as cookie cutter a third person shooter that exists. If anything it’s below average.

The shooting never feels great. Can’t really tell if you’re hitting anything especially on some later levels with enemies far away obscured in windows and pitch darkness. The strongest gun fights are in the bank and night club levels earlier in the game.

The cover system is also jank. There’s no dedicated button to get on cover which was a big mistake. You’re constantly fighting to get on the contextual cover of objects like pillars and walls that are very clearly meant to be cover but for some reason Kane won’t get on the wall. It was extremely unreliable and frustrating for the entirety of the 4 hours I wasted playing this.

The only saving Grace for this game was the narrative which was solid and the characters, especially Lynch were amusing bantering back and forth. The absurdity of it all was fun but really couldn’t make up for the lack of any depth or fun in the gameplay.

Even co-op I can’t recommend this as there are much better co-op cover based third person shooters out there.

4/10

A worthy but frustrating sequel.

This one really feels like 2 steps forward and a step backwards.

I’ll start off the top saying if you hated the third act of the first game with the reveal of supernatural elements then probably avoid this as this one doubles down on the cult, superpowers, and blurs the line between reality and hallucinations.

The biggest upgrade in this one is the detective aspects of the game which I criticized in the first game as being undercooked and hand holdy. In this one you can actually make mistakes when investigating crime scenes and the player will actually have to select the right forensic tool to use as they go through a crime scene. Your contact Rosa will prompt you to ask and answer questions which will net you a higher score based on choosing the best answer. There’s a lot more agency here and the use of the tools are also expanded upon as you can use them to track, destroy and photograph side objectives within each level.

The simplictic first person combat of the original has also been expanded upon with now having a combo meter, being able to use your fists, being able to reload and holster firearms, a dash attack, and the ability to throw your weapon at enemies or targets.
The combo meter is a little jarring at first but overall it grew on me. The environmental take downs are awesome and gory.
The shooting hasn’t been improved tho which is disappointing because it’s much more prominent here although the mechanic of Ethan being an alcoholic and needing to drink to steady his aim is pretty cool.

There are more memorable locales in this game with the standouts being a museum, a doll factory and a bowling alley with area specific weapons like broadswords and bowling balls.

This game hits lower lows than the original however. The first mission drags on forever and the black tar monsters are totally miserable to fight especially with the black tar environments they spawn in. There’s several levels with these horrible filters and screen effects than made me nauseous and were a slog to get though. These really brought this title down for me because the screen effects were just so horrible. Luckily it was only 2-3 levels like that in the game and pretty much everything else is quite good.

This one is harder to recommend to someone because of the comically over the top edginess, insane story and couple of really ugly borderline unplayable levels. Overall I think I still prefer the first game but this one is a ton of fun and doesn’t nearly deserve the hate it gets. Sad Monolith didn’t get to finish out this as a trilogy.

7/10