Kago
Really tragic I have no way of playing this one. If anyone knows of a way to play this game in 2024, please let me know!
2012
Creeding in the USA! It's boring!
This game was honestly a pretty fat struggle for me to get through, it felt extremely drawn out and I couldn't help but be disengaged throughout most of it. I think a lot of this has to do with the setting, it's really boring! Revolutionary War NA is just not something I'm interested in, especially considering I've already seen so much from this era in my life, but even so, Ubisoft made it boring. They didn't have any good ideas with it, the whole world looked like I was playing through a documentary video a history teacher would show me in school, I mean seriously this whole game is so drab and grey throughout it's legitimately one of the most aesthetically boring games I've ever played.
ACIII is mostly a story about failures, as both Connor and Desmond find themselves failing again and again, this has a lot of potential to be powerful, but as always Ubisoft excecutes it all in the most boring ways possible. What I mean by that is there's legitimately bad cinematography throughout cutscenes, awkward lines additionally voice acted awkwardly, a complete lack of pacing, and a completely forgettable soundtrack. This culminates into story ideas that anyone could respect, but a story that will leave a majority of people, me included, completely bored and disinterested. I was never invested in the story of Connor whatsoever, which is a shame because he has endless potential.
As for the modern story, this is the finale of 5 whole games here and somehow they made me just not care about it, with once again dreadful pacing and uneccesary jargon. Forcing a father-son relationship into the plotline was just a bad idea, Desmond absolutely did not need this and the father contributed literally nothing meaningful. There was also a clear setup for a player choice at the end that could've played into the ideology of the games and made the ending much more memorable, but alas they don't let us make the choice. So, for the finale of 5 whole games, it's just quite mundane, not really showing us anything new then ending as anticlimactic as it could've, it just ends instantly after the big ending moment happens. It felt like the payoff of 5 games was just a crumb of what it should've been.
Finally, onto the mission structure! Ubisoft is really hitting their stride at filler content that wastes your time here, as literally everything outside of main missions and homestead missions are complete filler with nothing interesting going on. It's all collecting meaningless shit, clearing forts, fetch quests for meaningless currency or materials, doing the same world events over and over, y'know, typical Ubislop. As for the main missions, they're EXTREMELY linear and rarely put the player in interesting situations that shake things up, noticably a major lack of stealth situations, especially in the second half of the game. Essentially every mission is just a vehicle for the story, nothing more. The homestead missions are probably the best thing this game does, and it's a bit puzzling why they completely dropped this idea in future entries. The homestead missions basically let you build up a community in the American Frontiers, with characters that partially seem like actual humans and let Connor show off some personality. It's just quant stuff.
This review feels a bit too long, so I'm gonna talk about final gameplay points then call it:
This game marks the downward spiral of the emphasis parkour has in AC. Parkour is somewhat smooth but has mostly been neutered, basically the player has less control and things become more automated. You'll be just holding two buttons mindlessly more than you could've in previous titles. The world is no longer a playground for your parkour, but is more of a cinematic piece to make you feel like you're really in this world, in this games case, really in colonial new york, boston, and yk, the woods. This means you'll be riding around on a horse or running WAY more than previous games, which is frankly boring and eventually I just started fast traveling everywhere. Even in cities, everything is spaced so far away that it's just impossible to flow around everywhere like you could in previous games.
Finally the combat and stealth, it's just more AC combat and stealth. They give you a lot of tools this time around but I hardly ever used them, as I never really needed to. combat is flashy and looks better than previous games. Connor is a pretty strong brute with a tomahawk, how can that not be cool? But y'know, pretty animations aside, it's the same stuff, which is fine, combat has never been AC's strongest aspect. I am a bit dissapointed by the absence of stealth in missions outside of the obligitory trailing missions. Social stealth is still here, there's a lot of gadgets for me to work with, but I'm rarely given opportunities to use them. Really the main times you'll be doing stealth is when you clear forts, which you have basically no incentive to do. You see the problem here?
ACIII felt like an absurdly dragged-out game that leaned into the aspects of AC I don't care about, while shying away from what makes AC special. I'm left with a game that makes me bored, and makes me wish I was playing a different AC game.
If you wanna see my rankings as I go through the series, click here.
This game was honestly a pretty fat struggle for me to get through, it felt extremely drawn out and I couldn't help but be disengaged throughout most of it. I think a lot of this has to do with the setting, it's really boring! Revolutionary War NA is just not something I'm interested in, especially considering I've already seen so much from this era in my life, but even so, Ubisoft made it boring. They didn't have any good ideas with it, the whole world looked like I was playing through a documentary video a history teacher would show me in school, I mean seriously this whole game is so drab and grey throughout it's legitimately one of the most aesthetically boring games I've ever played.
ACIII is mostly a story about failures, as both Connor and Desmond find themselves failing again and again, this has a lot of potential to be powerful, but as always Ubisoft excecutes it all in the most boring ways possible. What I mean by that is there's legitimately bad cinematography throughout cutscenes, awkward lines additionally voice acted awkwardly, a complete lack of pacing, and a completely forgettable soundtrack. This culminates into story ideas that anyone could respect, but a story that will leave a majority of people, me included, completely bored and disinterested. I was never invested in the story of Connor whatsoever, which is a shame because he has endless potential.
As for the modern story, this is the finale of 5 whole games here and somehow they made me just not care about it, with once again dreadful pacing and uneccesary jargon. Forcing a father-son relationship into the plotline was just a bad idea, Desmond absolutely did not need this and the father contributed literally nothing meaningful. There was also a clear setup for a player choice at the end that could've played into the ideology of the games and made the ending much more memorable, but alas they don't let us make the choice. So, for the finale of 5 whole games, it's just quite mundane, not really showing us anything new then ending as anticlimactic as it could've, it just ends instantly after the big ending moment happens. It felt like the payoff of 5 games was just a crumb of what it should've been.
Finally, onto the mission structure! Ubisoft is really hitting their stride at filler content that wastes your time here, as literally everything outside of main missions and homestead missions are complete filler with nothing interesting going on. It's all collecting meaningless shit, clearing forts, fetch quests for meaningless currency or materials, doing the same world events over and over, y'know, typical Ubislop. As for the main missions, they're EXTREMELY linear and rarely put the player in interesting situations that shake things up, noticably a major lack of stealth situations, especially in the second half of the game. Essentially every mission is just a vehicle for the story, nothing more. The homestead missions are probably the best thing this game does, and it's a bit puzzling why they completely dropped this idea in future entries. The homestead missions basically let you build up a community in the American Frontiers, with characters that partially seem like actual humans and let Connor show off some personality. It's just quant stuff.
This review feels a bit too long, so I'm gonna talk about final gameplay points then call it:
This game marks the downward spiral of the emphasis parkour has in AC. Parkour is somewhat smooth but has mostly been neutered, basically the player has less control and things become more automated. You'll be just holding two buttons mindlessly more than you could've in previous titles. The world is no longer a playground for your parkour, but is more of a cinematic piece to make you feel like you're really in this world, in this games case, really in colonial new york, boston, and yk, the woods. This means you'll be riding around on a horse or running WAY more than previous games, which is frankly boring and eventually I just started fast traveling everywhere. Even in cities, everything is spaced so far away that it's just impossible to flow around everywhere like you could in previous games.
Finally the combat and stealth, it's just more AC combat and stealth. They give you a lot of tools this time around but I hardly ever used them, as I never really needed to. combat is flashy and looks better than previous games. Connor is a pretty strong brute with a tomahawk, how can that not be cool? But y'know, pretty animations aside, it's the same stuff, which is fine, combat has never been AC's strongest aspect. I am a bit dissapointed by the absence of stealth in missions outside of the obligitory trailing missions. Social stealth is still here, there's a lot of gadgets for me to work with, but I'm rarely given opportunities to use them. Really the main times you'll be doing stealth is when you clear forts, which you have basically no incentive to do. You see the problem here?
ACIII felt like an absurdly dragged-out game that leaned into the aspects of AC I don't care about, while shying away from what makes AC special. I'm left with a game that makes me bored, and makes me wish I was playing a different AC game.
If you wanna see my rankings as I go through the series, click here.
Personally, I really do love this katamari thing
Katamari Damacy was, in my humblest opinion, a straight 5/5, shit rocked. How do you follow-up perfection? You can't reinvent the wheel, you can't vastly change the gameplay, all you can do is expand on the perfection, and that's what they did.
(Note: I chose this version over the original release because I wanted to see the Royal Reverie content, and there's enough quality of life improvements to justify it.)
Now, this game takes the formula of the original and puts it in various new lights, with unique and engaging scenarios that really shake things up for the player. Both games are excellent at continuously delighting me with new and fun ideas. I personally don't like some types of levels where you have to guess or only pick up specific things, I'm more of a roll up literally everything kinda guy, but the variety is what was needed, and it goes down nice and easy.
As for any downsides, I kinda wanted more maps to be honest? Or some maps are just not used to their full potential, like there's some really awesome levels you only see maybe twice. Give me more of that please? Also, I was kinda hoping the story was more expanded on, but really we just get some king lore, which is neat I guess.
One of the biggest detractors is the soundtrack. There are some good tunes in this game but man, the first games soundtrack absolutely SMOKES this one.
The ending also felt very abrupt, the final levels didn't really feel like you were getting close to the end like in the first game.
also on gameplay fronts, there's a lot of in-game loading and object pop-in, which can kinda break that flow state you get in. I'm obviously nit-picking here but y'know, I'm trying to explain why this is a slightly inferior sequel.
This game really just functions as an expansion to the first game rather than a full-on second game imo. Still though, we really do love Katamari, and this is an easy recommendation for anyone.
Katamari Damacy was, in my humblest opinion, a straight 5/5, shit rocked. How do you follow-up perfection? You can't reinvent the wheel, you can't vastly change the gameplay, all you can do is expand on the perfection, and that's what they did.
(Note: I chose this version over the original release because I wanted to see the Royal Reverie content, and there's enough quality of life improvements to justify it.)
Now, this game takes the formula of the original and puts it in various new lights, with unique and engaging scenarios that really shake things up for the player. Both games are excellent at continuously delighting me with new and fun ideas. I personally don't like some types of levels where you have to guess or only pick up specific things, I'm more of a roll up literally everything kinda guy, but the variety is what was needed, and it goes down nice and easy.
As for any downsides, I kinda wanted more maps to be honest? Or some maps are just not used to their full potential, like there's some really awesome levels you only see maybe twice. Give me more of that please? Also, I was kinda hoping the story was more expanded on, but really we just get some king lore, which is neat I guess.
One of the biggest detractors is the soundtrack. There are some good tunes in this game but man, the first games soundtrack absolutely SMOKES this one.
The ending also felt very abrupt, the final levels didn't really feel like you were getting close to the end like in the first game.
also on gameplay fronts, there's a lot of in-game loading and object pop-in, which can kinda break that flow state you get in. I'm obviously nit-picking here but y'know, I'm trying to explain why this is a slightly inferior sequel.
This game really just functions as an expansion to the first game rather than a full-on second game imo. Still though, we really do love Katamari, and this is an easy recommendation for anyone.
2016
Now, I fully understand that in 2016 this was a big deal, but my god this game is such a snoozer.
This game was highly regarded and became a household VR title likely because it was one of the first that actually felt like a full game. It's got a full on campaign where stuff works and (big emphasis on kinda) kinda a story. BUT, with all the hype of VR gone, this game really doesn't offer much. In-fact, this game could have easily been made in flatscreen instead of VR, there's such little interactivity with the world.
Lemme run down what you do in this game: You use idk, maybe 4 weapons or so to shoot zombies, some zombies run, some zombies have helmets on, and some have some weird crystals on them or something. That's the entire collection of both weapons and enemies, the absolute lifeblood of an FPS. To progress in the levels, you must find a key or some piece to unlock the next part of the map, something that's been around since like Wolfenstein 3D, which isn't necessarily a bad gameplay loop, but it must be held up by everything around it. This game doesn't do that, there's very little set-pieces, extremely boring and linear map design, and as mentioned earlier, a lack of variety in weapons and enemies. In what is essentially an FPS, this game doesn't take the exploration approach of many boomer-shooters, nor does it take the linear-set-piece approach of modern shooters. It chooses to do the bare-minimum.
I got through like 7 levels that were basically all the exact same thing, though some were in darkness so yk, that's something. I legitimately got so bored I just wanted to stop playing, and here we are! Take away the VR aspect here, this game offers literally nothing that you can't find better anywhere else, with the VR, this game offers a middling shooting gallery.
I hate to rag on games so hard like this but honestly man, this is just such a whatever time. Oh also, the deadpool-esque protagonist is annoying.
This game was highly regarded and became a household VR title likely because it was one of the first that actually felt like a full game. It's got a full on campaign where stuff works and (big emphasis on kinda) kinda a story. BUT, with all the hype of VR gone, this game really doesn't offer much. In-fact, this game could have easily been made in flatscreen instead of VR, there's such little interactivity with the world.
Lemme run down what you do in this game: You use idk, maybe 4 weapons or so to shoot zombies, some zombies run, some zombies have helmets on, and some have some weird crystals on them or something. That's the entire collection of both weapons and enemies, the absolute lifeblood of an FPS. To progress in the levels, you must find a key or some piece to unlock the next part of the map, something that's been around since like Wolfenstein 3D, which isn't necessarily a bad gameplay loop, but it must be held up by everything around it. This game doesn't do that, there's very little set-pieces, extremely boring and linear map design, and as mentioned earlier, a lack of variety in weapons and enemies. In what is essentially an FPS, this game doesn't take the exploration approach of many boomer-shooters, nor does it take the linear-set-piece approach of modern shooters. It chooses to do the bare-minimum.
I got through like 7 levels that were basically all the exact same thing, though some were in darkness so yk, that's something. I legitimately got so bored I just wanted to stop playing, and here we are! Take away the VR aspect here, this game offers literally nothing that you can't find better anywhere else, with the VR, this game offers a middling shooting gallery.
I hate to rag on games so hard like this but honestly man, this is just such a whatever time. Oh also, the deadpool-esque protagonist is annoying.
A pretty sweet F-zero type racer that offers some real challenge towards the end.
Obviously it doesn't reach the heights of F-zero, but it's still a great racer. You get that incredible sense of speed while visiting some pretty aesthetically cool Star Wars locations, while unlocking basically every pod racer known to man.
The controls can be sliiightly jank, as it's overly sensitive at times, also the main issue of this game is it's collision detection. Sometimes you will collide with basically nothing, some wonky hitbox, and it'll cost you the race, which can be pretty annoying. It doesn't happen that often but it exists.
There's a lack of pod customization as nothing ever changes visually, and the system to upgrade your pod is just kinda bland honestly. Really the 3.5 is for the blistering fast races. Even the course design isn't anything especially remarkable, this is what seperates F-zero from everyone else.
Still as previously mentioned, this game is FAST, and it's impossible to not find some fun with it. I see why so many people have nostalgia for this one.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
Obviously it doesn't reach the heights of F-zero, but it's still a great racer. You get that incredible sense of speed while visiting some pretty aesthetically cool Star Wars locations, while unlocking basically every pod racer known to man.
The controls can be sliiightly jank, as it's overly sensitive at times, also the main issue of this game is it's collision detection. Sometimes you will collide with basically nothing, some wonky hitbox, and it'll cost you the race, which can be pretty annoying. It doesn't happen that often but it exists.
There's a lack of pod customization as nothing ever changes visually, and the system to upgrade your pod is just kinda bland honestly. Really the 3.5 is for the blistering fast races. Even the course design isn't anything especially remarkable, this is what seperates F-zero from everyone else.
Still as previously mentioned, this game is FAST, and it's impossible to not find some fun with it. I see why so many people have nostalgia for this one.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
1999
To be honest, I struggle to count a physical pinball machine as a video game, but alas it felt wrong to not include it in my list of every Star Wars game. So here we are, the Phantom Menace pinball machine, obviously I can't go out and find this machine from 1999, so y'know, no rating or ranking.
I bet it's some pinball, and I bet it's got some Star Wars!
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
I bet it's some pinball, and I bet it's got some Star Wars!
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
I mean y'know, it's Yoda's Challenge Activity Center what can I say. I actually went through all 6 mini-games so that's something.
I am a big fan of the little Yoda in the bottom left corner, he's very chill. Anyways, all the games are borderline just following instructions the game tells you to do, though theres one where you must choose the right path and one where you must click you mouse to a rythm, and yeah man, that's pretty much it.
I'll add like the digital art and the voice acting is pretty good, but it's no Gungan Frontiers I'll tell you that much.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
I am a big fan of the little Yoda in the bottom left corner, he's very chill. Anyways, all the games are borderline just following instructions the game tells you to do, though theres one where you must choose the right path and one where you must click you mouse to a rythm, and yeah man, that's pretty much it.
I'll add like the digital art and the voice acting is pretty good, but it's no Gungan Frontiers I'll tell you that much.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
I spent like 4 hours trying to get this to run just to find out I could simply emulate it on mac. Very badass.
Anyways, this is an extremely bizzare one, it's kinda just like your typical resource simulator game, but for an ecosystem, and it's all about the Gungans. You basically just kinda put down plants and animals to create a nice ecosystem that the Gungans can harvest. Sometimes Jar Jar and Boss Nass jumpscare you, which is pretty cool.
Pretty chill vibes, nothing offensively bad, but it's just kinda boring honestly. Neat idea and all, but uhh y'know, just go play Spore or something. I'm sure there was a kid in 1999 that loves resource management, just got out of watching The Phantom Menace, and was fucking PSYCHED for this one. I hope he enjoyed this.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
Anyways, this is an extremely bizzare one, it's kinda just like your typical resource simulator game, but for an ecosystem, and it's all about the Gungans. You basically just kinda put down plants and animals to create a nice ecosystem that the Gungans can harvest. Sometimes Jar Jar and Boss Nass jumpscare you, which is pretty cool.
Pretty chill vibes, nothing offensively bad, but it's just kinda boring honestly. Neat idea and all, but uhh y'know, just go play Spore or something. I'm sure there was a kid in 1999 that loves resource management, just got out of watching The Phantom Menace, and was fucking PSYCHED for this one. I hope he enjoyed this.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
That was a grueling 8 hours, I'd rather watch the Phantom Menace 4 times straight than play this again.
There is actually a lot of fairly ambitious ideas here, such as massive levels, a huge number of unique NPCs that can dynamically be interacted with, and some neat albiet silly looking CGI recreations of Episode 1 scenes. Unfortunately, this game blows!
The combat is janky and unsatisfying, the camera angle is asinine, and the platforming is in the shit hall-of-fame. I believe the devs were aware of how horrible the combat was, as they try to supply you with health packs pretty often, even the FINAL BATTLE with Darth Maul gives you two FULL health packs, and I doubt I'd have been able to win without them.
A large majority of the levels tends to be filler, for example, in the grand finale, most of Obi-Wans play-time on the level is spent doing obnoxious platforming and killing generic battle droids, another level involves captain panaka and the fake queen just trying to get to the senate. It vaguely goes through Episode 1 but also attempts to waste as much time as possible.
The worst level for me personally was Mos Espa, which is actually a GIANT Tatooine town that is technically very impressive, but a nightmare to traverse. It took me legitimately an hour and a half on this one god damn level to complete, a true nightmare.
It's quite possibly the worst way to experience Episode 1, and that says a lot. It really is not worth playing for anyone and I personally regret actually going through and finishing this one, onto the next Phantom Menace game!
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
There is actually a lot of fairly ambitious ideas here, such as massive levels, a huge number of unique NPCs that can dynamically be interacted with, and some neat albiet silly looking CGI recreations of Episode 1 scenes. Unfortunately, this game blows!
The combat is janky and unsatisfying, the camera angle is asinine, and the platforming is in the shit hall-of-fame. I believe the devs were aware of how horrible the combat was, as they try to supply you with health packs pretty often, even the FINAL BATTLE with Darth Maul gives you two FULL health packs, and I doubt I'd have been able to win without them.
A large majority of the levels tends to be filler, for example, in the grand finale, most of Obi-Wans play-time on the level is spent doing obnoxious platforming and killing generic battle droids, another level involves captain panaka and the fake queen just trying to get to the senate. It vaguely goes through Episode 1 but also attempts to waste as much time as possible.
The worst level for me personally was Mos Espa, which is actually a GIANT Tatooine town that is technically very impressive, but a nightmare to traverse. It took me legitimately an hour and a half on this one god damn level to complete, a true nightmare.
It's quite possibly the worst way to experience Episode 1, and that says a lot. It really is not worth playing for anyone and I personally regret actually going through and finishing this one, onto the next Phantom Menace game!
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
And so, in my journey to play every Star Wars game that ever was, I've finally hit a game that I cannot play, alas this was a bit of an impossible rating.
To play this game I would need to be able to emulate it as it ran on Windows 95, which is quite complicated and takes some time to setup. Seeing as this game lasts around 30-40 minutes, I didn't feel like it was worth the setup time. Additionally, I don't have the piece of plastic this game was made in mind with, and seeing as it's 20+ years old, I'm not gonna look for it.
So, This is moreso just a review of gameplay footage and I'll try to give my best take; This is a pretty whatever little thing, LucasArts didn't even bother getting involved on this one. It is essentally just clips from the Original trilogy movies with timed button prompts, or in todays terms, quick time events. That is it, there are FMV intros explaining the place the clip is set in, and sometimes some CGI footage. There's not a lot to write home about, it is quite literally just pressing buttons quickly while watching clips from the movies. Onto the next one!
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
To play this game I would need to be able to emulate it as it ran on Windows 95, which is quite complicated and takes some time to setup. Seeing as this game lasts around 30-40 minutes, I didn't feel like it was worth the setup time. Additionally, I don't have the piece of plastic this game was made in mind with, and seeing as it's 20+ years old, I'm not gonna look for it.
So, This is moreso just a review of gameplay footage and I'll try to give my best take; This is a pretty whatever little thing, LucasArts didn't even bother getting involved on this one. It is essentally just clips from the Original trilogy movies with timed button prompts, or in todays terms, quick time events. That is it, there are FMV intros explaining the place the clip is set in, and sometimes some CGI footage. There's not a lot to write home about, it is quite literally just pressing buttons quickly while watching clips from the movies. Onto the next one!
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
X-wing has finally clicked with me, this game feels like the ideas of the previous 3 titles fully realized, it's also a fantastic way to end the pre-phantom menace era of games.
All the simulation stuff that existed in previous titles are still here and it's fantastic, though I think it controls a bit better, and missles are made signifigantly less important, which is probably a good thing.
What makes this game vastly superior to the previous titles is the scenarios they've crafted. The missions feel far more inspired, as the game puts you in a lot of dynamic scenarios unseen in previous games. Your teammates actually feel like teammates that do stuff, enemies aren't absurdly accurate, and there is a clear focus on creating unique battles for the player, whereas the previous games just felt like they were busting your balls. Additionally, there's plot unwrapping within them, being a part of a random family just trying to survive was a great idea to get the player invested. (Also, big ups for crossing over with Shadows of The Empire, thought that was really neat.)
All of the enchancements, world building, and making primarily fun over frustrating missions (unlike previous titles), makes X-Wing Alliance the definitive Star Wars flight sim, one of the best Star Wars games, and likely one of the greatest space flight sims ever.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
All the simulation stuff that existed in previous titles are still here and it's fantastic, though I think it controls a bit better, and missles are made signifigantly less important, which is probably a good thing.
What makes this game vastly superior to the previous titles is the scenarios they've crafted. The missions feel far more inspired, as the game puts you in a lot of dynamic scenarios unseen in previous games. Your teammates actually feel like teammates that do stuff, enemies aren't absurdly accurate, and there is a clear focus on creating unique battles for the player, whereas the previous games just felt like they were busting your balls. Additionally, there's plot unwrapping within them, being a part of a random family just trying to survive was a great idea to get the player invested. (Also, big ups for crossing over with Shadows of The Empire, thought that was really neat.)
All of the enchancements, world building, and making primarily fun over frustrating missions (unlike previous titles), makes X-Wing Alliance the definitive Star Wars flight sim, one of the best Star Wars games, and likely one of the greatest space flight sims ever.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
2007
I beat the akinator 3 times get recked noob
I mean yeah, it's angry birds in VR. Idk what else they could've done, I think more music was needed. It just gets repetitive quickly, but again idk how they could fix that.
2001
While a humungous leap from its predecessors, this one is still not worth playing.
This game has tremendous atmosphere, great radios albeit with more songs needed, and an actually comprehensible city. It is actually pretty fun to drive around in this game, with the good tunes and wacky car physics, though I could do without my car blowing up from 2 bumps. The problems lie within the actual missions, and the gameplay outside of driving.
The missions are structured similarly to the first two games, where you just go and do random jobs, though of course they become increasingly higher-profile and dangerous, but most notably they become annoyingly difficult. I am 95% certain a lot of these missions were never play-tested, with some being nearly impossible unless you already have guns or something going into the mission.
The flat-out bad mission design isn't helped by the lackluster story either, you get cut-scenes now but they tell hardly any story, and as a silent protagonist, it really feels like you're just doing missions for the fun of it, not because of a developing plot.
The shooting sucks, driving boats isn't fun, there's no mission checkpoints which can be quite frustrating, there's no overall map so if you don't remember where something is, tough shit. There's just too many things getting in the way of actually having fun, which is unfortunate, cause I was really loving this world, and really getting attuned to the driving. Hopefully Vice City improves.
This game has tremendous atmosphere, great radios albeit with more songs needed, and an actually comprehensible city. It is actually pretty fun to drive around in this game, with the good tunes and wacky car physics, though I could do without my car blowing up from 2 bumps. The problems lie within the actual missions, and the gameplay outside of driving.
The missions are structured similarly to the first two games, where you just go and do random jobs, though of course they become increasingly higher-profile and dangerous, but most notably they become annoyingly difficult. I am 95% certain a lot of these missions were never play-tested, with some being nearly impossible unless you already have guns or something going into the mission.
The flat-out bad mission design isn't helped by the lackluster story either, you get cut-scenes now but they tell hardly any story, and as a silent protagonist, it really feels like you're just doing missions for the fun of it, not because of a developing plot.
The shooting sucks, driving boats isn't fun, there's no mission checkpoints which can be quite frustrating, there's no overall map so if you don't remember where something is, tough shit. There's just too many things getting in the way of actually having fun, which is unfortunate, cause I was really loving this world, and really getting attuned to the driving. Hopefully Vice City improves.
1999
Essentially GTA 1 but digestable, which is a pretty huge improvement.
The cameras fixed, the controls feel tighter (though they still suck tbh), the graphics are better, Rockstar's vibes are in full effect, BUT at the end of the day, this is just a superior GTA 1. It follows the exact same formula and doesn't deviate from GTA 1's structure in the slightest, and frankly this structure is just kinda boring.
You are once again going around a city and doing these arcadey missions. It's near instantly repetitive, though it would be acceptable if driving around the city was fun. Driving around the city is in-fact not fun, as you really can't see what's up ahead, and the map is laid out like a jumbled maze. They're a bit more lenient with the dead ends than in GTA 1, but not by much. You'll still be frequently having to turn around and try to figure out how to even get to your generic objective time and time again. It's just exhausting to play.
For what they wanted to achieve, they would have had to make this game WAY more coherent with a map or something, or they go 3rd Person, I mean, imagine if Crazy Taxi was top down and you couldn't tell where you were going, wouldn't be too much fun right? Rockstar of course made the wise decision of going 3rd person, now GTA 1 and 2 serve as a history lesson to the franchise and unfortunately, not much else.
The cameras fixed, the controls feel tighter (though they still suck tbh), the graphics are better, Rockstar's vibes are in full effect, BUT at the end of the day, this is just a superior GTA 1. It follows the exact same formula and doesn't deviate from GTA 1's structure in the slightest, and frankly this structure is just kinda boring.
You are once again going around a city and doing these arcadey missions. It's near instantly repetitive, though it would be acceptable if driving around the city was fun. Driving around the city is in-fact not fun, as you really can't see what's up ahead, and the map is laid out like a jumbled maze. They're a bit more lenient with the dead ends than in GTA 1, but not by much. You'll still be frequently having to turn around and try to figure out how to even get to your generic objective time and time again. It's just exhausting to play.
For what they wanted to achieve, they would have had to make this game WAY more coherent with a map or something, or they go 3rd Person, I mean, imagine if Crazy Taxi was top down and you couldn't tell where you were going, wouldn't be too much fun right? Rockstar of course made the wise decision of going 3rd person, now GTA 1 and 2 serve as a history lesson to the franchise and unfortunately, not much else.