LynchReborn
2020
Rough gameplay and annoying bugs bring down a fantastic campaign with great writing. However, something about the gameplay loop keeps me coming back for more.
2017
The best superhero MMO ever made
2018
Difficult to put into words how I find this game Amazing and Annoying at the same time.
The plot itself is great and a nice way to adapt the Spider-Man mythology. However, this game is incredibly overrated.
Never did I feel my breath was taken away, or that the game did anything new for the genre of either Spider-Man or superheroes in general. It heavily influenced my Arkham and it bleeds through.
The side missions and extra curricular content are just dumb, from helping the research stations to catching pigeons for a side quest. It's all completely unnecessary and artificial filler.
The combat is fun, however, and keeps the gameplay from getting too stale. However, every Boss Battle feels the same, which is incredibly disappointing for a game that has such a huge variety of villains.
Overall, Spider-Man is a fun and complete experience but I don't ever see myself returning to the main story to do it again.
Now onto the DLC.
The plot itself is great and a nice way to adapt the Spider-Man mythology. However, this game is incredibly overrated.
Never did I feel my breath was taken away, or that the game did anything new for the genre of either Spider-Man or superheroes in general. It heavily influenced my Arkham and it bleeds through.
The side missions and extra curricular content are just dumb, from helping the research stations to catching pigeons for a side quest. It's all completely unnecessary and artificial filler.
The combat is fun, however, and keeps the gameplay from getting too stale. However, every Boss Battle feels the same, which is incredibly disappointing for a game that has such a huge variety of villains.
Overall, Spider-Man is a fun and complete experience but I don't ever see myself returning to the main story to do it again.
Now onto the DLC.
Quite good twists on the classic Black Cat / Spider-Man tale and very engaging story. However the side content is horrible and leaves alot to be desired.
The weakest of the DLC entries. More Hammerhead crap. More screwball crap. Lame.
2021
Forza Horizon 5 - - from a technical aspect - - is a fantastic game. Beautiful graphics, well designed gameplay. Etc.
But you'll only like it if it's you're first time playing Forza Horizon.
As a Forza vet since horizon 2, I feel like this game is downright lazy and awful. It's become the racing equivalent of MADDEN or FIFA, where each entry is a copy of the previous with barely any changes to call it a new experience.
The presentation of Mexico is clearly made by mostly Americans, from the overusage of some aesthetic choices to characters randomly switching between Spanish and English mid sentence to prove that they are Mexican to the player, it all feels so... Out of touch. And I'm not even Mexican.
But getting into the game content, it's just the same shit different map. Same side activities, same annoying barn searching, same old default races with nothing new to give them a jolt of fresh air.
Forza Horizon honestly hasn't been impressive since the HOT WHEELS DLC, and that was its peak.
Hopefully, in the future, Playground Games takes about double as long break for the next entry before trying again because this was downright insulting as a forza loyal.
But you'll only like it if it's you're first time playing Forza Horizon.
As a Forza vet since horizon 2, I feel like this game is downright lazy and awful. It's become the racing equivalent of MADDEN or FIFA, where each entry is a copy of the previous with barely any changes to call it a new experience.
The presentation of Mexico is clearly made by mostly Americans, from the overusage of some aesthetic choices to characters randomly switching between Spanish and English mid sentence to prove that they are Mexican to the player, it all feels so... Out of touch. And I'm not even Mexican.
But getting into the game content, it's just the same shit different map. Same side activities, same annoying barn searching, same old default races with nothing new to give them a jolt of fresh air.
Forza Horizon honestly hasn't been impressive since the HOT WHEELS DLC, and that was its peak.
Hopefully, in the future, Playground Games takes about double as long break for the next entry before trying again because this was downright insulting as a forza loyal.
Got through the first two hours filled with terrible Artificial filler platforming and that was enough to know this game wasnt for me
Miles Morales is a complete spin-off from Marvels Spider-Man.
Pros include:
Improved combat
No forced stealth missions as MJ
Improved stealth with holo drone and camoflauge allowing more creativity along the lines of ASSASSINS Creed
Shorter, easier to follow storyline.
Only have to catch 3 pigeons
Cons
Miles isn't a good quipper
Story sucks, miles reveals his identity to literally anyone?
Still felt long as a short story
Web swinging felt a little nerfed
Tinkerer wasn't a good developed villain
Lack of Marvel easter eggs
Roxxon is just completely unbelievable as a threat due to their non existence in the first game
Overall, Miles Morales improves in many places that Spider-Man failed and the shorter run time helps the experience flow along. However, a weak written story that was clearly rushed brings this game down alot along with the fact of other annoyances such as bugs galore on the base ps4.
Worth playing, but not twice.
Pros include:
Improved combat
No forced stealth missions as MJ
Improved stealth with holo drone and camoflauge allowing more creativity along the lines of ASSASSINS Creed
Shorter, easier to follow storyline.
Only have to catch 3 pigeons
Cons
Miles isn't a good quipper
Story sucks, miles reveals his identity to literally anyone?
Still felt long as a short story
Web swinging felt a little nerfed
Tinkerer wasn't a good developed villain
Lack of Marvel easter eggs
Roxxon is just completely unbelievable as a threat due to their non existence in the first game
Overall, Miles Morales improves in many places that Spider-Man failed and the shorter run time helps the experience flow along. However, a weak written story that was clearly rushed brings this game down alot along with the fact of other annoyances such as bugs galore on the base ps4.
Worth playing, but not twice.
Played the intro mission and it's everything I hate.
Forced, defenseless stealth and egregious platforming that would make no sense in the real world it tries to portray.
I'm good, fam.
Forced, defenseless stealth and egregious platforming that would make no sense in the real world it tries to portray.
I'm good, fam.
2017
Played the intro.
Forced stealth as child Aloy.
Promptly uninstalled. Let me know when game Devs get creative again.
Forced stealth as child Aloy.
Promptly uninstalled. Let me know when game Devs get creative again.
The horrible combat makes this game increasingly difficult for no reason even on Easy Mode. Also a clearly rushed copy of the Lord of the Rings game.
Love the film but there are many other Star Wars games worth playing instead.
Love the film but there are many other Star Wars games worth playing instead.
2003
Poorly designed mechanics and controls even for this time make it an incredibly hard play in 2021. Unfortunate becuz it has bursts of fun and great ideas
2021
Halo Infinite is a brilliant weird balance of incredible and disappointing all at the same time. For a game Six years in the making, it certainly doesn't feel as such. The core of the game is extremely well done and polished, yet there are a bunch of things that made me think "Really?" or "That's it?"
First off, the greatness. Gunplay is tight as hell, polished, and each weapon feels greatly unique. I found myself constantly experimenting and switching different weapons in this game more than Halo 5, at least. Weapons all feel like they have a different purpose. The grappling hook is an amazing addition that brings great fun, and the open world provides more action than ever before in a Halo game.
The graphics are pretty decent on Xbox One X, but nothing far better than Halo 5. On Quality Mode, Zeta Halo can look absolute stunning however if you're a Performance Mode player it doesn't really look like anything to write home about.
The biggest fault of the game was going "Soft Reboot", and skipping a game's worth of story where Cortana and The Banished leader Atriox have a confrontation in the gap between Halo 5 and Infinite. It's baffling that they barely even show these events, only short teasers of what happened through fragmented data spread across Zeta Halo. It screams as though they're saving it for a prequel DLC.
I don't know how but they managed to make Chief incredibly humanized and powerfully strong, stoic and more book-like. His one liners return in fashion in this game with brilliant writing that strikes his character to the core. Steve Downes brings subtle inflections to Chief's voice during certain moments, really elevating them. The Weapon, voiced by Cortana's Jen Taylor, is not even close to a Cortana re-do, writing wise which is great. The Weapon stands out as her own character, with a level of new birth innocence we never saw with the original Cortana. Even though Jen Taylor uses the same Cortana voice, it's easy to distinguish The Weapon and Cortana through their vastly different speech patterns.
This game does fail on some levels, sadly, which is why I cannot give it five stars. The driving mechanics have been absolutely destroyed in comparison to previous games, and the choice of adding an open world with a selectable vehicle is questionable considering the amount of rocks and trees in the way of freely driving on a planet atmosphere. It's insane to think that in 2021, my Scorpion tank can get caught on a rock instead of just pushing it away. (There is sadly not a single element of environmental destruction).
Speaking of the Open World, while it's fun to play in at times it often does incredibly boring. It feels as though it was the last thing added to the game, and not with much effort. For example, the only wildlife in the game giving the world some vibrance is a few low poly birds and squirrel like animals running across the screen. No Space rhino's from the trailer, the only thing living on Zeta is marines and Banished. As mentioned before, the fact that not a single element is destructible is a questionable decision. I mean, even in San Andreas you could destroy fences and what not.
The side activities all feel the same, except for the Outputs which can have varying objectives. Hacking a FOB gets boring as all you have to do is clear enemies from the pad and hold X. There is also barely any variety in the open world landscape. No snow, no weather, even Combat Evolved had much more varying level designs.
Speaking of level design, the game also suffers in that department, I believe, as a symptom from the open world design. Now, don't get me wrong, the Art Direction is fantastic. It's the perfect blending of the modern 343 designs and the original Bungie artwork, bringing me back to feeling like a kid playing Combat Evolved again. However, it starts to get incredibly repetitive in the game.
Each Main Mission level almost feels like a copy/paste of each other. There's absolutely no variety in the main missions compared to the previous games. Each Infinite story mission consists of entering a forerunner structure (which is beautiful), digging deep into it and killing enemies and placing The Weapon on various consoles throughout the building. Oh, I also can't forget the annoying mechanic of searching for and placing power seeds just so they had a reason to add that mode in Multiplayer. Even though some may have a little bit of story and enemy variety, each main mission structure remains the same as it's core which is disappointing to say the least.
Overall, Halo Infinite is NOT a bad game. It is definitely a return to form for Halo, and something that feels like it was made to belong in the Bungie trilogy. However, after six years of development you'd think the game would have a lot more beef and vision to it, but the troubled production becomes very apparent as a lot of things feel rushed. Polished, but rushed.
First off, the greatness. Gunplay is tight as hell, polished, and each weapon feels greatly unique. I found myself constantly experimenting and switching different weapons in this game more than Halo 5, at least. Weapons all feel like they have a different purpose. The grappling hook is an amazing addition that brings great fun, and the open world provides more action than ever before in a Halo game.
The graphics are pretty decent on Xbox One X, but nothing far better than Halo 5. On Quality Mode, Zeta Halo can look absolute stunning however if you're a Performance Mode player it doesn't really look like anything to write home about.
The biggest fault of the game was going "Soft Reboot", and skipping a game's worth of story where Cortana and The Banished leader Atriox have a confrontation in the gap between Halo 5 and Infinite. It's baffling that they barely even show these events, only short teasers of what happened through fragmented data spread across Zeta Halo. It screams as though they're saving it for a prequel DLC.
I don't know how but they managed to make Chief incredibly humanized and powerfully strong, stoic and more book-like. His one liners return in fashion in this game with brilliant writing that strikes his character to the core. Steve Downes brings subtle inflections to Chief's voice during certain moments, really elevating them. The Weapon, voiced by Cortana's Jen Taylor, is not even close to a Cortana re-do, writing wise which is great. The Weapon stands out as her own character, with a level of new birth innocence we never saw with the original Cortana. Even though Jen Taylor uses the same Cortana voice, it's easy to distinguish The Weapon and Cortana through their vastly different speech patterns.
This game does fail on some levels, sadly, which is why I cannot give it five stars. The driving mechanics have been absolutely destroyed in comparison to previous games, and the choice of adding an open world with a selectable vehicle is questionable considering the amount of rocks and trees in the way of freely driving on a planet atmosphere. It's insane to think that in 2021, my Scorpion tank can get caught on a rock instead of just pushing it away. (There is sadly not a single element of environmental destruction).
Speaking of the Open World, while it's fun to play in at times it often does incredibly boring. It feels as though it was the last thing added to the game, and not with much effort. For example, the only wildlife in the game giving the world some vibrance is a few low poly birds and squirrel like animals running across the screen. No Space rhino's from the trailer, the only thing living on Zeta is marines and Banished. As mentioned before, the fact that not a single element is destructible is a questionable decision. I mean, even in San Andreas you could destroy fences and what not.
The side activities all feel the same, except for the Outputs which can have varying objectives. Hacking a FOB gets boring as all you have to do is clear enemies from the pad and hold X. There is also barely any variety in the open world landscape. No snow, no weather, even Combat Evolved had much more varying level designs.
Speaking of level design, the game also suffers in that department, I believe, as a symptom from the open world design. Now, don't get me wrong, the Art Direction is fantastic. It's the perfect blending of the modern 343 designs and the original Bungie artwork, bringing me back to feeling like a kid playing Combat Evolved again. However, it starts to get incredibly repetitive in the game.
Each Main Mission level almost feels like a copy/paste of each other. There's absolutely no variety in the main missions compared to the previous games. Each Infinite story mission consists of entering a forerunner structure (which is beautiful), digging deep into it and killing enemies and placing The Weapon on various consoles throughout the building. Oh, I also can't forget the annoying mechanic of searching for and placing power seeds just so they had a reason to add that mode in Multiplayer. Even though some may have a little bit of story and enemy variety, each main mission structure remains the same as it's core which is disappointing to say the least.
Overall, Halo Infinite is NOT a bad game. It is definitely a return to form for Halo, and something that feels like it was made to belong in the Bungie trilogy. However, after six years of development you'd think the game would have a lot more beef and vision to it, but the troubled production becomes very apparent as a lot of things feel rushed. Polished, but rushed.
Cute and quick mini game collection tied together by a classic Muppets style story
2022
WWE 2K22 - The Most Authentic WWE Game In History
It's been a long fuckin' wait for WWE 2K22. So long, I barely even remember the marketing and release of the disastrous WWE 2K20 (Which I enjoyed, but I can fully admit it was...bad)
Two and a half years since the last WWE game release, Visual Concepts returns with an entry in the series that really does "Hit Different" and puts all previous iterations to shame, at least in the authenticity and addiction department.
First off, let's talk about the redesigned engine and gameplay. Everything flows so, so much smoother. Plenty of subtle transition moves and blending has been inserted in this game, as well as a new homing and targeting system to help bring superstars to where they need to
be during a certain move.
The combo system fully integrates these changes, as each combo strings together nearly without issue. No matter how you customize them in Create-A-Moveset, you combo should end up looking quite smooth in the ring.
The fighting game influence is the best injection of fresh air the game has added in years. Once a combo is started, it can only be countered by a breaker. A breaker can only be done by guessing the right string of the opponent's next combo. You may also block and dodge the first hit of a combo, making some moments give me flashbacks to Fight Night Champion.
Grapples are now done by either combo-ing into them (e.g X-X-A-B for a grab combo), or starting with a grab lockup and deciding whether to do a Light, Heavy or Whip Attack.
Everything about the game feels incredibly more smooth, precise and fast paced. The complete overhaul in the way you defend, as reversals are less common and harder to pull off, allows for constant back and forth WrestleMania-quality matches against the AI with the right wrestlers. The game feels like it actually has the seeds of what could become a great emulation of ring chemistry. Some characters work together better than others, and can pull off some amazing matches with the right moves.
Showcase features the legendary luchador Rey Mysterio. Anyone can admit the match choice is incredibly weak, but unfortunately this is on WWE and their restrictions, and not 2K. However, the Showcase boss, Dino, seemed incredibly enthusiastic about making a Rey Mysterio showcase in the Ringside Report, and it shines through in the game.
Each match has authentic arenas, belts, and character models. The attention to detail in some of these is absolutely wild. Halloween Havoc 97, vs Eddie Guerrero, has a fantastic detail that if you lose, Eddie actually unmasks Rey like he would if he won the real match.
During this match as well, after it blends into the video footage of Eddie ripping up Rey's mask, the mask will become ripped in the game as well when we return to it.
Although the objectives haven't felt that much more fun than previous entries, the presentation is far better with Rey Mysterio commentating the matches from his point of view.
Another new addition in the series is MyFaction, a WWE version of Fifa/Madden Ultimate Team. This mode allows you to collect superstar cards, build a faction, and level them up.
However in my opinion, the execution is quite weak. It's just a paid reskin of the 2K Towers mode, and now we can't even use any superstar we want.
When MyFaction was announced, I was under the assumption we would be able to face off against other players' AI teams for a leaderboard, but you can't.
You are able to customize your team logo, banner and name at any time, and have multiple factions. These items come in expensive card packs, as the credit payout is abysmal to promote transactions.
One has to wonder though, if I'm never going to see another players' faction, and they're never going to see mine, why am I even bothering? It's like an offline version of WWE SuperCard, which would get quite boring after a few hours. However, if you enjoy this kind of mode of offline towers with loot, it may be for you.
While I have not completed all of MyRise yet, half way through the Men's storyline, I feel extremely disappointed. I'm going to assume this mode's overall weakness is due to WWE releases over the last two years, but it REALLY shows here.
The positive is that skill trees and everything else over-complicated about MyRise is now removed. Your overall is simply improved by earning skill points in storylines, and using them to upgrade a list of 12 stats, pretty simple.
Social Media page allows you to see tweets from the WWE Universe, your opponents, and DMs offering storyline opportunities. Some of these stories build quite well on the history and canon of WWE 2K characters within the previous MyCareer versions.
The negative part is that all these storylines are isolated, and there is nearly no overarching narrative to this mode, unlike 2K20's which focused on the life and career of Red and Tre. In this, your character has almost no importance to the overall lore of WWE. The Roleplay aspect feels almost non-existent, as title wins mean nothing than just another storyline before you jump to the next one and win the next title over and over again.
Universe returns with Superstar Mode, which allows you to follow the career of a single superstar in your sandbox. It's a toggle that can be changed at any time. You can also edit matches during a show in progress, as well as delete them. There are plenty of nice QoL fixes amongst Universe that we've needed
Graphic wise, WWE 2K22 is stunning, even on old generation. My copy was for Xbox One X, and I was blown away at the level of detail. The only negative I see on old-gen compared to new is that shadows get more crushed and the lighting is slightly less higher resolution, but other than that everything is as beautiful as it's intended.
Entrance animations all feel cinematic with the new motion-captured camera data, and the motions are performed with a level of authenticity you'd see in a CGI WETA short.
Hair receives a small upgrade in both physics and visuals and many legends including The Rock and Chyna have been retouched to be up to standard with the rest of the roster.
The audio has improved, as the crowd is much louder during matches, there are more unique chants and the ring foley work is far more apparent to the player. The wrestlers grunt and vocalize far more often as well.
The game is not without it's flaws however, as no new match types were added, some tag entrances were randomly removed, MyGM lacks any sort of depth and there are some minor bugs to be ironed out in future patches.
However, WWE 2K22 is an absolutely stunning video game, and the most broadcast-accurate game ever made. The redesigned engine brings a new dopamine rush that hasn't been felt in over a decade with the series, possibly more. Congrats to the team at 2K, Visual Concepts, and more for making the public realize the power behind your team when you actually have the right people working on it, and not an incompetent studio like say, Yukes.
Review code for Xbox One X nWo Edition provided by 2K Games
Check out my YouTube for upcoming WWE 2K22 Mods: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnUqKyv-zqOoeR1jtrXdXQw/
It's been a long fuckin' wait for WWE 2K22. So long, I barely even remember the marketing and release of the disastrous WWE 2K20 (Which I enjoyed, but I can fully admit it was...bad)
Two and a half years since the last WWE game release, Visual Concepts returns with an entry in the series that really does "Hit Different" and puts all previous iterations to shame, at least in the authenticity and addiction department.
First off, let's talk about the redesigned engine and gameplay. Everything flows so, so much smoother. Plenty of subtle transition moves and blending has been inserted in this game, as well as a new homing and targeting system to help bring superstars to where they need to
be during a certain move.
The combo system fully integrates these changes, as each combo strings together nearly without issue. No matter how you customize them in Create-A-Moveset, you combo should end up looking quite smooth in the ring.
The fighting game influence is the best injection of fresh air the game has added in years. Once a combo is started, it can only be countered by a breaker. A breaker can only be done by guessing the right string of the opponent's next combo. You may also block and dodge the first hit of a combo, making some moments give me flashbacks to Fight Night Champion.
Grapples are now done by either combo-ing into them (e.g X-X-A-B for a grab combo), or starting with a grab lockup and deciding whether to do a Light, Heavy or Whip Attack.
Everything about the game feels incredibly more smooth, precise and fast paced. The complete overhaul in the way you defend, as reversals are less common and harder to pull off, allows for constant back and forth WrestleMania-quality matches against the AI with the right wrestlers. The game feels like it actually has the seeds of what could become a great emulation of ring chemistry. Some characters work together better than others, and can pull off some amazing matches with the right moves.
Showcase features the legendary luchador Rey Mysterio. Anyone can admit the match choice is incredibly weak, but unfortunately this is on WWE and their restrictions, and not 2K. However, the Showcase boss, Dino, seemed incredibly enthusiastic about making a Rey Mysterio showcase in the Ringside Report, and it shines through in the game.
Each match has authentic arenas, belts, and character models. The attention to detail in some of these is absolutely wild. Halloween Havoc 97, vs Eddie Guerrero, has a fantastic detail that if you lose, Eddie actually unmasks Rey like he would if he won the real match.
During this match as well, after it blends into the video footage of Eddie ripping up Rey's mask, the mask will become ripped in the game as well when we return to it.
Although the objectives haven't felt that much more fun than previous entries, the presentation is far better with Rey Mysterio commentating the matches from his point of view.
Another new addition in the series is MyFaction, a WWE version of Fifa/Madden Ultimate Team. This mode allows you to collect superstar cards, build a faction, and level them up.
However in my opinion, the execution is quite weak. It's just a paid reskin of the 2K Towers mode, and now we can't even use any superstar we want.
When MyFaction was announced, I was under the assumption we would be able to face off against other players' AI teams for a leaderboard, but you can't.
You are able to customize your team logo, banner and name at any time, and have multiple factions. These items come in expensive card packs, as the credit payout is abysmal to promote transactions.
One has to wonder though, if I'm never going to see another players' faction, and they're never going to see mine, why am I even bothering? It's like an offline version of WWE SuperCard, which would get quite boring after a few hours. However, if you enjoy this kind of mode of offline towers with loot, it may be for you.
While I have not completed all of MyRise yet, half way through the Men's storyline, I feel extremely disappointed. I'm going to assume this mode's overall weakness is due to WWE releases over the last two years, but it REALLY shows here.
The positive is that skill trees and everything else over-complicated about MyRise is now removed. Your overall is simply improved by earning skill points in storylines, and using them to upgrade a list of 12 stats, pretty simple.
Social Media page allows you to see tweets from the WWE Universe, your opponents, and DMs offering storyline opportunities. Some of these stories build quite well on the history and canon of WWE 2K characters within the previous MyCareer versions.
The negative part is that all these storylines are isolated, and there is nearly no overarching narrative to this mode, unlike 2K20's which focused on the life and career of Red and Tre. In this, your character has almost no importance to the overall lore of WWE. The Roleplay aspect feels almost non-existent, as title wins mean nothing than just another storyline before you jump to the next one and win the next title over and over again.
Universe returns with Superstar Mode, which allows you to follow the career of a single superstar in your sandbox. It's a toggle that can be changed at any time. You can also edit matches during a show in progress, as well as delete them. There are plenty of nice QoL fixes amongst Universe that we've needed
Graphic wise, WWE 2K22 is stunning, even on old generation. My copy was for Xbox One X, and I was blown away at the level of detail. The only negative I see on old-gen compared to new is that shadows get more crushed and the lighting is slightly less higher resolution, but other than that everything is as beautiful as it's intended.
Entrance animations all feel cinematic with the new motion-captured camera data, and the motions are performed with a level of authenticity you'd see in a CGI WETA short.
Hair receives a small upgrade in both physics and visuals and many legends including The Rock and Chyna have been retouched to be up to standard with the rest of the roster.
The audio has improved, as the crowd is much louder during matches, there are more unique chants and the ring foley work is far more apparent to the player. The wrestlers grunt and vocalize far more often as well.
The game is not without it's flaws however, as no new match types were added, some tag entrances were randomly removed, MyGM lacks any sort of depth and there are some minor bugs to be ironed out in future patches.
However, WWE 2K22 is an absolutely stunning video game, and the most broadcast-accurate game ever made. The redesigned engine brings a new dopamine rush that hasn't been felt in over a decade with the series, possibly more. Congrats to the team at 2K, Visual Concepts, and more for making the public realize the power behind your team when you actually have the right people working on it, and not an incompetent studio like say, Yukes.
Review code for Xbox One X nWo Edition provided by 2K Games
Check out my YouTube for upcoming WWE 2K22 Mods: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnUqKyv-zqOoeR1jtrXdXQw/