If you like this game, you're lying to yourself. Just a trainwreck from start to finish. From what I have seen, the concept for this game got lost as development progressed until it resulted in this mess. I literally copied my review for the first game and pasted it here. Both games are a (sometimes pretty funny) joke and should never be played by anyone. How such a terrible game can be followed up with a sequel that improves on absolutely nothing is truly fascinating, potentially even impressive. Bravo.

A sequel that is still fun but flawed.

I still have a love for this game. It improves on some things but falters in others. And this is just another part of the story of how Rare didn't listen to criticism.

Where last left off with DK64(Go check my review of it so this makes a bit more sense.). The biggest problem with Tooie is that worlds are yet again too big. They are tedious to get around. It requires a stupid amount of backtracking. You have to get a move 2 world from now and then return to get this jiggy. Worlds are not self contained anymore. They actually connect in insane ways. You can do things in one world that effects another. It's cool but it also leads to tedium. They tried to add warp pads in worlds like DK64 but it doesn't really solve the problem.

Now, why am I mentioning DK64 so much? It's because it came out a year before this. And they learned nothing! They were told how tedious it was. They were told the worlds were too big. Yet here we are, with Banjo-Tooie having the same issues. The one thing they did improve is there is way less to collect in Tooie than there is in DK64. Rare simply did not listen to very valid criticisms.

Now, let's compare it to Banjo-Kazooie. It is a sequel after all. What does it improve it on? Note count no longer resets on death or exit of a level. You can now collect packs of notes instead one 1 note at a time. The overworld is a bit more interesting than the first. Although I feel like Grunty's Castle is a better vibe and theme. Ilse of Hags has more variety and there is more life going on. It has more moves to learn. Moves are more varied and all of them are used more. We get a lot more lore about the world. We also get what most people wanted and that was, to see Kazooie out of the backpack.

A cavoite to the separation move though. It does lead to tedium. Gotta find a pad to do it. Got to find a pad to switch. Got to separate in order to learn individual moves. It does lead to tedium but it was still a cool thing to do.

As usual, the worlds are varied. Most are fun. Later levels get to be a bit too much. Music is great as always. The final boss is honestly less frustrating. Dare I say, it's fun? Or at least very close to fun.

There are a few incredibly frustrating jiggies. Cough CANARY MARY cough. Some of the timers in the game are very tight. Like unfair tight. Some of the mini games suck due to bad controls.

One cool thing is the addition of a Golden Eye like multiplayer minigame. It's really fun with friends. You have to deal with the bad controls, but the 360 version does it fix it.

How does the Xbox 360 version improve on Tooie? Not much to be honest. It improves some controls. Stop n Swap lives on in this version. You get some player icons/profile pictures and a wallpaper for your 360. It looks better. I believe you could select a boss rush mode and play all the mini games from the menu.

I know I complained a lot about it. But I do love this game. I'm harsh because it needs to be said. It is not better than the first game, but not a bad sequel. It is just another example of Rare, not listening.

I know what some people are going to say. They were developed to close together. They couldn't change it even though they knew the criticisms of DK64. Fair enough. Here is the thing though. That's a trend with Rare. DKC 1, 2 and 3 were all released with 1 year of in between each other. 94, 95, 96. Bk1, DK64 and BK2 did the same thing. 98, 99, 00. Do you see the problem there?

I'm not going to go into much but DKC 3 is a mess of a game. It's not as well regarded because Rare didn't polish it like the other two. Bad hitboxes, worse graphics, worse music, etc. They simply didn't have the time.

Yet again, I know what some of you are gonna say. It's not Rare's fault they had to pump out so many games in a short amount of time. Yet again, fair enough.

I just need to paint the picture of why Tooie is the way it is. And how all of this effects not only Banjo-Kazooie Nuts n Bolts but Yooka-Laylee. I'm telling a story here of how they did not listen to criticism. Did not learn from their mistakes with DK64 and Tooie.

This was... well, it was special. I've seen people claim this is a 'return' to the classic survival horror roots of the first Resident Evil game, but honestly, they're full of shit. This game isn't awful, but man does it feel weird to play.

First off, how about some good things? The enemy designs in Revelations are awesome. The aquatic theme for the fucked up mutants in this game is executed really well, and I was pleasantly surprised with each new enemy. In all honesty, the enemy variety and uniqueness might be the best out of every RE game I've played so far. The aquatic theme also works alright for the setting. The cruise ship is a very distinct location, but it's hampered by issues I will mention later. Finally, the soundtrack is pretty sweet. The tune that plays at the end of each episode is a real earworm, and some of the music toward the end of the game really stood out to me as well.

Okay, now for the bad. The episodic format of the game isn't really bad, but the fact that you rarely play the same character for more than ten minutes at the time is jarring. It's cool that they wanted to tell a story via multiple characters at once, but it doesn't feel very cohesive, particularly since the story is not that good (though I do love the idea of Terragrigia and I think Veltro and the FBC v BSAA conflict are cool). The gameplay is also subpar. The gunplay doesn't feel weighty at all, the camera is kind of annoying, the Genesis, while somewhat engaging, is a pain to use half the time because it slows the pace of the game, and the level layout... oh boy. The Spencer Mansion in Resident Evil gets to be big and sprawling because you are constantly backtracking, so by the end of the game you know where you are at all times and how everything connects. Revelations bounces you between 4-5 locations, so the cruise ship doesn't feel familiar to you at any point. Getting around is confusing, particularly because the in-game map gives no indication of which room is which. It's a shame, because as I said earlier, an abandoned and adrift cruise ship is a promising setting for a RE game, but the disjointed nature of the game makes it ultimately pretty lame in practice.

In the end, I don't hate the game. Parker and Raymond are neat new additions to the RE character lineup, the story has some interesting ideas, and the enemies are memorable, but I have no desire to ever replay a game with such tedious gameplay.

While the main next-gen console version of the game is considered to be an all-time classic and helped revolutionize the online FPS genre, the lower-powered hardware versions were completely different games. While they share the same name, you wouldn't know these were Call of Duty games if you played them and no one told you.

Modern Warfare for the DS loosely follows the plot of the main game but instead takes liberty with its own unique levels and design choices. Obviously, we are working with barely better-than-PS1-level hardware here. n-Space really had to be creative and make entirely new games, mostly "themed" around the franchise. The game is still in first-person view, and you can switch between two different weapons. By default, you always start out with a pistol and another firearm. You can pick up weapons with the touch screen (a hand icon) and use that as your main weapon will not have any extra ammo available when you run out unless you die. When you die, you start out with your default weapons again and lose whatever you picked up, but your ammo is refilled. Weapons in this game feel decent, but the slowdown from the DS being pushed too hard (especially when enemies pop in) makes aiming a bit sluggish and janky. 

Aiming with the touch screen feels fine. Using the D-pad or face buttons to strafe isn't an issue either, but using the R or L button to fire can give you massive hand cramps even with larger DS systems. Most everything is controlled by the touch screen. Double-tap to bring up the ADS (Aim Down Sights), switch to grenades, and tap the weapon icon to reload. There are a few quality of life things that n-space did think of, such as when you reload, you go back to ADS if you are in that mode already, and spriting pulls you out of ADS mode. My issue with ADS is that while it's more accurate, there's a delay in bringing it up on screen, and that delay can cost you your life. When enemies pop in and the slowdown happens, it won't respond to my double-taps fast enough, and I would constantly bring up the ADS and back out a few times caused by the delay. It's not game-breaking, but very annoying.

There are two mini-games when setting explosives and defusing bombs. I found the pipe puzzles annoying, and following the wires to defuse bombs isn't really fun or challenging. These were just thrown in here to make use of the touch screen. Honestly, who wants to solve puzzles while playing Call of Duty? It's weird and just doesn't fit. It really breaks the flow of combat. The enemy AI is also pretty dumb. Enemies just stand there and shoot at you; don't take cover or move out of the way. This is literally an on-rails shooting gallery and is insanely linear. Levels are way too long, and some objectives have unfair checkpoint placements or none at all. Objectives range from collecting something to planting a bomb or just shooting everything in sight. I found the scripted mounted machine gun levels pretty fun, but the AC-130 level (similar to the console version) is awful and boring. You can barely make out any enemies, and you can't use larger weapons against smaller enemies. There are only a couple of buildings to blow up, and you just mow down dozens of enemies over and over again in almost complete silence. It was a bad level, for sure.

The visuals are decent for what the system can do. They are definitely sterile and boring to look at, with no artistic flair. The game tried capturing the hyper-realism of the consoles, and the DS just can't quite do this. It's a very brown and beige-looking game. There's no personality put into this game. It feels like a copy-and-paste FPS that you could attach any name to. Multiplayer is the same as single-player, but with another person. It's not very exciting, and your friends will get bored fast. I appreciate n-space for trying to capture the excitement of the console versions on the limited hardware, but it needs something else. Better enemy AI, less linear-feeling levels, more interesting scripted levels, and fewer storyboard-cut scenes. It's a great first start, but it has a lot of work before it becomes a staple DS shooter.

A disturbing yet emotional ride into living hell.

This is probably the 24th or 26th time I played thru this game. I just love it. It's the greatest horror game ever made and my #3 game of all time. Were to start?

Heather is arguably the closest that I would consider a "4-dimensional" character. You could make her a mute and the flavour texts alone, while clicking the X-Button to investigate on things would still give her more personality than 99% of all other video game characters. The story about her finding out about her true self and how she deals with it along with another tragic incident that is going to happen to her, is very intruging and gives alot of depth to her character.

The side characters are well written aswell, better than those of SH1 for the most part but inferior to those from SH2. The voice acting for all characters is flawless as long you play with the original voices, avoid the HD collection as far as possible.

SH3 is also pretty much the best looking game of the PS2. The only games from 6th gen that come close to it are SH2 and 4, the Resident Evil 1 Remake and Resident Evil Zero and Black. It's art design is truly magnificent. The character faces look closer to reality than most games of 7th gen.

The score once again composed by Akira Yamaoka is terrific. It's sad, moody and scary at the same time.

Now lets get into the gameplay department. It's the most polished game in the series. If you consider tank controls clunky, you might not consider them that clunky anymore after playing SH3. There is also an option to play without tank controls so there is actually no reason, not to play this game. It improved on the little things when compared to SH2, most notably the inventory. There are also plenty of unlockables like a lightsaber for example.

The level design this time offers a lot of variety even though I still consider SH1 level design the best in the franchise but this is a close 2nd.

So for all the people that just circle jerk around SH2, give SH1 and 3 a chance. You will not regret it if you love storytelling in gaming. This for sure is an underrated hidden gem and I think it's the best game in the franchise and of the survival horror genre.

10/10 puked out demon fetuses.

Check my review for the abysmal movie on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/xgmanx/film/silent-hill-revelation-3d/

Bizzare because it has a lot of solid Nintendoisms, it's cute, it's fun and there's a small collectable journey throughout which offers something more to do than just run to the finish. The game varies in difficulty sometimes far too easy and sometimes just right, the second chapter is actually really solid, it quite nicely switches up the classic story that's in a lot of these mario games and offers a bit more difficulty, nothing too hard but compared to chapter 1 it's refreshing.

The problem is this game stagnates and definitely outstays it's welcome, which is strange in such a short game. I aimed to 100% this one but once I saw the target time stuff I just turned it off, I'm not doing all of those levels again. It's just a bit repetitive.

The ending leaves so much to be desired it feels like a marvel movie with it's corny to be continued in another game. Story is here is nothing substantial and I didn't expect it to be! But what an annoying way to end it.

It's a fine game. Especially if you don't push through to the bonus segment which is abysmal. Glad I've played through it but doubt I'll pick it up again.

If we just ignore those few bumps in the road that popped up every now and then, the Battletoads series has had a pretty good run at this point, being one of the consistently good series that Rare had put out back then. Of course, they aren’t as approachable as other games, given how they love for nothing more then to see you throw that controller against that wall behind you, but if you can press through the difficult challenges, you will find a set of varied, interesting, and enjoyable beat-’em-ups featuring fun visuals, a colorful cast of characters, and plenty of goofy violence to go along with it. But naturally, not all good things can last forever, and for a while, the Battletoads would vanish into the ether, but before they went, they had one last hurrah that was released to the public, known simply as Battletoads….. or Battletoads Arcade, so that we don’t confuse it with the original Battletoads………. or the one on Game Boy (names are stupid).

Out of all of the Battletoads games that had been released, this was always the one that caught my interest the most, because it had such a unique style and attitude that seemed perfect for this series. Even when you place this game right alongside all the others, there is just something about it that stands out, with the visual style, animations, and character designs playing a heavy part in that. However, I had only played it for a little bit before the day that I started typing this review, so I figured it was about time to get it out of the way and see what was so captivating about it… even though it is obvious for those who have already played it, and yeah, I ended up enjoying it pretty much all the way through.

The story is the same goddamn story that every other game in the series has had, where the Dark Queen is being a bitch, and the Toads have to go teach her a lesson, making this series feel more like a warty version of Mario with how little things change in-between games, the graphics are the best that the series has had so far, looking much more punk-esque and detailed, including plenty of great, brutal animations, while still having the style of Battletoads, the music is pretty good, sounding funky and “rad” enough for the time period, while also having that bit of “edge” to it that this game is trying to go for, and the controls/gameplay are what you would come to expect out of a Battletoads game, and both aspects feel great to get a handle on and experience.

The game is an arcade beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of the three Battletoads, go through a set of five lengthy levels, each taking place in some alien world with different environmental motifs, beat the ever-loving fuck out of everything that moves using your fists, feet, and whatever over-the-top weapon that your body can morph into while doing so, eat plenty of flies that will buzz around at points to gain more life so that you can keep kicking ass, and fight plenty of big, bad, and brutal bosses with just as much brutality and force, to show that you are the baddest toad in the galaxy. A lot of it is standard for what you get from any Battletoads game, or any arcade game of the time for that matter, but the little changes, combined with the unique presentation, makes this one of the most notable and best titles in the series, and it makes playing it all the better.

From the moment you see a bit of gameplay, you will notice that the game looks much grittier and, again, punk-esque then any of the other games before, giving it the attitude and spunk that this kind of game absolutely relishes in. It is one of the most appealing parts about the game, while making sure to keep the feel of Battletoads alive and well throughout, so if you don’t get into the style immediately, then you probably wouldn’t get into this game. Right alongside the style, another thing that you will need to get used to is the violence, because HOLY FUCK, compared to the previous games, this game is as bloody and violent as all hell. It makes sense, since this game wasn’t stuck with the limitations that Nintendo would put on them, but some of the stuff you can see in this game is over-the-top in and gruesome in the best way possible. Blood will fly out of your enemies when you hit them, heads will get chopped up, with the bodies spurting blood everywhere, and some of the attacks that you pull off could be considered cartoonish fatalities that were left out of Mortal Kombat. One such example is with Zitz, who has an attack where he can pin an enemy to the ground, repeatedly punch them in the face, turn his hand into a drill, and ANNIHILATE the son of a bitch. It may be overkill, but it is a glorious kind of overkill that I never get tired of.

If we ignore both of those elements though, most of the game is just your standard Battletoads affair. Most of the stages are your typical beat-’em-up format, and what we got here, this is definitely the best form of combat that the series has had so far. The over-the-top attacks that you can pull off, coupled with the sounds, graphics, and animations that play out whenever you beat up a goon make it all the sweeter and the more satisfying. Aside from these segments though, there aren’t really too many instances of the gameplay changing up on you, aside from two different instances: one where you are descending down a shaft on a rope, like in previous games, and the final stage, where you will mount a turret in a plane and shoot down everything in your way. Both of these segments are pretty fun to go through, and while they don’t introduce too many new elements to the series, they are a nice change of pace from the typical routine you go through in the game. And finally, for the first time in any Battletoads game, there is three-player simultaneous multiplayer, where you and two other buddies can join forces as all of the Battletoads and lay the smackdown on any of the forces the Dark Queen can send your way. You can still have a great time with the game in single-player mode, but getting two others to play with you is definitely the way to go.

Despite all the good qualities that this game has going for it though, you can’t help but notice that really, at the end of the day, it is essentially just another Battletoads game for the most part. Nothing about the gameplay, story, or means of progression has changed up at all from most of the other games, which could make this feel pretty generic and repetitive for those who are wanting something more from the series. This doesn’t ruin the game in the slightest for me, but it could turn some away. Secondly, this game does have arcade syndrome, but thankfully, it is one of the most mild cases of the syndrome that I have ever seen. It can take quite a bit to take out some certain enemies, who can either counter a lot of your attacks really easily, or they manage to repeat a specific attack that can incapacitate you really easily. Thankfully though, it doesn’t feel too overwhelming a lot of the time, and you never feel a sense that there are too many enemies to deal with at once, which makes this one of the more “fair” arcade games that I have played in a while. That’s pretty surprising, because this is BATTLETOADS we are talking about, a series known for being notoriously difficult, and yet, this game is much more fair than other arcade titles. Gotta be thankful for that.

Overall, despite its repetitive gameplay at times and its mild case of arcade syndrome, Battletoads for the arcade is one of the most visually distinct and fun games in the entire series, featuring plenty of kick-ass, cartoony action, along with a style that very little arcade games have ever managed to replicate in any way. I would absolutely recommend it for those who were fans of previous Battletoads games, as well as those who are big fans of arcade beat-’em-ups, because while not the most original of the bunch, it is definitely one of the most visually distinct and fun ones of the bunch. It’s too bad though that, since this game did so poorly, the series ended up going on hiatus for over two decades. The world just couldn’t handle the intense, toad action that this game presented them with. A bunch of WEAKLINGS, I tell ya.

Game #504

Tell anyone what’s a fantastic gateway into the Warhammer series and you may receive a host of different answers. Since the 90’s until now in the 2020s there have been more than a haystack full of various types: FPS, 3rd person shooters, RTS, 4x grand strategy, XCOM-like, Turn-based, ARPG, sports, puzzle, MMOs, cards, auto-battler, VR, crossovers, heck there’s a new racing one coming out and I wouldn’t be surprised if a visual novel is located deep in the vast library already or will be in the future. Need I say more? Oh, wait, recently a CRPG came out. But where’s my Kojima-version?! Meh, I’ll take a Cavil one coming... oh wait- April Ahhh- what a cruel world.

Nevertheless, despite my low experience in the franchise I am here to tell you about an incredibly solid real-time strategy(RTS). Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Master Collection for the PC. Mouthful ain’t it? I’ll refer to it simply as the DoW master collection for short. A bundle containing the first dawn of war game. The first expansion, Winter Assault, contains two campaigns. And two others are called Dark Crusade and Soulstorm. I completed all the regular single-player ones with the two meta campaigns I'll play off and on since they barely have any plot. Primarily a conquer the whole system/planet type of gameplay. For now, I’ll dive into the first installment. Move onto my mixed feelings plus mods, then the final expanded content. In Dawn of War 1(DOW 1), The story begins as you control Gabriel Angelos. Captain of the Space Marines’ Blood Ravens 3rd Company among others to assist the planet Tartarus defenders from Ork invaders. Yup, you heard that right. ORK not orc or uruk-hai. Ork. Big scars, super ugly faces, and body. Hulking armors haphazardly glued together, massive sneers and frowns, sharp pointy weapons combined with menacing growls and teeth. Waaagh! Battle cries galore, but still deadly in wreaking havoc and mayhem wherever they tread. Ultimately giving off a decent main story narrative after the end credits rolled. For now, let's dive into the vast grimdark world that is Warhammer.

To imagine how different the aforementioned universe is. Conceptualize both sci-fi and fantasy elements where inside the fictional universe of the sci-fi variant lies a technologically advanced human society in constant battle against both hostile aliens and the supernatural variant. Unaugmented and augmented humans, the latter of which are bigger than us average-sized individuals. Oversized armor platings and pauldrons, 4x-8x the size of regular guns, and a fierce facial expression capable of withstanding sheer terror. Combating hostiles, without shying away from blood, ashes, skulls, and death is the norm while slapping magical powers and thrusting all of these in the unforgiving nature that is war. Where deathstar-likes exist and exterminating countless billions is commonplace. Ork warbosses killing their comrades without remorse for disobedience exudes similar energies when the imperium of man, and chaos space marines do the same. Albeit in different methods. I’ll leave the disgusting imagery in your imagination. Amongst the other supernatural and alien forces. Epic stories are told harrowing tales of humanity in the imperium triumphing against the might of corruption and whoever stands against them. For the Emperor… While I live and breathe. All is not dandy. The universe delves far into the vastness of these ideas unflinchingly. Screw good and evil. Fighting is everywhere.

For a more comparable, but different example. Think Starcraft(SC) except far more grittier in tone and visceral in tackling the onslaught of armies with little remorse. Adding spectacle in the action without gorgeous cinematics. If you have that mental picture, good. Then add more races beyond the base three in SC. Replace basic gathering resources by sending off workers to collect crystals and vespene gas(resources in SC) with acquiring requisition and power. One has you gather specific points on the map. The other is increasing by making generators. For combat. We have to train units from buildings using any of the above resources. Thankfully starting we don’t need both, usually, power is enough. Once you gain enough upgrades to your headquarters and establish more structures then you can fashion better grunts to do the leg work. In general, the game operates in two different groups. One infantry where you can send scouts, marines, jetpack dudes, medics, builders, and more potent exterminator squads once you acquire enough necessary architecture and tiers. Vehicles are on the other side. Mighty mechanized entities. Tanks, transport trucks, mobile mortars. And my personal favorite is the impressive dreadnoughts. Big hulking mechas. Oh yesssssss…. As a mecha fan. You know which I picked already heh! Aside from troop recruitment, players can also construct research centers(to impart passive bonuses and possible tech trees on their army), defensive turrets/bunkers, and various others to unlock the capability to recruit the above-mentioned groups to use in battle.

Keep in mind there is a sort of light rock-paper-scissors(RPS) to produce certain battalions. Being effective against types or multiple and vice-versa is advisable. For instance, you can highlight a mouse cursor over a soldier icon to see what they're effective against. The tooltip will say. Blah blah blah this squad is effective against certain infantry. Light armored vehicles can be super weak to heavy infantry. Dynamic companies are formed later on once the headquarters is upgraded to the max. Allowing the player to summon robust dreadnoughts or elite squads to do your bidding. I’m sure you can imagine what their weaknesses are. Here’s a hint: none. Unless you like testing their mettle against a full regiment against one sole capable hero then the odds may not be in your favor. Although, you generally don’t have to conform to the RPS formula at all. Sending out a mix-matched corps of various molds can get the job done as well. And that’s a strategy I like a lot. The non-adherence to basic tenets of predestined unit composition, allowing anyone to conjure any manner of crowd combinations to win against your foes is an awesome dopamine rush that never gets old.

And I have to say after engaging in countless skirmishes and laying waste to foolish mobs. I found the whole experience of combat to be enjoyable to the point I completed multiple campaigns after the first ended. Didn’t take a lot of hours to complete either. With the first taking nine hours and winter assault taking ten. Not much rigorous thinking is required. The mechanics are neither too complex nor too simple. Managing to hit the fine line to grasp newcomers and veterans in the RTS genre to pick up with ease. A tutorial is here as well, so newbies shouldn’t fear complex systems to learn. Different difficulty modifiers are present to shift the challenge from easy to more punishing for those in need of it. I played the game + expansions in vanilla form. And honestly, I was satisfied because the devs hit regular elements of what I was looking for in the genre. A fun loop of replacing dead soldiers with fresh blood, with non-complex mechanics to understand, without any major faults, defending my bases, completing my main and secondary objectives with challenging enemies to fight against, and the coup de grace of having every map with a hero analogous to the good old days in Warcraft III. Without any of these or tweaked in a more squad-based approach. The formula becomes different from the core formula. It is why I bounced off Company of Heroes and wasn’t too enthused by the shift in core mechanics in Dawn of War II(& chaos rising). Latter I finished, former is on hiatus. Not a negative at all for those games. I simply prefer training useful meatshields for my cause and creating defenses. Here I was able to build numerous armies, select them all, and order them to eliminate everyone in their path. Designing fortifications, and turrets, and queuing new grunts to throw into the fray. The loop became more enjoyable as new missions came in and new goals to take advantage of the war-torn battlefields littered with orbital bombardment, wire trenches, destroyed structures, and fleeing citizens. Creating an immediately grim reality than what reports would suggest.

Nevertheless, I am here to report that DoW 1 has a great mission structure. Often most mission targets will boil down to eliminating all hostiles with extreme prejudice, but when the game shakes things up with infiltration using stealth, eradicating new mob specimens, embracing guerilla warfare, investigating a new area, escorting your champion to the point far in the map deep within enemy territory. Starting with no bases and must use a limited supply of troops to establish a foothold, and defend against multiple waves. And I could go on into detail for a package totaling eleven missions. The difficulty was a natural progressive curve. Didn’t find it too challenging outside of learning my go-to formula for amassing squads and defenses quickly. Super cool going up against an uphill battle where my armies start small and I have to build fortifications, shield my dudes from enemy fire and grant a reprieve, soldiers, upgrade them then set forth in completing both my main and secondary quests. Maps for each mission are medium-sized and can take time to march your whole company, with a decent amount of variation. Tartarus is like Mars. Except filled with human colonies before the invasion. Terraformed so you will see lush forests, vegetation such as grass, and rivers with water and snow! But as the invasion occurs the atmosphere slowly bleeds out becoming harsher. A yellow-to-red tinge filter occurs. Explosions litter the once industrialized cities becoming desolate and broken beyond repair. Fires are commonplace and the once lively greenery we saw before has irrevocably become charred. Countless sandbags, barbed wire, and ruined roadways leave a haunting effect on those remaining alive to fight or flee. Try mustering morale while besotted by ash in your face, the dead comrades who tried to save you while still bogged down in enemy fire. It is harsh, unrelenting, and brutal to keep ongoing.

I'm treated to a gritty sci-fi human race struggling to defend their continent from alien hostiles. However, have faith for when all hope is lost Captain Angelos is here to help! He surprised me a great deal with how strong he exudes. Beyond his rough exterior lies a man who will do anything to protect Tartarus from imminent annihilation. And the lengths which he undergoes and struggles is a sight to witness. Stoic, grit, unbending on his ideals, and relentless fortitude to keep going in the face of overwhelming odds stacked against his combatants. Tough not to like him to be honest. The side-cast like the librarian, inquisitor, and villains are also brought up with a respectable screen time I appreciate without being another mustache twirly antics and handled relatively well. To the point, my suspension of disbelief wasn’t bombarded by an orbital strike.

Usually in RTS games, I adore how they implement commanders or leaders. Heroes as I like to call them such as Angelos, are far stronger than an average foot soldier. But he isn’t alone at all; sometimes others join his missions to combat against the armies of Orks like Isador, a librarian, a close friend to Gabriel, and has the power of psychics. Making him invaluable on the field. Casting smite. A force-like energy to push and damage enemies at a distance, weaken resolve to lower the morale of enemies and the word of the emperor. Making all allies in an area unkillable for a small amount of time. Good thing I never used that ability heh. Seems too overpowering. Inversely the enemy champions can utilize their abilities so being on the end of those isn’t pretty. So watch out, evade, and retaliate with overwhelming strength! Anyway, commanders make the constant tug-of-war between engagements with combatants interesting. Sure you can send waves of enemies en-masse by placing a rallypoint, but nothing beats attaching a dude in full space marine armor leading the charge while viscerally leaving nothing but broken morale, broken swords, guns, and more in their wake. Laying waste to all who oppose the Imperium(galactic empire of humanity). Activate their abilities to turn the tide in your favor and a cool benefit is they instantly respawn freely with no cost whatsoever should they die. So sending them feet first in the bloodiest of all skirmishes is the right way to go! Take that blood god!

Now time for my mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative. The following text is a set of observations I had, perhaps a critique or two. A recommendation and some other tidbits I think are important to know beyond all the praise I’ve been sprouting up above.

First, when diving feet-first in any RTS game one needs to remember what pathfinding is. For those unaware, I understand this as how a unit will move across the map when instructed. Hopefully without being obstructed by comrades or by terrain obstacles. DoW1 pathfinding I think could be better. I had uncommon moments like this one in my playthrough. Sorry about the low quality. When the group pathfinding is supposed to be smooth. The gif is from Dru Erridge from game developer. He has an informative breakdown of how to approach pathfinding issues. Relative to our current topic. Should be noted, that this has been a regular occurrence since the 90s with Starcraft with the remaster being faithful to the original as you can see. Nevertheless not a big issue. Very minor actually

Second, I think the troop limit is awfully strict initially at twenty for both infantry and vehicles . For the unaware. In real-time strategy games, you cannot build infinitely to send your lackeys in mass. There’s generally a maximum to what you can build. For DoW 1. Each one can take a certain amount like two to four. Again not a big deal since they can be upgraded to have eight or more. So essentially if you have say a squad of jetpack bros taking up a three-unit cap. And you built six of them. Then you have 18/20. A unit isn’t always singular by the way. Sometimes they’ll be accompanied by two to four plus. You can also upgrade the group to give them more personnel thereby giving substantial health, new weapons, etc. In the end, after playing through the main story, I think I'm on board with the hard restriction. At first, I was a bit disgruntled since I'm used to 100 or 200 as the cap. But twenty feels balanced. Heck, there’s a faction that allows you to hold way more than twenty! So look forward to controlling a swarm of ugly creatures to send over the trenches.

Third, before starting the game. It’s important to remember the developers of Relic Entertainment haven’t updated the game in a long while since the original release back in 2004. Therefore, quality of life improvements I frequently see in modern RTS games are missing here. As a result I’m gently recommending everyone to check out the pcgamingwiki article on the aforementioned game before starting. For essential mods to install enhancing the vanilla content. Only a small list. For me I only needed skip intro videos, higher resolution models, enabling 1080p. Forcing AA by graphics drivers, V-sync. Contains bug fixes and recommended mods too! I didn’t have any bugs throughout my time in the collection and the latter I'll talk about later. Before I forget please install the camera mod to allow zooming out during gameplay. Vanilla you can’t zoom out and get a general overview of the battle. Picture your face closer to the screen. And extend your pinky touching the monitor and putting your chin on the thumb. That’s how close my experience was without camera zoom.

Fourth. I think maps could use more variation in tile design within the campaigns. Kinda got old seeing the red palette terrain in the first game. Could’ve used more interesting mission purposes like defend for ‘x’ amount of time. Tower defense, more stealth, rescue missions, time limits, etc. While the vanilla content is satisfactory, the inclusion of these suggestions would’ve changed the great mission structure into a fantastic, excellent one. Fifth, a great majority of missions. Were truly easy in my opinion. Turns out the normal difficulty is easy while the hard mode felt normal.… I didn’t know until I checked what parameters from which each tier changes. Sighs cue facepalm upon learning… A gentle reminder for veterans looking for a challenge in the genre. Enable hard difficulty. Newcomers try either mode to see which you fall in.

Hope this helps those interested in the game. Not trying to deter any folks. Most of my observations shouldn’t be taken as a negative and more as a point to know coming in.

Now onto Winter Assault(WA). The first expansion and one hell of a follow-up I like probably equal to Brood War from starcraft. A separate story from what Captain Angelos endures on Tartarus. We run through familiar, but different missions in reclaiming a winter planet called Lorn V. Shorter than DoW 1. WA has two campaigns. Order where you control the guardsman and Eldar. And Disorder where you command the horde of Ork and Chaos. Both have 6 missions with a branching split mission before the last one changing the final faction you oversee and perspective. Motives for each of the races are somewhat near the same wavelength. The guardsman's underlying purpose is to recover a powerful weapon called the Titan Dominatus. Eldar’s agenda is a bit mysterious. Halt an old enemy while secretly assisting the guardsman and who knows what else is in our sights? Both forces have an uneasy alliance to conquer the globe and direct the titan. All the races have changed since their introduction in 1. A more extensive list of changes can be read at the wikipedia page.

Honestly, I like Winter Assault's mission design the most. By improving on one of my earlier points from my mixed feelings regarding uniquely challenging assignments. I am thrilled to say Relic must’ve wanted to go wild here and holy moly they go the full nine yards. Ya know when you engage in tug of war, and you have enough strength to win in several pulls? That’s how it was playing DoW 1 on normal. Winning in three tugs. WA says no. We're in for the full ride. Blisters, warts, and full-on tugging and warring. I had repeated wins and losses in most of the main missions. And again on the same difficulty I had previously. And I can’t imagine continuing beyond the 4th mission on higher difficulties with how arduous it can be…

Anyways, objectives have expanded. One to three main assignments are gone in favor of secure areas, assault enemy bases, switch to your ally, and accomplish subsidiary goals like flanking the enemy to unlock a path for your comrade. More secondary objectives to complete, reinforce allies defending a critical position, luring an army, repairing a vital machine, and I could just go on man. It’s incredible and super gratifying witnessing the devs flex their creative muscles with better encounter design. Back then there was a predestined path you could move towards. The expansion also operates the same. Except we may need protection. Manually go brave through gunfire in the trenches. Eliminate various waves of enemies blocking a key position all while supporting our main bases. Or transport bombarded people in armored APCs to mitigate enemy fire. Take advantage of bunkers to burrow beneath the surface and re-emerge like a gopher near another bunker. Ah to be a human Diglett except harshly conducting guerilla tactics.

Narratively I don’t consider either campaign the strongest suit to offer. The last missions in the endgame are flipped with different objectives based on the faction. With the earlier ones being different and offering a unique experience. Governing the Eldar, Guardsman, Chaos, and Ork was extraordinarily entertaining and I still recommend it. Each race has unique characteristics I found to be distinct enough to tinker around. Guards don’t have a superhero, instead, they're kinda of a weaker sect of humanity with stronger-than-usual vehicles and defense capabilities and a nice tunnel network for stealth purposes. Helps a bunch transporting a group of dudes to the frontline. Eldar is sublime. They’re like Protoss from Starcraft, but are more mystical and deal in energy weaponry. They differ from humans in one crucial ability. All of their buildings can teleport to another location. For example, you can participate in hide-and-seek against an overwhelming force bearing down on your location as long as you produce a node to act as a waypoint for them to travel. Chaos is well, from my understanding. More of a darker form of humanity and their sworn enemies. Think of these guys like fanatic dudes embracing the dark side of the warp instead of the glory of the emperor and well for the blood god. Summoning demons, consorting with imps and all manner of monstrous beings to do their bidding. Their aesthetic design reeks of evil and forging any superstructure feels wretched. Builders can speed up the construction of structures at the cost of health, and most of their capabilities usually have a drawback in their skills to activate. Summoning a badass daemon for instance requires sacrificing people or guardsmen. Ork is a breath of fresh air. They massacre the 20-limit cap to oblivion and can reach over 90. Activating the Wagghhh ability strengthens others when near a warboss and while they can be a bit stiff, gaining resources in the beginning. I’ve likened them similar in some respects to Zerg rushes. Due to the sheer amount, I can train at my disposal.

Dark Crusade(DC)/Soulstorm(SS) offer different but almost the same meta-campaign. The former is reminiscent of how Total War operates intending to conquer all provinces on the sphere. Depending on the aliens you choose, you’ll be placed on certain points on the map. Tau, Chaos, Necron, Ork, Guard, and Eldar are possible choices to pick. Each has a different detachment of soldiers, structures, heroes, and advantages/disadvantages that come with utilizing them. You cannot attack and move all the time on the world map. Only one specified action. Either moving to another area or attacking. Once you finish your commands. You can end your turn and see what the other side will do on the map. Enemies can attack other foes and conquer the opposing lands. Careful though, they may attack you! If you’re nearby. Battles take place on a separate map. Tasking the player and opposing force to start from the beginning to establish a foothold and train infantry. The ultimate intent is always to defeat the enemy by eliminating every squad alive and architecture they have or at the very least destroy their headquarters and any builder. DC offers a cool incentive for replayability. As you achieve victory in battles/new territories you can gain passive bonuses like a reduction in costs for buildings/units and even wargear. Wargear makes your commander in battle stronger by strengthening their capabilities. Choose a helmet to grant true sight and reveal cloaked assassins, boots to prevent knockdown, body armor for increased HP regen, etc. I found this aspect rewarding and a nice incentive to keep going. While I didn’t finish the Total War-like mode, I think it could be profoundly addicting for those hungry for more content.

Soulstorm operates in almost the same manner as the above, except the dev’s added new factions; the Sisters of Battle to use, Blood Ravens, & Dark Eldar. Expands the meta-campaign to be system-wide. So no longer, are you essentially subjugating the planet. Instead, you need to control the whole star system. What’s stunning in both these expansions is facing off the commander in their stronghold shifts the battlefield to assume a special scenario. These come with voice text on the loading screen detailing the enemy commander’s background along with special orders of main and secondary targets. I kid you not. This single-handedly blew my freaking mind. In SS I faced off what I initially thought would be a puny guardsman, only to run between the tails behind my head in having to win every single engagement and defend my base against constant waves of enemies that would progressively become stronger as time passed. Must stop a convoy at regular ‘x’ intervals to stop them from manifesting a baneblade. Yeah, think ultra badass tank with a s%^& ton of health and massive firepower. So yeah for sure I’m gonna take great pains to stop the convoys. And if that’s not enough I have to contend with stealth punches against my troops, a biga@@ artillery that can wipe my army off the face of the map. Contend against sneaky nuclear assaults and if that’s not enough I have to deal with air types. Introduced in this standalone is the addition of air attackers for every alien. I won in the end, but I felt it was a hollow victory since It took me hours to brutally drill a win on normal difficulty. I should’ve stayed and cornered the guy while assembling enough power/requisition to reinforce my territories and establish a garrison. Instead, I Lee-roy Jenkins myself into battle without support… I didn’t finish SS’s campaign either, only taking one globe for the taking, but spent a large amount of time longer than DC’s. Nevertheless, I had to stop or else I would never see the light of day. Therefore I recommend them only if you hunger for more gameplay using different races. Offering a show, don’t tell approach without a major story to follow. Callum McCole wrote a fascinating article why meta-campaigns are fun and I largely agree with all their points.

In the end, I am here to tell y'all. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Master Collection is a brutally awesome gateway into the franchise for a real-time strategy game. Sure I had some mixed feelings but they feel largely minor and didn’t impact my overall enjoyment of the multiple plot missions on Tartarus and beyond. Gabriel’s story is only one piece, though a vital one to watch out for. His steadfast defense of the planet Tartarus is admirable against the onslaught of Orks, and unveils an incredible discipline to do what needs to be done. Let me share one quote from him later on. “Innocents die so that humanity may live. I ended their suffering, as I will end yours.” Chills man. I don’t think I will ever forget those words. And soon enough if you dive into the operations on Lorn V, be warned they aren’t for the faint of heart, mercy is thrown out the window in favor of carnage, bloodshed and cunning tactics exhibiting a grim spectacle of sci-fi war up close and personal. Yes, it doesn’t reach my favorites in the genre, but I swear its close. Perhaps, once I finish the meta campaigns here and there. I have a good feeling they will sooner or later join their ranks. Anyway, If you can buy the master collection below 7 bucks or 10. You’re in for a wealth of content to dive into with dozens of hours to devour. Besides, there's a wonderful community filled with amazing content mods you can add. Ultimate apocalypse, Unification, Strongholds, custom sets of missions, new races, new modes, and so much more. By the emperor, I am glad to be back in the series once again. Though I wonder why I have a pages upon pages of 40k reasons why you should join the Imperium of Man. At least they’re far better than those chaos dudes who preach about blood all day everyday. I mean come on “Blood for the blood god?”

I prefer Angelos’s words.

“While the enemies of the Emperor still draw breath, there can be no peace.”

8.5/10

References & Additional Material:
Long list of Warhamer games from the beginning
Example from my playthrough on pathfinding.
Example from game dev on group pathfinding
Dru Erridge article on group pathfinding
Callum McCole on RTS meta campaigns and why they’re fun.
Helpful Links for DoW: MC - Essential Improvements/Fixes/Difficulty Overview - pcgaming wiki on Dawn of War 1 + expansions -
Widescreen fix - Difficulty overview - WA changes - Player guide
Before I play DoW1 - Odd there was no section for the first game prior to this review, so I sent some tips. Hope this helps!

Cavil Warhammer Cinematic Universe - Slight tangent to above. But plugging the news since I'm so happy for Cavill for landing his dream job producing and starring in his favorite series with none other than Warhammer.

This is like those little games that your grandma has on her computer, except if your grandma was a huge fan of Doom and Mortal Kombat.

Buckshot Roulette is a simple, yet addicting game, with a gameplay loop that provides a level of fairness to ensure players never feel cheated out of a run, but also a level of RNG that succeeds in making the game feel tense.

The ability to earn another turn by pointing the gun at yourself and firing a blank creates a massive incentive to aim the gun at yourself. Taking a blank both means your getting closer to emptying the gun (and getting more items) and the chance to better your odds for your next shot. But of course your taking that risk that there could be a live in the chamber waiting for you. It's very nerve racking, and makes that one second where the gun is simply pointed at you very chilling.

Items also spice up what would have otherwise been a simple game of chance. Items give you different abilities that can turn the tides, and learning when you should use them can be challenging. Not to mention that the dealer always gets as many items as you, meaning you really need to understand what he's going to be able to do on his next turn, and how to survive it.

One of the greatest elements of the game is it's sound design. The sound design of Buckshot often lends itself to creating this tense atmosphere that the game strives in. One of the best examples of this is the gun's two firing sounds. A blank being fired can either be one of the most relaxing, our most tense sounds you hear, depending on who's got the gun. If you point the gun at yourself and you hear the blank sound, it's like such a relief of tension and a huge invitation to let you stop holding your breath. However, aiming at the dealer and hearing that blank go off is such a big "oh fuck" moment. Not only have you better the odds for your opponent, you've also just ended your turn, and that pathetic click of the blank firing is the most disappointing way for it to end. The dealer firing a blank works the same except vise versa. If he aims the gun at himself and a blank goes off, it creates rising tension, as he can shoot again with better odds, but if he aims at you and fires a blank, I feel like every player gets a big smirk on their face. Look at how dumb the dealer is (ignoring how many times you've put yourself in that same situation).

Double or nothing was one of the most simple, but perfect updates to the game. The ability to essentially create a high score system is very fun, and keeps me coming back whenever I have an hour I need to kill. If I had any complaints about this however, it would be nice to have the option to customize the mode, like choose how many items per round and things like that.

Overall, Buckshot Roulette is a simple, yet amazing game to play if you're bored and just need an hour to disappear. The games aesthetic does a fantastic job as creating a tense environment, and despite how much the game is based around RNG, it always feels fair.

This is one I'd been meaning to get around to for a while, and I'm really glad I did.
Gravity Rush is short and sweet (exactly how I like my games) with enough whimsicality that wouldn't feel out of place in the Ghibli Universe.
Kat is a likeable character from the get-go, as well as her main rival, Raven. The music is absolutely incredible, and you'd expect nothing less from the composer for One Piece of all things.
In terms of the gameplay loop, the traversing was incredibly fun. There were countless moments where I could not believe this was a Vita game originally, and marvelled at the sheer scale of the map (and it's depth!).
The combat has to be the weaker point of the game in my opinion. The on-foot combat is not viable at all in most cases, and while homing in from a distance to break an enemy's weak spot is incredibly satisfying, it does become a bit of trial and error or hit and miss (literally).
I'm excited to see if this is improved in the second game, and hope I enjoy that one as much as I did the original!