Probably my third playthrough since release. Ten years later, still holds up surprisingly very well! Not as mechanically varied as San Andreas, can feel very repetitive, but I had fun throughout my entire playthrough. The story is great, the characters are amazing and the acting is just superb, one of my favorite open worlds in a game for it's huge and believable environment coupled with its open-ended sandbox feel. Just an absolute blast all around with enough missions to keep you occupied post-game.

A bit of an odd case of a game. Not bad, just very strange with a lot of oversights in terms of design. Most, if not all of the new mechanics from Metal Gear Solid 2 were basically copy pasted into the game, which in theory doesn't sound like a bad idea considering how great those mechanics were, but they are not compensated for. The level design is the exact same, aside from added lockers and such for storing guards, so a lot of areas in the original which require particular caution can be dealt with incredibly easily, at no point is this more obvious than the boss battles. Some of which previously requiring careful consideration and planning, can now be easily taken down with the broken first-person aiming. Some of these may be seen as a con for some, and a pro for others, its more up to personal preference but undeniably removes a lot of challenge. Another huge change with this remake is the tone. While the original was much more dark and emotional with it's few moments of comedic break, this game leans way more into the over the top nature of its successors. While the fantastic cast of the original reprised their roles, the voice acting feels a bit more forced now. The cutscenes especially are goofy as hell. Overall, most likely a good time for newcomers, even some previous fans, but could have used more time and changes.

Had a very solid time with this one! Some great story as always with some of the most beautiful shot compositions during the cutscenes. The gameplay is kind of a detour from the past two, with the exclusion of the usual enemy radar, MUCH more enemies to deal with, and the new camouflage system. On top of these new mechanics, the game takes on a much more survival-oriented style, meaning you can be injured in battle and have to treat yourself and tend to your wounds. Food also doesn't heal automatically anymore, instead refilling the new stamina bar which will heal naturally when at a certain level. These new additions can be hard to get used to, but add a lot of challenge to the gameplay. The pacing for me was somewhat hit or miss in certain areas, in particular the last 2 or so hours leading up to the final boss felt somewhat dragged on for me. The final boss itself is a wonderful conclusion, testing all the abilities you have mastered and giving a beautiful, symbolic backdrop. All in all, while Sons of Liberty is undoubtably my favorite, this game is a nice change of pace. Hope it will grow on me more!

While I think some parts of this game have not aged the best, the last hour or two can be somewhat of a drag, this game is phenomenal and I wish I had played it sooner. I am a sucker for story games that deliver narrative through interactive elements throughout the world, and this games world is so engrossing. Rapture is a hellscape, a city once thought to be a haven. All of the citizens are genetically mutated and look far from human, and learning about the backgrounds of all these characters through the various audio logs littered throughout the game is so interesting. The gunplay is at times stiff and combat can be very overwhelming if you don't master it, but the game rewards research of weaknesses and has a pretty neat upgrade system that manages to keep things fresh and interesting! Definitely a game worth checking out!

I knew I would love this game, but I am still shocked at just how insanely impressive it is. I have never played a game this immersive in my entire life. Every action, every bullet you fire, everything you interact with. It feels like you, the player, are fully interacting. Everything that Half-Life 2 laid the groundwork for has been improved, every single thing. The ending has me wanting so much more, and I just can't wait for the moment when we eventually get the next Half-Life game. Thank you Gracie for giving me the chance to finally experience this, and thank you Valve for blessing us with this masterpiece. If you haven't been sold on VR yet, this is the one.

(Replayed on Ultra-Violence with the DOOM CE Conversion)

DOOM has always been one of my favorite shooters ever made, a very influential game to me and gaming as a whole. Looking for different ways to experience it after getting the urge to play through all of it again, I heard about the PSX port that is apparently a large tonal shift from the original game. After playing, I can definitely say that much is true. The atmosphere has been made much more sinister and dreadful with the new lighting, the music has been taken from an adrenaline-pumping thrash backtrack with occasional slower groovy tracks to a full-on droning and haunting ambient soundtrack that makes the world around you much more hellish. Playing on the Ultra-Violence difficulty is the way to go, not frustratingly brutal and but too forgiving. Absolutely my favorite way to play DOOM, very close to perfect, still think that the last chapter is way too easy to get lost in though.