SilentBandicoot
2007
An interesting enough story with a fun idea and dark, gritty atmosphere, however 2 mechanics when combined together really hindered my experience.
This game relies on you listening to the NPCs and really paying attention to where you need to go next. You will be looking out for street signs and trying to decipher your basic in-game map. Not usually a problem, however for a game leaning on this mechanic so heavily the main character moves way too slowly.
You're going to get lost on your first playthrough as you become familiar with the map and you are going to end up walking in the wrong direction. In this game small errors like this feel like they really punish you because Jackie walks at a snail's pace. This also prevented me from wanting to explore because I was too focused on the irritating, long walk back to the objective.
Overall it's a fun game with some of that classic Xbox 360 jank and edginess so I would still recommend.
This game relies on you listening to the NPCs and really paying attention to where you need to go next. You will be looking out for street signs and trying to decipher your basic in-game map. Not usually a problem, however for a game leaning on this mechanic so heavily the main character moves way too slowly.
You're going to get lost on your first playthrough as you become familiar with the map and you are going to end up walking in the wrong direction. In this game small errors like this feel like they really punish you because Jackie walks at a snail's pace. This also prevented me from wanting to explore because I was too focused on the irritating, long walk back to the objective.
Overall it's a fun game with some of that classic Xbox 360 jank and edginess so I would still recommend.
2012
Instead of going for slow, gritty, and edgy, they went for a fast paced arcade feel which I personally preferred.
Instead of your darkness tendrils sitting hidden behind a dedicated button press, The Darkness 2 has them visible and with you at all times and everyone knows about them.
It is a short story, with my first playthrough taking around 5-6 hours, but then my second New Game + playthrough on the hardest difficulty taking around 3 hours. I actually really enjoyed the short playtime because it makes playing the game on New Game + less daunting and recommended because you can mop up any collectibles or powers you missed on the first playthrough.
After my 2 playthroughs I completed the Vendetta campaign and "Hits", which were okay, but really highlighted the repetitive gameplay and got boring quickly. Thankfully it didn't take long to complete and I actually ended up enjoying my overall journey to 100% achievement completion which I don't normally bother with on most games these days.
Instead of your darkness tendrils sitting hidden behind a dedicated button press, The Darkness 2 has them visible and with you at all times and everyone knows about them.
It is a short story, with my first playthrough taking around 5-6 hours, but then my second New Game + playthrough on the hardest difficulty taking around 3 hours. I actually really enjoyed the short playtime because it makes playing the game on New Game + less daunting and recommended because you can mop up any collectibles or powers you missed on the first playthrough.
After my 2 playthroughs I completed the Vendetta campaign and "Hits", which were okay, but really highlighted the repetitive gameplay and got boring quickly. Thankfully it didn't take long to complete and I actually ended up enjoying my overall journey to 100% achievement completion which I don't normally bother with on most games these days.
2009
A decent enough time. It can be a little frustrating at times but nothing that hinders the overall playthrough. It can be quite satisfying when you become a large tornado and the cringey cutscenes make it more interesting too.
The sound effects for picking up the enemies is satisfying but I still hear the sound of "whooshing" wind in my dreams.
The sound effects for picking up the enemies is satisfying but I still hear the sound of "whooshing" wind in my dreams.
My view of this game is admittedly clouded by nostalgia for the original games. I first completed it a couple of years ago and noticed it's flaws, however when I picked it up again for the time trials and 100% achievements this highlighted even more flaws or made them more difficult to accept.
The major one is just the overall feel of the game. It doesn't flow together as nicely as the original game. After Crash slides, he comes to a complete stop and crawl which had me pulling my hair out in time trials. Depth perception was also another issue as I found myself constantly missing platforms that I felt I was meant to land on.
I'm glad these remakes put Crash Bandicoot back in the spotlight but I will always recommend the originals.
The major one is just the overall feel of the game. It doesn't flow together as nicely as the original game. After Crash slides, he comes to a complete stop and crawl which had me pulling my hair out in time trials. Depth perception was also another issue as I found myself constantly missing platforms that I felt I was meant to land on.
I'm glad these remakes put Crash Bandicoot back in the spotlight but I will always recommend the originals.
It was okay. More of the same fun Unity gameplay but in a new moodier location. Unfortunately I am writing this 2 months after I played it and I can barely remember a thing about it as it was pretty forgettable.
2015
Best played on Legendary difficulty in Co-op, otherwise it is the weakest Halo experience with a forgettable campaign, and the second worst enemy designs (Halo 4 being the worst).
A beautiful looking game even in 2023 with some really fun on-foot (Assassin) combat mechanics.
Due to personal preference, I was not a fan of the Ship combat. I understand that some players really enjoy this mechanic however so that one is on me.
One thing that really dragged the game's score down for me though was the escort missions. A few here and there could be excused in my eyes, however they're were too many in this game and I found them really irritating and boring.
The story was engaging enough though so I rushed to the finish line to see how it ended.
Due to personal preference, I was not a fan of the Ship combat. I understand that some players really enjoy this mechanic however so that one is on me.
One thing that really dragged the game's score down for me though was the escort missions. A few here and there could be excused in my eyes, however they're were too many in this game and I found them really irritating and boring.
The story was engaging enough though so I rushed to the finish line to see how it ended.
2014
This review contains spoilers
It took a lot out of me forcing myself to finish this game. Bad voice acting with dialogue that can make you cringe. Gameplay is slow and frustrating. I completed all the side missions hoping to find some that were at least interesting but no luck unfortunately.
If you haven’t played this game and want a game to throw you a true curveball that makes you feel uneasy (in a good way), I honestly suggest playing only the main story quests skipping the side quests until you get to the hospital level. I recommend rushing to this level and then abandoning the game. The only accomplishment you will feel after finishing this game is the fact that you forced yourself to the end.
Below this is the spoiler.
In the middle of the game there is a level that really, truly surprised and delighted me. A level in a hospital that does horror really well that suits the slow gameplay. It actually got a jump scare out of me and because I wasn’t ready for it, the whole level had me on edge. The level was such a surprise that I wasn’t sure what they were going to throw at me.
If you haven’t played this game and want a game to throw you a true curveball that makes you feel uneasy (in a good way), I honestly suggest playing only the main story quests skipping the side quests until you get to the hospital level. I recommend rushing to this level and then abandoning the game. The only accomplishment you will feel after finishing this game is the fact that you forced yourself to the end.
Below this is the spoiler.
In the middle of the game there is a level that really, truly surprised and delighted me. A level in a hospital that does horror really well that suits the slow gameplay. It actually got a jump scare out of me and because I wasn’t ready for it, the whole level had me on edge. The level was such a surprise that I wasn’t sure what they were going to throw at me.
It's good if you want more of that Far Cry 3 goodness before shelving the game but overall it's only 4 missions and not too interesting.
This was the first game I've played in a long time that just felt so fun to control. For two thirds of the game I found myself using Force Grab and Force Push majority of the time as they were the most fun ways to fight enemies and even towards the end of the game the novelty didn't seem to wear off.
2010
I could not wait for this game to end. It has a cheesy story that expects you to have recently watched the movie, and god-awful parkour that had me wanting to pull my hair out.
At first the disc combat seems fun but becomes frustrating and monotonous very quickly. As soon as I found a way to somewhat cheese the combat to make it end faster, that's what I did.
I will give it this: the graphics and art direction really suit it, and it would have been hard for them to not have everything being blue get boring very quickly... It did, although I commend their efforts as they did get creative with the art limitations they would have been given.
At first the disc combat seems fun but becomes frustrating and monotonous very quickly. As soon as I found a way to somewhat cheese the combat to make it end faster, that's what I did.
I will give it this: the graphics and art direction really suit it, and it would have been hard for them to not have everything being blue get boring very quickly... It did, although I commend their efforts as they did get creative with the art limitations they would have been given.
A gorgeous, gory experience that ends before the formula gets too stale. It had a couple of jump scares that made me flinch slightly, however this game overall is not too scary. Most of the suspense comes from managing your ammo and inventory.
The start of the game really grips you, however it does drop off a bit in the middle and slows down a bit, but I found that the story was interesting enough that I had to know how it ended so I kept playing.
I'm glad I did as well as it picks up again in the last quarter when you have more upgrades and ammo to play with and you have the mechanics perfected.
I haven't played Dead Space so I can't compare and didn't feel the same disappointment that others felt, but on its own it is a fun game that I am really happy I played.
The start of the game really grips you, however it does drop off a bit in the middle and slows down a bit, but I found that the story was interesting enough that I had to know how it ended so I kept playing.
I'm glad I did as well as it picks up again in the last quarter when you have more upgrades and ammo to play with and you have the mechanics perfected.
I haven't played Dead Space so I can't compare and didn't feel the same disappointment that others felt, but on its own it is a fun game that I am really happy I played.
2020
Gameplay loop is boring and frustrating with little feeling of reward. I really tried to push through hoping it would improve as it had some good ideas and beautiful visuals, but I just couldn't go any further than the 3rd area.
I played this on an Xbox Series X in "Graphics" mode up until the final palace where I had to drop my settings down to "Performance" mode as it crashed twice. Because I started the game in "Graphics" mode I had no idea how much I hindered my overall experience. I felt like for the whole game up until that point I could not get my combat timings right so I was getting frustrated, only to change my settings to "Performance" and find that my skill in combat greatly improved!
While I did find the combat frustrating during my playthrough because of this, it forced me to rely more on stealth which took me back to the days of Assassin's Creed 2007 and Assassin's Creed 2 where you had to be more careful to avoid open combat.
Unfortunately the characters aren't memorable and are really hard to keep track of and the story gets boring at times. I found myself going for collectibles thinking to myself, "I wish I could just ignore these and go back to the story." However when going into the story I found myself thinking, "I think I preferred going for the collectables." So I was very torn and often questioned if I was having fun.
The world is pretty and dense, but no location left a mark in my mind besides the Bazaar and The Green Dome Palace. Not a bad game overall and I'm glad I can say I ticked it off my list.
I haven't played Assassin's Creed Valhalla and only learned after finishing Mirage that Basim (Mirage's protagonist) is the mentor for Valhalla's protagonist. So I'm glad I played them in this order as it didn't potentially spoil anything while playing Mirage and has given me more incentive to play Valhalla.
While I did find the combat frustrating during my playthrough because of this, it forced me to rely more on stealth which took me back to the days of Assassin's Creed 2007 and Assassin's Creed 2 where you had to be more careful to avoid open combat.
Unfortunately the characters aren't memorable and are really hard to keep track of and the story gets boring at times. I found myself going for collectibles thinking to myself, "I wish I could just ignore these and go back to the story." However when going into the story I found myself thinking, "I think I preferred going for the collectables." So I was very torn and often questioned if I was having fun.
The world is pretty and dense, but no location left a mark in my mind besides the Bazaar and The Green Dome Palace. Not a bad game overall and I'm glad I can say I ticked it off my list.
I haven't played Assassin's Creed Valhalla and only learned after finishing Mirage that Basim (Mirage's protagonist) is the mentor for Valhalla's protagonist. So I'm glad I played them in this order as it didn't potentially spoil anything while playing Mirage and has given me more incentive to play Valhalla.
Exactly what you expect when you think of Crash Bandicoot on the GBA, unfortunately the controls are often unresponsive making tight platforming sections a nightmare. There are also a lot of blind jumps throughout the game which are frustrating.
They also reuse a lot of level types so it gets boring very quickly.
I would recommend a quick playthrough but not completing 100%.
They also reuse a lot of level types so it gets boring very quickly.
I would recommend a quick playthrough but not completing 100%.