No one had prepared me for how ahead of its time this game would be, and the experience was all the better for it.

While I plan to play the original Metal Gear 1 and 2, I’m more than happy to have this as my introduction to the franchise. I’ve been playing Death Stranding, and while I love it so far, it felt wrong not to play Kojima’s earlier work knowing damn well I had this game sitting in my collection waiting to be played.

The opening for the game is awesome. It sets the perfect tone and atmosphere for what you’re about to experience. I’ll admit though, I wasn’t fully sold in the beginning.

The gameplay was a bit awkward and stiff in the first half. That’s of course to be expected with the ps1 territory… and I’ve played worse for the console, so I tried to be forgiving, and I’m glad I was.

I know some people feel this game gets worse after the psycho mantis fight… and to me that’s absolutely untrue. That was the point that this game actually began to pick up for me. At least with its story and gameplay.

Something began to click. Perhaps it was the uniqueness to its level design, or the well crafted boss battles throughout. I’m not sure, but I became fully on board. The story is great. It’s not as grounded as I was expecting, and it’s certainly over the top… but there’s an anime like quality that just works so well in its favor.

The last act is pretty astounding. So many great twists, so many iconic character moments, and so many awesome set pieces. Liquid is an antagonist I will not soon forget.

The game even manages to end on a shockingly poignant and mature note that’s completely unexpected, and wholeheartedly welcomed. In the end, I loved Metal Gear Solid. Though it’s not a game without its faults… and there are quite a few.

Some of the writing does not hold up well. Specifically with some of its female characters. Especially with the romance between snake and Meryl. It just felt forced and unnecessary in the first half. By the end, it didn’t quite bother me as much.

The gameplay is definitely stiff as a rock, and that final fight with Liquid can be infuriating for that reason. You also have to save like hell, or else you’ll pay from time to time. There’s just a lot of little details that can really work against it.

I can’t wait to see where this series goes. Considering the hardware will be more ready for Kojima going forward, I have a feeling I’ll be in for some really special experiences.

I’ve never had a game cause me so much pain.

I absolutely loved the first hour of this. Hell, I loved the entire first half. I was so into it. I was digging the absolute shit out of it. And Yknow, there were tonal inconsistencies here and there, but whatever. It’s from 2005… who cares… right?

I had no idea. No clue. Absolutely not an inkling of what I was in for with the last quarter of this game.

Let me start by saying how incredible the premise of the game is. I love how much is had going for itself right off the bat. You have a story about a man who’s possessed, and regains consciousness to find he’s murdered someone. Playing as him, you have to cover it up and figure out what the hell happened, all while you’re also playing as the detectives who are looking to find and arrest him!

Holy shit guys, like that’s an awesome idea. There’s a supernatural element that really works, and on a narrative level, I love the back and fourth between the parallel storytelling. Plus the environment all of this is set in rocks so damn hard.

The game keeps up its quality for a while. It starts to meander into the supernatural stuff a bit hard at the end of the first half, and that began to worry me, though not in any significant way. It was alright. That angle kept the story intriguing for a while.

All of the little character moments were great also. Digging into their day to day lives, their secrets, etc. it fleshed everything out really well. But then there’s a giant shift that occurs. The murderer becomes Neo from the Matrix… and it doesn’t stop there. We learn there’s this underground society, and an indigo child that can save the universe, and AI trying to stop them, but also you, and also… wait, what the f***?

Huh??????

What a hard left turn. You have such a richly set up, grounded story… and that’s where you take it??? Why? What happened??

It hurts so bad because, despite the clunky tank controls… this was shaping up to be a new favorite game of mine. On a narrative level, it was such a unique and exciting experience. I genuinely had so much love for it. And it feels like the cloth was ripped from right underneath me.

I’ll always love the first half of this game, and I’m sure I’ll replay it. But I will likely never get over, or return to the back half. What a shot to the heart.

Unravel Two is an awesome couch co-op experience that maintains all of the fun you’d want in a two player game, while delivering a layer of subtle intrigue with its story.

Though the narrative isn’t told quite as well or ambitiously as something like “Inside”, it still manages to keep you wanting to know where it will go.

There’s really well designed levels, and some really cool mechanics that make it really fun, and it’s runtime is short enough that it never gets too repetitive.

It’s been a while since I’ve had both the time, and motivation to finish a game all the way through. I’ve picked up plenty of titles over the last few months that I’ve enjoyed playing; though none really hooked me.

Not until I finally picked up Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Of course the series is praised to high heavens, so naturally, I had to see what all of the fuss was about. Usually anytime a series receives a ton of praise, I tend to agree with the majority.

There are exceptions of course, many of which I’ve just given up on and have no plans to return to (though they won’t be named). But in Drake’s Fortune, I was happy to find my time well spent, and my burning passion for gaming restored.

Sure, it’s rough around the edges mechanically. What would you expect for a game that came out in 2007? Despite its overall clunkiness, there’s a fluidity to the gameplay that you begin to nail down after a while.

Which also makes it easier to giggle at some of the less polished elements that disrupt the experience, which I think will naturally be fixed in later entries. Still, what Naughty Dog managed to accomplish is pretty incredible. The environments and level design are gorgeous and ambitious.

Sure they get a bit samey after a while by todays standards, but I would’ve been blown away had I played this back when it came out. The combat is also pretty awesome. Though I do think the hand to hand combat elements could have used a little more work, even with how little you use them.

The score was surprisingly good, which makes me excited to hear what they bring to the table for the rest of the series. The voice actors were also excellent. Nolan North really sells it.

I think the enemy types was consistently refreshing. I can tell they wanted to keep players interested since there were so many combat sections in the game, and I do think they succeeded at keeping it a fun experience in that regard. The traversal was great, despite occasionally showing its age.

The survival horror element towards the end of the game was also really well done, and you can totally (and perhaps accidentally) see the makings of another game in what they were doing (Last of Us).

There’s a couple sections that I’ve seen criticized that I can’t help but overwhelmingly agree on, and that’s the River sections. The barrel aspect becomes a bit bombastic and comical in that regard, and without a doubt obnoxious. Though I will admit it never became too much of a hinderance.

The story was okay overall, but what I think they managed to get right in this first entry is the characters. They’re thinly written, but endlessly endearing. There’s a lot of potential for them to grow into truly memorable, tangible people. I just think that potentially hasn’t been unlocked yet. Though I can see that happening as I progress throughout the games.

There’s rarely ever a dull moment. The game is consistently entertaining, and chock-full of great moments that will keep you wanting to play. Even when Naughty Dog hasn’t quite found their footing with a series, they still deliver memorable experiences that you can’t help but enjoy, and I absolutely love them for that.

This is perhaps the most mixed I’ve ever been on a play-through experience. On the one hand, it’s an awesome self-contained storytelling experience with some well polished gameplay and fantastic level design. The cutscenes still look great, the story is solid albeit not quite on par with the other two games, but the bullet time is just as good as ever.

Where Max Payne 3 really tests me, is its story and stylistic direction as it’s such a huge departure from what I’ve come to associate the series with. While I think the bright over saturated colors and dilapidated Brazilian atmosphere breathes some necessary new life into the franchise… I don’t know how well it works.

If it were a series like Grand Theft Auto or what have you, I think it’d work perfect. And at times it wasn’t so distracting. The new choices just feel like such a hard left turn that it almost doesn’t feel like this game is apart of the already established franchise. At times, it was hitting the right notes. It felt like I was back in one of my favorite franchises again. Other times, it just felt more like a typical rockstar game, and became easy to forget that I was playing a Max Payne entry.

Aside from this, there’s a ton of little nitpicks I have with some of the mechanics. While I think the core gameplay is clean as hell… I can’t help but be frustrated by some major oversights and lack of variety in other areas. You can hold less weapons than the first two games… which feels like a major step backwards.

I also don’t like the fact that you can’t hold a large weapon if you want to use dual wielding pistols. It was such an odd design choice that didn’t feel as though it held much purpose other than to disadvantage me. Another thing missing was projectiles. You can no longer throw grenades or molotov’s. You can’t throw anything. And that’s really frustrating. The enemies also take an ungodly amount of bullets, which is irritating when you have an underwhelming arsenal.

Whenever there’s a major difficulty spike and you keep dying, the devs answer was to throw random pill bottles in your inventory to help you get through it. While this should’ve been something I could’ve appreciated, it almost felt like a slap in the face because the levels where I struggled instead had many enemies that were bullet sponges. Thus taking away a lot of my ammo. So it wasn’t really the fact that I kept dying… it was the fact that I kept running out of ammunition, and there was no way to get more.

It’s easy to pick elements apart because there’s actually a lot I love about the game. I love a lot of the dialogue. I love almost all of the set pieces. Sometimes gameplay elements come together so well that you can’t help but feel giddy. The flashback sequences are so fun, and feel like classic Payne. James McCaffrey is legendary at slipping right back into the role, and he fucking carries A LOT. I nitpick because it’s so close to being one of my favorites, but it’s held back by so many little inconveniences that can turn it frustrating really fast.

I can overlook the stylistic deviations, but some of the games smaller problems get in its own way. Either way, It’s hard to deny that Max Payne 3 is a slick, badass, entertaining shoot ‘em up with some really cool storytelling. And hell… that last act is the closest I’ll ever get to an awesome “Die Hard” game.

Though I don’t have much new to add to the conversation… I’ll reiterate that Ragnarok is a game that continues the powerful nuanced storytelling from 2018, along with all of the twist-filled writing. But this time it’s with bigger set pieces, more boss battles, and a new playable character for the series.

Rather than half-assing Atreus’ gameplay like they could have, his combat not only feels organic, but exhilarating to control. The fact that it’s so different from Kratos’ yet so fun in its own regard is such a rewarding experience that truly makes me hopeful for the future of the franchise.

The story is less simple than 2018’s… and while I somewhat prefer that simplicity, it’s undeniable how character focused all of the grandiose conflict actually is. Everything is much larger, yet it’s just as personal as it should be. Exploring realms new and old is fantastic. It’s honestly brain melting how large this game is. A true achievement for how interactive it is despite its scope.

Bear McCreary’s score is as good as ever… and the scene with Kratos blowing the horn, leading the war on Asgard may be the best moment of payoff in any video game I’ve ever played. What Cory Barlog, Eric Williams, and each of the writers have pulled off with Kratos is unreal. It’s probably one of the greatest redemption arcs in any media that I’ve ever seen.

It doesn’t excuse his past actions, but instead presents him as a person who is haunted by those actions, and is willing to dedicate the rest of his life trying to help others.

I could throw praise on this game for hours… but it’ll just sound like what everyone else is saying. I’ll instead point out a few of my gripes with the game that I think if refined, could have made it an even more rewarding experience.

With the nature of this story, it had to be bigger. I’m not mad at it for that. But with the realm travel… it was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t use the room that it was designed for, and instead had to use the door everytime. It felt a bit lazier and not quite as unique. It’s a nitpick, but one I would’ve liked to have seen.

I also appreciate how advanced the combat system has become… but I can’t lie… it was so easy to forget a lot of moves. There’s almost too many options for the combat, and at times it doesn’t feel so optional. It’s almost like you need to know certain combos to make it through the game, which feels less freeing. I also don’t like that Atreus’ armor no longer has benefits like the first game. I really liked the health-stone costume, and it was disappointing to see that exchanged with ones that were purely cosmetic.

Ragnarok is still a one of a kind game… yet much like my other favorite video game series, they did it twice. What a beautiful accomplishment.

Far Cry 3 takes a premise that’s been done to death, and utilizes the tropes associated with it to craft a shockingly fresh story with well written characters that elevate an already memorable experience; though it can be an exhausting one.

Instead of the protagonist being another “Jack Carver”, mercenary, ex-military type- you’re instead put in the shoes of Jason Brody, a young photographer fresh out of college. His brother, Grant, fits the bill of the more active lead we’ve come to know the series for having up to this point.

But by flipping the series’ previous tropes on their head, Jason is allowed to grow from a scared kid, into a ruthless killer. It’s a protagonist who changes throughout the story, and not in any conventional way. His snowballing psychosis mirrors that of the people he’s killing… Vaas in specific. All of his violent actions influenced by the same people that twisted Vaas’ mind.

It’s a surprisingly gripping story almost the entire way through, and there’s some incredible voice acting to deliver good dialogue. The combat is well crafted, and rarely gets old. The amazing variety in weapons and choice of gameplay styles keeps the experience fun.

Sadly the experience is hindered by an over abundance of repetition in the ways to gain skill points. There’s of course capturing a base, or activating a radio tower. Sometimes you can do some new side quests that allow for a bit of money and mission variety… but there’s not enough reward to progress in a way that’s necessary to keep up with the enemies throughout the story.

This is a point that many others have already made, so I won’t lean into the game so hard for the “Ubisoft design problem” that’s brought up a lot. I will however criticize the random difficulty spikes and occasionally clunky traversing that can be a real hindrance on gameplay.

Though the open world design can be tiring, and a more linear approach might’ve been better suited at times… Far Cry 3 manages to get a lot more right than it does wrong… and it’s an experience unlike any game I’ve played so far… and perhaps that would be different had I played ubisofts other titles. Nonetheless, it’s worth the time for the story alone. A must play for sure.

God of War III takes a fundamentally damaged character, and twists him even more into the “monster” he’s described to be in the rebooted series.

A man who killed his family. Killed dozens of innocent people, including ones who beg for their lives. The game forces you, the player, to often take these lives. And in the final stretch… the last act… Kratos the irredeemable Ghost of Sparta has an idea planted within him. One that not even he considered possible.

The idea that even he is capable of changing after all he’s become. That what he’s done doesn’t have to define him forever. An idea planted by a young girl… similar to that of his daughter. He’s reminded of his humanity. He’s reminded of hope. And in his final moments in the game, he does the first selfless thing in all of the series. He gives a bit of hope to the world he’s destroyed along his path for vengeance.

His first selfless act while on a new path. A fresh start Pandora suggested possible. One that we would later embark on with him. Kratos is not forgiven for what he’s done. He’s not justified in it either. But maybe with the rest of the life, he can continue to make better choices.

…This game dials up the storytelling another notch over the previous two entries. Pandora often reminded me of Atreus in the time I spent with her- shaping Kratos into a gentler soul, while giving him something to care about other than vengeance.

The boss battles were more frequent, yet they never lost the epic scale I’ve come to love about them throughout the series. Each was exciting, and revealed something new about the world and its story. Though the gameplay is distinctly similar to the first to games, maybe to a fault, there were still plenty new mechanics that allowed the experience to feel fresh and satisfying. The level design is at least just as mesmerizing as the first two… yet somehow they do it even better here.

The graphics were nicely improved, which feels really rewarding for the last entry in the franchise. And having more cutscenes allowed for more storytelling, which was more payoff I wasn’t expecting. It’s the perfect follow up to the incredible cliffhanger the second game leaves things on. I couldn’t imagine how this could succeed things in a satisfying way… and yet it did at every turn. It has all of the elements I was hoping for and plenty of elements I love that I wasn’t expecting.

Then of course, by that same token… an element I absolutely hate that hurts the experience significantly… though it’s not reflected in my rating because in all fairness, it isn’t in the game very long. There is an over abundance of sexuality and eroticism in one portion of the game that became incredibly obnoxious remarkably fast. It also goes hand in hand with the over-sexualization, and treatment of women in the game.

If you’ve played it, then you already know that there’s an entire quick-time sex mini game randomly thrown in and completely out of place. I’m positive it was to appeal to male gamer incels who never leave their basement… but I think just about every other type of person who’s played this can agree that we can do without it. I genuinely can’t believe it’s in this game. The first game in the series had some similar issues… but not this bad.

However, if you’re able to move past this and continue playing, the storytelling does make up for it tenfold. It is the definitive experience in the trilogy, and it’s given me memories I won’t forget.

This may single-handedly be the worst game I’ve ever finished.

Trying to fight in hand-to-hand combat in this game requires no real sense of skill. It’s all a crap shoot. It’s mashing the same three buttons hoping something good will come out of it, and praying that the only button for defense will actually work. But this is unlikely seeing how unresponsive, unreliable, and under developed this broken unholy combat system actually is.

The shooting gallery is a different kind of nightmare. Auto lock is somehow unresponsive too… which is so funny considering it can’t do the one thing it was designed for. It’s also remarkable how long it takes to actually lock onto a target.

Stealth missions? Can you even call them that? They’re like a parody of what stealth missions are supposed to be. Jaw droppingly bad. Don’t get me started on the driving. It’s one thing that doesn’t feel as horrible as it could be… but when you’re trying to get away from a car with an ungodly amount of health that’s firing fucking nukes out of their tiny pistol, it’s like trying to drudge through quicksand while being chased by a cheetah gassed up on coke.

It seems as though the developers thought it’d be a fun idea to make a game that resembles the kind of police movies that came out in the 80s and 90s with the “loose canon” cop and the partner he butts heads with. Well it didn’t really work for those movies, and it works even less here.

What a waste of an awesome cast. It’d be nice if the game was the slightest bit of fun… but this game being a technical failure in just about every department surely ruins all hope of even cracking a smile.

The open world feels empty, the environments are bland and nothing more than an eyesore to look at for too long. The variety in level types are monotonous, repetitive, and severely underbaked. The protagonist is unlikeable and one dimensional, just like everyone else in the game.

The voice acting is bad, and even offensive at times. This game is just a remarkable achievement in poor game design. It takes all of the elements of a game that should be fun, and shakes them right out, leaving only the carcass and framework to excite its players, and ultimately disappoint them at every turn when hoping to gain anything meaningful, or exciting from the experience.

Play Max Payne, or L.A. Noire, or Sleeping Dogs, or any other game that had a cop as the protagonist better than this.

Jak and Daxter’s first outing has some of the most surprisingly dynamic gameplay I’ve come across in a plat-former. From the incredibly fun level design, to well crafted combat- the experience consistently amazes.

The mini games are a blast, the vehicle levels give you the good kind of pit in your stomach, the platforming is exciting, and the collectathon of it all is anything but exhausting… and god that’s refreshing.

There’s some genuinely funny moments in the writing, which was a nice surprise considering I wasn’t expecting this to cater much to me in that regard. Plus I really began to warm up to the art style the more I played.

Some of the platforming in the back half can get a bit frustrating with the randomly fixed cameras and slightly unresponsive timing mechanics… it would’ve also been nice to earn new combat moves along the way. But it was often a more rewarding experience than it was a frustrating one. The biggest compliments I can throw its way, are that it was a total blast from start to finish. I didn’t want to stop playing. And if that isn’t enough, the replay value on this game is also ridiculous. I’d totally pick this up again and play it all the way through.

Thankfully there are more entries in the series! Can’t wait for Jak II to see where the story goes.

It’s easy to tell where this game draws its inspirations from… and sometimes that sort of thing can be distracting, or make you feel like you’d rather be playing the game it’s imitating. Singularity manages to stand tall on its own two feet and avoid those pitfalls.

I’ve seen a lot of comparisons on here to Time Shift, and while I think Singularity definitely drew influences from the mechanics of that game, this is ultimately a slicker and better developed experience. Granted, I’ve only played a little bit of Time Shift… but it was enough to make me want to discontinue.

Dead Space is one that came to mind most often for me. From the way you upgrade your weapon and abilities, to the presentation of its horror elements, and ultimately to its giant kaiju battle… it was easy to make those comparisons. Some how Singularity’s story and gameplay managed to fit in enough originality that I’d often forget how much DNA it borrowed.

A linear design was the right choice for this game, as it’s story was unique and interesting in its own right, and creating a looser, more open experience would have hindered the play-through a lot. Going back and forth in time, and altering events throughout the game was such a cool aspect of the story. I loved the variety in the enemy types. It’s always nice when a game like this breaks up supernatural enemies with human ones. Especially as organic as this one does.

It’s a hodgepodge of different games culminating together into one exciting experience. It has a solid story, some fun combat, and really good level design. The only aspect that felt really one note was the protagonist. Even Isaac from Dead Space had more layers than this guy. But ultimately Singularity is a game that could have been entirely one note, much like a lot of the first person shooters of it’s time… but it’s hard to deny the amount of effort poured into this little game.

I can’t even imagine the level of hype surrounding God of War III after the cliffhanger this left players on…

God of War II is an improvement over the first game in just about every regard. The gameplay is more refined, the storytelling is of epic scale without sacrificing the interpersonal storytelling, and the level design is just as good as the first game… if not even better.

It’s a more exciting experience as there’s so many new features that keep the game fresh. The infamous “Pegasus” sequences are exhilarating. Infamous during development… iconic while playing. The new weapons are welcomed… as are the new abilities. They were much more fun to use this time around, and felt like they served a real purpose.

The first game was the perfect origin story, told through the frame work of a revenge plot, and while this does something similar, it dials up the scope and makes the storytelling more grandiose. It’s so big that they couldn’t fit the whole thing into just this game.

It pays off so much after having played the first, and I can only imagine how it all culminates by the end of the third game. I’m really looking forward to it, as this was an awesome surprise.

As sad as it is to say… there may have been too many cooks in the kitchen for this sequel.

I seem to be in the minority on this one… but for me, Overcooked 2 played out on the surface as bigger journey that followed the same plot beats as its predecessor while somehow delivering less payoff in the process.

In an effort to have a bigger map and more intricate level design, they sacrifice the charming simplicity of the originals gameplay and over convolute the mechanics, turning a seemingly classic dish into something almost unpalatable.

There’s a ton of needlessly complex design choices that turn a lot of the game stale. The map itself is harder to traverse, and not in a way that offers anything fun for the player. The levels themselves are less about struggling to make the dishes and more about traversing wacky obstacles, which just felt really out of place.

I think a lot of what worked about the first game is still imbedded in the DNA of this one. The problem is just about everything they’ve added since then.

The only new addition I found myself enjoying was the throwing mechanic. It was useful many times throughout the game, and it was a great way to keep the flow of the gameplay going. I believe more additions to the gameplay like this would have made Overcooked 2 slightly better, but unfortunately the wrong ingredients were prioritized.

Brutal Legend is a game that surprises in more ways than the player can expect, or is ready for… but sadly not always in ways that are good.

The atmosphere the game creates is one thing that’s relatively easy to gush about. They basically nailed it. The metal heavy influences seep throughout every inch of this game. Though the open world can be a bit boring, it’s undoubtably fun to drive around using nitro while you blast Ozzy fucking Osbourne.

And the overall look of the open world is really moody and cool. Some areas better than others. There are times when the game comes together just right, that perfects the feeling I think the developers were hoping to instill in the player. It’s not often, and it’s actually quite rare… but when it does, you know you’re playing something special.

Having the ability to upgrade your vehicle, your weapons, your moves, so on and so fourth, really helped the experience. Without this, I think I would have had a lot more gripes than I currently do.

The overall game is fantastic. Playing a guitar as a weapon is sick, and the fact that there’s multiple ways to use it to your advantage is so cool. In turn, the axe is a bit underutilized, and some of the hack and slash combat isn’t as satisfying as it could be. The storytelling is actually pretty good, and it makes for a really entertaining play through. It’s just the kind of schlocky fun you’d want from a game of its kind.

I know I’m going to sound like everyone else on this site who reviews this game when I say these next few words, but the real time strategy sections are rough, and uninvited. Now I’ll explain why. You make a heavy metal game, and you present it as a mindless, fun looking hack and slash, and your target a certain demographic, then out of nowhere, you expect them to vibe with real time strategy sections?

It feels like a strange design choice for the gameplay… especially considering how much it clashes with the theme of the game. It doesn’t help that the sections are a bit clunky and over specific about what you have to do. Now don’t get me wrong, I think sometimes the sections can be a lot of fun. Especially when you feel like you’re leading a real war or battle against demons. It can be pretty sick.

But a lot of the time it’s just frustrating. I can only imagine the disappointment at the time of the games release. Especially if players who picked it up never played a Rts game. It’s hard to argue that the game isn’t still a blast despite the inclusion of this gameplay type.

Flying around was actually a really cool feature of these sections… and I only wish it would’ve been a playable feature in the open world at some point too. Even if it had to be after you complete the main game. But this sums up my overall feeling on the game pretty well. It does a lot of great stuff and gets a bunch right… but it could definitely go harder in areas that just don’t feel as polished.

It’s a game I’d recommend if you like gore, Metal, and Jack Black of course. What a guy.