andihero
Very primitive but the DNA of the Elder Scrolls series can still clearly be seen. Hard as hell to get started and find your footing but once you're over the initial hump it becomes strangely hypnotic in how repetitive it is. As always, magic can be exploited to make you hugely OP but that's part of the fun. Archaic controls and some rough visuals (especially with draw distance) combine to make a game that feels quite old and clunky and without any source ports (and modding it is a pain in the balls) its a tough sell to most people but if you've got the patience to get into it, there's still something worth playing here.
2018
Using single floors (mostly) and right angles only in the map design Project Warlock invokes Wolfenstein as its core base of influence rather than Doom/Duke/Quake etc. and in doing so, creates a game that is delightfully simple and extremely compulsive. Each chapter is split into four groups of levels and then a boss and you have to clear these with a limited amount of lives - no quicksaves! - to progress. Experience points from kills and finding secrets let you level up your magic abilities and weapons, eventually gaining some seriously OTT firepower, is a nice loop that keeps things interesting for the duration. Very little fat on this one, which although means few unique ideas it is mostly killer from start to finish.
I see a lot of people complaining about the maze-like and extremely long levels but honest, those are what makes the game still feel quite fresh in 2021. Grab the Nightdive port (which addresses the clear technical issues of the original N64 release and 'fixes' any issues you may have had with the controller) and it makes for an FPS that has a real focus on exploration over linear progression through a stage and a wonderfully diverse arsenal of weapons, ranging from the extremely useful to the utterly useless and from brutally simple to simply brutal. Also: a great soundtrack that includes one of - if not THE - best opening level themes of all-time.
A belter.
A belter.
A very good looking but ultimately incredibly shallow stealth 'em up. Completely bare minimum stealth mechanics and that horrible "not instant fail but might as well be" vibe throughout the opening hour or so. Might get a bit more interesting when you get some abilities but a quick look at them indicates they're nowt I haven't seen countless times before, only with a rodent spin on them.
Reminded my of The Order 1886. Very pretty but barely any substance to it.
Reminded my of The Order 1886. Very pretty but barely any substance to it.
2001
Went back to this for the first time since the original release when I saw that it was celebrating its 20th (!!) anniversary this past week and was pleasantly surprised at how well it has held up.
Usually, when a game is fairly influential, features the first (or most recognised) version of a often used mechanic or sits near the cutting edge for the time, you tend to feel the years a lot more when you revisit it but underpinning Max Payne's still impressive bullet time and neo-noir aesthetic is a simplistic and fun shooting gallery.
The guns all feel satisfying and each have their own unique uses, as well as feeling quite 'real' and dangerous. A point blank shotgun blast will lay waste to Max just as quick as it will any enemy.
By the time you're in the final third, the game is throwing the kitchen sink at you and you're relying on movement, aiming ability and of course the bullet time and it ends up with a bit of a Platinum vibe, which for an action game is very high praise.
The nightmare levels are still the drizzling shits, mind.
Usually, when a game is fairly influential, features the first (or most recognised) version of a often used mechanic or sits near the cutting edge for the time, you tend to feel the years a lot more when you revisit it but underpinning Max Payne's still impressive bullet time and neo-noir aesthetic is a simplistic and fun shooting gallery.
The guns all feel satisfying and each have their own unique uses, as well as feeling quite 'real' and dangerous. A point blank shotgun blast will lay waste to Max just as quick as it will any enemy.
By the time you're in the final third, the game is throwing the kitchen sink at you and you're relying on movement, aiming ability and of course the bullet time and it ends up with a bit of a Platinum vibe, which for an action game is very high praise.
The nightmare levels are still the drizzling shits, mind.
Another title I fired up for the first time since the original release and for the first time on PC and was pleasantly surprised by how well it stands up in 2021.
Big 'Goldeneye' vibes to the level structure, in that a few objectives need to be fulfilled before you can exit and require a bit of exploration rather than linear progression. The weapons all feel good and have different, very specific utility and even the basic pistol still has a use deep into the game. The half WW2 shooter, half Occult Nazi horror aesthetic keeps things interesting throughout and almost every level is visually unique. Enemies range from dumb grunt soldiers to stealthy specialist agents and all the way up to genetically modified Uber soldiers and all require their own approach, again adding to the near constant variety RTCW offers from start to finish.
Still looks good, great music, fairly engaging plot... all that stuff sits as a cherry on a pretty fuckin' tasty cake.
Big 'Goldeneye' vibes to the level structure, in that a few objectives need to be fulfilled before you can exit and require a bit of exploration rather than linear progression. The weapons all feel good and have different, very specific utility and even the basic pistol still has a use deep into the game. The half WW2 shooter, half Occult Nazi horror aesthetic keeps things interesting throughout and almost every level is visually unique. Enemies range from dumb grunt soldiers to stealthy specialist agents and all the way up to genetically modified Uber soldiers and all require their own approach, again adding to the near constant variety RTCW offers from start to finish.
Still looks good, great music, fairly engaging plot... all that stuff sits as a cherry on a pretty fuckin' tasty cake.
2021
A smart Metroidvania that takes influence from the Prime side of things rather than the usual 2D offerings. Simple combat is made interesting by a nice variety of enemies, tension is ramped up by some killer atmosphere (an area Scumhead is really starting to show is where he could be an elite talent) and savepoints instead of free save, meaning some of the more intense combat sequences require a more considered approach. Bosses are delightfully grim, albeit all bested with circle strafing for the most part.
Plot takes a dark path and it might not be for everyone but for those who enjoy 'retro' FPS, Metroidvanias and the darker sides of Soulslike lore (Bloodborne, Blasphemous etc) this is a couple of hours where you'll find a lot to like.
Plot takes a dark path and it might not be for everyone but for those who enjoy 'retro' FPS, Metroidvanias and the darker sides of Soulslike lore (Bloodborne, Blasphemous etc) this is a couple of hours where you'll find a lot to like.
1997
For what it is worth, I actually played a PC source port of Duke 64, not the actual N64 version, but most of these points still stand.
Duke 64 is a weird one - stripped of its, err, strippers and with all of the bad language changed for something less offensive to the owners of Nintendo's console but with a baffling increase in detail in all of the incidents of violence throughout the game - you'd think that perhaps this would be where Duke Nukem 3D gets shown up a bit. Like a lot of controversial titles, remove what makes them a bit edgy and then see what you have left - the answer is usually very little of worth.
So the porn store becomes a gun shop (!) and the strip club becomes some boring truck loading bay and Duke Nukem 3D remains a brilliant, hugely inventive shooter, with a few simple changes to the N64 version that actually make things interesting for veterans of the game.
For instance, the arsenal of weapons has been modified, the most obvious example of this is the RPG on level one being replaced by a grenade launcher. No more direct hit missiles to fire around, you've got 'nades that bounce around all over the place before they explode, meaning you can no longer take out some trip mines early instead of having to figure out how to get around them and early encounters with Octobrains are no longer a breeze, unless you're comfortable with lobbing grenades around in close quarters.
Again, a small change but one that offers a bit of a game rebalance. Doesn't really affect the difficulty but just makes things different enough to warrant playing even if you're a Duke 3D expert. That's the main vibe from Duke 64 - its different, not better, but the differences are smart, interesting and worthy of your time whether you're playing this as your first proper play of Duke 3D (which for me, it was!) or you're extremely au fait with the PC release and looking for a change of pace (which is me now).
Duke 64 is a weird one - stripped of its, err, strippers and with all of the bad language changed for something less offensive to the owners of Nintendo's console but with a baffling increase in detail in all of the incidents of violence throughout the game - you'd think that perhaps this would be where Duke Nukem 3D gets shown up a bit. Like a lot of controversial titles, remove what makes them a bit edgy and then see what you have left - the answer is usually very little of worth.
So the porn store becomes a gun shop (!) and the strip club becomes some boring truck loading bay and Duke Nukem 3D remains a brilliant, hugely inventive shooter, with a few simple changes to the N64 version that actually make things interesting for veterans of the game.
For instance, the arsenal of weapons has been modified, the most obvious example of this is the RPG on level one being replaced by a grenade launcher. No more direct hit missiles to fire around, you've got 'nades that bounce around all over the place before they explode, meaning you can no longer take out some trip mines early instead of having to figure out how to get around them and early encounters with Octobrains are no longer a breeze, unless you're comfortable with lobbing grenades around in close quarters.
Again, a small change but one that offers a bit of a game rebalance. Doesn't really affect the difficulty but just makes things different enough to warrant playing even if you're a Duke 3D expert. That's the main vibe from Duke 64 - its different, not better, but the differences are smart, interesting and worthy of your time whether you're playing this as your first proper play of Duke 3D (which for me, it was!) or you're extremely au fait with the PC release and looking for a change of pace (which is me now).
EDIT: Finished this in third-person and had a much better time with it, largely because the combat controls felt far more responsive. The last hour of the game is some of the worst story I have ever seen in anything, ever. I genuinely felt like I'd hit my head really hard.
A game that fundamentally misunderstands the action game elements of Resident Evil 4 or just copies them wholesale, which strips them of the drama they had checks release date FOURTEEN years ago.
The shift to first person was a weird move for me. Yes, it is because of reduced developmental costs after Resi 6 spiralled wildly out of control and sure it is because the first person 'hide 'em up' game had become a well established horror style in the years between the 6th and 7th instalments, but personally I find it turns what is supposed to almost be a point and click adventure with some rudimentary combat into something more akin to a walk around a theme park haunted house and it doesn't quite vibe with me.
Resi 7's first half was cracking, because the pace was slower, the enemies few and far between and the Baker's house had a feeling of a return to the classic Resident Evil mansion - solving puzzles to progress further and eventually escape - but so far in Resi 8 it has felt like a crap, sluggish FPS game that feels very fragmented. Here's the bit where you have to find a key and you might get chased. Here's the bit where you'll have to fight some lads as you look for an exit. Here's the part where you need to survive a siege.
It just feels a bit creatively bankrupt and although it might not be a bad game just feels like a first person horror game that isn't doing anything for me, rather than a Resident Evil game.
Also: the antagonist who chases you but can be fooled when you run around a single corner was shite in Resi 2 Remake, Resi 3 Remake and now this, so probably knock that on the head, Capcom?
A game that fundamentally misunderstands the action game elements of Resident Evil 4 or just copies them wholesale, which strips them of the drama they had checks release date FOURTEEN years ago.
The shift to first person was a weird move for me. Yes, it is because of reduced developmental costs after Resi 6 spiralled wildly out of control and sure it is because the first person 'hide 'em up' game had become a well established horror style in the years between the 6th and 7th instalments, but personally I find it turns what is supposed to almost be a point and click adventure with some rudimentary combat into something more akin to a walk around a theme park haunted house and it doesn't quite vibe with me.
Resi 7's first half was cracking, because the pace was slower, the enemies few and far between and the Baker's house had a feeling of a return to the classic Resident Evil mansion - solving puzzles to progress further and eventually escape - but so far in Resi 8 it has felt like a crap, sluggish FPS game that feels very fragmented. Here's the bit where you have to find a key and you might get chased. Here's the bit where you'll have to fight some lads as you look for an exit. Here's the part where you need to survive a siege.
It just feels a bit creatively bankrupt and although it might not be a bad game just feels like a first person horror game that isn't doing anything for me, rather than a Resident Evil game.
Also: the antagonist who chases you but can be fooled when you run around a single corner was shite in Resi 2 Remake, Resi 3 Remake and now this, so probably knock that on the head, Capcom?
2017
Was told this was the immersive sim that could offer genuine freedom of choice in regards to how you approach it, so I put a hard focus on playing it as close to a shooter as possible.
Turns out, like almost all immersive sims, they're a stealth game at heart and it left me feeling a bit cold. Hit a point where I would either need to respec, grind a fair bit or load an old save to progress because I came up against a section that required a considerably different approach and I had opted against making a jack of all trades style build. Figured this was just me but quite a few people had similar experiences.
Absolutely love the setting and the aesthetic though, so this one might get picked up again one day. For now - the bin.
Turns out, like almost all immersive sims, they're a stealth game at heart and it left me feeling a bit cold. Hit a point where I would either need to respec, grind a fair bit or load an old save to progress because I came up against a section that required a considerably different approach and I had opted against making a jack of all trades style build. Figured this was just me but quite a few people had similar experiences.
Absolutely love the setting and the aesthetic though, so this one might get picked up again one day. For now - the bin.
2016
After seeing some footage of the sequel, which frankly looks like the Tenchu sequel we've all been waiting for, my stupid brain wouldn't allow me to play that until I had been through the previous instalment. Although there are some clear differences between this and the expanded scope of the sequel, there's quite a bit to like in Aragami and some of it to love.
It's a very basic stealth 'em up with influences from games like the PS1 Metal Gear Solid and Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, where the AI isn't great, enemies follow set routines and tend to all act the same way under situations but honestly I actually prefer this over a more advanced stealth system. I enjoy being able to predict or manipulate the enemy movements so I can avoid them or utilise my abilities to take them out. I enjoyed that although the enemies can one-shot you, being spotted isn't a fail state and you can get away with it should you think fast. It's satisfying whether you sneak through an area like a ghost or murder everyone in sight.
The only real negative is that, like loads of games in the mid-2010s, it has a bloody skill tree and unlockable points, which mean for the first few levels you're missing what I now consider a few basic abilities that make the game really interesting. The key ability of being able to warp to shadows acts in a similar manner to Tenchu's grappling hook, in that it gives you movement options your enemies will never have, but there's a few ranged attacks and the ability to hide bodies which, once unlocked, make the game exponentially more interesting and fun.
So, stick with it, grab the abilities that suit your play style and there's a good time to be had for the rest of it. The music is fantastic, the art style I liked a lot and I ended up really warming to the characters and world which was very unexpected.
It's a very basic stealth 'em up with influences from games like the PS1 Metal Gear Solid and Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, where the AI isn't great, enemies follow set routines and tend to all act the same way under situations but honestly I actually prefer this over a more advanced stealth system. I enjoy being able to predict or manipulate the enemy movements so I can avoid them or utilise my abilities to take them out. I enjoyed that although the enemies can one-shot you, being spotted isn't a fail state and you can get away with it should you think fast. It's satisfying whether you sneak through an area like a ghost or murder everyone in sight.
The only real negative is that, like loads of games in the mid-2010s, it has a bloody skill tree and unlockable points, which mean for the first few levels you're missing what I now consider a few basic abilities that make the game really interesting. The key ability of being able to warp to shadows acts in a similar manner to Tenchu's grappling hook, in that it gives you movement options your enemies will never have, but there's a few ranged attacks and the ability to hide bodies which, once unlocked, make the game exponentially more interesting and fun.
So, stick with it, grab the abilities that suit your play style and there's a good time to be had for the rest of it. The music is fantastic, the art style I liked a lot and I ended up really warming to the characters and world which was very unexpected.
2018
Oof, bit of a surprise belter, this DLC!
It's fairly short at around two hours but Aragami: Nightfall is all of the stuff I really enjoyed about the main game in one really dense set of levels - all of which are more varied locales than the base game.
The key thing here though is that every ability you have to earn in the base release is unlocked from the word go in this DLC, so you can approach every one of the various situations it throws at you the way you want, which is always a huge plus for me. Even more the case in a stealth game.
All of my other positives about Aragami in the previous review remain but this one throws you straight into the best stuff and doesn't let up for the admittedly short play time. Almost entirely killer from start to finish though and well worth a play as it seems to be a nice middle ground between the original game and where they appear to be headed for the sequel.
It's fairly short at around two hours but Aragami: Nightfall is all of the stuff I really enjoyed about the main game in one really dense set of levels - all of which are more varied locales than the base game.
The key thing here though is that every ability you have to earn in the base release is unlocked from the word go in this DLC, so you can approach every one of the various situations it throws at you the way you want, which is always a huge plus for me. Even more the case in a stealth game.
All of my other positives about Aragami in the previous review remain but this one throws you straight into the best stuff and doesn't let up for the admittedly short play time. Almost entirely killer from start to finish though and well worth a play as it seems to be a nice middle ground between the original game and where they appear to be headed for the sequel.
1997
I had only ever played the shareware version of Blood until I finally decided to sort this massive hole in my classic FPS knowledge out. It is a game that sits on a pedestal among the best in the genre and for the most part, is fully deserving of that place.
The setting is fantastic, a strange, timeless mix of present day and the old West via a particularly grim Tales from the Crypt episode. The enemy types are mostly great, with clear weaknesses and strengths that require you to weapon switch, be aware of the environment and prioritise targets way more than many other games in the genre. The weapons are memorable and satisfying to use, from one of the best shotguns around to a bloody can of deodorant and a lighter.
The level design... fuck me, the LEVEL DESIGN in this one, lads. The BUILD engine tends to be at its best when it is delivering these approximations of a real life location and Blood features some of the very best. Some levels are rapid fire gauntlets of enemies, some are almost Doom-esque puzzles boxes to solve while some are quite happy for you to get lost in, searching for keys and switches in some memorable locations.
Towards the back end of the game, I found the level design to drop off a bit, as you find yourself in caverns and temples instead of say, haunted manors and fucked up hospitals. The sheer amount of hit-scanning Cultist enemies can cause a few frustratingly unfair deaths and the boss enemies at the end of each chapter are a bit underwhelming when compared to Duke 3D and Shadow Warrior but these are all small complaints in the grand scheme of things. Blood is a belter, probably the hardest of the trinity of classic BUILD shooters so tailor the difficulty to your tastes appropriately (I'd probably say knock it down two settings from where you can comfortably play Doom).
Also: BUILD engine explosions are one of gaming's greatest pleasures and the ones found in Blood are truly top tier. There's a tangible sense of weight and force to them, with enemies and even you being knocked backwards from the centre of the blast and perfectly charging the strength of a dynamite throw so one lands in-between a pack of zombies and sends entrails skyward is life-affirming shit.
The setting is fantastic, a strange, timeless mix of present day and the old West via a particularly grim Tales from the Crypt episode. The enemy types are mostly great, with clear weaknesses and strengths that require you to weapon switch, be aware of the environment and prioritise targets way more than many other games in the genre. The weapons are memorable and satisfying to use, from one of the best shotguns around to a bloody can of deodorant and a lighter.
The level design... fuck me, the LEVEL DESIGN in this one, lads. The BUILD engine tends to be at its best when it is delivering these approximations of a real life location and Blood features some of the very best. Some levels are rapid fire gauntlets of enemies, some are almost Doom-esque puzzles boxes to solve while some are quite happy for you to get lost in, searching for keys and switches in some memorable locations.
Towards the back end of the game, I found the level design to drop off a bit, as you find yourself in caverns and temples instead of say, haunted manors and fucked up hospitals. The sheer amount of hit-scanning Cultist enemies can cause a few frustratingly unfair deaths and the boss enemies at the end of each chapter are a bit underwhelming when compared to Duke 3D and Shadow Warrior but these are all small complaints in the grand scheme of things. Blood is a belter, probably the hardest of the trinity of classic BUILD shooters so tailor the difficulty to your tastes appropriately (I'd probably say knock it down two settings from where you can comfortably play Doom).
Also: BUILD engine explosions are one of gaming's greatest pleasures and the ones found in Blood are truly top tier. There's a tangible sense of weight and force to them, with enemies and even you being knocked backwards from the centre of the blast and perfectly charging the strength of a dynamite throw so one lands in-between a pack of zombies and sends entrails skyward is life-affirming shit.
2021
A particularly cynical attempt at riffing on the gigantic Silent Hill gap in all of our lives. A mess of a game, with piss poor performance on console being the cherry on top of a cake made out of braindead puzzles, tedious 'exploration' around what are actually very linear areas, some dreadful instant fail stealth that is insulting easy and lacking in anything resembling tension, a hilariously amateurish take on the issues they present as part of the story and a complete misunderstanding of what made fixed camera survival horror games so damn good in the first place. Dreadful. At least its short.
The art in the 'Otherworld' and some bits of the soundtrack are good, I suppose. I'll give it a star for Akira Yamaoka's bit.
These guys are apparently doing Silent Hill. I'd rather Silent Hill stayed dead.
The art in the 'Otherworld' and some bits of the soundtrack are good, I suppose. I'll give it a star for Akira Yamaoka's bit.
These guys are apparently doing Silent Hill. I'd rather Silent Hill stayed dead.
Shadow Man is one of my N64 favourites. A big old Metroidvania with a proper maze of a world to explore, all wrapped up in a refreshingly adult setting. In fact, there's a real sense of maturity to Shadow Man in general - not just the themes and plot - but in the way it never holds your hand or throws waypoints up whenever you get lost. It is happy to see you lost for hours at a time, backtracking across Deadside to try to find that one tunnel you haven't checked out yet.
Controls are a bit of an acquired taste. The N64 original didn't have a now-standardised dual analog style scheme and they've tried to retrofit one to a modern gamepad and, for the most part, it has been a success. However, strafing in Shadow Man was something you could only do during combat in the original release and pressing jump while strafing performs a dodge jump which is, unsurprisingly, useless when you're platforming and it is very easy to accidentally do one of these and fall to your death. A frustrating compromise from the modified controls.
Nightdive, being the absolute kings of the remaster, have managed to recover the unique areas for the bosses that didn't make the cut in the original game. This has actual restored content that change the overall flow of the game from the original, which as a fan of the original was fascinating to see. Although I appreciate this sort of stuff is going to be a case by case basis, this is the sort of additional content I'd like to see added to a game in a remaster.
Deadside remains a brilliant place to roam, full of winding passages and critical routes that are hidden in the same way secrets are in other games. I can imagine this could frustrate, but being able to get completely immersed in this world and slowly progress, like putting together a big jigsaw, has continued moments of satisfaction as you push to a conclusion.
Controls are a bit of an acquired taste. The N64 original didn't have a now-standardised dual analog style scheme and they've tried to retrofit one to a modern gamepad and, for the most part, it has been a success. However, strafing in Shadow Man was something you could only do during combat in the original release and pressing jump while strafing performs a dodge jump which is, unsurprisingly, useless when you're platforming and it is very easy to accidentally do one of these and fall to your death. A frustrating compromise from the modified controls.
Nightdive, being the absolute kings of the remaster, have managed to recover the unique areas for the bosses that didn't make the cut in the original game. This has actual restored content that change the overall flow of the game from the original, which as a fan of the original was fascinating to see. Although I appreciate this sort of stuff is going to be a case by case basis, this is the sort of additional content I'd like to see added to a game in a remaster.
Deadside remains a brilliant place to roam, full of winding passages and critical routes that are hidden in the same way secrets are in other games. I can imagine this could frustrate, but being able to get completely immersed in this world and slowly progress, like putting together a big jigsaw, has continued moments of satisfaction as you push to a conclusion.