g_almeidaa
Black Ops is a game I thought I loved. It was the first game I've played on PS3 after some years away from gaming in general, so I remember it very fondly.
Recently, I've decided to revisit some of the PS3 catalogue, so I played the campaign on Veteran difficulty...
Technically, Black Ops SHOULD be a good game. The shooting feels good, the visuals are compelling and it includes some really good action set pieces. However, the gameplay is seriously lacking in terms of freedom of gameplay and variety of viable strategies. Even simple stuff like flanking, which should be a staple in FPS games, don't work very well. On regular difficulty, it's a cakewalk, requiring no strategy at all. On veteran, the ONLY viable strategy is to hide behind cover and slug throughout the game. Because of the "need" to portray "realism", the game color palette is full of browns and greys. In some missions, is IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish enemies from the background, which makes it really infuriating dying to some enemy you can't see. S.O.G. on Veteran is probably the worst FPS mission I have ever played.
After playing some incredible FPS games over the years, like Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus, DOOM and Titanfall 2, and even some reeeeaally old stuff like Red Faction (2001), I can now recognize that, despite not being BAD, this game lacks the mechanical/artistic depth I enjoyed in those games.
The Zombies mode is still incredible though, so I'm bumping it an additional 1 star.
Recently, I've decided to revisit some of the PS3 catalogue, so I played the campaign on Veteran difficulty...
Technically, Black Ops SHOULD be a good game. The shooting feels good, the visuals are compelling and it includes some really good action set pieces. However, the gameplay is seriously lacking in terms of freedom of gameplay and variety of viable strategies. Even simple stuff like flanking, which should be a staple in FPS games, don't work very well. On regular difficulty, it's a cakewalk, requiring no strategy at all. On veteran, the ONLY viable strategy is to hide behind cover and slug throughout the game. Because of the "need" to portray "realism", the game color palette is full of browns and greys. In some missions, is IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish enemies from the background, which makes it really infuriating dying to some enemy you can't see. S.O.G. on Veteran is probably the worst FPS mission I have ever played.
After playing some incredible FPS games over the years, like Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus, DOOM and Titanfall 2, and even some reeeeaally old stuff like Red Faction (2001), I can now recognize that, despite not being BAD, this game lacks the mechanical/artistic depth I enjoyed in those games.
The Zombies mode is still incredible though, so I'm bumping it an additional 1 star.
as someone that does not like beat 'em ups at all, still enjoyed a lot of this game. I suppose that a lot of the enjoyment comes from liking the original comics, so seeing the characters you like in some beautiful pixel-art, AMAZING soundtrack, and some cleverly designed stages makes up for the basic gameplay.
This review contains spoilers
Finished The Walking Dead's Season 2 really wanting to know what happens to Clementine after the ending of the game.
Imagine my shock when they turned Clementine into a secondary character, and her whole story after Season 2 is a big flashback. I honestly believe that the only reason someone would want to play this game after playing Season 2, is because of Clementine, so, making her an unplayable character is the worst decision they could have made for that game.
Telltale has always done a good job of enabling the player to express itself with the choices they make, even though at the end most of them don't matter at all. However, making choices in flashbacks feels like a laugh to the player's face, because there you know 100% that there's absolutely no way your choices will matter.
The story has no pacing throughout the game, there are major plot holes, most of the characters seem goaless, just reacting to stuff that happens to them, and some of them are the most annoying fucking pieces of shit Telltale has ever wrote.
This game made me glad Telltale got shut down.
Imagine my shock when they turned Clementine into a secondary character, and her whole story after Season 2 is a big flashback. I honestly believe that the only reason someone would want to play this game after playing Season 2, is because of Clementine, so, making her an unplayable character is the worst decision they could have made for that game.
Telltale has always done a good job of enabling the player to express itself with the choices they make, even though at the end most of them don't matter at all. However, making choices in flashbacks feels like a laugh to the player's face, because there you know 100% that there's absolutely no way your choices will matter.
The story has no pacing throughout the game, there are major plot holes, most of the characters seem goaless, just reacting to stuff that happens to them, and some of them are the most annoying fucking pieces of shit Telltale has ever wrote.
This game made me glad Telltale got shut down.
one of the most underrated games of all time.
i miss you
i miss you
2019
Greedfall is a really interesting game to look at. If you think about it, none of its aspects are really exceptional in any way. The combat, the quest design, the visuals, the sound-track, the exploration: they are about what you would expect for a standard CRPG, but, in spite of that, it is a game that conveys a really great sense of personality and the story, really well-directed cutscenes, characters, great voice-acting, and world-building kept me interested until the very end.
I would love to see what Spiders can deliver in their next game because this is a good blueprint to follow. I only wish they focus more on the "core" aspects of the game, like the quest design and story, and remove some of the things that feel unnecessary in this game, like the crafting and sneaking mechanics.
I would love to see what Spiders can deliver in their next game because this is a good blueprint to follow. I only wish they focus more on the "core" aspects of the game, like the quest design and story, and remove some of the things that feel unnecessary in this game, like the crafting and sneaking mechanics.
2019
Control is a game that I really wanted to love.
Let me start with the positive aspects of the game: it is visually and artistically astounding. The slightly supernatural/Lovecraftian horror is amazingly depicted in literally every corner of the game, from the loading screen to the cutscenes. It is possibly one of the most thematically cohesive experiences I have ever witnessed in a videogame.
However, even though it has a stunning presentation and atmosphere, I just don't enjoy actually playing it. 11 hours in and I'm already burned out from the combat and exploration.
The general feeling I have is that the game is too packed all the time. Although the gameplay is pretty solid, I think there are too many encounters. Especially when you're backtracking or exploring an already visited location: enemies spawn all the time and in those situations, you're probably over-leveled and at that point, the combat is just mindless. The collectibles, which when you start the game are fantastic bits of lore, just become overwhelming in terms of quantity as the game progresses.
Control shines on its little details. However, neither the main storyline, characters, gameplay, or exploration makes me want to ride along to watch those little moments of geniosity.
Let me start with the positive aspects of the game: it is visually and artistically astounding. The slightly supernatural/Lovecraftian horror is amazingly depicted in literally every corner of the game, from the loading screen to the cutscenes. It is possibly one of the most thematically cohesive experiences I have ever witnessed in a videogame.
However, even though it has a stunning presentation and atmosphere, I just don't enjoy actually playing it. 11 hours in and I'm already burned out from the combat and exploration.
The general feeling I have is that the game is too packed all the time. Although the gameplay is pretty solid, I think there are too many encounters. Especially when you're backtracking or exploring an already visited location: enemies spawn all the time and in those situations, you're probably over-leveled and at that point, the combat is just mindless. The collectibles, which when you start the game are fantastic bits of lore, just become overwhelming in terms of quantity as the game progresses.
Control shines on its little details. However, neither the main storyline, characters, gameplay, or exploration makes me want to ride along to watch those little moments of geniosity.
2021
Deathloop represents my favorite game design philosophy: Think about an interesting concept and implement it with mastery.
Arcane proves again its mastery in this kind of game, creating another world that feels super satisfying to explore, very well-balanced progression, and fun gameplay.
Great soundtrack , visually and aesthetically stunning, and great implementation of gun feedback on the Dualsense controller.
Arcane proves again its mastery in this kind of game, creating another world that feels super satisfying to explore, very well-balanced progression, and fun gameplay.
Great soundtrack , visually and aesthetically stunning, and great implementation of gun feedback on the Dualsense controller.
2021
depression (momentarily) cured
2020
At its best, Cyberpunk 2077 it's a competent shooter with some excellent stories sprinkled over it. At its worst, it's a bad open-world RPG with mechanics that don't work.
2020
fuck spiders
2019
the prove that every ps1 game is great if you remove the tank controls
best virtual rendition of yu-gi-oh ever released.
Edgeworth is pretty cute
2021
gameplay-wise: it's probably the best football sim, no questions
why the 1 star rating then? Because all game modes for this game are completely lackluster. The career mode, both as a trainer and as a player have a lot of mechanics but are really shallow in terms of presentation and variety. Seasons are just individual matches and Ultimate Team is a scam.
why the 1 star rating then? Because all game modes for this game are completely lackluster. The career mode, both as a trainer and as a player have a lot of mechanics but are really shallow in terms of presentation and variety. Seasons are just individual matches and Ultimate Team is a scam.
2022
I think it's very easy to argue that Elden Ring is From Software's magnum opus: It is a combination of everything they learned from their previous games, with all mechanics, atmosphere, world-building, intense battles, and game design philosophies that worked all packed in a whole new open-world framework that incites exploration and creates a sense of discovery and immersion like has never been done.
With that being said, Elden Ring is not my favorite FROM title. Personally, I don't think that FROM's quest design matches the open-world decision. If you're a player that gets anxious with the feeling that you may be losing content, you'll find yourself either backtracking unnecessarily to make sure you're not losing anything or searching stuff online, which kind of kills the magic of the discovery.
With that being said, Elden Ring is not my favorite FROM title. Personally, I don't think that FROM's quest design matches the open-world decision. If you're a player that gets anxious with the feeling that you may be losing content, you'll find yourself either backtracking unnecessarily to make sure you're not losing anything or searching stuff online, which kind of kills the magic of the discovery.