gothamite2700
An ever so slightly flawed diamond that is still the single greatest Batman Pro Simulator in existence. If they just continued adding new suits and DLC missions to this specific game forevermore that would be fine by me.
Enormous fun and thanks to the updated controls, graphics and targeting systems it's easier to go back to than the original Vice City which can feel a bit like PS1 tank controls.
The story is fun and immersive but the gameplay does get bogged down with the stress of maintaining your criminal empire to the point where you get overly distracted from the main campaign.
Definitely recommended though and more memorable than any of the PS3/4-era games.
The story is fun and immersive but the gameplay does get bogged down with the stress of maintaining your criminal empire to the point where you get overly distracted from the main campaign.
Definitely recommended though and more memorable than any of the PS3/4-era games.
Breathtakingly long and bursting with Rockstar Games clichés that feel as old and broken down as some of the characters in the game. Perfectly enjoyable but not as deep or as revolutionary as it thinks it is.
2018
One of the benchmarks by which all AAA games should be judged. Staggeringly beautiful, immersive and fun from start to finish.
Derivative overrated garbage that cynically stripmines better games and is frequently misrepresented as an underdog. It's just inferior to the true Arkham trilogy in every way - the environments are lifeless and poorly designed, the new gadgets are weird and arbitrary, making the game easier rather than better and the extra features are undercooked - unlike the other games, New Game Plus doesn't actually allow you to keep any of your unlocked equipment, making it largely pointless to play through it.
Ironically the one good thing I can say about this is that the story (which isn't the high point of most Arkham games) is decent.
Ironically the one good thing I can say about this is that the story (which isn't the high point of most Arkham games) is decent.
This review contains spoilers
Wonderful underrated fun that has more love and affection for the licence and its aesthetic than any of the trash they've put up on the big screen since 1991.
As a game it's nothing special - graphics and Fallout mechanics that were tried and tested in 2009 and look more than a bit old hat by now. Where the game excels is in its atmosphere and its immersiveness - you truly feel like you're living in the world set up in that dream sequence in the first film, with the purple lasers and the hunter killers flying ominously overhead. For the first time since the original film, the T800s are actually scary and most of your encounters with them will end in death. Beautifully though, as you enhance and upgrade your abilities over the course of the game, you will be treated to a crescendo of fanservice in the final mission as you swat Terminators away like flies as John Connor himself screams in your hear and the theme tune roars down from the heavens. It's amazing fun and it made me excited about Terminator for the first time in forever.
As a game it's nothing special - graphics and Fallout mechanics that were tried and tested in 2009 and look more than a bit old hat by now. Where the game excels is in its atmosphere and its immersiveness - you truly feel like you're living in the world set up in that dream sequence in the first film, with the purple lasers and the hunter killers flying ominously overhead. For the first time since the original film, the T800s are actually scary and most of your encounters with them will end in death. Beautifully though, as you enhance and upgrade your abilities over the course of the game, you will be treated to a crescendo of fanservice in the final mission as you swat Terminators away like flies as John Connor himself screams in your hear and the theme tune roars down from the heavens. It's amazing fun and it made me excited about Terminator for the first time in forever.
There’s a level where you ride a Daytona bike over rooftops before drifting through a gap in a waterfall and then skydiving over a mountain to save Shannen Elizabeth – who’s been thrown out of a helicopter – while the Bond theme blares. When you finally catch her, Pierce smirks “Nice to catch up with you!” before swinging away on a grappling gun… GoldenEye be damned, this is the definitive James Bond game.
Jettisoning the first-person obsession of its predecessors, EoN finally allows the player to see 007 in the frame, allowing for a greater diversity of gameplay, encompassing shooting, cover, stealth, driving (cars, helicopters, motorbikes and a tank) and the kind of madcap stunts you’d expect from a Bond movie. Good old Pierce finally gave the full martini – lending his luscious likeness and voracious voice work in what would ultimately be his final dalliance with Double O duty (as a year or so later – to paraphrase Timothy Dalton – he got the boot). Series veteran Judi Dench returns as does John Cleese as the new Q, who sometimes feels like he had more to do in these games than he ever did in his brief film appearances. A mo-capped Willem Dafoe (!) plays Bond’s nemesis Nikolai Diavolo with enough vim and vigour to rival the best of the onscreen baddies – he’s undoubtedly the very best of a fairly faceless bunch of game antagonists.
Other levels see you piloting explosive robot spiders through underground soviet bases and rappelling down the sides of buildings while dodging bazooka fire…it’s the only game I’ve ever played that truly has the breathtaking, breakneck feel of a bonkers Roger Moore Bond movie like The Spy Who Loved Me. With its bananas nanotech plot, invisibility suits and the aforementioned Q-spiders the game pushes the franchise farther into true science fiction than it’s ever been (Die Another Day undoubtedly providing this creative licence) but strangely, it works because it’s a video game and not a film. I really love the idea of John Cleese sitting in a recording booth shouting about shield generators for £1,000 a sentence.
Clever level design and enemy placement means you must carefully assess the situation, using a combination of gadgets, fists, guns and wits (as well as carefully rationed armour drops and limited ammo) to outsmart your enemies. It’s a similar feeling to having to think like Batman in the Arkham games. The enemy AI is prehistoric and the controls are a bit creaky by 2020 standards – lock-on aiming is mandatory and stiff, which can lead to some clumsy encounters with enemies who come around corners at precisely the wrong moment, leaving you powerless to shoot someone at point blank range…this is a small complaint though. For a seventeen year-old game, it holds up remarkably well.
Jettisoning the first-person obsession of its predecessors, EoN finally allows the player to see 007 in the frame, allowing for a greater diversity of gameplay, encompassing shooting, cover, stealth, driving (cars, helicopters, motorbikes and a tank) and the kind of madcap stunts you’d expect from a Bond movie. Good old Pierce finally gave the full martini – lending his luscious likeness and voracious voice work in what would ultimately be his final dalliance with Double O duty (as a year or so later – to paraphrase Timothy Dalton – he got the boot). Series veteran Judi Dench returns as does John Cleese as the new Q, who sometimes feels like he had more to do in these games than he ever did in his brief film appearances. A mo-capped Willem Dafoe (!) plays Bond’s nemesis Nikolai Diavolo with enough vim and vigour to rival the best of the onscreen baddies – he’s undoubtedly the very best of a fairly faceless bunch of game antagonists.
Other levels see you piloting explosive robot spiders through underground soviet bases and rappelling down the sides of buildings while dodging bazooka fire…it’s the only game I’ve ever played that truly has the breathtaking, breakneck feel of a bonkers Roger Moore Bond movie like The Spy Who Loved Me. With its bananas nanotech plot, invisibility suits and the aforementioned Q-spiders the game pushes the franchise farther into true science fiction than it’s ever been (Die Another Day undoubtedly providing this creative licence) but strangely, it works because it’s a video game and not a film. I really love the idea of John Cleese sitting in a recording booth shouting about shield generators for £1,000 a sentence.
Clever level design and enemy placement means you must carefully assess the situation, using a combination of gadgets, fists, guns and wits (as well as carefully rationed armour drops and limited ammo) to outsmart your enemies. It’s a similar feeling to having to think like Batman in the Arkham games. The enemy AI is prehistoric and the controls are a bit creaky by 2020 standards – lock-on aiming is mandatory and stiff, which can lead to some clumsy encounters with enemies who come around corners at precisely the wrong moment, leaving you powerless to shoot someone at point blank range…this is a small complaint though. For a seventeen year-old game, it holds up remarkably well.
Surprisingly solid gameplay mechanics make up for a disappointingly dull presentation and a paint-by-numbers story. This may actually be the most fun game where you can play as Superman. I love that you can unlock alternate costumes including the mulleted Superman from 90s comics (complete with mullet physics!).
It's just such a drag that you can't choose who you play as throughout the game (unlike the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games) and that you're beholden to whoever the mediocre campaign casts as your protagonist. It gets so boring bonking giant bees over the head as Zatanna when you want to get back to playing as Superman or the Flash.
Still, a lot of potential and fun to be had.
It's just such a drag that you can't choose who you play as throughout the game (unlike the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games) and that you're beholden to whoever the mediocre campaign casts as your protagonist. It gets so boring bonking giant bees over the head as Zatanna when you want to get back to playing as Superman or the Flash.
Still, a lot of potential and fun to be had.
The best Star Wars game and the best hero's journey/superhero game ever made. The only thing I've ever experienced that actually makes you feel like a jedi. My favourite game of all time.
Paint by numbers AAA game that is a punishingly difficult without any real reward ("New Game Plus" doesn't give you your full range of abilities and all it lets you do is wear some dumb parkas you unlocked). It's nice being able to wander around lavish environments and take photos and the robot is cute, but it's all a bit boring.
2015
Barrelled through while recovering from Covid. Delightfully charming indie game with a fun tongue in cheek story that blurs the lines between fiction and reality. The difficulty spike kicked in rather suddenly and there's no way to back and grind so you're stuck between Gitting Gud or bringing down the difficulty setting which was a bit annoying. Still loads of fun though and kind of the best Power Rangers RPG we're likely to get.
2018
Fun if overwrought and melodramatic story with too many half-baked sidequest ideas vying for attention. The core mechanics are rock solid though and the music and ambience is peaceful enough that it's absolutely worth the time to finish the campaign.
The REAL fun is in the map editor though. Some of the fan maps are incredible.
The REAL fun is in the map editor though. Some of the fan maps are incredible.
Has absolutely no right to be as fun as it is. One of the best tournament fighters I've ever played and the best cross-play support I've ever experienced in ANY game. If you have any nostalgia for the early 90s at all, you must play this.
Deducting a point from a perfect score because the base game roster is quite bare, but for a budget title it's still worth the full price for the fighting mechanics alone.
Deducting a point from a perfect score because the base game roster is quite bare, but for a budget title it's still worth the full price for the fighting mechanics alone.
Perfectly solid sequel expansion that feels similar enough to the first game to be familiar but different and new enough to be refreshing. The electricity powers are great, although by the end of the game they have become more important to the game and the story than any of Miles' spider-powers...does he even need to be Spider-Man when he could be ElectroBoy?
The reskin of NYC is spectacular - Harlem is bursting with life and culture and some real love has gone into making it feel alive. Unfortunate then that the story is rife with contemporary superhero clichés - an evil corporation, estranged childhood friends, a mentor gone on vacation. Worst of all is how flat and featureless Miles is as a protagonist. He's everyone's best friend and a stalwart citizen who never shows a moment of selfishness or humanity at all...unlike the brilliantly complex movie version, he's just a bit of boring Peter 2.0.
Still though, minor flaws in a thoroughly charming game. People were so angry that this was a full price game with a story mode of just 5 or so hours...brevity is the soul of wit imo.
The reskin of NYC is spectacular - Harlem is bursting with life and culture and some real love has gone into making it feel alive. Unfortunate then that the story is rife with contemporary superhero clichés - an evil corporation, estranged childhood friends, a mentor gone on vacation. Worst of all is how flat and featureless Miles is as a protagonist. He's everyone's best friend and a stalwart citizen who never shows a moment of selfishness or humanity at all...unlike the brilliantly complex movie version, he's just a bit of boring Peter 2.0.
Still though, minor flaws in a thoroughly charming game. People were so angry that this was a full price game with a story mode of just 5 or so hours...brevity is the soul of wit imo.
2018
I have played a grand total of 9 Spider-Man games over the course of my life, from the humble beginnings of the 3D era on the PSOne, through the highs and lows of the Raimi movie-inspired games, some dalliances with the comic-inspired games (Ultimate, Web of Shadows) and the nadir of the Beenox games (Amazing Spider-Man 2...ugh...). Many of these games are among my favourite games of all time.
I can't believe it, but this is the best one ever. I am so high, I can hear Heaven. But Heaven don't hear me.
I can't believe it, but this is the best one ever. I am so high, I can hear Heaven. But Heaven don't hear me.