I haven't played Paper Jam yet, but I've played all the other games and this is by far the worst one.

For starters, the combat is an overall downgrade compared to Bowser's Inside Story (which I'll be referring to as BiS from now on, because it'll be my biggest point of reference for my critiques). One of the aspects about BiS I enjoyed the most was that it was more than just a turn based rpg, you had to put in a lot of effort into executing your various moves, and it was exhilarating, especially with the challenge medal. But in Dream Team, your attacks, while satisfying, aren't hard to execute at all, with the exception of a couple of Bros attacks near the end of the game.

There are some aspects about the combat that make it distinct, the 3D counter-attacks is probably the only thing I can say this game has over the other games; it adds a lot more to the combat and keeps you on your toes, that was the kind of innovation this game needed. However, that leads into my next point about the inconsistent enemy design. While M&L hasn't had the best enemy design, a lot of them were really fun to fight against, especially in BiS. In Dream Team, it feels like they played darts whilst blindfolded whenever making a new enemy, there were parts of this game I thoroughly enjoyed, and other parts that I hated and became a bore, it was so strange coming from BiS which had incredibly good enemy design; there's probably only 2 or 3 enemies I didn't look forward to fighting in that game.

But all of this pales in comparison to this game's biggest sin: the pacing. Once again, M&L hasn't had the best track record with pacing, there has consistently been unskippable cutscenes alongside ham-fisted tutorials, but these never took too long to skip through. In dream team however, the first 6 or so hours of the game is completely annihilated in terms of pacing. You consistently have control stripped away from you to watch either an absolutely boring cutscene or a tutorial on a mechanic you've been using for the entire series. It's genuinely awful, those beginning hours is genuinely some of the most boredom I've ever had whilst playing a game.

From this alone, it's extremely hard to recommend the game at all; but issues still arise, even disregarding all of that. The game just doesn't look good, and I don't mean it in the "muh graphics" way, the art design is just incredibly uninspired. There were a few occasions where it got interesting, like in the forest later on in the game, and the dream world was overall decent, but for most of the game, you're travelling through locals that have plagued the main Mario series since New Super Mario Bros on the DS.

But what truly seals the deal with this game is the difficulty. At times, it's genuinely hard, and you have to put a lot of effort into dodging some of the attacks, but for a lot of the game, it's mind-numbingly easy. This was also an issue with most of the M&L games, but in this game, it's even worse. Superstar Saga may have been easy but that was the first game in the franchise, and we now have a remake that increases the difficulty, so this game didn't deserve to be easy then, and still doesn't now.

I would mention how the Giant Battles are improved from BiS, but that isn't saying much considering that they're pure spectacle, but credit where credit is due, that was basically the only thing keeping me going through this game. This is a divisive entry in the series, so if you really are interested in it, go ahead and play it, but this game has far too many failings for me to fully recommend. If you want a good start to M&L, just play the Superstar Saga remake, it's basically everything this game should've been. Otherwise, stay well away from this game.

This game... is pretty decent. The atmosphere is rich and the core Pikmin gameplay is here, making this game a joy to play. However, it hasn't aged well.

The basic gameplay of Pikmin is simple: Use your Pikmin to retrieve your ship parts and return home. It's essentially just an RTS game for kids, but it distinguishes itself with two elements:
1. Pikmin are very easy to lose and reproduce.
2. You have a limited amount of days to collect your ship parts.

This gives this game a unique identity in the RTS scene, something that it would definitely need, considering the competition it would be going against. Once again, it is a very simple game, but I think that adds to its charm, sort of like a comfort game. Even if you extend your play time and play through all 30 days, you'll still only have a game that's roughly 6-7 hours long, I managed to finish it in a day, though that may be because I was already familiar with how Pikmin works through Pikmin 3.

I've sung the game's praises so far but I did mention at the beginning that this game hasn't aged well, so I think it would be best to cover it now.

For starters, the collision detection in this game is very off, you'll loose Pikmin simply by having dead enemies or ship parts fall onto the Pikmin, or push them out of bounds, and you never realise where they went until you piece it together. It shouldn't be a massive issue but I encountered it way more than you would expect. Enemies are hard to hit using the rush command, it felt like they weren't taking any damage at all, and it seemed as though throwing Pikmin was the better option, which isn't good considering throwing is slow unless you know a bit of tech.

Secondly, the visuals haven't aged very well. They do have a certain charm to them, but I wouldn't say that it's something to praise. Gamecube era games are in this strange middle-ground for me where the art design is so close to being great, but it just needs that extra bit of fidelity; the Metroid Prime games are a huge culprit of this. If it did have that extra polish, this game would be an atmospheric masterpiece.

That's a major factor as to why I love this game, the music is incredible and builds a terrific atmosphere, that I can just sink into any time. The composer was Hajime Wakai; the name may not be familiar to you, but he has also worked on several Star Fox and Zelda titles, such as Star Fox 64, Wind Waker and Skyward Sword. The man is undoubtedly talented, but I'd say this is his best work, bar none.

All of this makes for a very immersive game that many people can enjoy. It is stressful at times and it does have its technical faults, but it is nonetheless a good game. I would suggest playing it if you get the chance, despite its issues.

Played up until right before the last proper level. This game was a frustrating mess. The sound mechanics were oversimplified, the controls felt awful, the level design took a massive dip in quality and the visual design leaves a lot to be desired. There are some legitimately good parts, and if you do end up playing this game play with a controller because it feels much better, but the previous games do basically everything this game does but 10x better, except for atmosphere, but that's literally it.

The Mario RPGs have undoubtedly had a shaky legacy. While Super Mario RPG (SNES), the first two Paper Mario games and the first and third Mario & Luigi games were critically acclaimed, there have been many entries into the series which have been quite middling, especially as of recent. You can debate whether they are good or not all you like, but it's undeniable there is a market for people who liked those games, and are displeased with the modern entries. There have been games that directly cater to this demographic, and probably the most notable of these is Bug Fables.

From the get go, I have to say, there was a ton of heart and passion put into this game. Seriously, just walking around the overworld you can see how many unique character designs there are. It basically never reuses assets even for extremely minor characters. This is absolutely a step up from the newer Paper Mario games, which are content with reusing the same enemies and toads but with "unique" names. It gives the world of Bug Fables a really "lived-in" feel, these are people and they're living their lives separate from the main plot; definitely huge for not only a game, but an indie game at that.

This is a good segue into the world building and general story, which is pretty good. That might not sound like much, but keep in mind, I usually hate video game stories. Relying too much on cliches and heavy handed storytelling, which is expected. It's hard to have a focus on subtle character writing in a medium where taking control away from the consumer is viewed as a bad thing. But Bug Fables manages to mostly avoid this through good use of foreshadowing and a consistent tone; it's a little goofy but it knows when to get serious. It isn't entirely devoid of tropes but it takes the time for them to feel genuine, so I'm fine with it personally. For spoiler reasons, that is all I'll say about the story, so if you want a deeper dive, check out this video by Max Dunevitz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEMGOaOJF0o

However, what a lot of people like about Paper Mario and the Mario RPGs, me included, is the gameplay, and Bug Fables is no slouch, I haven't played TTYD yet, but I'll say this is a step up from Paper Mario 1. You have your action commands alongside the simple to grasp low number stats, you only have 3 party members which are always active, rather than having to switch them out, but it makes up for this with a few unique mechanics. The first one is the Relay mechanic, where you can sacrifice a turn for one party member to give another party member an extra turn, with the caveat of lower damage on the extra turn; it adds a new layer to strategy and the game's enemy design is good enough to incentivise it. Secondly, it also introduces Bros. attacks from the Mario & Luigi series, which take a turn from two party members, and if you use a turn for one party member and then use the attack, the party member will be unable to do anything for the next turn. For the latter portion of the game, it definitely adds some depth to the numerous boss encounters.

Another great addition is having numerous optional bosses. You have the bounties as well as quest specific bosses that are very challenging if you don't understand their mechanics. At a certain point, they do become much easier, but I appreciate the side content, which is another thing I like about this game. The Mario RPGs had great main plots but outside of that, there wasn't much to do. You had the challenge node and a couple of attack based minigames in Bowser's Inside Story, alongside some optional bosses in BiS as well as TTYD, but nothing to write home about. Bug Fables blows all of them out of the water by having a lot of quests, each varying in what you have to do, and they're worth doing too thanks to rewards ranging from just more currency to badges and even entirely new abilities.

So if I've sung its praises so much, why is it only a 4.5/5? Well, the graphics and sound design leave a little to be desired. Now, I'm not a graphics whore, I mostly play older games, but there was a lack of detail which I think could've elevated the areas in this game, considering how competent the worldbuilding is, but to the game's credit, it does have a lot of variety in visuals. The sound design is slightly better off with having a good few tracks, but there are some I don't enjoy as much, and the sound effects aren't that satisfying; these are just nitpicks and they didn't sour my enjoyment of the game too much.

Bug Fables is a great game for those who wanted more of the classic style of Paper Mario, I had a great time with it, and I hate turn based RPGs. It's 20 USD (or just over 15 pounds/euros) on Steam, and it's also on Xbox One, PS4 and Switch, and it definitely earns its price tag. I look forward to whatever Moonsprout Games does next.

I had previously written a shorter review for this but I don't think it illustrated just how fantastic this game is, so here we go.

In the early 2010s, stealth games as we know them were starting to fade into obscurity. A divisive Thief reboot was just around the corner, Hitman and Splinter Cell were going through an identity crisis and Metal Gear was about to be put into the video game graveyard, so the only classic stealth franchise left was Deus Ex, and its revival wasn't universally praised. However, in the shadows of the Xbox Live Arcade, emerged a champion, one that would become a hallmark for 2D stealth.

Mark of the Ninja is one of my favourite games of all time, it is a stealth masterpiece and I recommend it to anyone who wants to get into the genre. It was one of my first games on steam and was one of the best purchases I ever made. I'll try to break it down for you, so for starters:

During development, the main designer, Jamie Cheng, had an epiphany. After many underwhelming playtests, he realised that in order to make this game great he had to apply clarity to every part of the game. In doing so, the team managed to integrate the best parts of 3d stealth into a 2d game. You can only see what the main protagonist would realistically see, so any walls or doors will obstruct your vision and blur out the section that you wouldn't be able to see, which also completely removes any visual on the enemies, with the exception of their footsteps, as the game uses ripples to communicate the sound, more on that later. To balance this, you're able to peer through vents and doors without being detected, on top of also being able to see your enemy's cone of vision, as well as whether you're concealed or not. The game does have a very contrast-y visual design to communicate it, but on top of that, if your character is in shadow, his colours drown out, but if you're in light, all the colours return to him.

The game gives a lot of clarity with its sound mechanics too, as previously mentioned, giving ripple effects to any considerably loud noise, which includes: Running, using your grappling hook, an enemy in distress, noisemakers (who would've guessed), lights that were shattered by a throwing dart, I think you get the idea. The attention to detail in the noise mechanics is incredible, as there are even more subtle details that I haven't discussed.

It cannot be understated how fantastic all of this is, as it clearly communicates everything to the player; if you mess up, it is your fault, and it does feel that way. Enemy AI isn't necessarily smart, but they interact with the world in a way that makes sense; they can see you from a distance if you're in light, but can only see you up close if you're in the dark. If they hear a noise, they will look inside of vents, open doors, look all around with their flashlights, some of the enemies will use flares, and they can take you out in 1 or 2 shots, de-emphasising directly engaging with them. It isn't anywhere near as dynamic as something like MGSV where the enemies change their behaviour over the course of the game according to your playstyle, but it gets the job done.

While all of this is great, what can you do to avoid guards other than simply staying in the dark? That's where the equipment comes in. You have a wide variety of things to choose from, so much that listing all of them would be a waste of time, but in short, you have three things at your disposal: Your outfit, your distraction items and your attack items. The distraction items should be simple enough to grasp, they distract enemies in various different ways, whether that be making noise, blinding enemies, or simply taking out lights without alerting enemies, these will be your primary tools if you prefer ghost runs. Attack items should also make sense, these items will kill or stun enemies from afar and will allow you to use them to lure or terrorise other guards. The outfits make subtle changes to the general mechanics to emphasise different playstyle; you'll unlock these over the course of the game by completing various mission-to-mission challenges or given to you by simply beating the game. There is a hefty amount of depth to all of these mechanics and gives the game a large amount of replay value. Want to constantly scare the shit out of guards? You can! Want to never be seen by a single soul? You can! Want to be a man of honour and never shed any blood? Yes, you can do that too.

On top of all this, the level design is great, I mean, of course it is. Any stealth game worth a damn has good level design. You have multiple pathways that emphasise different strategies, as well as various platforming challenges that keep you occupied when you're not slipping past enemies, ranging from dodging lasers to running through poisonous gas, and the movement feels so good that it all feels very satisfying to overcome.

There are other things to praise the game for, like its competent story and soundtrack, but I think I've illustrated my point well enough; Mark of the Ninja is a masterclass in stealth, and I instantly recommend it to anyone whom needs a stealth itch to scratch. It is available on Steam, Xbox one, Playstation 4, Switch and Linux plus macOS.

Played through the Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii U.

Metroid is a franchise very near and dear to my heart. It's my favourite franchise and one of my favourite things ever (under yogurt and leather jackets) because of its atmosphere, the impeccable level design, the satisfying core gameplay; I could honestly gush about the series for hours at a time, but for now, I'll keep it reserved to the most underrated entry in the series, Metroid Prime 2.

The reception of this game at launched as a resounding "yeah it's good", but to quite a few people, it was a step down from the first Prime game. But, why exactly? There are reason and I'll get into them later, but issues that people had with the first game, including me, were excessive backtracking even for the standards of the series and an uncomfortable control scheme, the latter of which makes a lot of sense considering Prime 1 came out after the first Halo game changed how shooters were played on console.

That's not to say the Metroid Prime games are shooters however, far from it. Anyone who thinks that the Prime game are shooters are looking at it from a surface level perspective; you wouldn't call Ocarina of Time a Character Action game simply because it has a third person camera and you need to use mostly melee weapons, would you? You wouldn't call Mario an action platformer simply because you defeat enemies, right? The main draw of the Prime series is the immersion, something that is present in the 2D games but not on the same level, there are many details that give you a sense of realism that wasn't present at the time, such as raindrops dripping off of Samus' visor, steam clouding your vision at times and being able to see Samus' face if you fire a charged shot close to a wall.

This is all well and good but I would wager that the first Prime game is far from perfect, perhaps even a little overrated; it's a great game, don't get me wrong, and being a good Metroid game already puts you above most of the medium, but elements such as the aforementioned backtracking and controls, on top of boss design that could get tedious after a while and how the game rips a lot of its environments from Super Metroid, it left a little to be desired.

Metroid Prime 2 solves most of these issues, and the Wii port even more so; let's start with controls, in the Wii port, you use the Wii remote to aim, A to shoot and B to jump, you use - to select your visor and + to select your beams, Z to lock onto enemies and C to enter morph ball mode. If you plan on playing this game, I strongly recommend you go into the options and switch around A and B, it's a lot more comfortable if you've played other shooters on the Wii and it makes using Super Missiles much easier. The IR aiming of the Wiimote does wonders for this game, many bosses in the original game required you to clunkily stop moving and aim upwards at awkward angles, which is completely solved by the free look the Wiimote offers. This is also present in the other Prime games via the Prime Trilogy, but I think this game in particular benefits from it. (Pro tip: if you have a different beam/visor selected, you can press - or + respectively to return to the normal visor/beam. Very useful.)

Let's cover the originality of the world next; many people have criticised Prime 2 for looking too dull or same-y. I actually think it makes a lot of sense because of a couple of reasons. For one, these areas are very close together in the context of the world, it wouldn't make logical sense for a desert to be sat right next to a rainforest and volcanic tunnels, unless under some extremely specific circumstances. Prime 2 offers consistency over variety, the colour palette does stay at the same dusty yellow/brown colour for most of the game but I believe it adds to the atmosphere of the game; this is a planet that has been long abandoned by its people, forced to go into stasis to stop some unrelenting, uncaring army from completely eradicating their species. Not to mention, the fact that a lot of the game is so dry adds to the moments where it becomes more visually varied, namely the Sanctuary Fortress.

Another way this game improves on the original is the boss fights, to keep with the momentum of this review, lets use Quadraxis as an example and compare it to the Omega Pirate from the first game. The Omega Pirate is a very "stop and start" kind of boss, which is emblematic of the boss design in Prime 1, you have to draw him into making specific attacks before you damage his weak points, and after that you have to fight some generic enemies before he allows you to damage him. Rinse and repeat, the fight is over. It's engaging, sure, but it feels a lot more like a video game fight rather than an actual fight between two beings. Quadraxis, by comparison, is a very organic fight. You start off by bombing its feet and doing what every single 14 year old does in response to an opinion they don't like and destroy its kneecaps, which may sound boring but Quadraxis is constantly keeping you on your toes by creating shockwaves with its feet, firing lazers and sometimes drawing you in with a whirling attack. After that, you need to use the echo visor to disrupt the single from the main body to the head, which is now detached and flying around, after which you can then cause it to go haywire and bomb its head to destroy it. You're mostly in control of this fight, you're not waiting for the boss to allow you to destroy it for the most part, and the pure spectacle of it brings back the point I made about immersion. Sure, you could do a fight like this in a 2D game, but because you're seeing this through Samus' eyes and you can genuinely get the impression of just how huge it is in comparison to her, there's a reason why this fight is one of the most acclaimed in the entire series.

However, despite me saying all this, this isn't the best part of this game; no, that would be the level design. Maybe this is a hot take, but in my opinion, this game has the best level design in any Metroid game, right next to Dread. Backtracking on a large scale is all but absent from this game, you only need to backtrack within the various areas (with a few exceptions) and it usually doesn't take too long. It's so efficient but it doesn't take away from the world Retro Studios have built up here. A lot of what you explore in the game is made by the Luminoth, so it only makes sense why everything would be so convenient to navigate. This is, ironically, also present within Metroid Dread, as ZDR, the planet you explore in that game, used to house one of the Chozo tribes, the Mawkin, so it makes sense why both of these games are very intuitive when it comes to progression. This makes for near perfect pacing in both games, everything feels like it takes just as long as it needs to and nothing ever overstays its welcome.

So, I've sung the praises of this game pretty highly so far, but why is it only a 4.5/5? Well, it's not the ammo system. A controversial addition to the game, but I think its negligible; I have the same feelings towards it as I do Ashley in Resident Evil 4. It doesn't take away from the game nearly as much as people say it does, but it doesn't particularly add anything either; if you were to remove it and have the new beams function as normal, nothing would change.

No, the one major flaw with this game is the end game fetch quest. You need to collect some keys that were hidden throughout the game and only visible when you had obtained the Dark Visor, which is access after you've defeated the boss of Torvus Bog, also known as two thirds into the game, and on top of that, most of the keys can't be access until you have the Light Suit, which you get after you defeat Quadraxis, the penultimate boss. It does mean you have the opportunity to collect a lot of the items along the way but, in my opinion, that should always be a side objective, and the main reason why you're looking for them, in this context, absolutely sucks.

Metroid Prime 2 is my 3rd favourite Metroid game, right behind Dread and Super. It does so much right, but is just on the edge of perfection. I love the art design, the worldbuilding, the boss fights, the pacing, the characterisation of Samus in this game, it's so stellar, so well built, and yet, despite me saying it's underrated at the beginning of this review, I totally understand why people prefer Prime 1. Prime 1 was a much better experience than it was a game, it was slightly more immersive and the atmosphere was so enchanting; it was special to a lot of people. But, to me, gameplay is what matters most, and I hope if this game gets re-released on the Switch, people can give it another chance. If you want to try it now, it's available on the Wii U through the Metroid Prime Trilogy. See you next mission, bounty hunters.

Over the course of my gaming life I've been on a journey. See, I'm not the biggest fan of "modern shooters", you know the ones, big emphasis on cover, slow movement speed, limited weapon slots, really boring enemies and level design; think the shooters that games like Call of Duty and Gears of War inspired. So, I made it a quest of mine to look for the best modern shooters, the ones that actually have substance and warranted using the aforementioned mechanics. So far I have found 6 of them, you can find them on this list: https://www.backloggd.com/u/mirphy/list/the-only-good-modern-shooters/

From the beginning paragraph, you're probably expecting me to say that Quake 4 is one of those good modern shooters, however, it isn't as simple as that. The game actually combines elements of both boomer shooters and modern shooters, in an amalgamation of ideas and mechanics...

...and it honestly works very well.

I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Quake 1 and 2's singleplayer experiences. Quake 1, while it had good ideas, overall felt like a lesser Doom to me, because it borrows a lot of ideas from that series but also does some things worse, such as level design, enemy usage and tone. No, I am not a fan of Quake's atmosphere. I'm a huge fan of games like Doom 64 and Super Metroid, so I think I have a fairly high standard when it comes to atmosphere, so that may be the reason for it. However, despite that, Quake is still fairly enjoyable, the first episode especially, and while I can't get into its atmosphere, I appreciate the intent and how it gives the game its own identity. Quake 2, on the other hand, suffers from mostly the exact opposite problems in comparison to Quake 1, it's overall a little more polished but the game is even easier than Quake 1, which was already a pretty easy game. Enemy placement is extremely bland, levels merge together and it overall lacks any identity. It's a fun game, I had more fun with it than the first game, but it's just so extremely bland, and is vastly overshadowed by its older sister game.

So safe to say, I was not hyped for Quake 4, I was interested, seeing how it was regarded more as a military shooter and looked upon less fondly, but I was by no means hyped, and oh boy, I was pleasantly surprised when my expectations were subverted, because Quake 4 is representative of everything great about Raven Software, the company who developed it. They are the kings of the 8/10 game, none of their games really push boundaries or revolutionise game design, but they are extremely fun, and have a fair amount of substance and heart. Quake 4 is by no means a perfect game, nor is it the boomer shooters the series is commonly thought of as, but it's such a fun and creative game that I can't help but love it, and I have confidence in saying that it is the best Quake game, or at the very least, my favourite.

The first hour of the game is really what brings it down for most people, including me; it's boring, not challenging at all and probably put a sour taste in the mouths of many Quake fans upon its release. You walk very slowly and are basically forced to use cover against generic hitscan enemies and it sucks; you only have access to 5 weapons at this stage of the game, one of which you only get in the last level before the turning point in this game, and they're underwhelming, to say the least. The grenade launcher is good, and so is the hyperblaster, but the Shotgun and "Machin3" gun feel very unsatisfying to use, so much so that I had to install a mod, it was bother me that much, and it was at this point where I was going to write it off as another boring modern shooter.

However, if you do end up playing this game, power through that section, because right around the corner is the Stroggification cutscene. It's what EVERYONE remembers about the game, and honestly? I think it's way deeper than just being "unnerving". It gives you an insight into how the Strogg are made, they are people, or at least used to be. They're monstrosities, created through the blend of flesh and metal, and they're out to turn everything into that, and this is a good way to flow into one of the highlights of the game: its existential dread. You see, every time you hear about the war going on outside of the battles you're fighting, it's almost always about something bad happening. This is a very grim war, most of the companions you meet end up dying; it's so heavy that even when you finish the game and have destroyed the Strogg's leader and communication network, it doesn't feel like a victory. This game brings back the Makron from Quake 2, and while I usually don't like reviving characters in any story, I think it works here, because if he came back before, he could come back again. The Strogg are a force to be reckoned with, almost a cosmical threat, and it does leave you wondering "Did I really win?", because even after you destroy the Nexus, the fight is still going on.

And boy, is the fighting a lot of fun. Once you become a Strogg, your movement speed is vastly increased, and the arenas, as small as they may be, are built like loops and encourage a more aggressive playstyle. It's helped a lot by the enemy design, which is pretty good. The AI isn't great, but it is pretty competent, and it further emphasises this tactical gameplay. It's no F.E.A.R., but it's damn good, and that's actually a good way to describe the gameplay; it's a combination of Doom and F.E.AR. Enemies can flank you and rush you out from cover, and most of them are projectile based, the few that aren't can be dodged, and you'll need to, because even on the 3rd skill, Lieutenant, they can melt you very quickly.
Edit: I've played through most of the human section on General, the highest skill, and I can confirm Lieutenant is the definitive way to play the game. General Just ups the enemy damage to an absurd amount without changing the AI.

This is on top of stellar weapons, despite my initial criticism; you have your rifle, shotgun, plasma weapon and grenade launcher, as previously stated, but you also have a "nailgun", which can lock onto enemies and do a lot of damage; very useful if your target is moving around a lot. There's also the lighting gun which returns from Quake 1, which is incredibly useful as it can attack multiple enemies, as well as a railgun, a rocket launcher and a BFG-type weapon. Most of the guns have secondary functions which give them added utility, like the rocket launcher having a guiding feature or the rifle having a semi-automatic scoped mode. This is mostly nothing new for the series, but they're all balanced so well that it's still a point of praise, despite being derivative.

A point of criticism for many was the vehicle sections and the two turret sections in the game, however, I actually find that the vehicle sections are a point of praise. The turret sections are boring, and the first one in particular is pretty tedious, I won't argue that, but the vehicle sections offer up some variety to the gameplay, and while their movement isn't perfect, it's definitely not nearly as bad as many people make it out to be. It was so refreshing to go from being so extremely slow to flying across landscapes that I can't bring myself to hate it, and plus, there's only 2 of them in the game, and they aren't that long, so even if you don't like them, they won't be staying for too long.

Despite the clunkiness of the vehicle sections, the game is still very well paced. I wouldn't've minded longer fights with bigger arenas because the combat is so good, it would legitimately make this game even better. It doesn't have as good level design as the highs of Doom, it doesn't have the extremely polished enemy encounters of F.E.AR., hell, if you still dislike this game over the original Quake, I wouldn't blame you. Not everyone is going to like this game, Quake 4 is not the boomer shooter the series is known for being, and it isn't a generic, watered down modern shooter of the present day. But it is a Raven game, a perfectly solid title that offers a fun experience with a decent amount of substance, so much so that I might end up replaying right after I finish this review, which is high praise since I basically never do that nowadays. It's sad that so many games that came out in the late 90s and early 2000s for PC have yet to see the light of day on modern consoles, but for those PC players, I would definitely recommend picking this one up.

After playing this game and most of RE4, I think I just don't like horror action games, or whatever you want to call this oddly specific subgenre. The game isn't "bad" necessarily, but I still don't like it.

The first and biggest issue I have with the game is the core mechanics. They're not bad, they're actually quite fun, but it's a skeleton of a system. It's very clear the limb dismemberment mechanic was put in place because it compliments horror design. You have limited ammo and you have to aim very carefully, of course that's going to create tension, but this game just... doesn't have that. I played all of this game other than the very end on the 2nd highest difficulty (Zealot) and it was incredibly easy to get by. Ammo wasn't plentiful but there was enough so that I didn't have to worry too much about resource management, more so since ammo is so readily available in the stores; because of this, the combat lacks a lot of the tension that comes with a survival horror game, and the game does almost nothing to keep it interesting. It stops introducing new enemies after a while and commits one of the cardinal sins of gaming: the "enemies from before, but more health!" card.

I absolutely hate this. Not only does it make the game's frantic combat come to a crawl, but it's just lazy. Two of the grounded enemies are just "run at you and shoot them before they get to you" type enemies, which gets boring after a while and doesn't help the "enemy but more health" issue, and there's also these annoying as hell acid spitters that slow your movement down. Wanna have a projectile enemy? Sure, go ahead, the game actually has another one, but don't fucking slow me down just because I got blindsided. Your movement options in this game are nonexistent so being superglued to the floor while enemies are running at you isn't exactly fun, so pile this on top of the fact that you have to fight buffed versions later on in the game and you see why I'm so frustrated.

There's very little meaningful variety in this game too, I mean sure, you have a lot of guns but most of them are obsolete because the combat is so simple, you won't need anything other than the plasma cutter and the ripper for the later enemies. I get that this was also an issue people had with many games I like, such as Doom 2016, where you were able to spam the BFG, Super Shotgun and Gauss Cannon and you'd be in the clear, however the difference is that Doom 2016 still had a lot going on besides those guns; almost every weapon had a purpose. In this game, most of the guns do the exact same thing: cut off limbs. And besides, you've probably already put some upgrades on your existing weapons so you're basically gimping yourself if you don't keep using the weapons you were already using.

Earlier I said I played most of this game on Zealot, and that is true, and it was so painfully easy. I don't think I'm the most skilled player in the world, I did beat The Plutonia Experiment on Ultra-Violence and Bowser's inside Story with the Challenge Medal, but I'm well aware of my faults, so this section may be subjective. The only difference from easy is ye old "you take more damage and the enemies take less" deal, and this game absolutely doesn't warrant it. It doesn't add any new decision making to the game which could've been what this game needed. Maybe certain enemies will start swarming you more, or charge you in packs, that certainly would've added some much needed challenge to the game. Instead all it does is make the game slower and even more tedious; the game already lacks variety but now you want to make it even longer?

That leads into my final point which really put the nail in the coffin for this game, because this game is the definition of "outstaying your welcome". I wanted it to end 4 chapters before it did, every time I thought I was at the end it just kept going and going and going and going, to the point where I just turned the difficulty all the way down to easy and blasted through the last section. I'll give this game something, I can see how the final section with the regenerating enemy would be tense, but I don't exactly see it as good for the pacing, since now you're having to defend yourself against the most amount of enemies in the game whilst also running away from an unkillable enemy. It's abysmal in terms of pacing, this game absolutely doesn't deserve to be nearly 10 hours long.

I've tried to give this game and RE4 a chance but, I just really can't get into either of these games. The best way to summarise it is that these games are just survival horror without the horror. With no tension, all it becomes is basic ass resource management that barely even matters considering how ammo is plentiful enough in both games to get by, so it stops trying to be the horror part and fails at the survival part. How people call this game an "action masterpiece" is beyond me.