I am in awe. In all of my time playing videogames I thought I had seen everything from the surreal to the technically executed masterpieces. All of them pale in comparison to the genius of Better Call Saul DS. Every possible emotion a videogame can evoke and more are expertly weaved into this 100 hour epic, utilising every technique and technology thus developed for videogames in the short time our medium has existed. Normally I would find this to be too long but somehow BCS continues to reinvent itself enough every hour that I almost couldnt believe it had been that long after finishing, after which I had to take painkillers cause the emotional blow of no longer playing it almost meant the end of me.

From the mode 7 sprite rotation level at the Mesa Verde offices trying to get the Papers to Wachtell to the Fixed Camera survival horror section in Chuck's House and most impressively the open world sandbox of the desert inspired by Breath Of The Wild where you must continually drink piss until you are ready to face Mike Erhmantraut. I especially enjoyed the Wario Ware inspired Chicanery section where you must use the DS Mic and stylus touchscreen simultaneously to plant the battery on Chuck's person before the Chicanery setpiece. You'd think so many mechanics and gamemodes would make it feel bloated and unfocused but somehow it all works seamlessly together, a testament to its design brilliance

If there's any flaw I would say perhaps its the fact that it has made conventional videogames very boring in comparison. BCS has finally solved the "Detective Game Problem" of making sure you understand everything the game throws at you during the investigation sequences and cant cheese them. Its nothing short of genius. It does however mean all my favourite Detective games have become obsolete ; I have lowered my score of Ace Attorney and Obra Dinn retroactively to one star.

Better Call Saul DS is a tour de force of the medium that will redefine how we think about Videogames for decades to come and I am glad to be alive at the time of its initial release to the world. It has the potential to finally convince the skeptics of Videogames' status as art. I showed this to my uncle who hates videogames and the mere touch of the DS with the game up and running killed him instantly, exploding into a shower of viscera and then it Fired a giant blue beam that travelled around the world and resurrected Roger Ebert just so it could kill him again. I weep, because there will never be a game like Better Call Saul again.

As of this review, I have completed every act that's been released as of now, so everything up to and including Act II: Imperfect Hatred.

Ultrakill is by far the best fps that I have ever played. Movement mechanics are masterfully crafted. If you stop for even a second, you'll likely get your teeth kicked in, and I wouldn't have it any other way, especially when zipping around the map feels buttery smooth.

Each weapon has its own unique mechanics and functions; you'll never stick to one individual gun for very long, partially because certain guns shred through certain enemies and partially because they are all so damn fun to use. Even the weapons that I don't typically enjoy using in other fps are a joy to use in Ultrakill. The starter pistol, a weapon that feels reminiscent of the starter pistol in Doom (2016), is a mainstay of your arsenal throughout the game; it never falls behind the other weapons in terms of effectiveness or fun. Every shot feels weighty and awesome, thanks in large part to the visuals and sound design. The music and sound effects get your blood pumping, and the stylized retro visuals are wonderful to look at.

In short, this game fucks, and I'll be patiently awaiting the release of the third and final act. I'll just have to chase a new high score in Cybergrind to kill time.

I also made a review of this game on my YouTube channel. If you'd like, you can check that out with the link below.
https://youtu.be/SL311lVncCY

Edit (LAYER 7): If cooking was a crime, each and every member of New Blood Interactive would be given the death penalty.

Seriously one of the best FPS games that I have ever played. Incredible fluid and smooth gunplay with a variety of enemy types that keep the game feeling like a bullet hell/fps hybrid makes the game feel so damn responsive and gratifying. There is a very large skill ceiling here for those who really want to push difficulty and score, and trust me, that ♥♥♥♥ is fun as ♥♥♥♥. Let us not forget about the music. Whoever composed this game, needs head bro because every single song that played during gameplay was not only amazing and varied, but it lent to the themes of the levels and battles in a way that helps the game become even more immersive.

A solid and easy 10/10. If you like Turok, Half-Life, Quake, Doom, Wolfenstein and Amid Evil, you will ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love this game.

that review was LYING

this is an ultrakill clone

bleh!

If you see this as an ultrakill clone, I think you need your eyes checked. It is a brutally unfair and reductive way of looking at this game. I get it, Ultrakill is your messiah but put down the pitchfork for literally a second and give this game an honest look and try and see what it attempts to innovate on. Believe it or not, more than one game can aim for the same idea.

What Reaver offers me that ultrakill doesn't is the feeling of pure madness in its movement as well as the abilities being catered to shred mobs of enemies. You feel like a flea hopping around the walls with your nearly uncapped movement, and you can just be utterly insane with it. It's so incredibly fast paced that Ultrakill, no, Dusk even feels sluggish to me now. The game offers an adrenaline rush that not many games can match up to.

Its art style is fun with its neon look. Not many people may like it, but at least for me I found it to be colourful and full of whimsy.

The weapons are also all really nice. I think the red revolver is the weakest link here, but every weapon so far has such unique ways of utility. The tech itself also feels very self explanatory. One of Ultrakill's weaknesses in my opinion is that it does not convey ideas very well to the player. You're often left to figure out the niches of a weapon yourself, and while I enjoy that in premise, the execution leaves to be desired when there are plenty of mechanics that you just can't even begin to understand, usually unless someone else told you about it. There's nothing that really tells you or gives you a hint that you can do certain cool things. I don't need hand holdy tutorials, but at least a room that could suggest to how you would go about learning a new ability would be appreciated. This game works much like a fighting game with combos, in a way. "You have your tools, you have your inputs clear as day, how do you use them?", kinda thing.

I think Reaver is a lovely adrenaline rush of a game, easily my favourite singleplayer shooter. I cannot wait for the full game to drop, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for this one.