Recent reviews by 188man

A fantastic sequel filled with new powers, toys, collectibles and creatures to Kill. Expect a larger emphasis on tactics and platforming with a greater dose of difficulty this time around. Make no mistake this is a difficult game, DIE, LEARN, WIN - dark souls style. Speedy WASD movement and quick thinking with be your greatest ally.

Side Note: Remember doom fans, this is a sequel, not a glorified map pack. This is a great evolution for the series.

ID software does it again, huzzah!
9/10

– Hitman 2 Gold edition + Legacy maps --

Hitman 2 is another entry in the beloved and quite often criticized series of games of which I'm a big fan of. This iteration continues the plot and storyline of the previous game (Hitman 2016) as well as the game play. In fact the game itself could hardly be called a sequel in the traditional sense, but more of a expansion/map pack. However by no means is this bad, seeing how the game of 2016 was such an incredible experience.

Hitman 2 excels in the fact that you have great freedom in large and somewhat intimidating maps, furthermore the player is given many tools and options in preparation and planning in execution of the mission. You get around 12 missions in total if you decide to get everything via DLC, along with a huge host of 'Elusive missions' which are side missions with differing parameters, although the targets are now completely different.

Your progress in the game will be swift, nonetheless you'll find yourself playing levels you've completed before; you experience this a lot. Levels are constructed for several re-try's; this is incentivized with valuable items in the form of 'unlocks' which can be obtained through leveling up your 'Mastery level'.

The missions themselves play out like you expect, that is if you're a veteran of the series. To elaborate for newcomers; to put it simply you get objectives in each mission to assassinate a single target or more. You must find a way to kill the target silently without alerting the authorities and escape. This is the ethos of the Hitman games.

The graphics are more or less the same as the previous game which isn't bad, albeit very simple in design. This is possibly intentional, seeing that most if not all levels are quite massive in scale and at times filled with literally hundreds of characters and objects. Personally I think the visual aspects of the title is not state of the art, but it is acceptable by today's standards.

I could clarify a lot more on what makes this game great but I'll leave that to you the player.

9/10 - Near perfect game in the genre and the franchise; fantastic missions and level design; great variety and options given to the player, a sandbox of death to relish and enjoy with repeat playing.

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188man Reviews Resident Evil 2 (2019)

-Spoiler free review--

I will preface my review by saying that I have completed the first scenario with leon on hardcore difficulty and I'm playing Claire's B campaign now on standard.

--UPDATE: 2/1/2019 - I've completed both scenarios, I've also updated the review in general.

--Positive--

First of all, I was a huge fan of the original game as well as the other golden age era Resident Evil titles such as Resident evil 1 and 3. I played the franchise from it's conception and for the longest time I was more or less devoid of any hope for this series returning to greatness. I can safely say that my prayers have been answered, this game is excellent and is mostly faithful to the original.

Make no mistake this is Resident evil 2 despite having a RE4 style camera view and aiming mechanic, which I might add at first was a disappointment for I being probably the biggest advocate of the fixed camera angles and controls. The essence is intact with even the same signature rhythm of gameplay that the older entries are renowned for. The scares are still there, albeit in very different places compared to the original, which makes going through this title even more jarring, even if you're a veteran of survival horror games.
Survival tactics and strategy has returned yet again and is in full force, you have to plan ahead for most engagements if you want to survive. Provisions are low in this game so you'll have to conserve and only attack when you must otherwise you'll be faced with a very hard game indeed.

The puzzles have come back in style and are a nice addition to the game, although if you're not aware of how many challenges their are, you might get frustrated. Personally I love puzzles It's not a problem for me, it's what I come to expect playing many survival horror games. I like what they did with the creatures in this game, they're very aggressive and tough, even your lowly zombie is a much greater threat in this game compared to the original iteration, so be advised.

The Tyrant aka Mr. X who was the hulking trench coat wearing terminator type character who stalked you through Resident Evil 2 B scenario, makes a come back and is also enhanced. This monster follows you almost everywhere this time and is a far deadlier opponent compared to the original beast, which really does remind me of Nemesis from Resident Evil 3. The environments are richly detailed and are full of dread with a bespoke frightening quality, luckily there is a good variety of places to venture, seeing that backtracking and exploration is a major part of this game.

Their are no loading screens in this game besides the one that starts the new game, which is amazing seeing how big this game is. This helps the experience immensely, I'm very impressed. The graphics are very nice although not the best I've seen but very good nonetheless, it's not an issue with me, however you might want to upgrade your PC if I were you.

The controls handle very nicely considering I'm using a mouse and keyboard. By default you have the WASD keys for movement with space and auxiliary buttons like E and F for other tasks. The mouse is used for most interactions as well as shooting, it's very easy to grasp and master, soon enough you'll be zipping around the police station and shooting like a gunslinger. If you use the controller it's probably easier, both options are equally good.

To end the positive aspects I'll touch on the fact this game is best played on 'hardcore' difficulty being the hardest settings and considering the nature of the game, it's my preferred setting.

--Negative--

Their are small grievances, first of all you'll understand quickly when you play it, it's not a case of difference that might concern you, it's primarily what the developers replaced or taken out completely. Some creatures have been affected by this issue, please be aware of that. Environments that were present in the original game are no longer there, also the 'zap system' has been removed.

Some cut scenes from the first iteration are not here and the direction of the scenes in general lack that iconic flair that the original game had. Voice acting however crude and campy it was in the original entry, is redone here but again lacks that memorable cheese that the original game featured so very well, although that might be down to personal preference.

--Overall--

What we have here is probably the best Resident Evil title in many years and I hope future titles will be as good if not better, we can all hope. Bring on Resident evil 3 capcom!

RATING: 9.5/10 – A near perfect remake, a brilliant game filled with thrills and chills, a complete reinvention of the survival horror genre and revitalization of the franchise. Well done to the developers, you've honored the series as well as the fans, huzzah.

This game is amazing, the battles are fun and exciting with an emphasis on rock-paper-scissors gameplay. The campaign gameplay is distinct for every faction and each faction has a unique roster of units. The game is divided into a turn-based campaign mode and a real-time battle mode. You get 5 factions in the base game or 9 if you include in DLC races which will get you hundreds of hours of gameplay.

The modding community is doing wonderful work for this game, whether you like reskins, overhauls or slight changes, it's all on the steam workshop. The game runs very nice on my PC and very rarely crashes, but make no mistake you need a very good PC to play it, so please consult websites for benchmarks and recommended specifications.
If theirs any negatives it's only that this game with suck a lot of time out of your day and the gameplay might seem a bit simpler to total war veterans or a bit jarring for total war newcomers.

In regards to DLC, it's apparent that some people find that CA is ripping them off somehow, were the dreaded words "it should of been in the game" are uttered in every not recommended review. DLC is optional and the base game has plenty of content, here is an idea: why don't you play through all of the races in the game through and through, then make your mind up whether to buy a DLC race and ask yourself if it is worth it. If you completed all the races up to that point, don't you think the game is good already if you made it that far?

Robert Murray reviews:

Mother Russia Bleeds

---Spoilerless Review---


Myself being an avid player of beat'em ups throughout the years, i was all too happy to see a new one released recently, seeing that the genre as been very much dead in recent memory. Prior to buying the game i didn't expect much, after all coming from the excellent streets of rage remake, the bar was set very high so i proceeded cautiously when buying it.

Firstly i noticed when looking at the video options i noticed a CRT filter which is a nice touch, it's obviously a nod to the 90's kids when the beat'em up genre was at it's zenith. Their is options for resolutions and gamma control, other than that their isn't anything much else with the graphics options which isn't a problem, especially for a sprite based game.

-Control-

The control system is horribly bad let me explain, on the steam page it says 'full controller support' which inevitably means 'Xbox360 controller only' for most new games, and this game is no exception. You can only use the Xbox360 controllers effectively with this game so forget about using 3rd party or old controllers, i have SNES and Megadrive style controllers but i can't use them for that simple reason which is ridiculous.

The good news is that you can use the keyboard and remap the keys to whatever configuration you want. A good way around this is to get software like 'joytokey' that allows you to use your controllers as a keyboard, so at least you have that if you're desperate to use your old controllers. Why can't modern games have a menu and remap system for whatever device you have connected, so that way you can use practically any controller, most emulators have this feature, beat's me (no pun intended)

-Gameplay-

When you start the game you have an option to play through the story or play in a arena survival mode. When you pick either one you are greeted with the character select screen and you have a choice of four characters. Like most if not all beat'em ups each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, in comparison it's very much like streets of rage, with Sergei being a well-rounded fighter like Axel and Ivan being very strong like max.

The game is surprisingly story heavy for a beat'em up and the visuals are quite excellent, it reminds me of Hotline Miami, Nuclear Throne or Not A Hero, although the game could used an upscale filter like 2XSAL to make it a bit more smoother in my opinion. The tone and atmosphere is very mature and is defiantly NOT suited for children, mainly because it features strong language, blood and gore, male/female nudity, sex and other mature themes.

The combat is solid for the most part, you have punch, kick and grab buttons for your main attacks and also a jump button for an aerial strike or grab. These attacks can be used separately or in quick succession which racks up more points if you successfully do an intricate combination. Their is also a directional element to the grabbing and striking that allows you to pull off specific moves either from pressing up, down or left/right on the directional pad.

Ground attacks are also an option that allow you to commit light and strong strikes to your opponent. Health comes in the form of an injection that you manually use when your health is low though more can be obtained by leeching life essence from convulsing enemies lying on the ground, your injection meter can also used to fuel your berserk mode, this feature allows you to go into a frenzy and pull off fatality's or just enhanced strikes that sends your opponents flying.

The enemy's usually come in their usual variety like sliders, aerial attackers, grabbers and anti-air specialists, these keep you on your heels for every fight and it can be very difficult when you fight many different types at once. The best strategy is not to get swarmed and keep your distance from the crowd of enemies so you can attack from the outside.

If their is anything i don't like about the combat system it's the manual grabbing and a lack of a back-attack or a block button, these features were quite common in the old beat'em ups so i hope they add them in the future.


-Overall-

Overall it's an excellent beat'em up which is high praise believe me, especially coming from the excellent streets of rage remake and final fight gold games. I was quite impressed with this game but i cannot ignore the flaws, nonetheless a very enjoyable beat'em up even if it is very difficult at times.


8/10 Punches

This is a great light gun game, and i say "light gun" because it's essential for enjoying this game to the full. I love light gun games, games such as time crisis, house of the dead and virtua cop were among some of my favorite games period and i feel that this genre has been left out in the cold for far too long.

This game plays very much like virtua cop, were it focuses on accuracy and precision rather than a duck and cover mechanic like in time crisis. Head shots are key to getting combos quickly and timing your reload is paramount to survival. Often you'll be met with on screen notifications showing you where to swipe the screen, these come individually, in quick succession or continuous like spinning a valve to open a gate. You can only carry two weapons which is a shame, though you won't need a lot of weapons anyway. The style of the game reminds me of house of the dead overkill, which had a grind house feel to it. So for the most part the game doesn't take itself seriously and perhaps you shouldn't either.

If you like light gun games, do yourself a favor, get this game and a aimtrak light gun http://www.ultimarc.com/store/section.php?xSec=7 you won't regret it, and please don't use a mouse and keyboard or xbox controller you'll only be experiencing a fraction of the fun if you do so.

Resident Evil HD is a wonderful throwback to the franchises golden age, with fixed camera angles, heavy exploration, stand and shoot mechanics and a inventory system which can put off newer fans to the series, nonetheless i being an old fan who has played all of the Res games up to Resident Evil 5, I feel right at home with this style of Resident Evil.

Their is no significant difference from the Gamecube version however the upgraded graphics and new control scheme surprisingly make the game feel fresh to me although the new controls are rough around the edges and desperately need patches, so if I was you I would just stick to the old resident evil control scheme, other than that the game is identical to the Gamecube version not to say that's a bad thing infact it's a great thing.

9/10