Recent reviews by DocPaine

Messy, but fun. Literally what it says on the tin - you are a man with a load of debt and worries, and somehow fall into cleaning up crime scenes for a local criminal mastermind. Lots of tools and options to make your cleaning a breeze, mysteries to solve, hidden items to find, and modest replay value for the "100% Completion" person (like me). Worth the purchase, especially if you like mopping up buckets and buckets *AND BUCKETS* of blood. :D Recommended.

Liked "The Flintstones" as a kid, but found the massive number of anachronisms to be jarring and overwhelming? Here's your chance to get your inner caveman on in an environment that's a bit more realistic. Mind you, the game is set well before recorded history... so you can assume there's rather a lot of "looks good/sounds good/probably good" stuff here. The usual Far Cry mechanisms are in place - you have to climb a bunch of radio towers to unlock... no wait, it's all bonfires this go around, your animal buddies are still buddies (AND WHO DOESN'T WANT A SMILODON FOR A PAL!?! HECK YEAH!), and Herk returns and plays to form as The Man Too Dumb To Survive... and yet, here he is in all his prehistoric glory. So off you go - go kill things and take their stuff. Go kill other prehistoric dudes and dudettes and take THEIR stuff. Don't overthink it, just enjoy it.

It's House FLipper, now with twice as much flipping! :D OK, seriously, this is the game that I play to unwind from a day full of stress. Painting, cleaning, organizing, furnishing... it's all good stuff. Only thing I miss in HF2 that was available in HF1 is the larger volume of exterior plants and landscaping options. Miss mowing the yards...

I recommend this game without reservation. Well worth the price, and updates coming out every so often to keep it fresh.

After a long stressful day of taking care of my real house - it's nice to just take a hammer to a wall or two, or paint without messing about with drop cloths, tape, cutting-in, or the rest. After doing all the jobs, I've got enough cash squirreled away to buy properties, clean them up and design as I like, and then sell them on. New updates allow you to swap windows, change staircases, paint ceilings, and more. More content on the way every so often, so it's not getting old any time soon. I highly recommend this game!

I'm a big fan of open-world/sandbox games so I thought I'd give the demo a try. 15 minutes later and I'm downloading the full version...

This is a stellar game from an indie dev shop of just two folks, and boy did they crush it on this title! There's a lot of familiar mechanics (based on the Unity engine so not a bit surprise), so figuring out which end was up didn't take long. Early access so your results may vary, but I've enjoyed my play-through so far and no bugs encountered to date. I'm really looking forward to future updates and seeing where this charming game goes from here!

This is the best thing for rounding off a hugely stressful day (and we've all had so many of those here of late). Power Wash Simulator is such a soothing and relaxing experience - just set up your power washer, choose a nozzle, purchase some detergents (if desired), find something dirty… I mean, really dirty, and … clean it. Sounds simple enough, but there’s a lot of zen to be found here. Watch the dirt wash away, revealing each shiny and clean array in turn.

The developers are working hard on this title, keeping us apprised of changes made and new things on the way, constantly evolving and improving it. Dev log is full of commentary and news. I’ve enjoyed the title so far and love the complex filthy items that need cleaning. And the “commentary” from the customers? That there’s a story being written here makes this title even better. (Seriously, what is going on with that volcano, and what finally happened to the cat?)

I love my mechanical/engineering sims,and this one has a permanent place in my top five.

So, as I type this, I've just finished my first play-through and I find myself a bit overwhelmed. This is a profoundly moving experience. Cinematic in its story and depth. This is a game that you will find hard not to finish in a single go and, like the best movies or books, arrive at the end finding it all too short and wanting to know more... to find out what comes next. Universe building of the first order here.

A short disclaimer: I picked this title up because I finally managed to score an RTX graphics card after over a year's hunting (as most of us have or are) and found this game on a list of RTX-enabled titles. The recommendation was a short paragraph stating technical details about visual effects, while giving nothing of the story away.

I went into this assuming that it would have cool ray-tracing stuff and that's about it.

I was not prepared at all for what this game offers. At all. Amazing visuals that left me stunned, sound effects that were subtle when required and direct when not, and the soundtrack - like the best distillation of Tangerine Dream and Vangelis you could imagine. Soundtrack is available on Steam, and it's very much worth adding it to your cart.

An atmospheric (pun intented) and amazing software experience, and so well worth the price. I heartily recommend this game and look forward eagerly to whatever is next from this team. Absolutely amazing!

It's a great chance to hang out with rustlers, cut-throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con-men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull ♥♥♥♥♥, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, ♥♥♥♥-kickers and Methodists.

And all this before lunchtime.

It's not just your average Oat Opera folks, this is serious fun. Wander about hitting people over the head and taking their stuff. Wander around hitting critters over the head and taking THEIR stuff. Engage in quiet pastoral pursuits, picking flowers and eating them. Occasionally, engage in a brisk round of "The Ol' Number Six*" when you've got time. Great game, must buy, online not as poisonous as That Other Rockstar Title.

(* - The Ol' Number Six is where you go a-ridin' into town, a-whompin' and a-whumpin' every livin' thing that moves within an inch of its life. Except the women folks, of course. We spare the womenfolk because we're Not That Kind Of Desperado, you pervert.)

The best VR title! I'm not usually a big fan of "rhythm games" (like the various "Hero" games -- Guitar Hero, Bongo Hero, Zither Hero, etc. ) Beat Saber's got kick-ass tracks, a huge community of fellow players, and it's a lot of fun to set up for parties (rare nowadays, I know). Worth the price!

Late to the party, as I'm a patient gamer, but well worth the wait. When Hello Games published NMS back in 2016, there was a lot of bad press, putting it mildly. I've definitely benefited from a few years of patching and a few significant updates along the way. Suffice it to say, NMS is an absolute gem of a game in its current polished form. My sincere appreciation to the staff and developers at Hello Games, who keep fixing issues *and* providing new content -- you're the best.