Recent reviews by Tremors Van Zant

Look, it's early access and there's a lot of work left to do, but so far Graven is doing well at what it's setting out to be.

What this game is, is Heretic 3 without being able to get the naming rights to calling the game Heretic. The problem with drawing the Heretic comparison is that many gamers haven't played Heretic 2 to understand why this ultimately feels like Heretic 3. So most people are going to see the Heretic title get thrown around and they're going to think "Okay, this is a boomer shooter that plays somewhat like an updated version of an old DOS classic I'm familiar-ish with." But if you really haven't played Heretic 2 then you're not going to understand how the gameplay of H2 was so drastically different from Heretic, but that this game really makes sense as H3.

The developers are leaning very heavily on this understanding of the evolution of Heretic in order for players to get why this game claims that heritage. In fact, they even go as far as starting the game at a dock (both Heretic 1 and 2 did this) after a Half-Life inspired boat ride, but they also model the health pickups after the blue vials and pink bottles of the originals. I imagine that the full game will include weapons that feel more closely related to Heretic's weapons, even if the models have to remain "inspired"-looking. If that's the case then we will be in for a treat.

Anyways, the game has all the regular problems you expect from an Early Access game and if you're considering buying it now then you need to just accept that it's not a full game. I see negative reviews that I feel aren't entirely fair for a game that's really aiming at a pretty specific audience to fully grasp it's roots and inspirations. So things like wimpy AI or enemy design are both intentional and things that are going to get improved upon over time.

If you have a rough idea of what Heretic 3 probably would have been then this is your game. Just bear in mind that you really have to have played Heretic 2 to understand. If you've heard "Boomer Shooter" get thrown around and are expecting a fairly one-dimensional fast paced shooter that hearkens back to the days of Doom, Doom II, Duke Nukem, Heretic (obviously), et al, then you're probably going to feel let down. Unfortunately, I think you'd be missing out of an otherwise solid experience with that expectation. But, again, if you can see the design vision for this game, you'll love it.

It's like Serious Sam if instead of being Serious he was Silly.

If you're looking for a good four player co-op game with a large amount of depth, get Payday 2. There's a lot of variety in missions, weapons, perks/skills, and content in general. The devs have maintained a fair balance of content released for free, and content that costs between $5 and $7. To the detractors who complain that Overkill originally didn't intend for microtransactions, it turns out the paid-for content has kept the game alive. None of the paid-for content is required, and you can play maps you don't own by joining a server hosting them.

I'd say the price is more than fair at $20 because there's now far more than $20 worth of content. So, get some friends together, and go heisting.

If you want to play music-related games, there are far better games out there. There really doesn't feel like $13 worth of content here, either. Just avoid it.

At first I really wasn't sure whether or not another Solitaire game was necessary considering Solitaire comes with Windows and there didn't seem to be much room for innovation. Turns out that this game is pretty good though. The mechanics of this game are a bit different, you're not building suits but rather collecting cards in ascending or descending order to clear the field. A few other things are tossed in, but thats the core of it, and it's surprisingly fun for what it is. Sure it's not something you spend hours playing, but if you need to waste 20 minutes this game is great.

I honestly can't really think of any real negatives for this game, so if you're looking for a new time waster, get this. Especially if it goes on sale.

It's a great simulator, not a great (or even good) game. Use this for learning unless you're more creative than I.

At its core, this game is the newest, best version of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. In fact, if nothing else, this game will teach you where keys on your keyboard are. It's fun, it's something of a learning device, and it could actually make its way into classrooms as a typing program if the teacher/school board is cool enough. Don't let that sound like this game isn't fun because it is. It's a lot more fun than I was expecting (more aggravating at times too), but it really is surprisingly engaging.

Now, is this a game I'll play a week or a month from now? Maybe not, but I still feel like it's worth recommending. I think it's a great little "play when you're bored" type game, although maybe not something people play obsessively (I've play Half-Life pretty obsessively. If steam had record of ALL the time I've spent on that game you'd understand). essentially, it's more entertaining than those "clicking games" out there now.

Anyways, if you're really unsure, wait until CSD is on sale, but if you want a good game to occupy your time for a few days, it's still definitely worth full price.

My son got lost in a creepy theme park, better ride all the rides!

Actually, for a game that takes a couple hours to beat, it has a pretty decent story. There isn't really a way to lose or die it seems, but it's more about the atmosphere than anything else. I recommend it for a short experience, buy it on sale even though the $13 isn't a bad price for The Park.

I have over 500 games on my account, of all of them I would put this in my top 15 favorites. I'm not finished with the game yet, and I'm not sure how far in I am as I write this (Somewhere right before DUNBAT), but it definitely stands out. So far it isn't as "balls in your face" scary as Amnesia was, but the horror elements definitely round out the experience. In fact, I don't think this game could work as well in any other way, the horror is simply necessary.

The reason the horror aspect is so essential is because of the philosophical nature of the story. This is one of very few games I've played where I think that players should focus on absorbing the story elements and considering them in a serious manner. If anything, SOMA is like reading a paper on the concept of Neuro-copying and philosophical and ethical problems of said topic. And this is where the horror elements comes into play. The idea of being human one moment, and then the next you're essentially an android or computer program is, well, scary. One of the first characters you meet after the introduction is suffering for delusions as a result of his own inability to accept his fate as a robot.

That a game can set out to tackle a near-future issue in such a way that doesn't feel ridiculous or underestimated is fantastic. The moral and ethical ramifications of neuro-copying are well-considered and integrated into the story in a way that makes them feel like a primary goal of the developers. Frictional could have easily relegated the whole philosophical side of the game to flavor text and simply focused on scaring the player, but they didn't. It's at the forefront of the experience and, as a player, if you ignore this aspect of the game you're not going to get nearly as good of an experience.

So, to back up, the horror element of the game (as far as I am) has been more of an existential one rather than a spooky-boo-monster one (Amnesia, for instance). Sure, there are plenty of tense moments, and there are parts that will make a lot of players panic, but those moments aren't the main focus. The puzzle solving has been trimmed back since Amnesia it seems, with puzzles have a solution requiring a bit of exploring instead of carrying items around.

I'm going to cut this short here, there are plenty of other things to talk about, but with Frictional Games at this point the quality is a given. Physics, sound design, graphics, puzzles, etc are all pretty top notch. I haven't experienced any significant bugs or glitches. Let's just say that this game is definitely a contender for GOTY.

Get this on sale. It's very interesting, but too short to warrant $12 when there are other longer games for roughly the same price. It has very interesting visuals, some nice fitting music, and a unique overall style. There isn't much to complain about except that it's sometimes abstract, but I assume that's the point. In general Cylne is enjoyable, just keep in mind it's a unique experience.