Recent reviews by Brainiac

Played on a recommendation from one of my best friends only to be blown away by one of the best horror FPS blends I've played in a long time. Through creative usage of every tool given to the player, along with some unconventional ones, each level offers fun and intuitive puzzles while delivering a very heartfelt narrative. Definitely worth checking out even at full price.

Bought this solely for Shadow's side and walked away thoroughly satisfied.

BOW YOUR HEADS LOW ALL HAIL SHADOW

I'm afraid it's peak.

Still can't play the game thanks to a CTD that's been in the game since the first ACTUAL network test. It's a shame because training simulations all work, I just can't play real matches.

How did you make it worse?

Please stop putting me in the timeout box.

Please play this game.

Ok yeah I get it, funny radical apocalypse hehe.

But honestly, the game needs some work done. Balance is all over the place and a significant amount of the 'positive' mutations are actually just straight up useless.

Game also just rubs me the wrong way. "LOL GODS A WOMAN"

First off, I am incredibly biased towards this game thanks to my reverence towards the games HOVER is inspired by. JSRF remake when?

Putting that aside, should you give HOVER a chance? It depends on what you want out of a game. Yes that's a bit of a cop out and although I am recommending HOVER, there are some issues people might find off-putting. The narrative is very loosely held together, and the world is self-indulgent in what its creators enjoy. There are numerous references littered about on top of face-level jokes about 'sheep' and an unthinking public. I know how easily some people can be turned off of a game for a joke they deem tasteless or too cringe, so think of this as a word of warning.

But when you get down to it, and look at the game itself, HOVER is almost everything I've wanted in a game for the longest time. Hideki Naganuma is of course the headliner for the game's soundtrack, but the good beats don't stop at him, racing through the Sewers while 'Surpassing Oneself' blasted in my head was an almost decadent experience for me, the DARKGAMER's race keeping me up well past midnight as I attempted it with a poorly kitted character. And speaking of characters, you have a nice selection of specialists and all-rounders to choose from, who you can then splash with a bit of colors to make them yours. (Though I will admit, I am very sour about being unable to use certain characters who are locked behind Kickstarter backer exclusivity. But good on Fusty for keeping their promise, and rewarding those who believed in them.)

One caveat is that the game's "chip" system might be a bit strange, or unforgiving for some. Essentially you need to level a character through using them in activities, before plugging in items that you cannot get back. Of course you can replace them, and by the end of the game you should have a vast storage of gleaming red chips, but the initial hike can feel excruciating.

However, once you get past that obstacle, once you have a character fully built, it is an utter treat to fly about the game's world. By grinding, sliding on the ground, and doing tricks, you fill up the "Hoverheat" meter, boosting your character to even greater speeds and heights. A robust parkour system lets you climb anything in sight, not to mention the reset button that saves you from any untimely falls, and the "bounce" mechanic letting you simply fly back up to where you were (though you may need to learn the timing). I've spent hours scouring the city streets, looking for missing items or posters to vandalize. And all of this works beautifully in the games primary activities, races and a frantic "Rocket League"-esque basketball mode called Gameball.

Oh, and another thing. The game works in first person and third person. You can even look down and see your feet. Game of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ year. Every year.

AND ANOTHER ANOTHER THING, IT HAS AN ALWAYS ONLINE HUB WORLD WHERE YOU CAN JUST CHILL AND RACE WITH PEOPLE AND EVEN SET UP CUSTOM RACES. HOW ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ COOL IS THAT? LIKE BRUH, ITS MMO JSRF.

Actually unplayable thanks to the most recent patch.