Recent reviews by Ozymandias

I enjoyed this action-packed, open-world, mass-murder-fest just as much as (if not more than) Far Cry 3. The game play is fun, fast, and (if you want it to be) furious. The gameplay kept me doing every side missions I came across, not because I felt like I needed the $$ or XP, but because they were.. fun!

I only have two relatively minor complaints. The mechanics of the wingsuit are super awkward and it will accidentally kill you (when you're not even trying to use it) more times than you'll even need it in the game. And I hated the Shangri-La mission series. They were a complete departure from the rest of the game. I kept hoping the next would be better, but each was more painfully un-fun than the one before. Thankfully they're optional, so if I ever do a replay I'll know to skip them.

Overall, this game was worth every penny!

If I could give this more thumbs up I would!

FTL is simple to learn, requires strategy to win fights, and each game makes you constantly change your play based on the random weapons and equipment that you may come across. This game is casual enough where you can play for just a battle or two and then save if you want.

This is easily the best sub-$10 game I've ever purchased!

I wanted to like this more than I did. It may not rank high in the fun category, but it certainly is interesting as a piece of art. But, weighing in at around an hour and only $4, I'm okay with that and don't feel like it was time or money wasted. Still, this certainly isn't a game for everyone.

The atmosphere and narration are great, but the gameplay was just... bland and seemingly random for my taste. You float downwards (the main mechanic of the game) until you either get to the bottom or some creature kills you. Creatures zoom in from above, behind, and from every angle and you move VERY slowly, so it seems less a matter of skill than of trying each level a handful of times until you get lucky.

Elite: Dangerous is about 20% game and 80% simulator, but it is still amazingly rich and fun.

First off, I'll warn that there is a steep learning curve, one of the steepest I've seen. If you don't want to smash your monitor out of frustration, take at least an hour or two (literally) to read up or watch videos on basics of how to play. Take some time setting up your flight controls to where you're comfortable.

Once you're up and running smoothly, there will still be things to figure out, but the amazing depth of Elite: Dangerous is perhaps what makes it so addictive. Soon enough you'll be shopping for new ships, upgrading components, and (if you're into such things) you can even tweak your ship's system management to get a few extra ounces of power/efficiency.

Between making profitable freight runs, collecting bounties on pirates, and mining asteroids for precious minerals, you'll probably spend a good amout of time just admiring the beauty of space.

Soon you'll be promising yourself repeatedly that you'll be going to bed right after one more run...

I really wanted to love this game. Really, I did. But instead, I'll likely finish this playthrough and never touch it again. Not bad, but not great.

I'll cut to the chase and say that the main problem is that the turn-based squad combat is missing a few CRITICAL elements to make it tactical. The key missing ingredient is an 'Overwatch' or 'Held Action' mechanic. This alone dumbs down combat significantly. Also conspicuously missing is an option to 'Defend' or 'Hunker Down.' It may not seem like a lot, but what these mean is that most of your squad's actions are... nothing. In XCOM (which admittedly set the bar high) every action is important. If you can't get a squad member into position they can usually do something that feels useful, even if that is Overwatching on the off chance an alien comes barging through. In Hard West there is just a lot of skipping actions, turn after turn, hoping that the enemy AI makes a mistake... because other than sitting in once place, there isn't anything else you can do to prepare for it.

That said, the atmosphere of the game is amazing. The storytelling is great, as is the ambience delivered by the music and graphic styles. The optional objectives really add to the immersion. They let me make choices to match a player's playstyle or to give notably different appriaches to missions. The interface is fairly intuitive, and even though a few mechanics are never explained, they're easy enough to figure out.

It is a shame that the core of the game (the turn based combat) is not as tactical or exciting as other games in the genre.

Overall:
-If you like 'weird west' settings, definitely get this game! Between the art and the narration, it feels like playing in a Deadlands campaign!
-If you like turn-based squad combat, meh, it's certainly not bad for the price, just don't expect an XCOM challenger.

The Park is an excellent horror descent into madness. Even though it only took under two hours to finish, for $10 I enjoyed it more than most horror films I pay about the same to see in a theater.

For the first 20 minutes I found it mediocre. Some things didn't make much sense, required some suspension of disbelief, and at a few points I was at a loss as to where to go. It soon picked up, throwing in a few jump sacres (some cliche, some really well done) and a constantly increasing tension and creepiness. By the end I was on the edge of my seat, engulfed in the story.

The soundtrack and effects did a great job of making the key points of the game really stand out. The visuals were decent, though clearly limited by art budget in places. (C'mon, guys! The haunted house is filled with stationary cardboard cut-outs instead of at least mannequins?)

And as a technical note, I had to put my graphics settings on Low to make the game playable. I'm not sure why, as I haven't had that issue with any other modern games.

But by the end, the attention to detail and the clever storytelling overcame the game's flaws. If you like horror, this one is worth the $10.

Holy crap amazing game! I have been a HUGE fan of the original and this remake is a fully worthy successor!