Recent reviews by EvaporatedSnake

Pretty good point and click adventure. Puzzles were manageable, though a few take some trail and error. The dialogue is well done and the story is good, but short. Very much a sort of "Twin Peaks/Stranger Things" type setting. Although I feel the pacing and plot threads get rushed towards the end. Definitely pick it up if you're a point n click fan. Hopefully we get a sequel at some point. Kathy rain is an interesting character and I'd like to see more of her. Overall, pretty solid experience

Excellent Urban Fantasy Adventure game with improved and and audio from the previous entries. If you loved the last games you'll love Deception.

If you saw the bathroom fight scene in MI: Fallout and wondered what it'd be like to play that, suffer no longer, because this game is for *you*!

Fights in Tight Spaces (abbreviated as FiTS from hereon) is a turn-based deckbuilding roguelike. You play as a James Bond/Ethan Hunt stand-in, sent by his handler to put a damper on various shadowy clans and gangs, paying homage to action movie staples, such as 007, John Wick (of course), Mission Impossible, and Nolan's Batman, to name a few. The story in this game is very much of the Carmack School of Thought; it's there, but really only as a pretext and a courtesy. Compounding this, the game also rocks a highly simplistic, minimalist art style, reminiscent of Ape Out and (to a greater extent) Superhot. This gives the game a sort of abstracted feel that, in my opinion, meshes pretty well with something like turn-based strategy. Since the game's maps are by necessity cramped and repetitive, this clean, bare-bones aesthetiic goes a long way to preventing player fatigue. Which is welcome, considering this game, fittingly, pulls no punches difficulty-wise. Expect to die. A lot.

As one would expect, the gameplay is based around, well, Conflicts in Claustrophobic Conditions, with the player forced to resolve these one bloodied knuckle at a time. Being a turn-based game, mastering positioning, planning, and improv is key. Like most other deckbuilders, you are given a random selection of moves from their deck each turn. You have a set amount of Action Points (dubbed "Momentum" in FiTS) with which they can attack, block, maneuver, etc.. To reward good positioning, FiTS also features a "Combo" mechanic, which decreases with each tile the player moves. Stacking a high enough combo augments your moveset, giving higher damage for some moves and letting you access what are essentially one-shot kills.

Much like Into The Breach, FiTS gives the player full transparency as to what enemies are going to do and in what order they will do those things. You don't have to worry about missing a haymaker with a 95% hit chance here. What the player does with this knowledge is, of course, the name of the game, with every mistake the player makes sits squarely on their (optionally broad) shoulders. Successfully using environmental hazards, duping enemies into taking each other out, and carefully rationing out your moves are the keys to victory here. Each of these victories lands you a new move to add to your deck, while bonus objectives give extra currency (to buy health or more moves) or grant stat boosts. Being a roguelike, the game resets your progress upon death. However, the player does unlock extra starter decks the further they go. In my experience, these decks tend to be very one sided to things like attacking or counters, and are unfortunately not very useful in early or late-game. For instance, the Offense deck relies heavily on building Combo but offers up no means of defense other than movement, which as stated before diminishes said Combo. Things like the Trickster and Counter Decks don't guarantee enough offensive power to complete many of the bonus objectives, hampering your progress in the long game. Because of this, the Balanced Deck remains the only viable starter pick, This is one of my few gripes with the game, but is by no means a deal breaker. Ultimately, the most important thing you carry between FiTS runs is skill. Mastering the enemy patters and map layouts are what separates the experienced bathroom brawlers from the trainees.

All in all, FiTS is an incredibly interesting, challenging deckbuilder and a superb turn-based strategy game with an interesting premise that I hope gets more attention. It serves as a reminder of what deckbuilders have to offer, and takes me back to the hours of Pokemon and Megaman.exe I played as a kid. Also, the soundtrack ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rules. As an Early Access title, it can only get better from here, so pick it up when you can.

"When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty?"

Uh, yeah.

What is there to say? It's DOOM, the renowned classic and one of the progenitors of the FPS genre. DOOM is a masterpiece of a game with groundbreaking technical effects, a unique, metal album sci-fi/fantasy premise, and iconic, labyrinthian level design. Buy it.

I'll preface this review with a quick anecdote:

Back when I was a kid, I was somewhat of a DooM fan. I had never actually played any of the games; at the time, the only PC gaming I did was on Adobe Flash. But, as with many shooter fans, I was aware of the enemies, guns, iconic levels, etc.. Thus, when I found a DooM novel ("Infernal Sky," for those curious) at a used bookstore buying it was a no-brainer. The premise of slaying demons not with sword and sorcery, but with 12 gauge and rage, is obviously too good to pass up. Since DooM's story is somewhat sparse, I was always curious to know more about the metal album madness that is the DooM universe, and how our collective boy Doomguy fits in with the greater world(s).

Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. For those brave, mad souls who actually want to read it, I'll tag it: The whole book turns into a weird space opera between some aliens called Freds and Klavians (meaning the demons are just aliens now. Incredibly un-DooM-like, I know) . I am not making this up. . And so, I remained waiting, hoping, for a wider DooM universe of Demon flesh and Hell-forged steel, taken in new directions beyond the classic games we know and love.

And ID Software delivered. Oh MAN did they deliver.

Before I get into the beauty that is this game's worldbuilding and lore, I must talk about this title's stellar gameplay. DooM Eternal has proven itself to be an amazing FPS experience that, like Titanfall 2 and DooM 2016, is one I know will be an instant classic. It is an absolutely, unwaveringly demanding experience. Nothing but skill will get you past the waves of Hell's legions that ravage the Earth and beyond. As the last game put it, "Hell devours the indolent," and so movement, as always, remains a core pillar of the game. Verticality is even more important than it was in 2016, as the "monkey bars" and air-dashing mean that airtime, in conjunction with regular running, is a important tactic to master, should you wish to stay alive. Once you get the hang of it, you'll find yourself effortlessly swinging, Blood-Punching, and weaving between demons like an Argent-fueled Mike Tyson (sans pigeons and ear-biting, probably).

And you'll need to get the hang of it, as Eternal's demonic hordes are especially brutal and without mercy this time around. On my Ultra-Violence playthrough, even a few zombie strikes and/or Imp fireballs are the difference between being full on health and desperately needing it. Even the weakest of fodder demons can and will kill you, should you allow them. To say nothing of the Heavies and Super-Heavies, who will lay waste to any prospective Slayer ballsy (or reckless) enough to not take them seriously. An Arachnotron, if its turret is not disabled, will ♥♥♥♥ you up in a matter of seconds (I learned this lesson pretty quick in the first level). Of course, you're by no means powerless, as Eternal gives you every tool in 2016's book and then some (except for crouching and walking, but that's such a non-issue it's actually funny). And of course, Mick Gordon’s soundtrack speaks for itself.

Glory Kills, Chainsaws, and the good ol' BFG all make their appearance here, and are as awesome as ever (my only nitpick is that you can no longer disembowel mancubi with the chainsaw, but again, non-issue). Compounding your toolset are Dashing, "Monkey Bars," and the Equipment Launcher, as well as some new Mods, putting a new spin on 2016's mechanic. The Equipment Launcher completes a sort of trifecta between it, Glory Kills, and Chainsaws. Where the latter two replenish health and ammo, respectively, the Launcher's Flame Belch gives back armor. This is vital, as Eternal is, as we all know by now, lighter on pickups than 2016. Like before, full armors can be found before boss encounters, and in various nooks and crannies of the level. The lighter pickups (which form a good bulk of your armor in DooM games) are much more sparse, as is the case with health and ammo. This paucity of gun food and gamer fuel means that getting “gud” requires mastering this “unholy trinity.” The Launcher's other modes, Ice Bomb and Frag Grenade, help with this. I often find myself Ice Bombing enemies (giving me a quick break in the mayhem), then Flame Belching and fragging them to get armor while saving ammo. You'll also need to be mindful of demon staggering, as non-Blood punches do little to no damage, so properly timing glory kills isn't just stylish, it's necessary; thankfully, the new Destructible Demons mechanic facilitates this a good bit, as you can now see how close a demon is to getting game-ended. Making sure that you yourself avoid this fate requires mastering Eternal's mobility. Due to Eternal's abundance of platforming, you'll find yourself quickly understanding the distance each jump and dash can take you. This is important, as a single botched ledge grab can get you ghetto-stomped by the demons in short order. If you've played the Shadow Warrior reboot, you'll likely already be familiar with the dashing mechanics. Funnily enough, having just finished 2016 before starting Eternal, I actually found myself forgetting to dash during the first level. I no longer forget to dash.

Many reviewers have noted how much more intense DooM Eternal is compared to 2016 and previous entries. They are correct. While these games are still heart-pumping FPS Titans, DooM Eternal is actually strenuous. Let me put it to you this way: DooM Eternal and Animal Crossing had the same release date for a reason. After finishing this game, I wanted nothing more than a relief, even if it meant paying a talking raccoon's mortgage for hours on end. I played System Shock instead, but you get the idea. I imagine trying to beat this game on Ultra-Nightmare would be akin to playing the Halo Series on LASO. Meaning I'll probably try to do it because I'm an insane person. DooM Eternal is a shooter so intense, it will make even a stubborn, impatient action junkie like myself truly appreciate stealth and quiet. Hydrate and take breaks whilst you Rip and Tear; you'll need to.

Now that we've gone over gameplay, let's finally get to that lore stuff I was crowing about earlier. Since this is obviously replete with spoilers, I'm leaving it down here at the bottom. For those understandably not wishing to spoil the story, I can say this: DooM Eternal's story is great. It is so great, that it not only makes this game good, but it retroactively makes every previous game in the series better. This is what I was waiting for, what I was hoping for, as I closed that novel in disappointment. DooM 2016 showed me that ID had understood both the lore and the spirit of the DooM series. Eternal showed me that ID has Mastered it. Making the DooM Slayer Doomguy finally connects the franchise, old and new, as I'd always hoped and gives so much potential to the (multi?)verse.

The worldbuilding and lore in this game so clearly has thought and passion put into it. Lore entries will not only reference events alluded to in 2016, they'll drop in meta-jokes and references that just go the extra mile. Even so, the story of the game is still strong without reading it, never bogged down by needless drama and other trappings of ♥♥♥♥♥♥ storytelling. While DooM 2016 was almost completely confined to a first person view, Eternal now makes use of full third-person cutscenes, which bothers people who think story and text in DooM is like bacon-wrapped shrimp at a Bar Mitzvah. While I can't tell you why these people have such a deep-seated blood feud with the written word, I can tell you that the cutscenes are skippable, unlike 2016's. Also, classic DooM literally told most of its story in text, so a reading-heavy DooM is far from unprecedented. If you like DooM's premise and lore, you will love this game's story.

TL;DR: 666/10, buy Animal Crossing

What Dishonored is to Thief, PREY is to System Shock 2.

When Arkane Studios said they were making a new Prey game, I didn't quite know what to expect. Would it be a sequel reboot, soft reboot, prequel, what? Well, the asnwer is, they made a damn good title and one worthy of the Prey name.

The plot of the game combines two of my favorite genres: sci-fi and alternate history. Here, JFK was never assassinated, and the space program proliferated under his adminstration. The Cold War slowed down, eventually giving way entirely. You'll notice this through the Audio logs, items, and decor around the Talos I station (there are packs of blini, russian pancakes, scattered about: A very nice detail to add that makes the world that much more interesting).

You are Morgan Yu, a researcher on the aforeemntioned Talos I station. Without going into spoiler territory, your research has gone horribly wrong and now you must stop it. What then ensues is an aesthetically pleasing, extremely polished series of sidequests and adventures with FPS/RPG gameplay at its core. Gameplay that, in particular, strongly pays homage to System Shock in the BEST ways possible. The Skill trees, inventory/resource management, and tense shooting action are all here, removing the weapon maintenace and other weird gameplay quirks SS2 had. Each level has numerous ways to get around (a la Deus Ex, and SS2 to some extent). You can use you GLOO gun to sequence break and make paths to places that would currently be unreachable otherwise. You can use psychic powers to turn yourself into a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ CUP and just roll though small cracks. There are so many ways to advance through PREY's myriad of gorgeous, chellenging environments that it makes your head spin.

If this doesn't appeal to you (or you don't know what the hell System Shock is), then suffice it to say: PREY is a CRIMINALLY underrated game, EASILY one of the best of 2017. I don't know exactly why it flew under the radar, but its a damn shame thtat it did.

Obvious 10/10

If you see this game, or even have a passing thought about it, BUY IT. The effort and polish they put into this title far, FAR outweighs that put into many AAA games, especially at only $20 USD.

Every time I run Black Mesa, it feels a little different than the last time I played. Maybe it's the Early Access updates, or just me getting confused, but each run of the game has an air of novelty and completeness. It becomes incredibly obvious that the Crowbar Collective clearly cares about the franchise, and put in as many hours as they could in this homage to one of gaming's greats.

The thing that, to me, makes a good remake is NOT just improving the game mechanics and graphics. No, to make a truly excellent remake, one must of course do that, but also REINTERPRET the game itself. You have to change enought things to make the experience different from the original, but not enough to deviate from the game's overal vision. Black Mesa does this and does it flawlessly. Playing Black Mesa and playing Half-Life genuinely feel like two different interpretations of the same story. I own both, and have sunk dozens of hours into each game, and I can say that Black Mesa is not meant as a replacement to the original, but as a SUPPLEMENT. Black Mesa truly does answer the question "what would Half-Life be like if Valve made it today?" And honestly, I don't think there's a better answer than Black Mesa.

I posted this review in September of 2018, about a year before the Xen levels were released. And, after completing the entire game on the public beta, everything I stated prior still holds true today, if not more so.

Let me preface this by being as blunt as I can possibly be:

Rain World is BRUTAL AND UNFORGIVING. Period. I know it, you know it, and your (slug?)cat knows it.

But here's the thing:

The developers know it too. They knew it from the start of pre-production to the final Beta test, and they're damn proud of it.

When Joar Jakobsson and his team first conceived the idea of Rain World, the main goal was emulating what it meant to be
a "rat in Manhattan." And let me tell you, these people succeeded.

The entire design ethos of Rain World centers on one core focus: Knowledge. Or rather, the notable lack of it the player has.
Every aspect of Rain World is focused on the player surviving and understanding in equal measure. As Sun Tzu once said: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." This idea holds as true in Rain World's dilapidated, alien slums as it did in ancient feudal China. Whether you're watching a new, strangely-colored lizard on the hunt or throwing rocks at a suspiciously pulsating metal pole, uncovering knowledge about your enemies is a the crux of Rain World's gameplay. This, of course, works smoothly in tandem with it's Metroidvania roots. The plot of the game revolves around exploration, as the main quest involves your protagonist being separated from their tribe. The gameplay reinforces this, as the sparse, arbitrary placement of shelters and constant time pressure mean the player is constantly either looking for new shelter or shortcuts to previous havens. Even backtracking is useful in itself, as one will find themselves both looking for new sources of food or revisiting already established ones.

However, Rain World's Metroidvania roots are not without their own twists. The game at the same time painfully deliberate and frenetically fast paced. Your player character is a "slugcat," and is about as strong and durable as that name implies. You are almost at rock bottom in this world's food chain, and the game takes great pleasure in reminding you of this. Almost every creature or entity you encounter in the game's warped ecosystem wants to kill you, eat you, or both. The slightest misstep or smallest provocation could land you in the tentacled jaws of a Vulture, or the dark tunnels of an eager Lizard. Quick, informed decision making is of the utmost importance here, and is the key to survival in this ruthless world order.

Of course, I also have to talk about the game's GORGEOUS pixel art and animation. I didn't think one could actually mix pixels and physics-based ragdolls, but Rain World does what it does best and blows away my expectations. The procedural animation is so fluid you'd think it was motion-capture. All the predators and prey move and act in highly believable ways, and even when they don't the occasional glitch or bug merely adds few laughs in an otherwise tense situation.

Rain World feels like a game I always wanted but could never quite conceive. Like the proverbial Extra-Chunky Spaghetti Sauce, it's existence created a desire for something I wasn't even aware of. Whether you go in blind, check the wiki (Highly recommend you do this: https://rainworld.gamepedia.com/Controls), or watch a walkthrough, Rain World is an intense, unnerving, captivating ride akin to a video game version of Attenborough's Planet Earth. I highly recommend.

Hitman Absolution is a bad HITMAN game and an almost equally bad action game. The fundamental problem with the game is one of clear contradiction

One, the linear design is heavily at odds with how Hitman’s mechanics work, period. The tried to treat this like Splinter Cell and it just doesn’t work. Sneaking through levels from checkpoint to checkpoint works because the main FOCUS of the game is raw infiltration and ACCOMPLISHMENT OF (usually) NON-LETHAL OBJECTIVES. Sam Fisher is a spy and intelligence gatherer. Killing is (usually) not the focus of what he does, as he is there mainly to steal items and gather info in a clandestine way. Most of the time, you don’t really HAVE to kill anybody, you can just sneak past them. The problem with this, and why it doesn’t work for HITMAN games, is one of character and role: When you avoid enemies in a Splinter Cell game, you feel like a ghost, a silent infiltrator who can get what he needs and get out: When you have to hide in boxes and split jump out of sight, you’re not irritated by this, because these mechanics WORK with your character role. As an infiltrator, the feeling of discomfort and constantly being unwelcome FUELS the player, as it reinforces their established role. Linearity isn’t that big a deal here, as you usually ARE focused on getting from point A to point B. Even then, the games levels are still quite large and open, especially in Chaos Theory.

With HITMAN however, the player is almost always given one task: Kill the target. How you do so is irrelevant, so long as it gets done. Here, the player is given absolute freedom to explore the map and understand the target. This is where the empowerment comes in, and why HITMAN’s mechanics are so at odds with this game. In order to most effectively dispatch your target, you MUST learn about them. Their taboos, fears, loves, desires. Hell, even the kind of cocktail they like is pertinent information (shout-out to you, Hitman 2016!). This means of info gathering is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL in these games, as without it, you are wholly lacking in information. And, as I’m sure Fisher would say: information is power.
In HITMAN, this rule is sovereign, and why its stealth mechanics are so different from the norm. Agent 47 doesn’t hide in a box, he hides IN PLAIN SIGHT. This kind of stealth MUST be used in an open environment, as it is the only way the player can organically learn about disguise hierarchies and enemy patterns. In a linear game, your focus is on getting to the other side. Disguises and exploration aren’t as relevant, as you only need to get to the end of the level regardless of other factors. Be it in 47’s signature sharp dress or a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ clown suit, once you’re there, you’re there. Nothing else matters after that, as the level is finished. You can see how this is a problem. By doing this, they effectively neuter all consequence, and thus all value, from the disguise system. Since your actions no longer carry over, there’s really no point to learning patrol routes and enemy weaknesses, as these things vanish as soon as you leave the room. Hence, EVEN IF the disguise system wasn’t hot ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and totally broken, it wouldn’t really be that valuable.
The power inherent behind the HITMAN game mechanics is one of lethal voyeurism. You are at your most powerful when your target is the most vulnerable. When they have their full confidence that the bodyguard behind them wont garrote them during their cello renditions. That the bald gaijin chef DOES know his way around a Fugu liver. This is why the series has always been blackly comic, as a core part of the game centers around brazen violation of your target’s privacy and the consequences thereof.




This, at its core, is why HITMAN and Splinter Cell are so different, and why making one like the other DOES NOT WORK: information and vulnerability. As a Third Echelon agent, Sam Fisher has the resources of the US government’s best analysts, hackers, and engineers at his fingertips, operating with the highest level of clearance and sanction. A Third Echelon operation isn’t just done by Fisher, its done by AN ENTIRE TEAM. A Splinter Cell mission will typically have multiple characters communicate with Fisher to give him relevant information. The player feels as if they are a part of a unit, even when they are alone in enemy territory.
In HITMAN, on the other hand, you are always completely alone. The few times he meets a fellow assassin, it’s usually a bad time for the both of them. Every piece if information is something you must figure out for yourself, by using disguises and hiding in plain sight. By the very nature of your job, you are an intruder in a complex system. To complete your job, you yourself must analyze that system and exploit its weaknesses. The same way a linear system doesn’t work for disguises, so too does it not work here, and for the same reason. There isn’t much joy in dismantling said system if its already been broken up into bite size chunks for you.
Splinter Cell is at its best when it, too, is more open (Original Trilogy), but it can afford to be linear. Objective focused, raw stealth gameplay works logically and thematically with what the series is, due to the above reason. This also ties in to the problem of player vulnerability. As was stated, Absolution is constantly making the player feel vulnerable, throwing hordes of enemies in tight levels with useless disguises. Again, a move to copy Splinter Cell, and also a bad one. The reason Splinter Cell can do this is because of Fishers resources. Since you feel like you’re part of a strong cohesive team, the best way to challenge the player is to give them a stronger opposing team. More dudes, better guns, night vision, higher coordination. This works well because the game has always been based around SNEAKING AROUND enemies, not HIDING AMONGST them. Thus, constantly crouching and hiding is something the player WANTS to do, as the fun is based around that.

In HITMAN, the number and equipment of enemies is irrelevant, the true marker of challenge is their patrols and behavior. The key question in a Splinter Cell game is: Where am I least visible; the key question in a HITMAN game is: Where am I most permitted? THIS is what the devs don’t understand, and it’s what makes playing as 47 feel like a chore here. In Blood Money, the devs didn’t even think players could play Suit only. In Absolution, it’s basically the most useful way. What was once an optional, fun challenge is now a tedious imposition. Therein lies the difference.

The second fundamental problem with this game is one of setting and style. HITMAN games are about class. Your targets are frequently rich, well-connected men with powerful positions and even more powerful personalities. Ex-Pinochet Army drug lords, generals, bankers, fashion moguls, crime lords, and the like. These guys may be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but as characters and targets, they’re elegant and simply cool to observe. Absolution has none of that. A good fraction of the game is spent either just shooting drunk rednecks or hiding from them. While I have no problems with rural characters and places, I do have a problem with their overuse. The game has ALMOST NO DIVERSITY, and that itself really kills it for me. As is often the case, Blood Money did this right. Not only did you kill rednecks on skippers in the Mississippi, you killed bird-costumed assassins in a Mardi Gras parade, cellist cocaine mongers in Chile, unscrupulous diplomats, and so much more. Every mission felt like it brought something cool and fresh to the table. Something that would test 47’s, and thus the player’s skills, while also intriguing them with interesting exotic locations. Hitman Absolution, however takes place almost entirely in either the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, seediest alleys of Chicago, or in backwoods rural America. This, coupled with the lack of actual contract killings and the slow monotonous “sneaking” game play make it almost unbearable.