Recent reviews by Cat Dad Mick

Dread Templar is an old-school shooter elevated by an incredible soundtrack. The guns are largely staples of the genre, though the trap launcher and bow add some welcome wrinkles. From what I've played of the games 25 levels thus far, environments are interesting and varied and there are a plethora of enemy types. If you're a person who likes deep and involved stories, there isn't much of that here. There is narration between episodes, but I found this to be boring. The environmental storytelling is pretty solid though, and there are lots of secrets to find so it pays to search each level thoroughly. Overall, this is another boomer shooter with all of the trappings you'd expect. It's not going to revolutionize the genre, but it's a lot of fun and a welcome addition to any enthusiast's collection.

I say this with such a genuine love of this game in my heart: Postal 2 is the video-game equivalent of a movie that is so bad that it's good. The writing jumps between funny and awful, sometimes both, and the gameplay can be a little clunky at times. You'll see A LOT of (albeit pretty short) loading screens between small gameplay areas. That being said, there is no other game series quite like Postal, and I think most gamers would get something out of playing Postal 2. The sense of humor may be a bit much for some, and I think that's valid because humor is subjective, but there are a lot of fun little mechanical nuances that make this unique.

This short little roguelike FPS is worth every penny. Runs are quick and kinetic, the soundtrack is a genuine banger, and even after completing the game I find myself returning to it often because the core gameplay loop is so fun. As the game itself warns, there are a lot of bright colors and flashing lights here so those with sensitivity to light and epilepsy should take that into consideration before purchasing.

Even if they walk back their attempts to force account-linking, I won't be playing this game again. This whole situation just left a bad taste in my mouth.

I played Far Cry 4 when it first came out on a console. In the years that followed, I forgot everything except for the game's main villain, Pagan Min, and the little ramshackle helicopters I constantly crashed into trees. Returning to it years later on my gaming rig, I have found that it's still a fun, serviceable shooter with a lot of side content. Most of that side content is pretty samey, so a player's mileage may vary. Pagan Min remains a highlight and the primary draw of the game's story for me. He is probably second only to Handsome Jack in terms of "over the radio" banter with the player character. I feel that this is the last time that Far Cry came close to making an actual statement with the story it told, so its worth experiencing that too, especially if you've never played it before.

Majesty looks like an RTS, but it's more like a hero babysitting simulator. Your primary goal is to create an environment that ensures your heroes don't die instantaneously to the various threats on the map, and that includes providing them with the means to get new gear, items, and spells. All of this predicates upon you finding the best possible way to get as much tax money out of your population as you can. I've played six missions so far and enjoy getting attached to a named character who inevitably gets trapped in a corner of the map by three spiders and killed mercilessly before he has a chance to fight back. The visual design in particular is top notch because you can often tell exactly what's happening without having to delve into complex menus or look at literal spreadsheets of information. 100% recommend.

EDIT: It's worth noting that you don't control anything directly in this game. Your commands are more like suggestions that you can attach a bounty to. This, hilariously, includes the ability to put bounties on your own structures and heroes. I watched four rogues and four rangers descend upon a single Level One Gnome because I accidentally put a 500 gold bounty on his head. RIP little dude.

Nightmare of Decay is worth its price of admission. For five dollars, you'll get a campaign that lasts about as long as the average horror movie and two extra modes that can moderately extend the playtime.

This game is heavily influenced by classic Resident Evil. Conserving ammunition and knowing when to run from a fight will get you far, as is usually the case with these games. The puzzles engage but rarely frustrate.

Now for a couple of criticisms:

I found that the bosses were forgettable, save for one that's incredibly funny that I won't spoil here because it works so much better if you don't know about it going in.

There's lore, but it's mostly conveyed through journal entries. I feel that horror games have become reliant on this kind of storytelling. Nightmare of Decay features some interesting plot points, and I hope a sequel would do more to convey these more organically.

That being said, I highly recommend this game to those who like horror games. Its short runtime might leave you wanting more, but the price is right, and there's nothing else out there right now that perfectly captures the vibe of the first Resident Evil games.

NecroVisioN is one of those games that makes me wish there was a "maybe" button to click when asked if you recommend it to someone else. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game but understand why someone else might completely hate it.

It reminds me a lot of a Syfy channel original movie. The concept is entertaining but the script, acting, and effects are cheap.

The graphics have aged poorly and the while the level design in the early game is fairly strong, the later portions of the game are samey underground locales and then samey hellish locales. It's not much of a looker, in other words.

It's also very buggy. Sometimes an enemy's ragdolling corpse would send me careening through the air without warning and during the final boss battle I got stuck on level geometry several times causing several easy to dodge projectiles to hit me. Sometimes pieces of dialogue would overlap without warning and in one hilarious case the same line looped several times. Fair Warning: It crashed a couple of times on me, once during a boss fight.

The above issues are fairly damning, so I put them first. There are things I do like, though.

There's a fairly meaty campaign that clocked in at around 7ish hours for me. Sure, the story is absolutely bonkers and makes zero sense, but I have to admire the ambition. It starts in the trenches in a fairly conventional World War I setting, albeit one overrun with zombies and supernatural entities. Then you fight your way through an ancient subterranean vampire society with a powerful necromancer's gauntlet, and literally ride a dragon into hell and beat up Mephisto with a mech.

There's a surprising number of weapons but I really only ended up using a couple of them, especially once I unlocked the necromancer gauntlet, which made using one-handed weapons all but necessary.

For me, this game narrowly makes it into the "so bad its good" category, much like the Syfy channel original movies I mentioned above.

This is not what I'd call a must-play but if you're looking for cheap thrills that'll eat up a couple of afternoons, this can scratch that itch.