Recent reviews by Absalom

Clever little horror game. Reminds me of The Stanley Parable. Doesn't rely much if any on jump scares. So if you loathe horror games that abuse jump scares, this might be your ticket. The dolls are creepy enough (and in some cases cute!). The game uses spooky sounds and atmosphere to mess with your head more than anything. Not a really long game, took me about 3 hours for a single play-through. Also, I think the asking price is more than fair.

The developers have crafted a little gem here. I will be looking forward to a Dollmare sequel or prequel.

Game was enjoyable right up until the final boss. What a black eye on an otherwise satisfactory experience.None of the minor nitpicks such as the silly mind-control story and barely fleshed out NPCs really have any impact compared to the waste of time you will have wrapping the game up.

I'd recommend this game only if you have the fortitude to play the game right up until the final boss. Then just simply quit and make up your own ending. You will definitely come up with something better, I'm sure.

FromSoft? Just lazy, man.

I've never played a game quite like Pacfic Drive. It borrows from so many genres, yet the end result is quite the original experience.

At its core, the gameplay loop is looter-extractor a la Escape from Tarkov. It has atmospheric elements and an exclusion zone setting straight out of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. It has survival mechanics and a crafting system similar to games such as The Forest, The Long Dark, Raft, etc.

More driving simulator than walking simulator, the car is the real star of the show. It's pretty much your custom mobile base. Much like Subnautica series, you'll be exploring instances of the zone (called junctions) via your car, driving from POI to POI, getting out only when necessary to loot and occasionally scan new anomalies (which unlocks new research). Wash, rinse, repeat then return to your real home base (a garage) so you can unload everything only to plan your next trip out in the zone. If, like me, you're a sucker for looting and hoarding, you'll love this kind of game loop.

But that's maybe where the game's limitations start to show. Because that's what you'll be doing 90% of the time. This is a single player game and there is indeed a progression albeit paper-thin narrative. The game does not force you to progress the story, so you are free to visit or revist locations at-will.

The character voice acting is excellent and there is a little bit of lore building via audio logs. At times the main story can not progress until your tech research has advanced sufficiently. This is done on purpose as to give first-time players some time to catch up on the game's reasonably deep tech tree (that loot is there for a reason). I really appreciated being able to play the game at my own pace. If you only care about plowing through the main story, you could easily beat this game in less than 10 hours. I spread things out and spent 80 hours on my first playthrough.

Oh, and the music is excellent.

One detail I would like to point out is that this game allows you customize many of its "quality of life" features. Basically, it lets you turn off the hand-holding (i.e. highlighting items you can interact with). A polarizing topic these days for sure. The point here is that we are allowed to tailor the "quality of life" aspects of the game beyond the defaults. This is something rarely found in a game today. Gaming studios take a real good look at what these devs are doing here, because you should be doing it too. I can't tell you how agonizing it is to watch some hype gameplay of some upcoming title only to witness the same "quality of life" feature that I utterly loathe due to its immersion ruining. If instead you present options to tailor these features in your game, then not only will I be more inclined to purchase your game, but the only thing left to debate is what the default should be. It's win for everyone.

I think the developers are on to something here. The game itself is a great concept and there's certainly ideas yet to be explored (something a bigger budget could make happen). I'm already looking forward to a Pacific Drive 2.

The game that keeps on giving.

Gotta love the devs, they set themselves up for destined fail through typical overhyping an otherwise incomplete title. They could have just cashed out and moved on, but they stuck to it well after the fact. Could have charged for extra content, but instead gave it out free. MULTIPLE free content and YEARS after the fact.

If that's not love, I don't know what is.

Edit: Still getting updates and new content in 2024!

The reviews speak for themselves. Not much really to add, other than I find the game super immersive and relaxing. Even the grinding doesn't annoy me (as it usually does).

Looking forward to more future content from the devs. As far as I'm concerned, this game is already feature complete. It's more feature complete than most Early Access games these days, a sad truth. As for the asking price? I've gotten my money's worth and them some in the 160+ hours I've already sank into this "unfinished" game.

Would definitely buy again...

One of the more interesting subsims around today. The graphics are a mixed bag of sorts. The sub itself, environments, and weather are really well done. The crew models are just ok. You spend most of the time zoomed out, so I guess the crew models don't truly detract from the contrasting environment around them. The sea-based ports are rather bland too. Fortunately, you spend 90% of the game out at sea, so no biggie there.

The gameplay is rather promising. The first time I did a patrol through thick fog with only a spotlight to help, I was like "holy cow, this is awesome!" Heavy rain and limited visibility is really well done. The underwater sound effects are also well done. Sonar pings and the churning propeller sounds overhead really do give you that sense of underwater dread. Then comes the depth charge hell. So you do what any seasoned uboat captain does, you dive even more. This is where things get really intense. How deep do you go? Dive down so deep that the depth charges can't reach you, at the risk implosion? Or play it safe and gamble that the A.I. will miss and eventually give up. This is currently where the game really shines.

And that's pretty much the only nugget of awesome this game has to offer right now. You'll spend the other 70-80% of the game doing boring tasks that only a sim lover could ever appreciate. Seriously, you'll be spending most of your time staring at the screen time-accelerating your way to the next waypoint. Occasionally you'll run into a patrolling torpedo plane (do not try to take these things on with your crappy AA guns, the A.I. are seriously overpowered flying these things) which you'll routinely evade via a dive. The planes are annoying, to say the least. At least you have some gorgeously rendered ocean to stare at while getting there.

The objectives are the rougher developed parts of the game currently. The game can really be a time sink. There's not enough variety of things to do outside of combat to keep things from being boring. There's a skeleton of a progression system there, and a little bit of resource management. Your sub can only carry so much, so each venture out to sea always brings you back to port for restocking supplies.

Not enough cap ships. Not enough ship variety, period. The largest military boat I've run across is a destroyer. The largest civilian boat was a freighter class. The ship variety is basically shallow. I would also like to see the devs implement some kind of wolf-pack hunting objectives. Even refueling/resupply option at sea would be nice. I really could go on, and on about what the devs should or could add...

Basically there's a nice core game here to build upon. It just needs more interesting things to do. I know, I know, it's Early Access. I just hope the devs continue to give this game the love it deserves and not stamp it as "done" and move on. That trend is far too common in EA, in my experience. I feel this game could be a real gem, given enough time and resources.

All in all, a game that I'd recommend anyone remotely interested in a WW2 sub sim experience. It's niche, but not too niche. Especially if you're the type of gamer who doesn't mind a small payoff for large swaths of time invested. Keep your expectations low and don't expect a whole lot of depth here, and I'm sure you'll get your money's worth.

Subnautica can be simply described as a survival-exploration game set in a section of a gorgeous ocean world that is masterfully presented through some really slick atompheric and artistic design. In other words, the graphics and sounds are top-notch.

While the bulk of a playthrough will be exploration and resource gathering, there is indeed a single player story to follow to conclusion. The story, which involves you, a stranded survivor of a crashed spaceship, is mostly told through audio logs found scattered throughout the explorable area. One of the weaker points of the game are the collect X to build Y to progress the story. As mentioned, the bulk of your time will be spent collecting resources to build the next great thing (which is usually a requirement for yet another thing). Endgame is essentially completing a tech tree to build the final thing that gets you off the planet.

If you are not into games that require you to grind to move forward (for me the resource gathering was at tolerable levels), then this game might not be your jam. When it comes to sandbox-like games, I tend to explore first, then figure out any progression system along the way. Subnautica really appealed to this approach. My first playthrough required well over 60 hours, which entailed an "explore every nook and cranny" commitment. I would expect anyone speedrunning the game (especially their first playthrough) to invest at least 15 hours to complete. Regardless, there's quite a bit of content here.

As far as survival games go, this one is right up there with the best of them. I really have to give props to the Subnautica devs for crafting a very convincing alien underwater experience. This game oozes with atmosphere. There are even a few jumpscares to be had. It's easy for me to place Subnautica high up on a pedestal - right there with underwater legends such as X-Com: Terror From The Deep, Bioshock, and SOMA.

Extremely flawed in its current state, but an all around good contribution to the Battle Royale genre. Bluehole have proven that you don't need a big AAA budget or huge development team to compete with the big dogs. However, PUBG still has a long way to go to be the "complete BR experience." It's still a buggy mess and lots of promises (2017 is nearly over) that have yet to be delivered (vaulting, new maps, etc.). Bluehole seem to be the masters of teasing.

With games like Fortnite Battle Royale showing up late to crash the party, and offering a slightly more casual experience, it will be interesting to see how the PUBG community shapes up in 2018. Again, given its current state, PUBG is not ready for competitive online play. The potential is there, but the game state has a long way to go in that regard.

I'll be rooting for PUBG, albeit with a very skeptical eye, in 2018 when it comes out of Early Access. Only by then can I truly recommend it to others.

While far from perfect, this is probably the best Fallout game to date. That's saying a lot, because New Vegas (with DLC) was just so damn good! My largest complaint (FO4) is that the DLC itself did not live up to the hype. That's ok, because the main game stands great all by itself.

As in the tradition of Bethesda heritage, community-made mods will keep this game interesting for years.

If I were to describe ME in a single word, it would be elegance.

ME is another one of those rare gems where the gameplay takes a backseat and the art and story telling take center stage. Revisting the game here recently (no doubt because of rumblings of a ME:Catalyst reboot), I was curious as to how well this left-field venture from DICE circa 2008 has held up. Analysis? I believe ME has held up quite well. Props to DICE for gifting this gem to us.

Then again, maybe I'm a sucker for aesthetics. Admittedly, the straight-line parkour gameplay is ME's true weakness, but I seem to easily forgive that important detail given the phenomenal overall experience. I don't know if its my love for the whitewashed world of ME, the engaging electronic music, or the likeable (albeit few) characters making this dystopian world believable. Reflecting back on my original impressions in 2008, maybe the story seems a bit paper thin by today's standards? I have a feeling ME:Catalyst will solve that.

Oh, and did I mention I absolutely love the soundtrack? Still Alive is such an amazing piece to roll credits on. I get chills everytime...

ME is elegant. ME is beautiful. ME is art.