Recent reviews by Mumble

I think it's fair to say that while I would recommend this game, I would have to start that recommendation with "if you don't mind x y z, then..." because almost every positive I have is comes hand in hand with a "however,".

I'm something like 70% through the campaign I think, and I do indeed feel the itch to keep coming back to play a level or two, but never more than that.
the polish is great; movement is smooth; sound is great for the most part. combat is where I first start to get a bit of a mixed experience. I'd compare the combat to fast food; it is very good at quickly satisfying a craving, loaded with flavourings, but thats really where the depth ends. it's not even down to lackluster enemy design - there's a decent bit of variety but they all too often make themselves almost stationary targets; and there are way too many of those base level zombies that pose no threat but also don't serve any cannon-fodder purpose. it just starts to feel a little numbing after a while.

the nexus point save system is a weird one. honestly I've been glad the system is there but not for a good reason, but because I'd rather just hurry up and get levels done than replay them or even replay them from a little while back, which isn't a good mindset. savegame systems are not something you can just develop overnight, but with the astonishing polish injected elsewhere in this game, I'm surprised they don't have something that feels less cheap.

the level design is really really fun from a mechanical perspective, offering some very clever backtracking and switched-up reusing of older parts of levels, and some great sequences that evolve the playing field. very fun. it's super pretty in that respect too, but also a little tiring when it comes to theming. it's a lot of industrial tech fortressy kinda design that is done very well, but is almost all you see.

I'm still having a good time with it, and definitely intend to finish it, but I can't truly gush over it.

(spoiler-free)

At 31 years old, I think it is fair to say that I am a lot more disenchanted with most kinds of media than when I was a wee lad. I very very fondly recall the thick atmosphere of Unreal, and how much my imagination ran rampant when playing it at 8 years old, and no game has come particularly close to bringing those feelings back, not until Hedon.

I don't remember how long it took me to complete episode 1 when I first played it, but I just completed Bloodrite and it took me 25 hours. I don't think i needed to spend that long on it, but between the fights, the puzzles, the reading up on lore, I just... spent a really long time admiring the world. Be it because of some story exposition, or straight up incredible level design and architecture, or how it felt to finally figure something out, I found myself covering my mouth as my jaw dropped in awe multiple times throughout.

I was so happy to take my time with the game. I never once got bored; occasionally frustrated, sure, but never tired of it. I felt a genuine connection to the characters, I wanted to explore the world and find out everything I could, and there truly was never a time where I felt sucked out of that immersion.

Not only was the game a very emotional experience, but to cap it off, a track that I made some years back was used as the Bloodrite end credits music. I don't think I could have possibly asked for a more emotional end to such an outright incredible journey.

A lot of love, blood, sweat, and tears had to go into the making of this game, and it truly shows, but all in all - and I understand that this may come across as hyperbole - I have never been so impressed by a single piece of media of any kind as I have with Hedon Bloodrite. It is, by a considerable margin, even considering the rosy memories of gaming as a child, the best single-player experience I have ever had.

After being very excited for Reincarnation, and then being left ultimately frustrated by its poor performance, this game seems to have fixed most everything. The game runs way faster on max settings than Reincarnation did on lowest, at least for me. It's not really a new Carmageddon game if you've played Reincarnation. It's literally the same thing but actually finished and polished. As sloppy as the release of Reincarnation was, I'm glad that they pulled it together and did this, especially with the fact that Reincarnation owners get this game for free.
Overall, a very fun Carmageddon game worthy of standing with the rest, and doesn't seem to have the lunar physics of the early games, which was my biggest frustration with them.

Okay so, I'm a long time Carmageddon fan, and after playing the game for a good amount in pre-alpha, beta, and now full release, I can safely say it's a lot of fun, but disappointingly, only if you can run it. I barely can, and I'm running on an i7something and a GTX670whatever. I wouldn't really have a problem with turning some settings down if the game looked better.

Honestly, the dated looking graphics don't really bother me at all. I'll happily play old games with old graphics, and new games with dated graphics, but when a game looks 8 years old, and plays like a game from 8 years in the future, you've got a problem. I strongly suggest looking into whether you'll be able to achieve a decent FPS, or waiting until maybe some optimisation happens. I'm concerned that it won't though because honestly, it feels a bit like the game was released because they ran out of resources and time rather than actually finished it.

Fortunately, turning the graphics down a bit results in 50-60fps for me, so I can actually play the game without a struggle. Once that happens, it's great fun. There's a lot of fun things to do, lots going on, and it feels just like classic Carmageddon games. The new modes are nice, though the AI doesn't really know too well how to best reach some objectives, for example a target ped on a rooftop.

Overall, I recommend the game, but unfortunately I can only base that on gameplay alone.

Please please optimise this game better. It has so much potential to be a great community and is otherwise so much fun, if only more people could run it!

Very fun, very addictive, though I've only played the game with the Brave New World expansion pack added, which apparently makes it a whole lot better than vanilla, according to some friends. Grabbing both together can set you back a pretty penny so if you're interested, I'd recommend picking this one up when it's on sale.

It's a great blend of peaceful and tense that really keeps you in the game, be it leaning back in your chair or on the edge of it.

Okay but this is up there with the most underrated games I know of. A solid FPS with simple yet unique gameplay mechanics that don't come off as gimmicky at all. Slides, grappling hooks, jump pads, teleporters, and perhaps best of all, it's community fuelled thanks to the fantastic easy-as-hell-to-use built-in map editor.

There's also no gore what so ever, it feels a lot like a sci-fi laser-tag game in that "killing" your opponent gracefully teleports them back to the finish rather than tearing them apart or dropping them to the floor. It feels very much like a sport or tournament and that's fairly refreshing to be honest!

Recommend this game to lovers of classic FPS games like Quake or Unreal Tournament, those who love to design maps and environments, or those who feel like they need something different in the FPS genre.

It's the stupidest and most disgusting game I've played. It's beautiful.