Recent reviews by Genius Gate

A solid arcade style space combat simulator with respectable graphics, great gameplay, and a great soundtrack. If you're a fan of space combat flight simulators and a fan of mecha, this will be your cup of tea. If you're looking for the hardcore, unbridled space fighter simulations of old reborn, this isn't quite there, but it's a good start to revitalize interest in the genre. Still, this game is fun and presents a fair challenge.

Controls are responsive and defaults are well planned out for keyboard/mouse users. A few different classes of fighters, each with a customizable loadout of weapons you unlock as the game progresses are available, though most of the non strike-suit ones are one offs for particular missions (but they are selectable in others once you complete the mission in question.) Going into strike suit mode is very reminicent of classic mecha anime where you can heavily damage or eradicate many of your enemies in one fell swoop if you're good enough, a bonus for mecha anime fans of series such as Gundam and Robotech.

It's fairly short, but for the price, it's a good experience.

Not worth it. I couldn't even reccomend this game if it were on sale. The top reviews on this game will tell you the tale you need to hear.

Horribly optimized (read: not at all optimized,) underdelivered, and overall plays just awful. It's a soulless cash in using a popular gimmick of procedurally generated sandbox worlds that you build in without the extra TLC required to make the game great.

This game was great in concept. Still, great concept requires great execution, and this is far from the great execution the game's concept demands. Now it will simply be known as a sub par attempt to spin off Minecraft with a sci fi theme. I pitched in, at a friend's request, for that early special edition so I got off easy with my lesson on Early Access, and it was my first Early Access title to boot, and the first one that made me more cautious of buying into Early Access with my own money. It wouldn't even be far fetched to say that this game is a posterchild for the pitfalls of Early Access.

In the words of the wise Officer Brady - "Move along people, there's nothing to see here."

One of the FPS genre's best games, hands down. The base of the game still has a few persistent bugs, but fan patches have solved most of these.

Even for a game made in the mid 2000s, the atmospheric ambience holds up to modern standards and the shooter action continues to be solid. There are a multitude of fan mods that focus on graphics, difficulty, gameplay tweaks, or even complete overhauls, such as the STALKER Complete set of mods. You will be getting plenty of game for your money.

Pros (Based on the base game, not modded versions)
-Solid FPS action with survival elements
-The game is rife with ambience, from the creepy to the downright foreboding.
-Solid selection of weapons, all of which are balanced.
-The world is alive, NPCs will gather and talk smack, opposing NPCs will fight, and combat AI is fairly solid, though sometimes buggy. People that die stay dead, others take their place if needbe.
-Your immediate choices affect your gameplay experience from the get-go
-Multiple fan mods and a dedicated community that LOVES this game for what it is and what it can be.
-Rare items and artifacts are abound for those that prefer to explore the game more thoroughly but aren't required to win.

Cons
-The switch between Russian and English during gameplay can get awkward. English (in faux Russian accent) is used for important dialogue but NPCs will talk Russian for everything else.
-In the game's base form, ther are a few persistent bugs, some of them are game breaking, but fan mods and patches have fixed these. It is very possible to complete the game with these glitches still in.
-Some parts of the game get faceroll easy when you acquire the right artifacts, which are plentiful.

Afterthoughts
-Left handed models are used for most of the weapons, despite shooting right handed, likely done for flair. It may bother some more detail oriented players.

Overall, a game you don't want to miss.

tl;dr 8.1/10 where I would give the previous game 9.4/10

Normally, I would hold a grudge against having a completely repackaged version of a previous game thrown at me with a few improvements, remixed mechanics, and slight map additions posing as a new game. The mainstay of this game is essentially the final mission of the "Weird Science" DLC missions of the previous game where you have super powers. I thought that mission was one shot at best and when I sunk into this game realizing that the mechanics were similair, I had some reservations.

But those reservations were dispelled after spending more time in the game. The additional superpowers, interesting weapons, numerous amounts of side missions, the satirical (sometimes serious but funny still) commentary we got used to is still good, and the additions of main missions without the use of superpowers mix the difficulty well to keep you on your toes. The game gets better with co-op as well. Add in an excellent selection of weird but awesome weapons and you got yourself the trademark Saints Row Experience, just barely fresh but sustaining enough for you to enjoy it still.

Pros:
-Trademark Saints Row action with an interesting mix of superpowers
-Still great co-op
-Great customization options from the third game remain with a few adjustments
-Many side missions and plenty of content to tackle
-Humorous commentary about various aspects of society and media

Cons:
-Can't really shake the feeling of it being recycled in some form in a really obvious way
-Might get repetitive for some players
-Some elements of the game seem to clash, such as driving and the super speed.

Afterthoughts
You will be playing in Steelport again with some minor additions, but the overall map shape is the same. Take this how you want it. It would probably be best to describe this game as more of a super content packed expansion to Saints Row: The Third to play after you finish it.

8.1/10

A very solid platformer with some action thrown in for good measure. This game forces you to think in real time to get to your goal while dodging trigger happy cops in some parts. You could also relieve the cops of their weapons and show them how to put it to better use if you're more of an aggressive player. The levels are fairly linear, but the overall gameplay experience is one that is quite enjoyable.

It would be a good idea to play this one with a controller.

Pros:
Solid freerunning platforming action in first person.
PhysX support, for those with Nvidia cards
Combat sequences don't clash with the actual gameplay, and you can choose to take out your attackers in most cases.
A few extra challenges added in to really test your ability to cover ground.
Time Trial mode once you ace story mode.
Excellent graphics and environments.

Cons:
Low replayability

Afterthoughts
Play this one with a controller, as the controls are better suited for a controller as opposed to a keyboard. AMD/ATI folks should turn off PhysX, it will really cull your performance.

Payday 2 was my favorite title to play for the first few months that I got it. I take breaks every now and then to find out that more and more gameplay additions are being made to make the game even better when I come back. The game has excellent developer support and is constantly recieving updates and content in the form of both free and paid DLC. Paid DLC allows you to host jobs that are part of said DLCs and contain new weapons and masks mostly, while free DLC usually comes in the form of new jobs. That said, new weapons are also added for free if you are part of the community. You do not have to pay for any DLC you do not want to pay for. Even the paid DLc that has new maps/jobs, all you simply need to do is join a game hosting that map already, you just won't be able to host so you won't miss out on anything for not paying.

In the beginning the game will be more gunning than stealth, but as you gain levels and more stealth traits, silencer attatchments, and ramp up the difficulty, stealth becomes far more viable, but remains challenging. The gunfights also get far more intense as the difficulty climbs. When you reach level 100, you can opt to do it all over again in a prestige system called Infamy.

Ofcourse, if you're good enough, you can take jobs at difficulties far above your level, depending on the actual job.

Pros:
-Solid action
-Excellent Co-Op experience
-Excellent weapon system with a very large amount of customizable features, all attatchments affect the weapon's performance, so there is a an element of planning in your loadouts.
-Gets better as you level up and take harder and more intense jobs.
-Good stealth system with easily to understand mechanics which are slightly deeper than they seem.
-Even 3 meg DSL users can host good games if you can't connect to anyone (detailed below)
-Excellent support by the developer, new content is added on a regular basis with both free and paid DLCs, but the paid DLCs are not required to fully enjoy the game or even take advantage of the new maps, though they will enhance your game experience.
-New Preplanning updates allow you lay out your plans before some heists and place item drops at places you want them to be at, allowing you to change the flow of your heist experience.
-A majority of the heists can be completed either in stealth or by going Bruce Willis. While there are clear advantages of stealth (next job exp bonus being one,) the choice to turn the map into a law enforcer graveyard remains!

Cons:
-Enemy AI has bad moments
-Some tactics that enemies could use to make things a bit more interesting, but compared to the overall difficulty, I wouldn't say this is a huge minus.
-Can get repetitive. You will likely want to take some time away from this game before returning at some points.
-Strange glitch that will not allow you to connect to certain hosts continues to be persistent.

Afterthoughts:
File size is getting hefty with each passing update. Even after the patch to compress the game's overall file size, it's still in the realm of 20 gigs. Those that main Steam on smaller SSDs may need to swap the game out with others.

Counterstrike: Global Offensive is the same old Counterstrike many of us grew up with in 1.6 with the additions they promised well over ten years ago. Still solid as a rock gameplay with a few enhancements to give it more feeling for the average player and features that allow the more competitive players to dial in. Maps being rotated in and out keep competition fresh and the community map shoutouts are also great. CS will continue to be a titantic force in competitive gameplay without forgetting all the moments that made you shout out how well you were pwning everyone at that one LAN party you went to and all the frustrations that make you want to shout expletives repeatedly to your enemies in voice chat.

Mix in community features, such as lookouts for streaming and you got yourself a solid competitive shooter.

Just wish the bots were better. Those that practice offline with bots will very likely be taken by surprise with the tactics real players use and how pathetic the reaction time of even the hardest bot is. In fact, the bots were far better in CS:Source.

GTA IV's action with the rediculous factor cranked up twice over? Who can say no? Play it. Seriously.