Recent reviews by SamySalti-TTV

After playing Lost Planet 1 and 2 on Xbox 360 back in the day, I was shocked to see that Lost Planet 3 is waaaay different from its predecessor. The game definitely flows better in my humble opinion than the prequels, but sadly I'm way too occupied with other video games to complete this one... For what it's worth, it's a pretty good title, and highly underrated. I don't think I've even scratched a good chunk of the story - mostly been doing side quests. The story is kinda predictable if you've seen it all before; however it is very well told, especially with the voice acting. I'm not too fund of the anime-like voice acting in Lost Planet 1 & 2, and this one seems very western.

Since I never actually got around to beating the game (possibly a thing to do in the future), I'm not sure about how fast paced the game is later on, but from what I've done, and with the equipment and upgrades I've acquired the game is kinda slow... It's definitely a huge world, but for what the prequels had back in the day was that going through levels didn't feel too much like a chore. This game wants you to go to places, activate stuff, do some fetch quests, and yada yada... As for the previous games it was get through the level - I prefer that in games like these.

I would say Lost Planet 3's single player is very comparable to Red Faction: Guriella and Armageddon, but in the lore of Lost Planet. Some of the creatures even have the same weaknesses, but I also found that those creatures were easier to defeat in the previous titles - again, slow paced.

I unforunately never got to play the multiplayer since the online is practically dead, but from what I've seen on YouTube it looked kinda fun. No way revolutionary I'll tell ya that much, but fun nontheless.


If you find this game on a sale, I'd say jump on it! If you have 'nothing' to play, I'd say give this a shot. The mechanic's are fluid, the story telling is great, but the multiplayer is dead.

I play this game more on Xbox One, but I definitely like thr controls better on PC. The good news about the Xbox One is that it will occassionally have the old community from Mech Assault 2. Anyways, I'd totally recommend this game to absolutely anyone! It's free to play, but sadly it's a dead game. Hardly anyone plays HAWKEN, and it's a shame since the gameplay is somewhat addicting and rather enjoyable. It's got a bit of a Call of Duty feel in terms of the fast paced movement. I'm not one to enjoy games like Call of Duty, but the merit behind it is that it's easy to learn.

I actually don't have many gripes with the game. My only problem is moreso the the fact that this game has been in Early Access for far too long, and the developers are very pretty silent. I wish they were more active with the community, because this game needs reasons for others to play again.

I don't wanna leave this game having a negative recommendation due to possibilities of newcomers discovering this game, and seeing that it's gotten poor reviews. Most of the folks who provided a thumbs down are mostly folks who enjoyed the game, but feel betrayed by the developers lack of attention to HAWKEN. They created an absolutely fantastic game, and there's no denying that. I can't recommend the game at it's current state due to lack of players, but if you ever see a match available give it a couple of rounds, and you'll see what the hype WAS about.

You might be asking yourself? Marble Blast Ultra, where art thou? Maybe not in those exact words, but if you are... GET OUTTA HERE SHAKESPEARE! Anyways, Marble Void is a game inspired by Marble Blast Ultra (yep, that Xbox Live Arcade title on the Xbox 360) and another title called Marble Madness (that I never played). The game adds more to the formula of the Marble genre of game, but takes away from some things too (which isn't a bad thing).

I've managed to beat the Easy Difficulty levels after doing some exploration with the game. It took me about 30 minutes, but that's only if you're going about figuring out the game itself. There's a ton of potential for speed running like the past Marble titles. There's also these things called "orbs" that grant you unlocks if you "bank" a certain amount. Banking orbs just happens after collecting and clearing a level, and each level has a certain amount of orbs to collect. The unlocks you are granted after banking are new modes, and I believe even new marbles (I have yet to see that yet though).

The reason I purchased Marble Void was to finally get my Marble Blast Ultra fix, and let me say it delivered 'marbleously' (get it?). At the beginning it had me thinking, "well, it's not Marble Blast Ultra", but eventually I had mixed thoughts of, "it might as well be" and "it's not trying to be". The game teaches you how to play the game and what the game has to offer right at the beginning of the levels. During these points of being taught the game's level design and physics you'll compare the games you've played before, and think "This isn't Marble Blast Ultra or Marble Madness - this is Marble Void!"

The game has a few things that obviously need to be addressed such as:

• Game speed. It feels very slow compared to the other games... However, the game speed also makes sense considering you're a marble in a void.
  
• Moving platforms can feel slow. It's not my graphic settings either that makes this seem slow, I've dabbled into the "toaster" graphic setting, and the moving platforms make me anxious when waiting on them.
  
• The menu's aren't controller enabled. Although I like how you can bind your own controls, it's only effective in-game. I'm a lazy gamer, and I don't like having to press start, and then use my mouse to navigate menu's.
  
• A respawn button would be nice instead of pressing start and clicking respawn. Again, it's more a nitpick for fast gameplay.

This is Marble Void, a game where you'll be saying things like, "what about Marble Blast Ultra?" in a 'who cares' manner? Marble Void does a lot better with the Marble genre, but although it has it's weaknesses on pacing, it's still a game where you can't deny having fun with.

Mortal Kombat X on PC during launch was a mess! This game at one point had the most negative reviews I've seen due to a craptacular port. Overtime the game got better with updates, but it still left a stench of mediocrity. As someone who purchased the game at launch, and plowed through the game as much as I could at the time I could never recommend the game.

After a couple of a months later NetherRealm Studios had said they weren't going to continue updating the PC version of the game, and it left a really bad taste in MK community. We were all pretty salty, and to be honest I still believe we had every right to be as upset as we were. The game still wasn't that great of a port, and in our eyes we believed that the PC Port was abandoned.

Come recently a little after Injustice 2 was announced the community of MKX were teased of MKXL to be released onto PC. Months after being teased we were given a Beta, and it provided us new hope! Finally, after months of waiting NetherRealm returned to their senses, and we were given the update that both the Playstation 4 and Xbox One had for what seemed like a lifetime!


We finally have what we've been pleaing to receive - Mortal Kombat XL! Surprisingly, it's the best PC Port that Warner Bros. has had to offer! Could the optimization be better? Absolutely! But, for what this community has gone through, we'll take baby steps from Warner Bros. and NetherRealm to get the game functioning to the best of its abilities.

Mortal Kombat XL is a huge balance patch essentially, and it fixes some of the characters, settings, and best of all the netcode! You're actually able to play the game without much lag. The servers are incredible, and most of the time you don't have to wait for a match.


Can I possibly recommend this game at it's current state? Absolutely! I'm hoping the PC community returns back to game as it had been dead for quite some time. I've certainly returned, and I'm somewhat enjoying the game again. I'm sure as hell rusty... Like I lost all sense of the game. I don't remember combos, the bread and butter, and who I mained in the game. Overtime I'll get back into my groove, but until then - you should ALL get the game! Who knows? This might lead to Injustice 2 to come onto PC?

Ghost in the Shell is based on an anime/manga series that has been critically acclaimed to be one of the better sci-fi of it's genre. Having a game that is a First Person Shooter is definitely something that is appreciated for fans of the series. From my understanding the Early Access purchases help support the games development into an eventual Free to Play - this could either harm the game in the distant future or it could lead to a potential gem.

I've chosen to purchase the alpha (early access) to support Nexon with their video game as I personally do enjoy Ghost in the Shell, along with their games. However, this is based on my own judgement of what I believe supports the games future. I'd personally would love to have more players get into this game, and can recommend this title to fans of both Ghost in the Shell and Nexon as a developer. However, there are indeed changes that can be made to make this game better, and with the game being in it's alpha state I'm not too worried.


As I continue to play this game I notice things that are off right off the bat:

• Hip fire has more accuracy then aiming down sights.
  
• You can assissinate through walks/doors.
  
• Hit detection is pretty bad. Sometimes headshots aren't registered to kill right away.
  
• Key binding shouldn't be stressful, it should be "You want C as crouch? No problem! We'll just replace the key you have as C for something else" instead of "You can't rebind until you rebind the other key to have the key you want to be the action you desire".

When you do play the game, and are thinking, "how do you get good at this game?" Don't aim down your sights yet... It'll more than likely get you killed. Also, always use your skills when you're able to use them, and make sure you sync with other teammates when you play too.


Just to reiterate, yes I know, "this is in it's alpha state", and hopefully the devs read every review or bugs found by players to make this game amazing! However, if you notice I am fully 'recommending' this game despite it's flaws that can be patched out eventually.
To those who think this game is just another shooter? Yes, yes it is. Are there better shooters out there? Yes, yes there is. Should I wait until it goes down in price or Free to Play? Ultimately, that's your call, but I'd say get the "Recruit Early Access Pack" if you're not entirely sure, and want to support the game.

Story mode has a 'glossary' button. I understand words now.
10 outta' 10!

This game was an impulse buy, but luckily a purchase that isn't regretful in any way. The game plays very similar to Tetris, but with a few twists; explode the combined colors instead of making lines. This game has tons of modes; however, it doesn't have online multiplayer, but you and a buddy/sibling/parent/cousin/intelligent animals can enjoy this game via local multiplayer.

Highly recommend playing this game as it has potential to be better with updates (online multiplayer, please).

Review:
A test of endurance and awareness. This is the type of game you'd probably want to use as an arguement against people who say video games are terrible and blah, blah, blah... Namely pointing out those parents who say video games aren't helping my child become a better person; they aren't gaining any type of skills. *Sigh* Parents and people who believe games don't help you on a daily basis, this game (and a bunch of other titles) are going to prove you wrong! Super Hexagon is a title that will help your skills to be aware of your surrondings! This game has a simple concept, but it's all about seeing how long you can endure the game's obstacles. All you do in the game is move left and right while avoiding walls that'll close on your little triangle (arrow). This game is pretty darn great, and if you ever see this game on sale or a humble bundle, GET IT! It's not the type of game you would play for hours at end, but a simple time waster, and when you're downloading a game on Steam or waiting for a video to buffer this is the game you should play.

Personal Experience:
There's not much to say really... I play this game as a time waster. My best time is about a minute so far, and I'm aiming to get to about 2 minutes. If you have a smartphone just download it there if you don't want to play it on Steam, but from personal experience (hah!) a keyboard is more responsive than a touch screen.

~ twitch.tv/samsterboy ~

Review:
The very first Fable game in my opinion is better than the 3rd and the Fable: The Journey, but cannot isn't as good as the 2nd. Many can argue that point due to P.M.'s false promises, but I felt I enjoyed the 2nd one far more. This review is about Fable - The Lost Chapters NOT the other games, so let's talk about this title, shall we? Fable - The Lost Chapters, the extended edition of... Fable, is a game that many people thought could rival against The Legend of Zelda. Many people have mentioned that this is essentially Zelda, but a more mature version of it, with a different take on RPG Adventure titles by Microsoft. The game has a pretty mediocre story, but that wasn't really what Fable - The Lost Chapters is about in my opinion. Sure, story is very important in Role Playing titles, but this isn't a game where I actually cared about my character or any other character to be honest. I just did what I felt like doing, and that's exactly why I liked this title so much! There's FREEDOM involved! Sure, it's no where near The Elder Scrolls type of freedom, but for it's time it was wonderful, and arguably it still is! The decisions you made had people love you or fear you, and that is why I enjoyed this game, because your character ages, and you feel your decisions effected the growth of your character in the way you wanted him to be at!

Personal Experience:
I played Fable; both vanilla version of the game and The Lost Chapters on the orignal Xbox, and I've gotta say this is still one of my favorite franchises that Microsoft owns the rights towards. It's a darn shame that Fable 2 never saw the light of day on the PC, because I'd probably still be playing that game if I still owned a Xbox 360; despite finishing all the quests and racking up all that dough by collecting rent from all the houses and stores I owned. I had a snobby Good Guy and a generous Evil Dude, and it was just funny to hear the NPCs fear me, but are thankful I was generous, and vice versa. The jokes in the Fable Universe are relatable to Monty Python's, and that's awesome! Fable - The Lost Chapters had lots of things that were enjoyable about it, but when Fable 2 came out I just couldn't stop playing with the dog. The only thing I actually cared about in the game was a dog that helped me find items by shoveling the areas he was also digging up. I wish I could go into more detail about my experience with Fable - The Lost Chapter, but I just didn't care for it as much compared to Fable 2. In Fable 3 I liked the combat a lot more than the others, but I didn't like how they didn't make it seem like a RPG. There was something about the 3rd title that didn't sit with me, but it wasn't a bad game, it just took away an element that I enjoyed about Fable 2.

~ twitch.tv/samsterboy ~

Review:
Dungeon Defenders is a very, very fun 'Tower Defence' game that offers an unique approach to the genre. Mind you this game is not for everyone as it does require a bit of grinding to it. This game is pretty darn hard at higher difficulty settings, but once your character(s) are leveled up it feels almost as rewarding as achieving a max leveled toon on World of Warcraft. Speaking of WoW; this game has a looting system to it to enhance your character like an action rpg. I wasn't kidding when I said this game offers an unique approach to the tower defence genre. In fact, I'd go as far to say this is probably the best Tower Defence game you'll probably play; at least it is in my books. This game is especially fun when you're playing with other people, so I'd highly recommend when picking this game up to go straight to multiplayer (after visiting the tutorials).

Personal Experience
I haven't played this title in such a long time, but I do remember the painful memory of why I stopped in the first place. At the time of release this game was getting a lot of publicity, and I recall TotalBiscuit (The Cynical Brit) had made a WTF is...? Video which began to spark my interest. I had purchased this game twice; both on Xbox Live Arcade and Steam (that's how much I was enjoying my experience). Then there was a time when I even began making videos on YouTube on how to beat certain levels, and due to rendering my videos my laptop had died on me. This led to me being without a computer for about 2 months. Thankfully, I had a smartphone which allowed me to stay connected to people leaving comments on my videos, and in my spare time I had even watched other videos in regards to Dungeon Defenders. At that point I discovered that Dungeon Defenders was also on the Android Marketplace, and I had my fix on the game once again. Sadly, that version of the game was heavily Pay to Win. I had the Steam app, and discovered there was literally DLC for Dungeon Defenders every day, and that got on my nerves. Eventually, a Complete Edition of the game came out, and I just said screw it! Regardless of my personal experience with Dungeon Defenders, this game does the genre justice, and even though I might not play the game again, it's a highly recommended title!

~ twitch.tv/samsterboy ~