Recent reviews by insomniatic

A very pretty game that, while it has satisfying moments, is quite frustrating at times and quite boring at others.
I think I'd recommend it to people, but with the caveat that in order to enjoy it one must be particularly patient and don't mind when atmosphere and vibes to do the heavy lifting for a game rather than the gameplay and writing.

Edit: After spending more time with the game I feel the need to change my review to a thumbs down.
Putting it bluntly, this does not feel like a game that was in development for six years. It feels like an average Quake mapset with nicer than usual graphics. Enemy encounters are tedious as enemy variety is poor and the enemies have annoying mechanics that are difficult to avoid. Weapon feedback is poor - oftentimes it feels like enemies do not react and this makes the game rather unsatisfying to play. Levels are long and severely overstay their welcome.
I respect the developer and what they tried to do but the end result is more tedious than it is fun.

Original review:
The fourth horseman of the boomshoot apocalypse of 2018 finally arrives in its full version. Does it measure up to the likes of Dusk, Amid Evil and Ion Fury?
I suppose that depends on how much you like Quake, as this game is essentially a polished, commercial total conversion for Quake, in the same vein as Hexen 2 or X-Men the Ravages of Apocalypse.

If you're familiar with the genre (and you almost certainly are if you're here) there's not much new under the sun here. Fairly standard weapon loadout with a couple nice surprises such as an obvious nod to the bio rifle from Unreal (though I greatly appreciate how every weapon has a secondary firing mode) and enemies that while they aren't straight up reskins of Quake enemies they definitely wouldn't feel out of place in Quake or Doom.
It seems to be attempting to set itself apart with light platforming here and there, aided by its 'air dash' ability, and limiting the amount of saves the player can make, turning quick save into a currency that is spent every time you make a save. I do appreciate the attempt to fight the quick save/quick load gameplay that plagues most boomer shooters, as it will make you think twice about dropping a save in every room. It is still fairly generous about it however, you'll likely find yourself carrying 5-8 save 'tokens' most of the time and there are shrines you can step into that will save the game once free of cost, like a mid-level checkpoint.
There's also a slew of consumable items to help you in combat, ala Hexen, and many of the more difficult encounters seem to be balanced around their use - if you can remember to use them.

Overall I have enjoyed my time with it so far, as derivative as it might feel.

A game that is tragically the best in its genre, that for some bizarre reason has very little competition.
Despite all its problems, despite the predatory monetization, despite the incredibly poor new player onboarding experience, despite how poor the content release schedule is and how it looks as though the next expansion is going to be the last one and the game is likely going to enter a glorified maintenance mode afterwards, I am still forced to recommend this game as it is simply the best at what it does. If you are looking for a fun PvE looter shooter (with pretty decent PvP to boot), or even just a "hero shooter" with abilities, nothing else matches it. It is the best.
I wish it weren't. I wish there was something better. There isn't.

All the promotional material features Leon wearing his bomber jacket but he loses it 45 minutes into the game and never gets it back. False advertising.



It's good. Is it as good as the original? In some ways yes, in others no. It's the best of the remakes so far for sure.

Machine Games does it again. A lot of great little tweaks and fixes to make what many considered the black sheep of the series much more enjoyable. Game looks and plays great. And if you already owned it, it's free, which is a nice gesture.
Quake 3 next?

you can run but you'll never escape

It's excellent, pick it up if you like this kind of game at all. Genuinely great modern 3D platformer/TPS.
Please bring the rest to PC.

I now know how people felt when Shadowkeep came out.
Neomuna is a half-baked new zone that you can't even play in until you are at or near the current pinnacle cap, all the enemies will one-shot you and are immune to your attacks. Imagine buying a new WoW or XIV expansion for example and all the new zones are offlimits until you are at the new level cap.
The posterchild for Lightfall, the new Darkness aspect Strand, is once again unavailable until you have finished the entirety of the six hour campaign so enjoy doing the whole thing three times for your three characters. This wasn't good design in Beyond Light and it's not good design now. Just let me play with the new ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ toy I bought.
No one plays Destiny for the story and if you do I'm sorry, but this time around it is particularly bad. The Witness is an ineffectual cartoon villain with mysterious motivations, the mcguffins and what makes them important are never really explained, and an obnoxious person of gender is forced in your face for half of the story.

The negatives aside I liked the nods to Halo missions here and there. The game is still as fun to play as ever, bad design decisions aside, and even when the new offerings are as lame as this I still enjoy the game. I'd just wait a few months for a new season to come out or something, if you're on the fence. Go play something else in the meantime.

Good platformer with great visuals and fun movement, somewhat middling Metroidvania.
It's fun to zip around as a cute small woodland creature, so play it if you like tight-controlling platformers. Combat is bad and you fight the same 3-4 enemies throughout the whole game. Most abilities are gained via a skill tree, so finding secrets is somewhat unrewarding. Two fun abilities are well-hidden and not crucial to finishing the game, so they're sadly easily missed.

Overall well worth a playthrough. Owls are jerks.

Like Borderlands 2, Pre-Sequel advertises itself as a co-op game but in actuality the way the game handles scaling, as well as its shoddy netcode, means that trying to play this game as a group is an absolutely joyless experience.
The campaign is short and consists mostly of running from place to place fighting bandits and soldiers who have stupidly accurate aim and will knock off your shield and health with only two or three shots if they are just one level higher than you. There aren't many bosses and pretty much all of the sidequests are busywork meant to pad out the game and give you extra experience so that you can level up high enough to match the main campaign's level.
The writing is chock full of retcons and poorly thought out character motivations. Lilith blames Athena for Roland's death when it's just as much her fault for not killing Jack when she had the chance, for example. But you don't play Borderlands for the writing.

Unless you really, really loved BL2 and want more of it but worse, skip this one.