Recent reviews by t0rlan

I've put in a few hours. Think I might keep playing. It's fun mostly.

Excellent game, I would absolutely recommend, but maybe not for the reasons you might expect.

Is the gameplay particularly novel? Not really. While the game could technically be labeled as atmospheric horror, the gameplay itself lends itself more to the stealth horror type of games: you can only run and hide with no way to fight back. It's something we've seen before and as soon as you realize that most of these types of areas are specifically set up in "loops" so you can juke around the enemy, it takes the scare out of it (unless you're particularly prone to scares); all of which I think is a good thing. The horror stealth elements are done well - they don't detract from what this game is about. The "scary" parts are well spaced, interspersed with slight puzzles (figure out the path, find the code somewhere in the room, find the power switch to open a door, etc), all stuff more-or-less seen in other games. Dialog is told enough throughout without interrupting, with plenty of terminals, logs and documents to read through if you care about that type of thing (like I do). Setting is cool, but pretty similar looking throughout, graphics are pretty good on their highest setting (nothing amazing).

So what makes this game good? Short answer: the story. The sci-fi setting is well fleshed-out while still leaving enough room to imagine the world as a whole. I was told beforehand that there's a great element to this game, which I very early on into playing assumed that you are not human, which turned out to be correct but was not the pivotal twist; it would barely be a spoiler to even tell anyone. Instead, this is merely a plot device to ask excellent questions: what does it mean to be human? What happens to your consciousness if copied, cloned, etc. Are you your body, or something more?

If you enjoy the thought of those questions, told through the lens of a video game that just happens to have horror-like elements, then you will enjoy this game. Even if you're easily scared push yourself through and I promise it will be worth it. I'll definitely be talking about the topics of this game to my non-video-game-playing friends in the very near future (and recommending it to everyone else).

No long review needed here: this is an amazing game. Most of the top reviews do the game justice but honestly, just play it. Great graphics, amazing style, great level design & "puzzles", fun Bloodbourne-like fighting style (dodging, blocking, parrying, attacking), cool enemy/boss designs; and did I mention the game is beautiful? Seriously even if you don't care about the story (which is better than most games), play it for the visual design alone. 10/10 for a AAA game at an indie game price.

As many people have already stated, this is a pretty short game, I'd say approximately 45 minues to an hour at most. A couple simple physics puzzles make an appearance as well as some small shootouts, both of which it does fairly well (as to be expected from a Half-Life-inspired game). The graphics are also pretty nice, but nothing ground-breaking. I would have definitely paid $1-2 dollars for this game but the fact that it's free really makes it beyond worth it. If you're looking for a fun, simple game to kill a little bit of time consider checking this out, Half-Life fan or not.

Double Action: Boogaloo, while fun and based on some interesting core ideas, falls short of hitting the mark (no pun intended). The mechanics feel clunky and never quite do what you think they're going to do (think trying to dive through a window fluidly and instead boucing off the side of a building). Once you get used to its gameplay shortcomings though, you could see how this multiplayer game could shine given a thorough polish.

My biggest problem? Every time I tried to quit the game it caused my computer to freeze with a black screen. For that reason alone I can't personally recommend it. If you're straped for cash and looking for a 'different' type of shooter this indie game might be for you, but beware the possibility of having to restart your computer every time you want to quit out.

Meh.