Recent reviews by warrenebb

(they have fixed it to be a fun power fantasy again, instead chaotic stress nightmare)

Thought this was surprisingly fun take on 3D pac-man. I only meant to play one level then come back later, but found myself playing until I was deep in level 6 (and used up all my lives). Detailed environments, nice music, cool vibe. Dig the mechanic to help you find the next dot in the maze when you run out. and dig the power up pellet giving you projectiles for a time (instead of just making you invincible). Wish there was a way to speed up for bursts of time. But totes had fun.

REAL GOOD THATS ALL

this app used to be one of the most amazing things in VR. for 20 (40?) bucks you could import your own meshes, animate them easily, and then export 360 videos - or fbx files for Unity or Maya. it was INCREDIBLE. I made entire videos for different classes across my university and sang it's praises as the first app you had to buy for VR work. Had a lot of plans for different ways to use it.

And it appears they've made a ton of improvements, but i can't tell because i can't load the pro version (or afford to subscribe to it). Their support seems to be cool and patient with me so i'm editing this review to be less caustic and whiny. I kinda feel stupid for getting so angry with them for probably making a wise decision to stay in business. But I hope someday they can swing back around to offering an amazing VR tool to arty folks who don't have lots of cash.

short but charming. fun to see barney getting this little backstory as a huge badass.

I jumped into this to brush up on HL, and get ready for Half Life Alyx. WHOOPS! the first 20 minutes were kinda neat, seeing textures and resolution that were slightly better. but by mid game I 100% regretted installing this trash. I managed to get into an area near the dam that I shouldn't have been able to (without draining the far side of the dam). the conveyor belt area was full of full screen texture glitches that made it impossible to see what I was doing. and it seemed like last half of the game was full of enemies that fired immediately on first sight and constantly (curious if AI was changed/affected, or if game was always such a joke) -so I was saving every few seconds just to make it past rocket launching turrets, tanks, and all the crap in Xen. Came to despise the upgrade to water textures because it had a sloppy aesthetic much worse than ancient graphics of original game. And there was some #&$@%!ing glitch with jumping where i could never get on top of anything unless i hammered crouch while jumping to stick in place. one part where you have to jump across a gap from ledge to fire escape was so stunningly broken I punched the wall.
now that i've suffered through the whole thing (mostly to confirm that it was actually completable despite all the bugs and incompetence), i'm afraid to buy Black Mesa. because I'm left with a general fear that Half Life 1 was maybe much worse than i remember and maybe i just need to get away from the whole ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ franchise. gah.
(plus, was the physics always so wonky? seemed floaty and i was always sliding off platforms and ledges after jumps. or just walking onto them. ugh).

anywho. first review i've written. feels dirty. but i had such a bad experience i just wanted to warn off anyone else from dipping their toe into this to get ready for half life VR (slash 3? i'm still clinging to the idea HL:Alyx may quietly reveal itself as the Half Life 3 by the end of the game)