Recent reviews by Kail

Seems like another quick and dirty Warhammer game with an emphasis on graphics and atmosphere and not so much focus on things like gameplay and stability. For example, I've only played two missions, but I've already seen three enemies get stuck on the terrain. Two I could circle around and shoot from behind, but the third one was stuck behind the level geometry and I couldn't get at him, so that was a mandatory mission failure. Also, despite only playing two missions, I somehow have achievements for performing hundreds of manoeuvres and killing dozens of enemies.

The controls are pretty touchy and the camera does this extremely annoying thing where it zooms out if you're flying straight and zooms in when you touch the controls, so it's constantly yo-yoing in and out.

I like the idea behind this game, and it looks like there is some fun underneath all the jank, but it really needed some more time in the oven.

This game is kind of like a cross between Left 4 Dead and Minecraft... but not, like, the building or crafting parts of Minecraft, just the digging and the collecting minerals and the caves.

The game is a multiplayer co-op shooter, but it plays just fine solo if you want (they give you a flying drone assistant who helps pick up the slack, and he works great for the lower difficulty modes, though for harder difficulties you'll probably want other players). You choose one of four classes and get sent to a cave to complete objectives, mostly dealing with mining. The misisons tend to revolve around mining or digging, and the game has destructible terrain. While you're digging, you'll periodically be attacked by armies of alien bugs which you fight off with an assortment of guns based on your character class. Completing your mission gets you resources which you can use to upgrade your weapons or customise your appearance. Collect resources to upgrade weapons to take on harder missions to get more resources. It's pretty familiar stuff. Nothing really mind blowing, but solid and fun.

The strength of the game is the atmosphere, which is very cool. Dwarves in space are a cool idea, and the models largely use this hard edged shading model which gives everything a kind of vaguely arcadey look. Between missions, you hang out on your ship, which has a bunch of neat touches like a tavern where you can buy drinks. There's not much of a story, though, so if you're looking for something like plot or characters, maybe pass on this one.

It's not really a groundbreaking (ha ha) title, but it's solid and I definitely had a lot of fun while playing it.

This is the absolute BEST Heavy Gear game on Steam right now!

Sure, some cynics might point out that the last update was in May of last year, or that there are serious questions about if the developer is even still a functioning company, or if anyone is working on the game right now since the total radio silence we've had since E3 2018. They might also point out that this is an online only game that requires registration and a constant internet connection, so you can't even log in to access the game, much less play anything, if the servers ever go down. Oh, also, the servers went down. Yeah, that happened about six months ago, and no word from the developers on when they'll be back up, or any other topic for that matter. So, if you're buying the game at this point, you're essentially paying $40.00 for a login screen with an "unable to contact server" message.

But, still, BEST HEAVY GEAR GAME ON STEAM! That's gotta count for something, eh?

Under da sea!
Under da sea!
Darling it's better / down where it's wetter / take it from me!
Each little clam here / knows how to jam here / under da sea!
De lute play de flute!
De carp play de harp!
De bass play de bass!
De eldritch tentacled monstrosity pla

All right, this was not a review I expected to write. Square's attitude towards their classic games has been... kind of confused.

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SQUARE: Hey, you're a Final Fantasy fan, right?

ME: Yeah!

SQUARE: How would you like the PlayStation megahit, Final Fantay 7, on PC?

ME: That would be awesome!

SQUARE: Well, it must be your lucky day, because here you go!

ME: Wow, I... well, this is the Windows 95 version, okay... I mean, the PlayStation one is probably the definitive version but it's mostly the same I guess...

SQUARE: How about... the landmark Super Nintendo title, Final Fantasy 4!

ME: Oh, yeah, that would be amazing!

SQUARE: Well, here you go... Final Fantasy 4, the DS verion, FINALLY PORTED TO PC! You can thank me later!

ME: The... the DS version? But, why, though? I guess it looks OK on the DS, but on the PC it looks terrible, and the Super Nintendo version is the one that everyone liked...

SQUARE: How about... SNES classic Final Fantasy 6?

ME: Hmm, I don't think there was a DS version of that, so... yes please?

SQUARE: Here you go, Final Fantasy 6... the mobile phone version, REMASTERED so that all the artwork has been redrawn to look like smooth flat blobs with no contrast or shadow!

ME: But why would you do that? It's not...

SQUARE: How about we apologize with Final Fantasy 3?

ME: Is it...

SQUARE: THE DS VERSION, YES!

ME: Please stop.

SQUARE: Did you say "more please?" Then here's Final Fantasy 5!

ME: ...

SQUARE: Also redrawn, like Final Fantasy 6!

ME: Ugh.

SQUARE: Hey, I know how to get your attention... what's your favorite RPG?

ME: You wouldn't.

SQUARE: You like Chrono Trigger, don't you? One of the best RPGs on the Super Nintendo, heck, arguably one of the best JRPGs of all time?

ME: Don't you do it

SQUARE: Well, here you go, just as you wanted, here's Chrono Trigger...

ME: DON'T YOU DO IT

SQUARE: Chrono Trigger - THE PORT OF THE MOBILE PHONE VERSION that is!

ME: AAAAAAARGH! YOU MONSTERS!

SQUARE: What, didn't you always WANT Chrono Trigger with a gross blur filter over everything and covered with weird ugly touchscreen controls to click with your mouse?

ME: NO! No, I didn't want that, nobody wanted that! Nobody who looks at any of these remakes is going to go "Wow, that really looks amazing, so much better than any modern PC games!" The polygonal stuff was originally designed for a ten year old handheld console, for crying out loud, and the sprite based stuff looks worse than the default RPGmaker assets. It's not going to impress people who don't already like the games, and people who DO like the games are going to be annoyed that you changed them!

SQUARE: But we can't just re-release a twenty year old game with no improvements, who would buy that?

ME: FANS would buy that! Fans who liked the original game! Fans who like it LESS when you move AWAY from the original game and mess with the graphics or dialogue just for the sake of saying you changed something, anything, regardless of if it made the game better or not. People who like these games actually DO like these games, we're not just saying it to be nice or something, and when you get rid of the stuff we like, we're not suddenly going to like them MORE!

SQUARE: So, you're saying that you would seriously be okay with us just releasing a game from the nineties, with no improvements or adjustments?

ME: YES!

SQUARE: ... Okay, here you go. Chrono Trigger has been patched to look more like the SNES original. It's not perfect, but it's closer, at least.

ME: ...I need to go write a review.

REVIEW: This is one of the greatest RPGs ever made. Welcome back.
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Really solid Sonic game. It's what Sonic 4 should have been. The game feels fun, the levels are well designed, the sound is good, the package has tons of extras and unlockables. Overall, a really fun game.

If you've played the classic Sonic games before, this is another one in the same style. If you haven't, the game is a 2D platformer with a heavy emphasis on speed. Sonic (and the other playable characters, Tails and Knuckles) move around the level very fast, doing loop-de-loops and flying off ramps and bouncing all over the place. It's a very approachable game for players: the controls are simple (you can run and jump and if you hit jump in the air sometimes something will happen depending on your character but otherwise, it's just controlled with the d-pad and one button) the damage model is forgiving (getting hit makes you drop your rings, you don't die unless you get hit with no rings, so as long as you pick them back up you can keep going) and the stages have a lot of emphasis on fun, fast paced gameplay. For more skilled players, there are challenges like special stages and bonus unlocks and time attacks to sink a lot of time in to.

The graphics are pretty amazing, looking a lot like the original Sonic from the 16-bit days but with much more animation and a deeper color palette. The game incorporates some basic 3D elements for some of the visuals (the special stages are reminiscent of the Sega CD special stages, except with a polygonal Sonic) but keeps the feel of a mid ninties console game really well. The music is pretty solid, and the sound effects sound like they're mostly lifted right from the old games, so the presentation here is pretty much spotless.

The game itself isn't exactly without flaws, some of the bosses are a bit of a chore and I have some issues with the autosave system (which automatically saves after act 2 of each zone but not after act 1 and there's no way to manually save) but outside of a few nitpicks, overall it's a great game. If you don't like Sonic games, this one probably won't change your mind, because a lot of it is like a "greatest hits" collection of levels and gameplay ideas from the old Sonics, but if you ARE a Sonic fan, you should definitely check it out.

It feels weird to recommend a Metal Gear Solid game based on it's gameplay over it's story or presentation, but here we are. MGS 5: The Phantom Pain is basically the open world MGS game I've been hoping for ever since I had so much fun playing MGS 3.

The gameplay structure is pretty straightforward. You have a base in the middle of the ocean where you keep your stuff. You can steal resources to make more stuff, or kidnap enemy soldiers and turn them to your side so they'll work for you and make better stuff, steal vehicles, research upgraded guns and items, run a zoo for some reason, harvest plants, build expansions for your base... there's a lot of boxes to check. And in order to check those boxes, you have some of the most fun gameplay I've ever seen. The gameplay is mostly over the shoulder third person shooter / stealth type combat similar to the last few MGS games, except greatly aided here by giving the player the option of mouse aiming. The controls are honestly a bit awkward at first, some of the default keybindings are weird and take a lot of getting used to. But once you DO get used to them, the game is super fun. There are a ton of ways to accomplish most objectives, ranging from sneaking from shadow to shadow to evade detection, to just straight up airlifting in a tank and saying "screw subtlety" as you ride around in it and give your enemies the finger. You've got a lot of tools ranging from your faithful Cardboard Box to a small roster of "buddy" characters who will give you a unique type of support. You can kill your enemies, take them down nonlethally, or just sneak past. There's a lot of freedom to do what you want, how you want, and a lot of missions to play with (this is not a short game, especially if you're looking to clear every optional mission).

The story, though, doesn't fare so well. I don't think it's bad overall, I think the tone and atmosphere are really well done, but the plot, and the ending especially, reeks of cut content. There is essentially one complete story arc that runs through the first part of the game, and then the game keeps going on for a while after that, bringing up new plot threads and conflicts, and then it just... stops. It's hard to describe the effect without spoiling the plot, but it's like the game has simultaneously too much and not enough story. It's like watching Star Wars: A New Hope, and then at the end you jump straight in to Empire Strikes Back, but halfway through that movie you stop and cut to credits. It's not like it's a bad movie, the cinematography is great, the characters are likeable, and so on, but that's not a natural end point. It should either have ended an hour earlier or an hour later. The story to MGS 5 is like that. It's not terrible, and it does some neat things, but it's either too long or too short, and I wish we'd see an expanded version with another mission or two to wrap everything up, but that seems unlikely now.

But overall, despite plot hiccups, I can't overstate how much fun I found this game to be. It might not be the high water mark for the series in terms of writing, but it's definitely the most fun gameplay I've had in a Metal Gear Solid game.

Valley is a fairly short (about 5 hours) first person... game... thing... It's kind of hard to pin it to an exact genre, but I suppose it's a mix between FPS and platformer. It's probably not going to blow your mind, but I found it a lot of fun. Basically, you're given a suit of power armor that has all kinds of weird abilities (like super fast running and jumping) and asked to traverse a bunch of levels with it.

If I had to pick one flaw, it would be the lack of difficulty. This isn't really an issue for me, I don't mind "easy" games, but if you're looking for a challenge, this probably isn't going to provide it. The shooting is pretty rudimentary and you get enough health upgrades to make most encounters fairly easy. The platforming is also pretty easy, and though there are a few instant death pits that might get you, the penalty for dying is pretty light.

However, while it might not be super challenging, I thought it was pretty fun. You're given enough abilities that make moving around the world feel exciting and interesting. While the platforming didn't make me sweat, it did get me to say "wheeeee" a bunch of times. It's hard to describe, but I defintitely found a lot to like in the movement mechanics in this game.

The story is decent, if a bit cliche. The visuals can be surprisingly gorgeous at times, and the soundtrack is really nice as well. The level design is kind of middling, sometimes being really exhilirating to move through but boring to look at, and sometimes being really pretty to look at but kind of tedious to actually traverse. I did like the touch that allows you to choose if the main character is male or female; since the game is in first person, it doesn't change much aside from the "oof" noises you make when you get hit, but it's a nice feature.

Overall, I really liked this one. A surprisingly entertaining and polished title from a fairly small studio that had me grinning every time I booted it up.

This is my second attempt to write a review for this game, since the first one ended up being fifteen pages long. Battleborn is... complicated. It's a game that tries to do a lot but never quite nails anything perfectly, and trying to explain why requires pages and pages of explanation about interactions between gameplay mechanics. So, in an attempt to keep it short:

The game gets compared a lot to Overwatch and Dota. Like Overwatch, the game is a first person shooter, where you play as a quirky, colorful character with unique abilities. Like Dota, the game has RPG elements, with you starting every map at level 1 and having to level up and buy equipment and stuff until the end of the game, when everything resets.

There's a lot of pushback for comparing this game to Overwatch, because Overwatch is laser focused on it's payload and control point maps, polishing that type of gameplay to a mirror shine, while Battleborn is... not that. A lot of reviews say that the game is basically FPS Dota, with lanes and minions and towers and so on, but that describes just one mode out of three PvP modes (the other two being a control point mode and an "escort the minions" mode like Arena in Smite) and also ignores the PvE Story mode. Which is why I think it makes sense to compare the game to Overwatch: the main difference, to me, is that Overwatch is super focused on it's one, very specific gametype and Battleborn is extremely unfocused. If you pick up Overwatch and said "man, I wish I could just play through a single player campaign as one of these characters" or something then Overwatch will not give you that, while Battleborn will... but the tradeoff is that everything in Battleborn is way less polished and ends up kind of a mess.

This is where my last review ended up dragging on for page after page because Battleborn does a lot of stuff and almost none of it is really executed smoothly. The movement mechanics are awkward and clunky, hit detection is inconsistent, body blocking is a constant nuisance. The item system is a convoluted mess, the UI is kludgy and tedious to navigate and was obviously designed with consoles in mind, graphical optimization is terrible for certain setups and produces single digit framerates even on systems that can run more impressive games with no problems. Map design is a cluttered mess, littered with ankle-high platforms that you need to jump over or chest high obstacles where you're not sure if you can jump over it or juuuuust barely not. You can play the game single player, but you still need a constant internet connection or you get instantly kicked out of the game, and the bots tend to glitch out and spend the entire map with their face mashed against a wall or wandering pointlessly around an empty area near the base. There's not a single element of the game that you can point to and say "this ruins EVERYTHING" but at the same time, everything is just a little poorly put together, feels a little unpolished, doesn't work quite the way it should...

It's hard to give this one a thumbs up or thumbs down. If you want a solid FPS, Overwatch has much smoother gameplay and a more lively community and is cheaper. If you want a really competitive MOBA, then Dota or League of Legends are probably going to give you a more satisfying experience than this game, and are also cheaper. But there's a lot this game does that Dota doesn't, that Overwatch doesn't, and if you're in the mood for the weird cocktail that Battleborn serves, then it's the only game in town. If you're not sure, it's price tag is a bit high at full price, but if it gets discounted (and looking at the player count, I suspect it will fairly often) then you might want to take a chance and check it out.

This is a game I beat in 20 minutes and paid about $1.50 for.

It's not exactly deep or complex or difficult. The controls are standard first person stuff, WASD + jump + crouch, pretty much the only thing that isn't in every other FPS is a wall jump. There are no traps or enemies and the puzzles are pretty simple, just run around and hit buttons. Soundtrack is pretty good, and the atmosphere is very upbeat and relaxed.

It's not a game I'd sink dozens of hours in to, but it put a smile on my face, and for what I paid for it, that's plenty.