After playing Hitman: Episode 1 - Paris, it's easy to reach the following conclusions. #1: instead of any new innovations and ideas, this new addition to the franchise just takes what made it great in the first place, and improves upon it. #2: although this is just the first step of many, it somehow feels that the complete package will be the best yet, and, #3: exactly because of this, IO Interactive must surely smooth out the many rough edges of its, otherwise, great product, especially the - currently - lukewarm plot, and, even more importantly, the many flaws of its online content.
Sun Dogs has many flaws. The main one, however, is that this isn't a game - it's an unfinished, badly written sci-fi tale. Actually, it isn't even that! A tale has a beginning, middle, and end. This is just a series of semi-randomised, and very disjointed, pieces of Arthur C. Clark-esque text. Apologies to the late great futurist!
This educational video game is certainly far better than most Sometimes You titles, but it's also an average one. Note, however, that it's not average compared to "the real deal," but to similar material, because there are games, novels, toys, and TV shows that are far better company to a three or five-year-old… It's not like they have a long attention span, after all.
Hitman: Episode 4 - Bangkok isn't bad, and it certainly isn't worse than the "just good" third one, but, it feels so… déjà vu! It's as if IO Interactive took the first episode and gave it a Thai skin, but, while the Parisian level was fun and all, it was just the first, the introduction, the beginning. In other words, while fun in many ways, this episode hasn't… evolved. It offers the same things all over again, when it should not.
There's one great and one awful thing about Western Press, and both can be summed up in one word: simplicity. The non-complexity of going mano a mano against another gamer, and just having to press a series of buttons as fast as possible is surely fun, despite not being something special… but the excitement cannot exactly last for long - especially when the basic premise is as simplistic as the bonus stages of far older video games.
If this piece of software was judged solely on its gameplay, which, flawed as it may be, is very enjoyable, everything would be just fine... but Deus Ex isn't just the sneaking, hacking, and shooting; Deus Ex is about moral dilemmas, engaging conversations, multi-layered characters, a world with personality - it's about the plot and how everything revolves around it. Long story short: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a very good game, but a disappointingly forgettable experience.
It will be impossible for Batman aficionados to not enjoy the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series. However, while it's a very enjoyable amalgamation of all things Batman, it doesn't manage to stand out, or be original in terms of story. More importantly, it repeats the developer's frequent mistakes; boring QTEs, and useless (although immersive) "choose the answer" dialogue sequences and all. It's a good, promising episode, but it could be so much better.
Event[0] is a fun, beautiful, innovative, deeply atmospheric, and extremely engrossing experience… but it only touches perfection. From the notion of chatting with the AI using the keyboard in order to overcome obstacles, to the subjects that the plot revolves around, this gives the feeling that it could be so much more. Hopefully, this was nothing more than a great start for Ocelot Society.
Batman: The Telltale Series - Episode 2: Children of Arkham has two flaws. Firstly, everything, from the talking to the punching, is done in pretty much the same way as before, which results in a good game, but not a substantially different experience. Secondly, Telltale still plays it safe with the storytelling, with choices that don't really matter in the long run. The finale of this episode, however, hints at a potential change of strategy for the upcoming chapters… a change that will surely stir things up a bit.
Why is Doom better than Wolfenstein 3D? Because the action feels better, faster, more dynamic, less constricting. Why is Wolfenstein 3D better than Merger 3D, which was obviously inspired by it? Because, while identical in terms of gameplay, "Wolfie" actually had a team of capable game designers behind it.
Like many ARPGs, Titan Quest is repetitive, and yet, strangely addictive… until its gargantuan levels, hundreds of boring fights, and unexciting skills bore you to death - and, the great (in concept) dual class system can't save this. Now, although the developer could patch this up a lot better, the main fault goes to the core material, because this anniversary edition will surely please those who loved the original, and that's always a good thing. As for the rest of you… tread cautiously.
Hitman: Episode 5 - Colorado is the most straightforward level so far, meaning that one can't get too creative here; it's just sneak, disguise, observe, kill, sneak, disguise, observe, kill. That being said, it's a darn good episode. Being a military base, danger is everywhere, the tension is stronger, and the difficulty higher. Most importantly, however, it's not the same thing all over again. It's a unique level that manages to stand out from the rest, and mostly in a good way.
The straight-from-gamebook-to-board-game and from-board-game-to-video-game style that The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is flawlessly going for makes this as niche as an RPG can get, and thus, isn't for everyone. Those who can turn on their imagination, "get into" this treacherous world, and actually do some mental role-playing in a role-playing game (gasp!), however, are in for quite the delicious treat.
Oh, how great it would be if this had been thought out a little better. Unfortunately, the concept of mixing multiple genres into one is not enough to make the end result fun. The main reason why Champions of Anteria failed in doing so is probably because, although it offers city building, campaign map strategy, and tactical ARPG gameplay, it does it without adding any spices to make the dish tastier, and thus, worthy of seconds.
F1 2016 is not perfect. Those who believe that are either too happy from the fact that this is a breath of fresh air after F1 2015, or because they've watched too many videos involving pit stop girls. Anyhow, the few improvements are very good, and the few existing flaws (especially the subpar AI), will not be enough to stop most virtual drivers' imaginary champagne showers… pit stop girls included.
Boring as it is strange, ugly as it is atmospheric, and with a storyline that is simply a mess although it has some nice ideas going for it, Cyber City 2157: The Visual Novel is not a good, or, at least, comprehensible read. While the concepts it delves in are intriguing, the final outcome is a heavily flawed written piece of pseudo-intellectual science fiction.
Poly Bridge is another typical example of these titles that don't really have any issues, but, at the same time, don't really have anything else to give but casual fun for a few minutes per day… and that's mainly through its Sandbox mode, where one can freely experiment with level creation.
The phrase "all spark, no flare" fits like a glove for Quantum Break. It doesn't do anything wrong, but there's also nothing special about it. It looks cool, the time machine-induced apocalypse starts in a promising way, and some of the characters are quite interesting, but it doesn't take much time to realise that hidden behind the flashy shootouts, famous faces, and ambitious storytelling, is a boring and generic sci-fi tale that never really goes anywhere.
While far better, Duke Nukem 3D is somewhat like the first Mortal Kombat; something that mostly managed to be relevant due to its risky style and attitude. It still looks and plays alright, but, besides being a good show-off, the Duke didn't have what it takes to keep up with the competition. Nevertheless, the 20th Anniversary World Tour edition is, without a single doubt, the definite one, even though it doesn't do much to improve the experience.
Mortal Kombat X remains a slightly inferior fighter compared to other titles, but mostly when it comes to depth, because, while very "old-school" and bare-bones, it's a very enjoyable experience, nevertheless. As for the XL upgrade it got, while not a game-changer, it fixes the many problems of the original, adds all downloadable content, and makes it a worthy purchase, even for those who were setting on the fence about it.