It is a shame as the rest of the game has had a lot of care put into it. The music by Marcin Sonnenberg is excellent, the ancient Germanic future to the game is a decent angle for some humour, but it ultimately fails to maintain interest due to monotonous gameplay. This is a rare case where the game’s presentation outpaces its gameplay, leaving behind a creative and briefly entertaining, yet inexplicably dull game. Certainly good for passing time, but there are countless similar games on mobile devices for a fraction of the price.
You are never at risk of encountering anything unexpected when playing Zenith, but cutscenes are unpredictable and quite intelligently written (and even well directed at times), so they are genuinely entertaining. But the game is an action RPG by the numbers, and it gives the distinct impression that it is a vehicle for delivering the comedy. This would be fine, but that vehicle would need to be enjoyable and on this one, the wheels have fallen off.
There is fun and satisfaction to be had in stealthily taking out whole levels without being spotted, but that is perhaps due to the nature of stealth gameplay rather than the strengths of the game itself. If you are looking for something along these lines and don’t mind the issues too much, you may enjoy Filthy Lucre, but there are other games that do the same thing with more success for a similar price, making this particular game difficult to recommend.
If the issues don’t phase you and you are at peace with large sections of dialogue, you will find an interesting, dismal world filled with shadowy characters and intrigue. Everyone is a bit off in Dex, whether they’re shady themselves or they’re in the midst of their own tragedy that is no doubt brought on by people you have already met. Uncovering the threads that connect the residents of Harbor Prime is a fascinating look into a flawed future, if you are willing to hack for it.
Gunscape is aimed at giving players the tools to create their own old school FPS levels and maps, but Blow Fish Studios' attempt to carve out a little niche is lacking in its execution. What remains is a game that could be of interest while you roam through player-made maps, but will ultimately be left behind as actually playing them will quickly tarnish any glimmer of hope it had.
Ultimately EDF4.1 ends up being an addictive game that is full of alien squishing fun on a huge scale, but as a last generation port to PlayStation 4, it ends up being far too expensive. I shall await with bated breath for a true sequel.
Ultimately, Syndicate comes off as another Assassin's Creed game with a handful of improvements. London is beautiful if a bit laborious to travel around, and the missions are repetitive, but this doesn't make Syndicate bad by any stretch of the imagination. It's still a good game, it just hasn't made a significant step up over the previous instalment. If you are a fan of Assassin's Creed, or you think you might be, then Syndicate comes as recommended as any other AC. It likely won't convert people who dislike the series, but it won't lose any who are still interested in it, either.
In the end Bedlam has an interesting premise at its core and dialogue that will amuse for a while, but it gets same-y very quickly in each environment. Perhaps if the game started more quickly and had you hopping genres a little earlier in the game, it wouldn't outstay its welcome quite so quickly. As it is, it can only really be recommended if the genre-hopping idea has you weak at the knees.
There are moments in Gauntlet: Slayer Edition that shine. Whether it's successfully taking out a room full of enemies with your three co-op partners or, even better, single-handedly, because your friends already died and now they owe you a debt. These are the moments that people will play for despite its repetitive nature, but that repetition is ultimately the deal-breaker and the other issues only serve to reinforce that there are other games in the genre that do it better.
Ultimately Color Guardians is a bright, cutesy, challenging runner with some good ideas that falls through when it comes to keeping it interesting. Restarting from checkpoints over and over only getting a little bit closer to the end each time quickly grows repetitive, draining any drive there might have been to continue playing.
Unity is an impressive technical achievement despite its issues, and it is certainly a significant step forward for the series as a whole. The difficulty of combat encourages use of the overhauled stealth system, perhaps signalling a shift towards a real focus on stealthy gameplay in the series, which is certainly exciting. And on top of that, it's utterly gorgeous almost all the time.
The worries I had regarding passing the reins over to another developer and publisher are laid to rest here. It is far from a perfect game but the fighting, particularly striking, is the best it has ever been. EA Canada has done a good job of showing that the UFC series is in good hands by delivering an excellent game.
It is survival horror right down to the limited effectiveness of your pistol and the scarcity of resources and manages to be thoroughly unnerving despite its low pixel density. The storyline has you questioning everything – even your own character – throughout and is the thing that will keep you coming back if you can bear the incredible tension the game’s atmosphere creates.