Tobias Heinen's Reviews
Madden NFL 19 is fun, and when it finally "clicks", you stay on the ball. The beautiful graphics and the direct play feel convey the action exactly as it has to be in the stadium. For veterans this is a very clear reason to buy. However, indecisive and newcomers should be warned. The game doesn't take you by the hand permanently and those who have problems with the language barrier won't necessarily be happy with the football simulation. However, if you are interested in the sport and you already know a few terms, you should give Madden a chance. It's worth it!
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I enjoyed the espionage setting, the turn-based stealth action, and the assembly of the puzzle pieces. I often had a hard time getting off the screen because I just wanted to solve this one case quickly or started another mission quickly. If patches are applied here and a little more time is invested in the next title, an up-and-coming game forge could celebrate its final breakthrough.
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Apart from the almost forced grinding and the microtransactions behind it, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is the hammer! The sheer size of the world, the interesting and mostly very entertaining quests as well as the attention to detail make this game a real gem. For days I sneaked through enemy fortresses, killed leaders, chased wild beasts, climbed mountains and never got bored. The varied possibilities and well written dialogues were always very entertaining. I particularly liked Socrates with his stories and poems. Ubisoft can do that easily. The world holds you captive and it's very hard to get away from it. The "Just one more mission" principle opens up again and causes dark circles in the eyes on the next working day. And the humor ... I can't emphasize it enough. The little gags and Easter Eggs for attentive players (visual or sound) made me laugh a few times. Considering that I had mostly focused on the story and had already spent 40 hours in the country, you can imagine what it means to complete all the side missions, special tasks and hidden puzzles. If you want to get a lot of gameplay for your money, you can hit here without hesitation!
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The few deep and very well written quests unfortunately get lost in the paper and terminal clutter. The loss of human NPCs is a bitter blow to the apocalypse. But the game world is filled with so much love, details and little stories that it would be quite ignorant not to visit the shooter RPG again. Maybe in a month or two, when the biggest bugs have been fixed and the first DLC has been released.
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Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a very good strategy game and I had a lot of fun with it during the whole season. The fights are challenging (also for veterans of the genre), the story is interesting and exploring the zone is rewarded with new weapons and better equipment. The only thing I'd like to see in the next part of the series is a little more content. Apart from the campaign and a few occasional trips to secondary areas, there's not much to get.
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If you had a lot of fun with Far Cry 5, you will appreciate New Dawn. The usual good gunplay and the traditional open world work for the chaos on the streets of Hope County again this time. The cross-references to part 5 and Easter Eggs to other Ubisoft games are also well placed and encourage you to continue playing. But that was it. Especially the artificial "intelligence" and the flat characters quickly spoiled the fun of the game.
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Unfortunately, I didn't like Trüberbrook as much as I thought at first. The really charming artstyle and the great scenery are combined with a nice story, but technical weaknesses look out at all corners and edges. Whether it's the sluggish camera, the uninteresting opponent with the soporific voice or puzzles without inspiration. I don't want to punish all of the puzzles here by far, because some are really well guessed and have a crazy solution. However, the few negative examples are all the more important.
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To make it short and sweet: The direct predecessor was much more transparent and better playable than Tropico 6. The small bugs and larger coughing fits of the engine finally add up to a massive disturbance factor. Tropico has always been one of my favorite urban simulations. Not quite so serious, always with a dash of humour and always clear. Here the fourth developer studio tries its hand at the brand and unfortunately adds more negative than positive points to the mix. If you're interested in playing dictator you'd rather grab Tropico 5 and wait for the next offshoot with the homemade rum in your hand.
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With five population levels, two maps and heaps of goods, the Endgame of Anno 1800 is much more difficult to coordinate than in past parts. But this is really to be understood as a compliment. No matter how many hours I sink into an endless game, there is still a set screw here or a chain of goods there that I would like to turn. Whether it's building more banana plantations, optimizing trade routes or outsourcing the entire heavy industry to another island, there's always something to do. The fact that I sat in front of the computer until half past three at night and watched the little men working speaks for itself. Herewith I can make a clear recommendation for Anno veterans and construction game beginners to buy. You will all have dozens of hours of entertainment with this wonderful piece of software made in Germany. Bravo, Blue Byte!
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At Rage 2, absolutely nothing is dared. The generic Open-World always has the same tasks and picks up gameplay mechanics that we've seen a thousand times before. Apart from the really good hit feedback and the action-packed fights, there is simply nothing to get. The pale characters are forgotten after a few days, the story only motivates a few hours and the races are a horror. If you only want to dig up bandit fortresses with cool moves and fat guns, you'll find some entertainment here, but not for the full price.
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Not much expected and completely enthusiastic: That's what you want! Control pushes the right buttons for me and constantly provides me with great rewards. If you liked the mood of Max Payne 2 or Quantum Break, you're guaranteed to have fun with it. I'm glad that the developers give the setting and the universe they created plenty of air to breathe. So you can give in to the crazy world and celebrate the abstruse.
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I haven't laughed so hard about a video game in a long time. The dialogue options of The Outer Worlds are pure gold! If you have the chance to have a chat with the moustached hipster drug courier in Fallbrook, you should definitely take that opportunity. Apart from the creative gags, the missions are also well staged and offer many different solutions. Rarely have I had such freedom. The world reacts to everything I do in it, and it's just fun to watch the chaos I create unfold. You can see the fine-tuning of the game and it's very clear what elements the developers have focused on. In those very areas, The Outer Worlds does everything right and with this recipe for success has secured a place in my Top 3 for 2019.
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I look forward to see how the community deals with Bloodroots. Speed runs and the most effective mission completion possible promise entertaining actions on the screen. But, too many little things and annoyances have spoiled the game fun for me. Whether it was missing animations, inaccurate camera work or delayed hits - in the end it's the sum that counts. It's a pity, since I had such high hopes for the small indie team in the middle of last year. But nothing is lost yet. Maybe patches and updates can put it in the right light, there are dozens of good approaches.
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The lovingly designed world of Iron Danger projects partly really breathtaking panoramas on my screen. A harbour quay bathed in twilight enchants me as much as the duel between a several meter high fighting machine and my, in comparison, tiny heroes. Even if this colossus can crush me with a kick, I still manage to keep the upper hand due to the well implemented time manipulation. It's a great feeling when you jump out of the line of fire with split-second precision or parry a deadly blow. I have never regretted immersing myself in Finnish folklore for about 12-15 hours, and on top of that I was offered a sophisticated game mechanics. More of it with pleasure!
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This speed, so much more enemies and the scope: id Software has done more in all aspects than its predecessor. The player is demanded as much every second as it was in DOOM 2016 for the final... and that already in the tutorial. The choice of the right weapon against the Cacodemon hovering above me, the dodge set to the left to avoid the approaching Pinky and the firing of the flamethrower must go into your blood to have any chance at all against the deluge of demons pouring over the Slayer. There's so much going on on the screen at the same time that my computer should have been down on its knees by now. But it keeps on rattling happily. The postponement of DOOM Eternal seems to have done really good. Such a solidly functioning piece of software needs time to be polished and unnecessary frills thrown out. The latter didn't necessarily work with the upgrade system, but in terms of performance this shooter is at the forefront. DOOM Eternal has shown me again after many years what is still possible in the first person shooter genre.
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Half-Life: Alyx is not just a prequel. We are dealing with a tangible, independent entry into the franchise. It's a shame that not every fan can experience this story for themselves, because Valve did such an incredible job in the final that I couldn't stop being amazed. I don't want to give too much away either, because this, this is something big. End Episode Two big, to stay in the familiar terminology. However, the 15 hours before the credits are also fun and keep you in a good mood throughout. The reunion with old acquaintances, learning new skills in VR or a deeper immersion into the stories around the legendary "Gordon Freeman", whom the young Alyx only knows from stories and rumors: I approached the title with high expectations and Valve actually delivered.
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The humor really is the most fun for me, because there is not much playfulness offered here. The missions are monotonous, the performance on consoles is insufficient and I still had to struggle with the camera even after nine hours, as there is no option for fixed targeting of prey. But I don't want to leave this ship in too bad a mood. The graphics are quite respectable and there are some points where you can see better ambitions. It's great that there can be such wacky games and I hope for a more polished and interesting second part.
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My brief intermezzo with Destroy All Humans! did for me exactly what I had expected. A bit of nostalgia, fired up with chic graphics and lovingly fooling around in free mode. The controls are really easy to use, the constantly bad-tempered Crypto involuntarily radiates humorous charm and the social criticism of the USA in 50s style is still as meaningful today as it was when the original was released.
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Vicarious Visions have already earned their laurels with the Crash Bandicoot remake. The developers were also able to transfer this love of detail 1:1 to the Tony Hawk franchise. The enthusiasm and intuition with which the Americans have approached this project is remarkable. A lot of things feel exactly the way you remember them, even though they weren't like that at all back then - memory plays tricks on you. Everything simply fits together.
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The Microsoft Flight Simulator breathes new life into the genre thanks to ultra realistic graphics, no question. But does the simulator offer an incentive for this target group in the long run? When you have flown through New York, photographed your not very precisely recreated home town and explored your last vacation destination from above again? For simulation enthusiasts, on the other hand, the game offers everything you can dream of. Just the possibility of being able to turn every wheel in the multitude of cockpits is a great attraction. Those who are willing to get behind the wheel and learn will be delighted with a detailed replica of reality. Also the huge amount of supported joysticks, pedals and gamepads shows that especially purists can have fun with it. And this is exactly what Microsoft wants to satisfy in the long run.
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