The story is engaging and filled with noir goodness, the gameplay added to the feeling I was a memory hacking detective, and the visuals felt straight out of one of my favorite 80s movies. But the absolutely relentless and aggressive lights and patterns that invade the game a few hours in made it a hard game to finish. Because of this I still recommend it, but with a large and bold asterisk.
For the rest of us who have been playing crafting and survival games for 10+ years, there is nothing in this game for us. For almost everything this game does well, there are other more complex games that do it just as well or better. I can tell lots of love was put into Summer in Mara, but there are some tweaks that need to be made to support the audience they seem to be going for.
Considering the largely uncharted waters (sorry) of the shark simulator genre, it is hard to fault Maneater for its flaws. On the other hand, open world design has been a staple of gaming for over a decade and it is a shame to see such repetitive quest design.
As much as I’m willing to sacrifice depth in gameplay for a satisfying story, I should never feel frustrated as much as I did while playing this.
The Complex is an interesting experiment that sometimes yields the fruits of its labor. More often, though, it reveals precisely why developers stopped using live-action video as a means to tell an interactive story. With a minuscule budget and equally small ambitions for its narrative and characters, The Complex just doesn’t replace the gaping whole that TellTale left behind.
Solar Panic: Utter Distress feels like it wants to be The Stanley Parable for the Rick and Morty generation but it comes across more as a desperate attempt to get a laugh no matter how random and ridiculous you need to get.
So what does all this mean for Shenmue? Well, I think fans are going to enjoy this one, but I don’t think this is going to introduce a new generation of gamers to the series.
I hate to speak for a community but I’m sure this game may meet the demands they ask for in Need For Speed. For anyone else looking to get into racing but don’t want the difficulty associated with Forza or Asetto Corsa, I would still recommend picking up the recent remaster of Burnout Paradise. If you’re not already a Need For Speed fan, I say skip Heat and wait for EA to remember Burnout exists.
It may not be the flashiest, prettiest, or most obvious choice for meeting your RPG crave, but trust me, The Outer Worlds is a can’t miss gem of not just 2019, but the entire generation.
It’s rare a competitive game can give you the exhilaration of beating your friends without the bitterness of losing to them. It’s competition at its friendliest and most fun.