House of Ashes might not offer anything groundbreaking for horror fans, or those used to Supermassive Games, but it doesn’t really need to. Those interested in this knows they are getting a cinematic, horror game that is just as fun watching, as it is playing. It won’t win anyone over who’s expecting a groundbreaking experience, but for those wanting a bit of some B-Horror action in their life, especially with Halloween around the corner, this might just be the game for you.
Overall, I do think Wo Long has a good starting foundation that I’m sure other players in the community will be able to master more than me. I don’t want to claim I’m expert at the game (despite finishing NG+ on hard,) but I have seen others based on the demo manage to pull things off I haven’t. Basically what I’m saying is that the things I disliked, aren’t necessarily going to be the things the community dislike. Wo Long is still an entertaining game to play through. Its combat is solid, making it closer to Sekiro, Ninja Gaiden, and even Onimusha, though I do feel some things could have been fleshed out more. Souls and Nioh fans will no doubt be right at home with this, as it certainly scratches that Soul itch, and for that I do recommend you play the game at some point.
There’s a lot of potential in Atlas Fallen that, sadly, feels heavily bogged down by its forgettable and, at times, repetitive story. If you can look past that, you’ll find Atlas Fallen has much to offer. It’s a great callback to classic hack-and-slash titles, filled with hours of senseless, monster-slaying fun that can be enjoyed with another player online. It’s not without its faults mind you, but it does build a great foundation, one I’d like to see built upon with potential sequels.
While I can strongly recommend Gotham Knights to any Batman fan out there, I will say that you should temper expectations a bit, especially if you’re going into this thinking it’ll be anything like the Arkham series. There’s a lot to enjoy about it, such as the combat, and the story that helps keeps you going, but outside of that, there is just too much left to be desired. The open-world isn’t particularly special in anyway, mostly serving as a way to pad hours with boring side activities that are forced to progress. Not the most interesting of gameplay loops that gets tiring well before the midpoint. Then there’s the stealth that just doesn’t build upon the working formula of the Arkham franchise, if not regresses it. It’s worth a play for sure, but nothing I would say that anyone needs to rush out and experience.
Being a looter and a GaaS doesn’t mean you have to follow the genre’s norm, and Rocksteady had a real opportunity here to really be different from other Gaas looter shooters. There are some excellent mechanics in Suicide Squad that other looters should have, but in the end, they don’t do enough to carry it through with what’s there for the post-game. That is unless you like turning your brain off entirely, but that doesn’t make the criticism disappear. The studio chased after the promise of what GaaS could bring but, in doing so, forgot what made people love them so much. There are still moments of that seen in the campaign, and I would still recommend any fan to play it at one point. But here, right now? Probably not, at least not at the asking price for an incomplete experience.
In Nightmare may provide a decent plot line with enjoyable, heartfelt moments, but outside of that, it really is a hard game to recommend to anyone. The technical issues alone are enough to say wait until an update comes out to address it, but even so, the gameplay, while does offer some enjoyable moments, proves to have more issues that only the most patient of people can really deal with. You might have some fun with it for sure, but this is one nightmare you probably don’t want to jump into, at least right away.
Fort Solis delivers a dark, high-tension, suspense-filled thriller driven by its incredibly realistic next-gen visuals, compelling character performances, and well-written writing. If this were an episode in a long-running sci-fi series, it’d be amongst my favorites and highly rated. However, seeing that this is a video game, it’s hard to recommend Fort Solis due to its little gameplay. Most of it’s walking, with few QTEs here and there, but it all serves as padding that eventually overstays its welcome. The opening hours will have you in awe as it takes you through the gorgeous and ominous landscape of the red planet of Mars, but slowly, you’ll come to the realization that there really is nothing waiting for you on Mars.
There is just too much wrong with it at the moment, that despite it being free-to-play, I just can’t recommend anyone putting their time into this. There are better offerings out there for shooters. It saddens me a bit, because on underneath all the grime and junk I can see a shooter that has great potential. Maybe in a year’s time and after multiple patches it’ll be good, but that’s asking a lot, and we don’t know whether it’ll be able to get there. This is one crossfire you don’t want to take part part in.