Games Xtreme's Reviews
Shadow of Mordor is an excellent game that is elevated by the Nemesis System and its many other features working together. It's a great tale in Middle Earth that is faithful to the concepts of Tolkien's world and echoes the tragedy of the likes of Hamlet and Macbeth. I highly recommend this game on new-gen platforms and PC where you can truly appreciate the Nemesis System and open world in all its hi-def epic nature.
The actual story is pretty solid: After the events of the first game, one Lt. Kai Tana finds herself on the far side of a wormhole with vicious injuries. Her ship's repair systems attempt to keep her alive, integrating mechanical components into the very core of her being, and Kai eventually awakens to find herself with new abilities, and the would-be prisoner of an alien empire... This leads to the major twist of the gameplay. While the classic shmup gameplay is still here in spades, with the usual Velocity twists, 2x introduces a new element into the mix; sidescrolling platformer sections. At various points in stages, Kai can, and often must, exit her ship to go into a base and hunt down controls or resources.
Aesthetics-wise, Breath of the Wild doesn't exactly feature eye-popping graphics like games on PC and PS4. Which isn't really surprising, considering Nintendo has never been one to go after shiny graphics, prioritising innovation and user experience instead. Nevertheless, Breath of the Wild is a thing of beauty, featuring an anime-like art style that blows every other Zelda game out of the water. Everything is incredibly detailed and immersive in the game.
Darkest Dungeon is a beautifully atmospheric side-on animated hack and slash, dungeon crawler that lets you assemble a party of four stalwart heroes. You begin your journey in a Hamlet that you can eventually restore and build-up to accommodate new buildings and new features to allow you to survive that much longer. Here you'll recruit your heroes from a roster in the Stage Coach, which initially starts out pretty thin with only a few members and low-rank heroes to choose from.
I have been hooked. I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. With over 400 vehicles to choose from and the various types, there is plenty of gameplay still left. From Trucks, Hyper Cars, Formula Drift, trucks and even vans. I have never seen so many vehicles in one game. This is the most fulfilling game I have played. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys past Forza games or any racing game for that matter, FH4 tops them all.
The Surge is a refreshing take on the *Souls formula, it joins Nioh in that regard and forges its own path towards something quite unique and extremely interesting -- it's a definite must-own game for *Souls fans and could entice new players with its gritty sci-fi setting.
There is just so much to this game that it'd take me about three or four thousand words just to describe all of this to you. I mean if you complete one level you move on, right? In most cases that is true for platformers. This is like an open world platformer. You can go back to a level that you might have missed something on or if you just feel like going back, you can. I have never experienced a game like this. Not in this type of genre. So, I can say out of all games I've played, this is one of a kind. To have such freedom to roam back and forth on a platformer, it's brilliant. I'm sure if you are a vet gamer like myself, you'll agree, I'd like to see more games like this. This had some time put into it and I'm not really sure if it's big in the gaming world. If I had the option, I'd promote this game in all channels of gaming.
DD:DA HD is a great game made even better by the high res texture packs and tweaks. It is a game that everyone who loves Dark Souls and Action-RPGs needs to play at least once, or twice, or forever. No other game quite presents dragons like this one either!
Stardew Valley is a brilliant game, fun, engaging and packed with things to see and do. The gameplay loop is satisfying and one hour and easily turn into six when you play it.
Dramatic 80's music hits my ears as the two brothers jump up in the air with such a pose of coolness, it could only be seen on TV. The red Pang Brother, black hair and a Band-Aid slap dead on the bridge of his nose, orange grappling shot in one hand with blue jeans and a red shirt and hat. The second Pang Brother, brown hair, blue shirt and blue jean shorts as well. Teal grappling shot in one hand and they are both ready to shine! Pang Brothers to the rescue!!!
Gears of War 4 is an excellent game. Not only is it a fine looking title, but it plays smoothly and has a rock-solid frame-rate. The suite of multiplayer modes and the new Horde Mode are the icing on the Chainsaw Cake.
Dishonored 2 is great, it manages to keep to the style of the first game, improve on it no end and provides a superb playground for stealth or out and out bloodletting.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of those rare games that actually feels like a AAA title. The level of polish and care that has gone into the game echoes throughout. It's an incredible journey worth undertaking, worth every moment you spend with the game.
The presentation of this is superb. The screenshots do not do this justice and as for the sound.. Listen to this through a home cinema system and it's going to be atmospheric. For the true experience play it through head phones and don't blame me if the slightest knock, scratch etc. has you jumping like a jack rabbit. This is one slickly executed game. Visually impressive yet visceral, atmospheric and genuinely scary. This is the Resident Evil we have been waiting for for such a long time.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a great game, one that has a ton of replay value and allows you to experiment with various ways to achieve your mission objectives. If you're a fan of Commandos from the old days, then this game will bring that back with a modern gameplay twist.
Fast, furious and challenging. Also not very long in length, but the game play time may well be extended as you get yourself into the sideways scrolling demon's souls type punishment coming your way should you make a mistake!
Prey is a great game, one of the classic science fiction games that combines thoughtful design with kick-ass exploration and player choice -- you don't want to miss this one, just watch out for the photocopier -- I thought I saw it move!
Rockstar have pushed out the boat in terms of every single system at play in this game, from the amazing world itself - which is one of the best looking games, with some of the best looking effects and atmospherics, to the level of detail on the characters and physics simulation for clothing and other materials. This is what I really call a Next-Gen game, and it pushes the bar so high it's going to take a while for the rest of the industry to catch up to this one. The AI is fantastic, for every single entity in the game. From the townsfolk, to the gunslingers, gangs, animals, and tiniest critter -- it's all working madly to bring this world to life. Enemies won't rush at you blindly, unless they think you can be flanked, or that's how they're feeling in terms of the fight. Mostly though, they'll use cover. Wolves will hunt in packs, cougars are ambush predators and they hit and run...
I've not had this much fun with any Minecraft style game for a while now, and the clever design of Portal Knights in terms of how it offers the adventure keeps me jumping back in. I take a break now and then to add a bit more to my home area, craft a few more bits of equipment when I have my resources and look to improving my storage at my home workshop. When a game can draw you in like this and the minutes turn into hours, you know you've got a good game with a solid foundation that the developers keep on building atop of. I've seen Portal Knights transform from the PC original build to where it is today, and honestly, I can't wait to see what they do next!
Destiny 2 is definitely a better game than the previous title. If you're not a Destiny fan you could try this one, if you're a Destiny fan then this should be a no-brainer. Everything feels familiar and improved, the perfect kind of sequel.