Recent reviews by BrokenMonkey

I'm only halfway done, and already it feels like my 2024 game of the year. First, the visuals and character design are outstanding. It's feels very original and unlike anything I've personally seen. Kudos for the sound design. Not only a great soundtrack, but each thwack, boom, shot, and other noises just feels so good. Good variety of weapons, great use of kicking too. Many games include a decent kick, but here, the kick is the star, but the loadout offered feels good and progresses through out the game. Keeping things fresh. You can even throw guns at enemies to stun them when you're all out of ammo. Can't think of many games that'll let you do that.

Another unsung hero is the amount of damage you can do. It's not quite "break walls" down like Red Faction, but the game offers plenty of destructible furniture. You're gonna want to sometimes just stop and appreciate the destruction and havoc you create. The way a broken chair piece lies on a enemies body just so.

Story is very fun, and humorous. They built a really interesting would to enjoy, and I do feel like it could be explored further via spin-offs and potential sequels. I'd love to see an open world game in Crime City personally. I can only imagine a solid 16 player deathmatch would be chaos.

Overall, the game slaps. The levels are designed to be enjoyed where you can get lost for hours doing them, trying to get all three stars for one level, but also in a way where you can play a level or two on the john via the steam deck and enjoy a short but sweet run. BTW, bear market is so far my favorite level. Lots of carnage and ways to unleash that carnage.

BUY THE GAME.

Perfect game for kids, but people who enjoy things like Goat Simulator may enjoy this. First, there's no real storyline. There are cutscenes and lots of things to do/collect, but if you're expecting another episode of Spongebob in videogame format, this ain't it. If you like goofing around and playing around with goofy physics systel in

Squirrel with a Gun is quite a fun game. Multiple guns to use, executions, lots of exploration, puzzles, 3D platforming, open world, boss fights, unique settings, unlockable costumes/skins (not monetized, just part of the game), and the devs already have a game plan for future content. I think the game is a blast to play. Took me less than 20 hours taking my time to complete, so it's not too long, nor too short either.

In short, it's awesome. Go buy it!

Pros: Good Gunplay - decent campaign challenge - graphic settings - bots for MP - secrets to discover in the levels

Cons: despite listed features, it's a pretty bare bones experience - campaign is short - MP maps are just repurposed levels and blend in with each other - obvious mobile game port - no real environmental interactions, you just shoot everything including walls and switches to open up other rooms/secrets

If you're looking for a quickie shooter to enjoy, it might be your cup of tea. Five bucks ain't too bad an asking price.

If this were the early 2010s and I played this on my phone, I'd probably be impressed,

Felvidek came out of nowhere and ends up as a hearty contender for best indie game of the year. The immediate draw of this is it's art. Everything drawn by hand, with cut scenes designed to look like early 3D PC games, all looking quite good. From her world map to enemy designs. It often feels like a old painting of a past time. The story is engaging with dialogue that attempts to capture and immerse into it's medieval time period. The characters are memorable, and the protagonist quite charming. The game plays like most RPG maker games, but it has a charm to it. The combat while turn based, is done in first person, and the options around improving your character revolve around item management and the armor you wear. There are no levels, and cam face enemies more powerful that you pretty early on. By game's end, I felt like I had a unique and refreshing experience. Felvidek is a thumbs up for me.

Having played the Gold Edition of Saints Row 2023, I can safely say that I enjoyed the game a lot, and can see myself returning to enjoy more. The world of Santo Ileso is a big fun playground to rampage around in. I found myself being carried to about 100 hours before I finally decided I had enough. There's lots to unfold about what I liked, but it's certainly not a perfect game by any stretch. The campaign, while enjoyable, is basically a weird sitcom that never really accomplishes it's goal of making me fall in love with the characters. Now, Saints Row was never exactly Shakespeare. Even the first two were basically watered down versions of GTA when it came to the storyline. What it did well was going over the top, and this game does that in spades.

First, I love some of the absurd vehicles in this game. You get the cars based on real life ones that sleek and cool, but also really crazy designs. My favorites included a giant boat car, a monster truck with a giant skull, and what I can only describe as a vehicle that Frakenstein would drive. You can also customize the cars to your liking. In fact the customization is quite good. Not quite on par with previous entries, but still great. I created a character with amputated legs and hands, surgical body scars, and a cactus head with flippers as shoes. It was fun to see this in cutscenes.

The meat of the game, for me at least, comes from the empire building. Basically you can set up a business in any district, and you can perform missions for that place. For instance, a costume store acts as a front for costumed robbers. You scope out the place, looking for points of interest with your camera to break into, and then act as theg getaway driver once they rob the place. There are lots of business each with their own unique missions. In addition to that, there are all kind of side activities to do, like picture taking, wingsuit diving, finding collectibles, side jobes, destroying armored cash vehicles, bounty hunting, etc. If you're not as into the main quest like I was, the empire building is there to make up for any faults.

There's so much more to customize too, like weapons, your houses, your gang, and even your roomates.

Overall, it's a thumbs up for me.

This game gives me a sense of joy and melancholy. It's a beautifully made game, with unforgettable artowrk, a charming style of gameplay, quality of life features to make the game more accessible, and a great story to be told. I enjoyed exploring the world of Moominvalley and committing crimes the Snufkin way. Hell, the game is just one big Snufkin Crime Sim.

https://youtu.be/UJPkjOiyIn8

Simply put, an great RoboCop experience. The developers seek to bring about the most authentic and fan pleasing game they could make, sacrificing a bit of innovation, but somehow innovating in the licensed video game landscape. It's very rare to see games treat their soure material with this level of love. Gunplay geels great, there are skill trees and abilities that unlocak more options in dialogue, exploration, combat, etc., and you the game offers a better story than what we got in the sequels. Negatives for me were the animation and and lack of voice actors for NPCs, but it's small complaints in the shadow of a great game. Game also sports some fun ragdoll moments, so I'll leave with this video to end this review:

https://youtu.be/koaXDzOJsWE

Slactro is beyond doubt one of the most underrated and under known devs out there today. All the games are cheap, but high quality. This might be the most "high quality" of them all. Super Kiwi 64 is definitely the "meatiest" game of the bunch. I won't rattle on too much, but the game just has an awesome aessthetic, plays great, and had a free DLC update. You're getting a lot for a dollar.

This is an edgy edgelord game that appeals to the 13 year old in me. Your sword attacks give you health, there's obscene graffiti written all over the place, and the game has a staunch "anti-war machine" stance. It doesn't really get into much of the specifics. the story is just random pictures showing the world going to hell, people revolting, war happening, etc. No story though. It's very edgelord, but it amused me, and I do kind of love all the obscene words written all over the level.

Gameplay is fun. You have a default sword which can get you one point of health for every enemy you kill, so farm the weaker boys, and you get a basic variey of FPS weaponry that you access via right click to bring up your ironsights. You can't shoot your wapon without using ironsights. Weapons include pistol, machine gun, shot gun, rocket launcher, and a magic blue hand that shoots energy. You also have a dash mechanic as well. If I were to compare this to other games, it's like Doom and Serious Sam. The game keeps track of how well you do, and can earn ranks for doing things like having over 100 health, killl all enemies on the level, collecting the anarchy symbol on each level, and completing each level quickly.

There are some secrets to find here and there, On top of it all, the game has lots of platforming. Preey fun for the most part. There are occasions where it'll be a bit annoying. Some jumps need precision and sometimes you end up botching the jump and falling like a ton of bricks. Doom Eternal this game is not. Hoever, the game is fun and I think worth playing if you're looking for something super weird and different.