Останні рецензії користувача DeathMaster

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer about a mutant blob that can consume anything that is smaller than itself, yet grows every time it consumes something. I think you know where this is headed...

For starters, Mutant Blobs Attack is very well designed. The art style is truly awesome, a cartoony world in a 1950's horror movie setting, most likely with a wink to Steve McQueen's (hilarious) The Blob. Combined with small cutscenes in a similar style, this side of the game is genuinely funny. The soundtrack is catchy and fits well with the chosen aesthetics.

The level design is excellent, its never too hard to figure out where to go next. With 24 levels in 6 zones the game provides plenty of variation, with an enjoyable mini game in each of these zones. The puzzles are no brain teasers but do provide a nice shift from otherwise continuous platforming. The gameplay in general is fairly straightforward, but every level has another approach or gimmick that took away every sense of repetitiveness.

While in general Mutant Blobs Attack is not very challenging, once you go for the gold medals and finding every secret there's a whole new level of difficulty for those seeking a challenge. The checkpoint system is rather brilliant, avoiding that even the harder parts of the game become frustrating. The controls are decent, with the exception to wall-jumping, which is a little dodgy.

Concluding, Mutant Blobs Attack is a truly funny game that excels to great heights if/when you also decide to challenge yourself. It's not perfect, but its definitely one of the best platformers I've ever played. And for its price, you really should not ignore it.

+ Hilarious visual presentation
+ Fitting soundtrack
+ Challenging if you let it be
+ Smart checkpoint system
+ Never becomes too repetitive

- Dodgy walljumping mechanics
- A wee bit on the short side


8.5/10

Retro City Rampage is a mash-up of a lot of retro games from the 80's and 90's, with a few movie references in the mix, all set in a GTA (1) style world. Lovely premise, absolutely balls execution. This dyed heap of diarrhea is barely playable. In a failed attempt to recreate the difficulty of the so-called retro games, it's unbearably painful to play, especially the second half of the game.

A few things are done right. It's occasionally funny, but tries a little too hard at times. The soundtrack is pretty sweet and hits the retro spot perfectly. However, once you actually start to play, all the good things get buried under a massive pile of failure. Bugs, unexplainable mechanics, pathetic controls and uninspired gameplay, only to name a few.

Unless you're looking for a night filled with frustration, simply don't buy this game. If you need your fix for old skool games, actually play the real deal, not this half-arsed attempt at blending 50 games into one.


+ Soundtrack
+ Pretty funny

- Everything else

3/10

The Swapper is a puzzle platformer set in deep space. The premise is simple: you can clone yourself up to four times and take control of one of these clones at the same time. This unique gimmick also grants a number of unique puzzles. And these puzzles are great. The game rarely tells you what to do, only explains some basics and the rest is up to you.

The puzzles themselves are highly enjoyable, challenging and really require you to think outside of the box. However, a few of these puzzles are so insanely difficult that even the most seasoned puzzlers have to kill the pride any puzzle game can offer, and look for help on the web. Other puzzles require such pinpoint precision that even that becomes frustrating.

Difficulty aside I have nothing to complain about. The graphics are gorgeous, supposedly entirely made from clay, but I would've believed it to be the U3 engine just as well. The setting is really dark, a bit creepy even and perfectly fits with the idea of a derelict space station. There's some replayability for finding hidden rooms and an alternate ending, but puzzlers lose their charm after the solution has been found.

One final applause for the story of the game, which is just as mindblowing as some of the later puzzles. Hollywood quality writing there, with plenty of room for your own interpretation. I should, however, tell you as little about it as possible.

Looking for a challenge? Looking for a great puzzler? Looking for an awesome, open-ended story? The Swapper won't disappoint you.


+ Unique mechanics and puzzles
+ Challenging!
+ Wonderful setting and fitting graphics
+ Mindblowing story

- Too challenging?


8.5/10

Spec Ops: The Line is a somewhat disappointing third person shooter. I'm a bit divided about this game because in theory its a good game, but there are some major flaws that really hurt the final score.

Starting with the good: The visuals are great and Dubai looks quite realistic. The game's soundtrack is also wonderful, with a large quantity of A-listers. The best the game has to offer is its story. It's very compelling, and doesn't fail to keep you interested until the credits roll. Even the character development is downright well done. Simply put: one of the better stories ever in a game.

Now as for the bad, which rather is a lot. For starters, the gameplay is boring as ♥♥♥♥. It's stale, bland and rarely changes. Seek cover, shoot bad guys. Rinse, repeat. No puzzles, no exploration, no side-quests. One straight path from A to B with only some 'intel' to collect along the way. Some battles can be approached with stealth, but after silently killing the initial mobs, the next wave is somehow already aware of you presence...

The multiplayer is unremarkable and might as well not have been there. The story, despite all the good parts, did eventually become a little predictable. The controls aren't any good at all, and feel very consoley. All in all the gameplay is bad, the story is great. I'm still divided what that makes of this game.

If you're able to treat the game for its story alone, and see the parts where you're ought to play as mere filler content, you will still have an enjoyable ride. Just don't pay too much for admission.


+ Great, compelling and gritty story
+ Fitting soundtrack
+ Decent graphics

- Dull and boring gameplay
- Consoley controls
- Little to no variation


7 / 10

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is an extraordinary, exploratory action adventure with an emphasis on audiovisual style.

This is a game of little gameplay, as there are at best six battles that need to be fought and none of these can really be called challenging. But that's not the point of Superbrothers. The game is about exploring if anything. With the help of the minimalistic but mesmerizing and authentic visuals and the truly fascinating soundtrack you get sucked into the unique world of Superbrothers.

Superbrothers uses a unique feature, where the position of the moon defines your ability to progress in the game. This is a fun feature, but you can always avoid it by changing the date on your computer should you be in a rush. I did run into an issue with this, as you can be blocked out of a certain part of the game (and achievement) when you play at a 'no moon' part of the cycle.

Its story is one for the personal interpretation, so I dare not giving any details. However, if you are going to play this, take the time to chat with NPCs as well as reading your journal. The devil is in the details.

The true beauty of Superbrother is in the complete package. The graphics, the music, the sounds... allow yourself to get sucked into the dream... it'll be a good one.

One final tip, go for the #moar achievement.


+ Masterful audiovisuals that complement each other
+ Compelling storyline
+ Original and unique
+ Interesting moon-mechanics

- Social media oriented ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
- Chance of missing out on content
- Very little gameplay


8 / 10

Deadlight is a mix of a platformer, horror and action game. This somewhat unique cocktail works surprisingly well and offers a very enjoyable experience from start to finish. Lack of originality aside, Deadlight may appear to be yet another game placed in a zombie apocalypse setting, but it barely falls for the traps these games often set.

As a platformer it does pretty much everything right. The puzzles are fun and never frustrating. The design is incredibly well done, often adding another decimal to its 2D appearance. As an action game its on the same path: The combat is quite exciting, where you have to make the right choice every time. Whether you head in with an axe or a gun, taking on too many mobs will likely result in death. Once you finally get a gun the game doesn't exactly become any easier as the ammo is scarce.

The story is rich and enticing. By gathering the collectables such as diary pages you slowly start to understand the story and its characters better, offering a lot of added depth.

Because of the nearly flawless checkpoint system you won't really be angered by the occasional death that is caused by the somewhat poorly responsive controls. The visuals are one of the best I've ever seen in a 2D world, but there were some flickering and flashing issues in outside areas.

The small problems aside, Deadlight is one of the best platformers released in the past couple of years, reminding me of gems from the SNES. Anyone who's looking for a blast from the past should look no further.


+ Wonderful design
+ Gorgeous atmosphere
+ Decent storyline
+ Tons of extra's and collectables

- A little short
- Clunky controls
- Some graphical issues (may just be me)


7.5 / 10

Hitman: Absolution is quite difficult to review in my usual less-than-200-words. Let me put up front that I've truly enjoyed most Hitman games and Blood Money might even be one of the better games ever made. Let's start with the good: Absolution is great fun. Much like before, many ways and many possibilities leading to that one perfect kill. Contracts mode is a welcome addition, the graphics are smooth, the story is decent, the controls are fluid and there's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to do. Someone with OCD could easily spend 300 hours completing every single challenge. Overall it's a very good game, just not 100% a Hitman game.

Which brings me to the bad. Now, I don't really mind the new direction. Most new gimmicks work well and add a certain level of fun or depth to the game. But adding a Superman-like X-Ray vision feels wrong, whereas peeking through keyholes is no longer possible. Disguises are fairly ineffective and it is also no longer possible to 'clear' the area and do your thing, as there are respawns... or 'backup', as they like to call it. This does bite the 'do it your way' theory in the ass, for stealth is the only viable option.
Also the game is not flawless. The checkpoint system is utter crap, as it doesn't save your progress properly - dumping you in a fully respawned map every time you load a checkpoint. Civilians 'spotting' you (hurting your score and possible challenges) after you've just saved them from a certain death is also the perfect gratitude. I've also had my loading screen freeze a dozen times now.

I'd like to put this one under the 'Max Payne 3 effect'. The game is awesome, but tends to forget what made us love its predecessors.

Long story short, it looks like Hitman, but doesn't play like Hitman. Therefore the emphasis is too much on stealth gameplay, often better comparable to Splinter Cell. In essence this is not a bad thing. Only to the die-hard fans, which I am not. For that I am not, I can forgive the developers for this new direction. In conclusion all I can do is praise the game: its very daring and -almost- really good.

The only true murderers here, are expectations.


+ Fun, fun, fun
+ Possibly hundreds of hours of gameplay
+ Overall, a great game – just not very Hitman-like

- Bugs involving challenges are infuriating
- Terrible checkpoint system
- Less freedom
- Small maps don't work so well
- … not very Hitman-like

8.5/10

Mark of the Ninja describes itself best as 'fast action stealth'. With speedy and thought-provoking mechanics - it gives you the tools to get the job done, but never tells you how to do it.

A lot of what this game tries to do, it does downright perfectly. Foremost, the stealth action is perfect. You're free to execute any mission the way you prefer. Whether it's killing everyone or leave them all alive, the choice is yours.

The keyboard+mouse controls aren't flawless. Some abilities require you to move the mouse in a certain direction, sometimes it misreads the movement and ruins the kill. Graphics are decent, the cutscenes are in Klei's trademark style and the story grasps your attention until the very end of the game.

Through levels with diverging paths, tons of secrets and ways of slaughtering guards... It gives a true ninja feeling to the player. Especially after pulling off a perfect symphony of violence and disappearing into the shadows.

If you've seen this game's Metascore its difficult to expect something less than one of the best games ever made. While perhaps the best in its genre, it's not 2012's GOTY, yet still extraordinarily good and something you must at least have tried.


+ Superb gameplay
+ Great sense of freedom
+ Lots of moves, tools, secrets and unlockables
+ Appropriately difficult
+ Ninjas!

- Mouse controls are not 100% accurate
- Boss fights are few and dull
- Poor checkpoint system

8+/10

Shank 2 is, much like the original, an enjoyable 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up. While the game offers nothing new, it's vastly better than its predecessor. Unlike the original, the campaign is singleplayer only. Instead, they've added a new co-op survival mode. This is actually quite fun and a worthy addition to the game.

The combat, graphics, controls and overall experience are all a fair bit ahead of the original Shank. Most of the flaws it shipped with are not there in the sequel, except for one: Monotonicity. It's still really straightforward, with little variation.
From start to finish: hordes of enemies which just fail to become interesting. It's a dull roller coaster heading towards a boss battle at the end of the level. These generally are enjoyable, fairly challenging and well designed fights.

You can, however, fight the lack of variation by becoming a varied fighter yourself. Some achievements are in place to encourage you to make more stylish kills, it's just not enough to make the game really stand from the crowd. Regardless, it's fun - just not that great.

+ Good boss battles
+ Much better than the original, in every way
+ Survival mode in co-op is a lot of fun

- Very straightforward
- Little variation
- A little short


6/10

The Cave is a fun yet flawed adventure game. One that challenges the mind though does not make it explode. With an underlying story about morality you'd expect the worst, but it's a fairly enjoyable journey.

With a party of three out of seven possible characters, you descent down the Cave. Each character has their own dark secret, their own unique ability and one exclusive section inside the Cave.

That basically means you have to play through the whole game three times to max it out. That would have been okay, if not for the recurring puzzles which can't be skipped, resulting in slow and repetitive gameplay, really hurting replay value.

While giving a worthy challenge and raising a few laughs - its one of the more original and creative games in a while. Yet its falling short on so many aspects, you can't help but feeling this game could have, and perhaps should have, been so much better.


+Original and creative
+Funny
+Challenging and lots of 'But of course'-moments
+One playthrough won't leave you satisfied (but a third for one new puzzle might not be worth it)

-Clunky controls
-Slow, mandatory puzzles on replays
-Bugs (I've encountered a LOT)
-Some graphic issues
-A bit too short


6+/10