Recent reviews by Rusty

'It looks a little like Viking Dark Souls', I naively thought to myself, before installing this high definition car crash. The thing with Triple-A titles is, it’s not just about having snazzy graphics, you also expect a certain level of quality and competence overall. Core gameplay mechanics should work and at the very least be serviceable. The core gameplay mechanic of Einar appears to be combat and the combat is a broken mess.

It’s impressive that a small group of students have created something that looks this good (although the visual ‘style’ is nothing special), but it’s in service of nothing. I almost wish they’d made it a walking simulator. Maybe in future (or during the 'beta'), spend a little more on getting the combat working and a little less time on those rock textures.

Note: I understand triple A games can be released in broken or buggy states (sometimes to an appalling degree), but the core gameplay mechanics are still competent. The combat in AssCreed Unity was not unplay-ably bad, even though the game might have crashed whilst you were doing it.

With Dishonoured 2 being released in a terrible state on PC the original is still well worth checking out, especially at such a low price. Dishonoured invokes memories of Bioshock, Deus Ex and Thief and doesn't embarrass itself when put up against any of them.

Dishonoured takes place on various maps in and around the gorgeous, painterly city of Dunwall, which feels like a character in its own right. The city is reminiscent of a Victorian London, invaded by people with jarring American accents. The game shines in its stealth and in the way you can approach it's missions in various ways.

I will say that the story and characters leave a lot to be desired, and the moral choice system provides an irritating barrier to freedom if you want specific endings. Still a thoroughly enjoyable experience and well worth playing. It also works really well on PC!

Whilst not really improving on Dragonfall (the previous Shadowrun game), Hong Kong still provides an enjoyable and lengthy campaign. The game is slightly lighter in tone than Dragonfall and is centred around a more colourful area of this gritty Cyberpunk world.

The story and characters are all good (gobbet in particular) and the turn based combat remains enjoyable, if not particularly strategic. The matrix has been improved visually but the added ‘stealth’ sections don’t work in this engine and are a step backwards.

For the next campaign (or full sequel) I’d like to see a graphical step up and some improvements to combat. Some voice acting would also be nice but in truth, I’d probably still play a new campaign in the same engine.

If the thought of a young woman undergoing horrific mental and physical abuse gets you off, this might be the game for you. It’s a shame that this Tomb Raider reboot, which deals with Lara’s origins, fails to develop the character in any real way. She often comes across as little more than a reactionary, heavily armed punching bag. You could say her iconic top undergoes more character development than she does.

All that being said this is still a solid game, with decent 3rd person combat and platforming. The addition of a bow also adds a stealthy approach to gameplay. It could do with a little more Tomb Raiding and less Ludo narrative dissonance, but I’d definitely recommend it.

Mad Max is another sandbox game (ArkhamCreed style) with the usual mass of side missions that have become so worringly familiar. On the whole, these become repetitive quickly and you’ll eventually give up on them if you’re anything like me. The third person combat is also less fluid than its competitors.

However, the game excels in its vehicle combat, which is fun, exciting and will remind you of the movies, only you’re the one in control of the scene (video games are the best).

The game has a wonderful visual style and looks great even on a low end PC. Any game that makes you think of Mad Max: Fury Road’s gorgeous colour palette, is doing something right. There are a couple of interesting characters too, and the story has some emotional gut punches which work more often than they don’t (although I hated the ending). Definitely worth checking out.

"When you play the game of thrones, you recommend, or you don’t. There is no middle ground."

If you have no interest in the world of Game of Thrones then I can’t really recommend this game to you, so ignore the thumbs up. As far as RPGs go this is pretty poor in terms of its presentation, combat, classes, levelling and voice acting. It reminded me of Dragon Age 2 with its dull, copy paste locations and its simplistic and repetitive real-time with pause combat.

It’s Dragon Age 2 on a budget though, because at least that game has decent voice acting and character interaction, with some sense of scale. You also get to fight with more than one character for most of the game. In Game of Thrones 2012 it’s usually just the player character against very similar enemy types. Loot is uninteresting as is levelling and the environments are ugly and lack creativity.

Now, for those of you that love the world GRRM created, who can’t get enough of the lore, the characters and the tone; to those people, I would recommend this game for the story alone.

The way the protagonist’s stories intertwine and the way those stories come together towards the end, it’s genuinely well done, as is the way the story connects to the song of ice and fire universe. It’s also more impactful by the slow way the story progresses and the way the Mor’s and Alester’s shared past is gradually revealed. It’s not the best game writing ever and it’s not wholly original either (being very ASOI&F), but it’s a lot better than the main storyline in Dragon Age 2 and it’s good enough to make you overlook the awful voice acting and dated visuals. I also felt like I was role-playing the protagonists in GOT whereas I didn’t in so much in DA2. Choices feel like they matter more here on a personal level, not so much in a gamey way, or a romance way as in DA2.

It’s also nice to be able to explore places in this world that so many people love, and to experience a new story within it even if those places are hideous to look at.

TL;DR
Pirate's Creed = refreshing and fun
Assassin’s Creed = stagnant and boring

By the third Ezio game I was suffering AssCreed fatigue and I quickly gave up on it. I’d played the two previous games in fairly quick succession but the similarities in Revelations were glaringly obvious by that point and I just couldn’t bring myself to continue. Even the lure of the wonderful architecture and the likeable protagonist couldn’t draw me back to yet another game with repetitive side missions, numerous pointless collectables and stylish but shallow combat.

Also, tailing missions. ♥♥♥♥ tailing missions.

AssCreed III never really appealed to me because of the historical setting and I only played a little of it. That game had a dull protagonist and a dull setting; with the architecture of 18th century America not matching up to what Europe had to offer at the time. This diluted the parkour, the one gameplay mechanic that might have kept me playing for longer.

This is all a big preamble to me saying that Assassin’s Creed IV bought some of the fun back to the franchise for me, by making pirate ships a new core mechanic. The sailing and naval combat are a big part of the game and it’s good, arcadey fun. It also helps that the protagonist is fairly likeable, in a roguish kind of way (ala Ezio).

Anything outside of the ‘being a pirate’ stuff is the same old Ass Creed (worse in some cases) and it gets boring quickly, but the piracy setting and gameplay additions are enough for a recommendation.

On a final note, ♥♥♥♥ U Uplay.

The mobile plague demon has released another virus to further infect the Steam platform and it goes by the name, Pixel Worlds.

If you're looking for a review to tell you about the grind, the micro transactions, or the pay to play nature, then look elsewhere. I'm sure the game has all those things but I never found out. The tutorial is so shockingly bare bones I had no idea what I was actually meant to be doing in this ♥♥♥♥ looking Terraria knock-off.

I have never been turned off by a game as quickly as I was with this one. Watch my first impressions video and you might understand my confusion, or wonder if it's my first time playing a video game. It's utter trash.

ARACHNOPHOBES BEWARE

An atmospheric FPS set in a post-apocalyptic Russian underground. Metro: Last Light is fairly linear, but is filled with scripted moments and set pieces that are genuinely creepy and occasionally heart-warming.

The combat and stealth mechanics are also much improved on the previous game, although fighting certain monsters is still a pain. The game does suffer from some poor A.I and a lifeless main character, as well as some poor objective markers.

Last Light can also look gorgeous at times, especially when you venture above ground. Highly recommended for those who like atmospheric, story driven FPS’ (Half-Life 2, Bioshock etc).

A casual simulation game, originally released on mobiles in 2015. Creating and managing a vault might sound enjoyable but there isn't much to do apart from waiting....

Lot and lots of waiting.

And clicking!

When you remove the essence of what makes Bethesda games enjoyable (the exploration), this is the result. A shallow, joyless, uninspiring waste of time.