Recent reviews by Unorthodocks

I picked this game up a year ago as my first PC game and I'm almost done with it. I'm not even quite at the end and can already say it's one of my favorite games ever. Medievel settings usually don't really appeal to me but it doesn't even matter to me because this game is so well done and despite some of the olde fashioned dialogue, the characters seem like very real people.
I think why I really like this game other than it simply being extremely solid all around, what really sets it apart is the way its quests are put together. Most RPG's have rather shallow side quests that frequently consist of "I lost this item in a dangerous place, will you get it back for me?" But in The Witcher 2 everything is much deeper and each quest has a unique story line, usually with multiple paths and interesting characters. It's nice that the moral decisions aren't so black and white like alot of games and leave you really pondering what you should do.
So going into this game with 6 years later with no nostalgia, I can honestly say it holds up fantastically! And at the price it frequently goes for, I think it's hands down the best value there is in gaming, I can't think of a better way to spend $3. It is not open world which may be a sign of its era, but each segmented township area are so detailed and are in fact very open with so much to do, it almost feels like an open world game even though the map has specific paths laid out for you with many semi-invisible walls. You'll want to make sure you do everything you can before carrying onto the next area. Definitely can't wait to play Witcher 3, I can only imagine what I'm in for.

For the record I played through most the game with a Dualshock 4, despite what some say I find the game works very well with a controller.

As of right now, I don't think I can recomend this. I was a huge fan of the Lego Star Wars games on PS2 and Gamecube and those 2 games hold some of my finest co-op gaming memories. My girlfriend hasn't seen any of the Star Wars movies but is a huge Harry Potter fan, so I decided this would be a tremendous pick for co-op.
However this game is missing... well; almost everything I enjoyed about those Star Wars games. It's very slow, the puzzles arent interesting and instead of combat, gameplay seems to mostly consist of collecting junk from high shelfs and throwing them into a pot. I'd rather be fighting death eaters, platforming accross moving staircases and stealthing through hogwarts in my invisibilty cloak. Or something like that.
Only glipse at a real combat so far was when I had to fight the troll in the bathroom and for a second it felt more like the HP game I was expecting. But if the only exciting parts of this game are the climaxes from the movies, this game won't have alot to offer, as by that definition there will only be about roughly 4 exciting sequences in a game that I'm guessing should take 6-8 hours to get through.
The rest of the time feels like most of what they cut out of the movies. Although Hogwarts is a charming, magical cute place, it's still a school like any other where you're dredging between once class and the other, not terribly excited to get where you're going. The movies had the sense to let this happen off screen but this game seems to use it as padding but then again, the whole game feels like padding.
I'll edit my review if the game gets any better before my and my girl get to the point where the game apparently breaks.

This is how to update a game. Tired of the seemingly weekly ports-I mean *cough cough* "next gen remasters" for consoles that look hardly any different than the original game that came out less than 10 years ago? Yeah I'm totally sick of that sh*t, f*ck outta here with that. You're gonna take out backwards compatability just to make me shell out at least half the price of a whole new title just to play the game I already bought last gen again so you can continue to not make any actual new games for the machine I bought? nah f*ck you, this is why I switched to PC last year.

This "definitive edition" hower flies in the face of what I just said. This isn't "we'll just through it in Game Engine 2.0, render it at 1080p and call it a technical triumph", you can tell this game was remade from the ground up with everything retextured and what appears to be not an upgraded/updated engine but and entirely new one altogher. All the textures, lighting, effects, everything is redone and really looks a full generation ahead of the original DI.

I played DI a little bit last year on steam and enjoyed it, I thought even then that it might be one of the prettier titles from the seventh console generation. But this is a vast improvement. And the biggest improvement arguably is that they've gotten rid of the damn studdering that plagued the first game. You may look up a youtube comparison and be unimpressed but thats just the compression, in-game its an immediate night-and-day difference from the original. Runs very well at ultra settings is one of the better looking games I own.

And instead of making me to ditch my old games and wanting me to buy it back like on consoles, this was offered as a $3 upgrades owners of the original. $3! For a complete visual overhaul. People who think that much time and effort should be free from a AA studio have a sense of self entitlement that's off the charts.

Bravo, Techland. You have mastered the art of the remaster.

*****as for the game itsslef, I haven't played this or the original enough to give a lengthy review but it won't be hard for you to find one. Me and my girlfriend find the game quite fun. Zombies may be played out as hell but punching a speedo wearing zombie in the face as an Aboriginee Australian woman can remain entertaining for quite sometime.

EDIT: reading some negative reviews; wow yall really bent out of shape over chrome blood and concrete beach balls and how this should have been free? wow lol. PC entitled race. Why would they completely remake a game just to give it away for free? this isn't bethesda that has all the money in the world and can just throw out Skyrim SE's for free to PC and still make MILLIONS of lowely console peasants. I don't expect DI to do Skyrim numbers, $3 was MORE than reasonable; only thing I can't agree with was the unexplained early cut of the loyalty discount. People have every right to be upset with Deep Silver and I agree, but that doesn't affect the quality of the product on this store page.
If chrome/burgandy blood really offends you to where it hampers your playing experience, I think you need to address your digital bloodlust. Especially with infected zombies who could bleed ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ purple and would make just as much sense. Beach balls? Yeah thats too bad...But you know? I don't think thats gonna keep me from enjoying this game.
2 hours in, ultra everything, haven't crashed once, haven't had any fame slow downs, haven't seen once glitch. So until I see otherwise, this game was masterfully optimized.

Some people don't like this game for not taking enough risks but honestly, gtfo this game's fun af and probably has the best graphics on PC. It even runs very well, DX12 is very smooth for me, idk if it's frame time or something but it feel smoother than other games I get 60fps in. Very nice.
As a former (well and current) PS3 die hard, this and the 2013 installment have basically been "female Uncharted for PC" to me but that's not bad at all, it fills that void perfectly. Maybe if this game wasn't on PC, or if Uncharted 4 ran and 60fps (!!!!), I'd proabbly get a PS4. But when I can play this game with full PC master race graphics at 1080p/60fps, I can't help but feel like Uncharted would feel like a step down form this, even if the game is excellent. And I may not find out for years...
If you haven't played Uncharted...
This game is an excellent third person shooter and action/puzzle platformer with some light RPG elements. If you want a game to reinvent the genre, have a gripping philosophical story and set the series onto a more defined path like many people seemed to, this probably won't live up to your expectations.
If you want a really fun, pretty game; I don't think you can go wrong

Pros
-great combat you've come to expect
-great boss battles
-above average graphics for a last generation title with a decent ammount of options
-runs well (more on perfomance at the bottom)
-best cut scenes in an Arkham game

Cons
-occasional crashes
-cinematics seem to be ripped from the console version
EDIT: I have now beat the game on hard and made a few additions

almost finished and really enjoying it. I've played AA, AC and now AO and I think this game carries the torch very well. It's not developed by Rocksteady but honestly I'd never guess, it feels like a worthy successor to the first two. I don't know why this game gets thrown under the bus and why it doesn't appear to be included in the new "HD" remaster (enough of these ffs).
It plays great, looks great, mostly runs great and has some great cut scenes and boss battles, with lots of action.
Only probelm was I got semi frequent crashes but the game autosaves very frequently so you'll hardly have to worry about losing progress, just a slight annoyance of relaunching the game which only takes a second.

One of the most impressive things about this game are the cut scenes (ok, well besides the fact they're ripped from a xbox 360). They are extremely entertaining and seem to me to have the highest production value of any Arkham game, even though most only last about half a minute and sometimes even less. It's perfect, because a beat'em up Batman game should be like MGS but the short bursts of cinematic action are highly satisfying and feel like the totally natural extension of a Batman comic book or cartoon brought to video game form. They also manage to advance the story and gameplay very well. Well done WB.

Overall I recomend this game. Got kind of shafted by WB for giving me AC for free after I already bought it and giving me AA which I already beat on PS3 but I'm glad I got this game which I probably would have never checked out otherwise due to an average reputation that I now don't think it deserves.

*I've heard this game once had alot of problems but on my gtx970/FX8310@4.4ghz was able to maintain a pretty smooth 60fps flying around Gotham and even durring heavy fights at max settings/1080p/2xMSAA but would frequently get drops to 40 when entering new areas or sometimes durring in engine cut scenes. I don't think there's really anything to do about that, just a console port showing itsself.
Especially durring the pre-rendered cinematics which appear to be taken directly from the console versions, because even though my counter reads 60fps it definitely seems to be 30fps and the resolution seems to MUCH lower than the game itsself. I got the platinim trophy on AA and don't remember janky cut scenes but maybe they don't stick out on the console version. However when you're playing on high or max PC settings, the diference can be jarring
The cutscenes are usually packed with action and Batman being a badass and generally only last about 30-60 seconds so the cut scenes are stil enjoyable despite this.

havent finished yet, but loving my first P&C adventure since playing Humungous games as a kid. playing with a DS4 is great and the PS button prompts are a very nice feature for me personally

Not quite as good as the Uncharted trilogy on PS3 but a worthy competitor, which is high praise from me. The PS4 remaster looks better overall but sweetfx can give this game a great look and effects even though it overall looks like a last gen game on PC. Something this game can do that even Uncharted 4 can't? Run at 60fps...

I'll add this was my first TR game I played through, so the Uncharted familiarity (oxymoron?) was welcome. Cant say how long time fans of the series will feel but definitely a great 3PS/action puzzle/platformer games

Very much enjoyed this game. First game I bought on steam over the summer sale and glad I did, because it seems to have been taken down.

There wasn't anything too groundbreaking here but everything this game tries to do it does very well.

It may seem at first like a GTA clone and the game play is pretty similar but you'll quickly notice it ignores some the mechanics that have become hallmarks in the GTA series.
There are no side missions. There is no upgrading your character or characters status. There's nothing to do in the engrossing but empty open world.
These may seem lacking but this game does just fine without any of it and I'm glad the devs didn't force it into the game. Instead the game focuses on a well told and straight forward story with a great cast of characters.
The voice acting is among the best I've heard in games, it really stood out. If you close your eyes, you would think, you were listening to a real Scorsese movie, if only the dialogue were a little stronger. The dialogue is at times not as punchy as I might hope but it's by no means bad, just doesn't quite match the grade A standard set by the voice acting, character models and overall atmosphere of the game (which is largely thanks to the stellar 40s+50s soundtrack. I noticed a couple songs also in Fallout 3 and New Vegas). I wouldn't even mention it in any other game, the voice acting just sets such a high bar, I wish the actors had some interesting lines, or at least had them more often.
The game play largely revolves around third person cover shooting and it's extremely fun, especially with a mouse. I play GTA with a game pad but Mafia II on M+K since there's more focus on shooting. You feel extremely badass laying down 200 goons in a bar with your pistol or Tommy gun.

I hope Mafia III sticks to what made this great and doesn't truly turn into a GTA clone