Recent reviews by Countess Isolde

This is basically a spiritual successor to SimCity.

And it knocks it out of the park.

I'm a teensy bit... obsessive... and I have sunk hundreds of hours into this. I made a big "dream" city. And I created a dystopian hellhole that I revamped into another dream city. Then I made a replica of my home town with the street names mostly accurate.

I know phrases like "unparalleled creative freedom" sound chintzy but... I rebuilt my hometown somewhat accurately.

The expansions are all good and they've been getting better. The last two (Parklife and Industries) have been particularly good for the obsessive-minded.

And as a cherry on top, the DJs on the in-game radio stations are hilarious. Check out the one called "Cities Radio" to see what I mean.

The only downfall is the price tag on the expansions. Get them on sale if you can.

Whole-heartedly recommended. Will likely lose another hundred hours to it when the next expansion comes out.




Following is my obsessive thought process when doing something in this game:


*spends 4 hours building a 5 layer stack interchange*

*looks at the clock*

*demolishes interchange frustrated at lack of symmetry*

"Ah, I'll try again later but BETTERER"

10/10 recommend.

This is a fun little platformer that's both cute and insanely difficult. Given that I've been in a sustained argument with someone here about their belief that Easy mode was too hard... I think that sends it home. Know what you're getting into.

But this is still a very good Mario-esque platformer with absolutely gorgeous graphics, a cute aesthetic, and a rather neat "alternate reality" mechanic for dealing with some enemies/puzzles.

Amazing game. That said I can't really say anything that hasn't been said a thousand times by every other reviewer on the planet.

So instead let me indulge in a scientist's whine-fest about how this has propagated misunderstanding of quantum mechanics and has more and more idiots from the world over believing the many-worlds interpretation is anything but pseudoscientific bunk. (I'm obviously kidding - this game uses the idea to great dramatic effect).

I will also join the choir in saying the game would have done better with less graphic violence. The juxtaposition of beauty and savagery works well in the times it works well, but I'd wished that much more (even as much of a third if I'd had my way) of the game was like the masterfully executed non-combat segment in Battleship Bay.

This is some good old-school shooting fun. Shoot lots of robots, pay no attention to the story. Rinse and repeat.

You can carry the whole arsenal, there is no regenerating health past 25%, and enemies take a ton of bullets to go down. None of the modern shooter conveniences are really present, aside from the modern shooter annoyance of a checkpoint system without quicksaves. The game is utterly merciless on the higher difficulties, so novices beware.

Absolutely gorgeous graphics on the city levels, although the expansion pack levels seem to feature the same boring junkyard again and again.

Surprisingly good.

Although a short game (only three mission arcs that are all relatively quick), it does provide what's written on the box - A game focussed around being a sniper. It has a good mix of sneaking and shooting, and the levels where you don't have a spotter are suitably challenging. Playing it on anything less than Expert is a waste, since the bullet impact indicator makes long range sniping far too easy. Pulling off a 1,400 metre headshot on Expert mode is, however, suitably satisfying.

The graphics are absolutely astounding. The third mission arc is set in a Nepalese monastery, and the scenery looks straight out of a travel book. That said, I'd not expect anything short of gorgeous on the Crysis 2 engine.

A nice first attempt, but some seriously broken mechanics stop this game from being good. The sniper sections are fine, if a little monotonous. But the parts of this game that make me slam my head on the desk and give it a negative review are the assault sections.

In these sections you are given an M4 rifle and tasked with killing a lot of enemies in close quarters. The recoil on the M4 is so high (way higher than a real 223 round would ever give), that it is basically trial and error killing the enemies, since the gun lacks a semi-automatic option. There are enough of these sections that, especially on the harder difficulties, completing the game can become something nightmarish requiring repeated attempts of the same gunfight.

But the game is mainly focussed around the sniping experience, so I wish those assault sections didn't even exist. The sequel is much better and is a game that I would actually recommend, thankfully void of any annoying parts like that.

Cute timewaster but that's about it. Would have been nice if other card games were included aside from just the one, as it could have benefitted from being more of a solitaire "package".

The pet system is broken. Drop rates are so low for the rarer pets that unless you're willing to put in 60+ hours (which I'm not) then you can forget about the last two achievements.

Do you feel like a hero yet?

This is the fundamental question this game asks. How far can you descend into abject evil while still being convinced that you're the good guy? How far do you trust yourself to have the right information when making moral choices? How can you even define morality in the pure horror that is war? This game asks these questions and delivers a truly horrific experience.

You won't enjoy this. If you do, there is something wrong with you. But I challenge you to ask - at what point do you cross the line that's in this game's title? If you do everything accurding to your morals, how long do you really hold out?

This is a game that could well trigger a revolution in game writing. If only more play it.

This is the first bullet hell game I've played, and I know that it's a "soft" bullet hell at that.

But I found it a really enjoyable challenge, and the unique time-based "life" mechanic is really well done. But the thing I must praise above all is the game's story. It's a dark and disturbing story told through narrations, and had me hooked. It is worth playing through twice, once with the alternate narration set, just so you can know what -really- happened.

Finally, the graphics are simply beautiful, and some of the stages are just stunning.

I'll give it a 7/10. For the price it is now, I'd say it's worth it.

In a word: Genius. I advise experiencing this when you've got 2 hours to spare without any interruptions - and you should play with lights off and headphones on loud. Anything you can to fully immerse yourself in this spectacular work of art. Chilling at times, inspiringly beautiful in others, and with a plot that gets increasingly incoherent as it goes on - but that's all part of this little gem's charm.

It also has images of neurons which made me nerdgasm. But that's irrelevant.