Évaluations récentes de Whiteswart

Well, in the end, I'm still positive about this game, but the charm has faded...

You see, Hero of the Kingdom 3, on the basic level, provides quite the same experience as the HotK 1 or 2. And it's a good thing! Sure, the gameplay is static, the challenge is none, but, there's that feeling of adventure and accomplishment that pushes you forward till the end of the game - which is not that far, by the way, so it's an easy way to spend an evening and get +1 complete game for your profile.

However, speaking about Hero 3 in particular again, it's... lame. And lazy. And grindy, more than ever before. There are not enough different locations, the backgrounds for several spots are looking just or almost the same way as in the previous 2 games... Like someone copypasted previous works, without actually changing it notably.

Plus, that respawn items feature, when the whole map doesn't have enough collectibles for the achievement, and you need to waltz some screens back and forth, waiting for resources respawn... Plus that Golden Fish quest, where you need to wait for Random Generator to spawn a proper fish on one of the few fish spawn locations...

As I said, this game is still a possible option to spend an evening without too much hassle. But, considering the downsides, I can't value it higher than 5/10. Buy it only in the bundle.

You know, by some major terms for ResidentEvil-like 'survival horror' action games, Zombi is not a bad thing. Actually, if I will try to compare one by one its main features with some late additions to that sub-genre, say, RE Village, for example (GOTY 2021, by some notable opinions!), it's quite on the same page. Well, yeah, some visual enhancements surely make it not completely fair matching, but, speaking for the lore complexity, scene detalization, basic gameplay, with action and traveling mechanics... Zombi, while obviously dated, being released first on WiiU almost 10 years ago - is not a bad game, by definition. I mean, it's a decent game, made with some AA-class standards. It's not even a bad port from the console! Considering the major common issues with bad ports, like killed framerate and controls... It's not the case for Zombi!

However, even by that major comparison with the 'survival horror' games in general, I can't really vouch for Zombi for being a really good and notable one. Decent? Comme il faut? Yeah. Kinda.

Alas, PC version Zombi doesn't have any notable hook points at moment. Diseased London? Well, except for some Buckingham Palace interiors, all the scenery that you'll see, be the generic metro stations and sewer drains. All in that dirty gray, eye tormenting colours palette. Even the very dull Vampyr game made some better effort, depicting troubled London. And it's certainly not the game I would address for any proper sightseeing. Variety of weapons? Seriously, I saw that 'pro' point for Zombi, probably, hundreds of times. But wait. Isn't that the game with the constant lack of any kind of ammunition we're talking about? Well, if you have infinite ammo, then yes, there are 3 pistols, two long rifles (one of those is an SMLE carbine, a rare bird in videogames), two SMGs, two assault rifles, 3 shotguns, and a crossbow. Not the worst tools selection, sure, but... For one, the most part of those guns you'll get way too close to the final, meaning, you'll not get the time to use them properly. And two - the inventory interface, while not being the worst in the genre, can't be anyhow described as proper and unblemished. So, you're kinda bound to stack with the basic pistol and cricket bat, from the very start, till the very end.

Initially, I was really satisfied with the complexity of zombies' behavior, and the fighting part of the game. Again, I can easily set it in comparison with RE Village, and maybe (maybe!), it'll be even better at some angles. However, the overall game pace, the constant backtracking, and other minor itches washed away that feeling of satisfaction. After some time invested, Zombi turned out to be rather dull than anything else. And... Sure, that's only my personal, quite biased opinion. I've seen probably too many games, to cherish Zombi for gameplay. But I said it's decent, by the general score, right? Right. And... No. It's far from being alright.

It's constantly crashing during the transition between levels, and, considering the fact you can only save the game in the safe house, you're bound to lose the part of your game progress with every crash. Sure, the reload is working... But then, there are some broken quest lines. You can easily miss some quest triggers, and broke the questline. And in that case, reload will not help - because it's a single save slot game. Once you lose some quest trigger, it's final, you can only restart from the beginning...

Also, speaking about restarts. For the most part of the game, you do some quests, facing some situations that are supposed to be unique. And the endgame? It is ruining it all. The final sequence of the game makes everything that you've accomplished - irrelevant. You're just one of the legion of avatars, that pattern so wrongly beloved by Ubisoft. That thing alone, without even the tech issues, and dull visuals, kills all the drive. Zombi is a single-player-only game! Any multiplayer features (somewhat similar to the Dead Souls 1) were cut off completely during the porting process. So, that feeling of some random guy, shooting some random zombies... Not a strong selling point. Also, if you're an achievement hunter, Zombi is that kind of game that expects you to play it three times through! You can't get the badge for chicken mode, completing it on normal, and you'll not get the normal badge, struggling it through the survival difficulty.

In the end, Zombi is just not good enough to be recommended. Technical issues are quite severe, but, even if there wouldn't be any, it's still some generic title made by Ubisoft standards. Except, it's not even a proper open world with some sightseeing value. As the result, my mark is 5/10 - despite the fact that the first hour or two is not so bad.

Quarantine is a somewhat short turn-based table game, where you are supposed to fight a globe-scale disease, spreading by the terrorists. Some would add obvious conjunctions with Plague, Inc. - except this game puts you on the right side of the barrier. However, despite some common points, considering the topic of named titles, those two are really different games.

The game pace is quite fast - you'll probably deal with all 5 major scenarios in 3-4 hours of playtime. While the diseases themselves are different, the solution is always the same - isolate the sources as soon as possible, and get more fundings to research the cure as fast as possible... Which, of course, is easier to say than do. Sometimes, though, I was lucky enough to heal the disease without even completing the R&D, just by isolating and treating all the damage fast enough.

Now, speaking of the so-so part, well... There is some inconsistency between how well this game made overall and its size. The user interface, the possible variety of actions and challenges, all that stuff that hooks you to play more, feels somewhat misplaced, considering how quickly this game comes to a complete stall. On the other hand, were the game a bit more complicated, with more cities and more travel routes, and some more randomness spread here and there, it would probably feel much less balanced than it is now. And the overall balance is a kinda rare virtue for modern software (games included) development.

So, I'd say, take it as it is, or walk by. The price is quite decent and fair, for such a short, but nicely made product. My mark is 7/10. A decent game for an evening or two, to try different approaches, complete the achievements, and move to something else.

Police Tactics: Imperio is a failed attempt to make some casual strategy, promoting the player to the role of the chief of some random police station.

On the terms level, the game's ok. There's some basic economics, going the usual 'calmer the district, better the funding', some base and staff development, and the game pace is supposed to be 'balanced', making the player involved in what is happening around, but not too overwhelmed. There is even some story pack of missions to follow!

Alas, it's all falling apart way too soon. The tutorial isn't really explaining much, but rather delays the entry into the game, while seriously limiting the basic development at the start.

The next major fault goes for that 'game pace balance'. You see, it's kind of the game where you have so few resources on the start as possible. And... the more cases you solve under that strict limit, the more new cases the game generates! As a result, in an hour or so, if you are trying to cover all the calls, the crime rate excels all the expectations! So, instead of making the district calmer, as a result, you only make things worse! To the point where even the 4 or 5 patrol teams (probably the best you can get at that point), will not be enough to fix it. More to it! In order to get things under control, you need to patrol the district, see? And you have some macros commands to automize the process. Actually, you can make a route for every car and officer-on-foot, to cover all the streets under your hand... But! At the same time, this game constantly produces some faults, which are breaking those auto-routes, so, you'll be always picking all of your units and sending them manually instead! And again, the game balance works like, the more law enforcement you apply, the more crime you get in return! Totally accurate social simulation, of course!

Speaking of the police life simulation, well... The game is automatizing all the basic work: crowd control and brawls breaking up, searching and analyzing the clues, looking for suspects... In the end, all that is left for you is simple time management, where you point your silly subordinates to some points on the map. And it feels all too retarded, in this regard. The crime rate is too high, and growing with your growth, often exceeding it by an order of magnitude. There are so many street brawls! And you know what? Your policemen have the only solution to it - kick in in that brawl and try to beat'em all! And even the maxed, top-notch SWAT-trained guys will be brawling with about the same success rate as your any-day rookies. And getting injuries as a result.

Thus, my mark is 5/10. Not the worst game I have, but seriously underdeveloped and lacks concept proof-reading playtesting. In one word, dull.

Oh well. Here we go again... The Last Hope is another version of the first iteration of Alien Shooter. Slightly refurbished levels, same enemies, and, quite notably, a good game pace and balance!

There's nothing really new, except that idea of upgradable turrets which you can set as you like, to aid yourself in the direst situations. But it works! The game drive is ok, the optimization for Win10 and resolutions 2k+ is ok... What else you can ask for, from a twin-stick shooter? A decent story, maybe? Superb visuals? Oh, c'mon!

This game is short, moderately challenging, and adequately priced. If you play such no-brainer shooters from time to time, then it's a good pick, to spend an evening. And if you don't have time for shooters like this, it's okay again! Just don't buy it! My mark is 7/10. A good game, for what it's worth.

Infamous teaser of Arabian-made Uncharted-wannabe. The 'first chapter', which, like Scheherazade's fairy tale, was never meant to be completed.

Just in one hour of the gametime, there is an adventure level with some puzzles, acrobatics, and third-person-view-shooter, Tomb Raider style, then a chase level on the quad where we need to shoot off the chasers, including the helicopter... Yeah, almost like in Yakuza 0!.. Then, there are hand-to-hand fights, a walking-and-talking-sim level, where you can easily miss some valuable collectibles, laying in the dirt under your feet... Then, there'll be a parkour-like chase on the roofs, more hand-to-hand fight, stealth sequence, and then a car chase, where you need to drive through the entire Morocco city!

Sounds like a superb adventure, right? Well, except the actual realization part, because every game sequence looks too cheap, even for the early '00s and PlayStation2-era. But yeah, it was released for PS3, and again, only as a show-off 1-hour-long teaser, without any hope of making a complete, tied-up game.

So, buy it now only with some gross discount or bundle, and only if you're in dire need to trade one hour of your time for some easy to get achievements, making it one more 'complete game' under your belt... Whatever fancy it may sound. My mark is 4/10.

Well, I guess it's safe to say that No Step Back addition does much more on the good side than on the bad. It was probably the most anticipated DLC after Paradox changed Germany for the first time! So long time ago... They added many major and minor things since then, and only now, with that Barbarossa patch/No Step Back DLC, we're finally getting to the 'bit-more-detailed' Focus Tree for the USSR.
Along with some other additions, some of them take us even farther in the long line of this game development... To the Hearts of Iron 3! Yeah, the transport issue now is back! Again we need to think not only of the infrastructure of regions in general, but also of the railroads, trains, trucks, and other ways to redistribute supplement between all your troops and other leechers. Logistics is back, girls! Logistics is back!

Plus, the research tree was reinvented a bit, in favour of armour, which is now looking more alive than before, but also changing the usual way of warfare, pushing the players into new trials-and-errors experiments to get some proper metas for each country. Also, now you can tweak a bit your research bureau, adding some little perks to it... Like making your 'light aviation' bureau more capable of building CAS, sea, or even heavy planes...

On the negative side, well... Like always with Paradox DLCs and 'fixes'. they just cannot make everything right in one given release. The USSR got stronger and more diverse, plus all the new political focuses for Poland, Lithuania, and other related minors - means we need to reshape Germany once again. It is never in the balance! Also, AI now is way too progressive with the 'peace resolutions', acting like UN/NATO in the '90s with Yugoslavia - 'democratically' reshaping every country into the wild bunch of really small minors. It wasn't that way back in the '40s... And it's really making the late game progress kinda too wearisome. But, of course, Paradox did not forget to add even more lame achievements which make you play till '45... Because everyone LOVES long sessions in such games, right?

However, the Workshop Modes are still there, to sweeten the harsh taste of the underdevelopment of the game which is more than 5 years old (let alone previous titles). The Old World Blues is still the best strategy game in the Fallout universe, and there are plenty of other expansions for HoI IV to make it an even better experience than before.

So, as I said from the start, No Step Back is a proper new DLC for HoI IV. If you're a real fan of the game, you've got it 3 months ago, I suppose. If you're still guessing, well... The way I see it, that DLC is worth the full price. Which doesn't mean it'll do you good, and good only. So, don't take my advice on it. Ask your heart. If it needs some more iron, to shape a world fate once again, get it!

Mark is 7.8/10.

You know, I love Phoenix Point. I've bought it with the expansion pass on Epic first, and spent about 150+ hours there, completing the game by all possible ways. Took a year and half pause and then bought it again on Steam, in ‘Year One’ full edition, of course. And completed it again. Then, I waited ‘till the last so far DLC ‘Kaos Engines’, and played it even more. That really contradicts my usual gameplay time, when I start the game, even some nice one, play it for 10-20 hours most, and then lose my interest somewhere half-way to the ending.

And, with that, I really hate Phoenix Point, for being too rigid and all too chaotic simultaneously, somewhere in the second, presumably better, part of the game.

First things first. I love Phoenix Point, as much as I love all that tactical genre, where some small squad of elite operatives can really change the fate and the future, by making the right moves on the battlefield. The keywords here: ‘the right moves’. Firaxis XCOM wasn't that great, because it devalued the price of the strategical part of all the games in the genre, starting from original (Julian Gollop's) X-Com and (Sir-Tech's) Jagged Alliance. All in favour of some ‘dramatic moments’, when your most skilled assault specialist suddenly miss the 95% shotgun blast, standing right in front of some really nasty alien monster. Three times in a row. On that end, Phoenix Point is in the totally better position, with its realistic ballistic system, which actually counts all the projectiles, and not throwing dices on your success every time... And it goes deeper than just shooting! You see, in the Firaxis XCOM, there was something even worse than that randomness in shooting. It was an intended busting balls idea that player can only choose one mission out of three given. Achieve something only by sacrificing something else. It's not the worst idea, in principle. But only until the moment when you already have more than enough resources to build several interceptors and transports, and enough operatives to send them on every mission around the globe! By that point, the idea of picking only one mission out of every three, really outlives itself. Luckily, Phoenix Point made it much more fair, traditional way, where you can control how fast you develop your zone of responsibility, and react to every threat accordingly. Surely, you'll not have enough to catch all the stones everywhere... But it'll never be that burden on your consciousness, ‘you chose to save New York, but let Toronto and Mexico burnt’, every goddarn hour of the game.

Also, one more thing for which I revere Phoenix Point, goes for enemies modifications. Sure, there are not that many types of them... But only until we see them for the first month or so. Then, there'll be some controlled mutations, reacting on the way you play the battles. Shoot more - and face heavily-armored grunts with machine guns, who'll be returning fire on you, or shielded bullet-sponges. Try a melee tactic - and meet snipers, which will turn on ninja mode after any hit received. Good luck finding them afterwards! Before they shot you, I mean.

Oh, well, there are more good things I could possibly say for Phoenix Point, but I can summarize them in a sentence ‘a profound tactical and strategical XCOM game experience, much better than Firaxis approach in general’.

But... There is also a point of view from which Firaxis XCOM still performs much, MUCH better than Phoenix Point. See, we have an AAA game on one end, and somewhat successful but still a bit underdeveloped indie on the other, in that inescapable
comparison almost every review makes with Phoenix Point. And our contestant here not only lacks some polish. It also lacks bling! It lacks the long chains of missions, where every map of the battlefield is not a generic one, but actually hand-crafted and thoroughly staged, to achieve somehow unique experience! At least, for a first time when you play it...

Yeah, by that part, Phoenix Point actually closer to the Xenonauts - somehow a nice game on its own, but really too prolonged and self-repeating for its own good. However, the developers of Phoenix Point have an answer on that weakness! Sure, the levels in the game are procedurally-generated, but not all of them!

There are plenty of unique missions. Maybe the staging part is not superb, but hey... We all have some limits, right? And, more than just some unique maps, we have a second part of the game, which will really speed things up!

In theory, by that second part of the game, you've made some base of resources, choose your allies, trained your operatives and gathered some weapons to go to the endgame. After some point, the last remnants of people population eventually grow hatred to each other, so, in addition to saving the shelters for alien attacks, you'll be bound to shoot people now, just because they'll turn hostile on each other. On that stage, you really need to speed up the final researches and choose a way to beat the final boss (which will be the same every time, except the side you'll pick to help you).

That's the part of Phoenix Point I hate. As much as I hate that choice of one of three missions in Firaxis XCOM. You can't play the final part in some good way. You'll always sacrifice part of the humanity in order to save the other part. So, by that final choice, Phoenix Point jumps on the same train as Firaxis XCOM. Yeah, those two are really different games, and each has some unique, superb gameplay moments and mechanics. And with that... They are too similar in that final feeling, which I can describe as ‘a bit hard to swallow, more or less good one in taste, but way too bitter in aftertaste’. So, as for my mark for Phoenix Point, I'd set it on the same 7.5/10 level, as Firaxis XCOM.

I am wholeheartedly missing the deepness of XCOM Apocalypse, which, by my opinion, still makes it the best game of all in that ‘surviving the alien attack on planet level’ subgenre. I mourn the impossibility to build some bridges between the factions in the game course, with all possible difficulties and potential benefits of such interactions. Furthermore, I pity the lack of strategic depth on the global level, even with the Festering Skies DLC, adding the air combats and new threats to the shelters.

Finally, I want to return to the first message: I love Phoenix Point and altogether hate it for its inconsistency, in many basic gameplay choices, additional mechanics added only ‘just to be there’. I hate the overloaded in number, but completely unfinished according to the general logic, the research tree - which, moreover, is buggy and does not allow you to normally finish the part of the achievements - even with the newest patch, released only a week ago.

A good game. Full of interesting stuff. Totally worth its price. But, as for the eternal love, for the place in the pantheon of the best games in existence... Phoenix Point is still severely lacking, It's too inconsistent, even while obviously being a proper ‘from gamers to gamers’ fair product. Try it? But don't get your hopes too high.

If you ever wondered how to say 'Nice!' or 'Sweet!' in Russian, it's exactly 'Milo'. Except you read 'i' like 'ee', and not the usual 'eye' way. Meelo.

Well, that game is exactly like that. It's sweet and nice. It's short, sure, you can beat all the nine levels in less than one hour... maybe in two, if you're looking for achievements without a guide.

But it's really a charming mild experience. Totally recommended for everybody. Hand-drawn backgrounds and all animations, characters that really look alive, music that creates a great calm mood... Check it!

My mark is 10/10.

Maneater. The game which puts you in the skin of the big, ever-hungry sea monster, lurking in the water near some big city, and killing everything on its way. Without any other purpose than some 'progress bars' and new 'mutations' (aka upgrades), giving you some additional powers, to kill even better. The game progress is actually quite linear, and, for the most time in the game, you'll be moving around some sector of the map, looking for collectibles and rampage spots, with a typical aim to kill another bunch of neutral water species or people, or even some boss-type fights with some other big and aggressive sea monsters. The movement is free, but the kill list in every sector of the map always has the same food-chain ladder pattern. At least those sectors all have some seascape (landscape) varieties, so it's not exactly 'all the same gameplay'. But very close to it.

The game's short, without the DLC, you can probably beat it within 10-15 hours, but it can become boring much faster - if you don't really like the role of a man-hunting animal. On the other hand, if you're a misanthrope, especially of some late teen - early manhood age... if you're a person who enjoys decapitating its victims before killing, limb after limb... Or maybe if you just like to swim around, looking for the attractions below sea level... Then this game has something to gladden you and do you good for some extended period of time.

Of course, a single-player non-moddable game, without any story and motivational hooks, would be quite a dull nuisance... But we have a solid, tough arch-nemesis, and moreover, we have the gallons of dark humour, spilled all the way throughout the whole game course. Especially if you'll spend a bit of time and your attention to discover the show sights and recognize the references. The good narrator, who follows our speechless monster for every noticeable move, is also a good feature to enlive this game and hold your interest for some time longer.

So. Can I wholeheartedly recommend buying this game? Of course not. This is a rather peculiar attraction for a certain audience, which enjoys 'old good ultra-violence' and the possibility to perform carnages. The story is obviously lacking, there could be some performance spikes, where FPS drops drastically for a second, in the middle of something, leaving you totally confused about where is what (since we're moving under the water and need to adjust our directions in all 3 dimensions). The price is not the best, I guess, and if you're an achievement hunter, you're bound to buy DLC to 'finish the game'. But... It is still quite an interesting approach overall. Many people from many different game studios have made a good effort to release that 18+ underwater amusement park. My mark is 7/10.