Recent reviews by LewkForce

id Software crowns themselves once again as masters of the FPS.

Long-time fans will see the subtle nods to the classics. Modern DOOM lovers will see answers to their questions.

Absolutely magnificent.

Please don't touch the cabinet.

Amazing game. I'm already addicted to it only 10 hours in. Tons of achievements and wonderful graphics. Great game to play after work when you have nothing else to do.

I played it for a little bit last night. Built in UE4, it has a pretty horrible-looking menu. And of course, like every other indie game ever released, the audio volume is set unreasonably high - I truly believe that indie developers have this secret society where they're constantly trying to make their games louder than anything else on the planet.

Aside from the bad that I listed there, the core gameplay is actually phenomenal. It has a neat gameplay cycle that squarely puts it in the middle of Left 4 Dead and DOOM. Hell, a lot of the enemies and their movements are strikingly similar to the ol' classic FPS from id Software. And of course it has a super shotgun - which is VERY satisfying to use. 10/10 shotgun. Blam-cachicka-click... blam-cachicka-click. And landing headshots is mega satisfying. Ohhhh, now it makes sense! This was originally a DOOM II mod that got a ton of community love, now completely redone in a brand new engine... I love it when mods for classic games get enough interest and support for the developer to make it into a separate game!

What got me was the atmosphere, though. It's dark but you have a flashlight, allowing you to see things right in front of you with good clarity but are always looking in the periphery - and this is enhanced more with the FOV set to 100 degrees by default (smart move). It's enhanced even more with spatial audio and eerie tracks. I'm not going to lie - this was the first time in a long time that I actually got a little freaked out during an FPS, even in my initial run on super-baby-wiener difficulty. I... almost kinda liked it.

There are enough maps styles to keep things interesting, and the modular randomness of the rooms and item spawn locations mean it's a somewhat different experience each time. Oh, and there are different game modes - even a SuperHot mode.

But yeah, after doing one solo Ultra Violence run I see the potential for it to be a lot of fun with up to four friends; jump in, run around and shoot ♥♥♥♥, collect items/ammo, and try to survive long enough to get into the elevator. Other things you can do: craft stuff, get color skins, and even upgrade your title. Even has a LAN mode. Solid gameplay loop.

Do I recommend it? For the gameplay, absolutely. Just forgive the awkward menus and be sure to turn down the volume if you value your ears/speakers.

Add Archvale to another game on the 100% list.

Took about 11.5 hours to complete on Normal difficulty. Three sessions of after-work gaming. It was engaging enough that I looked forward to playing it every night. A lot of similarities to Tiny Rogues and Enter the Gungeon in terms of combat and enemies.

Is it a game that's worth $15 on Steam at full price? Yeah, I'd say so.
Is there ever any reason to play it again? Nope. It's one of those one-and-done games.
It's neat that they turned the roguelike/touhou twin-stick-shooter genre into an adventure style of gameplay.

Major gripes:
- The "challenge" missions. First half of them are easy as hell. Last half are just frustrating.
- Final boss is a joke.
- Doesn't do anything to stand out.

Kudos:
- Very fun little world with biomes that remind me of Zelda or Metroid.
- Frog people.
- You can switch up your play style however you like at any time with no consequences.
- No need to grind, everything is laid out with enough resources you don't have to worry about minmaxing.
- Simple but effective crafting/upgrade system.

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no

Softlock city. Apparently it's been this way since release. None of the "fixes" in the discussions worked. Might as well play the original on ScummVM.

No volume control.
No display resolution control.
Always records your game but doesn't tell you where it's recording to.
F*** you, Konami.

Cozy little game with light puzzle elements, simple controls, and wholesome message.

Recommended to enjoy with neat little world at least once. Immersive enough to let you feel vulnerable without fear and as satisfying as a warm cup of cocoa.

- Reticle is off by default. Turned it on in Gameplay settings and it disappears when I pull a weapon out. WHAT GOOD IS THAT?
- Map is painful to navigate on PC.
- In-game map markers are also off by default, causing one to potentially go freaking nuts as they get lost.
- Highlighting of interactive objects in the world is off by default. I had no idea I could open so many things in the world until I found this in... Gameplay settings.
- AI is laughably bad.
- Rough cuts between FMV scenes and in-game in the middle of dialogue.
- The most throw-away weak story in the franchise.
- You literally don't need weapons even on the hardest difficulties. Just move behind enemy, press Takedown and black out for a second, waking up to one of 3 choreographed moves. Oh, and 90% of the time you can just straight up take someone out and nobody gives a flying fudge.
- Want to do a complete non-lethal run? Better hope you didn't press the Takedown button/key for a fraction of a second too long, otherwise you have a corpse on your hands. And you can't rebind to differentiate them.
- In-game audio to cutscenes have volume that can fluctuate wildly.
- The physics... oooooooohhh the physics...
- Microtransaction system that is STILL in the game.
- Incredibly clunky inventory. And that's saying something for an incredibly clunky game.