Recent reviews by Meta

What have I witnessed?

Somewhere between Observer, Ghost in the Shell, and Blade Runner. Fantastic art direction with at times very immersive atmosphere. This is an extremely small team, mostly two developers. There was a vision here. It may not completely deliver on that vision, but there were moments of real intrigue. There are times the story gets dull, then something happens or you go somewhere to bring you right back in. It's got some frustrating UI issues and some of the puzzle are fairly rudimentary, but we should encourage games where it values narrative and exploration over more mindless explosions.

Negative reviews couldn't get an S rank.

Huge potential. Satisfying gun play as others have said. I love the setting and atmosphere. What is needs now is some more subtlety and finessing. For example, there is at one point an empty room full of enemies, which opens behind you, and enemies come out. There's nothing in the room. Literally. It's an enemy holding room. Seems a bit amateur. Another would be better hit reactions. You can be pounded by enemies but you don't react except a screen marker, so it's hard to not notice. A grunt even would help. Lastly, I get it, hardcore, but we need a way to save progress with a friend and return to that location. But I'll chalk it up to early development. If things like that were ironed out, the maps are given more detail and assets, this really is going places.

This is a fantastic concept. I hope this does really well and gets the exposure it deserves. Buy the game, and then have access to tons of fun, short games you can enjoy alone or with friends. This like a full price party game, except it's nowhere near a full price title and already has more variation than most. The unique avatars are brilliant too. More customisation, more games, more places to visit, hidden rooms... just more. It's great.

It understands the lore, it's extremely fun, it's fluid, it's offensive, there's funny accents and big boobs with jiggle physics, it's violent, you can gib everything with ease, it works.

You can't necessarily compare it to Postal 4, but in some respects, there is definitely functionality and art direction that should be adopted going forward. Easily gibbing especially so. All Postal 4 enemies and NPCs feel far too durable. Whack, whack in Brain Damaged with a shovel and they're in bits. Glorious. The DOOM adoptions work too here, really well - although I wouldn't necessarily want to see them in the main series (e.g., the armour and food pick ups).

I wrote my last review out of anger and disappointment. Having greatly enjoyed Postal 2, I had in my mind a sort of modern rebirth for the Postal series with No Regerts, and in fairness maybe my expectations were too high. I wasn't recommending it, but now I am.

Here it is, the game is objectively unfinished. The world is littered with things that could have been. Things you might have interacted with. People you could have spoken to. Ultimately though, it's a constant reminder that the game isn't what you want it to be.

That said, if you enjoy Postal as a franchise, give it a go. Probably better if you pick it up on sale. And if you're new to Postal, go in expecting a lot of issues. One of the main problems I had was the saves would not load. Every save crashed. You need to validate the game files after updates to solve this - who knew. Found that hint after checking the message boards.

There is a ton of Postal humour here. I love their attention to details. The packaging for all of the food. So much makes me smile. I just wish there was more polish on the big stuff, like having clear dialogue with shop keepers, knowing what you are going to spend, and what you'll buy, instead of silence and a prompt to provide money...

One huge tip for your first play through, explore. A lot. Look in the nooks. Stock up. Sell goods to vendors for money. A bigger bag and a stock of fast food can go a long way.

Come on RWS, nail Postal 5.

Scorn is rare game. This is a work of art, not a commercial cash grab. The mystery of it all, the pacing, the intricate level design. It's something unique and special. It's grotesque, but it's also beautiful. It's familiar in places, and yet not. Trying to unravel the story and it's meaning, and whether the things we are seeing are allegories or reality, is part of it's charm. This is a brave game which should retain a cult status. In the same way a film like Hellraiser stands among horror films, but was never the biggest or most well known, Scorn should always be listed, as a challenging, grisly experience. A cult classic.

Where Scorn excels in gameplay, is also one of it's weaknesses. A generation of quick fix, spoon fed gamers are going to struggle, a lot. What is magical about Scorn is that it gives you nothing. No cues (other than very subtle lighting and sound), no text, no speech. I find it an enjoyable challenge trying to work out alien technology (because, of course, if this happened to you, there would be no guide for you). Others will dismay at having no idea what things do, or where to go. Try not to explore every corner. It's more of a linear experience than that. If it's very dark, don't bother. Find the lighting cues and listen to audio acknowledgement.

Combat is interesting too. It's sometimes difficult, but totally palatable. People suggesting it's too hard, broken, or unnecessary, I can assure you, are having skill issues. Moreover, I imagine they're trying to play this like DOOM. It is not. You should be fearful. You need to hide, you need to run. The sooner you realise you don't have to kill everything, the more it all makes sense. I wish the game was longer, and I am still unclear on it's core message, but I look forward to watching analysis on YouTube and seeing arguments in the comments.

Scorn is not for everyone. But if quiet, solemn, occasionally terrifying gameplay, with powerful visuals and a truly stunning sound design, this is for you. I really hope Ebb Software are working on their next enigma.

I've played 16 hours at this point and have never won 10 rounds.

Cloudpunk is receiving a lot of praise and I can see why. It's got an a really smart looking aesthetic and some really great ideas. Conceptually, taking up the role of a courier, making your mark in a new place that is a dystopian, cyberpunk future (something so many of us enjoy as a setting) really nails a niche. There are two recurring issues though that bring the game down significantly.

As others have pointed out, it's a very shallow game. There is narrative but the fundamental mechanics are very simplistic. In some ways this is a pleasure, it's easy to zone out and play. Nothing dramatic or overly challenging happens. Just take in the Vangelis-type soundtrack and visuals. However if you want some depth, it's missing.

A second issue I found the entire time was that the game is a little woke in it's narrative. It might be that we're supposed to be playing the antithesis of Deckard in Blade Runner. I think that is fine. The problem is the delivery. It's far too on the nose. Men bad, guns bad, rich people bad, capitalism bad. You can make statements about these things but because it felt like box ticking it took me completely out of the moment with the game. I should be hearing the narrative and thinking it's still interesting rather than rolling my eyes.

I can still recommend it on the provision you get it on sale.