Recent reviews by neoadorable

Squad and turn based tactical experience pretty much like Jagged Alliance, XCOM etc. Not terrible but feels very clunky and unfinished. The idea is good, the execution pretty limited. Your soldiers are supposed to be badass tactical dudes but their range of actions and abilities is very limited, while poorly trained militias hardly ever seem to miss a shot. This is on top of a very confusing map and a rather poor camera system. Overall not recommended even on sale, it's just not fun.

EDIT: three years later nothing changed, it's still an incompetent twin stick shooter with mild shock value and infuriating gameplay. They still have hordes of cops zerg rushing you, aiming is still a chore, and it's still pointless - unless telling us that mindless violence is lame is the point, in which case Hatred is a resounding success. Otherwise, still best avoided.

Like many here have noted, much ado about very little. Sure there's the initial shock value, but even that is very mild. I'm mostly shocked I paid $20 for this out of my desire to support free speech and mature content. It's not a bad game, but definitely not worth the price - wait for a sale. Clunky controls, floaty movement, getting stuck on objects, you name it, it's here. And sadly from the 90 minutes or so I've played, there doesn't seem to be much of a message. Was really hoping for SOME subversion of the shoot everyone genre, but this isn't it apparently. So even as a top down shooter Hatred isn't really good, the only thing it's useful for is the occasional laugh at the comical violence. BTW in terms of gore the Punisher and Manhunt were much worse, and of course no one bats an eye at Geralt slicing people in half in the Witcher, but Hatred catches an AO rating. Not sure for what. It certainly doesn't stand for Absolutely Outstanding. More like Average Only.

5/10

Sure, it's ridiculously short, has a silly plot, is mostly racist, gets Shanghai right only about 5% of the time, and the cover system is so-so. But i can't help but think back and decide that Dog Days is one of the most memorable titles published in the 2005-2013 era, aka previous generation as of this writing. For a third person shooter, it's lots of fun, and as undeveloped they are, Kane and Lynch are really quite OK characters. Plus the look and feel of it is just awesome to me. Replayed it four times now, three on 360, once on PC, and it was equal fun all four times. On easy it's about 3 hours, hard is really hard so maybe 5 hours if i remember correctly? In short, good shooting action, great art design, some nice destructability in environments, and easy to digest. Get it on sale, then it's a nice little trip down memory lane. Can't believe this came out in summer 2010. Time flies faster than the cliffhanger IO left it on, and it's a shame Kane and Lynch are unlikely to return.

Outstanding game that personally I regret not supporting at launch when it was at its full price. Only got it when it was a weekly deal...but you can't buy them all. Really interesting take on FPS, walking sim, and survival horror genres, with early 17th century weapons and challenging enemies. Can be tough if you want it, but the worst that happens is that you respawn at a safe place. Lots of interesting collectibles and investigations, and very well written and thought out. Plus the art style is cool, even if the environments are repetitive. Highly recommended, 8.5/10

Played this first time round on 360, and as per usual protocol decided to get it again for PC when it was on sale. That's because it's a good, fun, and surprisingly subversive shooter. It was a lot of fun on 360 and it's just as much fun now, plus looks slightly better in higher res.

It really has nothing to do with the Juarez franchise, so if you're a fan of the first three games don't go into Gunslinger thinking it's more of the same. It's not - everything here is focused on Silas Greaves, a dude I don't recall from the first games. The McCall name is worked into the plot, though, for some linkage. The gameplay is first person gunplay, with revolvers, rifles, and dynamite sticks. Art-wise it's kind of cell shaded and looks good, goes for a more comical approach. Everything works great and the game flows well for about eight hours or so, with some boss fights and several duels with historical figures. The duels are similar to the encounters from the previous Juarez releases, and can be tricky but you'll get them. Note on my system (i5/16GB/GTX 970) the framerate is a little iffy at the time of writing, usually very high and smooth but does stutter.

What sets this one apart is the storytelling mechanic, which can be really cool and witty and shows a side of Techland we unfortunately didn't get with the too-pseudo-serious Dying Light. Gunslinger literally takes place as a story told by the main character at a saloon in the early 20th century, while a few people listen on as they put away whiskeys and beers like there's no tomorrow. Hilarity does ensue. Saying more will spoil it.

There are also some very worthy collectibles in the form of these brief documents about actual Wild West history. Most are good but there is quite a lot of pro-Native American bias and really redundant political preaching, but that's the game's only major flaw.

8/10

Loved this on Xbox One and love it just the same on PC, though granted got it on Xbox day one and for PC waited till it was $20. Amazing acting, writing, motion/facial capture. The graphics are obviously better on a nice PC, but day and night better/$300 GPU better? No, and you still fight the same five guys over and over.

But that's not the point. There are improvements, especially in loading times, and of course the greater detail and higher framerates are nice. Otherwise it's the same good game. The campaign is about 8 hours if you take your time to look for collectibles and soak in the atmosphere, the co-op/horde mode is largely useless to me. But this is a very replayable SP game, i've already done the campaign three times on Xbox and will likely do it a couple times on PC. A solid 8/10.

Only recommended for the truly patient and for those who enjoy challenging platformers/puzzlers. Which is a shame, because for 90% of the time this game does a wonderful job of balancing stealth and action, giving you options in how you approach situations. You're forced into stealth generally, but can resort to good old fashioned action if needed. The choice is yours. Then out of nowhere the old difficulty spike design trick rears its ugly head. Oldest trick in the book, Klei, and an unfair one. I think the reason people like certain difficult games that have words that start with D and S in their title is that they're tough from THE GET GO. They don't fondle you for five hours and then suddenly force you to deal with insanely difficult laser puzzles that result in endless trial and error.

Life's too short for this kind of nonsense, this is my hobby and my yoga, i have enough anxiety and frustration outside of it as it is. So no thanks. My rule is simple. Difficulty spike out of nowhere after hours of enjoyment? Cheap trick and a betrayal of confidence. Give it a few dozen tries, if still not fun/resolved: DWD (delete with disgust).

4/10

EDIT: revising the review out of common courtesy and decency. My initial impressions were wrong, this is definitely not a pile of garbage. It's Dead Island+, which does beg the question why there's a Dead Island 2 coming soon. Anyway, once you get used to the parkour system, which can be inconsistent but is doable, then this game is alright. It has a decent story, upgraded graphics compared to Dead Island Riptide (but not by much, mind you), and great music. Overall a decent game, so changing it to recommended. But with many reservations. If you're impatient, avoid it. If you're fed up with zombies/infected, avoid. If you're not sure, wait for a sale. 6/10.


Avoid this pile of garbage like it was a zombie plague. yes, it's exactly like Dead Island, but minus the fun and plus annoyingly finnicky first person platforming that starts right off the bat and makes getting into this game annoying. I hate platformers generally, first person platformers - even more so. Perhaps it's just me. Sad i paid $60 for this, as rich is one thing i'm not.

Good and interesting despite being HELLA goofy most of the time. The story is good, the characters grow on you, and the overall gameplay structure and mechanics are actually very enjoyable. The voice acting is fine, just surprised none of the actors objected to some of the ridiculously "wannabe" stuff they were asked to say. And i don't care if the script was written by a man trying to think like a teenage girl...amazing that people who complain about prejudice think men in their 30's are not allowed to write this kind of story. Hypocrisy lives!

So if you enjoy shows like Twin Peaks, games like Alan Wake, Beyond Two Souls, the Telltale format, and movies like ***SPOILER****





.....Take Shelter, then this is for you. Will be getting the other episodes if i can, looking forward to it. If they're ready it's a shame Dontnod didn't just release them together, i am likely to forget a lot of the plot stuff by March.

And don't forget to check license plates on cars, pretty neat stuff!

7/10

Cool basic zombie shooter. Quite repetitive in terms of environments, but looks OK - didn't even know it was a port from mobile until read it in the reviews here. You get your standard FPS guns, though aim down sights is quite unneeded. Just hip aim for the head. Some nice but cheesy collectibles, choice of weapons is nice, but the really cool ones will require multiple playthroughs. Intentionally over the top and goofy voice acting (by a massive cast of three people) lends this a definite charm.

Very much like Dead Trigger in spirit, except better because it's more structured. You will fight the same five zombie types over and over, but that's fine. Even for the MSRP it's not bad value, on sale it's quite good.

7/10