Recent reviews by thomi

comparison with chivalry: medieval warfare

style and presentation

Barbie™ Dreamhouse Party™ - a striking and appealing visual style, Barbie mixes pleasing pastel colours with liberal use of shiny and glowing textures with sharply cut character models. 8/10

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare - whilst certainly not bad by contempary standards, the unreal technology powering this title has occasional texture problems. unfortunately running at its maximum settings causes me fps problems and unneccesary features like motion blur and bloom sometimes give the impression that it's just trying too hard. 6/10

gameplay and skill ceiling

Barbie™ Dreamhouse Party™ - such is the ease in which you can just jump into this title, there is no need for any sort of tutorial. the controls are intuitively mapped and the helpful hints guide you into your first few adventures in Barbie's mansion. Before long you feel like a seasoned pro, and the constant visual reinforcements really build the sense of reward for a job well done. Variable difficulty settings let you find your level until you're ready to "step it up" and show your true mettle! 9/10

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare - Initially possessing a reasonably high skill ceiling, the june/july "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" of 2013 reduced the gameplay in chivalry to a frustrating, clunky slugfest. dying to an opponent pre-patch was usually as the result of skillful moves from your opponent, or of costly mistakes on your part. deaths post-patch can be seemingly random, which add to a sense of frustation at being defeated when not doing anything technically wrong. Coupled with glaringly broken mechanics (such as the ridiculous vanguard charge) and numerous balance issues, this is probably the weakest aspect of the game overall. 3/10

customisation

Barbie™ Dreamhouse Party™ - as the challenges in each area of the house are completed, new items are added to the already generous array of items in which you can bedeck our heroine out. Adding further layers of polish to this wonderful visual presentation, it could be argued that the customisation options are the real tour de force in this epic journey. 10/10

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare - originally heralded as an exciting new aspect to this game, there is nothing technically wrong with torn banner's offering here - there are a range of colours and several helmet types to choose from. progressive patches have reduced the number of options in this department though, and the miserly offering of customisable items in comparison to Barbie (no necklaces, wrist bangles or even boots) can't be ignored. In addition to this, the true crime in this area is that the developers have focused on releasing new hat types (which cost money, naturally) instead of addressing the gameplay problems there are seemingly apparent to everyone but their own coders. 6/10

Overall

Barbie™ Dreamhouse Party™ - intitially having fairly low expectations, i was blown away by the sheer ambition of this game and i was constantly surprised along the way. recommended to young barbie fans and grizzled gaming veterans alike, this pruchase will certainly not be one that you regret. 9/10

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare - upon release, and for a few months afterwards, this truly was a game that had heart-stopping potential and required a dynamic skillset to truly excel at. Unfortunately the state it is in right now is simply depressing. unfortunately, its management by a "developer" that is seemingly unwilling or (more probably) unable to make the correct decisions necessary to return this game to a playable state is simply criminal. Playing barbie for 30 mins felt like a mouthful of cupcakes and stardust; playing chiv for 30 mins feels like an unanesthetised root canal. 3/10