Recent reviews by DatMageDoe

John Halo

ROCK AND STONE!

Fun if you liked RCT back in the day

The original is still the best. Played it 15 years ago and it is equally good - if not, better - now. Prefer it to even the more recent stuff like Paritect.

Nothing beats flinging a 1940s coupe into a wall at 300 mph and watching it be reduced into the automotive equivalent of a pancake. Part of a healthy breakfeast!

Grand Theft Auto V... now this is a game.

I'd like to preface this that I played the majority of GTA V on PS4, and only got it for PC to enjoy mods. Do not take my hour count at face value; I have well over 1500 hours in Los Santos.

TL:DR Singleplayer is where it's at, don't bother with Online.

The Singleplayer for Grand Theft Auto V is fun, a touch on the lengthy side, but you'd enjoy the 10-ish hour story. There are plenty of intense moments throughout, though some of them can be quite annoying. The story itself is pretty bland, I'll be honest, you're not playing this game's story for the story at all. You're going to get a lot more kicks out of the free roam and doing your own stunts, playing with the environment, and discovering everything within.

Onto Online... and this is the part of the review which comes so close to ruining the game as a whole... but at least it's mostly independent. GTA Online is... a massive P2W skinner box. It's a constant grind to get to the best cars, weapons, and assets. And it's only gotten worse with age. Back when I first played, the most a P2W player could have is the Tank, and even then, you had to have put some hours in first. Now... there are VTOL aircraft, motorcycles that fly around spewing rockets everywhere, APCs that absolutely crush everything apart from the Hydra, which is in turn crushed by the Oppressor. And they're all insanely unfun to play against. And might I add, all the new cars, all the new stuff? Insanely expensive; $40 to buy a pretty bad supercar released now, not even factoring in upgrades.
If there's one thing you take away from this, it's to just enjoy GTA V SP and not set foot into Online. If you want to play with the stuff locked behind there, Trainers are a thing.

Outside of that mini vent, the map is great, full of little nuances, references, and fun places to explore. Driving, while not very realistic, is very fun and enjoyable, a welcome change from GTA IV's land boats.

Overall:
9/10 - Graphics
7/10 - Story
10/10 - Gameplay
2/10 - Multiplayer
8/10 - Soundtrack
10/10 - Replayability/Return factor
9/10 - Value (SP)
0/10 - Value (MP)
Overall: 8/10 Would recommend

Starbound 1.2 is a game you play once-twice and never again. It's got plenty of variety in its biomes, choosable races, and skillsets, but not enough to keep it from becoming inevitably stale. I say it's a one-time game because once you get the lay of the land and start understanding how each planet is generated and how biomes work, the wonder of discovery wears off. It is a lot like Terraria; if you've played Terraria, Starbound is quite similar but with some key differences, and vice versa.

Pros
Essentially sci-fi Terraria
Large amounts of variety on display visually
Fun gameplay loop
Well designed bosses
Fun to play with friends
Dungeons (esp. the story ones) and towns are varied and worth exploring

Cons
Boring lategame
Little room for specialization - all characters become a Jack-of-all-trades after a while
Weapons/armor have too little variation in kind, especially with one-handed weapons
Tedious main story.

It's a great game because it manages to be what No Man's Sky strived to be, and does it quite well. However, it does little to keep me engaged after the end. Terraria has the advantage of years of updates to give a fun endgame experience, give this game time and I'm sure its endgame will be much more developed and interesting similar to how Terraria added hardmode (there's even evidence it's going that way with the recent updates).

It's worth $15 and your time, but don't expect it to woo you over for the next year. Not in its current state.

Stop reading the reviews and start enjoying an FPS worth your time, this one.

I had a genuine blast with SRTT. Its emphasis on over-the-top action and absurdity sets it up there as one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. It's a game which strongly asks you to not give a ♥♥♥♥ why you're breaking into a BDSM club to rescue a dude who sounds like every rapper ever and escape using a coach pulled by a guy in a bondage suit.

Undeniably, this is one of the most fun campaigns I've played in a long time. However, that doesn't mean it's entirely flawless. There is a fairly lengthy period of time in the middle where the game introduces you to the City Takeover minigames, where it starts to feel like a slog. Undeniably, these modes are still fun, but the pace change from jumping out of planes and falling for way too long to running hos (that's what they're called) feels jarring and like a momentum kill. I personally really liked Insurance Fraud and Tank Mayhem, along with some Genki's SERC. The final act cranks the absurdity to 12, so the slog feels somewhat worth it.

Gunplay feels excellent and generally speaking, fun to play. Despite being a sucker for racing and the car customization, I found a lot of reasons to hold out in some random alley while using everything in my impressive arsenal to last as long as I can. I found a strong preference to the starter pistol and later akimbo SMGs, but the entire roster (with some exceptions) was fun and satisfying to use. A couple notable exceptions to this are the laser weapons unlocked later on, which lacked the loud bang to feel good to use.

Driving in this game is like driving a race car. While they have pretty low top speeds (pretty sure it's around 100km/hr), they handle incredibly well. Responsive, grippy, and engaging is the best way to describe well over 85% of the cars in the game, and unless you're driving, say, a big rig, most corners can be taken flat out. Customization is exceptionally strong as well, but sometimes can be kind of patchy. While I love any game which allows me to turn a street sweeper into a sawbladed apocalypse machine ripped out of Mad Max, I wish the same dramatic customization could be done on more cars than just a few.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with SRTT. For the games I've logged this amount of time in, Saint's Row is up there in terms of just how fun it is to play.

And a final tip: Take control of Aviarce Island before you board the flight.

One word: LOOT. It can be your normal run-of-the-mill loot, which makes up a surprisingly small amount of the pool, or something you swear came out of a 5 year-old's crazy imagination. Shotgun you throw like a grenade to reload? An SMG which gets more accurate as it shoots? A pistol that shoots fireballs? That's only the tip of the iceberg. It gets more crazy as you delve deeper. This loot is almost addictive, as that next chest you open may have a shiny new killing tool to use upon your enemies.

Loot aside, the game is full of things to do. The humor is also present everywhere, ranging from running through a bandit camp to collect a dead man's nine dollars or the failed understanding of the phrase "chill out," there's a lot of funny moments which leave you wanting more.