Recent reviews by Pokeh

So I'm kind of torn on this game. Halo 2 & Halo 3 were basically the best games ever and this game seems to REALLY want to remind you of Halo. Even straight down to the starting weapons (AR + Pistol) and even Halo's Battle Rifle is in this.

Disclaimer: I kind of suck at fast paced FPS; especially on PC. I'm not quite a casual player (I like winning; winning is great) but I'm also not the type of person to play the game on a super competitive level.

Let's keep this review simple:

• The portals are fun, and allow for fun player movement around the maps. If you're really clever you can use them to bamboozle your enemies.
  
• Oddball is fun in this game. Again the Portals help with this. You can grab the ball and run around and use Portals to traverse the map while the other team chases you. In other games (Halo) Oddball usually involves you and your teammates camping in a room until you win the round. Splitgate offers a fun spin on this mode.
  
• The game is free, and the developers aren't too insidious at monetising the game.
  
• This game feels like (but not exactly like) Halo and will be fun to dip in and out of while we wait for MCC to hit PC.
  
• Levels look great; especially the night club map.

• Player models look kinda meh.
  
• The user interface (in-game and out) could use a little work. E.g. you have to manually select matchmaking again at the end of a game. The game should just automatically look for a new game at the end of the previous round.
  
• The game mode "Teabag Confirmed" is a bit odd and maybe(?) buggy. It's a bit like kill confirmed in something like CoD but players drop teabags when they die. These teabags don't always seem to collect for me when I get them (or maybe they do but the UI doesn't give me any feedback) so it's kind of a weird and annoying mode to play right now.
  
• Weapons feel kind of meh to use; like they don't have much impact.
  
• The Pistol kind of feels like a pointless weapon. It has so much recoil that it's hard to use at range. At closer ranges you're better off using the AR especially when other players can move so quickly.
  
• The game attracts a competitive crowd, even in the "social" playlists. Not necessarily the games fault, but it is kind of annoying to get matched against a 4-stack of people when you're playing Social to avoid having to play against the super competitive types. It does make me worry about how accessible the game will be after it matures though.

I like this game but I don't quite love it. If you liked Halo and you want something reasonably entertaining to kill some time before MCC comes to PC this is game isn't a bad one to try. It's free which certainly helps make it easier to recommend!

I do worry that the competitive nature of the game (even in social) may push some people away from the game; especially in a few weeks/months from now when the skill gap between new and old players will be pretty big.

Ok so as a disclaimer: I generally like the 3D Sonic games. There are obvious exceptions to this like Sonic '06, but I don't want to live in a world where Sonic '06 is the bar that Sonic Team is going for. I thought Unleashed was okay and Generations was pretty good.

Performance: I expected a little better from the game. I would like to think that an i7-7700K, 16GB RAM, and a GTX 1070 would be enough to get me at least 60fps, but apparently not. Some levels in this game chug like crazy, even when running on the lowest graphic settings. Granted I am running the game in 4k; but if I can get rock solid 60fps from Generations then I'd like to think that would also be achievable here too, especially when this game doesn't look *that* much better than Generations.

Level design: A regression for sure. Modern Sonic levels basically have no platforming sections at all, the game frequently takes control away from you (my favourite was when control was taken away so that Sonic could go around a corner. I mean come on), and the levels are short. REALLY short. The shortness is exacerbated by the frequency in which control is removed from the player or sections that are basically on rails.

The custom avatar levels are probably some of the better offerings here, with a customisable weapon that is obviously there to encourage replayability. Problem is that you start off with the best weapon in the game (flamethrower). I did try to experiment with the other weapons available, but they were either less powerful than what I already had, or made me lose control (the drill weapon once sent me flying miles off in to the distance where I then fell to my death).

There aren't many boss fights in the game. I guess Infinite the douchebag is supposed to be the main villain, but all of his fights play out more or less the same. In fact there are a lot of bosses that just involve boosting + homing attacks to win.

There is some free "Episode Shadow" DLC which is like three levels long. One of those levels is probably an example of one of the better levels in the game, but otherwise you're not missing a whole lot if you give it a miss. The game recycles levels A LOT, so I hope you like the few that are here.

Control: at best, it is worse than Generations, at worst it is inconsistent, or at least it doesn't feel consistent. I actually went back and played Generations just to try and validate these feelings, and sure enough for some reason in Generations I feel like I have good control of the character, but not so in Forces.

Story: Ughhhh. Yeah feel free to ignore most of this. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Sonic games have expertly crafted stories but this is pretty dreadful. I'm guessing Sega really went overboard and let an actual 12 year old design and write the lines for Infinite the edgelord. He is just the most dreadful character. Most of the plot is told in the level select menu as two characters just talking to each other.

Conclusion: Why did I buy this? Because I liked Generations and kind of hoped this would be similar. It is not. Do not buy this. Go and buy/replay Generations instead if you have a hankering for a 3D Sonic game. I can't in good conscience recommend this unless it's on sale and very cheap. Like less-than $15 cheap.

Great little game - the narrator adds a lot to the core game, which is itself quite simple - just pick your weapons and kill some enemies until you reach your objective. You can upgrade these weapons in the games hub, among a few other things. Great soundtrack too.

Epic soundtrack, compelling gameplay that'll kick your arse, and a surprising amount of character considering the protagonist is a slab of meat.