Recent reviews by Theogore

This is the STALKER sequel we've waited 17 years for.
Amidst all their strife, they've managed to output a title that captures the STALKER experience and atmosphere perfectly.

Is the game perfect? Not yet, but neither was CyberPunk2077 at launch.
Is the game playable, absolutely, and it's fantastic.

Today marks 7 years and 1 month since Marc Laidlaw released "Epistle 3" to the world shortly after retiring from Valve. In 2023, in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Marc regretted his release of the story as he acknowledged that he was "deranged" and "out of touch" when he wrote "Epistle 3". At present, Borealis is not canon since the release of Half-Life: ALYX, (written by Jay Pinkerton and Erik Wolpaw) has rewritten key points in the Half-Life franchise.

Knowing this, consider Project Borealis a fan-made alternate story, and don't expect it to tie into any official lore or future Valve titles. Using "Epistle 3" as the source material for this title gives Icebreaker Industries very little to work with so I'm curious to see what direction they will take.

Project Borealis: Prologue originally failed to launch on my high-end Windows 11 machine because the installer doesn't include the VC_Redist.x64 that the game needs in order to run.
After resolving that amateur issue, I was able to launch the game without issue.

Project Borealis manages to capture the spirit of the source engine pretty well. They've put in a lot of effort to bend the Unreal engine to their will and I would suspect that most users would be unable tell the difference. I understand that this was necessary due to the team being unable to license the Source engine, so what they managed to achieve is pretty impressive from a 3rd party perspective.

The prologue itself tells no story and does away with the grand entrance that's long been a staple in the Half-Life franchise. Here, you're simply placed into a world that's experienced the Aperture Science version of the Philadelphia Experiment and as you walk the linear path, you'll find that you have 30 mobs to kill in typical Half-Life 2 fashion before it's comes to an abrupt end.

If I could give it a review, it would be a 60%. Outside of being told "You're Gordon freeman in the HEV suit with a crowbar" the prologue does nothing new that we haven't already seen before. It plays out like Half-Life 2 with better graphics and that's about it. Ultimately, I think that's what they wanted to achieve here and while the Prologue comes off as bland, it's mechanics are undoubtedly familiar to play with.

The Prologue runs fine on an RTX4080 with DLSS and frame generation enabled, but I suspect that it would run quite poorly on mid-range PCs.

Solid deal at 60% off.
Just the Aquilas alone make it worth it.

We march for Macragge and we shall know no fear!

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Draconic DRM. Stay away!

Like Valorant, this game's "anti-cheat" is anti-consumer and it exposes your Windows Kernel to the web.
For anyone unaware, this is VERY BAD.

7/10
Excellent Physics.
Great graphics.
Needs multiplayer.

Leg day simulator.

One word.
Amazing.

A few pacing issues aside, the gameplay is great, the story is solid, and the graphics are still phenomenal.
Anything you don't want to do can be skipped and the main story quest is quite gripping.
Perfect? No. Enjoyable? Absolutely.
An easy recommendation for anyone seeking a medieval experience.

Call of Pripyat is the 2nd best title in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise... so far. Shadow of Chernobyl stands tall at number 1, with much better gameplay and story to offer -similar to the cadence of a solid Half-Life title.

What makes Call of Pripyat the best of the 3 titles however, is the modding scene. You don't buy Pripyat to play Pripyat, you buy it to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : Anomaly, or if you're a crazy person, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. :Misery.

My advice: If you have never played a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. title before, start with Shadow of Chernobyl. If you've played a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. title before, buy Pripyat and install Anomaly.

Whichever way you choose, they will help to prepare you for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.