Recent reviews by Ciocolici

Stunning as always. I will always love the Trine OST!

What do you do when your game has huge success and nearly everybody appreciates nearly everything in the game? You do a sequel that is totally different, of course! That's how Trine 3 was born, I guess.
Don't get me wrong, I love change, and I hate routine. Games need to change to keep up the pace and keep people interested. But I think Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power exaggerated a bit too much.

The gameplay was fun, it really was. The first thing anyone will notice is the fact that this one is 3D. Which works many times and feels like something fresh, but it takes a bit to get used to, and many times it is just frustrating. It should have been, in my opinion, in such a way that only some places incorporate this 3D, and others don't. But I don't want to just hate it because it did make the game fun lots of times. It made the game feel fresh, as I said.

I have some stuff I totally disliked, though. As they did with Trine 2, they once again removed complexity. In Trine 2, they removed the items present in the first game, but while in Trine 2, progress is still present through the skill tree, now they have also removed the skill trees. There's literally no progress to your characters at all anymore, which sucks big time. What the characters do is also less. The wizard can only conjure one box, with all other abilities removed, and the way it interacts with other items is clunky. The thief is the biggest disappointment, being nearly useless, with the arrow attack being the ugliest gameplay mechanic available. The knight also has fewer abilities, but I guess it works the best in comparison with the others.

The graphics and artwork are beautiful, especially the book parts (don't want to spoil). Really beautiful. Same with the OST, as always—stunning. The story was also great; I really liked it. The bad part is, it is short. The whole game is short. It felt unfinished. Uhm, not only did it feel unfinished, it was! The story is like what... it did not even feel more than half complete. A huge disappointment from that point of view. I really expected, as everybody would, the story to finish at the end. It felt like a prelude or interlude at best.

Co-op is the biggest disappointment of all. While the game can and will be fun in single-player, the co-op—which is the reason most people play Trine games—is bad. It feels like the game was developed only with single-player in mind. It is hard for me to explain this, but in normal words: the window and the view are always too tiny for both players. Nearly every time. It is NOT fun. On top of that, the second player can use the same character as you all the time, so there's no longer any punishment if the second player dies with a character. That character won't die. And if the second player disconnects and reconnects using the Start button on the controller, all of their characters respawn. What the hell? The game itself is way easier than its predecessors, and this makes it totally unfun!

For Steam Achievement Hunters: If you hunted achievements in Trine or Trine 2, this will be like a walk in the park. The difficulty-based achievements have been totally removed (since there's no difficulty option anymore), the number of achievements is much smaller, and they are not difficult at all. After beating the game, I only had a few achievements left to hunt, and they were just to get all the Trineagles (as they are called here) in every level. Piece of cake.

In the end, this game is a fun, short 3D platform adventure. With its issues and all, it can still be fully enjoyed in single-player. But it will be a hassle and total disappointment for anyone planning to play it in co-op. Still, I enjoyed it, and for that, I recommend it—as long as you do not expect to have the co-op experience you had in Trine and Trine 2.

Trine 2, as the first game, has one of the best OST you will ever find in a video game. Amazing fantasy music!

The best piece of content this DLC has is the OST. The one I also checked most. Can't speak for the other content as much, but the OST is worth it!

OST for one of the best games out there. Huge nostalgia listening to this huge collection. With some better than other, really worth buying for anyone who has enjoyed the game.

Great fantasy OST, highly recommend it to any Dota 2 fan. Worth the money.

Trine 2 is a great successor to Trine, way better made, way more fun. With a better-told story, although still nothing to be amazed by, it was a great experience to have with my girlfriend in co-op.

Visually better, what disappointed me was the scenery staying kind of the same as in the first game, with the same orangey nuances to it and everything. But gameplay-wise, the levels were better designed, storytelling has been improved as I said, and I had lots of fun with the game. For experienced gamers, the levels on normal difficulty are easy; playing with a beginner is where the fun is. I suggest you play this and the predecessor with your partner, moreso if they are not the biggest gamers. You will have a laugh. I do feel though that the way the checkpoints have been put in the game was pretty exaggerated. Nearly every fight you had one checkpoint 1 meter away, for you to heal and resurrect the dead characters, making the fights even easier.

The DLCs, though, are such a blast. There's been a huge change in scenery finally, with different places, colors, cutscenes, and atmosphere. Also, they're more challenging. I loved them so much. This is the best Trine content so far. It's just perfect. Way better than the original game.

I plan afterwards to achievement hunt the game, so will review later that experience as well.

Sniper Elite: Zombie Army 2, the sequel of Sniper Elite: Zombie Army, is the German twin brother of Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2, that nobody wanted. If you ended up here, you're either german or have a german IP. This is the german version of the game Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2[steamdb.info]. The difference between the two versions is, first, aesthetic: visual references to the Nazis have been removed (the same goes for the name of the game). Second, only people owning this version can connect and play with you online. I do not want to go and judge the censorship because I am sick of it. It is absurd and ridiculous that Germany does not see games as a form of art in 2023 and imposes censorship upon them. What I want to judge is Rebellion's idea of making people who own this version not be able to play with people who own the uncensored version. That made this game's lifespan really, really short and a huge struggle for anyone to find players to play with.

So from the start, you have to know that you have a 0.000001% chance to get to play online without first searching online for players who own the game in their library and beg them to play with you. There is a way, though, and that's its remaster. There is a remaster for this game present in the Zombie Army Trilogy. There, although the game is still censored if you play from Germany, you are able to play with players who do not have the game censored. What a revolutionary idea, Rebellion, congrats! -.- So, although I do prefer the originals for some reasons (check my Zombie Army Trilogy review), the remaster is the best for you to experience the game online.

But let's talk about the game itself. Zombie Army 2 is a better Zombie Army. It features more variety in zombies, improved chapters, and an advancing story, although I find the story somewhat unimportant. The game feels darker and spookier in this sequel, which is great. I especially loved the orange/red colors everywhere. Other than that, it is pretty much the same game. Still, it is really satisfying to headshot zombies, especially with snipers in slow-mo!

For achievement hunters: In a world where this game had an active online player base, all 36 achievements are doable and not that bad. But that is a utopia. If you want to do the co-op achievements that require 4 players, you either need to bring your own 3 players with you or do what I did. What did I do to perfect this game? I added e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y that has written on the Steam forums that they're looking for players to play with. That means players that even forgot they owned this game today. Players that wrote on the forums even in 2014-2015 (imagine that people had to ask on forums for players to play with 1/2 years after the launch). I had to ask every person in PM if he would like to do the achievements with me. After a huge struggle, I somehow managed to find 3 awesome guys to do the achievements with. After the 4 co-op achievements, I still had some big hours of grinding to do to be able to perfect the game. Grinding that would have been way easier if the game had, as I said, an active online player base.

Like its predecessor, the game doesn't try to present itself as something it's not. Having beaten the game in 2023, I must say it has aged exceptionally well, just like the first installment. If you're looking for a great single-player mindless zombie-killing simulator, go for it. Or, go find yourself 3 more guys and buy the game together. I don't think you'll regret it. But if you don't have friends or just want to directly jump into online gameplay, go for the remaster instead.

Sniper Elite: Zombie Army is the German twin brother nobody wanted. If you ended up here, you're either German or have a German IP. This is the German version of the game Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army[steamdb.info]. The difference between the two versions is, first, aesthetic: visual references to the Nazis have been removed (the same goes for the name of the game). Second, only people owning this version can connect and play with you online. I do not want to go and judge the censorship because I am sick of it. It is absurd and ridiculous that Germany does not see games as a form of art in 2023 and imposes censorship upon them. What I want to judge is Rebellion's idea of making people who own this version not be able to play with people who own the uncensored version. That made this game's lifespan really, really short and a huge struggle for anyone to find players to play with. Also, for some reason, the game did not want to load after the Rebellion logo while I was offline. It might just be that this game is not playable without an internet connection, but I am not sure.

So from the start, you have to know that you have a 0.000001% chance to get to play online without first searching online for players who own the game in their library and beg them to play with you. There is a way, though, and that's its remaster. There is a remaster for this game present in the Zombie Army Trilogy. There, although the game is still censored if you play from Germany, you are able to play with players who do not have the game censored. What a revolutionary idea, Rebellion, congrats! -.- So, although I do prefer the originals for some reasons (check my Zombie Army Trilogy review), the remaster is the best for you to experience the game online.

But let's talk about the game itself. I just love it. It is one of those games that do not try to be something it is not. What is Zombie Army? Zombie Army is a mindless zombie-killing video game, where 95% of the time you headshot zombies. What this game requires to be great is to feel satisfying. And that it is. Headshotting zombies is so satisfying in this game. I have not yet played the original Sniper Elite series, but here the weapons are really fun. Obviously, especially the snipers. It never stops being fun killing with them. On top of it, there are the well-known bullet slow motion moments which look and feel amazing, especially in singleplayer where they happen way more often and more complex.

For achievement hunters: In a world where this game had an active online player base, all 26 achievements are doable and not that bad. But that is a utopia. If you want to do the co-op achievements that require 4 players, you either need to bring your own 3 players with you or do what I did. What did I do to perfect this game? I added e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y that has written on the Steam forums that they're looking for players to play with. That means players that even forgot they owned this game today. Players that wrote on the forums even in 2014-2015 (imagine that people had to ask on forums for players to play with 1/2 years after the launch). I had to ask every person in PM if he would like to do the achievements with me. After a huge struggle, I somehow managed to find 3 awesome guys to do the achievements with. After the 4 co-op achievements, I still had some big hours of grinding to do to be able to perfect the game. Grinding that would have been way easier if the game had, as I said, an active online player base.

The game lacks complexity and zombie variations, but I think it does great the way it is. I have beaten the game in 2023, and I have to say, it aged really well. It does not feel 10 years old. If you're looking for a great single-player mindless zombie-killing simulator, go for it. Or, go find yourself 3 more guys and buy the game together. I don't think you'll regret it. But if you don't have friends or just want to directly jump into online gameplay, go for the remaster instead.

Great OST for great VN. Highly recommend, if you liked the game.