Recent reviews by dannyboy2016

The writing and voice acting in this game are so great that you can overlook its flaws. This is easily one of the best written RPGs out there.

If you get it grab the fan patch. Also, while you can talk, sneak, or sleep your way through much of the game the endgame is very combat heavy.

I was happy with this game at full price. However, the developer isn’t around anymore, so I’d advise you to wait on picking it up until you can get it for under $10.

Max Payne 3’s story is muddled compared to the previous games, and his angst about all the dead women in his life is getting old.

However, it looks great and the gunplay is satisfying. Maybe bullet time should feel tired by now, but I still enjoyed it.

The game is really short though and you can probably beat the campaign in ten hours.

Pick it up If it is on sale for around $5.

It’s a fine effort and I appreciate the scope, but personally I think Napoleon: Total War is the superior game. Unless you really want to battle it out in India or the Americas I’d suggest you pick up Napoleon instead.

EU 4 is a great grand strategy game that has a lot of depth but is also approachable. Also, it manages to be an engrossing sandbox game while maintaining some historical flavor. Unlike the Civilization series, the hundreds of playable countries are quite different.

It has some problems and I don’t approve of the changes that the DLC has made to colonization, but it is easily my GOTY for 2013.

“Looting simulators” like Borderlands don’t tend to be my thing but I thoroughly enjoyed Dead Island. One factor is probably the diversity of Dead island’s environments. The game is set in a fictionalized version of Papua New Guinea so you’ll have tourist resorts, slums, and primeval jungles to fight in. Also, the mixture of human and zombie enemies make you switch up how you play. Humans, for instance, are weak against firearms while zombies are mostly killed with melee weapons. Throw in some vehicles (which can accommodate all 4 players at once) and a variety of quests and you are set for a good time.

I recommend it. It goes on sale fairly often so pick it up when it is going for around $5.

Riptide feels like a step down from the original Dead island in almost every way. The environments are less diverse this time around and poor roads mean you are hoofing it or traveling by boat through much of the game. There are a lot of repetitive sequences where you have to lock down an area with a minigun. The only upside is the new player character whose punches put fist sized holes in zombies. I love that dude. Too bad he’s not in a better game.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a great port of a first rate AAA title. It plays nice with a keyboard and mouse, looks fantastic, runs silky smooth, and you get to be Batman. What’s not to like?

This adventure game has a lot going for it. The father-daughter dynamic between lee and Clem is great, many characters are well written, the puzzles are logical, and some shooting and action segments spice things up a bit. The main downside is that the story isn’t particularly open ended. You can affect things but not as drastically as I would like.

Still, the writing is solid and I loved raising my virtual daughter in the zombie apocalypse.

Get it, but hold off till its $10 or less.

Darkest Hour is an outstanding grand strategy game. You can play one of scores of countries during the world wars and the first couple decades of the cold war. Internal politics, espionage, research, and military affairs will require your attention as you lead your people to victory (whether in terms of hoisting your flag over Berlin or accomplishing what if goals that you set for yourself).

Unlike Hearts of Iron 3 it is approachable by mortal men, boasts lots of historical flavor, and is well worth the asking price.

I can’t recommend this enough. Darkest Hour is clearly the best of the Sim Stalin series.

Tomb Raider (2013) is a first rate port of a decent AAA game. It looks great and plays very well.

In terms of writing, the origin story stuff and character development is just laughable. The basic plot works as an Indiana Jones style supernatural/fantasy action adventure story, but the whole “I’m just a vulnerable young woman struggling to survive” stuff doesn’t. Lara, please accept that you are the apex predator here and move on.

Besides the writing the main annoyances are a couple of quick time events and the serious lack of tombs to explore. Also, I could never get into a multiplayer game.

That being said it is a satisfying third person action game with great pacing, decent puzzles, and tons of things to climb, swing on, or jump off of. You can easily get 20 hours of gameplay out of it if you like this sort of thing.

I recommend it. Pick it up when it is $15 or less.