Recent reviews by FrostDerek

sick

Prey is the best game you never played.
Arkane's masterpiece has one of the best game worlds and environmental design I have ever seen.
Every inch of the station is carefully and masterfully designed just as if it was a real place.
Talos-1 makes sense as a whole. Every person, every room is thoroughly thought, and every email you read, every diary you listen to connect as a whole. It is so detailed that you can list what happened to each person during the disaster, probably.
Finished it 3 times on Xbox; finishing it once more on PC; Prey still managed to enjoy me with new content, which is why I love Prey in a nutshell. I found new ways of solving an existing obstacle, missions I haven't seen before stashes I never found, and secrets that I wasn't able to find my way before.
Prey is often compared with the Bioshock series but the statement is simply wrong: Bioshock games are both narratively and level design-wise merely linear (Bioshock series has many semi-open levels -Fort Fraulic, Minerva's Den-but there is always one way to deal with the problems in Prey game is all about sheer amount of solutions to any given problem).
Prey should be compared to System Shock and basically is a spiritual successor.
The atmosphere of Talos-1 is spot on; the exterior feels big, loose, and tense (just as it should be), the sound design is horrifying and high-quality (I agree it can become exhausting later ), OST made by Mick Gordon is one of a kind.
I also like the art style, architecture revolves mainly around Art Deco, Industrialism, and constructivism (game explains why). Different levels of the station have different styles, as you go down to Power Plant it is more industrial and brutal almost Soviet-like but as you go higher up the station places feel more luxurious and decorated, the art-deco style being dominant; it is kinda like Bioshock 1 (although I must agree Bioshock 1 was superior in showing it; and it leaned even more towards art-deco and neon lightning) mixed with Half Life.
The power plant level reminded me of the one from Bioshock 1 and, Arboretum felt to me just like Arcadia (not an expert these are merely my observations on architecture). And many other places seemed to me like they were out of Half Life.
Prey is the most underrated game I've ever played, a perfect blend of Half Life, Bioshock, and System Shock in my mind. This was the Half Life 3, I was dreaming of as a kid.
A masterfully thought Semi-open world, with many ways to solve any problem, with Metroidvania elements and a breathtaking atmosphere. I simply can't help but loving it...
A must-try experience for fans of the genre.

A mixed bag, not catching the Half Life quality; don't expect something quality as Opposing Force or even as Entropy Zero, Tranmission 120; not good as any of the famous Half Life mods or any DLCs. Would have chosen a 'mixed' option if possible.
Still a cheap visit to the HL universe...

What a timeless masterpiece.

Bioshock got its flaws, can't pretend it is perfect nonetheless; after 14 years Bioshock still stands solid, with its atmosphere (perfect art deco architecture), world design and game design; it still is better than most of the games out today. Game doesn't have the best gameplay nor the best storytelling (it is mostly told via the audiologs), remastered version also is worse than the original launch (optimization and technical wise). Still Bioshock is a must play for every FPS (and Art Deco :) ) lover.

Even though I am not a fan of the series, I enjoyed the game, I started 4-5 times 'cause the game kept crashing and I had to carry on from autosaves; and now they also added an useless 2k launcher which bothers me and people argue game is been crashing a lot, with my new setup my game crashed only for once this playthrough but still that launcher and crashes should have been already fixed by now. Gameplay wise this game is superior to first launch but otherwise I think I would rather the first one, overally they are both 7's for me. The most important part with Bioshock 2 is its DLC Minerva's Den which in my opinion is the best Bioshock series has to offer. It is worth playing.

Best of Bioshock series

Masterfully designed

Cry of Fear could be seen as an anthem for all the harsh emotions. You will find yourself ruminating about all you have gone throughout the game, empathizing deeply. Cry of Fear as an experience will keep discomforting you, sometimes with its gloomy soundtrack, sometimes with a gore nightmare, and many times just with its thought. This game can be remembered as a haunting artistic experience or a poorly executed game (or anywhere in-between) but there is one thing for sure Cry of Fear experience is a far cry from any mainstream media.

Buggy sequel, i would still recommend it but keep your expectations low, it not as haunting as SoC nor polished as CoP.