Reseñas recientes de awp

Bleed 2 is an absolutely phenomenal Action/Run&Gun game full of intense combat and delightfully frequent and inventive boss battles. If you're a fan of old Treasure games such as Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier, don't sleep on this.

While playing the original Bleed is recommended, it is not required.

Fans of the original Bleed will be happy to know that its successor is improved in nearly every way. There's a lot more attention to detail, visuals and audio have improved considerably, the new color-coded parry mechanic adds another layer of strategy and the difficulty settings, particularly Very Hard, feel much better.

The game is not without its shortcomings, though. The weapon variety in Bleed 2 feels smaller and less relevant than it did in Bleed, due in part to the necessity of keeping your katana close at hand at all times. The variety also doesn't quite feel as fun as it did in Bleed; unlockable weapons largely just feel like visual twists on the existing "projectile" and "melee" weapons. Apart from the default weapon (combo), the only weapon I really used beyond experimentation was White. Granted, the default weapon combo of Katana/Pistols felt so good that everything else felt more like a gimmick.

The story, while cute in its own right, didn't have the memorable twist of the first, either. It's told in a much more engaging way, but the story itself is more straightforward with fewer surprises.

There's also no "shop" in Bleed 2 for better or for worse; you unlock characters, weapons and abilities by fulfilling objectives (eg beating the game on such-and-such difficulty) so those who enjoyed replaying levels for currency to upgrade Health/Energy no longer have that option.

In terms of length, Bleed 2 feels more or less the same length as Bleed, but each second of gameplay is far more action-packed than its predecessor, and has more than double the number of bosses. Triple? I don't know. There's a lot more bosses.

In terms of polish - while Bleed was an excellent game, Bleed 2 is a much more polished, and much higher quality experience.

It's a tight, action-packed experience that I wholeheartedly recommend. If you're a fan of action games at all, you definitely owe it to yourself to give it a try.

A "cult classic" that I missed the first time around. I found System Shock 2 to be a DEEPLY FLAWED game:

• The geometry of the levels is very sticky and will "grab" you unexpectedly; things like desks and destroyed enemies in narrow hallways serve as their own obstacles and I found myself frozen in place unexpectedly a LOT
  
• At higher levels of AGI your character becomes slippery and platforming becomes difficult
  
• The final zones (even from the Rickenbacker onward) become incredibly cramped, confusing and difficult to navigate
  
• The semi-final boss spawns so many enemies so rapidly you can actually plug doorways with corpses and have to leave a distance to discard the corpses
  
• Difficulty is very front-loaded; while this is good to make you feel like a super-enhanced killing machine toward the end of the game, it will make the beginning even more frustrating, especially while trying to learn the myriad systems
  
• Melee weapon hit detection is incredibly awkward and lagged
  
• Even with the map, emails and notes, figuring out where to go takes a while. It's interesting that it doesn't hold your hand whatsoever, but enemies spawn infinitely throughout the game and you can't pause while looking at notes/maps so you get attacked regularly while trying to figure out where to go

And yet, I have to recommend the game. Why? I still had fun with it. Despite the myriad annoyances and frustrations, when it wasn't being an unpolished, irritating bugger it was quite a lot of fun. The beginning and ending were gross, but the middle was sweet enough to make the journey worthwhile.

Oh, I never reviewed this? Oops, sorry Ian. This was my first Greenlight vote, too!

This is one of the best 2D action games I've ever played. The plot is simple but has a cute twist, the visuals are serviceable, the soundtrack is excellent, and the control and gameplay are top-notch. With Bleed2 on the horizon I decided to go back to Bleed to see how it felt. It still feels great to play, and still deserves to be in the library of any 2D action fan.

Being a huge Duke3D fan, I wanted to like this game so much. Having an actual EFFECTIVE melee weapon instead of the Mighty Boot was refreshing. Combat was mostly solid; a lot of weapons felt niche or ineffective so weapon choice often came down to "should I really waste SMG bullets on this?" and the threat balance of enemy types was diverse in both good and bad ways.

But...the level design was SO frustrating. I kept a guide handy while playing through this because far too often I would get stuck because it was too dark to see a keyhole, or the way forward was "a ladder on the inside of a fireplace you had to go into, turn around, and jump up to reach", or I had to shoot a cracked wall 12 times to proceed, rather than shooting it 3 times and assuming that wasn't what I was supposed to do because nothing was happening. Expect to spend a substantial amount of time wandering in circles looking for a key in a corner or a locked door hidden behind clutter while playing this.

The final boss was neat, though

I THINK I HAD A VIDEO GAME LIKE THIS ONCE

A visually and mechanically interesting action platformer. Combat can be a bit frustrating at times when enemies are either hugging you (causing hit detection to fail) or trying to stay out of your reach, but once you conquer the learning curve the game becomes quite fun. As you progress through the game you'll gain new abilities and weapons and empower your character. The campaign took me about 10 hours to complete on my first try, going for 100% item collection, which is a good size for a game like this.

Worth checking out, but as mentioned earlier, the combat mechanics will take a bit to get used to.

"This space station has gone quiet. Go find out why."

That's about all you need, and all you get, to start exploring Environmental Station Alpha. Despite its simplistic appearance, there is a lot of atmosphere and mystery surrounding the space station. As you explore, you find upgrades that let you explore more, and you eventually discover what went wrong. So now you know what you need to do to save the day.

But ESA doesn't just ask you to find out "what" went wrong. It also poses the questions "Why?" and "How?", and therein lies the trap.

My first run through the game clocked in at 5 hours. Literally, exactly 5 hours. 5:00:00, on the dot. Navigating certain areas, and figuring out where to go, is generally obvious enough thanks to mission objectives being marked on the map but there are moments in the game where you're just left wondering where you're supposed to apply the new upgrade you just got. There could be 20 unexplored rooms, but only 1 of them is where you need to go next. Repeat this for each upgrade and it quickly becomes tiresome. Bring a notepad; ESA doesn't have any sort of "Map markup" feature that lets you leave notes on your map, but it does explicitly state which tile on the map grid you're on at any given time, and maybe just writing down "red blocks at 18-12" would be enough.

That isn't my biggest gripe with the game, though. As I said, I got through the main story in 5 hours, which I'm assuming isn't too bad for a first-time without the use of any guides. However, the ending leaves you feeling unsatisfied, as if there was another approach you could have taken for a more satisfying resolution.

Well, there is. This game is absolutely loaded with secrets. I don't mean cute hidden upgrades (though there's a couple of those), I mean new areas, new bosses, new endings, the whole shebang. And it is absolutely esoteric. Is it worth it? Honestly, I want to say no. The post-game content is great (exploring the new areas, fighting the new bosses) but it's so bogged down with pointlessly esoteric nonsense and repetitive filler tasks that the effort involved to get there is far greater than the payoff. The two fights with You-Know-Who were a blast, but it took me close to 8 hours of faffing about in order to unlock what I understand is the True Actual Final Boss.

I like that the game offers a rather deep rabbit hole to go down if you're willing, but because of all the dead-ends, invisible walls, and one-way doors, it's too much of a chore to fully complete. As much fun as I had fighting the post-game bosses, I can't say that all of the filler content in between them was worth the time and effort. The base game, however, remains a solid experience, and I can recommend the game on that point alone.

It's not just marketing talk when they say this Gauntlet is a completely new experience. I've put hundreds of hours into Gauntlet Legends on the N64, and quite a few into Dark Legacy on the gamecube. I had expectations going into this game.

This is a very different game.

Is it fun? Yes. It's a good game, and it's fun. We'll get that out of the way first. However, it's nothing like classic Gauntlet games. Each of the classes play very differently; they're not just different allocations of stats. As a matter of fact, there really is no notion of "stats" in this game: there's no leveling, no character progression.

The only difference in a start-game and end-game character is what gear you have equipped - most of which is only for aesthetic purposes. You have 3 important pieces of gear: Your weapon, an accessory that changes what your potions do, and a relic that gives you an extra cooldown-based ability. The only mechanical difference in your weapons is what your special ability does (in the case of the wizard it seems like ability sets rather than a single ability). More expensive weapons don't mean more damage, more range, or anything like that.

Levels in this game vary widely in how long they take. Some only take a couple minutes. Others take up to 10. There also aren't too many levels in the game, and there are only 3 bosses, but all the bosses have very different mechanics.

The bottom line is that it's a short but sweet game. I have trouble finishing 4 player co-op games with friends due to conflicting schedules and waning interests, but we had no problem sticking this one out. You can easily get through it your first time in 3 to 6 hours.

(MAJORITY PLAYTIME BASED ON PS4 VERSION)

Flip a coin, or buy a lottery ticket. Your only goal is to call the correct result. Do you want to call heads or tails on a coin flip, or would you rather attempt to buy a winning lottery ticket?

Tharsis is a game of luck, which means putting the odds as much in your favor as you can. You can't guarantee a coin flip, but your odds are a hell of a lot better than the roll of a die or picking a winning lottery number. When given the choice, you want to flip a Heads rather than roll a Six. Right out of the gate Tharsis throws you meaningful decisions and makes the consequences of each one clear. You need to choose which approach to take, from Brute Forcing repairs to gambling on Research bonuses, to Fixing Under Fire. Whether to take a big risk on week 5 that could end your game early, or to play it safe until you can't play it safe any more. Whether to try and fix every problem, big or small, or to let lesser problems rot and get some crucial prep for whatever hell the next week wants to throw at you.

You can never guarantee success in Tharsis. The most you can do is make the best choices to stack the odds in your favor.

Good luck.

Axiom Verge is game that features an "address disruptor" that causes various elements of the game to glitch out and behave in unexpected ways as one of its central mechanics, and it still can't even manage to be glitchier than an Early Access/Ubisoft game.

I owe this game a review/thumbs up. I followed development for 2 years prior to release. Being a long time fan of Super Metroid, I wanted something that was as good as Super Metroid. I gave Axiom Verge a lofty set of expectations, and it exceeded almost all of them. But to keep things short and concise, my personal takeaway:

Pros:

• The world is very well-designed. The way pathways connect in both expected and unexpected ways, and the means by which the layout of blocks guides/teaches you is superb
  
• The story - some may not be a fan of it, and it can be a bit hard to grasp, but I found it both different and intriguing. It's not limited to dialog/journal pages, but more subtle world elements as well
  
• Upgrades - they start out fairly boring, almost a carbon copy of what's been done before (weapons, high-jump, etc) but eventually become bizarre and unique, allowing the player to glitch through walls and such
  
• Controls - Movement mechanics in particular become a lot of fun once you get all the mandatory upgrades
  
• Scope - The game is a good size; large enough to sink several hours on your first playthrough, but small enough to complete in a sitting once you've mastered it
  
• Secrets - There are a lot of them, including an entire avenue of secrets I didn't even know about in my first playthrough. Some are very devious to find

Cons

• Secrets - They manage to be both pros and cons, because while a lot of them are clever, a lot are equally esoteric and almost frustrating
  
• Note taking - you're able to mark "reminders" on the map, but those reminders are just "1" and "2" - having a means to note "come back when I can jump higher" or "glitch wall I can't open yet" would serve the player much better. This issue bugged me in SotN, and it's not any better here.
  
• Weapon balance - There are a bunch of unique and interesting weapons - and most of them are useless gimmicks. The Axiom, the Kilver, the Flamethrower and the lightning gun/piercer are about the only weapons you'll ever use when dealing with day to day combat
  
• The Climax - not strictly the "ending" or the "final boss", but the entire lead-up to the finale felt weak compared to the rest of the game. There was a lot of build-up, and the final area just didn't live up to the rest of it

In short: the weapon balance is terrible, the climax was disappointing, and in spite of that Axiom Verge is pretty much guaranteed to be my game of 2015 and one of the best platformers I've played in the last 20 years, if not the best thing since Super Metroid.


And since everyone seems to like talking about price: Axiom Verge is absolutely worth the $20 price tag for anyone who likes games in the vein of Super Metroid.