Recent reviews by hxswell

I'd heard lots of good things about The Talos Principle before I played it, and having played and loved the Portal series before, I thought I'd give it a go in the summer sale. Needless to say, it's one of the most incredible games I've played, second only to Portal 2. The story is very gripping and the non-linear progression allows for you to discover it at your own pace. New game mechanics are introduced frequently enough to prevent you from getting bored, but rarely enough that you feel like you have mastered the previous one before a new one is added. The puzzles themselves start off easy and end up very difficult, and the bonus star levels are nearly impossible! Finally, the philosophical themes throughout make it not just a game, but an entire intellectual experience, forcing you to question everything you believe.

+ the storyline is one of the best of any game I've ever played
+ the graphics are amazing and pretty well-optimised
+ the puzzles themselves are very well-thought-out and very satisfying to solve
+ there's more to discover after completing the game and multiple endings
+ takes about 10-20 hours for your first playthrough depending on whether you get all the bonus stars (my first playthrough took 12 hours plus 4 hours to get all the stars)
+ LENS FLARES

I'm really having to think hard to come up with any cons, but...
- five of the 40 achievements require a DLC to complete so you can't 100% the game without the DLC
- you can't manually save, only auto-save so every time I load in I'm scared that I'll have lost progress

As games go, this is one of the best I've ever played. If you enjoyed Portal 2 (the only game I've ever given 10/10), you'll certainly love The Talos Principle. It's a very unique and exciting experience, and one that I'm really glad I had.

Paladins is an exciting, action-packed rip-off of Overwatch. While the two games are incredibly similar, Paladins being free possibly gives it the edge over Overwatch, seeing as both games have large active playerbases and compelling team-oriented gameplay.

+ casual and easy to learn
+ relatively well-optimised so runs smoothly
+ not many cheaters

- very difficult to re-learn after leaving for a while because they are always adding new stuff
- some characters are unbalanced

This is a very promising Early Access game. While there is a big lack of things to do at the moment (the main campaign currently takes around half an hour), the developer has got a solid plan and I'm sure that they will deliver! The concept is unique and exciting, and the gameplay feels polished and well-thought-out, despite not being complete. I can't wait to see where the game goes next.

+ beautiful graphics
+ unique concept with lots of potential
+ smooth performance and well-optimised
+ promising future updates

- not much content at the moment
- difficult to learn due to lack of tutorial
- pretty expensive in hours of gameplay per pound.

This game will be great when it's a bit more complete. It's very enjoyable until you complete the one scenario, when it becomes pretty boring. I'll come back to edit this review in a few months and I expect to be bumping the score up to 6 if not 7/10.

Dirty Bomb is a great FPS game. Its simple class-based gameplay and heavy emphasis on team play make it great fun to casually play with friends. You earn credits very quickly, and they can be used to buy new characters and loadouts, probably less than 10 hours of play for a new character. However, the game is discontinued and finding servers can be difficult. Also, there is no party system, so to play with friends, you have to go into the server browser.

+ easy to learn and good learning curve
+ balanced characters (except Skyhammer's airstrike which is way too OP)
+ beautiful scenery, but maybe that's because I love London
+ surprisingly well-optimised; I get around 200 FPS on my GTX 1060 on high settings

- no party system so you have to use the server browser
- limited skill-based matchmaking; everyone higher than level 10 is grouped together
- map voting so you only ever play Chapel, Bridge and Underground (there are like five other maps)

I haven't played a game as challenging, gripping, and even kind of philosophical as this one since Portal 2, and that was a while back. Before you immediately judge it as being a rip-off of the Portal series, just have a play first. The story is similar in ways to Portal 2 (I don't think that's too much of a spoiler), but the gameplay is very different and refreshing from the bad games that are popular right now. The graphics are beautiful and the plot is second only to the Portal series.

+ beautiful graphics
+ great story
+ interesting mechanics
+ level difficulties increase throughout but generally aren't too impossible
+ at least 2 hours for your first playthrough (I'm guessing it's probably speedrun-able to around 20-30 mins?)

- surprisingly low frame rate (I was getting 50-60 FPS on medium settings on a GTX 1060)
- the ending wasn't as satisfying as I hoped (you'll see why if you get there)
- some of the levels are too hard in my opinion
- a little bit buggy (crashed once during my playthrough) but I am writing this on release day

This is genuinely the best game I've played since Portal 2 (the only game I would give 10/10). If you liked the Portal series and are fed up waiting/hoping for Portal 3, THIS IS THE GAME FOR YOU.

So I just finished The Talos Principle after buying it in the summer sale and I didn't realise how blatant a rip off this is of it... Don't get me wrong, Lightmatter is a great game but its mechanics are nearly identical to The Talos Principle and the philosophical story is pretty similar too. I considered taking the score down to 8/10 but in the end, all puzzle games are pretty similar anyway!

I got this game several years ago but never bothered to review it. Portal 2 is a legendary game which is challenging but rewarding and I can't recommend it enough. Despite being a relatively old game, its graphics were way ahead of its time and it runs amazingly on even low-end hardware. The story is second to none and you don't need to have played Portal before to understand it (but I would advise playing the games in the right order for the full experience).

+ incredible storyline
+ unique mechanics which are easy to learn but hard to master
+ decently long game for the price (my pb is 1h30 but my first time took 10+ hours)
+ ideal for speedrunning
+ excellent graphics and great performance (300+ FPS on max settings on my GTX 1060)

- gets quite difficult near the end
- performance on co-op mode is significantly worse (drops to ~70 FPS)

This will always be the only game I give 10/10. In my mind, it's the perfect game for anyone who wants a break from generic first person shooters and enjoy a good challenge with a story as well. The characterisation is incredible - you really get to know Wheatley and GLADOS. Would recommend for anyone as it's literally the king of puzzle games.

== REVIEW ==
I haven't played a game as challenging, gripping, and even kind of philosophical as this one since Portal 2, and that was a while back. Before you immediately judge it as being a rip-off of the Portal series, just have a play first. The story is similar in ways to Portal 2 (I don't think that's too much of a spoiler), but the gameplay is very different and refreshing from the bad games that are popular right now. The graphics are beautiful and the plot is second only to the Portal series.

== PROS ==
+ beautiful graphics
+ great story
+ interesting mechanics
+ level difficulties increase throughout but generally aren't too impossible
+ at least 2 hours for your first playthrough (I'm guessing it's probably speedrun-able to around 20-30 mins?)

== CONS ==
- surprisingly low frame rate (I was getting 50-60 FPS on medium settings on a GTX 1060)
- the ending wasn't as satisfying as I hoped (you'll see why if you get there)
- some of the levels are too hard in my opinion
- a little bit buggy (crashed once during my playthrough) but I am writing this on release day

== SCORE: 9/10 ==
This is genuinely the best game I've played since Portal 2 (the only game I would give 10/10). If you liked the Portal series and are fed up waiting/hoping for Portal 3, THIS IS THE GAME FOR YOU.