Recent reviews by foil

I broke my keyboard.

Simply put, the best true platforming game to come out in YEARS. As you can immediately notice, the user scores are quite polarized, and I believe this is true to the nature of the game. If you find joy in surmounting difficult (But FAIR) platforming challenges, this game is the PERFECT game for you. Let me also state that the 10 I assigned this game was not some knee-jerk reaction to a merely clever indie game. This game is fantastic by ANY standard, it is perfectly executed. There is nothing in the game where I have ever said, man, I wish X existed. In a time where games like Fallout New Vegas and Civ 5 release with the swath of glitches and bugs in the game, it is refreshing to have a game ship out that is immensely bug free, it is absolutely precise. You may even grow to treat this precision as a foe, as there is a razor thin edge between success and death in each level, there is no "give", if you touch a deadly obstacle with any part of your hit-box, you can count on dying. However, this consistency gives rise to the games greatest achievement, the overall fairness of the game. I am astounded that I read other user reviews that actually complained about the controls, they are absolutely astounding. To be fair, I do use a Xbox360 controller, I could see that without one it may take longer to "pick up" but the controls are nevertheless, precise. The character becomes an extension of your will, you'll find sometimes that when an unexpected hazard appears, you react quickly and ably within fractions of a second, as if you were acting out of instinct. I am also disturbed to read some people claiming that this game's difficulty is just a mechanism to lengthen the game. I find it hard to believe we even played the same game. The levels are difficult to be sure, but they are absolutely fair, if you die, it is your fault, there are no invisible traps, your character will not move if you don't tell him to. And even if you die, the levels each can be completed in under a minute, so if you do die (and you will die, often) almost no progress is lost. You will not be spending 5 minutes just to get a chance to practice the spot you died at last time. The other reason I find this explanation difficult to believe is that there are over 300 levels. The game is already massive, it wouldn't need to be lengthened by unnecessary difficulty.

In short: A difficult platformer, but an absolute masterpiece if you are willing to take up the challenge.

THE GOOD: Castle Crashers has been a long standing top seller for the XBOX360 and PS3 for a number of years, but was only released on the PC via Steam in September. Wow, first off it's surprisingly fun and simple to play. Gameplay is rudimentary reminiscent to Sega's Golden Axe. Wave after wave of enemies approach you on each screen, with health and weapon pick-up's along the way. In addition to this, you also have a character level system. As you mash your way through the game your character levels up and you're able to spend skill points on various attributes (including strength, defense and magic). I say it's similar to Golden Axe, but frequently you are presented with a boss or scene that can see you riding on the back of deer being chased by a large forest monster or heading down the river, trying to jump on logs and other wreckage to prevent being eaten by sharks. Visually the cartoon look is polished, with the animation of characters top notch. I found some of the characters actually make me laugh so kudos to Behemoth Studios' art/animation department for this. Sound and music is suitably well done.

THE BAD: The leveling system means that some levels are tough and require repeated attempts before they can be completed. This rinse/repeat method can be frustrated but as you progress through the game world, you encounter side levels such as arena's or other castles - which are a welcome diversion from main A-to-B quest line. Overall the title is a welcome addition to Steam. Get crashing those castles now!

This is a racing game made for racers. People who genuinely love motorsports. People who have actually DONE motorsports before. People who know what racing really is like in real life.

This review is written having only played the game with a G27 racing wheel and only manual sear shifting with all HUD's disabled for the most racing like experience.

I've done my fair share of track days and i can tell you, think is the most realistic car racing game i have played. There's plenty of people complaining the game feels too slow, the cars don't grip in corners blah blah. Well guess what, those people have never driven on a track in their life. When on a racing track, unless you're in a ultra fast ferarri or koensigg or something, guess what, you feel SLOW. That's how it is. Your car is slow. People are so used to **** car sims that put so much emphasis on feeling like you're flying along or arcade racing games that let you go around corners at 400kph that they have no idea what it's actually like to race a car.

So more on the good parts.
The handling of the cars:

Fantastic. Cars handle how they should. FWD understeers coming too hot into a corner, or if you put power down coming into a corner and you can even get the ass out with lift off oversteer when driving really agressive. All of that is true in a FWD cars handling characteristics and they are all spot on in the game. RWD cars oversteer if you power on too much mid corner, or over a crest. You can really feel the suspension working. Coming super hot down a hill into a banked corner? Your suspension will start to wallow like a real car trying to deal with sideways g-forces, and if not careful in a RWD car, will cause oversteer.

Graphics:
AMAZING. Holy **** The attention to detail is amazing. From the different exhaust outputs of the cars (some will be obviously running rich, some not, etc) to the in car view of the dash being out of focus (because you're looking at the track, not the car) but obviously having some type of MOTEC carbon fiber HUD in place of the standard cars one, to the general cars decals and body panels. The world around looks so gorgeous, beautiful lighting, amazing scenery, and really perfect track textures.

Racing modes:
The only thing the game is missing in terms of racing modes is drag racing and rally. Which is not a downside to me. Drag is always a short lived interest in racing games and rally is much a massive part of racing it really does require its own game.
One massive thing to note is the different racing game modes all have different racing styles. Touring cars are mega aggressive, open wheelers really require you to be careful with damage on and time attack is like how time attack is with sporadic cars you have to deal with.

Sounds:
I love the fact you can hear the tyres gripping, the straight cut gears int he gear box and the pop from fuel injectors still being on when your changing gears, because screw fuel efficiency.

Its the little things:
To me what really makes this game great is the little things. Like picking a perfect line through a series of corners then coming out and realising you just shaved a second or 2 off your lap time. The spectators not being 2d, the clouds and lighting are so gorgeous and the cars look amazing. Even the simple and elegant UI still keeping perfect functionality. The fact you log in, and the game says with voice "Welcome back (name here), there's some new events in the touring car championship, go check them out!". You can really tell Codemasters have really put their heart and soul into this game.

Summary:
If you're a grown adult that loves racing, and has done it before, this is the game for you. If your some pimply teenager that thinks GTA and Need for Speed are racing simulators, this isn't for you.

Awesomenauts is a great 2D MOBA platformer. The game is run with P2P multiplayer, which means that occasionally there are lag issues, depending on the host of the game; however, if the lag issues are bad, the game often switches to a better host. While competitive, I still find it to be much more relaxed than other MOBAs like LoL or DOTA 2. There are many characters available and there's always a playstyle and character for everyone. The voice actors for the game are often popular Youtubers and the voices and dialogue make the game hilarious at times.

Although you do have to unlock characters by playing games and leveling up, the starting characters provide valuable insight into how the rest of the characters work. Each character has a unique jump and movement speed and the first two characters allow new players to learn about how to use the different jumps and speeds they may encounter later.

Many players complain about a few "overpowered" characters. The truth, in my opinion, is that every character is overpowered if used well, which results for an interesting balance in the game. However, Ronimo often updates and rebalances the characters as needed, and adds new characters every now and then.

The community is usually quite pleasant with a few exceptions once in awhile; however, there is no voice chat (looking at the mute buttons that are now available on the scoreboard, that may be soon to come) and players rarely type in chat. Teamplay with friends is highly recommended, but not necessary. Personally, I am a solo queuer, meaning that I just join in to a game by myself, and it works out pretty well.

Awesomenauts is an amazing and addictive game and I've been playing it every day since I bought it months ago. If you've never played a MOBA before, this is a great game to start with (I was an FPS gamer before this game). I highly recommend this game for anyone just looking to have fun, but there are competitive leagues if you're interested in that as well. Collapse

First things first: this is one of the funniest games that you will ever play. And here's why; the narrator is absolutely out of his mind, the plot consists of cats who have somehow taken prisoners, and you get the opportunity to change your character's face and color each and every time that you play. Now if that doesn't make you want this game then you should have your head checked immediately, because something just ain't right up there.

Aside from the hilarious lines and the evil evil kitties, this game is a surprisingly fun platformer that will keep you entertained until the very end. The levels aren't long, but can get extremely frustrating from time to time, especially if you're trying to collect every gem. And even though there aren't any "bosses" in the game, the last level of every floor is timed, and can be pretty difficult to get through. All-in-all, if you're looking for a new platformer to sink your teeth in to, consider picking this game up as it's one of the best platformers on Steam.

And if you don't, then you'd better watch your back, because the cats are surely coming for you. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the soundtrack is totally awesome? Because it is. And anyone who knows their platformers knows how incredibly important a killer soundtrack can be. What are you still doing here? Go! Now! Get this game!

Dead Island: Epidemic is a ZOMBA – Zombie Online Multiplayer Battle Arena – set in the Dead Island universe. Each match pits three teams of 12 in an all-out gunning for survival. Capture key points, find survival supplies, and fight off not only zombies but other players. When the match is over, collect blueprints and weapon parts to create your own weapons. The game also offers survival PvE challenges.

After reading that, I instantly downloaded the game. 10/10

Gear Up is an online multiplayer game where you build tanks and participate in online challenges such as battles, races and other missions. The game features lots of weapons, turrets, chassis and tracks that can be put together in thousands of different tank configurations. Experimental parts such as spider legs, hoovers and wings are also available. All vehicle parts are physically simulated and visualized in 3rd person using modern 3D graphics.

The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot has gotten so much better since the closed beta. All the "Facebook" style mechanics of the game have been removed. Monetization has really taken a turn to the good side, there is now NO pay to win features in the game! The only items that can be purchased in-game are useless cosmetic items and 50% extra gold, xp or life force for 1 hour (which really is nothing). The only thing you may have to purchase is a class but you can pick one of any of the classes for free which is fair enough because they have to make money somehow. +1 to the developers for choosing this monetization path rather than the damn awful "Pay2SaveTime" model. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a fun and interesting game to play.

As far as free online browser games go, Transformice is a perfect timekiller. Though it's simple in terms of gameplay, it doesn't get boring easily. The sheer number of shuffling rooms keeps the players interested. Also, whether you want to go for the cheese and earn new titles and items or you want to just mess around, this game offers plenty of ways to do both. Each round, a shaman or two is chosen and charged with helping the other players. However, each shaman has their own way of solving the puzzles...or, often, simply shirking their position entirely and creating scenes of mayhem in the room.

Another entertaining alternative to gameplay is just sitting back and watching the pandemonium. Anvils, trampolines, spinning boards, bombs, and reversed controls, to name just a few obstacles, all make for a great source of free entertainment.

All in all, this is a highly addictive and entertaining game that will keep you laughing at all of the misadventures and craziness that occur.

A wonderful mix of both 1.6 and Source. If you liked either of those games or if you're looking for a more advanced, team-based shooter, this could(should) be it.

The only reason this game receives a 9.5 and not a 10 from me (rounded up on the metacritic scale) is because they released it too early with too many little features that make CS so loveable omitted. (tagging, flashlight, silencer etc)

This game offers a really awesome competitive matchmaking system. You will sometimes get matched with baddies, but other than that, its a really cool way to introduce people to the competitive side of CS. It generally works well and it is primarily what I play. It is also nice to not have to pay for ESEA if you want to play semi-competitively. Once you increase your rank a bit, you will often be matched with like-minded people who want to win and will carry out strategies and be generally vocal in-game.

Mind the hate this game receives from 1.6 and Source players who can't fathom moving onto a new game. They have some sort of hard-on for disliking CS:GO without any legitimate reasoning to back it up. It's a great game and I would highly recommend it for both casual and competitive players.