Recent reviews by Salamol

"Big Crown: Showdown is a fun game, and fits nicely into the subset of games that can be played from the couch."

"As I watched back the footage I’d recorded, I noticed just how much love had been put into creating the environment which we somehow missed a lot of during the action. The game is engaging, competitive and fun with a penchant for laughing out loud when a charged punch sends someone into the drink. It’s competitively priced with other, similar games in the genre and if you’re looking to pick something up to play with the family over the Christmas holidays, Big Crown: Showdown would be a great choice."

Full video review: https://youtu.be/-F5ZB9PnESM

A great addition to the line-up of party games to be brought out when having family & friends over. Similar to the Jackbox games, this is more Quiz focused with a handy feature to localise questions around a specific global region in the settings. Whilst the game truly shines playing locally in the same room with others, there are modes for solo play and streaming (with a handy option to increase answering times to better account for stream delay).

There are customisable playlists where round types can be added or removed depending on your preference; these can be curated and saved to be fired up depending on who you're playing with. The AI host, Salli, adds a personalised touch as she reads names aloud and remembers players between gameplay sessions. Stat tracking is also available on the android/iOS apps.

Because of the reliance on an app & moderately capable computer/laptop, ideally hooked up to a decent sized screen, I feel the game has a bit of an accessibility issue with regards to setup and reaching non-traditional gamers.

Overall, it's very good and replayability is high. What turned me away from the Jackbox quiz games was how so many questions would be focused on US culture, daytime TV, celebrities & sports teams; completely fine for a local but had a whole room of non-Americans regularly wondering who the subject of the question was. With IQT, and the ability to localise questions, this has been a breath of fresh air!

I wholeheartedly recommend picking this up to play with partners, friends or family!

As a fan of Minecraft since the Alpha days and lover of Telltale's new format that began with TWD, I was excited about a coming together of two of my favourites in Minecraft: Storymode. I was a little skeptical due to the lack of a story behind Minecraft, but it left Telltale with a blank canvas with which to create a masterpiece. Sadly I feel they've taken the easy option and crafted a dull story, forgettable characters, inconsequential player choices and dialogue that might amount to one weak smile per episode. I expect the game to sell well and may even be their biggest selling game to date due to the IP; and that worries me because I don't want to see Telltale leave behind a formula that I enjoy in favor of bigger profits.

This is not a game for grown-ups like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us or Game of Thrones. There isn't an adult storyline, nor are there enough subtle nods to grown-ups for it to be enjoyed, ala Disney. I would struggle to even recommend it to anyone with kids, Minecraft lovers or not because it's just not very entertaining.

Have played more than a thousand hours since Alpha as a paid subscriber. In my opinion, one of the best MMOs available 2014/2015, although it's not without its flaws.

Marketed as free to play with an added subscription, it's difficult to say just how long an average gamer would spend on a free account without either paying or doing the necessary money making grind to keep up the subscription paid for with in-game gold. It's entirely possible to do so, however it involves playing on both regions and transferring the wealth generated by the labor system. If you're determined to play for free, or have a little extra to spend on the in-game store without adding real money, it's certainly worth the time. I imagine most are a little lazier and, like myself, pay the sub, and forget about it. In that respect, it's like EVE's plex system. Do you build up half a billion ISK to buy a month, or do you just sub and spend your game time having fun. Unlike EVE however, there's no skillpoint system, so it's entirely possible to dump a bunch of cash and have the best everything. It'd take a LOT of cash, and the know-how, but it does sour personal acomplishments, knowing they can be acheived faster laying down a lot more money.

P2W is one of those dirty phrases to a lot of gamers and I don't think it directly applies here, along with all its negative connotations. Those that wish to come top of any sort of in-game leaderboard will have to spend big. For most players this simply isn't a concern, a wealthy existence can be had with a subscription, doing the regular things the game offers. One of the most attractive features since launch has been land ownership in a persistant world. Houses in varying sizes, farms and a huge variety of ships are what most players aspire to. Naval combat has recently seen a massive overhaul, widely perceived as being excellent by the community.

This is a game that's had a lot of mixed reviews because it suffered a lot of issues initially. Hacking, server stability and a lack of presence from developers and GMs were perhaps the biggest problems. Thankfully all have been long resolved and many fans have come out to defend it in force.

Conclusion in comments.

Visual improvement on its predecessor and much of the in depth story and lore is still present. Looking back, perhaps the most disappointing thing for me is the length of the game. At just 25 hours it took half the time to complete as the first installment did, whilst still playing at a similar pace. Just as I felt I was getting to the core of the story, I was presented with the epilogue. It's perhaps to be expected, given Geralt's journey is one that persists through the 3 games. It's possible the developers explain this away by developing an "arena mode" set aside from the main game. A mode I didn't even bother to look at. Had no real problems with performance however it did take me a long time to adapt to using signs, and overall I found them very clunky and not at all user friendly especially in comparison to the first game. The story is a good continuation, from the first game, and allows you to import your choices. Information exists in the in-game glossary of what happened to your relationships after the first game, which I felt was a nice touch. I've heard many people say to skip the first game and start with the second, but I'd disagree. The story in W1 is far more involved, and longer, than W2 and I feel skipping W1 would be a disservice to the series.

Picked up The Witcher a long time ago, but due to compatibility issues I never gave it much of a go. As the launch of W3 approached I figured I should do the whole series. I'm a story guy, so reports of lacklustre combat didn't bother me (it's not great, in truth) and the story more than makes up for it. Took me 45 hours start to finish. I would certainly recommend the game for those that want a good RPG. It's starting to show its age graphically, however because the story and characters are so good, you forget you're playing a 10 year old game. Lots of choices to make, taking you down a different path depending on your decisions and an adult themed collection of in-game cards aquirable upon coupling with the various characters. I can honestly say I enjoyed the game world so much that upon finishing, I looked for the books the game is based on, and started installing the sequel.

In short, it's like playing a 15 hour episode, so if you like South Park, you'll probably really enjoy it!

I can't complain too loudly as I picked this up for less than a fiver. No problems with performance/stability. Very funny in parts, perhaps a little forced in others. Unfortunately 10~ hours of the 15 from above is a repetitive combat system that starts off being a confusing irritation, and never really improves.

Would absolutely recommend it to anyone that finds Matt & Trey's humor amusing but I can't see myself touching it again now that I've finished.

Gah, this game is frustrating, yet it keeps calling to me every time I look down my list of games to play. In fairness, I rarely put more than half an hour into it per sitting, but it's a great "pick-up and play title." I suppose my main criticism is that without having the wiki open, there's no way to see what the various "pick-ups" do; A pretty big issue for a game of this type, considering the sheer amount of different pick-ups.

On the whole, it's fun, funny and frighteningly disturbing when you're collecting feminine products and fetuses to use as weapons. I'd recommend it as one to sit in your library to fill a spare half-hour if you can pick it up on the cheap, but it's not going to be one of your most played games by a long shot. Definitely has replayability and as the levels are randomly generated, you won't feel like you're repeating yourself. I still haven't "won the game" so I'm keeping it installed and will give it more attempts in the near future.

10 hour review - That's 10 hours in pretty much 1 stretch. Smooth gameplay and no crashes or problems in that time.

The game itself has so much potential. Multiplayer is as easy as joining a friend from the steam interface. I was skeptical a year ago when I saw an early version at a games conference however I was still intrigued - They've done a lot of work since then, and even just a quick glance at the available parts gives an idea of what can be achieved now, and that's before the game has even left Alpha state. Extremely happy I picked it up, even got a copy for a couple of friends.

Whilst still technically in Alpha, I don't think a game has had me coming back to it with every patch this often since Minecraft! Beta release is just around the corner but I do hope they continue to add more things. That's not to say there isn't a lot there already... but the potential is huge!

Regarding the game itself... build it, fly it, crash it. Build it again, fly it again, crash it again. Things will go wrong, adjustments will need to be made, and kerbals will get lost in space. It's ok though because that means you can try to rescue them! When that fails, try to rescue both ships at the same time with a bigger ship! In no time you'll have space debris surrounding your home planet, but in the process you'll learn orbital mechanics, docking proceedures and the best landing techniques for the dozens of planets in the system at present. Then there are asteroids too! Give this game a shot, if you don't want to pay out right away I believe there's a demo available from the main website.