Recent reviews by SolidNinja

The New Colossus is a couple steps forward and maybe a half step back overall compared to The New Order. It manages to be a better game without fundamentally altering what worked about its predecessor. Generally speaking, this game does more of what I liked about The New Order and less—or at least no more—of what I didn’t. One of the first things i noticed about the game is that it has a bit more polish to it in almost every way. The graphics and animations improved, the acting performances are largely better, and the attention to detail and world-building that was limited to collectibles in the previous game has expanded to include minor subplots focused on other characters. The world and the people in it feel much more believable and fleshed out this time around, and it leads to a far more interesting atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere, that’s probably one of the game’s greatest strengths. It is not lacking in personality. While there’s still plenty of melodrama in this entry, those moments are often punctuated with humor, and although I don’t think the type of humor in the game will land with everyone, I enjoyed it for the most part. At the very least, it eased the cringe of some of the more melodramatic scenes. But that atmosphere extends beyond these little moments as well. In what is perhaps the best section of the game in terms of atmosphere, you get to experience an alternate reality, 1960s Roswell, New Mexico. Occupied by the Nazis and socially controlled by the KKK, there’s an incredibly interesting dynamic between the NPCs that populate the city. A parade is going on when you arrive, and you’re able to walk around and listen in on conversations, including one humorous discussion between a Nazi and two members of the KKK regarding learning German. The 60s themed stores and restaurants brought it all together. My only complaint is that they didn’t do more of this kind of thing.

From a story perspective, Wolfenstein II is at least as good as its predecessor. One of the marked improvements is the focus on character development. In the previous game, there was little to no character development and therefore no attachment to those characters. This time around, we get to learn more about the people from the previous game, B.J.’s backstory, and are introduced to some very interesting new characters. The game explores B.J.'s tenuous relationship with his father that drifts from overtly sentimental to genuinely emotional from time to time. It leads to a moment later in the game that's quite satisfying, however. Some of the characters have grown/changed a lot since The New Order. I'm in the Wyatt timeline, and Wyatt goes off the rails--in a very interesting way--in this game. There are still a ton of filler characters that you learn next to nothing about, but the main cast is generally well defined, and I felt a much bigger attachment to those people in this game. Two of the new standout characters are Grace and Super Spesh. The former is a fierce, feminist resistance leader, and the latter is a former lawyer turned conspiracy theorist who is the game’s primary comic relief. Both are well-acted, if not always well-written. There’s still plenty of questionable writing in this game, but there are far more moments that actually manage to have a strong and memorable impact than there were in the previous game.

The gameplay remains largely unchanged outside of a few minor details. You’re still given a variety of weapons to use, but you are able to periodically upgrade them as well. I primarily played stealthily, so I spent upgrade points on things like silencers, but there are plenty of upgrades to choose from. I do feel like this entry is less conducive to stealth play than its predecessor simply because the areas you fight in are far larger and, in many cases, consist of open areas with very little cover. I was still able to land a number of stealth kills, but there were plenty of times I had to go loud after being spotted. That said, the shooting feels just as good as it did in the previous game, so I have no complaints there. The game presents plenty of over the top, action set pieces, although there was a lack of distinct boss battles this time around, which was somewhat disappointing. Additionally, the collectibles throughout the world—while still worth going after for what they add to the story and setting—were a bit more annoying to collect this time. There locations are less obvious, and you often have to hold “E” rather than just tapping it. It’s a minor issue, but I found it slowed the pace of the game in a way that could be jarring. Whereas in The New Order, I could quickly tap E to pickup a collectible while in a gun fight and read it later, I had to stop moving and pick it up in this game. It led to me collecting fewer items in general.

All that being said, it’s clear that The New Colossus is a refined version of its predecessor in almost every way. The story is solid, and the characters are far more complicated and interesting in this game. While it is not immune from the melodrama that dominated the quieter moments in the previous game, those moments are less frequent, having been replaced by more genuinely impactful moments. And while there’s still plenty of gratuitous mature content, that I could have done without, I can’t deny that I had a ton of fun playing through this game. The developers created a fast-paced, action-packed game about liberating the United States from Nazi control, and it’s a blast. No pun intended.

I wound up playing through this game twice, so I feel like I have a pretty solid understanding of what it has to offer. It has some excellent ideas and some interesting scenarios, but it's largely a by-the-numbers experience that ultimately doesn't live up to its potential and has a number of issues that lead to headaches.

The game makes an attempt at a story, though there are some questionable choices and quite a few continuity errors. The beginning of the game opens with the eventual player character Jon as a young kid. His brother shows up on leave from the Army, but when the actual game begins, you're both in the Marines? And the apparently notable age gap seems to have disappeared. At any rate, some of what the game's story does is interesting. There are bones of something solid here, but it's just not always very well executed. For instance, the pacing can be a bit rough. This is due in part to the way you take on missions in the game. You're able to select from a few mission options, some of which will advance the story more than others. That led to points in the game that felt like they progressed too slow or way too fast.

The core of the game is, of course, the sniping. As one would expect from a game devoted to sniping, you have to account for things like distance, wind, angle of the shot, etc. when taking out enemies. With all the problems in the game, this core experience is actually pretty well done. You are able to scan the area with your scope or a remote control drone and "tag" enemies before you plan your shots. Doing this is key to your success, at least if you want to play the game without resorting to run-and-gun style combat all the time. I played on normal and also on the highest difficulty. The latter is definitely the way to go. The game requires pinpoint accuracy and will punish you if you forget to adjust for a given factor. Pulling off perfect shot is incredibly satisfying. I really have no complaints about the sniping itself. It's a game focused on sniping, and it does it quite well.

But some of my favorite moments in the game came when I was scouting the area and planning my approach. The game is open-world, which allows you to approach a given mission from a number of different directions. Scoping out the area and finding the perfect sniping spot and getaway route was a ton of fun. It even got intense from time to time when I stumbled upon an unexpected patrol or checkpoint and had to react quickly, especially on the higher difficulty. The game has a mechanic where you can sneak up behind an enemy and grab them, interrogating them for information. This can often be helpful. For instance, they might tell you where an opposing sniper may be positioned or give you more information about your target's whereabouts and appearance. You can also choose to non-lethally take out enemies as well, either with a tranquilizer gun or by choking them out. Hiding bodies is also key in order to maintain your cover, and you even have to be aware of enemies who are communicating by radio; if one of the enemies is killed mid-sentence or doesn't respond when called, this will alert the other soldiers. I thought that was a nice detail, and it added another element I had to prepare for and deal with on a mission.

As an open-world game, I was happy to see that it doesn't show you exactly where to go to find your target. It will give you a general area on the map which will become more specific as you complete intel-gathering missions. When not on a mission, you can roam the world freely and take on side missions called "war crimes" that will reward you with experience, money, and crafting materials. You have a hidden safehouse where you spend most of your time in between missions. There you can use materials to craft various types of ammo (explosive rounds, tracer rounds, etc.). It works well enough, but I rarely found myself using it. I almost always had enough cash to simply purchase the ammo I needed. You can also purchase new weapons and gadgets here. There are a fair number of them to choose from, but unfortunately, I rarely saw the need to get a new sniper rifle. The one you begin the game with is perfectly capable of taking you all the way to the end with a few attachments.

You can also carry an assault rifle for those situations where you have to go loud. These guns don't feel great. It's not terrible, but there was little distinction between one assault rifle and another in their feel. Combat could often feel awkward when using assault rifles as well. It's immediately clear that it's not really the way the game was meant to be played, although you can technically play through it using solely assault rifles if you wanted. The more interesting items are the gadgets--primarily the drone. You start the game with it, but you are able to upgrade it as you progress. Beyond tagging enemies, you can also hack enemy computers and security systems or even create a distraction. I found myself using this a ton towards the end of the game as missions became more complex.

Beyond that, there's a skill tree system that improves various stat points and abilities. They fall into three categories: Sniper, Ghost, and Warrior. Unfortunately, none of them are very interesting or change much about how you play the game. I would have preferred a more unified skill system with more interesting options. Movement about the environment is also weird. You can parkour, but it just feels incredibly awkward, and the first person animation for climbing walls actually gave me motion sickness.

But what does the game in is its bugs, inconsistencies, and slow load times. There are several graphical bugs which make the already dated looking game look that much worse. There are a few scripted events that happen throughout the game world or leading up to a mission, and sometimes the event won't trigger, and you're stuck in purgatory after that. In the beginning of the game, you're approaching an enemy location with your brother, and a scripted event where you're attacked by wolves occurs. But on my first 3 tries, the wolf attack never happened. No matter what I did, it wouldn't trigger it. The voice performances are mediocre, but the often poor animation makes it that much worse. The AI in the game on anything lower than the highest difficulty can be incredibly dumb. I was goofing around after beating the game for the second time, and I was in many cases able to take out targets from 20 feet away without being seen, even if they were looking in my direction. I also randomly fell through the map on probably a dozen occasions, and the game crashed on me three times. The unfortunate cherry on top is that the load times can by abysmal. Loading a save file consistently took around 3.5 minutes. The load times improve once you get loaded into the game, but it was not uncommon for them to be over a minute long.

All those things combined with some of the more minor issues I had with the game like poor progression, useless weapon upgrades, awkward movement, and a silly crafting system leave a sour taste in my mouth. I think these games are budget titles, but even by that standard, it can be incredibly frustrating. Thee game will setup an awesome moment only for it to be undone by a glitch or awkward AI. There's so much potential in it, but it just can't live up to it. I still think I had more fun than frustration--I was, after all, willing to play through it twice--but I think it's probably 55% fun 45% frustration. And that's a bummer.

I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I figured I'd like it well enough given the setting, but I enjoyed it way more than I ever thought I would. There are some flaws, for certain. I don't think the controls are very intuitive, especially when it comes to managing gadgets, and the game doesn't handle darker scenes very well at all. But I was able to easily overlook these issues. The game is a ton of fun, and it's really just the right length for something like this. I know it didn't sit well with core fans of the series at the time, but I was personally appreciative of how ambitious and cool the setting was.

While the graphics are dated on most tracks, the actual sim experience is the best available, and the competition is intense.

Best use of Gandhi in a game.

If you enjoy the board game, chances are you'll enjoy this. It's essentially just the board game in video game form, which I personally view as a positive. Now, if you can't get a group of friends together to play, you have the option to play against AI or other players online. Much like the board game, expansions are purchased separately, so keep that in mind. But the game does come with options for some popular house rules. My only complaints are that the interface is a little hard to navigate at first and the game only supports up to 4 players instead of 6, but they aren't huge problems that really hamper the game. In short, I'd recommend to any Talisman fans out there!

When I booted up "Gone Home" for the first time, it was late Monday night/Tuesday morning, around 3:00 am. My plan was, I'll boot up and play around a few minutes to see what this is all about. After a couple minutes of tinkering with my perferred settings, I started the game. I had planned to go to bed soon after, but soon found myself so engrossed in the experience, I couldn't stop until I finished the game. I hadn't looked into what specifically the game is about other than you arrive home after a year abroad and your family is not there, forcing you to piece together the reasons why. In my opinion, that's all the information you should know going into this game, so you can truly appreciate it the way I did.

The first thing I noticed about the game was the atmosphere. The ambient sound effects, the raging storm outside the home, and my God, the music in this game is perfect. Once I began to pick up objects and examine them, I noticed how fantastic the graphics and art style were (at least on max settings). The strong narrative and the mystery behind it, coupled with the simplistic controls and atmosphere make for an incredibly memorable experience.

I totally recommend this game, and I don't want to say much more about it because it should be experienced with as little spoiler as possible. Suffice it to say that, despite the games simplistic controls, there is a fantastic sense of exploration and piecing together the narrative in your head is both challenging and dynamic. Just when you think you have it figured out, a new piece of information changes your mind. My only knock on the game is that there is really no replay value, but the core experience was so memorable and enjoyable that after awhile, I'm sure I'll be playing through this again.

If you're into psychologically driven indie titles like Dear Esther, the Stanley Parable should be right up your alley. The game is structured around psychological questions, choices with consequences, and a strong sense of humor and atmosphere. Well worth a purchase.