Recent reviews by atomwalker

As of 5/6/2024, Sony has relented and no longer requires a PSN account-link to play this game.

Democracy prevails.

Instituting a mandatory account-link to Sony, a company infamous for suffering data breaches every couple of years (and then failing to notify the public of it)? And doing so several months after launch, after everyone's already been hooked in to the game? Yeah, no thanks.

The game is great, no doubt about it; one of the best co-op shooters released since L4D2, hands-down. But this is kind of corpo bs is preposterous lmao. Even if it says "third party account link/DRM required" on the Steam page, the idea that the account-link wasn't 'enforced' for the first several months of launch due to 'technical issues' is ludicrous and blatant PR smoke-and-mirrors on the part of Sony; it was held off to hook as many PC players as possible, before forcing them to shovel their data into Sony's mouth to continue playing.

Don't be surprised if you get a notification down the line that your data's been lifted, Sony doesn't care and never will.

Fifteen years after Dead Space unleashed itself upon the world and became a staple horror game of my adolescence, Isaac Clarke has returned to work the worst shift of his life... again.

Dead Space '23 is the gold standard for a remake of a video game. A sufficient length of time has passed (a decade and a half, with two console generations in-between) since the original, granting merit to the concept of refreshing a classic experience for a new generation. Everything that worked well about the original game has been retained; which is to say, in this instance, virtually every element of the game is functionally identical. A minor addition of upgrade modules for weapons (applied at the Workbench) has been provided, as well as improved Zero-G controls. If you played and enjoyed the original, you should play and will more than likely enjoy the remake.

To say the game has merely received a fresh coat of paint would be a disservice to the artistry involved. The dialogue has been re-recorded in its entirety, with Isaac's voice actor reprising his role flawlessly. Every single detail of environment, the characters, and even the weapons have been rebuilt from scratch with a faithfulness to the original that is frequently uncanny. The lobby that Isaac and company visit during the harrowing opening sequence is identical down to the placement of the furniture; such is the attention to detail paid in replicating the atmosphere, aesthetic, and appeal of the 2008 title.

The original Dead Space is one of my fondest memories of my teen years; staying up late on school nights because I had to know what happened next, only to have the bejesus scared out of me by yet another vent-bursting Necromorph. I anticipated the release of this remake with anxious trepidation, unsure whether the horrifying tale of the USG Ishimura's downfall could be retold with the same visceral magnetism as before. I was, to my delight, greeted with one of the most faithful, inspired, and respectful remakes of a video game in modern times.

This one is worth it. Just keep an eye on the vents.

"It's too bad she won't live; but then again, who does?"

There's something darkly poetic about a game with anti-corporate overtones being rushed to publication by corporate management. I played Cyberpunk on launch day, and was subjected to many of the downright preposterous bugs witnessed by many others. That said, I played the game's main questline to completion, and figured I'd come back a year (or two) later to play it again after not quite enough fixes and patches had been made. Cyberpunk is, ultimately, as "complete" as it's going to be, from a technical and developmental standpoint. With that being the case... It's still a journey worth taking.

The environment of Night City is consistently, and dystopically, beautiful. In the true spirit of a neon-tinted Blade Runner, the city proper does not disappoint. The combat is crunchy, satisfying, and frenetic; the music does more lifting than one would expect in this regard, as I found myself head-bobbing in firefights like I was back in Doom Eternal. While exploration leaves something to be desired (outside of seeing more of the city, side gigs, and collecting tarot card graffiti), the setting is alluring and a pleasure to treat as one's sandbox.

While many will argue (rightfully so) that the sidequests of this game offer a few more compelling stories than the main narrative, I couldn't help but tumble down the rabbithole of the main questline for more of Johnny Silverhand. Watching Keanu Reeves portray a character who is not only unsympathetic, but a downright abrasive scoundrel, was a pleasure, and I found myself progressing the main narrative just to see more of him. Keep in mind that the main quests are where you see the most of him; Silverhand is largely absent during side gigs and the like, likely due to understandable constraints surrounding voice recording and motion capture.

Cyberpunk 2077 will likely go down in history as one of the biggest launch-misfires in gaming history. This can, largely, be blamed on the executive heads of the studio insisting on the Christmas 2020 release window, as well as erroneous communication from the developers on the inclusion of certain features that did not exist in the final product. For all the scandalous pageantry surrounding Cyberpunk's development and launch, CD Projekt Red stuck with their foray into the dark, dystopian future long enough to make it a stable, enjoyable experience. Get this one at half-price if possible, but do not hesitate to step into Night City nonetheless.

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe."

"I have a plan, Arthur. I just need money."

A love letter to the Wild West, an ode to a time that will never return; this is Red Dead Redemption 2. As the last gang of outlaws in the west find themselves running out of luck, ground and time, protagonist Arthur Morgan is forced to reconcile his life as a un-abiding rogue with the radically-changing world around him.

RDR2 is many things, but foremost an open-world game; the story will always be there for you to progress, and there's nothing stopping you from exploring every inch of the map as soon as the game "opens up" after the prologue. It is this world that Rockstar has packed to the brim with immersive settings, scenery, and activities for the player; the latter of which range from adventurously exciting, to truly dark, and sometimes delightfully absurd. This game masters the art of getting sidetracked better than most, and encourages it through exploration of the beautiful environment.

The story itself is, ultimately, one of the greatest Western stories ever told; an epic, sprawling tale to be placed next to the Wild Bunch and Clint Eastwood's "Dollars" Trilogy as both emblematic of the genre and respectful of its predecessors. No spoilers here, but the odyssey of Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde Gang is a story not to be replicated in any other medium. The cast is sublime, with characters who are both vivid in personality and enjoyably performed; even when the game is being tongue-in-cheek, Arthur shouting "Lenny! remains hysterically iconic.

It is the Wild West, the gun-play must be exquisite, and exquisite it is. Pistols pack a punch, and shotguns have an "oomph" to them that is exactly what the doctor ordered when robbing a bank, or laying waste to federal agents. Even hunting with a bow-and-arrow just works, and is one of the most peacefully meditative experiences the game has to offer.

Red Dead Redemption 2 closes out, with a bang, a decade of video games that many would regard as a golden age. Rockstar's commitment to an open-world that is truly as oceanically wide as it is deep, is both admirable, impressive, and rare in one stroke. Within this gorgeous sandbox is set one of the greatest singleplayer odysseys of the decade, perhaps of all time. I spent about 120 hours from the opening cutscene to the end credits, taking my time as I went and being sidetracked at a whim, and even then, I finished the game without seeing everything Red Dead Redemption 2's world had to show me.

This game is one of the greatest achievements in video games of the 2010's, and the price of entry is worth the incredibly beautiful, adventurous journey that awaits.

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world."

One of the most incredible VR games to come from the first generation thereof, and proof that Valve's still "got it".

The immersion factor here is off the charts; consolidating the entire HUD to your left hand (on LEDs attached to your glove for the Rule of Cool) allows the player to focus on the environments and what's in front of them, which looks consistently gorgeous thanks to the Source2 engine. Exploring said environments was a treasure; sifting through lockers and rifling through drawers has never been so much fun, a banal activity made enjoyable by the game's nature as a VR title.

The over-the-top immersion extends to combat as well, where planting bullets in the Combine is a matter of precision and requires a steady hand. While it will rattle the nerves, combat is still a polished experience, and makes you feel smooth as hell when you swap mags on the move and peek around cover to plant a lethal headshot.

The story was, much to my surprise, a logically-placed jigsaw piece in the larger puzzle that is the Half-Life franchise and its decidedly infamous cliffhanger at the end of Episode 2. Without spoiling anything, I can say for certain that anyone playing HL:Alyx for some clue as to the status of Episode 3 will not be disappointed.

Half-Life: Alyx is one of the best VR games of this generation; while no single title can be said to be worth a VR headset by itself, if you do own a headset, HL:Alyx is absolutely deserving of a place in your library.

Literally every single thing about this game works (mechanically and thematically), except for the Hotline Miami-esque "One Shot, You're Dead" gimmick. If I could give a "thumb-in-the-middle" rating, I would; this is a stellar game that deserves to be played, but I fear many won't have the appetite for its unrelenting difficulty. Racking up a body count feels incredible, for how smooth and buttery the combat is. Ever-present, however, was a persistent frustration at the thought that this game is just plain harder than it has to be. No difficulty setting is a bummer, as is a lack of any other modes.

I was attacked by a naked women who was caked in blood and shrieked like a banshee. I bashed her teeth out with a human skull, then dismembered her with a hatchet. Used her leg to beat her husband's brains out. Used their body parts to build a totem pole of gorey remains and set it on fire.

10/10 Would Lord of the Flies again.

The gun makes the man.

Yet another Early Access abandonware scam. Avoid like the plague.

Where Watch_Dogs failed, Gunpoint succeeds.