Recent reviews by white_wolf87

Ignore the negative reviews which are mostly from people who were waiting like coiled vipers to trash this because they are incapable of feeling joy.

This is a solid remaster of a great game. All graphics are improved even if it's a bit shaky around the edges (no that's not an AA pun). A lot of the dialogue is sped up to make the experience more fluid, and this is a delightful way to enjoy the trilogy all over again. The universe feels just as alive as ever, and the kind of stale and hokey nature of the first' game's dialogue and cutscenes have been much improved.

I'll admit...it is a bit pricey *IF* you already own the games. I think I got my money's worth, but it's worth considering if you will. There's no shame in enjoying the originals with some texture packs and other mods. If you are enjoying it for the first time, it is more than well worth the money.

As a final note, this game as per Steam Reviews is sitting at just shy of 80% positive feedback. That's for an EA-published title that requires Origin to run at start like a needless backpack. If a company as utterly detested as EA is only getting this many punishment reviews from the basement-dwellers...that should tell you something. Usually I'd be iffy on 80% but in this case, it's a clear indication you're getting what you were promised. For once.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend this, but it's a recommend that comes with an asterick.

After about 11 hours of playing, I stopped having fun. This is indeed the Fallout game that everybody has wanted since 1998. It's well-made. The graphics are decents, the gunplay (when it happens) is actually pretty tense and fun; but the fact of the matter is that, being what it is, it just gets a bit too boring. The landscape of post apocalyptic Soviet Russia is almost *too* believable. There's plenty of stuff to do and conversations to be had, but after talking to the 12th guard with an attitude problem and a passively nihlistic outlook, I'm starting to think I'm talking to a Russian version of myself; and I'm terribly boring. Everything is sand cut here and there by some lilly pad-laden rivers and cabbage farms, and...I'm just kind of bored of it. I'm the kind of bored that I'd be if I had to hang out in the rural bits of the Chernobyl exclusion zone by myself for a few months.

It's just not very compelling, but I can tell a lot of people are really enjoying it, and maybe I'll pick it up again in a few weeks. However, I know that it is indeed at its core a good game, so I understand that my experience may be unique. I guess if I have a point to make it's that if you're looking for something to stir your imagination, go and grab the old-school Fallout. If you're looking for a portrayal of what the arid bits of the central Soviet Union might look like after a global apocalypse that didn't actually touch most of the town directly with a bomb and where everyone lives in gloomy meniality...grab this.

Just know that you're getting the cheeki-breeky experience you paid for without the more dynamic nature of the STALKER games or even the Metro series.

So...first of all, I definitely do reccomend this game. It's a fun game, it kept me engaged throughout, but it's not exactly the game I was expecting either.

That it has good reviews I understand, that it has such a plurality of overwhelming support...I think I put that down to personal taste and the community surrounding the game. It's obviously built itself up an incredible fanbase, but in this regard I guess I'm kind of like that guy you managed to take to the football game exactly one time who said 'oh...well that was fun, but I don't expect I'll be going back'. I'm not saying it doesn't deserve its support, just that it might not neccesarily be your thing.

First of all...it's kind of hard for me to call this a stealth game, even though it markets itself as one...and even though to get the best ending you kind of have to be stealthy. What I mean is that there are basic things that apply to most stealth games that just don't seem to matter at all in Dishonored...like light. Stick to the shadows? No, doesn't matter. Watch which kind of surface you walk on? No. Doesn't matter. Sound sort of matters, but only in the sense of run/walk. Being behind something matters, but...riddle me this. You can lean out and stare someone dead in the face and they don't respond in any way, but you accidentally uncrouch and then half the city watch is on top of you like ugly on an ape! The guards alert system almost seems to operate as a group and then with two settings 'on' and 'off'. 'Off' means they'll walk around doing their typical guard routine, whereas 'on' means they all will attack..every. single. guard in the area. On a couple of occasions, I'd round a corner and Opps! a guard! So I run forward as fast as I could just as he noticed me and kill him...and then all his buddies were hyper alerted. Maybe it's because I started on the hard difficulty setting, I don't know...but it was kind of unimmersive that all the guards seemed....superficially clingy. Also, they don't investigate when they hear noises. Like you'll see them get low-key alerted, but that only means that they'll turn and stare at the place where they thought they saw something until they go into 'must've been nothing' mode. I think at a couple of points I saw them follow through (on the higest alert level), but I actually managed to use this feature *against* them by making sure their heads were swivveled in the other direction while I moved around back of them. I've used my character him/herself as a distraction in various stealth games, but never to this degree.

Then there were the gameplay bugs (were they bugs?) which were also pretty unimmersive. For instance at one point I sleep-darted a guard in a dining room...then the maid in the next room over who (according to my magic vision) not only did not leave the kitchen but also had her back turned to the noise suddenly got alerted to my prescense just...out of nowhere it looked like. Not when I darted the guard, not when I was trying to hide his body, but well after that...could not figure out for the life of me what happened or what I did wrong. I'm assuming it was some kind of bug. Again, maybe it was tied to the higher difficulty level, God only knows.

NOW...here's where the game makes up for all of that and then some. The plot was misleadingly bland at first, but picks up quickly, and then...the atmosphere. My god what an amazing atmosphere! I don't know whether to call it steampunk or what, because it doesn't quite fit. I guess...maritime-punk? Their city is basically run completely on whale oil and whaling is their primary industry, and everything about that shines through in the city's culture. I highly reccomend if you play that you take a good look at all the advertisements, read whatever books you can find...because the world is very well-constructed. I had so much fun just exploring this world, and the further along you play, you also get a real sense of a city completely falling apart because of the rat plague. They also offer tiny little tidbits of an even broader lore that can be overheard in conversations and whatnot. Take your time...feel it out. Enjoy the world!

Also the gameplay itself is actually some pretty good fun so long as it works. I was able to try a few things that I was surprised the game let me do. For instance while I was playing the Knife of Dunwall, I came to an area with some guards and also a gang in its own little isolated area...and I got wise. I threw a grenade at the fence seperating the gang's territory. This did two things (a) injured one of gang members (he got up quickly) and (b) alerted the guards. I had great fun watching the ensuing battle and then sneaking behind everything to go get what I wanted out of the now empty gang territory. By the time the dust had settled I was outtie. Now THAT felt like real stealth to me. Real assassin play!

I can't honestly see myself doing another playthrough, but I did have a lot of fun with what I did play. Wait for it to go on sale for next to nothing and then give it a whirl! Worst case scenario you blew some money on a game that was flawed but not unworthy.

It seriously was not that bad. Yes, some things were reused, and yes it does come across as a bit bland, but overall it's about what I anticipated from the trailers. I don't know how anybody could expect a full-length far cry game or even a Blood Dragon level when there are three slots of DLC released. I was expecting 3-6 hours out of this and it appears that's pretty much what I'm going to get.

I think a lot of the negativity is down to some acute cases of mismanaged expectations, that and some of the fans attempting to punish Ubisoft somewhat over a rather unpopular ending, which honestly I kind of smelt coming. Punishment reviews are really annoying and clog up the review system and make it really difficult to make informed user choices. Let your voice be heard indeed, but don't just stand in the middle of the shop floor and scream them as loud as you can. I'm trying to browse, thank you kindly.

It ain't amazing, but it's a decent little toy to play with after you've finished the main campaign and f'd up the outposts a few times over.

3/5 stars. Made it's bit in the season pass proportionally worth it, and yeah, I'd probably throw a tenner at it even I didn't have the season pass. Story's basic as all getout, but hey, boom-boom pew-pew!!! more things to kill in Far Cry! Have we forgotten why we're here?

An absolute delight of an old-school fighting game and a lovely testament to ultraviolence.

Troll game. Got refund.

CONTEXTUAL SPOILERS IMPOUND

I think I spent less than £2 for this game during the summer sale. (or did I get it during some other sale? doesn't matter) It wasn't a waste of my money per se, but it was (and I'm sorry, but it's just a fact) a waste of my time, even though I enjoyed myself for a good portion of it.

Atmosphere was pretty awesome, especially for a game made by essentially one person. There was a lot of time and energy that went into this, both of which I can appreciate. Minor thing as well, but important...I really enjoyed the music, and the fact that the soundtrack was free is what actually makes it worth the £2.

There are some drawbacks though, I'll start with the forgiveable ones, then move onto the one that makes it so that I don't (unfortunately) recommend the game.

MINOR

1. The Russian to English translation is homebrew, and can be fairly poor at times. I believe I would have had a lot more fun with a proper translation. I'm calling this a forgiveable flaw because I'm taking into account the one-man production team, as well as the fact that the atmosphere honestly makes up for it usually.
2. The gameplay in that there shoulnd't have really been any. Food as near as I can tell is completely useless as your character will slowly bleed health over the course of any level, but will never hit flat zero. There are two combat sequences you have to participate in, both of which last less than three minutes for a game that took me about 4.5 hours to finish fully (playing casually). This is a walking simulator with a gun mod attached to it, and it's wholly unnecesary. I just don't get it. I like walking simulators just fine if they're done right.
3. The photography mechanic serves no real function except to act as an "interactable" in a few select situations (I think I remember exactly two times where I heard the chimes telling me I did something signifigant).

And the MAJOR...

The story was minimal, simplistic. That's fine. I can deal with that, but the ending is extremely confusing. It makes little to no sense if it's not supernatural/psychological. If it is supernatural/psychological? Then it kind of makes sense...I guess? But even if it does, it's a very very weak ending that does nothing to enhance any part of the game I just finished playing.

35MM was a great experiment and a noble effort. However while I would gladly play another game that came from this creator in the future, I will not be doing another playthrough of this one. I am disappointed and a bit annoyed at the time I just spent going down the drain, but I can't bring myself to actually hate the game.

I purchased this in a flash sale about two years ago now. I had a really POS machine at the time, so I didn't bother playing it until I got my new computer recently.

It started out pretty fun, and got tedious very quickly. I'm a bit OCD about finishing things that I start, so I did manage to complete the whole game, but it definitely felt like a chore in the last three levels or so.

PROS

The slow-motion X-Ray cam is a lot of fun....the first three dozen times or so.
Sniping mechanics very well-done.
Graphics are...well they work; occasionally they're pretty.

CONS

Passes itself off as a stealth-em-up when what it really is "Super American Soldier and his Amazing Magical Rifle!"

While the bullet cam is fun, and definitely the most iconic feature of the game...it's violent and grotesque to the point of being absurd. I have no issue with violence, but it just doesn't fit with the rest of the game. The rest of the game comes off with a patriotic war movie vibe while that aspect kind of feels like it belongs in a gritty anti-war war film.

Plot is, in case you couldn't tell from the previous two points, bland as white bread.

I didn't feel like I was actually in end-of-the-war Berlin. Everything was too static. It didn't feel like a warzone, it felt more like Berlin post-war when there were still some people sticking it out with partisan actions.

Say what you will about how offended people might be by swastikas, but I don't think you can really do a WW II game and not have them in there. A minor thing to some...but it cheapened the whole experience, and generally just looks dumb. Plus, it kind of deifies one of the most evil empires of history in a kind of backhanded way, which defeats the purpose of the censorship.

Many minor oversight errors that will bug history buffs and common-sense-nazis alike, such as...

1. Why are the soviets in full winter uniform for a battle that took place during the spring?
2. How are some of these places still hooked up to an electrical grid?
3. Why does the protagonist never once even use the word "nazi"?
4. It gets more nitpicky from here, but I think I made my point.

Overall? Very disappointing. I can honestly say I'm actually bored.