Neue Rezensionen von HolyScarab

Sylvester Stallone's Dredd was too corny while Karl Urban's Dredd was too gritty, the world of Dredd in the comics is as silly, colourful and fun as it is serious, bleak and depressing, a balance that is often near impossible to maintain especially in a live action movie format. Rebellion's take on the franchise feels like the closest most faithful adaptation of the comics available so far. From the music, sound and atmosphere down to the dialogue, story and insane attention to detail it's pretty obvious the dev team know and love the source material and while the gameplay (especially controls) does feel quite clunky and unresponsive once you get into the mindset of being Dredd and experiencing Mega-City One through the eyes of a Judge dealing with a bad case of tuesday apocalypse you'll see there's nothing else like it!

Is it an RPG? Is it an immersive sim? Is it a first person slasher? Is it a spiritual successor to Arx Fatalis? I don't know, what I do know is that I throw a bucket at a guy in medieval armour, he falls down, I run up at him, I kick him in the kidney and immediately follow with a sword stab pinning him to the ground. Hasn't gotten old in nearly 20 years and it sure as hell won't get old in 20 more.

Dark Messiah together with VtMB and EYE Divine Cybermancy make up a curious source trilogy of amazing games that aren't tied to HL2 or Valve, games that despite being old and not benefitting from years long updates to the engine still look, feel and sound amazing.

Do you like Judge Dredd?

Do you like dark dystopian science fiction?

Do you like Quake 2, Half-Life, SiN, AvP 1 and 2 or even Dark Messiah?

Do you like heavy/industrial metal music and imagery?

Do you crave the simple yet charmingly abstract and artistically crafted 3D graphics of the late 90s?

Do you like the Old Testament?

Well if you answered yes to even one of the questions above then Requiem: Avenging Angel is already yours or in your wishlist, if it's not... well then, that buzzing sound outside isn't mosquitoes, it's the sound of 5 billion hungry locusts flapping their wings towards your window.

The game feels, plays and sounds like the sickest rave party unimaginable to our feeble fully organic mammalian brains.

If DOOM is a metal concert from hell and Quake is an industrial gothic nightmare then Quake 2 is the result of throwing a massive psychedelic rave party at the local meat market.

And I guess Quake 3 is just Mortal Kombat in space or something idk I don't want Q3 fans trying to frag my window with rocks if I don't mention it.

I can't truly review Gothic without first sharing the childhood story of how I came to know this game.
It was back in my first year at high school and naturally being from an easter european country during the early dawn of the 21st century we were all talking, thinking and learning all there is about computer games. In fact the term video games was rarely used since computer games was far more representative of what gaming here was, consoles existed (although often too pricey for the average family) but a PC was the symbol of a true gamer. I didn't get my own PC until 2006 but ever since my 1999's exposure to PC gaming I spent more time at gaming clubs than any other kid I knew. However I was still out of the loop about certain games and genres, so it was during my first year at high school when I had the genius idea of starting a conversation with my new potential friends by asking which is their favourite game. Often the answer was the obvious Quake 3, Counter-Strike etc. but one game took me by surprise... Almost every kid who was into gaming was at the time religiously invested into a game called Gothic. I started digging into whatever info I could get on the game and sure enough in no time I learned it's a medieval style fantasy open world rpg. The only game I knew to also match such a convoluted sounding genre to me was of course Morrowind, a game I read nothing but praise about in all the gaming magazines I collected (I had quite a large pile of those menancingly sitting in my room's corner), so my shock from hearing none of my classmates even mention it but rather a game I never heard before was quite confusing but also refreshing, I had a new game to check out!
But I didn't... High school was a very demanding time and going to gaming clubs to play games was becoming more of a burden than joy. Years passed and when I got my own PC in 2006 so near my graduation year I was a different kid, I, together with my friends, forgot Gothic. Other giants have since emerged, giants such as Half-Life 2, FEAR, STALKER, Far Cry, Doom 3 and the nail on the coffin for any old school rpg prior Oblivion itself. Down went the barbaric gothic feel of the gritty and grotesque fantasy world, sitting on top of its still bleeding body was the age of the whimsical and elegant, a fantasy world of polar opposites, a world where evil is destined to ruin as the light burns all wickedness away, a world of Lords and Rings.

But the story doesn't end there, as we get older we start looking back at what was and more importantly what could have been... I won't deny I love and respect old games more than reason and logic sometimes would dictate, but then again love is blind after all. So many years later I finally managed to dive deep into the world of Gothic, a game so savagely rooted in my mind yet also so distant to me until only a few years ago. I've now spent more time in this game than I ever did in Oblivion, Morrowind or any rpg when I was a kid.

Gothic is a raw and punishing game, both by design and by glitch. It's a game that needs time to grow on you and take over, and believe me you need to surrender to its rules if you want to play it as envisioned. Only then can you break it and through that master it. This is a game that often relies more on trickery and borderline illogical momentary decisions by the player than any stats or "powers". Its a game that reminds you life doesn't wait for the elf to finish his poem before reaching for the bow but rather for the shady selfish sly "hero" who noticed the enemy can't climb that rock over there but he sure can.

Let me be honest I was genuinely confused and terrified each time I decided to write a review/recommendation for this game. Why? Because out of all the games I played in the last decade it was System Shock 2 that truly touched or rather infested a part of me I thought long dead. The part I'm referring to is that first time awe only a kid can experience and I sure did feel more than just an awe for the first time back in 1999 when I was exposed to a little new game called Half-Life that changed my view on games and taste in fiction as a whole, the rest is history.
So how did System Shock 2 manage to make me feel like I just rediscovered something I've never previously experienced despite me being in my early 30s? Simple really, this is the game that feels like the Half-Life 2 we never got. By saying this I am both praising and insulting the game simply by comparing it to a very different game that also changed the industry at roughly the same time. Comparing SS2 to anything but itself is very tricky and prone to failing most of the time. I've seen people making the clever remark that SS2 is "the thinking man's Half-Life" and while I am inclined to agree to a degree it does the game more disservice than anything. System Shock 2 is a game that means a lot to everyone willing to dedicate to its lore and atmosphere but it also feels different to each individual person. For me SS2 is sci-fi horror perfected, it is a world so fleshed out yet so much of the lore and story is hidden so well most people playing it will have to go out of their way to gather it all, I myself with more than 35 hours of gameplay as of now am still missing large portions of the puzzle that is this game's worldbuilding. But the atmosphere and feel of the game and its world is like no other... Yes this is the thinking man's Half-Life but not for the complex and sometimes clunky gameplay or basic but somehow still complicated rpg elements, no it is truly a game that sets your mind on fire no matter if you're playing it for the 1st or 100th time or have not yet even finished it even once. I don't care if you're planing to play System Shock 2 simply because you're into retro games or because someone told you it's better than sliced space bread, just let its world absorb you. At first it will hurt, you will be disoriented, scared and confused but with time you will see the glory of System Shock 2.

Calling S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl a game just doesn't do it justice, this is an experience, a brutal, thrilling, grotesque and yet also hauntingly beautiful trip through an oddly realistic surreal place that defies any human logic, a place we all simply call The Zone.

The best tactical shooter available and dare I say one of the best FPS games in history!
Brutally hard and unforgiving as a proper tactical shooter should be but don't let that discourage you from trying the game, there's nothing more satisfying than making the perfect plan and see it play out flawlessly.

The game works marvelously on modern systems but using fan patches and mods does make it an even better experience, there's anything from more weapons and gadgets to a working multiplayer and even zombies!

Highly recommended if you want to experience a truly tactical game that doesn't shy away from punishing even the smallest mistake!

P.S. Smoke grenades will save your and your teammates' lives.

While Aliens Colonial Marines would most likely remain in gaming history due to the sheer backlash it received, 2010's Aliens vs Predator sadly will remain a largely mediocre attempt at modernising the classic AvP gaming franchise.
Why is it so though? We have solid gameplay backed up by very impressive visuals that put to shame even modern titles, not to mention incredible attention to detail and love for the source material, so why the harsh critisism? To put it simply AvP 2010 had the unfortunate bad luck of coming out after Monolith's 2001 classic Aliens vs Predator 2. Should AvP2 have never existed this modern remake/sequel to Rebellion's original would have been a smash hit. It expands tremendously on what made the original AvP great while modernising it and streamlining it just the right way to make it more appealing to a larger audience. However AvP2 is still by far the best game based on both the Alien and Pedator franchises and ironically the only one out of the three to be unavailable for digital purchase. So while AvP 2010 is a solid take on the incredibly fresh and fun formula of the original Rebellion classic it's still underwhelming compared to the stellar AvP2.

So should you play this game? Absolutely! It's a gorgeous, fun and loving entry to the amazing AvP universe and I believe every fan of the franchise should at least give it a try!

Heinlein's Starship Troopers meet Minecraft for an intergalactic old-school deathmatch!

So far this is the most fun free game I've played this year. Deep mechanics combined with fun and satisfying gunplay and colorful graphics make for relaxing but still challenging fights on distant alien worlds!

Truly a shine of bright light in an otherwise foggy and downright depressing year.