Recent reviews by Gordon Quick

The Evil Within received a polarized reception when it first released in 2014, it was a diamond in the rough that had potential but was let down by a convoluted story, janky gameplay and a few technical problems that made the whole package feel unpolished. Eventhough I still like the game for what it is, it's tough to recommend unless you're already a fan of survival horror games.

Tango Gameworks released a follow up in 2017, does it improve upon the predecessor? Here are my thoughts on it...

--> THE GOOD :

• Great story with a satisfying conclusion (the third act made me cry tbh). Unlike the predecessor, it is not convoluted and is well written.
  
• Great combat system that walks the fine line between action and survival. You will have to improvise and take advantage of the environment to stay in one piece.
  
• Vastly improved stealth system that will help conserve resources and make the combat more dynamic.
  
• It effortlessly blend the survival horror formula with an open ended design that constantly rewards you for exploring world thoroughly.
  
• Improved skill tree that not only give you incremental upgrades but also helpful mechanics that can help you perform better in combat.
  
• Detective Castellanos does not have asthma anymore and can run for more than 3 seconds without running out of breath.
  
• Great art design and production value makes everything feel epic.
  
• Very replayable, there's enough content here to get your money's worth.

--> THE BAD :

• Movement can be a bit janky sometimes, especially when dropping down ledges and climbing obstacles.
  
• Cover system is a bit inconsistent especially when dashing from one cover to another.
  
• Eventhough the enemy hit hard, they are not very smart. You can easily abuse their lack of intelligence by jumping in and out of stealth.
  
• this is personal preference, but I wish they didn't remove the ability to light enemies on fire using matchsticks.

-->THE VERDICT :

Tango Gameworks outdid themselves, The Evil Within 2 is a fantastic sequel that improves upon the first game with almost no compromise. Highly recommended for longtime fans of survival horror or even newcomers.

9/10
Best dad simulator

Bought this game for a few cents during sales, thinking that it's just a going to be a shovelware with fancy looking alphabetical achievements. Oh boy how wrong I was... Swarmlake is very addictive and satisfying. It's a simple FPS game that test your crowd control and maneuvering skills while fighting a huge swarm of floating polygons. Graphics are pleasing to the eyes, controls are fluid, and music is dope. Overall it's a few pennies worth spending, totally recommended :D

7.5/10

Metro Last Light Redux is a post-apocalyptic survival fps released back in 2013 and is a sequel to Metro 2033. Is it a worthy sequel that improves upon the first game? Here are my thoughts on it...

--> THE GOOD :

• Much better pacing that waste no time right from the start and keep amping up right until the end.
  
• Characters are really well written and voice acted, they are more expressive and fleshed out compared to the previous entry.
  
• Great story with high stakes and a great sense of urgency.
  
• Weapon roster is doubled, adding even more toys to play within the sandbox.
  
• Highly replayable for a linear game, there's a lot of different options to take during every combat encounters, encourages experimentation of different playstyles.
  
• Just like the last entry there's plenty of difficulties and modes to choose, you can pick "Spartan mode" if you prefer action or "survival mode" if you prefer realism and make them as hard or challenging as you like.
  
• Has plenty of content, the main campain clocked at around 11 hours with 2 different endings. There's also some doable achievements and additional side campaigns that tells the story of other characters.

--> THE BAD :

• Artyom is still a semi-silent protagonist.
  
• Still no in-game FOV setting.

-->THE VERDICT :

Last Light fixed a lot of problems I had with 2033 and added so much more, the criticisms I have are rather just minor annoyances and nitpicks that are not going to affect the whole experience. This is a very polished sequel worthy of playing!

9/10

Metro 2033 Redux is a post-apocalyptic survival fps based on a novel written by Dmitry Glukhovsky, it is well known for being an immersive story-driven game set in the ruins of Moscow following a nuclear war. Is it still worth checking out? Here are my thoughts on it...

--> THE GOOD :

• Graphically the game looks stunning and perfectly captures the atmosphere of post-apocalyptic Moscow. From the haunting dark tunnels of metro to the warm and crowded settlements, every place you visit is highly detailed and believable.
  
• Good variety of weapons to use, from conventional guns like revolver, AK and shotguns to unique ones like the railgun, pneumatic weapons and even makeshift junks like the bastard gun. All of them are nicely modeled and can be modded to better suit your playstyle.
  
• Genuinely tense and pretty spooky at times.
  
• The story is pretty good filled with interesting characters, faction conflicts and deep lore.
  
• Despite being a linear game it is surprisingly replayable, with 2 endings that require different approaches to combat encounters and narrative events. It also has a good amount of doable achievements.
  
• Plenty of difficulties and modes to choose, you can pick "Spartan mode" if you prefer action or "survival mode" if you prefer realism and make them as hard or challenging as you like.
  
• Pretty good length clocking in around 9 hours to complete during my first playthrough, not too brief and not too lengthy.
  
• While it may not be noticeable to new players, the game has been overhauled and updated with numerous quality of life improvements making it less janky to play than the original release and feel much closer to Metro Last Light.

--> THE BAD :

• Pacing is a bit all over the place, sometimes it would go from intense action straight to slow walking sections that drag on.
  
• Stealth can be inconsistent, not all levels provide enough stealth routes and opportunities to sneak through enemies.
  
• Personally I think it's an odd choice for having Artyom as a semi silent protagonist, it's jarring to hear him only open his mouth during loading screen expositions while being a total mute during gameplay. His character could have added so much more to the story if it wasn't handled this way.
  
• Karma system is a bit too vague to understand the first time around.
  
• While graphics generally looks stunning, character faces can look a bit weird and stiff looking.
  
• Voice acting is a mixed bag, ranging from good to not very well written.
  
• No in-game FOV setting.

-->THE VERDICT :

Despite a few flaws that hold it back from being great, I enjoyed my time with Metro 2033 Redux. It excels at delivering an immersive post-apocalyptic experience, 4A games succesfully translated the novel into a videogame form.

7.5/10

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men was one of IO Interactive's most notorious game that was released way back in 2007 and it garnered mixed to negative critical reception. Is the game still worth checking out? Here are my thoughts on it...

--> THE GOOD :

• Tells an engaging crime story that tackles very mature and dark themes.
  
• Kane and Lynch are unique characters to play as and the voice acting for them are generally pretty good.
  
• The game has a strong sense of atmosphere and cinematic set pieces inspired by hollywood action movies.
  
• Varied levels and locations.
  
• Has a decent pacing that keeps things moving.
  
• Supports local splitscreen multiplayer for campaign.

--> THE BAD :

• Gameplay is very generic and uninspired.
  
• Kane and Lynch's traits are just gimmicks as they don't have any impact on gameplay and both of them plays the exact same.
  
• Weak gunplay with no real feedback from the enemies when getting shot giving it no sense of impact. Guns also sound pretty weak with exaggerated bullet spray that makes hitting long range enemies a hassle.
  
• While it has similar squad mechanics to Freedom Fighters, it is very half baked and dumbed down. Your squadmates are extremely unreliable as they tend to do very stupid things and you have to babysit them since it's game over if they die. This feature is more annoying than useful.
  
• Aside from Kane and Lynch, other characters in the game are not as well written and voiced.
  
• DUMB AI.
  
• Graphics look rather dated even for 2007 standards (and it came out the same day as CRYSIS).
  
• Very little replayability aside from playing in higher difficulty and seeing the two different endings which are both bad and anticlimactic. There are not even any unlockables or rewards for finishing the game and It also doesn't have steam achievements.
  
• Online play is integrated with games for windows live.
  
• It's a very short game.

-->THE VERDICT :

While it's easy to make fun of the second game for being plain dumb and loud with no substance, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a whole different beast as it had a lot of potential to be really good if it wasn't rushed and hyped to death. Eventhough plagued with many problems, it also has some redeeming qualities that really sets it apart from other games. I'd say Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is IO interactive's flawed yet unique masterpiece that is worth experiencing at least once.

6.5/10

What is Killing Floor 2 you ask? The rules are simple kill zeds, buy guns, rinse and repeat. It's an addictive game where you'll spend most of your time blasting or bashing zeds to a pulp. No bs just pure, unadulterated fun.

Whenever I feel like relieving some stress I just log into steam and play this game.

8.5/10