All the promised quality of life updates are present and accounted for, with some lovely cinematics, the motion comic, and other goodies. However the game is pretty much unplayable with rampant input lag, an EXTREMELY unintuitive control scheme, and to top it all off the game engine just randomly slows down to a crawl, and crashes frequently resulting in corrupted saves. I've completely given up on trying to get through this title, it's fought me at every step. Therefore my suggestion is to play a fan translated version of the original, and wait and see if the devs manage to fix this broken mess.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Clock Tower Rewind Review
All the promised quality of life updates are present and accounted for, with some lovely cinematics, the motion comic, and other goodies. However the game is pretty much unplayable with rampant input lag, an EXTREMELY unintuitive control scheme, and to top it all off the game engine just randomly slows down to a crawl, and crashes frequently resulting in corrupted saves. I've completely given up on trying to get through this title, it's fought me at every step. Therefore my suggestion is to play a fan translated version of the original, and wait and see if the devs manage to fix this broken mess.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Killing Time Resurrected Review
Saturday, June 22, 2024
PO'ed Definitive Edition Review
As usual for a Nightdive release the first thing that has been updated to modern standards are the controls. In the original game you had to contend with the bloody 3DO controller (which is basically an subpar genesis controller with shoulder buttons tacked on) to control the game, and it was a pretty tough experience. Thankfully the modern controls make up for ALL of those shortcomings, which I am thankful for as PO'ed has a lot of first-person platforming to contend with. The added precision helps so much in that regard.
The visuals and sounds have also been brought up to modern standards, and though the game engine is very simplistic, it gets the job done with some really batcrap insane level design. There's a lot of verticality to these levels, which wasn't a common thing in first person shooters of the time. The sheer wackiness of the enemy designs really stands out in a positive way. Where else are you going to get to fight walking butts that fart in your general direction?
Nightdive has certainly proven once again that no matter the age of the game, the absurdity of its subject matter, and the general unplayable jankiness of the original gameplay are all obstacles they can overcome quite handily with their KEX engine. All in all PO'ed Definitive Edition is fully worth experiencing, as it was one of the best FPS games on the 3DO. I'm thankful for the resurgence in 3DO games lately, it truly was an underrated system, and I'm looking forward to Nightdive's upcoming remaster of Killing Time.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
System Shock Remake Review (Xbox Series X)
System Shock Remake (Xbox Series X)
Back in the mid 90's when I was still quite young my grandparents took me to Walmart to pick out some PC games for my birthday, as they had a massive bin of clearance titles. I ended up with quite a haul... Final Doom, Electro Man, Ultima Underworld 1&2, Syndicate Plus, and this one game with a rather creepy looking cyborg on the front... "System Shock". The other games ended up being pretty good, but none sucked me in quite as much as Looking Glass's sci-fi magnum opus. Now here we are in the year 2023, and System Shock has at last been updated for modern times.
The gaming industry has seen its fair share of remakes and remasters over the years, but few titles have generated as much anticipation and excitement (not to mention salt over the Kickstarter campaign!) as the remake of System Shock. With it's original release in 1994, System Shock was a groundbreaking game that blended elements of first-person shooters and dungeon crawling RPGs, pretty much birthing the immersive sim genre. Now, Nightdive Studios has undertaken the ambitious task of revitalizing this beloved classic and porting it to the Xbox Series X. In this review, we delve into the intricacies of the System Shock remake to see how it measures up to the original and whether it successfully captures the essence of, and lives up to the reputation of the iconic cyberpunk adventure.
System Shock's narrative has always been one of its strongest aspects, told through the myriad of voice logs and data entries strewn throughout the station, and the remake manages to faithfully recreate the intricate and engrossing storyline. The game effortlessly weaves together elements of cyberpunk, horror, and science fiction to create a captivating and immersive world. The iconic antagonist, SHODAN, is as menacing and memorable as ever, and the remake successfully captures the sense of dread and unpredictability associated with this rogue AI. The voice acting and audio design deserve special praise, as they breathe new life into the game's cast of characters. The voice actors deliver convincing performances, adding depth and personality to the inhabitants of Citadel Station. Combined with the atmospheric soundtrack, the audio design serves to immerse players even further into the haunting world of System Shock.
When it comes right down to it, despite the extended development time and Kickstarter controversies, the System Shock remake is a labor of love that pays homage to a timeless classic while perfectly modernizing it for a new generation of players. Nightdive Studios has successfully captured the spirit of the original game, offering improved visuals, refined gameplay mechanics, and an immersive atmosphere. While some die-hard fans may have reservations about certain changes, overall, the remake stays true to the essence of System Shock, delivering a captivating and unforgettable experience. Whether you are a longtime fan or a newcomer to the franchise, the System Shock remake is an excellent port to the Xbox hardware, and an adventure that shouldn't be missed. I'm certainly glad I could be along for this wild ride.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Wrath: Aeon of Ruin review
The Darkplaces engine definitely has the proper Quake look and feel, though it is capable of far more fancy effects and mapping techniques than the original 1996 vanilla Quake engine ever was. Even with all the extra engine modernizations though Wrath still has the heart and soul of Quake, and really feels like it was torn out of the late 90s and plunked down here in 2024. It just captures that certain zoomy feeling of momentum that Quake was famous for IMO. It's totally satisfying, and really effectively scratches the 90s boomer shooter itch.
The enemy design is varied and impressive, though a few more types would have been nice. The weapons feel really beefy and have satisfying alt-fire modes, even the first gun you find packs a massive punch, and don't get me started on the fangspitter, that thing is an ammo chewing beast that can rip through nearly anything. The gunplay is very satisfying and requires you to quickly switch between weapons to dispense the appropriate firepower to dispatch the foe currently in your crosshairs.
Level design in Wrath is IMO very good, the exploration feels satisfying to me, and it has an excellent sense of scale and verticality, with a decent amount of secrets to find. The only complaint I really have is the save system is rather weird, relying on main checkpoints called shrines, and single-use quicksave markers called soul tethers. Although you can activate infinite soul tethers, it still feels a bit odd, but it does work in the end.
At the end of the say, Wrath: Aeon of Ruin is an impressive entry in it's genre, and manages to stand out well enough from the competition. In my humble opinion it was definitely worth the wait, and I certainly hope that there will be more someday. It's certainly nice to see games using the original Quake engine, and forks thereof. I highly recommend Wrath to anyone who has a taste for such things.
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Star Wars Dark Forces Remaster Review
The original release of Dark Forces had some very impressive cutscenes for the time, blending 3D animation with gorgeous hand-drawn character art and rotoscoping techniques worthy of it's film license. Lucasarts definitely took advantage of the CD-ROM medium to absolutely pack it full of gorgeous cinema goodness. However in this new remaster the cutscenes have all been touched up amazingly (all the originals are there optionally as well), with all new CGI done by Brendan McKinney (who also did the cutscenes for Nightdive's Quake II remaster) and 2D art done by Ben Chandler. On top of that the sprites and textures have all been touched up as well, resulting in the a presentation that is the best that Dark Forces has ever looked (you can swap between graphics modes at the press of a button to boot!.
What it all comes down to in the end is clear proof that the folks at Nightdive really care about putting maximum effort into remastering these classics, and it really shows that the staff love these old games. At this point in time there is no better way to experience Star Wars: Dark Forces, on PC and console alike. I've seen so many people beefing on the steam forums that "oh, this is just a patch, it adds nothing, not worth it!", which makes me wonder if they're just blind. This remaster is worth every cent it costs IMO, and is a great example of how to do a Star Wars remaster right (for an example of wrong, please see pretty much any of the Star Wars games ported by Aspyr).
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Switch Review
Here's the kicker though: Aspyr has been pushing out half-assed "remasters" for some time now, and they have all been pretty much colossal piles of jank, basically taking community-made patches incorrectly applying them to games that have been quickly and poorly ported to consoles without much thought to things such as graphical aspect ratios and proper optimization. A perfect example of such a scenario can be seen in their "remasters" of Star Wars Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, both of which took the games original 4:3 aspect ratio and simply chopped the top and bottom off of the image to make it "widescreen", losing quite a bit of the viewport and first person weapon model in the progress. Third person view modes are just as bad, cutting off visibility for the legs of the character models.
Fortunately however with Tomb Raider I-III Remastered that is not the case this time around, as Aspyr had wisely decided to hire someone who actually gives a shit to oversee the project for them. Thanks to the work of fan modder Timur Gagiev, AKA XProger and his team, the Tomb Raider Trilogy has actually been treated with the care and respect it deserves, basing the remaster on his previously unauthorized personal remaster project. It may be shocking, but for once Aspyr has not shat the bed with one of it's remasters. Tomb Raider is definitely the series to finally break the Aspyr curse.
All three games in the trilogy have been overhauled with upscaled cinematics, redrawn textures, 60fps gameplay and much needed modern controls (you can choose between modern and tank controls in the settings), however at the click of a button you can switch back to the original pixelated software-rendered 30fps experience at any time you wish. Comparing the old look to the new is very much impressive, with the character models and a fair amount of the level architecture getting an impressive boost as well. Add to that a photo mode that can be used to create some very interesting shots, and this is quite an impressive package, and one that is well worth the asking price. Anyone who is a long time fan of Tomb Raider should pick this collection up immediately, and those who want to experience Lara Croft's adventures for the first time would be hard pressed to find a better way to get started than this fine remaster.