Recent reviews by Infra

7 hours in and damn, this game is a ballbreaker. Difficulty definitely seems to assume experience with Hollow Knight or similar platformers, as enemies get punishing quite quickly and Hornet's kit is trickier to use. Learning how your dive attack works is probably the roughest part of the early game. Once it's burned into your mind, you can pull off some very cool ♥♥♥♥ that makes you feel amazing.

The difficulty is offset by a lot of QOL improvements. You can unlock sprinting very early on, which feels amazing to use and makes traversal less painful. Ledge mantling and the ability to heal yourself whilst in mid-air are also extremely welcome features. I'm not too sure what to make of the new item systems other than they add some nice versatility when exploring vs fighting bosses, or dealing with specific enemy types. The best charms in HK were universally good no matter the scenario, so this makes a change.

I am also loving the art in this game. The music fades between areas very subtly, areas are very detailed and unique, and there's a considerably higher level of interactivity and animation compared to HK. It definitely results in more lively and interesting areas, even when backtracking.

This game is ruining my life. Genius concept. It has made me laugh, cry, and punch my wall. I hope to see more games utilise room-drafting in similarly innovative ways.

my wife left me

A brilliant game. Deserves the praise it gets.

Still in my honeymoon phase with the game as a new player but thoroughly enjoying it. People in public lobbies have been at best helpful and at worst not very talkative. Looking forward to playing more.

I have no experience playing a Soulsborne game, but I'm finding Elden Ring very fun. It's difficult and there's a lot I don't fully understand yet, which might put people off the game. I think this is one of the game's strong points. It doesn't hold your hand or tell you exactly where to go. You've got to figure things out for yourself, and the feeling of accomplishment when you finally manage to get something right feels a lot stronger and realer. This is obviously a very early review so I'm hoping it carries on strong throughout. My main gripes rn are over the stuttering issues.

tl;dr This game slaps. If you like fast shooters, play it immediately.

Out of all the games in the current retroshooter revival, this has some of the tightest, most responsive combat and movement. There's a surprising amount of mechanical depth, with every weapon having a range of alt fires and various combos, same with your various movement options of dashing, sliding, slamming and wall jumping. And it isn't just for show. Every weapon is useful and you have to learn how to use them well in conjunction with your movement abilities to survive on the highest difficulty and late rounds of the game's endless mode.

A lot of people make comparisons to Doom Eternal and I see what they mean. Ultrakill does everything id wanted to do with DE and better. Instead of tying you down with a chainsaw, glory kills and flame belch, Ultrakill gives the player infinite ammo and health whenever you damage or kill an enemy within a close range. No chasing ammo or health pickups. The result is a game where you're always in the fun zone and always teetering on the brink of instant death.

It also just looks really good. The weapons are unique and well designed, both visually and audibly. Same with all the enemies too. The level can get a bit samey and the PS1 style graphics limit how cool some of the maps can be, with some exceptions, but the game does well to play to those limitations.

Play the game. About half the levels are already out to play rn in early access, as is the game's endless mode, the Cyber Grind. There's easily 30-40 hours of content in it already for someone looking to git gud at the game, find secrets, beat challenges and get Perfect ranks. I'd recommend starting on Violent though and switching off if you find it too difficult. It forces you to learn the game's more complex mechanics, which you can find guides on here on Steam or by YouTubers like HerbMessiah. Otherwise, 10/10 game. The best New Blood has published so far.

Easily the greatest FPS RPG ever made and something I'm embarrassed for not playing sooner over concerns about its age. You play as the Courier, who at the start of the game is shot in the head by a mysterious man over a "Platinum Chip" you were hired to deliver. From there, the game's main story starts: find the guy who shot you and discover what's the deal with the Platinum Chip. Unlike in similar titles, the main story manages to be engaging throughout the game and achieves this without needing to railroad you until its ending.

New Vegas has two major factions fighting for control over the Mojave, the NCR and the Legion, but they're just two of many different groups you can do quests for, build reputations with and kill off when you inevitably side against them in favour of another group. You're not tied down to any one path and who you decide to work with, if anyone, dictates the ending, not some last minute decision at the end of the game. The ending you get reflects the decisions you chose as the player instead of the ones the game forced you to go along with.

Undeniably, the game is *old* in terms of its graphics and combat mechanics, but in terms of writing, world building, freedom of choice (the things that make or break RPGs), New Vegas is miles ahead of more recent titles like Skyrim, Fallout 4, The Outer Worlds and, more recently, Cyberpunk 2077. That's not to mention that, much like Skyrim or Fallout 4, New Vegas maintains a strong modding community that allows the game to remain playable even 10 years later. You can spend 10 minutes installing a fan patch and have a gameplay experience exceeding anything you'd find in a modern game. (This guide in particular is super easy to follow, quick and leaves you with a perfectly playable base for even low spec PCs: https://vivanewvegas.github.io/)

Even if you find older games "literally unplayable", I'd still give New Vegas a shot. It draws you in very quickly and you can help but overlook those gripes when you're having so much fun in the game itself. And if you're disappointed after successive let-downs like the Outer Worlds or Cyberpunk 2077, New Vegas might be the sort of RPG experience you're looking for.

Funny demon game, nominated for Best Soundtrack Award because Mittsies deserves it.

Portal 2 is a very good puzzle game that builds upon the first in both story and gameplay. The new mechanics that are added are fun to play with, especially the gels, and are introduced as part of the story really well. If you haven't yet played Portal 2, I highly recommend you do.

Portal 2 is really good at telling stories using the environment and making the puzzles a believable part of the environment, breaking the monotony of test chamber after test chamber that the first game had. The mid section of the game, where gels are introduced, is one of the most interesting in terms of more open-ended puzzles that require you to be more observant of your surroundings.

The puzzles in the main story are difficult enough to require some thinking but aren't exactly challenging. If you want hard puzzles, you can always look to the Steam workshop levels or some of the really well made campaign mods like Aperture Tag or Portal Stories: Mel.

Graphics still look alright even today on max, though the lighting sometimes breaks on physics objects or some of the animated wall panels.

The writing is pretty good too. There's only a handful of voiced characters but their lines are funny and well performed. None of the jokes was particularly unfunny, though the memes they spawned back in 2012 definitely were.

The co-op mode is also pretty good (though I've only played it on a PS3, not yet on PC). Portal works really well with friends, allowing for larger puzzles that require teamwork and give excellent opportunities to screw your friend over with. The co-op campaign is well made, with a fun level select lobby that makes use of the games mechanics to access new areas. It's also got a running story too, along with the same high quality of level and environmental design that the single player campaign has.