Recent reviews by Hartzen_Bros_Dk

A thoroughly enjoyable experience! But only if you are willing to invest effort in it.

You play as Amy Ferrier – a contractor hired to investigate what happened onboard the titular space station Tacoma. Your task is simple: board the Tacoma and download system data from different critical systems around the station – but what starts out as a simple job becomes much more when you start learning more and more about the crew members onboard.
Tacoma has top-quality world building and it establishes its cast of characters pitch-perfect. The world of Tacoma feels real and lived-in – and thus comes across as a believable vision of the future. The crew members feel like actual living human beings with desires, hopes and fears.

The story itself is also very engaging as you want to find out what happened to the crew – but there is a caveat. Some reviewers have said that story is too short and/or the characters are not introduced enough that you don’t care what happens to them. I completely disagree – but with that being said, you do need to explore as much as possible around the station in order to get the full experience. You need to keep an eye out for possible door codes and keys that will open up side rooms for you to explore off the main plot path, as well as read notes/emails/chats from different workstations and communication interfaces. This may sound dull – but trust me it is not as you really want to learn as much as possible about each crew member and the world they inhabit. However, if you don’t like reading and/or listening to conversations of up to 2-3 minute length then Tacoma is probably not for you.

This need to explore side areas is where Tacoma is most different from Gone Home, where you could get a lot out of that game’s story by simple traversing through the main story points. Otherwise, Tacoma feels gameplay-wise a lot like Gone Home, you traverse, pick up/inspect objects, read notes and listen to dialogue. And as with Gone Home there is no hand-holding in terms of keeping track of “what happened” on board – the game treats you like an adult and leaves it entirely up to yourself to keep track of characters and plot-points as if you were actually there. Therefore I recommend playing through the between four to five hour story in as few sittings as possible.

If you are willing to invest that extra effort by keeping an eye out for side areas, then you will be rewarded with an excellent story that pays off very satisfyingly. Tacoma cements Fullbright’s status as some of the very best storytellers in the game industry with an engaging story and characters that you will be laughing with, weeping with and rooting for. Highly recommended.

I remember first watching the reveal trailer for Life is Strange (LiS) back in December 2014. A trailer I greatly enjoyed, and I was immediately hooked on playing LiS when it would be released. The trailer gave me vibes of both Alan Wake and Gone Home – two games I consider some of my personal favorites. I was therefore greatly anticipating the release of LiS in January 2015, and to my pleasure the first episode of LiS lived up to my expectations. After playing the first episode, I knew I wanted to know where this rabbit hole would end.

But then time passed. The second episode was released, but I didn't get around to play it. The time I did use to play games was spent on other games like Dragon Age Inquisition and Republique Remastered (two games I also enjoyed immensely in 2015).

Then in April 2015 GTA V was released for PC. I hadn't originally planned on playing GTA V – but after about two weeks I caved in to the hype and bought GTA V.

So I played GTA V for the next few weeks and I really enjoyed it from a technical standpoint. The world of Los Santos is realized in an excellent fashion – it is great fun to just explore and get lost in the city and its surrounding areas. It is hands-down one of the best realized open-worlds in gaming. Too bad that I didn’t enjoy the story that Rockstar wanted to tell in the open-world of Los Santos.

To me the existences of Franklin, Michael and Trevor are hollow, mean and just not that interesting – and perhaps that is the point Rockstar wants to make (i.e. chasing the American dream doesn't lead to happiness in itself – but that is another discussion), but as an experience the story didn't work for me. But in spite of this I still wanted to complete the game.

Then one evening instead of booting up GTA V, I decided to boot up LiS and play its second episode. I was completely devastated by it and emotionally drained by it – but in a good way. That second episode gave me one of the most moving and heart pounding end sequences I have experienced in a game. But it also made me realize something.

It made me realize that participating in Franklin, Michael and Trevor's humdrum of violence and apathy in GTA V had left me in a depressive and dour state of mind. Playing the second episode of LiS left me feeling moved and glad. It reminded me of why I love to play games – to have fun, but also to have an experience that moves me and makes me think and reflect on my actions taken. And oh my does LiS deliver in spades.

To me LiS is a celebration of humanity at its best – a celebration of friendship, love and kindness. Playing LiS simply made me glad that I am alive and able to enjoy life – when was the last time a game made you feel that way?

The three final episodes of LiS are also highly worthwhile telling a moving story of the evolving friendship between Max and Chloe, while trying to solve the mysteries of Arcadia Bay. The story held up all the way through with its twists and turns to its gut-wrenching and very poignant ending which left me in tears. A satisfying and very emotional ending to a great game experience. Today, a few days after (finally) getting around to finishing LiS, I still get tearful just thinking about the ending – LiS really made a huge impression on me.

In short LiS is a celebration of actually caring about the world you inhabit, the life you live and the people you share it with. A celebration of values that sadly are in short supply today where shortsightedness, cynicism, intolerance and selfishness are the order of the day . LiS was for me a unique game and a highly emotional experience that I will remember fondly. It was a needed reminder for me that the world is not all bad – is not all darkness, but that there are specks of light out there – the sparks of kindness, love and friendship.

#ImNotCryingTheresSomethingInMyEye

I have been playing the Hitman series ever since Hitman Codename 47 - I've seen its ups (Codename 47 and Hitman Bloodmoney), its downs (Hitman 2, Hitman Contracts) and its okay entries (Hitman Absolution). Now after finishing the last episode of the first season I have to the conclusion that Hitman Season 1 belongs to this series best. I've had a blast playing Hitman season 1, which have kept the excellent level design of Bloodmoney and coupled it with the necessary gameplay modernizations of Hitman Absolution (Season 1 brings a good update to the disguise system from Absolution and its challenges system). Hitman Season 1 is a pure Hitman experience through and through with lots and lots of different ways of tackling its missions. Then as an added bonus the overall story arc connecting the levels is good as well, and gets more and more interesting through the season.

I agree with some of the other Steam reviews that it is cumbersome that an online connection is needed to get the full experience - however it is not true that you need to be online in order to play, You can still play all the levels and get the the full story while being offline - the only thing you don't get in that scenario is the challenges system which is only enabled when online. I haven't had any issues connecting to the servers (apart from once or twice) - though I do hope IO Interactive can come up with a more flexible online/offline system for season 2.

All in all this is a great game experience, with lots and lots of replayability, tight stealth system, excellent level design and good overarching story. If you have liked any of the previous Hitman games you need to get this - you will not be disappointed. And please buy it so we will get a season 2 - I want to know how the story ends!

Rating: 9/10

After just finishing Gone Home in one sitting (around 2.5-3 hours) I can wholeheartedly recommend it. A unique game, with a gameplay and story that doesn't aim for the lowest common denominator. When trying to piece together the string of events, you will be on your own (no game log pointing out what is important or what the next objective is etc.) to make the connections to progress. What is revealed is an adult and moving story, that will stay in your mind as a remarkable and unmissable experience.

Info: I played Gone Home with a controller, with English subtitles, and with no modifications selected on the new game screen.

Bioshock Infinite is not just good. Bioshock Infinite is great. Beautiful graphics and excellent gameplay makes Infinite an enjoyable experience. However, what really sets Bioshock Infinite apart is its story. The story provides superb world building, exciting events, interesting characters (with excellent voice acting) and a thought-provoking ending that will keep you thinking days after experiencing it. Infinite is not just the best game in the Bioshock series, it is also one of the best games of 2013.

Info: I played Bioshock Infinite with a controller, with English audio/subtitles language settings, and on the high difficulty setting.

Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt.

If you like thought-provoking science-fiction this game is for you. With a great story and breathtaking world design – Neo-Paris looks spectacular! – Remember Me is a very memorable experience. Especially because of the four memory remix sequences scattered throughout the game, where you must change the memories of certain people in the story. While four does not sound much, the sequences gives one very much food for thought – I think even more so because of this low number.

This memorable experience is coupled with an interesting combat mechanic, somewhat reminiscent of Arkham Asylum/City, where you can and in some situations must mix the effects of your combos in mid-combat. Furthermore, Remember Me has an atypical and very striking musical score, which supports the game’s themes very well.

The only thing somewhat lacking in this game is its very limited platform sections, due to its level design, which almost entirely does not give any room for any exploration deviating from the main path. However, this problem with the weak platforming sections is somewhat alleviated by the beautiful and atmospheric world design, and the combat sections throughout the game.

If you want to support an original IP, with a great and thought provoking sci-fi story, excellent world design, outstanding musical score and superb gameplay (thanks to its combat and memory remix sequences) only marred by a weak platforming mechanic, then Remember Me is for you.

Info: I played Remember Me with a controller, with French audio/English subtitles language settings, and on the highest difficulty.