Recent reviews by comedycoal

Prey has its quirks and kinks, but at the end of the day, it made for a solid 20+ journey for one looking for action, stealth, survival, exploration, or just a decent story arc, though better at certain aspects than others.



“Horror” is the last word I would use to describe Prey, yet the presence of the alien mimicry of mundane objects has never failed to scare the living hell out of me, even later in-game. Maybe it has something to do with the overtly dramatic background music that keeps playing whenever a threat is present, or I’m just not as cool-headed as I thought. Say what you want, Prey promises a tense and on-your-toes experience, and it does just that. Granted, the progression dies mid to late game, but by then it has established its gameplay and mechanics as compact and efficient as possible.

Prey is barely a stealth game, even though it is a plausible route as it is taken into account in the world-building process, given the extensive ventilation pathways and the excessive crawling under tables for no reason. But come on, look at its face, don’t you just want to shoot it to death? Out of 6 shootable guns - the handgun, the shotgun, the stun gun, the sticky-foam gun, the deathray-but-a-tad-too-slow gun, the squeaky-sounding toy gun - only the toy gun is truly a stealth weapon, and it does not deal any damage. The rest are… excitable. Prey also offers an assort of throwables, but using them is quite clunky and only viable prior to combat rather than amid. Your weaponry, therefore, is quite limited, but it’s quite complete and doesn’t feel bloated. Add to that the 10+ “Typhon” power, there are more than enough options to riddle your brain on how to kick those alien asses. Or is it?

Combat-wise, Prey is quite forgiving, but also formidable. More often than not, you will get out without even a scratch, but getting overwhelmed is also possible and might even be fatal, if you’re a purist, else loading saves always come to the rescue on time. Prey makes up for swarms of enemies by boosting the combat capability of certain foes, even making them impossible to outrun or to outlive. Regardless, with enough experience, you’d also find a way to get out of all sorts of situations and over time it might become a chore even. There are only a handful of enemies. Some of them, sadly, do not always work as designed. Take the “Telepath” for example, it is defined by rendering humans hostiles and turning them into walking bombs that explode at will. However, given that most of the station is barren and void of living beings, most of the time it just shoots heavy psychic orbs instead, which is boring and generic. The cast of hostiles in Prey isn’t bad but lacks variety, and in the long run, sucks out any fun out of encounters by turning them into nuisances and chores just to progress.

Given how enemies respawn and randomized every time you leave a location, stockpiling on ammunitions and other amenities for survival and upgrades is a must. Truth be told, never once in my initial playthrough did the lack of resources became an issue for me, and less of one in higher difficulties, even with survival options - a few modifications to make the game harder - turned on, mostly thanks to the fact that resources are always abundant. If you spend time exploring, trash and materials are everywhere and you can always recycle, then craft more resources. This downplays the survival aspect of the game to the degree where it is almost non-existent. Medkits can be almost completely replaced by food, your armor hardly ever gets broken and the energy to fuel the alien power, also can be found everywhere around the station, even in corpses. Therefore, with exploration, you will be so well off that survival is rendered obsolete, except when you die to the invisible jackass that keeps banging your head against the ceiling, not that it happens a lot.

A few other aspects that coherently tie to the gameplay that is akin to other immersive sims also present in Prey. Hacking is always possible, through 4 tiers that can be upgraded. Finding keycodes and passwords intertwine heavily with resolving quests and find stashes of resources. Emails and audiologs are abundant and often are the sources of side quests. Hardly ever you seen a friendly face, but through these inanimate objects does the world of Prey appear vividly and the personnel abroad the station, once again, lives. Excellent environmental storytelling and immersion is the reason why Prey retains its charms even after hours of the same old gameplay.

Speaking of same-old. Turning stale is a common theme in Prey, even in its storyline, as the plot keeps revolving around running errands from the arboretum on top of the station to the power plant at the very bottom. An unexpected turn happens toward the latter half, but then again it falls into the same pattern, just that now you have already explored the place and it is just a detour to get through the mission. The story has a climax, it has choices, hell, Prey has the most compelling mission system I’ve seen in a while, but its long runtime loses me every reason to keep finding out everything that there is to know about this world. In the end, Prey didn’t leave much of an impact in its story, even though I really enjoyed its wide-ranging and far-reaching plot.

I don’t want to write any about Prey’s plot, given how I believe you need to play and see it for yourself. But if you’re looking for twists and turns, Prey is just up your alley. If you’re a fan of the immersive sim genre, Prey is the definitive experience, even though it might lack originality. If you haven’t got a clue whatever immersive sim is, then Prey is also a good entry, given how forgiving it can be. Just keep in mind its performance issues as you might not be able to run the game well even on high-end PCs. Then, maybe give speedrunning Prey a try. Even I could pull of an any%, just 20 times slower than the world record, those glitches are pretty easy to pull off.

Control is a fantastic action shooter game with concise and well-thought-out mechanics while maintaining a good enough storyline and pleasantly unorthodox characters that somewhat falls short on the brim



One thing comes to mind when I first heard of Control: Telekinesis. Telekinesis is old news, it has been around forever and every game remotely related to sci-fi has some forms of telekinesis. What sets apart a game from another, though, is the execution, and Control succeeded in making the dream psychic ability as natural as possible.

Taking place in the Federal Bureau of Control, a secret government body specialized in investigating, containing, and controlling paranatural and other-worldly entities and events, promptly named OOPs and AWEs. As Jesse Faden becomes the Director in the most intuitive and natural way possible: lifting the gun of the current Director, she begins searching for the truth about her brother who was taken away by the Bureau. As you run around the Bureau wielding your psychic gun and random debris, you learn just a bit more about your past, just a little bit. The game’s narrative keeps it concise, shows us what matters and omits the unnecessary. It helps create an unorthodox Jesse Faden that does not concur with traditional woman protagonists that culture dictates (to the point where people proposed that her actor “doesn’t work”) without bloating the game with sentiments. The story is pleasantly paced and it looks truly promising. But then, after the first half, when you have a basic understanding of whatever was happening, the flow halts. The second half of the game is underwhelming, maybe it was just in my playthrough that it did not reach the threshold I needed for a dramatic climax. I was expecting more and it did not deliver, not enough anyway.

The mission flow of the game also has the same problem, it stops progressing in the middle, after you obtain all abilities, the game resolves to mostly running errands, although I was more than happy to do so, as the plot weaves well within the main missions. The nice touch is that most of your abilities are gained through side quests and finishing them gives you incentives to upgrade. Exploration is, therefore, highly encouraged. Looking into every nook and cranny can get a bit stale, as pieces of trivia don’t differ much from another, but they do give little more insights into the Bureau. Certainly, a lot of efforts were put into making the world of Control as immersive and vivid as possible. I might not care for it but if you’re the type who takes game logic seriously, Control does not disappoint, except for a few loose strings here and there.

Control’s storyline revolves around a hostile force invading the Bureau filled with trigger-happy paranormal objects, it’s oddly satisfying that we are only equipped with a single pistol and manage to kick everyone else’s ass. Add to that the smooth and effortless movements, combat in Control is, well, very controllable. Combat mechanics are minimal and without much difference between any fight and others: shooting, cowering, and retaliating. Five forms of the “service weapon” (name of your pistol) resembles a standard handgun, an SMG, a shotgun, a rifle, and an RPG, each unlocks at a different point during the playthrough, though they automatically reload without the need of ammo pickups. Enhancements for your personal stats and weapon are called “mods“, which mostly just adjust numerical stats. These mods do not alter the core experience but rather enhance it and after sometimes can be taken for granted. Personally, I would go for a more diverse system, but the one Control did implement is highly compact and efficient while managed to maintain the balance in the game. You can never get too overpowered or remain too weak, even after factoring in the telekinesis powers which are fueled by a limited, rechargeable energy reservoir: ”launching“ objects almost always one-shot weaker enemies, ”evading“ (aka dashing) from problematic attacks, ”shielding“ yourself from bullet storms, ”levitating“ to, well, get to places and make yourself as visible as possible, and more. It’s a nice, compact system, it is sufficient and does not feel like something is missing. Killing people has not felt this satisfying in a while, for me at least.

All that firepower would have been wasted if not for a cohort of diversifying enemies. Some use mechanical weapons, some have telekinesis, some are painful to deal with. Enemies can spawn randomly, in groups, at any major sites throughout your detours and without warnings. You can finish them easily once you’re familiar with their gimmicks, but more often than not, they still pose a threat. Several types of enemies can need specific strategies to deal with, while others have devastating attacks or large health pools, making combat challenging and even frustrating sometimes. New types are introduced gradually, and from the second half, any selection of them can spawn and can make our break your pacing. Dying takes away some of your “currency points”, which are used for upgrades and returns you to the nearest checkpoint. Dying can be frustrating especially in boss fights. Bosses in Control are all in side quests and beating them is optional but encouraged, as they pose a significant challenge and can’t be cheesed (at least in your first try), regardless of how well-prepared you are. Defeating them can be considered a significant win and is as satisfying as it can get.

Control is a great game with great design and great mechanics. Although the aesthetics are simple and the core ideas are straight-forward, it is surprisingly effective in making the gameplay experience better. All the extra details can be ignored if wanted and it would not take away much if you did ignore them, almost giving you a sense of, well, control. That said, the game suffers from several problems that somewhat turn the game stale toward the ending…

It is not just the story-line, the whole game seems to rely much on so well-established mechanics that it becomes inflexible later in-game. It is not necessarily bad, but it can become stale and boring, especially when you take into account the lengthy game time. It took me almost 30 hours to finish the game, a huge portion of it was spent on exploring and doing sidequests. Gradually, getting into fights brought fewer excitements and more annoyance. It was a mistake I made, but the game does expect you to do side quests, to explore, to do everything it is to do before venture in the very last room and go through a… useless sequence with the same combat style just with a red background and less stuff to throw around. The very last portion of the game is disappointing in every way. It’s a shame that they settled for a safe way out, rather than doing something grander. But I guess it was just me, wanting to die a few times where every enemy is 5 times the level they usually are in (numerically shown on their heads) instead of blowing away each of them without blinking twice.

It was made clear at the time of release that Control would be a visual spectacle, and it did not disappoint. It looks gorgeous even at lower settings and runs surprisingly well. Control is well made, well-optimized and if you’re unsure if you can run it, might as well give it a try because it might. It is very much an enjoyable experience which I played nonstop for a whole week and it left a lot of impressions. Though I do wish it was something more, it would be unfair of me to demand a good game to be something else it was not. Highly recommended, worth its price and praise in every way.

7th Sector is an impressive game for one man to make, but rough around the edges, jarringly rough, if that makes any sense.



GAMEPLAY: 6/10
7th Sector is, at heart, a puzzle, adventure game. It is the same kin as Limbo and Inside and games of that type where you don't get told exactly what to do.

The game is divided into small levels. Each level has you travel around and try to find a way to proceed. One thing to note is that the trial-and-error approach is pretty prominent and you'd probably die, unfairly a few times before figuring out what to do.

Puzzles are present both as self-contained segments or implied through the environment you're in as well (hazards that move along a fixed route, dodge them, that type). I like them, in concept, but more often than not, how they got implemented hinders the quality. So let's get the criticism out of the way first.

The futuristic settings make for a lot of ambiguity, as the game repeatedly requires interacting with elements that are either too hideous, too confusing, or do not give off meaningful responses. Some objects, though not hidden in plain sight, require extra attention to details to find. Some are tied to the story and are fairly clever, but most of them will leave you confused because there's no way in hell you could have known that. For example, there's a robot in a corner that needs to be activated, but the robot itself is not how you imagine it should look like, the activation method itself is illogical and silly. Another is a section that you need to make a wall move to cover you, but the button to activate it is too high off-screen and deliberately made to look like it's a foreground object. These instances are frequent and they just make you feel irritated.

However, the real criticism is how tedious the game feels. I'm talking about puzzles that intentionally bore the ♥♥♥♥ out of players. The ones require waiting for the right moment to press a button or hold it for a long time, sometimes it's both to make the matters worse.

This could have been a great game, but these gameplay designs are rather painful and often so infuriating that I couldn't help disregard everything great about the game. Retrospectively, 7th Sector has a lot to offer. It might not be the most innovative but it does have potential, and it's a shame that most of it aren't fully realized.

STORY: 6.5/10
Employing the usual cryptic story-telling through background images rather than explicitly, 7th Sector does a great job lure you into its plotline. You start the game as an unknown entity vaguely resembling a human in a dystopian/utopian city. Then nothing much happens, or nothing satisfying anyway. The level of details of this game is unbelievable, everything feels like it has a layer of hidden meanings behind them. It's a shame that the intentions are never clear. Throughout the game, you'd get curious about where you are, when this is, how that it became this way, but the game has no interest in letting you know. While I do understand the decision, I don't believe this does the story justice. Again, an excellent idea trampled by an underwhelming execution. Still, there is plenty to dig around, at least in the background anyway, and you'd also vaguely get an idea of what transpired, but without a proper storyline, it is kind of underwhelming.

The endings, while there are multiple of them, each of them is rather lukewarm and better off just gotten rid of. They didn't offer much, just a slight change and I'd rather have a linear experience than an illusion doesn't do much, lore-wise.

Again, a solid idea but poor and/or intentionally hideous designs ruined it. (Needless to remind, this option is indeed biased, as I don't particularly like off-putting storytelling methods.)

VISUALS & MUSIC/SOUNDS 7.5/10
The game looks impressive, that's about it. For a 2.5D sidescrolling game, there's a surprising level of depths to its art.

Atmospherically, the game succeeds in representing a grim dystopian city, both visually and sonically. The game employs a lot of visual effects, everything out of focus having a certain level of blurriness along with appropriately placed lighting helps makes you feel uneasy. Add to that the mostly ambient soundtrack (which is pretty basic, there almost nothing noteworthy of the music/sound of this game I'm going to skip that altogether, it works though, but not exactly memorable). Vivid, sure, but I can't help feeling like the game is overdoing it. It's like the game is trying too hard to create a tense and eerie atmosphere it forgets where the main actions lie.

Nitpicking aside, the art style of 7th Sector is itself impressive for a solo-dev to pull off (I checked the credits, there weren't any mentions of additional help specifically on visuals, so for the sake of the argument, I assume that the least amount of help is involved). It's not top-notch, but it does it job, it leaves a slight impression, not anything long-lasting, though. Couldn't ask for more, eh?

TECHNICALITY: 5.5/10
If 7th Sector did something worse than tedium, it would be the clunky, irritating hurdle that is the control. Forget about puzzles and gameplay messed-ups, traversing the environment is like driving through a shallow puddle of mud: You're still moving forward, but somehow it feels like both dragging and sliding at the same time. The first part of the game has you moving through electrical wires. For some reason, you're not traveling along the wires, you're hitting walls as you touch the inner housing of the cables. Therefore, it will constantly feel like your speed hugely varies across the whole sections. Moreover, once you have to jump between one cable to another, it takes an obnoxious amount of time holding the action button. Other objects you take control of suffer the same problems. Walking around the sewer at an awkward pace does not sound fun, nor does taking forever to slide into a small hole because of how crappy the movements are. Irresponsive and ludicrously slow control seems so much like an intentional choice rather than a technical issue. Immersion, perhaps? If so, a terrible choice even for a slow-paced game.

Apart from that, the game runs fine. Graphical options are limited, though they're not necessary. Controllers are supported, although at some points the crouch button straight-up doesn't work, and my controller was functioning perfectly, and if I happen to Alt-Tab outside then come back, the menu decides that it now skips 2 options at one press of a button, which made me accidentally pressed "delete saves" (my faults, but why the hell is it in the main menu?). Mostly it's just the control that irritates the hell out of me, but the game itself is fine, technicality-wise.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 6/10
I played it once. Only once. Then I just reload saves and edit save files to get the other endings. That's how much I don't want to play it again. Granted, slow-paced puzzle sidescrolling games have never been my cup of tea. But there are no excuses for making a game where tedium gets the spotlight. At first, slowly moving to observe the scenery wasn't that bad, I even kind of like it. Then, it became more apparent that I was never going to get much else, nothing jaw-dropping or remotely exciting is going to happen. There's only so much contemplating I could do to keep the interest alive, and that seems like the only way to enjoy it. It's not a bad game, it's just rather dull and somewhat disappointing. And in a way, that's even worse than being bad.

Still, it's a solid effort and a fairly OK puzzle game. Maybe give it a try, but don't expect too much. I know I did. And I would probably have disregarded everything positive about this game if I had written this right after finishing instead of retrospectively looking back.

The standalone DLC for Dishonored 2 set after the event of the main game is surprisingly fresh and unique.



GAMEPLAY: 8.5/10
For the most part, DOTO's (Death of the Outsider) core gameplay mechanics is, more or less, the same as its base game, given it's a DLC. Therefore, there isn't much to add that I haven't written about in the Dishonored 2 review. Except for a few additions, and cutoffs.

About the cutoffs, the supernatural system returns with a very limited set of powers, with only 3 to play around with (4 if you count the ability to hear things from rats, which is useful for like once or twice). That said, those powers are pretty well made. Instead of Blink, you get Displace, with which you put a marker to teleport to. A bit clunky, but combined with Foresight (leave your body to scout the environment) you can put a marker virtually anywhere, long as you can have a line of sights to teleport to. The last one is Semblance, which lets you take a knocked-out NPC identity and walk around without being caught. There's an extra power that lets you throw a charge from your blade, pretty standard, nothing too special about it. With these powers, careful planning can be rewarding and while power is somewhat limited, fun to play around with.

Another major change is that, instead of using potions, your mana regenerates slowly. This can be a bit of annoyance due to how fast mana drains while using Semblance and Foresight. Several bonecharms can mitigate this, as there are quite a lot to be found.

While I appreciate the efforts to freshen up the arsenal, plenty of weapons you have, and there are a lot, a lot, are... weird. A grenade that stuns people? Ok, it's fine, for your non-lethal enthusiast out there but it is really loud. Stun mines are replaced with hook mines, which YEET people in the air toward it. Cool in theory, satisfying to watch, but, again, they break stealth as the mines are loud, and a certain bone charm is required to mute the sounds. There's also a ...pearl? The game made it sounds really cool, but it is worse than useless. Regardless, all of them are fun to play around with.

Otherwise, everything else is the same, the missions are a bit more challenging, there is a lot to explore. Overall, solid gameplay with efforts to spice things up.

STORY: 8/10
Though set after the event of Dishonored 2, DOTO feels like a successor of the original Dishonored's DLCs rather than an extension of the sequel. The setting is, for lack of better words, abrupt, even it was teased in the base game's ending.

As the name suggests, you're going to kill the Outsider, duh. Playing as a pivot character, Billie Lurk, from Dishonored's DLCs, your quest to achieve the goal you set is complicated. Still with the straight forward story-telling well established since day one. It has some turns, not pivotal, but enough to keep you agitated. The story is on par with that of Knife of Dunwall, if not better.

Character progression is presented, it's nice to see what's happening in the protagonist's mind. Billie Lurk is much better built than Emily and Corvo (which was a flaw in Dishonored 2 I forgot to mention) and it's apparent the rationale behind the final choice in the game, making her the best character in the whole series, personality-wise.

Another point is, they threw the chaos system away, killing people doesn't affect the endings anymore. As the chaos system was pretty lukewarm in the base game, I have no opposition to this. Having a linear story fits the game better. So kill away, or not, your choice.

VISUALS: 8.5/10
The DLC more or less is in the same style, shocking. There are several sprite changes for a few enemies, but you're still going to recognize all of them anyway. Other than that, there's nothing to add.

MUSIC/SOUNDS: 8/10
While DOTO doesn't add anything significant and everything remains the same, it's worth noting that the voice acting is more on point this time around. No longer you have to suffer through the monotony of Emily or Corvo's voice (they are stone-cold, on Corvo, it's fine, but Emily? I didn't like the voice acting in Dishonored 2). Also, the dialogues overlapping isn't present anymore. So that's a plus.

TECHNICALITY: 7.5/10
Maybe because the map is smaller, or they cleaned the game up a little, but the game feels smoother and no longer drop frames like hell. That makes the experience much more enjoyable.

There are some unnecessary enemy variances that, make no sense, like those ladies with their eyes covered, you're not supposed to move around that well without bumping into stuff, left alone fighting like a boss, it's basically a female guard re-sprite, lazy, but understandable. There's a new enemy which reuses the clockwork soldier model, but it has its own functionality, but still forgettable and the AI is weird.

Overall, the game is cleaner, but basic problems remain more or less. It's okay if you made it through the first game.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 8.5/10
I may enjoy this DLC more than I'm willing to admit. Granted, at first, I was sort of disappointed to see so few powers, but later playing around with them didn't get boring at all, I even miss them as the Original+ game mode replaces them with Blink, Dark Visions and Domino (which arguably less effective overall and honestly they should've gone with Mesmerize instead of Domino, considering the point of Semblance is for passing by people undetected, not linking them together then cut their heads off, but whatever).
I might say the DLC is better than the main game even, as you don't really see how it's going to end up, and the non-lethal part kind of surprise me a little. The story isn't clever, but it's acceptable and intriguing enough to keep me on my toes. And as a result, the ending is a bit more satisfying than the base game.
The standalone DLC is exactly half the length of the base game and so is the price. If you enjoyed Dishonored 2, the game is still here, altered a bit and if you want to see the fate of the Outsider, get it.

Dishonored 2 is the (obvious) sequel to the critically acclaimed Dishonored. It is somewhat of an unnecessary follow-up, but I'm glad they put this out anyway.



GAMEPLAY: 8.5/10
Dishonored 2 improved and expanded the gameplay that already exists in Dishonored, with few exceptions and even some drawbacks.

You still have the same ol' pistol, the crossbow, grenades, spring razors, etc. But they added a few variances to ammo types and several new upgrades. Though some only appear really late and I didn't get to experiment with them a lot, I'd say the weaponry is pretty solid. It keeps what already exists and adds to it, making it a more polish version.

The game introduces a new playable character, with a separate set of powers, while extending the capabilities of those in the first game. The new powers synergize with each other perfectly as you will find yourself combining them to achieve the best effects. They now come with their respective skill trees, but you can't unlock every tier in one playthrough alone. This makes for some planning, favoring one skill over the other and that only adds to the gameplay experience.

The stealth element and non-lethal approach is greatly enhanced, both with their respective tools. The game added things that were missing in the first game. This time around, enemies are more perceptive, and you are much easier to spot. You are often forced to use your powers more extensively to get out of tricky situations. But sometimes, the best option is just to slash your way out of trouble.

Exploration remains the best part, again. Dishonored 2 feature missions with bigger maps, lots of alternative paths and even are overwhelming in places. The level design of this game is top-notch as you find yourself in wandering locations such as an ever-shifting mansion (seriously, who made that is a genius), jump back and forth through time, or skipping a whole level by solving only one puzzle, provided that you can solve it fast enough.

That said, some flaws should be mentioned. There are significantly fewer enemies, and only on higher difficulties might they pose a serious threat. They are less intimidating and might get repetitive if you choose to engage often. The AI seems a little erratic, all-over-the-place and does not work quite well. Apart from that, the gameplay is excellent and should not be burdened by those minor issues.

STORY: 8/10
Set 15 years after the first game, Dishonored 2 introduces a new threat and now follow either the royal protector or his daughter as they find a way to get back the throne from the tyranny of a witch, who supposedly is the half-sister of the late Empress. The player has to leave for Karnaca, "The Jewel of the South", while plotting to take back the throne, again (sigh).

Dishonored 2 continues the concept of storytelling by environmental elements: conversations, books, notes, audiographs, etc. The game also builds the protagonist's personality based on how lethal you play, but pretty minimal. The characters in the second game also are properly built and also play a role in story development. The game again succeeds in creating a different world this time, just like Dishonored did in the first.

Unfortunately, in some places, the story seems lacking sensibility and the ending(s) again, is again underwhelming. I understand the reasons behind it, but I have to say I was expecting something more dramatic. The story is also even more linear than the first game, but it isn't an issue since the attention for details makes the plot thick and interesting enough. Overall, it's an OK storyline, though not very theatric.

VISUALS: 8.5/10
Based on a different engine than its predecessor, Dishonored 2 offers a visual feast for players. The art direction is a slight derivative of the first one, but this time, I have to say the game looks stunning. As you progress through the game, you'd see how much effort they gave in creating a wide, but also detailed landscape. The lightings, the atmosphere, the textures, everything meshes well with each other and creates a vivid world.

I have to point out that the art style does look a bit too sharp and pointy. Although it fits, it doesn't sit quite well with my eyes, but that's just me being picky. Overall, I love the visuals, love the graphics. Almost perfect if I could appreciate it without performance issues, but that later.

MUSIC/SOUNDS: 8/10
The world of Dishonored 2 doesn't gain its charm solely from the visual aesthetic, but also the soundtrack. While this aspect in the original game didn't leave much impact, things changed in its sequel.

Occasionally in-game, you might find bits of music playing, and they help to set the atmosphere of the game. I especially love the song played through the speaker in the last level, it made the level eerier and keeps you on your toes. Overall, music and sounds play an important part, both in world-building and player's experience.

TECHNICALITY: 6.5/10
Dishonored 2 is ambitious, too ambitious. At launch, it received reports on performance issues. A few years later, problems more or less persist.

Since my PC spec is below the recommendations, I was expecting issues here and there. But the game is not making mitigations a breeze. There are various options to experiments around with, but none of them help, at least with anything noticeable. Options meant to increase FPS (yes, you, adaptive resolution, you suck) are better turned off. In all fairness, FPS drops only happen in open areas, and they are supposed to be heavy so turning everything to low should boost framerate a bit, right? Nope, it doesn't. After spending quite a while tinkering with graphic options, I eventually gave up. It is much smoother late-game though, so thank god for that.

There are other mildly infuriating issues, which for some reasons really bug me, but giving each of them a separate paragraph seems like too much work, so I'll just briefly mention them here:
Enemies don't really call the alarms, like in all of my 3 playthroughs, I even went genocidal on their asses in one.
Guards and witches taunt you, but their shoutings overlap on each other too frequently they all sound like garbled messes.
Civilians are even dumber than the first game.
Rats are much less prominent in-game, which is fine because the bloodflies are supposed to be the biggest issues on Karnaca. But I did saw them devour a dead guard once, so why aren't there more rats?
With stealth being a prominent aspect, certain stealth-enhancing upgrades only appear last-mission-late in-game.
Physics is kind of glitchy and not consistent.
Apart from all that, Arkane did a fine job, considering the switch to a new engine. It's not riddled with bugs, but issues are still there and they will never be fixed, so there's a chance you'd run into them.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 8.5/10
Do I think Dishonored needed a sequel? No. The game was great, the story was pretty much complete, there wasn't anything else to add. Am I glad that they made the follow-up anyway? Yes. Despite every issue I had, I was able to enjoy the game thoroughly. The missions are well crafted and designed, and by favoring stealth, keeping combat to the minimum, many of the issues I stated don't feel that troublesome. The campaign was at least 15 hours long but somehow I enjoyed every single second of it. Maybe I'm biased since I loved the first game, but objectively, there are hardly any games that take an already existed style and execute it so well that it feels fresh and novel.
If you're willing to take the story as what it is (again, it's not bad) and the technicality issues as acceptable, then I highly recommend this game.

Dishonored is a modern classic and a revisit to old school stealth games that proved itself to be a worthy tribute to the niche genre that never really got a chance to shine



GAMEPLAY: 9/10
Dishonored is a first-person action-adventure game with heavily-implied stealth elements and exploration. Player decisions and free will is also a key element.

In this game, your main weapon is a "folding blade". You can, and will, go on solely with this sword alone. There is an arsenal of weaponry to accompanied you if cutting throats isn't your strong suit: a singly loaded pistol, a crossbow, grenades, traps made with razor blades, etc. All of them can be upgraded, to shoot more than two bullets before reloading, for example. With a little exploring, you'll find yourself leaving more ammo behind than you carry.

Because of how stealth is heavily implied (explicitly implied even, if that makes any sense), combat is completely avoidable throughout the whole game as you can kill, knock out, or completely ignore the enemies to progress through your missions. It is well implemented, as enemies have a certain level of awareness that is neither too unfair, or too easy to abuse.

The game also has its combat system, in case you accidentally stand up too soon or get bored of sitting around in a corner waiting for a guard to pass by. It's less forgiving as your health can be depleted quite quickly, but not too difficult to pull through. There are often not enough enemies coming at once to make combat a big problem. That said, there are plenty of forces to be reckoned with, including a 10 feet tall machine that moves around to kill you and seems impossible to defeat (again, you don't have to). The combat, therefore, feels natural and although can take time to master, is satisfying to execute.

Guns and razor blades aside, there is also a system of supernatural powers that can benefit you, some in combat, some in stealth but often in both. Teleportation? Checked. Stopping time to cut that guy head off before he even noticed? Checked. Summoning rats to feed on people? Checked. 6 powers at your arsenal are enough to give you a hard time deciding which one to use, as they all open up seemingly endless possibilities for spontaneous improvisions.

The strongest gameplay element has to be the exploration. Almost everything is possible like in Dishonored. You can choose your own approach, and the game even hints at them quite prominently. Walk straight to the objective? OK. Climb over a bunch of roofs while risking falling off and sneak inside from a window? Also OK. I should kill this guy, or maybe exile him instead. Your choice. Although the only choices that affect the outcome are the kill-or-not-to-kill chaos system, the diverse approaches to getting where you need to bring countless possibilities. As a result, you may find locations you have not seen before in your fourth playthrough. The world of Dishonored, though limited, seems endless and
holds more mystery than you think.

STORY: 8/10
Setting in an industrial city in the 1800s in a fictional world with its complicated politics. You play as "the royal protector" on his quest to restore his reputation and get revenge on the Empress, who he swore to protect. It's a story fitting the name, dishonored. The game makes itself clear that betrayal is the prominent theme here, and everyone seems to be a war with each other. Your allies, your enemies, the random homeless guy on the streets, the gangsters, all seem to be in conflict. All this while the city is going through a rat plague that makes lives miserable.

The story itself is pretty straight forward. You can somewhat predict how things are going to unfold. The plot is standard and it works fine, it's what you expect from a game, but a good one, that is. There's enough to keep you interested and it has its own pull while being slightly predictable.

The best part of the experience for me is the world-building. Through-out the game, the story of Dunwall with its problems comes through not by the words of a narrator, but through conversations between ordinary people, between the guards, who may lie under your blade in near future, or between the cut-throats that may or may not be a force you need to face. Amidst all that echoing the walls of the city, books, notes, and audiographs can be found, each offers a small slice of reality and history of this place; how the current situation is, how that it came to be. Is this place worth saving? That's up to you. But one thing for certain is that the game gives you everything you need to make up your mind.

That said, the ending(s) can be a little bit underwhelming. I didn't particularly like it, mostly because I was expecting something more climatic and grander. But it makes sense logically and has since grown on me. I'll leave it for yourself to judge, but remember that it's the journey that matters, as we can almost see how all this is going to end anyway.

VISUALS: 8/10
Admittedly Dishonored isn't the best looking game in the world, but it has its own charm and is thematically appropriate. The art style makes for a gloomy, depressing world. It may come off as a little "flashy" in places, but I think the art direction was properly set and the game itself looks visually good (not stunning, but good).

Personally, I love the art style of Dishonored, from the character designs, the architecture and the minuscule details. It captures both a medieval and steampunk feeling. Judge for yourself from the screenshots.

MUSIC/SOUNDS: 8.5/10
There's not a lot to say on this subject, as I'm not exactly a "sound" person. That said, most of the music is pretty much ambient, letting you focus more on listening to the environment, to eavesdropping on people talking as a hint-giving system. Using the sound cues to detect movements is somewhat less prominent, but is still presented. Other than that, there's not much else to talk about.

TECHNICALITY: 9/10
The game runs smoothly and there are hardly any game-breaking bugs. Several graphical options can be toggled, pretty primitive but all the core options are there. The menu looks cool, although might be hard to read sometimes.

The game also features quicksave and load, pretty useful when you're detected and are not in the mood of killing.

The HUD is minimal, all information is laid on the top left corner. The view is not obstructed and you can even turn off the HUDs (I think so).

The control features a lean system for undetected peaking. Sprint and crouch are toggled and you can do a slide by crouching while running, pretty neat, though I didn't find myself using that feature often. No ADS and you can use your blade simultaneously with your sidearm/power. That said, the sidearms and powers are considered the same thing and both occupy the same weapon selection wheel, this might make it a little bit overwhelming as later in game you'd have around 13 different tools and only 10 number keys to set them to (the wheel itself is on a different button), though you might not use all of them so don't worry about it too much.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 9/10

I love this game, I enjoy the stealth element more than I give it credits for. This game has one of the best writings although is a bit linear. But what makes Dishonored a great game is on the semi-open world approach to world-building. You can do a lot in this game and it's highly recommended you do so. As a result, I find myself get lost in this world more than I'd like to, there's an urge to drive myself to find every bit of lore available to satisfy my curiosity. There are too many ways to experience the game and Dishonored made sure you can do all of them at once, or in later play-throughs. Give it a try, you won't regret it.

Though often regarded as a hardcore platformer, Celeste proves that it can be forgiving, and is generous to its player.



GAMEPLAY: 9.5/10
First thing first, let's talk about the core gameplay mechanic: platforming. It's great, you get most of the tools from the start: you can jump, climb, dash in mid-air, and the game made sure you've got all the basics as soon as you start the game. It's easy to learn, hard to master. There are other advanced techniques that are somewhat hidden, but if you don't need it to pass a level, the game won't tell you. Frankly, you don't need to master everything to beat the game anyway.

Each "chapter" consists of several small levels, all combined a whopping 700+ screens. Each chapter has its unique mechanics and they don't get recycled, as a result, there's always new to keep you interested. The game itself never feels repetitive even though you're doing the same tasks, with the exception of level 7, in which these elements are recycled, I mean, everything appeared in the last 6 (you'll get why it makes sense if you play).

You may feel somewhat intimidated by the "hardcore" frosting (which the game isn't advertised as) that people seem to like describe it as. But fear not, the game helps you overcome these issues. There is no game over screen. If you die, you jump right back in to try again. Unlike a lot of hardcore platformers that require you to be pixel-perfect, Celeste makes a lot of rooms for mistakes, for example, you can jump in a brief moment when you leave the platform or the period in which you need to press a button in succession to perform an advanced technique is quite long and there's no need to be precise. The levels themselves don't have ridiculous tight platforms or impossible jumps either. They are all elegantly designed.

Celeste is not made solely for platformer diehards. It's for everyone, and the game makes sure everyone can play and get better in the process (it even has an assisted mode which I never see the point playing). There are harder modes for more ambitious players but they aren't impossible if you get the hang of it (I did, and I'm a terrible platformer player).

Overall, I don't have anything bad to say if I had to choose one, I'd say it's how long these levels are (but the autosaves at every screen mitigate that) or that the story should be weaved in more. Other than that, this game is almost flawless.

STORY: 9.5/10
It's, again, straight forward, no twists, no turns. But it hits, hard. A girl making her way to the top of a mystical mountain without a definite reason why she's doing this. Everyone can understand what she's going through as they follow her jumping around making her way upward. Everyone can sympathize and somewhat see themself in her. The story is simple but powerful and is told at the appropriate time. It doesn't take a genius to come up with it, but it certainly does to make it moving and touch your heart.

Celeste teaches you to not give up, to fight your own demons. It certainly helps with beating the game. Maybe someone can apply it to real-life too. Who says games don't teach you anything?

VISUALS: 9/10
Being a platformer, choosing pixel art style for the graphic department is most appropriate since precision is best achieved when the distance between you and that cliff is discretely measured. Celeste offers a medium for both technicality and clarity. On a lighter note, the promotional art, while not in pixel style, doesn't deceive its customers by portraiting what isn't there.

Although certain levels lack depth in its art (the 3rd level, for example, it looks a bit rough, some visual effects would benefit the feels of it, but somehow none was used), the rest is excellently made and employed well, it's one of the key element that gives Celeste its charm. It's gorgeous and elegant, each block has plenty, but not too much, details so that you can observe them all without having to stop dashing, though sit back to enjoy the view wouldn't hurt. Effects are put in to compliment the graphics further, giving each level its proper atmosphere. Overall, the art of Celeste is arguably the sufficient and necessary condition for the game success, but only to a certain extend.

MUSIC/SOUNDS: 9.5/10
Featuring the synth-heavy soundtrack from Lena Raine, whose name I've never heard before, but I'm glad I got introduced to. Each chapter has its own sets of track accompanied, and all of them work. All of them set the atmosphere for the current phase you're in. Tamer, less intense moments have slower and more spacious songs reminding you to be careful in your step while the more exciting ones give indications to speed up from, indeed, its music. The music works, the soundtrack is fantastic, it's beautifully crafted, there isn't anything to complain about aside from my inability to give the soundtrack album a proper listen due to its 100-minute runtime, and my attention span is worse than a flea.

Sound effects don't play a huge impact, but it has its moment. Someone can say that certain "character voices" can be a bit obnoxious, though I personally have no problems with it. Sounds are OK, I'm not nit-picking, let's not talk about this.

TECHNICALITY: 10/10
Everything technically related to this game feels perfect, emphasis on "feel". The menu is clean, the level selection is ok. There is an assist mode to give overwhelmed players a choice to "cheese" the game but I never really used that. Tutorials are seamlessly put in and the control is precise, it's only up to your reflexes, you can't blame the game for being unfair, sorry. Even the hidden mechanics to make the game more forgiving are undoubtedly elegant, it gives players more space to breath while keeping their impacts minimal. All the small things at up and they make the game so smooth and clean I never get tired of playing, at least until my fingers got sore.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 10/10
I've never been one for platformers. They tend to progressively grow in difficulty in an unfair and irritating fashion. Other times, the control is the culprit, as some games even capitalize on the idea of making control a part of the ultimate teeth-grinding frustration. Therefore, I often give up early and never pick them up again. Not with Celeste, the game gets harder, it's even painfully difficult in parts, but not once I have the feeling it's the game fault. There's no way you can blame the game for being unfair because it simply is not. If others can beat it, I can. I spent a fair share of time in Celeste, and giving up was never present in my head.

Give this a try. You won't regret it.

This review is retrospective, that is, I wrote out of memory, details may not be accurate. I felt like I should do reviews justice, even though I only got to play years after the release and it feels like no one is going to read this anyway. Still, gotta get this out there, right?

Bioshock is one of the best the survival FPS genre has to offer, gameplay-wise and story-wise. The remastered, while doesn't resolve issues the original game had and also somewhat run unreliably, comes with the 2007 version. Therefore there's no reason to not recommend buying.



GAMEPLAY: 9.5/10
I'd describe the game as a first-person shooter with emphasis on exploration and survival.

It's a shooter, so there are guns and a system of supernatural abilities which enhances player's capability not only in combat but also in interactions with the environment. Shoot bullets with one hand, electrocute those creeps with the other, and there are other powers - called "plasmids" - you can choose from. The traditional weapons and plasmids complement each other, and although plenty of games have done this before, Bioshock implements them well and you can't proceed to rely solely on one or the other.

On the aspect of exploration, the game itself isn't open world, sorry. That said, exploration is important, otherwise, you probably will run out of ammo and medkits pretty soon. There's enough branching-out that makes players spend time to examine every nook and cranny, side-tracking from the main objective. Apart from extra ammunitions and weaponry, secrets are abundant and every bit expand upon the story, but more on that later.

The game is reminiscent of survival mostly due to how it feels and the implementations of the stealth element. Sneaking up on enemies, completely ignoring them, running-and-gunning and leaving no survivors; your world, your choice. But tensions only arise when you realize resources might be scarce and sneaking might be beneficial. It might not be obvious, but it's certainly a choice.

All that said, one question remains, however: What are we shooting here? There are only a few main sources of dangers, but there are plenty of variances that keep the game fresh and as you unlock more powers and weapons, dealing with them becomes more "fun". That said, not all threats must be resolved with violence, some mechanical turrets can be "hacked" by a minigame and they even work in your favor on successful attempts.

So, gameplay-wise, Bioshock has everything a traditional shooter has and executes every aspect well enough to keep the player interested. I don't fully know how the scene back in '07 was, but I'd say the game is pretty innovative in its core gameplay elements.

STORY: 9/10
The setting of the game is ordinary enough, your plane crashed in the middle of nowhere, you managed to get to a lighthouse, only to find a hidden city underwater. As you go on exploring the world of Rapture, it slowly becomes clearer how much effort went into creating a world with an idealistic ideology that worked against itself and created a dystopian that is now filled with "drug-addicts" for lack of better words. There are two endings, one being grimmer than the other. I'm not overselling the plot and compare it to works of Shakespeare, but it is simply good, thrilling and intriguing. The knot unwinds as you play and travel from places to places, there is never a clear threat, your only goal is to survive, but it is not easy as you think it is.

The successful attempt in conveying the story of Rapture is done by a selection of recordings scattered around the world. These tapes explain how things came to be, how all of this happened. And also, by your companion, a man you never really see his face. Combining that with visual cues, you can somewhat get a picture of Rapture, or what left of it.

The only down point of the story is the boss battle, the last and only one. It was pretty clear that such a fight might not happen. But it does, there is one. The plot so far has been smart and elegantly told, and the boss fight doesn't fit. It feels forced and unnatural. Other than that, I highly recommend the game based on the story alone.

VISUALS: 9/10
Because I only played the remastered version, this section is based solely on that experience. Visually, the game looks great. The art style works, it captures a city back in the 60s with great details. Add to that the bottom-of-the-ocean theme and the dilapidation make for a vivid world. It's sad, it's dark, it's almost dead and makes people go insane, but it's also stunning and alive, just not with sane people.

The only problem I have with the visual style is that it's sometimes not clear what I am looking at. Maybe it is because of how things blend a bit too perfectly. Other than that the visual is almost flawless, at least for a 2007 game. Feel free to look up the screenshots.

MUSIC/SOUNDS: 8.5/10

This section is going to be short and is solely based on how I feel about the sound of the game because I'm not exactly great with this aspect. The music is ok, it has its rises and falls, it is timed well and fit the theme of the game. There aren't any sections that the music/sounds feel out of place. The gun and plasmid sound effects are a bit too loud but it can be adjusted. Overall it's ok.

TECHNICALITY: 8.5/10
I have to admit, the remastered did take some time to get it to run properly. Other than that, I'd got no additional problems. The game ran rather smoothly. It might crash on launch or mid-game for you, it's possible to get it running.

First, let's talk about the control. There's no sprinting, crouch is toggled, pretty standard. Combat requires using both guns and plasmids simultaneously, therefore most guns don't have ADS, except for a few which is toggled by an additional button. It might need a bit getting used to but overall nothing too problematic. There are no input lags or noticeable ones.

The UI is clean, not obstructing. Although small and only convey very basic elements, it's good enough. It might be a bit hard to see and some getting used to is required.

Option-wise, there are basic graphical options, enough to tinker around with. There's a FOV slider. I think game difficulty can be changed during play, except for the hardest one. Pretty basic stuff. Overall there isn't anything to complain about.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 10/10

Yes, there are a few flaws I had to point out. But was I willing to bypass all that? Certainly. The issues are minor and not noticeable. I love this game. It's just so well made, everything works with each other, each brings something to the overall experience.

Even the big let-down, the boss fight, though retrospectively, I don't think it fits the game, it was exciting enough back when I played it that I thought was great. Player choices are rewarded, not only by a change in the outcome. But the overall tone as well.

Bioshock did a great job at weaving gameplay elements with its storytelling, as a result, you're constantly on your toes, trying to figure out what it all means while staying out of troubles (or diving in head-first). The game doesn't tell you to explore the environment, but it'd feel like you're missing out if you don't. The combat is fast-paced when needed, although can somewhat be repetitive, it doesn't last too long to really make it dull. Stealth is implied, but it still keeps players active as your movement is not too limited. The game paces at an appropriate speed, conflicts arise at unexpected moments and all-in-all, made the game enjoyable in every little way.

Give the game a try, you won't regret it. It's almost a cult-classic at this point, no need to oversell anymore anyway.