Recent reviews by Drowkin

I'll be honest. During the first hour I was sure I would be refunding this game. But... Something in the back of my head; a fairy, an angel, a devil, all at once, rolled up in a package of pure stress and adrenaline told me I should keep going at it. That things would get better. That I would get it.

The back of my head was right. This game makes me feel. I'm gaming like I'm a six-year-old all over again. It's exciting, it's scary, it's stressful, it's amazing, it's horrifying, it's beautiful.

If you're an old fart like me, then look at it like this: It's the same feeling of discovery and amazement you felt when you got that game you wanted on christmas when you were a kid. And while we might be too old to feel the exact same thing again, this game is the closest it's ever going to be.

It's everything you didn't know you wanted. It's a test of your own humanity. It's a struggle.

It's the best game I've played in a year full of bangers. It's Arc Raiders.

Often studios tried to recreate or emulate the tone and twisted story of the original Silent Hill 2. The task is impossible. The 2001 game was lightning in a bottle. From ideas that were fresh for the time to the clunky dialogue and line delivery that worked in its favor, the original game is simply too unique.

While it may be very different from its original version, this Silent Hill 2 manages to stand on its own and deliver an atmospheric, melancholic, creepy experience. The Bloober Team tried very hard to create a product that has a soul, a tone and a particular feel.

I believe they absolutely succeeded. The artistic direction is impeccable. Visual and sound design are top notch. It feels and plays like a AAA game, plays with player expectations and never feels cheap.

As someone who usually don't like Bloober Team games, this one comes as a very, very good surprise.

That'll do, Bloober. That'll do.

First of all, after such a rocky launch, it is very good to see Iron Galaxy and Naughty Dog dropping patches that fix the most glaring performance and visual issues. Looks like the devs are taking care of their baby, good news considering The Last of Us is an incredible experience.

While the gameplay is quite classic, the execution is close to perfect. TLOU is your standard fare 3rd person shooter with stealth and cover mechanics, elevated by snappy controls and impactful weapons. The Last of Us doesn't shy away from violence. Limbs are ripped, heads explode, blood flies and splatters and enemies react in a way that makes you feel the impact of what you've done.

Level design is also on the better side. Not an open world game, but some of the levels are huge and let you explore the post apocalypse at your pace, scavenging for the precious little resources you will need to craft first aid kits, molotovs, shivs and other items to help you in your journey.

Audio design is top notch. Very little music, which is a good choice for what this game is trying to convey, but it's the sound effects that steal the show. The high quality, detailed samples greatly strenghten the immersion.

Also participating in said immersion: the graphics. This game looks absolutely gorgeous. Not only on a technical level, but also in its artistic direction. Animations are smooth and natural, especially facial animations. Thanks to that and the actors' performances, the characters feel very much life-like.

But what really sets The Last of Us apart from many other games in the genre is its writing.
The storytelling is solid and well-paced, the characters are believable and the story deals with its themes in a mature, adult way which will make you question your own sense of morality.

It's really sad to see such a good game suffering from a launch full of bugs and crashes for some users, because The Last of Us is a real gem and deserves to be played from beginning to end by as many people as possible.

After enjoying the first two games, I thought I was in for a treat.

Compared to Simulacra 2, there are less characters and the ones present lack personality and development.

The bland story feels removed from its predecessors and could have easily been its own new entry instead of a third game in the series. Here, it feels like the Simulacra was tacked on at the end for marketing purposes.

The interactive video segment (yes, singular, there is only ONE segment) suffers from technical issues. The audio mixing is very different in volume and the videos cut abruptly between the "interactive" parts and the video parts. At first I thought I didn't understand the puzzle correctly. But no. There is no puzzle. It's so mind-numbingly simple it's disappointing. It makes this whole segment feel like a test, an experiment, NOT a fully fledged feature.

As for the "Follow the trail" feature on the city map? It is used twice in the whole game. Once at the very beginning to serve as a tutorial, then once at the very end.

Simulacra 3 is a husk. It feels boring, uninspired, empty and soulless. An extreme disappointment.

Beautiful. Hard. Rewarding.
Awesome.

It's really hard for me to do an unbiased review of this game, so I would rather speak about my
personal experience.

When I was about 11 years old, I played the first X-COM: UFO Defense through and through.
As a kid I thought it was the most challenging, well-put togheter game I'd ever played.

Time passed by, and, one fateful day, I read the review of X-COM: Terror From the Deep in a french
magazine. There was only one thing left to do: BUY. IT. NOW.

And, thanks to my parents (and me being a good boy around xmas ;)) I got my hands on a copy of this
game. I still own the original box, floppy disc edition.

I played this game at least one week per month for about a year and a half.

It's now 2014, and I still haven't found a game so compelling since. Everything in this game pulled me
in, and would never let me go. The music. The atmosphere. This always present feeling of dread. The pressure put on your shoulders when trying to save as many civilians as possible during a Terror mission without sacrificing your favorite soldiers.
And, above all else, the incredible depth of the tactical options that were offered to you throughout the game. Both in combat situation and on the Geosphere's more laid-back, strategical planning.

This is the kind of game that involves you so much that you start to create your own stories about your pixelated soldiers. I knew their names.I knew what they were capable, or uncapable of doing while on a mission. I knew them, and losing any of them had some kind of impact on me. "They were my soldiers. my mates. They were good soldiers, and I'll never forget them."

To me, X-COM: Terror From the Deep defines the word "classic" when it comes to Strategic planning and Tactical
Combat.