Recent reviews by facls

I got this on a promo since I've been playing Trine 4 and enjoying that one a lot. I was aware of this entry's reputation but decided to give it a shot.

It starts wonderfully, the graphics are beautiful, even five years after release. The puzzles, collectibles, all the elements that makes Trine well, Trine, are here, just in 3D.

Then as you progress you start to see its flaws. Some odd bugs here and there, some levels have platforming puzzles that are not well suited for the camera and the 3D perception the game offers. Then on the map some smaller levels start to unlock without an explanation. They are sometimes combat challenges, sometimes smaller levels and one is almost a replica of a regular one. Why are they there? They are just adding some extra time to complete the game.

Then there's a boss, you get a part of the artifact, a cutscene, seems like you're moving to a new world.... and end credits.

The devs were honest that they ran out of money and it shows. Trine 3 is incomplete, with some bugs and the series with this entry made a not entirely successful 3D turn. I still enjoyed my time with it, aware of all the problems it had, so I still recommend this, but only when on a sale.

This is a pretty incredible game. I never cared cared about the RE mythology (still don't) or story and I'm late to this universe (first one I ever played was Revelations on the 3DS). This RE2 remake however is a great action game. It looks incredible, is very tense and for the first time in the series I felt like going back for multiple speed runs. Very much worth your time.

One of the best Metroidvanias ever made. Exploration is a blast and the soundtrack is incredible. Tough but fair.

I was a backer for this game on Kickstarter and, unlike some of the other games that were crowdfunded, this one delivered on its promise. It really does feel like an undiscovered adventure game from the late 80s/early 90s, from the graphics and interface to the writing from Ron Gilbert and the puzzles (maybe not as obscure as back then, but it still has some pretty tough ones). The characters are really engaging, particularly Delores and Ransome. I just wish there were more interactive items on each place with funny descriptions. It's a pretty long game (around 15 hours) and absolutely worth it, sale price or not.

Mafia III is such a frustrating game. The story is so well told, with strong and very well defined characters, aided by great acting and impressive facial animations. You look forward to cut scenes unlike most games. My favorite characters are Father James and Donovan, who steals every scene he's in. There is also a ton of great music from the era. Unfortunately the game gets pretty much everything else wrong: it's as repetitive as people have been complaining; you have around 12 targets whose rackets you need to take down before facing them, and in order to do that you have to pretty much do the same missions over and over again. Not only that but the main target is located in the same place a previous mission took over, adding to the repetition. Only the main capo missions add much needed variety; they are the strongest missions in the game (the capos are also very well characterized and acted). Shooting is pretty mediocre (it was stronger in Mafia II) and stealth is an option but AI is very dumb. It also looks pretty dated and ugly, and is very poorly optimized. There are a ton of collectibles in the game but, if you can believe it, there are no achievements for collecting them all, which is really absurd.

Obviously a great deal of money was invested in the making of this game and no doubt there was a lot of heart involved in its creation, so it pains me to say that this one is a pass.

Absolutely effing glorious.

This is the perspective of someone who loves stealth games but has only played, and only barely, Snake Eater. So I have no idea of the franchise's backstory and frankly do not much care. As a stealth game, this is one of the very best, if not the best one, I've ever played. The mechanics are phenomenal, the freedom of movement and choice on how to approach each mission is great and there are several side objectives that add to the fun. I generally don't like stealth games that do not offer quick saves but I did not mind the checkpoint system here. The game also looks absolutely phenomenal on the PC and runs incredibly smooth. If there's one thing I'd put as a negative is that there's too much game time, actually. After a certain part of the story, there's a lot of replaying old missions until the proper end, and I personally wouldn't have minded if it ended earlier, as I took a lot of time during missions and side missions and was frankly "done" with the game by then.

I remember how much fun I had with the freedom of movement and overall destruction that I could bring to Just Cause 2, and that it looked and ran fantastic. JC3 is a pretty good sequel but it does nothing new that elevates or improves from the previous game. Since I had great expectations for this game, considering how much I enjoyed JC2, I was disappointed. It's still fun though. It does not, however, look as good as JC2 (more colorful but the models look old) and it runs terrible (lots of stutter). I'd wait for a while until it's properly optimized.

This game plays pretty much the same as Tomb Raider, with almost all of the same weapons (a bit more customization this time) and a few new moves (nothing particularly innovative). Tombs are still optional but are very well designed, as are the new levels, which are pretty huge and now include side missions. It took me around 30 hours to get 100% on the base game and on the Baba Yaga DLC (which is good but ridiculously short).

My negative, and it's a big one, is that while the game runs at 60FPS most of the time, it crashes my GTX 970 drivers regularly (A LOT at release, less so with each new patch). My drivers are updated, I have no issues with other games, even new ones like AC Syndicate. The only other game I've experienced this is Lara Croft and the Guardian Light, which was close to unplayable. I'd advise not getting this until new patches are available.

Syndicate polishes the mechanics that were becoming tiresome in the franchise and makes the game feel fun again. The lead characters are refreshing and fun to be around with, and add a layer of humor that the saga really needed. Good use of historical characters as well. Traveling around the city becomes less of a chore as well with the new travel possibilities. Last and certainly not least, it's one the best and most optimized PC ports for an AAA title this year. Syndicate joins II and Black Flag as the best AC games available.