Recent reviews by gbrading

Despite Into the Emberlands coming out back in January, it's continually stuck with me through the year. It has this great cycle of expansion and exploration, but is continually easy-going despite its sometimes challenging gameplay. A puzzle game and a roguelike at the same time, with a jaunty soundtrack and a really cute visual style.

Read my full review at Entertainium[entertainium.co].

There's nothing really quite like Indika, even among other narrative adventures. Nothing has quite the same vibe of off-kilter steampunk merged with comedy and serious discussions of the nature of good and evil. It's not flawless as the actual ending is a bit anticlimactic but the journey there is extremely memorable and enjoyable.

Read my full review at Entertainium[entertainium.co].

Despite an upcoming patch being delayed for unknown reasons, System Shock as it is right now is still an incredible game, and one of the best and most faithful remakes ever. It takes everything which was brilliant about System Shock and rejuvenates it for a more modern era, without sacrificing the core gameplay experience. Indeed, the elements of horror are actually significantly increased compared to the original, which I really enjoyed. I hope that the patch does get released soon so that the somewhat lacklustre ending is sorted out alongside some other minor issues, but nonetheless System Shock is an absolute recommendation for fans of immersive sims, atmospheric shooters and sci-fi horror.

Read my full review on Entertainium.[entertainium.co]

It might be tiresome to say "If you enjoyed Fallout 4 you'll enjoy Fallout 76", but the fact of the matter is that this is a direct successor to Fallout 4 in multiple ways. For one thing the shooting and general gameplay loop of exploring, fighting, and looting is almost identical, as is the ability to build your own encampments. Likewise, although there are now plenty of missions with NPCs, the story and characters definitely take a backseat compared to earlier instalments in the Fallout franchise.

Not to say there isn't worldbuilding; Appalachia is festooned with a variety of locations which are fun to explore and have little stories associated with them, and the size of the world is impressive. But the overarching narrative is weak and most characters you speak to aren't particularly interesting. You can play 98% of this game completely as a single-player experience if desired, and only certain end-game missions or events require or encourage you to act as a team. There are some limitations which are frustrating; the artificial weight limit on your stash box which can be partially "fixed" by subscribing to Fallout 1st (granting you infinite scrap storage and from December, infinite ammo storage) is a particularly sore point. But truth be told Fallout 76 is relatively tame in regards to microtransactions and most in-game rewards must be earned rather than simply bought.

Fallout 76 is a generally fun and satisfying open-world shooter with an interesting world and quite a positive community. It has plenty of content to entertain players for many hours and compared to many MMOs, does not nickel and dime you while doing so.

I originally reviewed Eidolon back in 2014 (and you can read my original review here[entertainium.co]) and since that time, I've found myself coming back to it often. It's one of those games I feel I can get truly lost in. The open world is utterly vast and despite the simplicity of the graphics, the atmosphere is second to none, the beautiful music creating a powerfully mournful and moving experience. If you're looking for a detailed survival game or an exciting open-world adventure you won't find it here. But if you're looking for a thought-provoking and meaningful game which will make you think about our place in history and time, and are willing to take the time to soak in its deliberately slow pace, Eidolon is for you.

I originally reviewed the mod version[entertainium.co] of Black Mesa back in 2012, and I loved it. In the 8 years since then, the game has only gotten better. This year it finally reached its 1.0 release with the addition of the Zen levels; a truly masterful re-imagining of the final part of the original Half-Life which adds an enormous amount of greater depth to an already excellent game. Black Mesa isn't just a great remake of Half-Life; it is a superb game in its own right. Whatever this team wants to make next, I will be eagerly awaiting it.

I have, shall we say, played some No Man's Sky. I didn't play the game originally at launch, but first played about a year after release. At that time, the game was still suffering from a huge blight of issues; inventory management was frustratingly clunky, the main story was extremely lacklustre, the game ran fairly badly with a very chunky framerate. Since then, I've dipped in and out as each new update has not only added more content to the game, but also fixed a variety of the underlying issues. Each update has been an incremental improvement on the last, essentially added more layers of polish and finesse. Today, I think it is now safe to say that more than 5 years after release, No Man's Sky is a great game. It took a hell of a lot of time and effort, but the coal has been turned into a diamond.

Depending on what you actually want to do in No Man's Sky, the game gives you quite a selection of options. Do you want to get involved in interstellar trading? You can. Do you want to go shoot space pirates? You can. Want to just visit planets, admire the wildlife and take pretty pictures? You can. No Man's Sky is a game about slowly building your character from nothing into a spacefaring tycoon, complete with a capital ship and a fleet of corvettes at your disposal. The variety of planets, wildlife and landscapes has certainly increased in the latest update, giving a wider than ever breadth of locales and creatures for you to encounter. This makes the main strength of the game, namely exploration, feel more rewarding. Multiplayer is also handled pretty well, even including some global missions and a nice multiplayer hub where people can hang out.

Hello Games didn't give up. They put in the hours and they rescued a game which many others would have abandoned and thought its reputation was permanently tainted. No Man's Sky is fundamentally a different game than the product which launched in 2016; essentially every facet of gameplay has been overhauled and improved, and on a technical level the game has never run better. It's still not without further polishing, as I hope Hello will continue with for as long as the game has an active player base. If your thoughts about No Man's Sky ended in 2016, I urge you to give it a try now and see how it has changed, entirely for the better. While the additional gameplay options can seem overwhelming, at heart if you still want to engage with No Man's Sky as a "pretty planets photo simulator", you absolutely can. I once described No Man's Sky as being as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle. The puddle is now a hell of a lot deeper than it first appears.

Trüberbrook is good for a short visit, but you’re unlikely to want to linger longer than necessary.

Read my full review on Entertainium.[entertainium.co]

This review originally from October 2009.

The original Max Payne gave us a long enough taste of mind-bendingly exciting action and adventure to make us salivate profusely at the mouth with delight, and then quickly took it away before we got too greedy. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne takes almost the exact same approach, but gives us a slightly different but a just as, if not more engrossing experience. Although we all wish the game had been just a little longer, its quality would probably have suffered. For what you get then, Max Payne 2 is an absolute diamond of the highest degree.

First off, if you haven’t played the original Max Payne, go out and play that first, as it is a truly fantastic game in itself. Although there is a very nice and handy storyboard cutscene summarising the events of that game, actually playing through it means that you will understand the story much easier. Since the storyline is one of the best aspects of the game, this point should not be underestimated in any way. This time around, Max has dispensed with his Hawaiian shirt, is out of the DEA and back into the NYPD as a detective, when he gets called to a warehouse where shots have been reported. However, the storyline actually jumps around in a very cool kind of Pulp Fiction style, and so the first thing you experience is Max awaking in a hospital, before suddenly hopping back to the ‘beginning’ again. Starting the game ‘in medias res’ was an exceedingly novel idea, gives the game a sense of style and adds to the film noir, or even classic pulp fiction feel even more. Although Max has put pay to several ghosts already in the first game, he is still deeply haunted with Survivor’s Guilt concerning the murders of his wife and child, and has not been able to get over it yet. Further, his infatuation/love interest with the character of Mona Sax has notably increased. There are also new twists around the corner waiting to be discovered. Overall, the plot of Max Payne 2 is just as good, if not better than the original, offering a very interesting twist at the end.

On gameplay, Max still has access to a nice variety of weapons, and can now brandish dual Desert Eagles, for double the killing power. Further, Payne’s main advantage over his enemies, Bullet Time, has gone through a substantial change. Before, it was of mainly about shoot-dodging your way round corners and leaping across rooms from cover to cover. Now, as well as that, activating Bullet Time just before an encounter with numerous enemies will allow Max to continually speed himself up and slow down time further in line with the number of bad guys he takes out, making large battles hugely entertaining as bullets ricochet everywhere and the rooms become wrecked with holes and flying splinters. AI is now even more intelligent, rolling around, hiding and throwing grenades when suitable. Aiming on the PC is nice and easy as always, and you can choose the design and size of the reticule. The ragdoll physics are good, and allow vanquished enemies fall in many interesting (and occasionally amusing) ways. There are also several levels where you get to play as Mona Sax, which is good fun and a nice change, but as Max is the more intricate character, his levels are much more exciting.

The graphics have improved substantially. Lip syncing on the characters is almost perfect, the character models are highly detailed and expressive, and all the environments are extremely interactive. Instead of a blizzard, there is now heavy rain falling across the boroughs of New York, giving more depth to the film noir, and showing that it really is the fall (autumn). Cutscenes are again delivered through the exquisitely beautiful graphic-novel storyboard format, and the sharp, cold and witty lines combined with superb voice acting give the game an amazing ambience; “Firing a gun is a binary choice, you either pull the trigger, or you don’t.” The music too, most notably the main theme, has improved significantly and is sombre and exciting when required.

There are again dream sequences like the previous game, but this time they are much better, as you can no longer ‘die’ whilst in the dreams. Again, they form a surreal sideline to the main story, but are still interesting. Aside from the relative shortness of the game, there are very few, if any, major weaknesses. I struggle to think of anything terribly critical to say on the gameplay front. Secondary characters have been developed nicely, notably Mona Sax, who is simply perfect in the role of mysterious femme fatale. There are also a great number of little in-jokes which have been in added, giving some nicely light-hearted moments. The best of these is the television programmes which have returned from the original, but now in longer format with a running plotline themselves; Address Unknown, a thriller about a guy called John Mirra, along with Lords and Ladies, where everyone is either addressed as “My Lord!” or “My Lady!”

In essence then, Max Payne 2 is really a ‘film noir love story’, just as it was billed. Max is one of the most interesting video game characters ever designed, and playing as him, you can also sense his emotions; a hardened but grief stricken individual. Apart from it being too short, as was its predecessor, this being a minor qualm at best, I sincerely hope that Payne will return for a third instalment some time soon in the future (which indeed, he did).

The line puzzles, for what they are, are fairly inventive despite the limitations. Each area of the game introduces new concepts into the maze puzzles, and many of the harder puzzles merge a variety of these concepts together. Over the course of the game you will gradually learn this language so you will be able to intuitively understand these puzzles, although they will always remain a challenge. Some of the later puzzles are fiendishly challenging, which will leave you reaching for a guide.

After the tutorial area of the game, you can wonder across the Myst-esque island at your leisure, and some areas of the island are clearly meant for you to complete after you've finished some of the easier areas. However, the game never tells you "you don't know how to complete this puzzle yet", which can lead to frustration if you attempt a series of puzzles you haven't mastered the rules of.

Furthermore, some of the puzzle design can be counter-intuitive; certain puzzles are able to be brute forced by process of elimination, and if you’ve missed environmental clues or other hints, or simply don’t understand what you’re supposed to be doing, these do not feel very fun. Indeed, a lot of the game can feel deliberately un-fun. The game doesn’t have any kind of traditional reward structure; by completing puzzles you simply unlock more puzzles, but don’t get any kind of feedback other than that. You get your enjoyment through the act of solving the puzzles themselves, instead of any external validation. There are also a lot of optional puzzles that essentially do “nothing”, and completing them is not required to “finish” the game.

Visually the game is without fault, with a gorgeously lush and colourful world with various biomes including a swamp, a town and a desert. Each area feels nicely distinct, while nonetheless integrating into the rest of the world. However, the island is most of the time completely disconnected from the puzzles you’re actually solving, meaning it functions mostly as a pretty backdrop. There are only a couple of areas where the environment is used in conjunction with the puzzles (such as the mazes in the castle) and these are definite highlights. While there are some ambient noises, the game is completely lacking any soundtrack or music, something I think is a great shame considering the excellent use of music in the lead developer's previous game, Braid.

I liked certain things about The Witness; its gorgeous visuals and the fairly interesting puzzles. But what makes me feel so infuriated by it is that philosophically and intellectually the game is a mess, and it does not have its own voice at all. Instead, it simply borrows from other philosophical traditions and introduces them without any preamble in an attempt to appear “deep”. It also has essentially no story or in-universe justification to speak of at all; any story must be inferred from a secret ending that occurs after you finish the game the first time.

Rather than advancing or suggesting some themes, The Witness cribs wholesale from the work of others. If you go to the trouble of hunting them down, there are several videos that you can watch in the underground cinema. These videos are from third-party sources and suggest several different philosophical viewpoints, but there is no analysis of their validity, or exploration of their content. One goes on for over an hour and is a complete waste of your time. You’re just presented the videos and left to work out how you feel about them on your own.

The audio logs, which are the other main collectible, are just out of context quotes from a variety of philosophers, scientists and theologians, stuffed into the game seemingly without rhyme or reason. They’re clearly designed to show you different “viewpoints” and to show how different people see things differently, but that is a theme that can be summarized in a single sentence. The Witness doesn’t have a clue what it’s trying to say apart from “people see things in different ways”; it honestly feels like these audio logs were put into the game simply to give the player something to find when they’re not solving puzzles, and to pepper the sometimes unnervingly quiet island with sounds. The Witness wants you to think there is some deeper meaning here; it wants you to think about the stone figures and the island and question it all, but there are no answers and it’s completely pointless.

The Witness is a bit like a dolls house. It's beautiful but it’s lacking any kind of soul, and beneath the surface you can see the fake wallpaper and the plastic furniture. Emotionally, The Witness is cold as ice and the island, despite its beauty and colour, feels uniformly lifeless, artificial and empty. I came away from The Witness actively disliking it; scorning it for its blasé, meaningless attitude actively wishing it had had “something” interesting to say. The Witness desperately wants you to think it’s clever and that it has hidden depth, but ultimately it’s a lie. It’s just a pretty game with some line puzzles in it, and nothing stringing those two elements together. That’s fine, but it should come clean rather than hiding itself behind obfuscating layers of pretension.

The Steam store page for The Witness says “This game… treats your time as precious.” This is just one of several blatant lies that pepper the store page, which you will discover as you play. The Witness downright revels in wasting your time, sometimes in infuriating ways. I can only recommend The Witness to people who enjoy solving line maze puzzles for the sake of solving line maze puzzles, but I cannot recommend it to anyone looking to intuit any greater meaning, purpose or enjoyment from it other than that.