Recent reviews by gomiboy75

Don't listen to the naysayers. There are too many. This game is fun. The skate gameplay is flawless. You can skate in a unrealistic way or more true to what you can actually achieve on a board in real life.

Don't listen to the alarmists saying the game is a cash grab. They're right to an a degree. It is a cash grab. But hey, this is a company delivering a free-to-play game and they're of course going to seek compensation via micro transactions. You know what, you're to obliged to pay. You can play without buying skins. No one is forcing you. So chill.

Fun game. Skate gamplay is flawless. Looking forward to what the team will delivery as time goes on.

It's not a sakte simulation. If that's your thing play Session. This is fun first and foremost. But it's flexible enough to play to seriously.

If you want to live out your samurai role play fantasies, then this game serves that up and then some. Gameplay loop is engaging and the combat is fluid.

Superb skate game. It will take a while to get used to the controls, especially if the only skate games you have played previously were THP and EA Skate. But stick with it, this is a game which rewards perseverance. You'll switch tre flip to crook grind in no time.

And since this game has left early access, it's arguably better than it was before. New San Francisco map adds more terrain, including famous spots such as hubba hideout. Plus the replay editor will keep you occupied for hours as you try spot after spot, line after line recording your skate part.

Definitely worth the payout.

Haven't played enough of this game to form a good impression, But the games design aesthetic looks like a highly polished mobile game. That's off putting for me.

May change opinion later but this feels like a soulless ARPG

As time moves on and FromSoftware releases another soulsborne game with some major and some minor variations to distinguish it from its forebears, I found myself unable to immerse myself in the game.

There is plenty on offer here, a vast world to explore, large armory, flexible build options, etc But I find it’s not enough to endure the masochist slog that is a requirement of all soulsborne games, from the first time you step into the lands between to explore the world.

I don’t have the energy or the patience for this type of game design anymore. I’m closer to 50 than 45 years and I do believe this has more to do with my age than anything else.

I had the patience 3 years ago and got through Sekiro’s campaign. Unfortunately for me, the time I need to invest feels as though that could be put to use elsewhere. The abstract story, which for the most part after 21 hours is present once again is a FromSoftware trademark that requires time I resent investing.

I’m sure there is good reason Elden Ring has received almost universal acclaim after it was released. Unfortunately, I don’t feel the same way. And without deliberately trying to be provocative I have to add these games are a formula that is beginning to show its age.

Also, no option to disable chromatic aberration and widely reported performance issues is criminal and indicative of our platform continually being treated like a second-class citizen by this developer.

If you’re enjoying your journey then good for you. I hope you find solace in these trying times as you become Elden lord for the umpteenth time.

But that’s it for me. I’m done.

After playing for some time now, I have written a revised review based on my 20+ hours in the game so far.

Thankfully the server congestion and long queues to login to the game seem to have been addressed for the most part. You will still experience a queue during peak time, depending on your region and server but logging in is no longer the demoralising experience it was during those early days post launch. Introducing the option to change servers later on is also a step in the right direction.

While I still believe the story is lacking, relying on notes and journals scattered throughout the world is a lazy way to add lore, the gameplay makes up for this shortcoming. Some people would argue playing a story-lite MMORPG is a deal breaker for them. This isn’t FFXIV Online which excels at telling its story but it’s not as incoherent and complex as WoW either. There is a narrative here but it’s very much a secondary concern.

You play this game for the simplified combat, this is not a multiple hotkey MMO, which is satisfying when it doesn’t bug out on occasion. Melee weapons feel tangible and the skills are for the most part enjoyable to use.

If you like gathering and resource management, then you may want to consider notifying your friends, family, SO that you’re a harvester now and they will just have to come to terms with it. New World is head and shoulders above most other MMOs when it comes to gathering and crafting. Gear you craft is actually viable and will carry you low to mid level content while farming for an upgrade. Virtually everything in the world can be harvested or farmed for resources.

Downsides

Navigating the world. We know the game does not have mounts. Whether these are introduced later on is a ‘wait and see’. There are some things which can be done to make travelling easier in the game

Drop the requirement for Azoth for fast travel between settlements and soul stones. Tie gold to this mechanic as a ‘penalty’

You can only check in one inn at a time. Allow players to check in at multiple inns and limit the number by region

After maxing camp tiers, allow players to fast travel to their camp site. Restrict this to regions again (ie unable to fast travel from campsite in another region)

In-game transit service. Player pays for service with existing currency (ie gold)

The aggro system in this game is a mess. Inconsistent and buggy. The drop off with aggroed NPCs is too long. Enemy NPCs can chase you almost from one town to another. The cut off needs to be adjusted. This is something which needs to be addressed as it does tarnish the experience.

FInding a group to run with isn’t made easy. It’s entirely dependent on if you have friends or you get invites via chat. A party finder with the usual options to group up is a requirement in future updates. Why this has been left aside I don’t know.

By and large I am enjoying the game more so the longer I have played it. It may not be to everyone's taste. If you’re hungry for a gathering and resource heavy MMO, which takes PvP seriously rather than a secondary concern, then New World is probably for you.

Despite sinking over 125+ hours in this game I cannot, in all honesty, recommend it to people, especially those of you who are looking for a rich RPG experience.

We are all aware of how long we waited for this game. From the first teaser trailer back in 2013 up to the multiple delays, the expectation was off the charts. The media and fans alike heralded this game as an experience that would redefine the RPG genre. Confidence was high. After all, how could the developer responsible for Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt possibly fail.

Now before I dwell on the negative aspects of the game, here is what CP2077 does well. The presentation is outstanding. CDPRs concept design team excelled themselves in almost every sense. Problems arise when environmental assets and NPCs glitch. But for most of the time, the world is a believable presentation of a dystopian future. If that future had ceased to evolve in terms of fashion and aesthetics beyond the neon-infused 1980s.

But look beyond the set dressing and you’ll quickly realise that’s all it is; it’s a stage, a studio backlot. There is little opportunity to interact with the environment and NPCs. See that food stand over there, wanna recreate that moment from Blade Runner when Deckard sits at a noodle bar and watches the world go by? Nope, sorry. The NPC vendors are mostly silent. Buying food from them deposits an item(s) into your inventory. That’s it. The illusion of this neon-drenched dystopian environment quickly comes undone when you stop pursuing a mission and try to interact with it.

Remember when we were promised a deep RPG experience, akin to a TTRPG game? It’s clear the direction of the game changed multiple times throughout its development cycle. In-depth RPG mechanics are virtually nonexistent. Dialogue options, while giving the illusion of choice, are inconsequential to the outcome of your interaction with NPCs in the game. Choices have little impact on the narrative. And with the exception of a handful of side missions, most jobs are of the standard fair: go to A, kill and/or retrieve, go to B to dropoff. Rinse and repeat.

One key instance highlights how little your choices impact the narrative. I’ll allude to the ‘mission’ in an effort to avoid spoilers. There is a significant event after the prologue. You have the opportunity to acknowledge what has happened with a side mission. If you completely ignore this side mission, there is zero consequence for V. The key NPCs involved in this quest will interact with you without acknowledging that your V has failed to participate in the side mission. Time stands still while you’re free to push the main storyline forward. There should have been consequences if you failed to participate in this mission, but there is no punishment. They remain static while you are free to do whatever you want.

The three lifepaths which were heavily marketed at the time amount to a shallow introduction before you encounter Jackie Welles. Minor variations aside as to where your V starts their campaign, the lifepaths are meaningless and every character becomes a street kid after the first twenty minutes in the game. I deliberately tested all lifepaths to see the variations, which amount to little if any consequence to the game. Corpo makes little sense when you understand the origin is the complete antithesis of Silverhand’s values and how he interprets the world. A missed opportunity.

Let’s talk about Johnny Silverhand/Keanu Reeves and the main narrative of the game. It’s clear CDPR fell in love with Keanu and probably couldn’t believe their luck in securing a beloved triple-A Hollywood actor for their game. Now it’s easy to speculate and suggest that maybe the direction of the game changed when Keanu Reeves came on board. But this is speculation. Despite some good articles coming out of the media over the past week or so, shedding light on the tumultuous development of the game at CDPR, it’s difficult to say whether or not this was the case. What is clear is that CDPR gave us the opportunity to create our own avatar to explore their world. But the regret with that decision is obvious when you consider how integral Silverhand is to your V and the main storyline. On more than one occasion, Silverhand’s legacy and his importance to the lore of Cyberpunk eclipse your own journey.

I don’t believe we should hold our breath and expect CDPR to reintroduce cut content which didn’t make the final game. I think we should mitigate our expectations and expect nothing more than the game to be fixed. It’s clear during the development cycle, the decision to move from an RPG to an action-adventure game with superficial RPG mechanics means we will never see the version of the game that would’ve delivered on their initial promise.

What we have is a game that delivers on presentation but little else. Its linear structure, lack of variety and shallow choices mean replayability is almost nonexistent.

Lessons learned, albeit the hard way. The key takeaways are to see beyond the marketing, whether that’s coming directly from the company or third-party associates. And above all, temper your expectations when the product you’re waiting for comes from a publicly-traded company. Appeasing their shareholders takes priority over customer satisfaction.

This game could’ve helped to push the RPG genre in a new direction. It has the potential, the foundations are there. But the end product is sorely lacking in almost every single respect.

After all of the bugged and broken AAA games to be released this year, Konami have just shown every one else how it is done by releasing a solid port of MGS:GZ on PC.

My set up is mid range at best; game runs smoothly at 60fps with next to zero fran rate drop off with a mixture of medium to high settings. It looks good and the k/m controls are intutive and easy to use.

It's fantastic to see a modern MGS game on the PC platform. It's a little taster of what is to come wtih next years main event - Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain.

You deserve this game to sit in your library. Especially after being burned this year so many times with broken products. Now back to Big Boss and infiltrating this base...

Nothing beats saling the seas, listening to your pirate crew sing shanties, as you blow ships out of the water. It's a departure for the series. AC needed to take a different direction and AC IV Black Flag does just that. It's a damn fine pirate game.

Sure there are issues with the PC version. It isn't very well optimised. But with a little tweaking and downloading d3overrider (thanks to redditor /u/Graphic-J), to force triple buffering, the game runs fine. There are still noticeable drops in framerates, but nothing but a patch from Ubisoft will solve this.

If you want a pirate game, buy it. You'll find yourself saling the Jackdaw more often than sneaking about assassinating people. Sounds strange but it's refreshing

Bought this a while ago during the winter Steam sale 2012 if memory serves me correctly. Neglected it till now (curse of huge Steam discounts - too many games; not enough time). Only just passed the first chapter, but it's been fun so far. Max has never looked better. R* delivered a solid PC version. Optimisation is spot on. Only done side is that the game is a little too heavy on cutscenes. But they can be skipped.

Now let's hope the same team who optimised Max Payne 3 does the same job for GTA V