Recent reviews by krangledangle

Classic. Still holds up; still impressive.

Having only played just under two hours, I get the immediate impression that Elden Ring is an inch deep but a mile wide. The stuttering and frame rates aren’t great (I don’t have the latest PC) but the new mechanical systems for combat and movement seem fun. I’m actually surprised it ran as well as it did, considering all I’d read about its poor performance issues.

At the risk of making an unfair comparison, Elden Ring comes across as less focused than Dark Souls in its design. It seems easier, more accessible and for that, less rewarding. There’s more “stuff”, sure (the game is bigger in every sense of the word) but does that make it better? Fun enough for Souls fans, I guess.

I wouldn’t pay full price for it - it’s only a “Yes” if you can pick it up on sale.

Pretty fun sports game

Fun run 'n' gun - does not take itself seriously whatsoever.

Good opportunities for tense, exciting gameplay. Game does need more attention paid to optimisation from the dev team, though!

What a classy act on behalf of Spike Chunsoft. Great developer all the way.

If you like wrestling, ring psychology, and putting on the best match possible - irrespective of who wins or loses, then this is the game for you.

If you played Fire Pro Wrestling in the past and are unsure of whether it could have gotten any better, then this is the game for you.

If you're after an Early Access game with an incredibly dedicated development team that listens to - and implements suggestions from - its fiercely passionate fanbase, then this is the game for you.

It has mods (ALREADY!, thanks to its awesome community). And you can create basically any wrestler, boxer, or MMA fighter - real or ficitonal - that ever existed or that you could possibly think of. Hell, today I saw a giant hamburger slam a human hot dog.

My one piece of advice? Just be careful - because this might end up being the LAST wrestling game you'll EVER buy.

Don't let my Steam gametime stats fool you - I've been around the Zone for quite some time...
The first STALKER game I played was - funnily enough - the last one released in the series: Call of Pripyat. But eventually, I got around to GSC's debut entry in the franchise. And boy, was I glad that I did. About five years, three playthroughs and one big PC upgrade later, I've come to understand and appreciate ShoC for what it was meant to be, buried beneath all those bugs: one truly tense and atmospheric game. ShoC is a distinctive game (indeed, STALKER is a distinctive franchise): if you like fairly open-world gameplay that combines FPS, RPG and OMG ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ elements, this is one cheeki breeki game for you.

Thanks to the fine people who worked on the Zone Reclamation Project patch, ShoC was basically transformed from a glitchy, bug-fest (at least upon release) into a cult classic. ZRP, unlike other mods such as the oft-lauded Complete, gives you something really special: a leaner, meaner Zone to chew on, compared to Complete. It's basically vanilla ShoC 2.0 - an ESSENTIAL mod if ever there was one. Complete is pretty good for what it is: a 'complete' overhaul that, despite its claims, really DOES change the gameplay. Quite simply, it's much easier than ZRP/vanilla ShoC (even on Master difficulty) and those epic gunfights where you trade bullets with bandits is compressed. For a game where combat is so important, Complete totally streamlines it. Yet it's still one worth checking out on subsequent playthroughs, as it does introduce a whole host of pretty neat features and spiffy new textures (among bug fixes and the like) but ultimately, you'll end up playing ShoC Lite. It's a really pretty and fairly deep ShoC Lite, though, which is totally fine for those who want that kind of experience. I started with Complete all those years and playthroughs ago on my gimped laptop and while I totally dug STALKER the game, I really am glad that I got to play through what I consider the authentic STALKER experience with ZRP - the changes Complete makes are glaringly obvious if you play Complete then ZRP/vanilla. Complete's good - hell, pretty great in some respects - but it's not really STALKER. Though I am looking forward to trying out mods like Oblivion Lost and AMK for ShoC. There are tons of mods out there for ALL the STALKER games.

For your maiden voyage into the Zone, though, the ZRP and Shaders MAX mods (which improve FPS rates and can even introduce major graphical improvements while retaining a vanilla feel) are trustier allies than all the perfect condition AK-47's in the world combined.
Now get out of here, STALKER!