Recent reviews by R34LM

A visually stunning title that takes heavy inspiration from Beksinski.

Bear in mind, the gameplay is more of a walking simulator than anything; however, in this instance, it is more interactive art. The puzzles are little more than exploring the area and grabbing what you can, subsequently placing what you have grabbed into their correct places. The only time I got hung up is not noticing a more obscure nook that I passed by. With reading various texts and generally moving around at a leisurely pace to take int the sights, the game ran me for about 2.5 hours.

Speaking of art though: amazing. The asset design, sound design is top notch and easy to get immersed in. If you are a fan of the source material that this game is based on, you'll enjoy this. Just the right about of spectacle and unease, much like Beksinski.

Definitely recommend if you are in the mood for a walk through art without much hassle or challenge.

I will preface this by saying that this is definitely not a game for a wide audience. This seems to target a specific niche of demographic that really only needs something cool to look at and something deep to think about. That being said, and despite the fact I received the game as a gift, it may be hard to justify the $40 price tag, given it's length and varying mileage someone would get out of it. In short, really think about if you want to give it a shot. This is certainly a game for certain people.

For myself, I did thoroughly enjoy myself. The environment is, as expected, very bizarre and engrossing. It was one of the few times where, during the first few sections of the game, I took things slow despite the character having unlimited sprinting. Playing the game just to experience the world it is placed in can certainly justify the price of admission on its own, but, as I said, if that is purely what you want out of it.

Next is the puzzles, which I found interesting. Each act has an overarching puzzle that requires you to explore the area to complete, usually involving getting a lay of the land and making use of every room's tools, such as a mechanism that increases the clearance level of a key to then access other areas. Then each act has, as I would describe it, a "brainy" puzzle, which requires some extra effort beyond walking around. The first example is a puzzle early on that's similar to rush hour, where you need to move different sized parts on little roads to allow the desired part to make it to the other side. These types of puzzles definitely took me a bit of time to figure out, but they weren't too taxing. But, once that is done, you won't find another "brainy" puzzle until the next act. So, you got a mix of exploration puzzles with a capstone puzzle at its core for each act. I didn't feel like it was too much or wasn't enough.

The next component is the combat, which is a point for contention for people. If there was ever a reason as to why completion times vary, it would be how well one managed to get around combat. I'll just say that combat was definitely not the best part of the game, especially during one act where it was featured heavily. The enemies are surprisingly accurate with ranged attacks, including anticipation as to where you will go and aiming the shot ahead of you. To defend yourself, you initially get a melee weapon that fires twice before it needs to cool down, so you can't be careless. Later on you get a pistol and a shotgun. Ammo for each firearm is limited, so choosing your shots is a puzzle of it's own. My tactic was to have each weapon be specifically for one type of enemy, as the smaller ranged units died in two hits with the melee, the medium dog units took two/three shots of the pistol to the head, and the shotgun was only ever used for the big guys. What I've also seen work is running around a corner, waiting for an enemy to arrive and hit it twice with the melee, find another corner, rinse and repeat. It felt cheap doing it, but some of the combat also felt cheap. There have also be some cases where you could run past the enemy and ignore them outright, and sometimes they burrow back into their hole if you wait long enough; however, they might come back out of said hole later. So the combat wasn't too good and was frustrating at times, but once I got passed the hurdles I suppose it was excusable.

As for the overall story....well good luck. Not much is said; it is very much just you being thrown into the world and your only objective is to get out of it. There are videos out there already noting what the game's story symbolically represents, and it makes sense. I even came to my own conclusions towards the end. In essence you are dropped into facility of sorts, well beyond its expiration. You could surmise as to what the ancient society used to be like, or you could take it at face value, or take it for what it means in symbolism. There's no clear way to explain it, though I'm sure it's intentional

As for the length of the game, yeah the game did feel short, which does make it hard to justify the price. As you can see I managed to complete it in just short of five hours. I can't say I was disappointed that it ended where it did, but I certainly would have enjoyed a couple hours more.

For me, the time spent on it was a good time. Not jaw-dropping or magnificent (save for the art style), but a good time. This game is not for everyone; however, if you are convinced that you might like this sort of thing, then you most certainly will. Seeing as I am one such person, I recommend it. Though it might be worth waiting for a deal or sale, as even I am on the fence whether or not it's worth the asking price of $40.

This is an absolutely fantastic port of a wonderful game.

I'm running on the High preset, using a 3070 card and a Ryzen 5 processor, and the game runs smooth as ever. I could run it at Very High, potentially, but I like having the head room.

Seriously, play this game. With a port this good you just can't pass it up.

In short, get your hands on an Xbox 360 or PS3, or an emulator that can properly replicate the tech of the time, then play the game there. Don't buy it here.

In detail, Prototype was a fantastic game for it's time. I sunk plenty of hours into it near on a decade ago.

But this is not the game I played a decade ago; instead, this is a very shameful port of a good game that doesn't even play past the menu screen out of the box. You have to go through so many hoops just to get this game to run properly, such as task manager tricks to turning off devices in the device manager that you wouldn't think would have to do with it.

Considering I could just buy any other game and expect it to work as soon as it's installed, this is just unacceptable. One should not have to rely on third party software and tweaks to make a game like this run. It, frankly, just shouldn't be on the steam store unless they properly port it (which, considering this is an Activision title, I bet they could care less).

So just don't buy it unless you really wish to go through the hoops to make it work. I still have my 360, so I'm just going back to playing this game on that.

Lorelai is the final game in the "Devil Came Through Here" series, followed after The Cat Lady and Downfall. Personally, I was very much looking forward to this game when it was first announced, even as far back when it was hinted in Downfall. So, how does this game stack up? In short, if you liked the previous titles, you most certainly will enjoy this one.

Once again, the central theme is different from the previous titles. The Cat Lady was about depression and solitude, Downfall was of madness and self reflection; as for Lorelai, I find that it touches on living in a world of futility, where you are just trying to survive in a world that you didn't necessarily deserve to have treat you so poorly. This is very much apparent when you look at Lorelai herself. She's very much just trying to get by with what she can, being the best she can be for those she cares for, against the futility of her actions. As for how it works as a theme, it does very well, as most of the game tasks you on whether you should keep pushing to do the best you can, or just give up.

As for the main character, I feel Lorelai doesn't get as much of an ark in this title as compared to Susan or Joe in past games. She's kind of already set herself at the end of the ark she could have displayed in this game as soon as you begin, which doesn't allow her much compelling development. Nevertheless, I did enjoy her, which is helped by the superb voice acting.

The game is dark as you'd expect out of previous titles. The art has drastically improved in this one, as has most production value. The backgrounds, lighting and overall atmosphere definitely is unique to itself, as like the previous games, and it definitely fits. Plus, the game has just the right amount of disturbing things to keep you on edge, but nonetheless engaged.

As for gameplay, the puzzles are actually much simpler, in my opinion, compared to the previous titles. Each game has it's Golden Ending that you basically need to put the right things in motion throughout the game to achieve it; for this one, it is much simpler to achieve than past. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is worthy of note. Aside from one section that does involve some thinking and creativity, don't expect many brain busting puzzles here.

Mechanically the game works as expected; though there are a few bugs, they aren't game breaking and merely are minor, and very few, inconveniences. As said, the quality is wonderful, a night and day from where the series began, for sure.

In the end, this game was splendid to play and a good way to finish the series. Personally, The Cat Lady reigns as my favorite of the bunch, but the series as whole was macabre fun and a wonderful experience, as was this title on its own. Definitely give this game, as well as it's prequels, a play!

This is probably one of the best mystery puzzle games I have ever played, tied in with a very engaging story that is told in an equally engaging way. Something about the idea of seeing a snapshot of the exact moment of death when using the Memento Mortem pocketwatch and just learning about each of these long gone characters just sucked me in and kept me going til the end.

This game does well in explaining what it expects of you. Your goal is to, essentially, correctly deduce who all of the individual crew members are, how they died, and who killed them if applicable. It is easier said than done in some cases, as some clues aren't as obvious as a called name; sometimes finding out who is who is seeing what items are present next to their specifically numbered cot or even down to what they are wearing.

The game gives you enough clues to figure out who is who, but it really does mean it when relationships (who is with who most), what they are wearing, their nationality and what is said in the background can be taken into consideration. In my playthrough, I was able to solve all identities to the point where I was left with two in a set group, and it went down to just alternating two names until the game said I got it.

So, the game can be difficult at times, but in a way where you get a satisfying "Aha" moment at the end.

So, if you are looking for a engaging, yet suitably challenging game to try, give this a look.

I would certainly like to see more games of this style; same mechanics, just a different tale in a different place. I strongly urge the developers to work with what they have here, as this has the potential to go episodic.

My take on it after the first few games, for those who are looking at it now and thinking of buying it.

In comparision to other games of the ilk, this is a game more favored towards Jason, as he really has a lot going for him and escape routes for survivors can take a great deal of exploration around the map and some luck in that you get items that you need. And, if you are a DbD fan, don't bother juking; Jason has throwing knives that will just slow you down to a crawl and there are hardly any places around the map that are good for that style of play.

However, that is not to say the game isn't fun when being a survivor. There are some genuinely tense moments, like hiding in a closet while Jason chases someone else and you hope he doesn't know you are there. The question is this: is the tension of the match going to be enough for your entertainment? Couple this with the fact that xp gain is relatively slow, and if you get unlucky during the match and are one of the first to die you will get hardly any xp, meaning it's a slower amount of progress towards character unlocks that may fit your style perfectly. At start, you get the basic, no good no bad guy, the bait girl who runs a lot and fast, and the girl who barely touches being a stealth character but is more for being composed. They are good entrance characters, but I already get the feeling they will be migrated from.

There isn't much to say about Jason; he's fun and you get to chop people up. While DbD killers focus more on tracking and hunting prey who know how to escape, Jason is there to impede progress and stop players from completing objectives, whether by scaring people away or by outright killing them. If you manage to be picked for Jason, you'll have fun; it's a fair power trip.

The last thing to note is to not go into the game expecting to main Jason. In full lobbies you have a 1 in 8 chance of being picked. You will be playing a lot of counsulor before getting Jason.

For a day 1 purchase, I'd give it a try if you can afford it. The price is steep, though, for the content that it has. For me, I enjoy it for what I paid, for now.

This game is a suberb addition to the 4v1 horror genre and a worthy alternative to popular 4v1 games such as Dead By Daylight.

The first thing that this game does well is keep the players engaged after death. In most games, like DBD or Damned, once you die you are out. But here, ghosts can still help their team find tapes, as well as possess a unique ability to tear down the creature's idols.

Secondly, progression is smooth. There is no ranking system to stop you from getting good things, so no big deal if you lose and don't get your points. Just play another round! Levels unlock characters and flashlights early on, while later levels grant you cosmetic changes. No perks, no addons, just some extra gear with their own benefits and downsides.

Thirdly, the game is genuinely scary and a good thriller, which acts as suitable entertainment even if you lost. It's nearly pitch black, and the monster could be lurking in any corner waiting to pounce. In most cases, even if you lost, you will still be pleased by the amount of entertainment the match gave you.

Fourthly, the monster gamplay is fun. While DBD was about tracking and following and Damned was about pinpointing the survivor's location so your precious time to kill wasn't wasted, White Noise 2 starts out as locating the investigators but turns into figuring out a plan of approach. Tightly packed groups with flashlights that can stun and banish you are what you have to work around, requiring you to use your abilties to penetrate their defences, whether it's stunning them with fear, intercepting their objective or disabling their flashlights outright.

Fifth, the community is very nice and friendly. This may be because it is a small pool currently, but it is mostly thanks to the ability to play multiple matches with the same group due to the simple match making. Once one match is done, switch monster players around and play again! What also helps is that this game is not really competitive; it's not a big deal if you lose, but it's great if you win (and this is coming from a naturally sore loser).

Sixth, the devs seem to be very in touch with their game, updating weekly or bi-weekly. They are also very active in interacting with their players, taking feedback very well by responding and contributing to the discussion. They also aren't afraid to put in their two cents on what they think about the topic, such as a particular creature's abilities.

Seventh, the characters are god aweful ugly......and they are sticking with that. That's nerve.

Finally, despite this being an early access title, this game is by no means lacking polish or in need of optimization. My rig runs at abour 120fps average, and it certainly isn't a top tier machine. I haven't even run into any bugs. This game has a rock solid foundation that can only grow from here on out.

As for setbacks, some balancing issues are present depending on perspective, but the devs are always listening to feedback and will act accordingly. Classic characters lack proper facial animation, but this is a nitpick. The main problem is that the game desperately needs more players, which is partly why I am reviewing the game.

Certainly give this a try if you are looking for an alternative to DBD or Damned, or even if you are new to the genre. For the cheap asking price ($8 US at the time of this review), you recieve a great deal of fun. This game deserves more attention.

Edited as of 11/10/16

I haven't played the game much, not since the first content patch of costumes, simply because the game kept rubbing me the wrong way. But, observing the game through the eyes of other players in their videos or streams as well as looking at discussions on forum threads, I've come to some conclusions and applied my own opinion from my short time of play to them.

1. Neither side truly gets what they want: This game's community is filled with lots of players who only play on one side, which creates tunnel visioned competition, though I cannot bring myself to say they are entirely toxic. A lot of it stems from a meta that each team follows that gets annoying to the opposing team. Surviors complain about hook camping, but killers say it's one of the few times they can actually get points and a valid fishing strategy. Killers complain about infinite juke spots, but survivors say it's one of the few ways to actually escape line of sight. What it essentially boils down to is that neither side is never getting what they want, which has led the devs to introduce very complicated mechanics to try and balance out the cries for changes. Expect salty players should you have a winning streak.


2. Killers never really kill: This game names the killer as "killer". The tagline very much implies that death is the way to go. It is not the case; you get more points by being a nuisance, a harrasment. You can rank up as a killer by harrassing the crap out of survivors but not killing even one, and yet the screen will say "Disgraceful Defeat". It's very unfulfulling, especially since surviros will naturally make it as hard for you as possible (some to the point of being cocky). As for survivors, they don't have this problem at all in the right circumstance. In fact, they get one clear cut objective and all the time in the world if they are never seen (key phrase is "never seen"). However, when spotted once, you are essentially down unless you can use the environment to your advantage or if the killer is a novice. Mess up once, and your dead. Don't mess up and the round is stupidly straightforward and clockwork. So, you either get a boring round or a short loss.


3. Very unforgiving for the "not in" crew: This applies to both killer and survivor. Having a ranking system directly implies that you will be matchmade with someone who will kick your ass, especially when they get perked up and have rare add-ons. This is very unforgiving for new players, as they won't be able to get enough points to rank up due to them being killed quickly or unable to kill quickly, which means they will be stuck at a low rank with no perks or add-ons to aid them in higher level play. And, at this point in the game's life, there aren't many newer, unranked players with no perks, so you'll usually be put into a group that knows what they're doing and you have to learn quickly or be stepped on.


For me, this game kicked me out as soon as I walked in due to its very high standards and skewed expectations. If you've played the game long enough or have a knack for this sort of game, then this will never affect you, because you are already "in". A lot of the salt threads in the discussion forums are people dealing with elite players that, sometimes, get elitist, survivor and killer alike. It is harshly competitive, and not something a casual gamer should look into. If you can't handle the competition, don't expect it to ever get easier.

Downfall is the prequel to The Cat Lady, expanding on the universe by going into the story of Joe and Ivy Davis, Susan Ashworth's next door neighbors. This is the remade and redone version of the original point and click adventure game, giving it the same format as The Cat Lady's keyboard mechanics. Given The Cat Lady's quiet success, it'd be easy for fans to compare the two to see how it has improved. So has it?

Let's look at the story, first, as most people will tend to compare to The Cat Lady here. Is it as good as the first? Yes. Is it as dreary and drepressing? No, because this falls under a different theme. While TCL was about the challenges of depression and melancholly, this story is more rough, touching on the subjects of anorexia, vice, the burden of the past and psychopathy. This game is much more "in your face" because of this, as evidenced by the last scene of the prologue. That being said, the story is still fantastic to go through and the characters are all well made in my opinion.

Mechanically, the game is a HUGE step up fro TCL. The functions are much more fluid and the graphics are a bit clearer. The game introduces a quicksave and autosave function, which is very helpful in the event that you have to leave. Also, dialouge isn't too long winded as some in TCL, where you may be sitting there for longer than anticipated because of a longer story and forget to save. It is more spread out and easier to take a break from.

As for the visual design, the characters are no longer animated like puppets with moving pieces, instead being done but animated 2D art, which are much more clearer and crisp than in TCL. The color pallete is what you expect from the game as well, but it doesn't veer too much from the black and white as often as TCL. One issue with TCL was some of it's color choices being too sporadic and lacking identity, but I'm actually going to say that Downfall might have taken a bit too much back. Still, the backgrounds look as if they were photographed and edited, which was a must for this game. And, of course, there are some good greusome bits of blood and gore and disturbing stuff.

As for sound, they did a much better job this time around. They used a much wider array of sound effects. As for the voice acting, it is on the whole better, but there are still some actors that either weren't that good or the audio quality was lacking. Still, it is an improvement in general, as some of the voice acting is very good, easily outweighing the bad. The music is very good too.

As for the puzzles, they are well thought out. I didn't find myself too stumped, nor did I find any of them to be ridiculously easy. One of the puzzles that I found engaging was the dialogue throughout the game. What you say and do in the game will affect the game's ending, and some of the choices leading to the Golden Ending are easily missed because you thought you were doing something right. It doesn't change the actually gameplay, per se, but it is a puzzle in itself to achieve an ending that you want/

So, Downfall, is it good? Indeed it is, and it is worth it. It doesn't follow The Cat Lady's theme to the letter, but it makes the choice of using its own theme to decide how it should play, therefore making itself its own game.