MatthewTheDark

First Note: This review has been updated with the new patch and at the bottom is a re-edited version of my review. This game is so much better now. A (E) Will be put at the start of edited sentences. Sanctum 2 is a game I feel gets more slack than it deserves. People weren't expecting what it turned out to be and were expecting it to be DLC rather than an actual sequel. I think that this game is perfectly fine. It's a good, hell, a great game! It still gives me the feeling I'm playing Sanctum and has some improvements that I think are for the best. However, I still am able to see some pretty flaws with the game that do somewhat sour the experience. First, the improved stuff. The gameplay has been changed quite a bit. There is a tower limit, weaker towers, and NPCs. I find this perfectly fine as the game now feels more like the game needs me rather than it could use my help on the rare occasion a sweet spot enemy strolls by. The game kinda has a story now, which is nice because it gives me something to think about as I play. There are new classes, allowing for you to choose your way of fighting, and you can actually die, allowing for you to feel more vulnerable. (E) The resources problem has been fixed with allowing everyone to get materials, improving Co-Op immensly. (E)The tower limit has been improved to 15, a much more manageable number however small it seems. The keyboard controls are a little stupid, considering the originals were much better. That's all I have to say on the matter and on the whole, I really liked Sanctum 2. It might not be so welcome to others, but I love it! In all, the new update raised my score and I think the game is just incredible now. The only parts that kick me is the controls and the lack of a server browser. Besides that, it's spectacular.

Oh boy, it's Garry's Mod! What can be said about Garry's Mod really? It's fun, it's open, and it allows for so much flexibility. It has limitless potential! Various game modes, memes, and other things have come from Garry's Mod. It's fun to play with in sandbox, TTT, or really anything that you can put your mind to. This review is a tad shorter because I feel this game doesn't have much that needs saying. If I have one problem, more like two, is that one of them is the updates always seem to break things worse somehow. Every. Time. And my other gripe is that this game really doesn't have an identity despite what can be done with it. It seems more like a tool sometimes rather than a game. Like a toy you play with. G-Mod is like Minecraft. It's there, you can play with it, but on its own, is it really much ****? Not really. Either way, I enjoy the game.

After playing a game like Super Meat Boy, I wondered just how screwed up in the head Edmund was for making such a game that had no right being so amazing. "What could he think of next?" I would ask. The answer I got was disturbing but oh so pleasing, The Binding of Isaac. This game is as creepy and mental as the trailer leads it on to be. You fight demonic entities, decapitated bodies, giant worms, biblical figures, mirror copies yourself (it's complicated), and other abominations throughout the game while keeping a consistent tone for the most part. It can get comical how outrageous this game gets. References, scenes, and power-ups lighten the tone slightly as the game gets weirder and weirder. As you play, you get more characters, more bosses, and even make the game harder. There are lots of endings to spare as well as power-ups to find and unlock. The game evokes a feeling of satisfaction whenever I play it, giving me a great experience. The game is hard however, so you may wanna be careful. If I personally have one complaint, it's the engine. Flash is an engine that, in my opinion, isn't much more complex than the wheel. It's just as primative too. For the most part, the engine behaves, but lag, bugs, and worse can happen without a moment's notice. But I feel all this is fair considering a game that kicks THIS much ass is only $5. I love this game. Go buy it.

I shall tell upfront that I am not a fan of simulation games. They tend to just bore the living crap out of me. But every now and then, from any genre, comes a game that catches my eye and my full attention (sometimes some money in my pocket). In this case, It was Surgery Simulator. I played the original, free version and found it quite comical, the silly controls reminiscent of Octodad levels of derpy. When I saw a full version for sale on Steam, I bought it in a heartbeat before the drugged doctor cut my heart out. I come back to tell you I feel... slightly satisfied, but also a bit disappointed. The basic premise is that you are Nigel, a recently hired doctor, or a med student (I never could guess which) who takes lots of drugs, making you do surgeries quite stupidly in your odd status. You must do heart surgery, kidney surgery, and brain surgery in a few different locations, each harder to handle. The laughs and the comedy is still there, if anything, better than ever. It's hilarious to smash a patient's ribcage open, throw their lungs onto the floor, cut out the heart, then try replacing it with a radio or giving the guy two hearts, making him a Time Lord, but the game seems a bit like a joke told too long. It's price doesn't really make me feel justified for it's content. The game is too small for how much is asked for. The frustrating controls also leads to a water cooler experience. No one has the same results and everyone will have a story. But for one last gripe, it's on the controls. They're fine, but sometimes, they seem, unresponsive or spazzy on occasions. The game isn't bad by any right, but couldn't this be cheaper?

Ah, Sanctum. This game is quite an impressive game. I had heard about it a couple times on Steam before it was on sale at about $2.50. So I nabbed a copy and to my surprise, it was quite a curious beast. The game is a hybrid that you don't see much of. A First-Person Shooter/ Tower Defense game. Hybrids like these really are something to look at. It's like what Brutal Legend did to RTS, made it possible for you to jump into the action yourself. However, UNLIKE Brutal Legend, Sanctum doesn't hide its Tower Defense elements. It fully embraces them. This game also has a small sense of humor and it's always a blast to play. The controls are nice, the game looks pretty, and the fighting is fun. So why isn't it perfect? Well I suppose a substance problem is what we have. I don't mean levels, it has plenty of those, but there isn't much more than the premise it promises. No story, no structure, just build and fight, build and fight, build and fight. After a while, the fun seems to diminish a little and becomes a game to take in small doses. It leaves you with questions. "Why are these aliens attacking us?" you might ask. "Shut up and just shoot them." the game will respond. Very few games can get away with a single trait and unfortunately, Sanctum doesn't quite deliver. Maybe if the combat was a tad more fun or the enemies tried attacking me by stopping for a good tussle rather than running jihad style toward my core. In short though, the game is lots of fun and will entertain you for hours and the game delivers on what it offers in such an amusing manner, I feel generous for it, but if you're looking for substance or story, you might be left disappointed, but grab the game anyway. Even if it's on sale.

Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages. This game really just confuses me. The gameplay, the art style, the references, the jokes, they all seem like things that I'd rather enjoy. But the problem I have with this game... is that I don't enjoy them as much as I should. The game is rather silly at times and I did have my chuckles with it, it's multiplayer is fun and exciting when it wants to be and it's worth a look either way, but the game doesn't seem to really click too well with me. I want to love the game, I really do, but at times, I feel it doesn't feel the same about me. The game is fun and such, but if all this is true, why do I only give it a 7? Well, the game feels really repetitive, which is something to be said if I consider it as such. If it does this, it gets boring to me real fast. The game really tries to be beautiful and something original, and it succeeds, but the problem with that lies that I just didn't really like the concept to begin with. But I think the biggest problem I had with the game is that it left me feeling disappointed. Perhaps I was expecting too much from it after everyone told me it was incredible, but I like it. I'll still play it, but I suggest not playing it in large doses or you'll get bored too soon.

Ahh, here we are again with another great game by the Tomorrow Corporation (formerly known as 2D Boy). Their most famous other game is the legendary World of Goo, a game that was so deep and so challenging, that it tickled minds while blowing them at the same time. So, is Little Inferno of World of Goo Quality? I'm sorry to say that that's not the case here. Nothing could be such a masterpiece as World of Goo was, even if it's by the same people. But of all the games I've played, Little Inferno game me the familiar feeling that I was playing a game by the same people. It was a nice feeling as it always is. Little Inferno is really more of a fun experimental game rather than a real big game. The gameplay to it is so simple. Buy things, burn them for more money, find combos. Rinse and repeat. But where the game truly shines is in its storytelling. It tells a story of a world that's freezing as it constantly snows. It has gotten to the point where a fireplace where you burn whatever has been considered a toy for entertainment. How aware this game can become and how deep it's meaning becomes is just amazing. But there are three glaring issues. Since it's by the same people, the game has to be compared to World of Goo, and putting the two against each other, Little Inferno sadly doesn't stand a chance. The second problem is that the game is way too easy to beat. There are few combos that really make you experiment as many tend to be so easy, it's almost idiotic. The last problem I have with it is that for how little game you're given, they ask for quite a bit for a game that wastes your time quite a bit just to make a point. They do it quite well I will admit, but this game shouldn't cost us $10. I got it on sale but it wasn't really worth as much to me. I bought World of Goo for that much and it felt like it was worth so much more. So whether or not you think Little Inferno is worth your time is up to you. Despite all my complaints, I loved the game. The question really is: How much patience do you have? The game wastes time, but do you think it will be time well wasted?

Ah, Antichamber. What an odd case indeed. This game is really what a pure indie First-person puzzle game SHOULD be. The game can be so mind bending at times that it is easy to get lost in this huge game. It can easily be forgiven for it's minimalistic art form with just how well this game can be. Usually these days, most puzzle games like this tend to almost automatically get compared to the amazing PC first-person puzzle game, Portal, due to it being a First-person puzzle game. Games like Q.U.B.E are also on this list. However, unlike most of them, especially Q.U.B.E, Antichamber could stand up beside Portal and still be considered pretty damn good. Most certainly not better than Portal (cause almost nothing is), but great nonetheless. Not much of a plot to the game though but it certainly has personality in it like Portal does. That was the problem Q.U.B.E had that Antichamber doesn't. While not as funny or entertaining as GLaDOS, Antichamber often has words of wisdom that usually tends to either be aimed at encouraging you, or telling you how you kinda screwed up, though in a passive way. The game really feels like some sort of test or experience that you have been put into to test your knowledge. Though at times, that really is debatable as the game just loves to around with your head, often making loops you didn't realize and putting you in places you weren't before without you realizing it. It also has a bad tendency of trapping you or making a puzzle no longer solvable through a simple mistake as well as having no real pause feature which is a shame because if I wanna pause something so I don't miss it, I either gotta go back to the starting room and go all the way back if there wasn't a checkpoint there, or miss it by leaving it unpaused. Though I still stand by the game happily as it is an amazing puzzle game that shall stick to my memories. Go get it!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Well, here it is. The king of Indie Games. A classic game with an amazing story, fun gameplay, and a good level of difficulty. So what exactly does the + version add? Sadly, not as much as $10 would be worth considering the original was free, but I got the game for $2.50 via Steam sale so I'm willing to let it slide. After all, this is still the Cave Story we've all come to know and love. Considering what they've added, I suppose the extra modes and the game itself gives it what seems like an amazing amount of replay value than your average game. However, left alone the additions seem like you're getting less bang for your buck if you buy it for the price it asks for. Then again, the game is still there. All its wondrous secrets, all its sublime gameplay, all its charm, all its great story and the price is easy to look away from due to the quality of the game itself. I highly recommend this game, despite its asking price for not many additions.