Mrman7

This graphically glitchy, bug-filled title barely delivers on its gripping premise: figuring out a real-life murder mystery while the killer is stalking you. Historically, the game is remarkably accurate although it changes real-life people around and fills in the gaps with fiction. Ultimately, the game feels frankly unfinished, so hopefully the developers can patch it up a bit. For now, only play this game if you're obsessed with the Zodiac and want to consume all media related to the subject.

My Time at Portia is a fun but graphically glitchy alternative to Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing for non-Nintendo gamers who want something more modern than **** Valley. Like all cartoony life sims, there's a bit of grind to this game, but the developers do their best to keep this at a minimum and give you plenty to do while you're waiting for something to grow. The added RPG/Adventure elements are a welcome addition to the formula for those who'd like to mix up the farming and mining with a bit of swordplay. At the end of the day it's not going to challenge the likes of Zelda in the realm of hack 'n slash dungeon crawling and doesn't quite live up to happier memories of Harvest Moon's Gamecube era heyday. I see myself dropping back into my farm/workshop every now and then, but long-term, Portia is not going to take up much of my titular Time.

Quake represents a pivotal moment in the FPS genre when the games finally became truly 3D, rather than "3Dish" like the Doom and Build engines. Gone were the flat, lo-res sprites representing objects, weapons and characters replaced by truly 3D enemies, power-ups, weapons and props. However, in terms of gameplay, I'm going to go against conventional wisdom on this one. Quake is overrated. I remember being ridiculously excited for this game, especially the graphics, but it never quite captured my imagination like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D. Quake was really just Doom with an improved engine. Was it still a fun and extremely playable game? Absolutely. Was it as truly groundbreaking as it should have been? No way.

I think the mild disappointment I feel about the newer Wolfenstein games is a matter of taste. As a Jewish American, the power fantasy of mowing down **** in the original Wolfenstein was intoxicating. That same cultural identity is what makes the newer games a depressing slog for me. This game is extremely well made, I just can't say that it's any fun.

No Man's Sky is an astounding technical achievement filled with stunning beauty and an awe-inspiring sense of freedom. The problem is that the survival mode is too much **** and the creative mode is too easy. There's no middle ground to explore this impressive procedurally generated universe where the game is challenging enough to engage the player but not frustratingly time-consuming. In that sense, I can't really recommend No Man's Sky as a game, but as a technological breakthrough in the genre of open world exploration it's not to be missed.

Lego Worlds is a sloppy but intriguing title that has a lot of potential that it doesn't quite live up to. The scope and scale are impressive but the controls are non-intuitive and the gameplay quickly descends into a frustrating grind. Although technically procedural generated, the individual worlds seem more like variations on a few templates rather than unique planets. Still, there are a lot of vehicles to play around with, characters to meet and plenty to do, even if it becomes a bit repetitive after a while.

Read Dead 2 is the great American Novel they told you about in English class. The nuanced story and well-developed characters tell a tale about America's violent and morally nebulous past and how that informs the power dynamics of today's society. There are plenty of open world games on the market, but every time Rockstar releases a new entry, they remind gamers how skilled they are at creating detailed, immersive worlds that take us to places of quiet beauty and kinetic destruction. I challenge anyone to think of another artist or group of artists who deliver works of such consistent quality. The closest I can think of is Scorsese or Tarantino. There's a reason why they spend so much time on a single game whereas other AAA developers release a steady stream of schlock every year. There are glitches and annoyances here and there but overall this is the best open world title since GTA V and a worthy entry in the Rockstar canon.

The Far Cry franchise has either gotten into a groove or a rut depending on your perspective. The graphics and mechanics improve every time and the scenery changes but the core experience remains largely static, making this entry evolutionary rather than revolutionary. That being said, Far Cry 5 is still the best open world FPS on the market and the gun-play remains as satisfying as ever. Customizing your arsenal is also still a highlight. The aircraft mechanics are arcade-like in their simplicity but serviceable. The Midwest locale and religious zealot enemies make for an interesting change of pace whatever your political leanings may be, but as an American I miss the "exotic" locales of the other entries. The series remains its psychedelic streak but the sequences hijack the otherwise open-ended game-play and lack the mythical beauty of the hallucination scenes in Far Cry 3 and 4. All told, Far Cry 5 is one of the best shooters and open world games of the year.

DUSK takes the best conventions and clichés of 90s shooters and perfects them for a new century. This game serves as a sort of Ying counterpart to the Yang of Superhot. While the latter title captured the simple perfection of an under-par shooter run, DUSK captures the wild frenzy of a less disciplined encounter. Modern players may be bewildered by the aesthetic, but the fluidity of the game-play, open-ended level design and the pure thrill of each encounter make this worth a look for younger gamers in addition to those looking for a nostalgia fix. All told DUSK just feels "right."

Semi-derisively labeled "Hitman Season 2" rather than a true sequel, with Hitman 2 it feels as though the episodic experiment IO began in 2016 is finally a complete game. The fact that all of the content from the previous entry can be ported over reinforces the fact that Hitman 2 is simply the latest build of IO's Hitman client, now filled with a robust library of assassination playgrounds. Whether this is worth the price tag of a whole new game ultimately depends on how serious of a devotee to the series you are. As a die-hard Agent 47 aficionado, Hitman 2 delivers. All the missions are solid and the suburban episode "Another Life" ranks highly in the canon of great Hitman environments. Hitman Blood Money is still the best overall entry in the series and 2016 HItman's Sapienza still wears the crown of best individual mission, but Hitman 2 is a great continuation of the franchise's legacy. My only fear is that WB will pressure the studio to start cranking out sequels every year and dilute the quality (a la Assassin's Creed or Call of Duty).

The dreary world of the Crew has received a colorful facelift and attitude adjustment in this entertaining second installment that pretty much makes good on its promise of a seamless, cross-country, open world racing adventure. I particularly enjoy the 3D map and ability to switch between the three vehicle types, although the interface is still a bit kludgy at times. The races are challenging and fun, and even when I'm getting my butt kicked I feel motivated to keep trying rather than frustrated. If the growth between the first game and this one is any indication, a third entry could really be one of the best open world racing games ever. Until then, this is a solid B+ effort.

Definitely the best in the series so far. The worlds seem more vibrant and alive than those in 2.0 and the combat is better than ever. The Star Wars playsets are good fun but keep in mind that this a family game so don't expect KOTOR3. And while the story mode is great, the real draw for me is the Toybox, the mode which allows you to create your own games and worlds and share them with other players. I've been playing this series since 1.0 and I finally feel like Disney has really given us the tools we need to make great games. There are more components to build with and more ways to make those creations come to life. However, even with some new tutorials, you'll have to spend a lot of time to really get good at it. I've been doing this since 1.0 and I FINALLY feel like I have a good handle on how to create truly immersive worlds that don't seem amateurish. However, sometimes I feel like the limitations of the engine restrict the creativity and ambition of the user. The game constantly tells me I've added too many complex toys and forces me to scale back. Granted, being limited is a part of what spurs creativity. That being said I KNOW the current gen systems can handle bigger worlds than this game lets you create. I think the fact that this game is designed to run on both a Wii -- a system that is almost a DECADE old -- and a system with an 8core processor like the PS4 is severely restricting the complexity of player-generated content and unfair to those using the newer hardware. A good solution to this would be to allow users to set system requirements for the worlds they create. If they want to make a world that can be used on all platforms, they will be restricted to a certain amount of content. If however they want to make something that will only work on current gen systems, they can create bigger worlds. The fact that users can share content across almost every imaginable platform from PC to all the consoles and even iPads and iPhones is what makes this ecosystem of games great, but also what holds it back. Going from a platform with less processing power to a current gen system works fine. I created a world in the 2.0 iPad version of the game while I was on a trip, then uploaded it to the cloud and opened it in the 3.0 version on my XboxOne no problem. However, when I continued work on my world and then shared it back to the cloud it started DELETING THE WORLD EVERY TIME. Luckily I have learned not to trust the cloud saves and made a backup because I was experiencing a similar problem on the Xbox360 version of the game. In fact, that issue was so infuriating that it was the REASON I upgraded to the XboxOne, assuming that newer hardware would fix it. I don't regret upgrading per se, but I was pretty upset when an even WORSE problem occurred. In general the cross-platform cloud saving functionality of this game is A DISASTER, especially if you're using a mobile version. At a certain point, the iPad version of the game will start telling you that it can't connect to Disney Network Services, essentially not allowing you to access your OWN CONTENT. The cloud sharing functionality is spectacular in theory but the fact that it straight up DOESN'T WORK makes me wish they hadn't even bothered. The frustrating thing is that the issues experienced by users seems wildly inconsistent. I've read a lot of people on forums who've lost tons of their content but not in the same way that I did. In fact, no two people seem to have the same problem. I called the Disney folks and they were pleasant (in fact, they reminded me of the "cast members" you buy Churros from at Disneyland) but they didn't know what was going on. I don't blame them, the developers have clearly bitten off more than they can chew in terms of getting this game in the cloud. Take that all with a grain of salt. This is a truly ambitious and epic monument to interactivity and creativity. I'm pushing this engine HARD and most of my disappointments with this game have more to do with my ambition rather than shortcomings with the game. That being said, there are a few weird graphical glitches that other reviewers have noted but don't really bother me. So let's get back to the point. Disney infinity 3.0 is the best Star Wars game on the market right now (ask me about that when Battlefront comes out) and the best game creation tool available on consoles at this time (sorry Project Sparks). If you're a parent with kids who love games and Star Wars, Marvel or Disney or someone like me with a lot of nostalgia for these characters, 3.0 is a no-brainer. Is it expensive? Ridiculously so. But it's only a rip-off if you don't take full advantage of the Toybox. If you really get your feet wet in the creation engine offered here, you'll get many more hours of play out of this game than you probably would with most AAA titles. If you only want to play the campaigns however, you might find better value elsewhere.

Mediocre Bond title doesn't quite seem like it fits in with the Bond universe and the graphics have aged far worse than even Goldeneye 64. Not a bad game in the series but certainly a forgettable Bond adventure.

With Rare moving on to develop Perfect Dark, EA decided to essentially "clone" the engine and gameplay of Goldeneye 64. The result is a very playable and enjoyable game that captures the Brosnan-era Bond vibe fairly well. However, it never achieves the heights that Goldeneye does. Worth a playthrough for James Bond fans and N64 shooter aficionados but most modern gamers will have little reason to revisit this title. Interesting side-note, EA was working on a higher resolution version of this game for PC and PS2 when the project was abruptly cancelled.

It's 10pm on a Saturday when I walk into the party. It's a group of old friends and I'm the new guy that no one knows. A couple guys and girls are huddled around the TV playing a familiar game. Goldeneye 64. I pick up the controller and immediately start taking names. As C3PO would say "I am now part of the tribe". And that's what Goldeneye 64 is --- not a game but a cultural touchstone for anyone who grew up playing shooters in the 90s. When Goldeneye was released, using a PC was the only credible way to play an FPS. Sure, there were ports of Doom and Wolfenstein to consoles, but they were not worth their salt. Then came Goldeneye and the paradigm was shifted forever, paving the way for the likes of Halo and Call of Duty. Goldeneye was the first game to credibly use a gamepad to control an FPS. And while the sprawling maps and stealth mechanic of the single-player campaign offered hours of great content, it was the split-screen multiplayer that made this game a true classic. As a lifelong fan of James Bond who has been playing FPS since the original Wolfenstein, Goldeneye hits a sweet spot with me that few games have rivaled before or since. Is it as good as you remember? Of course not, the FPS genre has taken monumental leaps forward since this game was released and the clumsy N64 controller is a medieval torture device compared to modern gamepads. Is it still worth playing. Of course! Goldeneye 64 is like the Casablanca of video games. It may be old but it's still better than most of what has come since.

Disney Infinity brings out the inner child, but also the inner addict and a spendaholic. The ability to create your own worlds and custom games out of "toys" that you discover while adventuring through various worlds in the "Disneyverse" makes Infinity one of the most replayable games of all time. But I hesitate to say that the game has replay VALUE because you'll end up forking out a lot of dough to get the most out of your experience. The core game itself comes with a hefty $75 price tag, each additional adventure runs you $35 and every new character will put you back about $15. I personally sunk around $150 into playing this game before I finally had to stage a personal intervention. Do I regret it? Nah. I had a lot of fun and built some cool maps including my own version of Disneyland (I don't really like the inaccurate one that the designers built themselves), the Bates Motel from the Psycho series, the Hill Valley clocktower square from Back to the Future and Dealey Plaza from the Kennedy assassination. Drop-in split-screen multiplayer adds a whole new dimension of fun and the ToyBox share community allows you to download other people's content (although this ecosystem of custom content is VERY restrictive and only a slim number of player maps get approved for sharing. The free iPad version of the game runs like a dream on the iPad Air 2 but is essentially unplayable on iPad 2 or below. If you have kids (or are still one at heart) and enjoy the ability to build your own custom worlds, Disney Infinity is a must-have. However, I can't give it a higher rating because the significant monetary investment required to get the most out of the game really makes me feel taken advantage of as a consumer.

I know Disneyland like the back of my hand, and the 3D recreation of the park in this game is spot on, down to every last trash can and Churro stand. Unfortunately it's difficult to navigate the environment and this game would have greatly benefited from allowing you to use your controller to walk around the park. The mini-games that make up the bulk of the content here are hit and miss and like most Kinect titles mostly consist of waving your arms around and hoping something will happen. Highlights include the Matterhorn skiing level, flying through Neverland with Peter Pan and bopping around the galaxy on Space Mountain. Conspicuously absent are Star Tours and Indiana Jones, two of my favorite rides. It's a shame that this game was developed before Disney purchased those properties (although that's the ONLY reason I'd be glad that Disney bought out Lucasfilm). All in all I would like this game a lot more if you could simply run around the park with a cap gun or lightsaber whacking tourists over the head. Look sharp for an NPC "dad" who looks a heckofalot like Barack Obama.

The Silent Age is an eerily evocative adventure game that benefits enormously by an extremely well thought out time travel mechanic. In order to solve the wide variety of puzzles, you must use a small device to shift across time from the 1970s to a post apocalyptic future. It's similar to Day of the Tentacle in that respect but make no mistake, this is not a simple clone of old-school games. The Silent Age is one of the most uniquely original games to come out of the adventure game mini-renaissance that is occurring on iOS right now. I am greatly anticipating the sequel to this title and truly appreciative that this first chapter is available for free. If you want something more thoughtful than the usual tap tap app crap that is so prevalent in the iOS ecosystem then The Silent Age is not to be missed.

If someone told me that Fester Mudd was a "lost" LucasArts game that had been discovered in that warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark after 20 years, I'd believe them. So faithful is this loving tribute to the golden era of adventure gaming. From the goofy jokes to the soothing midi music and charmingly pixelated character design and background art, Fester Mudd is a page right out of point-and-click history. But how does it stand on its own? Just fine. The puzzles are typical adventure fare --- acquire a bunch of weird, random items and figure out how to use them to solve amusingly contrived puzzles. And Fester himself, what's he like? He's very much a wild west Guybrush Threepwood --- penniless, fairly dimwitted and prone to getting himself in trouble. My only complaint is that it's taking them too damn long to release the sequel!

Still one of LucasArts best point-and-click adventures. The writing is sharp, the puzzles are clever and funny and the art is fantastic even to this day. The variety of islands to explore make this a vibrant, colorful and lively world to play in. Overall I find this to be superior to the original and in my opinion the highlight of the series. Character design wise this is also our protagonist Guybrush Threepwood's best "look" (the following entries returned him to the dopey white-shirted look of the original game). The Special Edition adds new graphics and voice overs but like with the first SE, this doesn't add much to the experience. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And even after over 20 years, ME2 is far from broken. In fact, it's a gold standard for adventure gaming.

A fantastic adventure game marred only by a disappointingly short length and some annoying combat sequences (was there EVER a LucasArts adventure game with GOOD combat sequences?). Still the animation is great, the story is intriguing and the voice acting is top-notch, including the likes of the legendary Mark Hamill. What really makes this game soar is the appeal of the badass main character Ben. It's a shame the planned sequel was cancelled, this could have been a great series à la Monkey Island. Look sharp for at least one hilarious Star Wars reference. Solid metal score from The Gone Jackals (whoever they are).

Whether you like blasting Rebel troops from the cockpit of an AT-AT walker or gunning down Ewoks on the lovely forest moon of Endor, Star Wars Battlefront is the game for you. As many reviewers point out, Battlefront is essentially a Battlefield 1942 clone with a Star Wars makeover. However, Battlefield has essentially become a FPS footnote and Battlefront remains a veritable legend among both Star Wars fans and gamers as a whole. And for good reason. The maps are sprawling and capture the look and feel of the Star Wars universe extremely well. The units are varied and overall reasonably balanced (although I would recommend playing as the Empire and the Clones rather than the Rebels or Separatists). The flying mechanic is weak and the lack of playable hero characters may annoy some players but the sequel proved that concentrating on the non Force power wielding characters may have been a good move after all. Incidentally, the two best maps, Bespin and Hoth, are from the best Star Wars movie, Empire Strikes Back. Online multiplayer is another highlight of this great game and the split-screen multiplayer on the console ports is also a load of fun. If you're a fan of massive online shooters or Star Wars, this game is not to be missed.

Battlefront II is one of those rare Star Wars games that gives the player the full experience of adventuring through everyone's favorite Galaxy Far Far Away. You get to drive the vehicles, fly the ships, engage in epic ground battles and even wield a lightsaber across a wide variety of planets. The main distinction between this entry and its predecessor is the addition of playable hero characters. This turns out to be a blessing and a curse. While it's great to swing a lightsaber as your favorite Jedi or Sith, jetpack around as Boba Fett or gunsling from the hip as Han Solo it does occasionally upset the game balance. This is particularly evident in levels where one side has a hero with force powers and the other doesn't. Also, a couple of the best maps from the first game are conspicuously absent here. Still this is one of the greatest Star Wars games of all time (certainly of the Xbox/PS2 console cycle) and the ridiculously addictive multiplayer adds enormously to its high replay value.

Jedi Academy is a serviceable sequel to Jedi Outcast but unlike the previous entries in the series it does not represent a quantum leap forward in quality. Dark Forces was a fun shooter, Jedi Knight was a revelation and Jedi Outcast was an exercise in near-perfection. Jedi Academy retains the same rock-solid lightsaber and Force power game mechanic of Outcast and enough enhancements to make it worthwhile. Most notable is the ability to customize your character and lightsaber as well as adding the option to wield two lightsabers or the infamous Darth Maul dual lightsaber. The story is not quite as interesting and the experience as a whole is not nearly as absorbing and immersive as the previous entry. If you are a fan of the series or Star Wars in general I would definitely recommend this title. If you're only going to buy one Dark Forces/Jedi Knight game however, I'd go for Jedi Outcast.

007 Legends is definitely the worst James Bond title of the 360/Ps3 console cycle although it is not as unplayable as some reviewers made it out to be. As a James Bond fan, I found the premise to be fantastic. I've long thought that the film franchise itself should remake some of the older novels and films now that the producers have run out of Ian Fleming stories to base their movies off of. However, the designers ended up making some bizarre choices as to what films they decided to depict here. Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service are natural fits. They are classic films regarded by James Bond aficionados as two of the best entries in the series. Moonraker and Die another Day are however among some of the WORST movies in the history of the franchise. I can only assume they chose Die Another Day because they wanted to include a movie for each Bond actor and it is the only Pierce Brosnan movie that has NOT been turned into a video game so far. The campy nature of Moonraker is very jarring compared to the no-nonsense toughness of the current iteration of cinematic Bond. I have fond memories about License to Kill but the drug-runner story is so generic that it's hard to milk any "Bondiness" out of the source material for this game. The Skyfall DLC seems rushed and unremarkable. Better choices for levels would have been the volcano base from You Only Live Twice, Kananga's voodoo lair from Live and Let Die, Scaramanga's funhouse island from The Man With the Golden Gun or Stromberg's submarine swallowing tanker from The Spy Who Loved Me. It's also a shame that Daniel Craig could not be talked into doing the voiceover her, making it even stranger that Bond's appearance is clearly modeled after him. Also the actor portraying Felix Leiter resembles NONE of the myriad performers who have portrayed the character over the last 50 years. The gameplay itself ranges from unremarkable to downright broken. The stealth mechanic simply doesn't work, the quicktime fistfights are completely brainless, the driving sequences are depressingly bland and the large-scale battles are on-par with the first Call of Duty games. James Bond is a perfect character for video games. He has a wide variety of skills, gadgets and weapons and his work takes him to exotic and dangerous locations. Whomever ends up with the license next should take a cue from the Hitman, Dues Ex, Far Cry, and Just Cause franchises and create a truly epic Bond game that allows him to trot the globe in cool vehicles armed with a bevvy of guns and gadgets. Hopefully, someone will get it right. Until then, steer away from this title unless you are a die hard Bond fan like me.

The Police Quest series is an extremely underrated part of the classic Sierra canon of adventure games and many modern games such as "LA Noir" owe a lot to these titles. The games center on the character of Sonny Bonds, a police officer in the fictional city of Lytton. Created by former police officer Jim Walls, these titles require the player to strictly follow police protocol in order to complete the game. The first game was built on the text input-based AGI game engine developed for King's Quest and told the story of Sonny's rise in from beat cop to narcotics detective as he takes down the infamous "Death Angel". The game follows a linear plot but is built around a top-down open world map which allows you to drive between game locations. However, the version included in this collection is the point and click remake built on top of the SCI1 engine. Police Quest II was built on the SCI engine which was also text input based but did feature some point and click functionality. This entry replaced the top-down driving simulation with an over-the-shoulder view which to some degree made the world feel more restrictive. Still, the game benefits from a variety of realistic locations and the same attention to real-world detail as its predecessor. Police Quest III was built on the SCI1 engine which eliminated the need for text entry. This title returned to the top-down driving view but the point-and-click interface proved frustratingly non-intuitive for navigating around Lytton. Still, Police Quest III features a remarkably emotionally-driven storyline centering on Bonds' relationship with his wife Marie (a character from the original two games). Open Season is the first game not to be developed by Jim Walls, with former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates taking the helm of the project. Although graphically impressive for its time (it was build on the SC2 game engine which relied on photographic scans for its visuals) the game lost the realistic procedural element of its predecessors, instead relying on graphic violence and sensationalism to move the story forward. The game also ditches the character of Sonny Bonds in favor a new protagonist which squanders the emotional resonance built up over the first three entries. I therefore consider this to be a sequel in name only. All and all this is a solid collection and if you are a fan of classic graphical adventures from the 80s and 90s I would highly recommend playing the first three entries in the series but you can go ahead and skip the fourth.

As a long-time fan of the FPS and open world genres, this is the game I've been waiting for for years. I enjoyed the first two games in the series but this is the first one two really live up to its potential. Unlike most shooters where you start off as a badass, in this game you start out as a normal 20-something kid that more or less resembles the target audience of the game itself. As you begin to explore the world of the game, your character begins a descent into madness that turns him into a viscous killing machine. This journey into darkness makes the game one of the most immersive shooters of all time. While the campaign is certainly a blast, it's the element of non-linear exploration that make this game truly epic. The exploration occurs by climbing up radio towers and liberating enemy bases. You can take down these outposts stealthily without firing a single shot or storm the front gate, flamethrower a-blazing. I spent many a late night telling myself "okay, take over ONE more base and I'm going to bed" and then summarily ignoring my own orders. The game also includes the most impressive array of realistic weaponry I've seen in a shooter, bolstered by the intriguing "hunting and crafting" system which I thought would be annoying but turned out quite fun. The relatively easy to use map editor also adds greatly to the replay value. My main complaint is that the multiplayer is extremely lacking. I would have LOVED a split-screen option that would have allowed a buddy to drop into my single-player campaign and start raising hell with me. Hopefully this will be remedied with the sequel coming out next week (!!!!!).

Shadow Warrior takes the open-ended interactivity that made Duke Nukem 3D so fun and expands/improves upon it. Almost everything in Shadow Warrior is breakable and the addition of drivable vehicles, truly 3D pickups and "room-over-room" levels add to the immersive nature of the game. Unfortunately the game relies on some really racist caricatures of Japanese people and culture that is more offensive than funny. I'm not an easily offended individual and personally loathe all forms of political correctness but I don't see why the developers couldn't have used this as an opportunity to create a character that positively portrays Japanese individuals. Additionally, the graphics were already dated in 1997 (keep in mind this was the same year that the truly 3D Goldeneye64, Quake II, Hexen II, Turok and Dark Forces II: Jedi night were released) and may turn off newcomers to this title. All in all a fun romp down memory lane but not the a classic like Doom or Duke.

Shadow Warrior takes the open-ended interactivity that made Duke Nukem 3D so fun and expands/improves upon it. Almost everything in Shadow Warrior is breakable and the addition of drivable vehicles, truly 3D pickups and "room-over-room" levels add to the immersive nature of the game. Unfortunately the game relies on some really racist caricatures of Japanese people and culture that is more offensive than funny. I'm not an easily offended individual and personally loathe all forms of political correctness but I don't see why the developers couldn't have used this as an opportunity to create a character that positively portrays Japanese individuals. Additionally, the graphics were already dated in 1997 (keep in mind this was the same year that the truly 3D Goldeneye64, Quake II, Hexen II, Turok and Dark Forces II: Jedi night were released) and may turn off newcomers to this title. All in all a fun romp down memory lane but not the a classic like Doom or Duke.

Of all the games that licensed the legendary Doom Engine, Strife is the most innovative and intriguing. While the game maintained the typical run-and-gun mechanic that made Doom such a classic, Strife adds elements of adventure games and RPGs. Additionally, the open world hub map added a sense of freedom that many of the more linear FPS of the time were sorely lacking. Unfortunately, the graphics were even dated for their time (this was released the same year as Quake, Tomb Raider and Duke Nukem 3D) and seem jarringly out of place compared to the well-done comic book cutscenes and character portraits. Still, Strife remains a curiously engaging classic FPS that stands the test of time far better than the vast majority of its contemporaries. If you are a fan of retro-FPS than I highly suggest giving Strife a shot.

Hexen moved the needle from it's predecessor Heretic by adding some compelling new features to the FPS genre. First was the ability to smash windows. That seems silly now, but in 1995 that was a lot of fun. The large levels and other features such as blowing leaves made the environment seem more realistic and immersive than Doom or Heretic. The class system was an interesting addition that paved the way for the way most multiplayer FPS are designed today. I prefer more realistic shooters than fantasy-based games but that's a matter of taste and I have little bad to say about Hexen.

Heretic was essentially Doom with a medieval fantasy facelift. There were definitely some new features such as the ability to look up and down and certainly better than most of the lackluster "Doom Clones" of the era, but the game was evolutionary rather than revolutionary. If you are a fan of vintage shooters and prefer fantasy over sci-fi, I would give Heretic a try but it is by no means on par with Doom.

Duke3d was the game that finally took the First Person Shooter out of dark corridors and dungeons into large, open, interactive, real-world environments. Instead of lurking around military installations and and creepy catacombs, Duke allowed you to explore entire city blocks, ride subways, play pool, flush toilets, drink out of fountains, tip strippers, look at yourself in mirror and even pick up a pay phone. It was also one of the first games that let you destroy your environment. You could light palm trees on fire, break apart fire hydrants, smash soda machines, obliterate trash cans, shatter urinals, break street signs into pieces or even kill a the afore-mentioned stripper (if that's what floats your boat). The game was also revolutionary in its use of humor. The jokes seemed stupid now but at the time, they were a lot of fun (particularly for Evil Dead/Army of Darkness fans). The gadgets also added new dimensions to the genre, especially the jetpack. The game slumps a bit in the second episode which falls into more familiar FPS territory but the 3rd act (as well as the "Plutonium Pack", "Penthouse Paradise" and "Duke it out in DC" expansion packs) is classic. Multiplayer adds greatly to the replay value (the Atomic addition added in ridiculously difficult "bots" for those times when you couldn't find a buddy) but the real key to Duke's longevity is the Build Editor that came bundled with the game. I only wish I could find the floppy disks I backed my levels up on! Even better than the individual fan levels were the "Total Conversions" that sometimes completely altered the original game. My personal favorite was the Disneyland mod but the most impressive was the "Platoon" mod that completely converted the game into a Vietnam simulator (this was later adapted into the standalone game "Nam"). Duke Nukem 3D might not hold up as well as Doom and the XBL and iOS ports aren't particularly impressive, this remains one of my favorite games of all time. Hail to the King baby.

These days Doom ][ would be considered more of a DLC/expansion pack product than a standalone sequel so it's hard to review it in a vacuum. There's a new shotgun, a slew of formidable additional enemies and some new textures and sprites but it's fundamentally the same game --- same gameplay mechanic and game engine. My main complaint it is that this game is RIDICULOUSLY hard. I've logged probably thousands of hours in this game and since it came out 20 years ago and I'm still astounded at how difficult some of these levels are. But like it's predecessor this game holds up quite well and is well suited to the XBL platform. A couple of years after this game came out I remember feeling this weird feeling of "gosh I've wasted so much of my life playing this gross game". If only I knew how more years I would spend playing this game!

Doom didn't invent the First Person Shooter but it defined it and it's legacy lives on to this day. You therefore have to review this watershed game from two perspectives: what it was like playing it when it was originally released and how it holds up today. 20 years ago Doom was revolutionary. The (sort of) 3D graphics and level design were like nothing we'd ever seen before, weapons were varied and kickass, the sound design was rock solid and the multiplayer was a revelation. It was also one of the first games that truly had a distinct "atmosphere". It was scary, nailbiting and just plain eerie. For the first time I felt truly immersed in the world of the game. This wasn't just a fun way to kill a few hours, Doom was an experience. But how does it hold up? I can't speak for younger gamers who are playing it for the first time but I still think Doom is a blast to play. I love all of the things modern shooters have brought to the fray both in terms of graphics and gameplay but sometimes I want to just mindlessly strafe through a horde of demons with a shotgun. No stealth, no jumping and rolling, no cover system, no crosshair --- just plain old run-and-gun. People still watch Casablanca and Gone with the Wind after 70 years, why shouldn't people play Doom after 20? It's a classic.

In every measurable sense, this is the greatest GTA game of all time. Sure, you may prefer the 80s vibe of Vice City or the more varied landscape of San Andreas but GTA V is the first game in the series that actually has missions that are more fun than frustrating. In previous incarnations, the missions were so annoying I spent most of my time just exploring the cities rather than trying to complete my objectives. GTA V not only adds a reasonable checkpoint system but also finally introduces some variety. Instead of the repetitive "drive here, drive there" missions in previous entries, GTA V actually makes you feel like you're part of a heist. Nothing goes to plan of course, but that's part of the fun of GTA! What really makes this game stand out is the online mode. Nothing is more fun than hopping in a car with your buddy and cruising around Las Santos looking to cause some mayhem.

The classic adventure game Monkey Island receives a make-over. But who is it for? Those of us who remember this game fondly don't need new graphics sound effects to draw us in, we still like it. For a new generation of gamers accustomed to faster-paced and more graphically intensive titles, I can't imagine that a cartoony make-over such as this is likely to make much of a difference. The option to switch back and forth between the original and new version is really the most interesting thing to do here but it's not something I would have been asking for if it had never been provided. At the end of the day is the game still fun to play? Absolutely, it's one of the best games of all time. Is this the "definitive" version of the game? Nah, find an original copy and boot it up on ScummVm or Dosbox.

Jedi Outcast was the first game that made players feel like they were in the Star Wars universe. Every music cue, sound effect, texture, object and character feel like they were pulled directly out of the film. The levels are sprawling, beautiful and immersive, making you feel like you are truly running around one of the sets from the movies. But what makes this game truly extraordinary is the gameplay. Never before and never since has there been a more elegant, nuanced and satisfying lightsaber mechanic in a Star Wars game. The force power system is also vastly improved here and the thrill of tossing around stormtroopers like rag dolls with the flick of a mouse never grows old. A truly epic adventure that I have installed on every computer I've owned since it was released.

Dark Forces II was the first game to truly put you in the shoes of a Jedi Knight, simulating both the Force Powers and lightsaber combat seen in the original trilogy of Star Wars films. The game still plays remarkably well today. The levels are vast (although the textures are occasionally bland) and the design captures the overall look and feel of the Star Wars universe. However, it wouldn't be until the next game, Jedi Outcast, that this series would truly "nail" the experience of being a Jedi. The force power system is a bit clunky in this game, the lightsaber glow doesn't look quite right and the full motion video sequences have aged very poorly. An improvement over the last entry and an interesting stepping stone towards the next.

The graphics have not retained their charm as well as some of the other LucasArts titles of the era but the fun of mindlessly gunning down Stormtroopers in Dark Forces remains intact. Although the engine boasts greater functionality than that of Doom (room-over-room, true 3D objects, moving sectors, etc.) the level design itself isn't quite as **** Doom designers used clever tricks to make their environments seem more three-dimensional than they really were whereas the levels in Dark Forces seem less detailed and consist of blander, more repetitive textures. Additionally, the lack of a multiplayer mode keeps this game from being a true classic. However, if you're a fan of vintage FPS and/or Star Wars, Dark Forces is definitely worth a play-through.