Smoothrunner

High-quality action game with RPG elements. One of my all time favourite games actually. You will find here almost all things a good game needs: thrilling storytelling with an unexpected outcome; good combat balance with the ability to use environment and objects as weapons; different styles of passing the game; even romantic line with a choice. The game is atmospheric and exciting, and it's short enough to not to get bored. No modern game is even close to this little masterpiece.

The Hearts' of Stone story alternates tragic moments with comedy. Fun quest with the ghost on the wedding that transformed into a thriller with the robbery, and then into the dark mystique. It has beautiful design and great graphics (as if you really present in the game world), Slavic lore and authenticity. The characters of HoS are clearly inspired by Ukraine – the hairstyle, sabres, closings and earrings of the Zaporozhian Cossacks with Ataman Olgierd (like Cossack Characternik, who considered a mage warrior in Ukrainian mythology). More cards for the exciting mini-game "Gwent", logical consequences of your choices without any false moralizing on the one hand, and savoring the gruesome on another. This is over and above the fact that the level of the story, character depth, dialogues, dynamics and aesthetics of the game is higher than most Hollywood movies.

"By gamers for gamers" reads the old Interplay's motto. The same motto I saw long ago, launching Cyberia, Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale. Now they are long gone, team scattered, trying to revive the old school. But however good they were, I think now CD Project Red is more entitled to the Interplay's old motto - not by the right of origin but by creativity. First of all I must say that I'm not a fan of the two previous Witcher games, nor a fan of Sapkowski's books either. So I've expected nothing from The Witcher 3 and for months have launched it occasionally, never submerging into the story. But about month ago I've got some free time and The Witcher 3 suddenly consumed me so deeply that it tore me out of the real world, plunging into the fantastic universe of witchers, sorceresses and palace intrigues. The first alarm sounded for my inner skeptic during the side quests (not your usual "fetch it" quests) - I have almost always been able to do what I thought was right, rather than to choose between childish caricatures on "good" and "evil" which are plaguing not only modern games, but also cinema and literature. And my actions in the game resulted in logical consequences (the ending of the game turned out to be about exactly as what I expected and wanted). So my choices was true to me and mattered. The second "bell" rang during the ending of the Bloody Baron quest, when all appeared not as unambiguously as skeptic in me suspected. It was already an alarming symptom for my inner skeptic. But the real crushing blow was expertly prepared and delivered by the developers in Novigrad in the story quests and dialogues with the charismatic Dijkstra and beautiful Triss. Drunk scene in Kaer Morhene was just a control shot in the lifeless body of my inner skeptic, which was already dead before the trip on Skellige islands. The characters in the game are deep and well-developed. Not as simple as might seem at first. You can suspect that you might finally get to the "vulnerable soul” of the power-loving and selfish **** Yen, but this knowledge still will not make it much easier for you to reject Yen out there on the ship abandoned on the top of the mountain when she reveals her feelings to Geralt, appearing to be lonely, frightened and vulnerable child. On the other hand, good-natured and wise Triss sometimes seems imposturous, with temper tantrums, and even rage and cruelty. Not to mention that she used Garalt's amnesia to seduce him even though he was love of her "friend" Yen. Relationships in this love triangle are described so thoroughly that I was tempted to (and in fact deed) apply to them classification of love by CS Lewis, like they were real. Even minor characters are sometimes gorgeous. Charismatic Dijkstra, Bloody Baron, Lambert, Cossack's ataman Olgierd... Good and evil in The Witcher 3 are not so grotesque as usual in games, movies and books. As it is in the real life, there are no wholly bad or good persons (after all, no one does evil for evil's sake, the motive of committing evil always serve some good - love, security, power, money, etc), but there are bad / good deeds (clemency or crimes, honesty or trespasses, moral or amoral behaviour) which have their consequences. In fact, all people - from Christian saints to the worst maniacs - are mixtures of that good and bad deeds and affections. Anyone can love or betray. And it is perfectly portrayed in The Witcher 3. But that's not all of the advantages of the game. The story is also beautiful, it is not simply immerses you into an artificial one-dimensional world of eternal darkness or empty irony, but alternates tragic moments with comedy (yes, drunk scene in Kaer Morhene is a stroke of genius!), melancholy with fast action, the ugliness of monsters with stunningly beautiful vistas. And the dialogues - they are something. They're just brilliant. Vivid, clever, often ironic, sometimes touching or sad but not trivial. The game will not insult your intellect. In fact sometimes I felt that characters of the game are much smarter and wiser than me - I love it! CD Project Red have used advantages of the modern graphics properly - they have created a world so beautiful that some views deserve to be painted. On Skellige game design appears in all of its glory - the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, snow-capped mountains, the sea and the picturesque meadows, and a completely marvelous music. Clothing on characters looks as if they really wear it, not as adherent to their skin. Facial animation is used as it should - sometimes in dialogues gestures and facial expressions of the characters are much louder than words. The combat system have it's flaws, but overall gameplay is interesting. However I agree - the game needs more Triss :) But all these are secondary. Because for the first time I see a game which is actually rival if not surpasses the cinema and literature. It is real artwork in which a gamer can be co-creator. Marvellous! 10/10

A typical game from Bethesda. If you do not expect impossible from it (under no circumstances do not compare it with "The Witcher 3" and thus do not expect exquisite graphics, good story, ingenious dialogues or deep characters), it is ok. Music sometime reminiscent of the good old second "F". Graphics is lightly brushed up (well, yes, it is pathetic by the modern standards, but bearable). Animation is traditionally (for Bethesda) terrible. The style is respected - "retro-future" in the point of view of the 1950th. Player from the start is puzzled by the "detective" story with the murder of his wife and baby kidnapping - the goal and the mystery are there (if you are not older then 15, otherwise you will laugh from the beginning). Nothing revolutionary, of course, but quite fit in Bethesda's game style (story level for mentally ****, dialogues level for complete idiots and "wooden" characters without spark of life in them). For those who like an "open world" in general, crafting and building and don't give a **** about story it seems to be a decent find. As for the others... For me the last Fallout was Fallout 2. The "things" which are now called by the name of «Fallout» (starting from the 3rd and including NV) are curious misunderstandings. From this point of view F4 is primitive SciFi Skyrim shooter in the "open world" with crafting and "minecrafting". If you do like crippled shooters with "go fetch it" kind of quests then Fallout 4 is your game. If not, just keep in mind that Fallout 4 is not an RPG and definitely have no relation to genuine Black Isle's Fallout.