downphoenix

Not sure if the critics even played the same game but I'm really enjoying the hell out of this one. The open world is very fleshed out with a lot of interesting things to explore and just a very charming design. The combat gives a lot of options for the player to fight and it feels very fluid, utilizing a mix of Devil May Cry and the Batman Arkham games. The graphics are gorgeous and runs beautifully, I can max it out at 4k 60 on my RTX 3070 with dynamic resolution enabled. It seems to be very well optimized on my PC, only encountered a couple of times I had noticeable frame drops, and they weren't bad at all, still very playable. I hear people rag on about the music but I feel it really adds a sense of wonder to the exploration and isn't overbearing, it's meant to compliment what's on screen instead of be the star of the show. Only complaints I have is the narrator is used a bit too much so I do skip some dialogs once I read the subtitles, and the button combinations for some combo moves can still be triggered regardless if you connect with an enemy, so it looks kind of goofy when I'm doing a flying piledriver move with nothing in my hands. And don't pay too much attention to the critics on this one, they have oddly contradicted each other multiple times in the reviews, some saying the open world is too empty and bit and some saying too small, some saying the company is too easy and some too hard, can it really be all those things at the same time? I feel this will be like Dying Light in that it only got a 71 on Metacritic yet ended up one of the most beloved games of the generation, sometimes the critics do miss the mark people. Give it a try for yourself, wait for a sale if you must or if you play on pc you can sub for a month of EA play pro to play it for $15. (It's not an EA game but I got them and thq Nordic had some kind of deal, I know Darksiders 3 was released similarly when it came out)

Sea of Thieves is a return to form for Rare Studios, a studio with a storied history but has not made a non Kinect title since Microsoft introduced that periphreal since 2010. This is a game that features the studio's signature charm and humor and holds to its core design philosophy of making unique and interesting games that buck the industry trends. This is perhaps the best title we have seen from Rare in over a decade, a studio that never quite felt in control after they became a part off Microsoft. The mechanics of the game are simple in nature but are effective and rely on a player's own ability to make reasonable conclusions based on how things work and behave. Steering the ship can feel cumbersome and difficult but that is because it takes practice and finesse. Navigating the map can be challenging but once you get used to identifying the unique characteristics of the island it becomes second nature, with no need for any automated assists that games so often feel obligated to provide. In terms of the rules that govern the game, it feels like an open canvas that you can interpret as you like. Getting used to the basics doesnt take long but mastering the finer aspects of playing the game is something that may be difficult to pick up on. Bear in mind, this is a game all about social interaction. You can play it solo but the open seas are a lonely place. Not only is it very challenging to strike it on your own, but it also misses the point of this game. This game is meant to be played with other sea worthy mateys, not only to work is best but also gives the best opportunities for strong emergent gameplay. This game is most about the stories that you can tell and remember, stories involving exploring shipwrecks, dueling with other players, fending off the kraken, and many other things thar can happen. I have spent many hours at sea and have only explored a handful of the locations. The way missions work are largely randomly generated quests so it can feel repetitive when there is a lack of variety in the objectives. Bear in mind though that the quests do get stronger with multitiered goals as you increase your ranks. The people saying there is nothing to do or see after just a few hours seem to take assumption that the game is solely based on the early types of quests given. They don't seem to understand that player interaction adds to the depth and scope of everything they experience in this game. They don't see the ocean for its islands, if you will. This isnt a game about grinding to an endgame, it is an evolving experience that with time and updates will flourish. Rare is back!

This game exceeded my expectations. I have closely followed it, being a fan of Ninja Theory's past games as well as really digging the concept and the setting of the game. I however, did not expect it to be as emotionally impacting as it ended up being. I did not expect the story to be as compelling and griping as it ended up being. I did not expect the visually stunning graphics and beautiful dissonant soundtrack as they ended up being. Basically I expected this game to be a pretty decent action adventure game and walked away playing what could possibly be the best game of the year. It has overtaken Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for me personally. It is well deserved of the praise it gets. Not only is this game a masterfully competent action game with spot on controls that have zero delay and allow for varied and well choreographed battles, but it also featured one of the most interesting protagonists we've seen in a long time in games. There are many layers to the madness that dwells upon Senua and as you play through, you as a player will not only experience it but be a part of this journey. The sound design is something I've never quite experienced in a game before, the 3d binaural audio is something you just have to hear, playing this game with headphones is mandatory to get the best experience possible, unless maybe you have a great surround system. If you can find a way to place this game, do it!

I personally love Destiny. It is an example of the craftsmanship at Bungie. Some people will aim to compare it to Halo and Borderlands since it does have similiar elements to those games, but I feel the game takes a life of its own. One thing I've noticed about a lot of the negative reviews on here is that they come from people that have only scratched the surface of the game, and that is also the case with the critic reviews here on Metacritic. I've invested a LOT of time since launch in this game, probably about 25 hours, got to Level 20, had fun with the strikes, crucible, etc. so I feel I have dug into it enough to judge it. It isn't a perfect game though. There are some complaints I have, for instance the lack of being able to communicate with people unless you are partied up is off-putting at times, but on the other hand this means not having to put up with annoying people in your team that you were put in at random. The lack of a loadout system is kind of annoying, it would be nice to have a few loadout presets that you can equip with one button. Also the way the menu system works is a bit weak, since the interface screams for a mouse and keyboard but you're stuck with a controller, the UI needs to be more controller friendly (kind of the opposite problem that Skyrim had). The story is interesting but it doesn't have the sweeping and strong narrative of the Halo games that Bungie has put out, and it does require online access to play, so if you're looking for a solid Single Player shooting experience, you can be better served elsewhere, maybe try out the new Wolfenstein game if you're looking for that, since that was a really awesome single player shooter. That said, I appreciate the story for what it is, and it seems that we will get more as the game progresses, people are reviewing this like this is the finished product and that we will not get any more content, even though we have 2 expansions coming out as well as free content that we will get daily and weekly in the form of heroic and nightfall missions as well as Iron Banner events. I can understand why Bungie is distancing itself from an MMO title for this game, this MMOs are typically known for stiff and boring gameplay that involves a lot of grinding, since Destiny plays like a non-mmo game, it is as smooth and fast paced as any other major shooter you've played, with a competitive multiplayer that pairs up with the rest. Despite the differences in classes and weapons, I found the online competitive multiplayer to be some of the most balanced I've ever played. The maps are laid out very well and the weapons have a very good counter balance to them, and every class has supers that are implemented well. I recommend Destiny for those that aren't looking for a cookie cutter shooter mold, but wants a shooter that wants to be a lot of different things. I've been playing on the Playstation 4.

If you are looking for a game with combat or stealth or something of this nature, stay away from it, as the game is not one of those types of games. This game is in the vein of something like La Noire or Beyond Two Souls, it is a game about looking for clues, investigating, and occasionally using your ghost powers. If having constant gameplay is something you dont need, youll get drawn in by the world of the game, which is very well thought out. Your main character is not the usual archetype. He is a bit of a badboy, being a wiseass who chainsmokes, but truly wants to help, and not just because he is dead. There are some pretty interesting characters and a story that has a unique twist to it and not an ending you can easily call out. It is a fun game, and I rate it an 8.5, I edged it to a 9 due to some of the bad user reviews on here that complaim about lack of aforementioned gameplay aspects. The problems with the game are 3 things: 1) it is too linear, it doesnt have any kind of branching like LA Noire does. It is also om the short side, took me around 9 or 10 hours to complete. And the final part of the game, if you are a completionist and want to do everything for a trophy, youll want to wait to do it until you complete ALL of the side stuff. You can 100% this in the first playthrough, but you wont be able to go back once you go to the final part, youll have to start a new save if yoi wanna do that stuff, which is just a glaring flaw, but one that at the same time is really small.

If you love roguelike games and/or metroidvania type action RPGs, this game will **** your hours dry. It is super fun and addictive and very well designed. Never played anything that Cellar Door previously put out (And they break the 4th wall in this and talk rather cruelly and sarcastically about their previous games) but regardless of whatever past mistakes they've released as an indie developer, they have a surefire hit on this one. There is a reason this game topped Steam's Top Seller list for a week, and it probably would still be on there if not for the new sales, and that reason is you can't get more a more fun, addictive Action RPG game than this for $15, worth every cent, and I gladly would have paid more. (hint hint devs, think about doing some DLC!). Have played about 16 hours so far.

I actually like this game. Im not one of those trolls that make up a fake review or some account made by some random developer or publisher. I actually give this game a 7.5 but decided to do it a 7 on Metacritic because even though I think it is a good game, it isnt worth the $60 asking price, its more like $20-30 if you wanna buy it. That is because the campaign is relatively short (Took me about 8 hours). I suppose if you're a hardcore trekie and you enjoy the new movie series then $60 will be a fair price to you, but if you are just a casual fan of Star Trek or 3rd person shooters I would wait for a price drop. First of all, most of the pro reviewers exaggerated the issues with the game. Yes, there are some clipping issues and bugs, but they are overblown. None of the bugs affect your ability to play the game. So I do mark down some for it but not much since its more of a polishing issue than something that affects the gameplay. There is a notable exception to this though, I did encounter a bug that inverted the directions of my left analog stick that seemed to be triggered by getting rammed by one of the big Gorn creatures, and it lasts a few seconds. I am unsure if this is a bug or perhaps intentional design to make the impact of getting hit seem more significant, since this bug only happens in these very specific instances, and other heavy impacts like explosions do not cause it. Its not a crippling bug when looking at the game as a whole because you only fight big Gorn bosses a few times in the game, they are not a regular enemy. One of the complaint I hear about a lot is the AI is bad. This isnt true at all. My AI partner has been pretty helpful in firefights and has saved my hide numerous times. As far as the AI teleporting, this only happened to me one time, which was on the last mission. The last mission seemed to be more buggy than the rest of them in general so I hope they patch it quick. The terrible animations only apply to cutscenes and such, the actual in game animation for combat/movement sequences is actually very good. The cutscene animations being bad particularly happens when characters are stationary and mostly affect Kirk and Spock (who should be the most animated characters honestly) because most of the other characters are animated well with a few exceptions. The graphics are pretty good. There are some instances of low res textures, but the engine is technically sound with great draw distance, no pop in or screen tearing, a consistent framerate with no slowdowns, and some pretty visual effects such as in the opening mission with the bright sun in the background and nice reflection effects. The sound design is very well done, the sound effects sound like they they do from the series, the actual actors lend a hand for the voiceovers and do a good job in portraying their characters, and the game has a mix of music from the movies as well as some original scores, and the score is very good. The gameplay is 3rd person like Gears of War, but its not a bro-op shooter where you just shoot and shoot some more with some turret sequences to spice it up. This game has a LOT of variety in the gameplay from platforming, puzzle solving, the tricorder (Which can also help in combat scenarios), exploration, stealth, drop sequences like the 2009 movie, and even a segment with commanding the enterprise, AND NO TURRET BITS! It is done pretty well overall with all of these bits, if I did have to pick a weak point with these extra bits it would be the platforming because the controls are a little wonky with this. It wasn't an insurmountable obstacle but a lot of my non combat deaths were from trying to manage some of the platforming sequences. The game also has something called Commendations, which you may see come up once-twice per mission, basically rewarding you for playing a specific way. Fortunately this game doesnt fall into a trap of FORCING you to play a specific way or have to retry like a lot of games do. For instance, if you dont want to use your phaser on stun, explore different routes, or use stealth to avoid detection, you dont have to and the game wont make you restart a segment if you fail to do this. These commendations are setup to have the player play a little more intelligently, like you are a Starfleet Officer as opposed to a gun toting grunt. They are optional but they do help you to unlock additional experience for unlocking things. You can use experience to unlock upgrades to your tricorder and phaser. It would have been nice to utilize it to upgrade the other weapons as well, but I can see why they chose the phaser only since you generally always have it. The story is very solid and is well presented like in the movies. And the combat is good, shooting and cover mechanics work well and you snap to cover and get off it easily. And the phaser and tricorder can be very useful in combat, as you can use the stun setting to allow melee kills on enemies. I do recommend this

In short, this game is amazing! This game is a culmination of nearly 10 years of work that started as a project to make an NES Homebrew game of Grand Theft Auto 3, and after a couple years with that, became a game developed for modern systems. Whether it was because the limitations were too great to continue as an NES game or what, this game is better for it. This game takes the great retro graphics and sound from games we loved as kids and combines it with modern gameplay mechanics that ensures it is never a frustration to play due to bad controls or bad game design. The design of this game is immaculate, especially considering it is the work of pretty much just 1 guy, I believe a few others did help but only during the last few months of development. No other indie game developed since Minecraft has been so carefully crafted and refined, yet retain the indie charm we would expect. The 1st 15 minutes of the game alone sold me. The references to classic movies and video games were countless. I can name off Grand Theft Auto, Back to the Future, Doctor Who, The Dark Knight, Megaman 2, Super Mario Brothers 2, Duck Hunt, Mortal Kombat, Inception, and Metal Gear Solid off the top of my head, just in the 1st 15 minutes. Part of the fun of this game is trying to get all the references. If you haven't played many old games you might not get some of it, but fortunately the tight gameplay and expansive wealth of content in the game still makes it a buy. I can't think of an indie game this year that can touch this game. BUY IT NOW!

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how Free 2 Play should be done! Tribes Ascend has such a fine tuned and well crafted experience that it is a real treat to play, and is quite addictive. This isn't anything new with a lot of Free 2 Play games, a lot of them are addictive and a treat to play INITIALLY. That's what the model is about, its designed to **** you in to pay. However, Tribes Ascend does not do that. The game doesn't force a brick wall on you to prevent advancement without constant grinding or your credit card. It certainly does take a lot longer to advance in this game without paying than with, but paying doesn't really give you a quantifiable advantage. What paying does is it will give you quick access to some great classes, weapons, and gear that can be very helpful, but does not make you play better. This game still requires skill and dedication over anything else to master. The game is 100% playable without paying a cent. Every thing in the game that is unlockable can be done with the experience points, you dont have to buy the gold for ANYTHING. However, because of how good the game is, the sheer quality of the gameplay, graphics, controls, and variety of content, you will still want to pay for some gold (if you can afford it), not necessarily to level up faster, but because you just ended up playing a game that's so damn good, it would morally feel like piracy if you didn't pay. Now THAT'S how to do a Free 2 Play game!