firehazard42

If you know me, then you know that I like the 3D platforming genre. Describing games like Rayman 2, Banjo Tooie, and Mario Sunshine as My childhood is an understatement. What luck then do I find a kickstarter for a game that claims to take inspiration from not only that genre, but the mentality and spirit from the Golden days of my youth. Naturally, I backed it and began to patiently wait. Come about half a decade later and it’s finally here, a bit after the other large kickstarter 3D collectathon revival game Yooka Laylee. If you’ve read my review on that then you’ll know that while not terrible or anything, that game failed to really hook me and I left it quite disappointed. I then began to fear that the game I kickstarted before was going to end up as a similar flop. Thankfully my fears were averted as I booted the game up for the first time and began to play. Exploring the controls was a bit of a challenge at first, and figuring out the quirks of our protagonist’s moves took some getting used to. But once I got the hang of it I found myself dashing, double jumping, sprinting and animation canceling my way all around a quirky and playful word that enticed me to find all of its secrets. The game’s music and world is what really sells it, I found myself simply standing or sitting around and appreciating the game’s atmosphere, something I rarely do in any game. What I like most about the game is how much it loves it’s inspiration. You might scoff at that and think “But Yooka Laylee did the same thing and you didn’t like THAT game!”. No it did not. Between the constant fourth wall jokes and taking the piss out of itself, YL felt more like a parody of its contemporaries rather than a revival. It felt insulting and disrespectful: while at the same time blatantly pandering to the nostalgia blinded fanboys who claim Banjo Kazooie was flawless and any evolution is heresy. But I digress; Hat in time shows it’s love for those games not by simply parroting them; flaws and all; but instead finding the best in them and figuring out what worked, while also taking a critical eye to what didn’t, or might not anymore. It isn’t lost in the past while making fun of itself, it trusts that the player will meet it halfway and give it a chance, and deliver it does. I haven’t felt this way playing a game since… well those games from my childhood actually. The missions are varied, the progression is relatively open ended while also being quite simple, the moves you earn as the game goes on are always useful at any time in the game (With MAYBE one exception that feels a little contrived), the characters are sometimes funny, often sympathetic, and almost alway charming in their own way. The voice acting was an interesting touch, but I’m not confident in saying that it was essential, and frankly sometimes it can be a bit trite. Thankfully if you don’t like it or just don’t care you can turn it off, or even replace it with something a bit more nostalgic if you find the right secret. Don’t mistake it as nothing but a saccharine romp all the way through. The various places you go all offer up different kinds of experiences and challenges. A surprising amount of levels involve a rudimentary stealth mechanic, some will test your ability to explore and traverse, while others offer straightforward platforming challenges. There’s plenty of skipping around being happy to be sure, but there’s also some real laughs, offbeat silliness, heartfelt sincerity, and even a few actual scares along the way. Against all odds, by the ending I felt myself genuinely touched by the game, and that’s high praise coming from someone like me. What I can’t say however is that it’s perfect. The sectioned off design ala Mario 64/Sunshine is the kind of structure that I feel was a bit dated, though it’s much less egregious than those examples. Even once you get used to the controls there are a few quirks about them that I feel could have used ironing out. (Ex. Can’t move after you slide, have to JUMP out?) The camera also sometimes clips through walls or spazzes out if it moves at the wrong angle. Some parts of the game seem like they have a notable lack of polish. The main story seems to be a bit short and not as demanding on players, and overall it might be a bit too much on the easy side, especially if you’ve played the games that it aspires to. Then again, it’s less challenging difficulty suits its overall feel-good atmosphere and childlike tone. It’s not really meant to push your limits unless you seek those challenges out yourself. All in all, A Hat in Time succeeds where Yooka Laylee fails: Giving that spark of wonder and joy. Short and flawed as it may be, Hat in Time delivers on the promise of what it means to run, jump, and fly through a world worth exploring. The game is overflowing with charm, heart and soul, a passion and love for games matched only by us, the player.

I wanna start by saying I'm one of the biggest fans of the original games for the N64. I love the Banjo games and I'd be the first one to say that I wanted this game to be good, I wanted Banjo back. But perhaps my hopes, all our hopes, were misguided. See, what we wanted wasn't just Banjo Threeie. What we wanted was that same magic feeling that the Banjo games gave us, that same burst of charm and wonder, which this game sorrowfully lacks. And now that we've grown up and had more gaming experiences, a game that so shamelessly feels like nothing but a pretty looking remaster **** nearly two decades old feels rather dated. The evolution isn't there, the bar was raised, and Yooka Laylee has neither the ambition nor the talent to meet it. Sure the charming writing is there, but a lack of restraint really makes the fourth wall breaking less special. It's like as soon as the game starts it's saying "Oh hey, you're playing a video game, do you know that? LOL I'm so clever for making that observation haha!" Unlike the originals, which saved the fourth wall jokes for times when it's actually funny or poignant. The characters are recycled between levels instead of having new ones show up which actually fit the levels they are in. The camera and the controls often feel like they would rather fight you instead of let you experience the world. The levels are disjointed and boxed in rather than sprawling and interconnected, and the fact that they need to be "expanded" by playing in them seems completely unnecessary: You waste time to exit and re-enter the level to get the full experience. Dumb restrictions and petty annoyances like the stamina meter or loud and obnoxious voice acting add up over time and continuously grade away at your patience until it's nothing but buyer's pity and your nostalgia driving you to complete the game. Its got its heart in the right place, but at the end of the day Yooka Laylee is pretty much just a mediocre 3D platformer with pretty visuals and a comedic tone. I wanted a true return to glory, and instead I am playing what feels more like a fan tribute of it's predecessor from 1998, but even then ends up just being worse.

It's a funny thing, a game like this. It's so rare to find a game that so perfectly encapsulates a simple idea. That idea of course is to be a part of a space program. And just like a real space program, your journey is filled with tragedy and loss, daunting odds, and impossible goals. You will crash, make no mistake. You will try and you will fail. But still you rise from the ashes of your defeat. You learn from every mistake, you know how to change yourself to get closer to your goal. You know that you can make it, and you know that you can figure out exactly how you will. And you will; you will make it. It's brilliant how a game so simple and childlike can so seamlessly speak on a human level like that. It's lighthearted tone will never get you down: The game is encouraging every step of the way, and your motivation carries that idea through: "You can make it, it can be done." Failure may be inevitable, but success is closer than you think. If Kerbal space program does nothing else, it does that perfectly: Encourage you to keep going. Keep trying. Never, ever, EVER give up. To judge KSP is to judge the human nature, our spirit and curiosity. Our determination, and our will to keep reaching a little higher. Our desire and yearning for the infinity of the stars.

Like a fine wine, Terraria has only gotten better with age. When it was released, it was a substandard, 2D metroidvania with a focus on combat and a procedural world. Over the years however, it has slowly evolved into better and better versions of itself. Adding loads of content, refining the aesthetics and mechanics, and even fostering a healthy relationship with its community. No other game that comes to mind is anywhere close to this level of post-launch dedication and success. I would like to personally commend the developers for their dedication and commitment to the game's growth, even when they thought they no longer would. Now, after all this time, Terraria has become one of the finest examples **** worth ten times the sum of its parts. If this game looks even remotely interesting to you, I highly reccomend you by it: it is well worth the price of admission.

Starbound is one of the finest examples **** with loads of ambition that, through lots of hard work and dedication from both the player and the developers, manages to be both addictive and engaging. It’s a game that gives back what you put into it: Gives you the chance to let you experience the massive universe how you so choose. Unlike other games in the similar vein, Starbound actually manages to have a Story behind it. Unfortunately (yet not exactly surprisingly) the story itself isn’t interesting or meaningful. Between predictable and tired apocalyptic stakes, boring villains running an unironically and equally as boring cult, and ancient all-powerful evil and six macguffins to drive the “plot” forward; The story only serves to be an ultimate end goal to slowly work your way towards. Thankfully what truly drives the experience, and what the developers wisely chose to focus their efforts on is the universe itself. Vast and expansive, varied in both scope and content, filled to the brim with characters of many kinds. There’s no two places exactly alike, and there’s so much to explore and find. But more importantly, the game encourages you to experiment with how you interact with the world and play whichever way you choose: Whether to be a heroic space Bounty Hunter working together with your crew to trifle evil wherever you go, a lonely Asteroid Miner treading carefully among the depths of space to make a profit, or a humble farmer doing nothing but working their homestead; There is a multitude of ways to tackle the universe. It’s just a shame that the story missions themselves seem to only be about killing and destruction. The game would have benefited greatly if they had introduced more variety with the main missions. As an aside; Between the easy multiplayer and the very robust, simple to use modding system the game supports both serve a great benefit, providing the game with potentially infinite content and hours and hours of fun with your friends. Packed with charm and wit, a vast universe, and so much to create and explore, Starbound has eventually become one of the most compelling experiences in a long time, and while it isn't perfect, I don’t plan on quitting any time soon.

This game is not at all worth 60$. It's a broken, unfinished, messy game that looks far deeper than it is. If you want to explore a vast, procedural universe you may as well just go buy starbound for a fraction of the price. You can even play that game with friends.

Doom isn't complicated, thought provoking, deep or meaningful. Doom doesn't force you down long corridors of baddies expecting you to fall in line and look at all the pretty lights instead of having a good time. Doom doesn't make you faff around for the story and get in the way of the action. Doom isn't littered with horrible Game-as-Product design focused microtransactions or watered down by homogenous game design bent on emulating Modern-Borefare for the twenty Squintillionth time. Doom isn't any of that. It is simple, pure, gory, exhilarating, and most importantly FUN action from beginning to end. Now go punch some Demons in the face.

There's not really much to say. Overwatch is, plainly and simply, one of the most polished, refined, balanced and fun team shooters ever created. Sure it might not be the most profound or meaningful of things, but you can't beat the simple joy of playing a great game, especially with friends.

I wish this game was better. I truly wish it was. I was one of the first people who was invited into the beta. Yeah, those names you see that show who was around the longest? I'm up there. From the beginning this game had promise: bright and colorful customizable tank shooter? Sign me UP! And when I had gotten in, it was like a dream come true. I was so excited to try it. Come that time around when I booted the game for the first time. Now I knew it was a beta, I knew it was going to have glitches, problems, unfinished things, etc. But I was still having fun. Sure, there was a bunch of silly glitches and imbalance problems (Anyone remember the quad-gun plague?), but really it was all in good spirit, and we knew it could only get better, right? Short version: I was wrong. Yes, the devs made a few changes here and there for the better, (fixing the quads) but they failed to address something that had been a problem since the game's inception: the controls. To put it lightly, they are a bit awkward. To put it bluntly, they **** balls. Try and imagine a shooter where your character randomly flips over and stops moving for a while. Now throw in parts that actually limit how fast you can aim, and limit how high and low you can even look around. Now take away the simple and effective WASD controls, and replace them with tank controls. In a shooter. From 2015. In any game other than one like this, that would be ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. And yet somehow, the developers and the fans both seem to think that because it's a tank shooter, they can get away with that. I won't accept that. Game feel is integral to the very fundamental of our medium, and for the devs to ignore something so critical and basic for the entire game beta is just baffling. Maybe its just me, maybe I just need to "git gud", but when I play a lighthearted tank shooter, I think **** that I can pick up and enjoy right from the word go. This is gear up, not Dark Souls. Speaking of how the game feels, doesn't it **** when you have tons of customization options available to you, but then you find out that that cool looking weapon or chassis/turret/whatever turns out to ****? Well gear up has that aplenty. I already mentioned the restrictive aim parts, but the biggest issue is a lack of balance between them. Not only do many of the more zany and wacky parts/weapons just plain **** because of how unreliable are, but more or less an entire classification of parts have been rendered moot by the metagame. There is basically no reason to use anything leaning towards the heavy end of the spectrum: Slow tanks are not only easier to hit and therefore failing to achieve the one thing that they are built to do (lasting longer in a fight), but the healing packets on the maps don't restore any more health than they do on any other tank. This on top of the fact that there are honest to god powerups on the maps means every single match turns into "Who can get to all the stuff first". That is not fun. Dying and losing over and over simply because your tank just isn't as good as everyone else's is not fun. That goes against the very game's principle: You are being punished for daring to experiment and be creative. How about no. Again, I wish this game was better. A colorful and silly shooter that anyone can enjoy. Its not a bad pitch for a game. But as it stands now, you may as well just go play Team Fortress 2 if you want to have a fun shooter for free. TLDR: Controls are bad, balance is bad, just go play TF2.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A pretty lackluster RTS at best, and a pretty big waste of money at worst. Lets give it credit though, it does look nice. But really when it comes to sound, aesthetics, and most importantly gameplay, the game falls flat on its face. Lets start with the atrocious voice acting. It's atrocious. The head commander whats-his-face sounds like he hates you more than the bad guys your fighting, the lower commander is annoying, and the pilot sounds like she has something in her nose all the time. Also, the in game subtitles don't even mach what the characters are even saying. Oops. As for the aesthetics and sound, its not great. Half of the music tracks in the game are either too action oriented or straight up obnoxious, not complimentary for the strategy fell this game is supposed to have. Sound effects are not bad though. But the final nail in the coffin, the gameplay. Granted, I haven't gotten very far into it, but so far this "strategy" game is nothing more that the most basic for of strategy of all, the "MOB RUSH!" simply massing units and capturing all basses that stand in your way, WWII Blitzkrieg style, and building towers at your base. Not fun. I think I would be nicer to this game if it wasn't so pleased with itself. There is actually a tutorial interrupting hotkey that literally does nothing but "give you a cinematic view of the battle" instead of the simple strategic view. It disgusts me to think that they wanted to show off all the "pretty graphics" instead of thinking about what kind of game they are making. If you like this kind of strategy game I have a great game for you: Phage wars Its essentially just this game but simpler, less intruding, and best part, FREE!

I was already impressed with the original Bit.Trip Runner. Even so, it did have its flaws here and there. The difficulty spikes were very unforgiving, especially early in the game, and it really put off a lot of players. Fortunately, it wasn't in vain, as Gaijin has heard the fans, learned from mistakes, took everything good about the original and added enough new content to do the impossible, and take Runner to the next level. If your a bit.trip fan, get this. If you like rhythm games, get this. If you play games, get this. Seriously. GET. THIS. GAME.

A masterpiece. this game is a truly worthwhile shooter for the ages. gameplay is fun, and balanced. character customization is expensive, but if your into that kind of thing thats cool. the game as a whole is awesome looking, sounding, feeling, and playing. why are you still reading this? go play it! its FREE!

I love Minecraft. i love everything about it. Its simply a wonderful idea, well executed, crazy awesome fun time. unfortunately, its not perfect. the game is still riddled with bugs, and lacking in certain gameplay elements. the combat is still more tedious and pestering instead of challenging and fun. the crafting takes some pretty good memory skills or the wiki. the occasional bug can sometimes screw up your game. but even with this, i still enjoy it plenty. graphics i don't even need to speak of. you may think they are crap, but i cant find any other game were something as simple as a texture on a block can be so iconic. you try putting the texture of the gears of war brick wall on a shirt and tell me who recognizes it. they have an unparalleled amount of charm in them, and i've played cubeivour. the exploration, mining, building and other things other than the combat are an absolute joy. but the most fun i've ever had with it was when i play with friends. no matter what your doing, be it fighting to the death, spelunking together for diamonds, or simply running around in circles (oops sorry, no circles in minecraft) they all are much more fun with your mates doing it with you. its an experience you wont ever forget. go buy it. its worth every single penny.

well, the sequel is here, and i enjoyed it! its pretty much portal 1, except more of it. new puzzle elements and longer levels are a nice addition, better graphics are a plus, and the new characters are fun. sadly though, i don't think its any better than the first portal. the first was incredibly challenging and mind bending. it took me forever to figure out some of the puzzles in it, and thats good! but when i played portal 2 and beat it, i sat and thought, "wait, thats it? no more puzzles? its over?" and the credits rolled. needless to say, i was sort of disappointed. it seemed too easy and too short, despite it being longer. fortunately, i played coop with my buddies, and i found some really creative and challenging puzzles, that took actual COOPERATION to solve, and i think thats the point of coop, right? in general, i thought it was fun, but too easy. but that doesn't mean bad.

I liked it. its a great and simple concept: draw lines and the guy rides them. but that doesn't mean the game isn't hard or complex. you will need a creative and open mind to solve the puzzle mode this game offers, and there are a LOT of puzzles. some will frustrate you a lot, but not in the way that makes you want to stop playing, but in a way that makes you want to try even harder to beat it, and when you do its a great feeling. the freestyle is even better, with tools that let you make whatever you can think up, and then some. but, that doesn't mean game is perfect. the story is so clichà and over the top i don't even want to mention it. anyone with ANY gaming experience will instantly be able to guess it just by looking at the cover. the visuals are nice, but in cut-scense are sort of poorly animated and are an obvious rip off of famous Saturday cartoons like road runner and tom & jerry. the sound is good, but the characters constant WOOP! ing and WEEE! ing gets old after 50 times of hearing the same clip (thankfully, this can be turned off, so +1 good for you point). i played the flash version online, and it was fun, especially when i learned how to make a gravity well(if you don't know what that is, you find out), but this takes everything that made the original great and builds upon it so much they had to make it a full game. if your creative, i cant recommend this game enough, and if you aren't, check it out anyway. you may just have fun.