sarojz

Needless to say the Orange Box is a Stellar product, all of it. Valve really knows how to put together games that PC gamers can get into and play. No dumb down mechanics or gameplay just good pc gamer core fun. I for one will look forward to any product Valve puts out because they take the time to explore what PC gamers want the demand. E'nuff said 10 baby!!!

A review of The PC Game â

While I must admit I was a little worried with the way Activision handled the marketing of Singularity, oh wait..,they didn't do any marketing at all. I figured they knew some awful truth about the game's quality and didn't want gamers to find out and "accidentally" buy it. Well the texture issue was announced so I decided to wait for an official patch. I purchased the PC version from D2D, applied the patch and I must admit I wasn't disappointed at all. The Graphics are absolutely top notch and beautiful and game play was very smooth without a single glitch. The storyline started out interesting, the pacing was good which to me is important to keep my attention. I really found the historical part of the story very well written. The developers took time to write a plausible story with memorable events and 3 dimensional characters, all the while taking careful pains to portray the Russian victims in a compassionate and sympathetic manner. I really cared what happened to all those poor Russian workers whose dessicated remains littered the grounds. You can tell they worked hard at getting the eye candy, audio and music just right, they all pace the storyline perfectly. I've found game music is used to the point of being over barring in other titles so Singularity was a pleasant surprise. I've heard some gamers grumble about having to listen to all the tape recorders in the game but I found them oddly poignant, they tended to slow game play down because you couldn't hear the message unless you stayed close but they really helped move the story along and added a much needed human angle to an otherwise dismal place. The designers hide journal pages written by the katorga victims all around the facility. I thought they contained game play hints or hidden E99 tech stashes to help move the storyline along. The upgrade feature is functional, easy to use but not really original. The idea is to collect E99 tech of various sizes that are either hidden or placed right in eye sight. You then used them like currency at upgrade & augmentation machines strategically scattered throughout the game. Other items like weapons briefcases are used to upgrade aspects of your weapons, e.i (faster load times, increased damage etc.,). What would have been real cool is if Renko himself used some of the E99 tech he finds to somehow augment his own body into a bio morphed weapon. Renko was already walking around camo deep in the most poisonous, radioactive place on earth, why not just have him mutate into something altogether different like the others? Just a suggestion anyway. You've seen this before in other games so I already know what to expect but there's always one weapon gamers find absolutely useless and in this game its the mini gun. It dumps a ton of bullets at targets but they rarely hit anything or does any appreciable damage so I avoided it like the plague for the rest of the game. My favorite weapon on the other hand has to be the seeker, it kills with one shot and is easy to target. The TMD was incredible nothing like reducing a monster or human to a pile of ashes in seconds and is one of the best conceived gaming devices ever! I used it constantly in all types of battles and situations, the developers did a good job in balancing the TDM as a weapon and as a tool for puzzles. The game appears to have a nice open world feel to it until you try to explore away from the beaten path. It would have been nice look around and see more of the island just to satisfy curiousity. I liked the way the levels were designed, you just didn't stumble through them by jumping from crate to stairs to ledge. Some of the levels allow you to fully utilize the TDM's full potential and in some cases its the only way to continue forward. A few of the AI enemies can be a little easy to kill, they just stand there taken hit after hit until they fall down but that was rare. Overall the game reminded my of Bioshock ( tape recorders, mysterious events happening in an inaccessible location) I really don't have any major complaints with the game except for one item, the young lady. She seems like a superfluous add- on period. Why would any paramilitary group send a young, attractive lady into an incredibility dangerous place like katorga-12 with no camo gear or protection what so ever. She offered very little background on her and her organization and acted more like a distraction than an asset to Renko. The game was a little short but I'm giving the game a 9. Thanks Raven Soft for a great game, I'm ready for Singularity 2!