shahdan

The game is brilliant in regards to minimalistic approach to story-telling. And like Limbo, it works brilliantly. The controls are very simple and work extremely well with platforming. I do believe it is a step down from the more challenging puzzles and platforming of Limbo. I did enjoy the black and white contrasts more there. Albeit, they did showcase Limbo, after all. These colour schemes work in their own way here and are more suited for the theme. However, those worked better for Limbo. What I am trying to state here is that if both games are compared on the basis of their colour usage and its effectiveness, then Limbo is better. The story execution was better in Limbo as well. I liked its minimalistic approach more. Here, things were a bit ... too obvious? I do realize that both games approach two very different topics and Inside is more of a social commentary if anything else, but that is how I felt about it. Regardless of what anyone thinks, I thought the game was very well put together, despite a few of its flaws. It is short and to the point kind of affair. Every gamer should give it a try as not everything is about big, flashy AAA titles. Limbo and Inside prove that many things can be done in a highly complex and effective manner by the use of simple controls and graphics. It reinforces the idea that "little things" make big differences sometimes. I expect to see more from these highly talented Developers. They have my thanks, as I had a great time.

Machine for Pigs is a masterpiece in presenting a bold presentation of storytelling, design and social commentary. It really does take us to the maw of the machine (a metaphor for the world) and truly dissects what it means to be a human; a pig. I haven't seen such a wonderful philosophical commentary in a long time, and that too from a video game. It really sets a new benchmark in narratives. Mandus, another man plagued by the secrets of the orb sets on a quest to rescue his own children. It really is just a struggle to make it to the heart of the machine. Really, the ending left me in tears. The design of the game is very different from Dark Descent (DD) and I welcome it. I really dislike copy-pasted material, and this game delivers. Elements such a light and sanity factors have been removed, and rightly so. This isn't Daniel's story, but a new one altogether. The way people are whining about the game not having enough gameplay is really laughable. The sanity factor hardly introduced any **** depth to the gameplay. Once your head was muddled enough, Daniel simply dropped for a span of few seconds and sprang back up again. What does it add to the gameplay, again when the repercussions are so negligible? The monsters here are dumb as a pile of rocks, but DD had the same problem. Let's not pretend that DD had Alien Isolation's level of masterful AI and this is just a low-blow for gamers' high-end sensibilities. The AI leaves a lot to be desired in both games. Perhaps, this is what the developers should work on next. But, since the games are more of a "puzzle / narrative" heavy outings, then I don't see anything wrong with it. I enjoyed the puzzles here. They were a departure from DD and managed to fit the game's own theme and design, which is the way it should be. I cannot see why MFP should have emulated DD's tonality in any manner. It would have ended up being a poor experience. As an overall experience, it falls short of some areas compared to DD, but is better in others; story and design are just no contest for me. MFP is just vastly superior on these two fronts. DD had a very poorly written, childish story that was held together by superbly written dialogues. There was no commentary on humanity there. Here there is one, and boy is it superbly done. Last but not least, I love it how a bunch of gamers, with no experience in gameplay design, pretend to be such experts in what a "gameplay" should be. Heck, you manipulate things in this game, solve puzzles and run and hide ... how is this not gameplay? But, leave to the moronic crowd to decide things. Their comments are always hilarious to read. It's because of people like these why games' developers and publishers don't ever venture too far off from the tried and banal formulas. I applaud the Chinese Roon and Frictional Games for this magnificent game and Daniel Pinchbeck for this wonderful narrative that is one of a kind. Keep up the good work, fellas. You certainly have me as a dedicated fan.

After Alien Isolation it was hard to get into TW and not keep expectations high, but, I was surprised. The game is a masterpiece. Whilst the Stealth may not be up to par with AI, the encounter set pieces make it outshine the rest in this stale genre. The Evil Within is a completely fantastical ride with a plot that centers on the antagonist rather than your protagonists, and it's a refreshing change from the MC centered messes most games are. The dream sequences are surreal and unnerving as you literally trudge through the mind of your aggressor with little control over the surrounds. I find it hilarious that this game's narrative was put down, when it's one of the most well written games on the market as it follows the convention of the plot and events being centered on someone other than the Central Character. I will not go into detail (it's metacritic for the love of all things holy), but yeah, those exist, where the character is at the mercy of the plot. What a shocker, right? And this game does it so well as you are literally tossed around at the whim of another's mind; it’s a perfect connotative and denotative aspect of this type of writing, handled with literal perfection in TW. Trust me, people, you do not have to be so ruefully idiotic to not know that there are different types of narrative schemes. What a shame that average gamers (and reviewers) are quite pitifully pathetic in their grasp of this simple fact. What a shame indeed, and thus, love to project their obtuse mindset onto the game. I swear it, it's because of gamers as to why we have to suffer through such poorly written stories that amass the market. You people have no one to blame, but yourselves. But, moving on ... the lack of control over your own psyche, what you feel and see is so brilliant that very few games delve that deep into the quagmire of confusion and psychological disparity between your aggressor and the mostly-quiet hero. It captures the feel of dream segments and the "bizarre landscape of the mind" concept with near finesse. There are very few games that capture the atmosphere this masterfully … very few. The set pieces are brilliant as you can approach a situation in many different ways. You can either disarm the traps or use them against the enemies, take them head on or take a stealth approach and it all boils down to how quick you are on your toes; it’s all about keeping a level-headed approach. The bosses are varied and challenging. The environmental puzzle fight with a certain someone (I will not spoil as to whom it is) and the unnerving slow methodical chase through the mansion sequence test your wits again; should I run or hide, what will be the best course of action? It is these kind of “intelligent” decisions that are missing from power fantasy, poor man’s games that throng the industry and are suffocating it and this challenging and genre-defying game (like AI) comes as a breath of fresh air. Sure, there are a few faults. The letterbox was a bad choice and the crouch mechanic does not share the fluidity of Amanda’s movement; it’s clunky and the camera angle needs work here. Levels 11 and 12 bring the experience down quite a bit by being so over-the-top action sequences. They could have been merged together (and abridged) with the best parts such as the main antagonist’s doppelganger and the water monsters being the main threat, as the ambulance mission was in need of serious polishing and editing. But, thankfully, they are of short stay and hence do not mar the over all experience. However, as the rest of the game stays mostly consistent, it would be a shame to bring the whole thing down just for these two as even these have their highlights … as few as they may be. The point I am trying to make is that people should look at the complete experience and not nitpick over small missteps. That is a terrible attitude an average gamer has and it’s ruining the VG industry as a whole; the desire for all games to be hand-holding, dull and easy games that a 5 year old can manage. Few checkpoints and save stations are heaven sent, as you truly feel that you are just **** by and barely surviving, only accentuated more by sparse resources that make you feel and think that, “make your every step and shot count.” One misstep and the game punishes you, as it should. The lax treatment in other games is the reason why we have such poor games saturating the industry, where the game even tells you where the boss’ weak points are. I suppose the next step would be when devs hand out long tutorials to find keys on a keyboard, as I feel as if I am playing a game aimed at a gibbon rather than a human being. This trend of “cake-walk gaming” needs to go. Period. Forget whether you are a fan of the genre or not, give TW a try as it brings something very refreshing to the table (dream psychology) and makes it shine with breathtaking atmosphere that will make your skin crawl. Paradoxical? True, but that is what TW is; an unsettling beauty.

If there would be two words for this game then it would be “Near Perfection!” Yes, it is all what a game can achieve as nothing quite grazes the ‘flawless’ mark. And for that I am unabashed to offer a full score as the game delivers what it set out to achieve. What more is desired? Nothing at all. Alien Isolation is a game of cat and mouse, and for all the hoopla and petty click-baiting (and the subsequent long whining sessions stretched across a couple of Ryan’s embarrassing circle-jerking videos) generated by the incredibly mentally channeled reviewers of IGN and Gamespot (and even Polygon) or that god awfully imbecilic Quarter to Three reviewer, it is a game that plays completely fair; it just punishes you for all the right reasons. Shocking isn’t it? But had dear ol’ Ryan and Co McGees decided to actually read the instructions the game hands out like candy all the time, and maybe (just maybe) light the dimply lit corners of their heads to actually see the clear cut instructions at the bottom of your constructed gadgets, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Or perhaps, look a little carefully around as the items are plentiful, even in Nightmare mode. Yes, AI plays completely fair and without giving much (as I want the review to be as spoiler free as possible), I would offer a few lines on this. The game is incredibly tense and at times very unnerving. You are literally the mouse in this game who is up against a cat armed down to its last … err … spiked tail? Well, the analogy is as fitting as it can be as the Alien is a deadly killing machine with incredibly honed senses. You would come to know a deadly adversary in the Medical Bay, as when the leash is off the Alien, it’s just you and it one on one. And all you can do is survive. Yes, people, THIS is the point of the entire game; Survival. You are literally stripped down to human level and I love the tiny details, as for example when you are putting bullets into the empty barrels of the revolver, Amanda’s hand would shake sometimes and she would do it slowly. Why? It makes sense. She is an engineer not a preposterous Space Marine but an ordinary young woman thrown into an impossible situation for which strategy and quick-wits are your sole modes of survival. True to its word, the game tosses confrontations (for the most part) out of the window as it’s a hardcore Stealth game dealing with nothing but survival first and everything else later. You are facing a gargantuan threat, an unstoppable force and an apex predator. How do you think it should behave? It should behave unpredictably. Yes, the Alien is a tough, unpredictable foe. It doesn’t care about your frustrations (I never had them), but only how it shouldn’t see and outwit you. I cannot imagine the infamous Medical Bay sequence going any other way imaginable as its second (or 3rd entry if you count the Axel cutscene) entry here is nothing short of spectacular. Provided that the player takes notes of the impossible number of easy hints the game keeps throwing at you, I cannot imagine anyone dying in that heart-pumping adrenaline inducing sequence more than 2 or 3 times and that too on Hard Mode. Your quick wits is all that is needed. And isn’t this the entire point of the game; outsmarting a deadly threat? It just is and its simplicity is even further reinforced by the persistence of the threat. To be honest, if you love games that demand the attention span **** and draw despicably unintelligent (shoot stuff, save every nanosecond, tell you where to go because, apparently, you cannot read a map a child can) crowd, then AI would prove to be something out of Milton’s parables for you as the manual Save Points and lack of pointless arrows pointing at directions (bar the obvious Motion Sensor aid) would frustrate anyone with a subpar attention span. This game is a challenge and it proves so by putting you in very different situations to judge your capabilities as a player. You think the Alien is in vents? Try to sneak past humans or Synthetics. How fast are you in these situations to come up with an exit plan? Should I make a noise with firearms or a noise maker and risk drawing its attention or is stealth my option … or is drawing the Alien to hit it with a Molotov more up my alley? It’s this mixing up of situations and multiple climaxes that hit the nail on Survival and the never-ending tension. You are made to feel vulnerable … and boy is the game apt at this play at mortal fear. The pacing is incredible, and yes, people a story can have multiple climaxes. Ryan and Co never read anything beyond menu screens for good literature to fall back on as that criticism was probably one of the most idiotic things on the internet; nothing but incredibly ignorant individuals trying their hand at literary devices. I felt nothing but second-hand embarrassment. A tense Survival game; it would be a crime as a gamer to pass it up as it's a surreal experience par excellence of a lifetime!

If there would be two words for this game then it would be “Near Perfection!” Yes, it is all what a game can achieve as nothing quite grazes the ‘flawless’ mark. And for that I am unabashed to offer a full score as the game delivers what it set out to achieve. What more is desired? Nothing at all. Alien Isolation is a game of cat and mouse, and for all the hoopla and petty click-baiting (and the subsequent long whining sessions stretched across a couple of Ryan’s embarrassing circle-jerking videos) generated by the incredibly mentally channeled reviewers of IGN and Gamespot (and even Polygon) or that god awfully imbecilic Quarter to Three reviewer, it is a game that plays completely fair; it just punishes you for all the right reasons. Shocking isn’t it? But had dear ol’ Ryan and Co McGees decided to actually read the instructions the game hands out like candy all the time, and maybe (just maybe) light the dimply lit corners of their heads to actually see the clear cut instructions at the bottom of your constructed gadgets, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Or perhaps, look a little carefully around as the items are plentiful, even in Nightmare mode. Yes, AI plays completely fair and without giving much (as I want the review to be as spoiler free as possible), I would offer a few lines on this. The game is incredibly tense and at times very unnerving. You are literally the mouse in this game who is up against a cat armed down to its last … err … spiked tail? Well, the analogy is as fitting as it can be as the Alien is a deadly killing machine with incredibly honed senses. You would come to know a deadly adversary in the Medical Bay, as when the leash is off the Alien, it’s just you and it one on one. And all you can do is survive. Yes, people, THIS is the point of the entire game; Survival. You are literally stripped down to human level and I love the tiny details, as for example when you are putting bullets into the empty barrels of the revolver, Amanda’s hand would shake sometimes and she would do it slowly. Why? It makes sense. She is an engineer not a preposterous Space Marine but an ordinary young woman thrown into an impossible situation for which strategy and quick-wits are your sole modes of survival. True to its word, the game tosses confrontations (for the most part) out of the window as it’s a hardcore Stealth game dealing with nothing but survival first and everything else later. You are facing a gargantuan threat, an unstoppable force and an apex predator. How do you think it should behave? It should behave unpredictably. Yes, the Alien is a tough, unpredictable foe. It doesn’t care about your frustrations (I never had them), but only how it shouldn’t see and outwit you. I cannot imagine the infamous Medical Bay sequence going any other way imaginable as its second (or 3rd entry if you count the Axel cutscene) entry here is nothing short of spectacular. Provided that the player takes notes of the impossible number of easy hints the game keeps throwing at you, I cannot imagine anyone dying in that heart-pumping adrenaline inducing sequence more than 2 or 3 times and that too on Hard Mode. Your quick wits is all that is needed. And isn’t this the entire point of the game; outsmarting a deadly threat? It just is and its simplicity is even further reinforced by the persistence of the threat. To be honest, if you love games that demand the attention span **** and draw despicably unintelligent (shoot stuff, save every nanosecond, tell you where to go because, apparently, you cannot read a map a child can) crowd, then AI would prove to be something out of Milton’s parables for you as the manual Save Points and lack of pointless arrows pointing at directions (bar the obvious Motion Sensor aid) would frustrate anyone with a subpar attention span. This game is a challenge and it proves so by putting you in very different situations to judge your capabilities as a player. You think the Alien is in vents? Try to sneak past humans or Synthetics. How fast are you in these situations to come up with an exit plan? Should I make a noise with firearms or a noise maker and risk drawing its attention or is stealth my option … or is drawing the Alien to hit it with a Molotov more up my alley? It’s this mixing up of situations and multiple climaxes that hit the nail on Survival and the never-ending tension. You are made to feel vulnerable … and boy is the game apt at this play at mortal fear. The pacing is incredible, and yes, people a story can have multiple climaxes. Ryan and Co never read anything beyond menu screens for good literature to fall back on as that criticism was probably one of the most idiotic things on the internet; nothing but incredibly ignorant individuals trying their hand at literary devices. I felt nothing but second-hand embarrassment. A tense Survival game; it would be a crime as a gamer to pass it up as it's a surreal experience par excellence of a lifetime!

This game is an absolute masterpiece in every sense of the word. It brings you closer to the real life post-traumatic stress disorder and the plights of child soldiers; something the other MGS games never truly touch upon or explore in depth. Raiden as a character brings nuanced and surprising depth to the narrative that is unmatched across all MGS games. This was the only time I felt MGS shuffled off its fantasy coil of nanomachines and outlandish pseudoscience and went dark and gritty ... real to its core. The gameplay is localized and doesn't deter the player away from the main narrative. Everything, from design to plot to game mechanics, adds to the overall package. If you are a fan of MGS and miss out on this, then I would consider it a grave error. If you are a gamer and decide to skip this, then I would call it a terrible choice. And if you are an MGS fan and dislike it, then I will outright question your gaming aesthetics. All in all, this is an experience to be felt and lived through a Magic Circle. Raiden's tale, for all intents and purposes, is the pinnacle of Kojima's craft and is meant to be experienced like an avid story reader and a zealous gamer.

Ah, the common whiny-horde of fanboys and critics who didn't bother to take the genre system into **** maw of mediocrity and idiocy from the general lobby here is ... not refreshing and typically comical. The same old story, in fact. The Order: 1886 was always meant to be a cinematic experience and shouldn't be judged beyond this scope. It is like forcing the merits of a JRPG upon the tightly knit confines of a Survival Horror genre and then expecting the contents not to blow up in ones face; hilarious, isn't it? Expecting freshness from this one game and giving undue leeway to others is the age old desecration and **** of objectivity; why do people even pretend to hold third person view points? It's just unfathomable. As I mentioned, The Order shouldn't be judged as anything beyond a cinematic experience. And there it truly delivers. It was always meant to be linear in its core; all structured and closely knit narratives always are linear. But hey, who cares about that, right? Whatevs, the cool critics say from their snug corners, their stink covering the underside of their lumpy hindquarters, their blogger chairs raised high and their mighty fingers moving with the speed of an apt geek warrior ... their perches are quite high and mighty despite the stink that reeks of ignorance. How can us lowly folk even matter? Anything below a 6 shouldn't even be taken seriously, as this game is a masterpiece on what was promised. Ah, the forgetfulness of a common man is very hilarious to watch. Perhaps, the audience - and these high-end critics alike - expected an open-world, vast experience spanning across miles in the digital world with several branching points for the story and a new revolution in TPS genre history. Who are we kidding? Of course the developers promised all that and failed us all deliberately. The ****. Sorry, but I can't take most kiddy-people here seriously. Any score below the 7 mark is laughable. I can even fathom and understand the 6 marks, as a lot of people fuss over lengths, but any review that takes out a single point from that is really pushing it. For me, the game delivered what it promised; a cinematic experience. May be, people should take off those pasted-on, self-serving blinders and see this venture realistically as a good play on digital narrative, as this was not anything but.