Video Game Reviews
Not much better than I was expecting, but I had a handful of fun moments. The player takes control of Stewie, Peter, or Brian throughout Family Guy The Video Game, and each of them encompass their own style of gameplay. Stewie runs around, collects items sometimes, and shoots several children and adults with his ray gun, which automatically upgrades through the game. There's actually quite a bit of variance in Stewie's gameplay, with the mechanic of mind controlling NPC's, which then put them under the player's control to manipulate for pretty simple puzzles. Aside from the normal platforming and shoot-em-up gameplay, there will also be a few segments where Stewie is facing forward on rails, which plays like galaga. Peter is similar, but uses his fists, kicks, and butt to do the talkin'. While there was lots of hilarious moments, Peter's gameplay is ultimately frustrating, and I disliked the mechanic where kicks or fists don't do damage at all, and you have to try different moves to progress (I ended up just using the spin attack for every enemy, especially the cops and native americans - holy crap!). Brian's was by far my least favorite, which incorporates the most tedious kind of stealth gameplay where you are forced to adjust to the shitty mechanics in order to beat it. Its a mature-content game with gameplay made for kids. It probably misses the mark for both demographics, but atleast I got a few great laughs out of it.
Final Score: 5.6/10
Probably on my personal top-ten of all time lists. Hitman Blood Money probably only appeals to a relatively small group of enthusiasts. It's as if IO made this game directly for the fans of the previous Hitmans as a love letter. What makes this game so special? When you compare Blood Money to its predecessors, its actually crazy how much polish, hard work, and creativity went in to programming and designing this game. BM is one of those games where the more you play it, the more you realize you can actually do, and its actually nuts how much you can do here. If you want to shoot everything, you'll get bored. However, if you want to step into the shoes of the notorious Agent 47, you can make every hit look like an accident, snipe every target, go in for a close quarters kill, or even manipulate NPC's to kill eachother in some instances. While there are certainly times where the game points you to a certain method of assassination (intel mechanic), each level really is designed to be a playground for actually fun trial-and-error gameplay, and on so many occasions, if you can imagine it, it can happen. Most levels are excellent with exception to the last two which seem to be a little less optimized for a truly free experience. The story is cinematic, and the backstory of the targets available is pretty interesting. A personal favorite of mine, and its terribly disappointing that they departed a bit from Blood Money's vision even now, in my opinion. A fantastic, exemplary video game that I hope continues to live on in discussions.
Final Score: 9.4/10
I enjoyed this game so much. What an experience. My introduction to the genre, and I found that Dark Soul's legendary status really lived up to it for me. It has a reputation for being really difficult, but I think its balanced pretty well and doesn't feel so difficult that its cruel; theres a lot of opportunities for the player to learn and overcome, level and improve their character. I found Dark Souls to be a return to the old style of gaming and it was honestly refreshing. No hand-holding, unless the messages from other player counts, and countless gameplay features that make the game super fun and addicting. The number one thing about Dark Souls is how good it feels to kill the bosses. Reminds me of being a kid playing zelda and finally beating the bosses on that - back when I was a kid, the bosses felt hard compared to now. So playing this feels like Im back at that time, and almost feels like Zelda for adults, not that its very similar to zelda or anything. A marvelous game.
Final Score: 9.4/10
Requiem scored very well for a variety of reasons - the overall package of RE 7 gameplay mixed with RE 4 Remake makes a combination that is sure to please most players in the community. Grace was a welcome addition, even though there wasn't anything terribly remarkable about her personality. If anything, her design style and voice acting made her feel more like an interesting protagonist to me. She had the "cool" factor that I think was missing from Ethan Winters, even though she is effectively another "everyman" type character. Leon is obviously a fan favorite and very entertaining in a James Bond kind of way. His gameplay is simple and fun, even if I still prefer RE 4 Remakes gameplay a bit more. Lack of puzzles and a somewhat mid story could indicate I was a little too generous with the scores here, but thats pretty typical of me when it comes to any Resident Evil or Final Fantasy game. I still think it was a damn good game, and a very good sequel to Resident Evil 6. Capcom, you may continue to bait me with remakes and take all my money.
Final Score: 9.5/10
The beloved classic. The game your parents let you play when you truly just wanted to play Grand Theft Auto. I'm aware that this game is very important to a lot of people, and I have no doubt it sold well. It had some funny moments, and I love the Simpsons. Lots of things to like about the game, especially being out of 2003. You get to take control of the family and Apu, driving around while hearing some cool music and the characters give their funny one-liners constantly. Unfortunately, I hated almost every second of playing this game. I did complete it, and I had to summon a deep level of patience I didn't know I posessed to do so. To save time, I'll just say my main problem with this game is that every single car in the game drives like the worst cars in GTA. Even the cars with the best handling, you constantly sway and slide around, bumping into this and that and its a giant pain to try to control them. I may be in the minority but I've 100% completed the GTA trilogy, and I feel pretty confident in my assessment. Pair the awful feeling of driving with the extremely tedious time limits for missions, the fact that every mission is virtually the same thing (race, destroy, lose your tail, etc) its just an absolute slog to get through. AND the cops come when you ineveitably hit everything in the road. Look I know thats the point, I just can't imagine recommending this to someone. Unless you just want to drive around and have fun. But to actually beat the game? No. Don't waste your time. This game could use a remake!
Final Score: 5.6/10
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A genre-defining classic. I suspect I would have spent hours and hours of my life playing this as a kid if I knew survival horror was so much more of unique experince than I imagined it would be. It holds up surprisingly well as a full package, a decently fun video game with some expected old-school frustration. Still, it stands out to me and it's legacy speaks for itself. While Resident Evil 1 Remake overshadows this game in virtually every single way possible, it is fascinating to go back to the first game and see the sheer amount of innovation on display here.
Final Score: 9.1/10
Ah... yes. FFVII Remake - which was promised to us and surely delivered a unique take on the battle system. Innovative, and for some, infuriating. I love this game. I've played it obsessively over the last few years and it is a spectacular game, period. However, I'd be crazy to ignore some of the changes that were made to the story, the watering down of the materia system in some ways, and the seemingly unnatural way in which they stuffed all of midgar into one game. I would like to give this game a 9.4 or 9.5, but Chadleyitis, or Ubisoftis, brought the experience down a little for me, and a lot for some. However, I think some people discount too much of what this game does right, and it does SO right. It fan services in all the right ways, provides a deeply challenging combat challenge in hard mode, and despite its learning curve, has been one of the most deeply fullfiling combat experiences of my life. Voice acting, music, visuals, and presentation exceeded expectations for the most part. Story is a little... wonky towards the end. This trilogy is not finished, so we've yet to see where we are fully going. I think this game deserves more love than it seems to get in some circles. A massive undertaking, missing some of the spirit of the original sure, but not all of it.
Final Score: 8.9/10
I often describe Amnesia: The Bunker as one of the scariest video games I've ever played. The AI of The Beast is among some of the best in survival horror, comparable to the Alien in Alien: Isolation. I found some of the pyshics mechanics prevalent in other Amnesia games to be used to greater effect here. Design is on full display, and its clear some of the developer's intention was to unincentivze the player to not make noise. Risk-Reward is a constant equation in the player's mind, and I just absolutely loved it. A tense and horrifying experience throughout the entire run, with a story I found very interesting.
Final Score: 8.6/10
Bloober's follow-up to their superb release of Silent Hill 2 Remake left a little to be desired for me. Many people compare this to Dead Space, what with the stompin' and the sci-fi (more like just time-travel) elements. Its a legitamitely decent game with a setting that fascinated me, and a story that I found rather disinteresting despite my love for the story's inspiration (Netflix's Dark, among others). Sometimes, I find if a story is too confusing and random I lose a bit of interest. I've spent weeks taking notes on this game only to find that none of the story was that interesting to me, except The Warden. Solid gameplay, but missing a magical element that makes me want to come back. Still a fascinating entry, and I hope there is more discussion of this game going forward.
Final Score: 7.8/10
Resident Evil 3 is the rare example of the third installment of a franchise being a fantastic game, necessarily innovating yet nonetheless never abandoning its core gameplay and loop. I was so impressed with this game, and having had played the original Resident Evil trilogy I can say with utter certainty it lives up to the hype. This installment in particular was so insanely innovative, with several gameplay features that work to heighten the customization and replayability, and likewise a much more difficult and challenging game than its predecessors. The entire original trilogy is a must-play - and I didn't play these until I was 30.
Final Score: 9.8/10
A personal favorite, and undoubtedly a masterpiece. One of the notable features of the story involve the incorporation of the theme of life in the story and world. A hilarious, heart-wrenching, and enthralling story about purpose and tragedy. The story and world of FF7 has left such a huge legacy on the vdeo game industry, and like the previous FF's, further redefined story writing in video games. It set a somehow new standard for what video games can be. The characters are among some of the most beloved in all game fiction, and the sheer style of the art in this game probably served to inspire countless other works. Gameplay is quite amazing, with the materia system customization being a highlight. Most of the coolest materia is in the final dungeon, but the amount of extra content to use this materia on seems to balance that out. Music, style, cinematic visuals, truly amazing characters and writing, and addictive, engaging gameplay make this one of the most impactful JRPGs ever created.
Final Score: 9.7/10
This was a decent game, I like a lot of the things going on here with the setting, character and world design, the music, and I applaude the devlepers for taking some new risks with this game. Hinako's story is compelling and intriguing, but the decision to require so many playthroughs to get the lore and story was a very unwelcome one. Without playing the rest of the playthroughs, we are left just scratching the surface of what is actually happening. My main issue with this game is that the gameplay wasn't fun or addicting enough to warrant subsequent playthroughs for me. I found the puzzles quite good, some of the best I've done in a while on the hardest riddle difficulty, but the combat was, lets just say, not my cup of tea. Still, the tone and atmosphere in this game is among the best I've seen, and there is possibly more than meets the eye on display here. Worth a playthrough definitely, and if you enjoy the gameplay, you are in for a treat.
Final Score: 6.6/10
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This was a viewer requested game I'd never heard of. The first installment from Insomniac gaming, I beleive a Candian company who would later be responsible for bombshells like Spyro and Ratchet & Clank. It plays like the other old-school FPS games of the times (Doom, Quake) and features a unique "Psionic" mechanic, effectively magic complete with a limited mana gauge (Psionic Energy). I had pretty fun time with this game. Its a "video game video game" if you catch my drift. Coming out in 1996 or so, it wasn't exactly common place for games to have a straight-faced attempt at story telling as they do now. Disruptor is a perfect example of a game that is just pretty fun, and the story itself is shamelessly simplisitic and evocative of any 80's action-packed B-movie. I prasied the Hard Mode difficulty experience, the gunplay and sound effects, and music and level design on like maybe two levels. The visuals are pretty bad for everything except the guns and the background scenery, I really liked how some of the levels looked and I loved the look and design of the weapons, not to mention we had a pretty varied arsenal that actually can be used tactically against different enemies (Bio Organic rifle works well against life forms, not robots, etc). All in all, a fun little game that probably doesn't deserve anything over a 70%, but the live-action corny sequences brought the score up a little. Especially since ALL CUTSCENES are filmed in live action.
Final Score: 7.2/10
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One of the most eerie, mysterious, and disturbing games I've ever played. I usually feel a little sick playing Silent hill but this one really hit a particular note in psychological filth. Walter Sullivan is definitely one of the best antagonists in a Silent Hill game I've played. His delivery is morbid, catatonic, and sinister. Accompanying this is his tragic backstory and scenes of him as an abandoned child. The rest of the cast takes a back seat in the wake of Sullivan's awesomeness, and thats okay. Its Walter's world, and we're living in it quite literally. The combat and puzzles are more of what you'd expect after playing SH 1-3, but the ghosts are a new addition - whether they are a welcome one or not depends on who you ask. I think they are good for lore and flavor but bad for gameplay, and my score relfects that. Oh and don't get me started on doing all four segments AGAIN. That sucked. A solid entry, and I liked it little bit more than 3.
Final Score: 8.6/10
What an incredible experience, hitting so many notes at so many different octaves. Resident Evil 2 is arguably the greatest sequel to a game, ever. It improved the fresh ideas from Resident Evil (1996) and fearlessly doubled down on it's strengths. The story is intriguing, and is marked by the introductions of several of Resident Evil's finest characters to date. For the seasoned survival horror veteran, I'd recommend playing a port of the game that includes hard mode, as the PS version is absent of one. Otherwise, a memorable and perfect experience.
Final Score: 9.7/10
This is the game that got me to fall deeply in love with Survival Horror. Famously known for being responsible for Resident Evil's comeback, and it is survival horror at its absolute best in every way. The game plays like Resident Evil Remake, but first-person. Some of the pacing toward the end of the game lowered the score a bit, but this remains one of my most beloved video games to date. Capcom managed to return to its roots, and innovate the franchise in some interesting ways. Lots of homage to classic horror films. DLC was pretty great too.
Final Score: 8.5/10
RE 3 Remake is a good game, very much worth a play and certainly worth it for the discounted price on Steam/Xbox etc. If you can get this game for $10 or $15 its great. However it has a very short runtime, and does not live up to the expectations set by Resident Evil 2 Remake. All remake loathesome comparisons aside, its a fairly decent and fun game. I wish there was more segments like the opening in Racoon City where the player can explore, and I generally wish there was atleast half as much depth to the gameplay as the original RE 3 Nemesis. The amount of cut content is RE 3 remake is criminal, and truly disappointing. I pray Capcom never makes this mistake again. They've been on a real upward trajectory recently so I pray the trend continues.
Final Score: 7.6/10
This is one of, if not THE greatest survival game ever made. While some aspects are changed or removed from the 1998 original release, it is my opinion that this game is truly a masterpiece in game design, style, and execution. I have only played Resident Evil 2 OG one time. So its likely that my bias will be prevalent here in my review of Resident Evil 2 Remake. I do adore this game, but it should be noted that my score is pretty biased with respect to how much they cut from the original - and a truly good remake would honor the original in every single way (as long as the original was a universally acknowledged masterpiece). A score of 9.9 is likely not what this game objectively deserves, but it is my personal score. The stories and characters in Resident Evil have never been anything to write home about, however the characters and ideas we are presented with in RE 2 Remake challenge this very notion that Resident Evil is a far-fetched 'what if' scenario. Its not so much that the possibility for a zombie infestation is possible, but the believablity of character behaviors and corporate greed in response to it, is. The sheer amount of polish here is nothing, and I mean, nothing to dismiss because the zapping system is absent, or cause there is yellow paint somewhere. These kind of dismissive complaints undercut the real, dedicated and palpable effort of the team behind this project and its frankly a minor flaw when looking at the entire work. This is of course my opinion. The dedication from the team is not just noticable, it goes above and beyond. Play this before you die.
Final Score: 9.9/10