Lucas Raycevick
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COGConnected Latest Reviews
Be full-warned, if like me you missed out on Wild Hog’s Reboot, the storyline will make you feel as if you’ve woken up from a drunken stupor. Not that I mean to give the impression that presentation is one of this game’s let downs. Cut-scenes are paced like Blur’s Song 2, and they feature more abrupt cuts than a shredded film reel, but dialogue and characterization are surprisingly strong. It’s only when the game’s lore and background is being discussed that I begin to feel lost.
There aren’t many occasions when I get to review a game that I played the Prototype build of, but Superhot is one of those exceptions. Having seen it in a “Top 5 Unity Engine Games” video, Superhot stood out as one of the most memorable gaming experiences I had of 2013.
Celebration is part of why Rare Replay exists. Even before the gaming industry became a multimillion-dollar battleground where five million copies sold can be considered a “failure”, many studios were periodically kicked to the curb. From 38 Studios to Zipper Interactive, Bullfrog to Eurocom, the fact that Rare has managed to survive thirty years and six console generations is pretty astounding. The thing is, I can’t help but feel a little cynical and believe that while part of the reason for this game’s existence is to celebrate, the real reason is to jump on a bandwagon.
I certainly wasn’t looking forward to playing the sequel to a game I never bothered completing. No game is worse to review than an average one, and that’s exactly what I was expecting out of Revelations 2. Ever since 2002, this franchise has been a slot-machine of people, time and place. On this occasion, the two returning characters from the repeating cast is Claire Redfield from RE2 and Barry Burton from RE1. The time is between 5 & 6, and the location is a mysterious island.
Back in May, I made a ‘Top 5 list of Games I Wanted to Like but Didn’t’. I failed to mention Metro 2033 but it was a close runner-up. The brilliant setting and atmosphere just wasn’t strong enough to put up with the frustrating combat, god-awful stealth sections and the support NPC’s that treated you like a five-year old. It felt like an amateur mod rather than a full priced game with a commercial release.
Loadout is an arena style shooter that makes a good first impression. One thing you notice immediately are the controls, they’re fantastic. Everything from the aiming to the movement of your character is spot on, making your mouse and keyboard feel like an extension of your thoughts. They almost never get in the way of the action, something that even the most big budget and focus tested games can’t claim to. After that first match though, Loadout’s enjoyment only seems to decline the more you play and the occasional highpoint that follows is brought down by a lack of content and insane micro transactions.
Tutorial missions… they’re never fun. We all know this but unfortunately, until we come up with a way to download information directly into our brains, they’re necessary in order to quell any potential frustration later on. Insurgency’s tutorial however was clearly made when deadlines were closing in, because it makes the potential frustration a reality right then and there. It has been a long time since I had to fight in order to just get out of a training stage, but that’s what you’ll be doing if you start this thing. It feels a like a school project, with many sections that drag on way too long, an atrocious AI companion that runs out and dies and enough glitches to make a programmer from Obsidian cringe. The reason I bring up is because upon reading this, you wouldn’t think the rest of the game would be that good, when in-fact, it is.