Recent reviews by Canis Lupus

I'll say this much, it's a great cure for constipation.

For a first time effort, Richard Seabrook has done an incredible job with creating a compelling game.

While it wasn't perfect, no-one's first game ever is. But I am impressed with the quality of this venture, and sincerely look forward to his next projects.

PROS:
* Music. One thing I love is how fitting the music is for the situation. Whether you're trying not to be found, or whether you are breaching a Combine base, the music just feels so right for the situation.
* Backstory. I'd never really played Opposing Force, and was going in blind with who Shepherd would be. But after playing this game, and seeing his flashbacks to his life before this, I feel like I've known him for as long as I have Gordon Freeman.
* Execution and engagement. Not everybody can make a good game, but Richard Seabrook is not one of those people. I was invested the whole time, and never once thought about getting up and taking a break.

CONS:
* Missing captions. It's hard to tell what exactly the flashback sequences are saying, and the blaring siren doesn't help, either.
* Contrast. Early on, the game was way too dark to make anything out, and later, it was just so brightly lit, I thought my retinas would melt.
* More hints on where to go. The game, while beautifully made, is not exactly well laid out. I remember hunting for a vent for about twenty minutes trying to dodge antlions, before realizing that it was on the wall, requiring some climbing.

Overall, this is an incredible mod to an already amazing game, and I guarantee it won't be a purchase you'll soon regret.

It's not the best. It's not great. It's not good.

But at no point do I think it's bad. It's just... mediocre.

For their first game, Rooster Teeth have done a good job at making a passable video game. It just suffers from a myriad of issues, such as being a direct port from the iOS version, and lack of intuitive controls among others. But in all honesty, I went in expecting this kind of work.

Don't get me wrong, it's like a mansion built out of straw: it looks great, but has abysmal structures that make it up.

People have said this game is quite lackluster, and to be honest, I agree. If anything, the devs should have made this into a movie, rather than a game.

Alright, let me get started by saying that I've heard a lot about this game from various sources: Let's Plays, Wikia, Steam, stuff like that, and each time, I've been assured that Outlast truly lives up to it's hype in terms of a horror experience like no other.

Now, let me preface this by saying that generally, horror is one genre I tend to stay away from, as I can't really deal with jump scares, gore, and being surprised. Nevertheless, I decided to dip my toe into the genre by playing this game.

And I will say, the hype is truly well deserved.

Outlast does exactly what Red Barrels wanted: focussing on the environmental horror, rather than other horror genres, this game truly is a descent into madness.

The graphics are truly incredible, so much so that it is very easy to think of this as more of an interactive found-footage/first-person horror film rather than a game. The gameplay truly makes for an intense experience: hiding from madmen, rather than fighting them outright truly immerses you into the realism.

The plot is no slouch either: what starts as a journalist wishing to expose dark corporate secrets turns into a frantic scramble for survival, with no way of telling who is your friend and who is your foe.

However, I will state one misgiving I have about the game.

After a runabout in one particular section trying to escape a certain "doctor", every action descends into a repetitive and predictable nature: hide, sneak, find and activate particular systems, hide, sneak, find and activate particular systems. Sure, jumpscares happen, but they're so common by this point, that nothing really scares you anymore.

Despite this, this game needs to be in every horror fan's library. It's an experiment beyond horror: it's a game of insanity, and you will be needing a fresh set of pants and a clean seat after your playthrough.

It's free. Need I say more?