Recent reviews by Senex

If you're still on the fence about making this purchase jump off and pull that purchase trigger. Please, try your best not to hold the recent Grid releases against the Codie's. To me it seems they learned an invaluable lesson from those two racers, and they're most definitely back on the correct course to listening to their player base. The early access, albeit long, was instrumental in making this game what we've come to expect from Codemasters. I highly doubt you will be dissapointed in purchasing this gem! While a wheel will definitely make the experience more enjoyable, because the use of a clutch and the ability to hold specific gears does make a difference in Rally Racing. This is still a game, and sure you can setup manual gear usage with a controller but it actually takes away from your time, in my opinion. However, I've played with a wheel and controller. I found the game to still be highly enjoyable regardless of either method, yet I do not recommend using the keyboard, hehe. While it's not a full on simulation type experience this isn't a keyboard friendly game unless you could care less about trying to beat your friend's times and, or attempts to beat your previous best times.

While not the best review (I'll leave that to the pro's) I hope this gives someone assistance as to whether or not this game is worth your hard earned dollars. I generally wait for a 50% plus off sale of many AAA games nowadays, but this is certainly not one of them!

Addendum: I should have written this 'review' after playing the release version, instead of going by the early access game, because the release version 1.0 is definitely a different beast. Anyhow, my thoughts have not changed overall. Yet, there are significant changes that I won't get into as "TL:DR" as is... but I definitely take back the controller thoughts concerning the gearbox. The 'quick clutch' feature is most impressive for controller users under an automatic gearbox! 'Nuff said, hehe.

I'll leave this as short and simple as I possibly can, because let's look at the facts. This is a five year/nearly six year old game. Yet, the graphics department is not lacking to this date as one may expect! Neither is the game play. Look at the current videos of high quality settings, or my screenshots. This game still looks and plays great! That in itself is rare and a testament to CodeMasters and their numerous years spent creating quality racing games (for the most part). In fact I find this racer to be more responsive and acceptable to true skill via setup and personal driving style than many of today's releases and that's not a sentiment I pass lightly! So, please do yourself a favor and consider purchasing this gem of a racing game.

For existing users it has been stated numerous times already that GWFL has been removed :) And that not only have the Codie's revisited this game, and revamped it so its player base weren't out of luck like so, so many other developers?!?! No! And not only that, but they included all of the DLC, and guess what?! Look hard fans of old, as there are some new easter eggs and improvements that you will only notice if you spent a lot of time playing the original. I had 100+ hours in the GFWL version before they made this title available in Steam. I would definitely reinstall this "new" version if you own the original. I'd be highly surprised if you're disappointed in the decision but at the end of the day: To each their own!

Have fun reliving this gem & generally speaking: Happy Gaming!

I've enjoyed the Air Conflict series since the first game was released, so don't get me wrong here. I enjoy the Vietnam addition, however there are some issues that take away from enjoying this title compared to it's predecessors. I'll keep this short and simple. There are some of the most iconic planes and helicopters in the post WWII era, and they have managed to do a good job in the graphic and loadout department. The size of the conflict zones is sometimes so small, that you find yourself constantly having to manuever your aircraft to avoid going, "out of bounds", as it were. This drastically lowers the possible enjoyment of many campaign scenarios, which I find frustrating. I haven't tried the multiplayer so I can't speak for that part, as of yet, but unfortunately I find myself on the edge of a question. Would I recommend this game to a friend? Sadly, the answer is no but, once again, I'm on the fence here. Whereas I find many aspects of the gameplay questionable another person may love it. So, who am I to say, "don't purchase this game". Well, so much for short and simple. Also, I can't quite place my finger on it, but there's just something missing in this Vietnam release.

A great experience in gameplay of the beaten up and auto-repeated genre of the third person shooter. I found some moments that were not so unique, but overall 2K and all those involved did a great job in bringing an original approach -- unlike so many other developer's. 3.8 out of 5 stars and given the deals you can find on this title that's just over a year old is a big plus in the bang for your buck category. I'd quickly recommend this game to any friend questining whether it was worth it or not. Happy hunting!

Oh, and although Steam may not recognize any time spent playing this game. I have spent time playing, Spec Ops: The Line, for many hours through gamefly digital before they "moved" many of their titles to Steam.

I still consider this game from Stardock to be one of, if not the best of the 4X space genre! I started with the original game and have purchased each of it's successors and, or DLC's. I have never felt let down in any game from this gaming series. I've always enjoyed playing each and everyone of the releases. Many, many games have brought themselves into this 4X space genre and I've tried out many demos from the competition. I've also purchased many other games in this genre, yet to date none have compared to Sins of a Solar Empire, in my humble opinion. The gameplay is smooth and extremely beautiful, even when you zoom in as close as you can. And have literally hundreds to thousands of ships in the grips of warfare (including the AI or enemy player's ships). I highly recommend that you purchase the DLC, especially for this release. Because it brings a lot more options and most importantly; Tons mo' fun to the table.

There's also a lot of depth in this game, if you so choose to dig deeper. From planetary upgrades, fleet upgrades, starbases and the awe inspiring Titan Class. There's always something to do and MM is easily tamed if that's your play style, and the game moves fast or slow. You decide -- there are so many options before dropping into battle as to what could possibly happen. Don't like pirates? Fine, simply disable them or better yet choose a faction that harnesses the pirates to do your bidding. Don't like playing with diplomatic measures influencing the game? You can disable or bend these options to your will as well. Truly, the options are endless. This game gives you so much control, whether it be through the options menu and, or the faction you choose to play as. I could go on, but I think you have a firm grip on the gist of what I'm spraying. Not to mention the fact I've babbled on and this review is long enough as is.

Just Play its Demo.
Just Buy the Game.
Just Watch the Videos.
Just Enjoy, The Stanley Parable.
Just Stanley, Stanley, Stanley, Stanley...