Recent reviews by Uncle Comrade

It just so happens that Quantic Dream puts out games that indulge into and call out for our deepest and most humane thoughts. The ones about love, support, friendship and, most importantly, EMPATHY.

The whole emphasis of the story presented in Detroit: Become Human is on empathy and how it shapes our minds, carrying us off of darkness of machine-like coldness and instinctive behavior and towards light of support, unity and care. The fact that you shape this story, that YOU are the one who decides whether someone lives or dies makes you care about the characters like they're actual real people. It is empathy that made androids sentient, it's what makes US sentient, in a way, and the game is trying to show that. Needless to say that the storytelling and character design are top notch here, so it all feels real and natural. Plus, it's spiced up with an amazing soundtrack composed in such a way that amplifies and complements the atmosphere created by the visual part.

As for the technical part... The graphics and design on PC are great, but some elements brought up from PS4 might look out of place or rather limiting. A great example for that is the depth of field effect. In my opinion, it's a little bit too overboard, sometimes cutting off almost all of the complex scene in front of or behind the charater you currently control. There are also numerous performance issues that are present since the PC release and not taken care of by devs. The game runs on Vulkan, but the implementation of it is very poor. Not only that it takes a lot of time to compile shaders on first run, but it also introduces stuttering, freezing and sometimes crashing when loading new scenes or chapters, no matter if you're running it off of an HDD or an SSD. It is most severe in chase and action scenes, which is very unsatisfying. Other than that, it's a pretty solid experience, tho I'd recommend to have a PC capable of giving off at least 60 FPS in this game, as less FPS introduces input lag, which is most noticable in mouse contols.

SUMMARY
While the story, graphics, design and soundtrack are quite obviously top notch, the technical part of the game is lacking. If you want true stutterless and lagless experience, play it on a console or a very powerful PC. This game is definitely worth playing.

Seriously, the story, the characters, the idea... it deserves the time to put into. It raises important life quesions that we usually avoid, it shows us the power of good and bad, in matter to how it can return to us and how it can affect the world in general. Time loops and rewinds are just a hyperbola, or a metaphore, for our constant struggle within ourselves, how we live with our past and process the stuff within ourselves. And, it's obvious that time travel is one of the most fascinating sci-fi topics, especially admired by me personally.

And that is just scrathcing the surface.

While it may seem to a naked eye like a casual punk love story (decide it in favor of Max and Chloe or Max and Warren, doesn't matter) with a sci-fi quirk to hold it, later on it becomes obvious even to that eye that there's more, soon it comes to mind that this is deep. A serious leap in story is made when you get the ability to alter realities by going into the moments in past captured by a camera in photo (SPOILER, DON'T LOOK IF DIDN'T PLAY), when you get the first terrifying choice, and there's no "good" outcome, no matter what you do there. The game becomes progressively more and more like that, introducing a long-term effects of your choices, and, the more you progress the more effects there are. Anyway, the choices DO bottleneck to only two endings, but they feel like important and viable no mater. That's one of the greatest things in storytelling of that game, the choices feel like they really matter.

Another great thing is the design. Don't let a bit cartoony, painted-like design distract you from all the detail that is put into Arcadia Bay and characters.It may seem pretty simple at first, but the handiwork of people behind this project is seen right from the start, even in main menu. While being colorful and sunny at first stages, it becomes progressively darker and more dull, which plays with mind at a subconscious level, indicating a contrast between the state of the characters and environment before everything and after. Max's nightmares, especially the one at the end, represent the certainty of our fates in a way. Even a non-believer in fate, such as me, will appreciate this part. It also plays with the mind in a way that it represents our negative thoughs so well, that awkward, depressed ones that we hide in closets like skeletons...

About characters. Characters are, basically, the biggest part of this game. They drive the story. And it's for you to decide who will come up as a friend or as a foe. You truly believe the characters, they have their... well, character. They totally feel like living beings, you treat them as such, and you really do care about how they do. Even Max, who you might think is just a puppet in your hands, doesn't lose her character as a protagonist. Instead, she gains it, depending on your actions. You become to feel like you ARE in Arcadia Bay. While the expressions might be a bit sloppy sometimes, it doesn't break the emotions those characters experience, and the emotions you experience with them.

Combine those things - you get a masterpiece which deserves its' own "Everyday Heroes" contest.

Alan Wake. A writer who fought the Darkness. A story which increased flashlight sales.

This game contains everything that is GOOD. The gameplay is addicting, the story is thrilling, the graphics are beautiful, even now.

The story... It looks and feels like it combines the minds of all famous horror/thriller writers, like, for example, Stephen King. And it's actually a HUGE plus for the story, which never ceases to amaze, not even after the big reveal about the "Departure" manuscript. I wouldn't be surprised if I would have found "Departure" in some store the other day...

The gameplay is not built around a classic "point & shoot" manner, but rather "point, flash, THEN shoot". The flashlight mechanics combined with a good graphical implementation (god rays truly look godly) is a great way not only to diversify the usual shooting part of things, but also to develop a unique design, at least at the time. A lack of crosshair (the Light works as one) and an ability to disable the HUD completely will appeal to those who demand full immersion.

This game is from those times of not-that-powerful-but-okay PCs, which made the developers to sacrifice some detail in order to bring more sweet-sweet frames per second. But overall, there's a great balance between performance and beauty. The game looks astonishing even today, with all that fancy ray tracing things present. You definitely feel like you are a part of that mysterious story.

So, what else can I say except you should better go get some flashlights? Just in case, you know.

Classic. No more words needed.

Выдающаяся игра. Несмотря на то, что в шутеры про современную войну сейчас не принятно включать эмоциональный и глубокий сюжет (привет CoD), эта игра не подчинилась современным трендам. Упор на эмоции, испытываемые главным героем игры, играет очень важную роль в сюжете. Ты не просто играешь в шутер, ты переживаешь все эмоции главного героя вместе с ним, вживаешься в его роль. Это заставляет тебя идти все дальше и дальше по сюжету, чтобы узнать, что станет с героем. А позже, после прохождения эти эмоции все еще захлестывают тебя и ты смотришь в медленно ползущие титры с отстраненным взором и мыслями, устремленными далеко.

Где царит веселье вперемешку с кровавой резней?
Где внутриигровой трейд шапок успешнее рыночной экономики страны?
Где есть Hightower, Turbine, 2Fort и Orange?
Где можно найти себе новых друзей, просто взяв в руки сендвич?
Где можно прыгать на ракетах, которые к тому же не наносят урона?
Где Ghostly Gibus?
ГДЕ ЕЩЕ весь сервер будет танцевать конгу, просто потому что весело?
А Казоцкий Кик?

10 scraps out of 10 reclaimed

Half-Life Deathmatch - это именно та старенькая игра.
Это именно те самыме карты, которые ты запомнил навсегда: где лежит аптечка, где пулемет, а где модуль длинных прыжков.
Это тот самый динамичный геймплей, когда ты сочетаешь Гаусс-пушку и модуль длинных прыжков, чтобы летать по карте, а не бегать, к тому же отстреливая при этом врагов.
Это та самая кнопка на Crossfire, которая закрывает бункер.

И, несмотря на то, что это движок Source, несмотря на то, что серверов мало, это все та же игра, все тот же геймплей. И даже те баги и вылеты, которые появились при портировании, не мешают наслаждаться игрой.

Well, it's CS:GO.
Shooting people. Opening cases. Being toxic to every living being and, for that matter, any not living thing in this world and possibly many others. You know that stuff.

Серия FlatOut уже успела стать классикой. И не потому, что в ней был какой-то там сюжет и графика. Серия стала классикой именно из-за своего динамичного геймплея. Ведь где еще вы найдете "гоночки", где можно разд0лбать все, что угодно, включая машины оппонентов? А если вам надоест гоняться за призовыми местами, попутно разрушая окружение, то специально для вас - дерби и трюки! Суть предельно проста: в дерби - разд0лбать в хлам все машины оппонентов. Трюки так и вообще за пределами безбашенности. Вам дается машина с реактивным ускорителем, гоните, потом нажатием кнопки катапультируете себя из машины, выполняя трюк, описанный в превью. Все просто!
Ах, да... саундтрек. ДА ЭТО Ж ПРОСТО ОХРEНEТЬ!!!!! ТОЛЬКО РОК! КЛАСС!

Хотите игру, в которой можно почти все? Garry's Mod для вас! Ведь даже с помощью базовых инструментов в игре можно сделать свою уникальную машину, вертолет, самолет (хоть и примитивный) и еще много чего! А если еще и дополнений из Мастерской накатить, то вообще божественно! Плюс, различные режимы, такие, как Prop Hunt, Murder, и т.д. Вам дано огромное пространство для экспериментов на движке Source. Чего-то не хватает? Постройте! А нет инструментов для постройки - дополнения помогут!