Recent reviews by LAUGHiNG ⁧⁧PAiN

With all due respect i've always considered this one of the most overrated games ever (my review is actually neutral) and the more i return to Half-Life 2 the more i stand by that opinion. For something marked as Noah's Ark of PC gaming it hardly uses it's physics features to truly great extent, mostly it's autistic puzzles at full display, which are such a dull way of downtiming, i didn't find them interesting at all. It took 13 more years for Breath Of The Wild to make an open-ended gameplay with this concept - something i expected back then from as highly praised game as HL 2 is.
The gunplay lacks proper impact and also clever squad AI of the original alongside with it's more enganging weapon combos.., that's because in Half-Life 2 they expect you to use conveniently placed red barrels for your gravity gun - makes my brain convolutions symmetrical, Ravenholm and the ability to catch an enemy grenade are the only instances for me when this gadget felt actually next-gen for it's time.

Besides, for something which was considered as influencial as, say, the original Deus Ex is way too restrictive to deserve this status. For example, you can't shoot through wooden doors despite in-depth boxes destruction or tear off machine guns from constant armored vehicles (Halo 3/Crysis 2 style). And i find it annoying at times how this game can't sort out it's core gameplay properly (like the 1st one did) to instead force you to partake in some either questionable or not that smooth set pieces. Controlling ant lions with one pheromone device in your hand? Fun. But doing those shabby tower defence sequences with enemies instantly mowing down your turrets due to overly tight rooms certainly doesn't do it for me. I also hate how plushy the boat feels to control and how i can't do precise aerial damage for tiny Strider's legs (talking about too restrictive for it's status).

The more i reach the ending the more i feel tired of these unskipable scripted cutscenes (which HL 1 almost never did) and half-empty hallways. And while both HL 2 and it's latest episode endings feels cool they kinda leads the plot to a dead end if you think about it.

Honestly, HL 2 kinda ruined linear shooters for me. Contrary to the 1st one, it's interactive story-telling is too forced at you. Next-gen features are hardly used as means of truly impressive, open-ended game design akin to Deus Ex or Zelda: BOTW. The gameplay itself feels not that great, because the devs relied more on gimmicky "whoa segments" rather than making the whole thing an actually consistent and satisfying FPS in each of it's core aspect. I'd even dare to say that it feels more like a shopping mall game design than a proper FPS one for me.

Hell, Riddick and Halo 2 were loads better as innovative FPS games back in 2004. What HL 2 really excels at is it's story, aesthetics and clever subversion of 1984's type of dystopia. Yeah, as an adventure game it can work in parts (thx to the Valve's idea fix for the campagin's diversity), but i like my games for the solid fundamental process, leading to a gameplay loop which keeps me interested to PLAY it instead of some sparse ideas making the single player looking cool and different just for the sake of it. and then installing MMod to fix what the devs couldn't make right

public void Configure(IROOTreview app,
ILogger<IcebergBreakerProtocol> logger)
{
RegistryKey rk = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey
("https://store.steampowered.com/app/393610/ROOT/", true);
if (chkStartUp.Checked)
rk.AddValue(SNOWDENMAN,true);

// code removed for brevity

else

[h+]³ NΞOLOGIC_SP▲SM

}
https://youtu.be/FaJJLF1q9Gc

ROOT can be a contentious game, but if you set your expectations accordingly it rather succeeds than fails as a project between 2 ever-barren niches - 90s virtual reality aesthetics and stealth focused gameplay. If the former is already enough to tickle your cyberfancy roll up your sleeves - we got the neuromod_virus to boot while it's still stalled in the mainframe.

Since the year is 2015 you step into the shoes of some hackerman looking like a SNOWDΞN_M▲N, but he essentially IS a H A C K E R so it changes absolutely nothing.., well aside from a tiny fact that your character is as good as a mannequin your avatar accompanied by the partner in cybercrime named SHELL. You two are chasing some evil sys. admin in charge of the other programs - that's sums up the "story" element i doubt you even expected from a game like this. For what it's worth, the whole main quest is choke full of witty banter with your system assistant. Info links are written in vein of harmless self-aware quips which are just hit or miss at their worst. I mostly enjoyed it. As a welcome handshake ROOT uses Blood Dragon-alike tutorial overturning you with a clever in-game joke as it's finishing note while the epilogue itself is a witty reference to The Stanley Parable, so yeah - that's a laugh for a buck in my perception axis. One thing i do not like in this vague blueprint of a plot is total absence of the antagonist in the flesh, because it's pretty much inclined that you cross swords with him. If the devs cared they could have developed a male version of Shodan, but alas, he is behind the scenes.

Once you are plugged into the system without all that info link gibberish your eyes are greeted with pleasingly distinct art direction. It's forefronted by striking minimalism:
Programs are red
Coded objects are green
Mainframe wireframe is blue,
And so are you.
Well, for the most part aside from occasional color alterations. Visuals are not that original and in fact - reminiscent of Frozen Synapse dilogy, the only major difference is the sheer glow of it all making the game even prettier due to proper use of Unity's shader system. I also really love that some of the objects like office cubicles are transparent allowing you to spot enemies – the graphics can be both functional and stylish. Although i can't shake off the thought that it looks like vaseline cyberpunk of sorts makes me coin it as vaselinepunk.

The soundtrack turned out to be good too, it makes up for the 95's Hackers vibe with it's choice of solid breakcore tunes coupled with deeply enveloping sci-fi acapellas on top of usual sythy ambient.

On the flipside, looks are not picture perfect, because the visuals slightly contradict with the art. One might think ROOT has learned something from Tron 2.0, which is still the most exemplary iteration of cyberspace in any game, however this version of virtual reality feels like Frozen Synapse is forced into real world environments. Rooms are jam-packed with somewhat plausible object placements as if you are playing an immersive sim prototype, however there are no lore-tied things to justify this abundance of misleadingly notable things which is a shame since these places are certainly nodding to Deus Ex; the amount of vents alone will make Adam Jensen jealous. At times i wanted to go sideways in search of something worthy of my exploration just to find another not necessarily useful shortcut and some rare boomboxes ironically serving as collectable items for the achievement.
Besides, we are talking about cybergrid after all, there is no need for it be modeled as something almost real. ROOT is a tad overwhelming to traverse through since for some arbitrary reason the game lacks color distinction to it's levels akin to Tron 2.0. Everything aside from the epilogue is blue-green-red making it easier to get lost. Anyways, our digital path leads to gameplay...

ROOT shapes up to be Tron 2.0 which shakes hands with Thief series and puts a grain of Deus Ex into this relationship. Sadly, aside from basic gameplay similarities it doesn’t try hard enough to go toe to toe with neither of that classics, but i find it enjoyable nonetheless.

As a cyberterrorist or crypto anarchist (whatever suits your ego) you bent your knees on decently non-linear levels. Similar to Thief a stealth takedown can be performed by clubbing the back of opponent's head. Foes will wake up eventually, but in most cases you will be in a vent by this time. And yes - it's possible to create improvised ladders out of the boxes (Deus Ex: HR style), but the clunky physics will make it harder to do so. Almost each level requires you to find proper keycards for certain doors, so it's nice to be able to pickpocket guards.

With all this functioning sneaking is engaging, most importantly - it supports ghost stealth, albeit barebones or clunky.
On cyberterrorist difficulty it feels like a jacuzzi with australian jellyfish. There won't be any detection delay. Guards got eagles eyes and their peripheral vision is twisted to the maximum: they can smell you from a mile. Their animations are stiff and not properly telegraphed on some occasions. Not that fair, but as a stealth afficionado i still thought it was a good sport until this almost broke my patience.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1569637033
I swear, that *** 7th level became my arch enemy as it wasn't enough.

Basic bots can have shotguns, shields and helmets. Soon they will be complimented by blind, but movement-sensitive spiders and even tall orcs capable at selling you for organs. Midget ones are incredibly annoying, if they spot you all the nearby enemies will be alerted - pretty much a death sentence. And then there are ghosts immune to the stealth bludgeon, chasing you right through walls and doing tough to dodge heavy hits. Near the end there are also moderately hard boss fights - fortunately, not interfering with your stealth progress.

You will get your 1st gun early on, but even on a gaming journalist difficulty the hackerman can die faster than average citizen of Venezuela. That's because the game's combat is not reliant on action. Instead of adequate projectile-recoil ballisticts, huge arsenal and enemy squads with readible, fair coordination shootouts are helmed by suicidal AI resiliant to anything aside from headshots. But hey, they are just security programs, so that's fine. What's not fine entirely is the laser accuracy of only 3 guns, hence the cyber reality, i guess. Combat is snappy due to a dash ability and a sick kick. When FPS works with stealth in tandem it can be cool to pave your way with third degrees, but it's not satisifying to divide them. If you wanna experience smth similar in the fullest Severed Steel got you covered on that.

ROOT is a good game that is hampered by the laziness of the developers. Maybe i am not that jaded to smash it despite some of the achievements which are impossible to do without getting your fingers bent the wrong way back. After all there are not enough cybergrid games out there, let alone with a couple of decent ideas. It even had mimic enemies before the 2017's Prey. And these trappings of proto-immersive sim are worth noting with stuff like hidden shotgun on the 3rd level. Just be sure to treat it like stealth-FPS to avoid neologic spasm.

https://youtu.be/qakzt5YEOxM
Welcome aboard, Isaac Clarke. Occupation - engineer. D.O.B. - check wikipedia. You are now a part of repair/salvage crew possibly, not intact of a planet cracker grade spacecarft called 石村, because in space no one will know japanese, i guess.

Once you embark on the main quest it's hard not to be overly geeky about this game. The story premise is a perfect segue to a tangible, living-screaming sci-fi world tuned to stylistic perfection. Inspired by thriller type of terror of Resident Evil games, mystique-infused space horror from the likes of Event Horizon and Alien, Dead Space takes notes to create a blend of Lovecraftian fear of the unknown with Saw's unnerving brutality.
I like about that the most is how from the get-go world-building goes hand in hand with the core gameplay. You are moored to Ishimura literally as a working class hero, with nothing but a bad feeling about this right after a harsh landing and too soothing welcome announcement. What appeared to be a lead-pipe cinch for an engineer will soon unravel a more scary repair task than a broken Wi-Fi, soaking you into a compelling plot with twist upon twist.

Ironically you will find yourself assigned with a different fixing task - a PC port detrimental to your experience: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=232050455

So, when you pop the cork in the prologue you will watch Isaac trapped in a place where roses are blackened as ink and only the dead can hear you run. The key fact about the ship is it's mining purpose, which led to it digging an otherworldly discovery at the center of it all. That thing is a perfect example of "in ideas the unimaginable, in words the unspeakable". After the events went haywire it succumbed everyone to madness. You will constantly see sole survivors scratching themselves like meth addicts until they bleed out. Aside from your 2 distanced shuttle members serving as briefing machines Isaac is indeed lost in this gradually suffocating isolation... when you are not facing the necromorphs...

The brilliance of Dead Space gameplay is evident by bringing utility tool to a mutant fight. These truly imposing creatures are ought to tear off your skin, make a coat out of it and use the spine as a tube for a pus-blood cocktail in Isaac's body. Nasty and gory-disgusting, they are rapidly rushing with cannibalistic urge. And you are forced to, in fact, just incapacitate them by cutting of the limbs with space-engineering stuff like a precise plasma cutter, more widespread line cutter or, my favorite, a pipeline saw. Meaning that aiming at center mass or a head won’t work, decapitation even aggravates them more, although you can do that just for the sake of the stopping power effect. Whilst you are about to be crumped by necrophilies you also switching vertical-horizontal aiming modes on the almighty cutter tool - handle with care.
In the heat of the moment Isaac's tanky, but not sluggish movement makes outmaneuvering them a class act. However, you can stomp the car wreck victims like a savage with your military grade boots or just hit them with an arm's swipe - obviously risky, but seeing procedural dismemberment makes your inner censor happy.
To diversify maim-mutilation process the devs can introduce other not necessarily engineer-related stuff like a pulse rifle, flamethrower or a laser-beam gun. I salute this arsenal for not supplying you with a know-how solution. Each weapon comes with an alternative fire, but also with both purpose and shortcomings. You'd think that a pipeline saw capable of temporarily keeping the blades at a distance is OP, but it can make you vulnerable if you are not preserving the needed range. RIfle's 360° fire mode is useful for crowd control, but depletes ammo in seconds.

Besides the "pew-pew" you can temporarily freeze smth with a stasis module or grab an object on a certain distance with kinesis. The latter allows you to get hidden stashes of loot that might otherwise be unreachable. Optional supply rooms can be ulocked with a power nod. You will also find yourself backtracking while scrounding for resourses used for upgrades. It's a great replayability system.

Overall DS is an easygoing - nervously tangling fun where improvisation can be your lifeblood. It's necro ecosystem makes sure if you utilize all the tools to a great success. The bosses rather bark than bite, but each encounter is a spectacle to behold in vein of God of war's gigantism.

But the 石村 won't fix itself, so cowboy up before the next repair objective revolving around puzzles. The game will push you through mesmerizingly handcrafted decks where everything is thought-out. From med labs with artificially grown babies and nature-sounding orangeries to stark industrial environments where asteroids are decomposed within the power fields. From time to time the level-design opens up to screen saving panoramas in outer space presenting you highly atmospheric zero gravity action with bits of debris floating around. You can even play multistaged space basketball or practice on targets in the security barracks.

For a game using the Godfather engine Dead Space looks impressive, dare i say, timeless if you won't look at the textures under a microscope. It's stellar art direction exemplifies that graphics is nothing by itself, because the design leaves an indelible imprint on it. The enormous technocracy of dieselpunk setting. The all-industrial practically of Issac's suits. Rotted versions of necromorphs with glowing eyes and dark rancid flesh covered in cysts. Not only does Dead Space cleverly uses the interplay between lighting and fog, but refuses to leave you confounded with it's diegetic HUD. The dynamic waypoint trail saves yourself a headache, especially when all falls apart. Dead Head Fred game was the first to put on a back a life indicator, but DS has improved it with various states of health.

Given that this was originally intended to be a System Shock 2's sequel, the horror is not so subtle. You walk through foreboding hallways where everything is orchestered within the game's linear structure. It's cool that necromorphs can hoap out of vents, but i expected it to be random with such amount of spawn points. Some are posing as corpses punishing you for unattentivness. But the game can do better. There are unexpected jumpscares in previously safe areas. Every train ride is a paranoic nightmare due to smoke hiding the enemies. As you uncover the story closer you will usher into horors of your own imagination. The thing has tampered with the crew's minds so badly that you can stumble upon cryptic messages showcasing unique language, which looks like a mix between ancient greek and hebrew - you can decipher it.

The neatest part about DS horror is it's skin-deep sound design, which gels well with everything in the game. With my Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO plugged into DAC this was an aural bliss. When the game is not trying to scare your eyes it can do it with noise. Almost everywhere smth around you is happening on the background making prediction of forthcoming events a wild guess. The sound of falling pipes increases paranoia, necromorphe warns in the distance with his indigestion, Isaac reacts to high-stress fights with a heavy breathing in his helmet. Secluded rooms tells your tales of despair with whispers in your ears, making you reach out for schizo pills. Jason Graves has composed pretty traditional score, but the one which yanks you out of the comfort. Eerie-grimmy cosmic ambient is f@ckn glorious.
https://youtu.be/7fWSajnuX_4

Dead Space is not the most scariest or complex game around, but with so many innovative ideas being interwoven it presents a memorable horror where the real monster is a human church.






 Make Us Whole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iGRELVnFSo
This charming little game has some promise, it's already stylistically stricking as your robo-arm - kinda like "Tetsuo: The Iron Man" meets John Carpenter and hits him with Playstation 1 in the FACE! But from now on there is almost nothing to write home about aside from the devs which seem to be doing their job (they tend to be very slow with the global updates, but never fail and are always transparent about their workload); they took my suggestions into consideration with the recent update. In it's current state there are 2 chapters divided by different locations of this [h+]³ Escape from Cyber Arkham City metroidvania. Each one is centered around sofa. Yes, you heard it correctly - sofa with a goverment cyborg sitting on it is a checkpoint, because it's a police state, i guess. The latter indicates the humorous part of the game, it can be both cynically edgy and childishly dumb - fits the tone quite nicely, otherwise it could have ended up too dreadful.

So how's the core gameplay feels like? Well, just functional enough to be far fletched from the scrapland this game takes place in. You have a gentlebot's arsenal of left fist and right. Holding the button augments your punch - simple as that. Enemies are capable of locking your damage with a sideway block, so the combat can be consistently tense despite it's ascetism. Death flirts with your fragility. You can be surrounded by a group of metal thugs in tight spaces whilist some huge aluminum supervisior runs to your to check your knowledge of the Tron universe lore. The fat is in the fire before your know it if the energy is already drained by flashlight uses, which can cost your life without battery power for a taser in another hand. Oh yes, the taser is pretty much the only additional weapon in today's build. Alongside with your flashlight it drains energy, but activates (not) paramount to missions terminals, also makes the worst foes hot. Couple of areas shows one particular object to be used against enemies, hence the devs will spice up the action with Madworld kind of environmental attacks i hope. Current update made them much more efficent. After the patch movement is less clumsy with some weight to it, but still can be quite stiff: mantling over obstacles is harder to pull off, enemy attacks can stunt lock you too harsh at times. Bare knuckle fights feels good: punches are tactile, enemy patterns are readable, some sort of skill ceiling is present. They are more jucier now, with a deeper and more satisfying impact.

During the smoke breaks you complete side activities and gain resources for your by-the-numbers energy/health upgrades from another... i'd say unexpected assistant. Level design in a one grey urban storeroom reminds me of Cry of Fear, but here you jump on stuff and explore prison city attractions which are not attractive. The game can throw a L.E.D. lamp or two at you, but it doesn't preserves it from being pretty stale art direction-wise, whether it was intended for the "gritty retro aesthetics" or horror, it gets the job done, however, with no clear identity. Enemies looks distinct, but not that creative, and buildings just blend in with the same monochrome look. Although the catch is that sweet B movie vibe in a low-poly, low color glory. Triangle shoulders on your opponents. Washed out textures covered in ash as if your are watching RTS surroudings in first person. New additions to the visuals makes VHS ha-ha more vibrant due to lighting improvements - i like how even laptops can cast green glow on walls now. Dystopia has been recently reinforced with extra guards placements which do feel like Alliance troopes from Entropy: Zero 2. There are some bits of ENVIROMENTAL STORYTELLING, but only tids of them are actually interesting. Scriling-thrilling synths on the background or that paranoicly creepy segment when the fridge-shaped spider runs near your in a dimly lit metrodepo. It's not everyday you can play cyberpunk action-horror, so the game definitely worth it if you are skin-deep into this vibe like i am.

Since the latest update my issues wih Voltage High Society i want decepticons from Bile to play their robot rock under this name are decreasing. It's still is a bug-free game for an almost 1 hour playtime (not counting future walkthroughs), which gained more pleasant visual makeups, richer sound design, additional gameplay feedback and some tiny location enhancments.

After the recent update the devs integrated a new location. It's more puzzle/platformer-oriented and gives a good glimpse into the other futuristic prison enviroments. At one point you will traverse through a massive factory with the lore dumps which expand upon the possible plot twist. The new distance weapon makes it a cyberball game of sorts resulting into a clever distraction from the usual fist fights. The latter got the enhancments too, so now certain weapons works best against different types of enemies - a welcome change. I also really like how intriguing the story got at this point, it took inspirations more from Akira this time, as if the ghost in the machine is questioning it's god's complex. There wasn't a clear indication of where the story might be going on the 1st location, so it really starts to matter this time.

My main gripe with this game, as of the time of writing, is it's the lack of interconnection between the presented locations, it ruins the metroidvania potential which could have make it if not puddle, but at least lake-deep. The devs are aware of this, so i hope this game will start to live up to this potential once all the new places and chapters will be added.

All in all, i recommend it just because you can fistf@ck Shodan in the face to heal yourself.

Казалось бы, как данная цитата в эпиграфе сопоставляется с инди-головоломкой, да ещё и явно вторичной, вон - пазл-пушки на скриншотах, небось очередной убийца Portal. Что ж, если ответить на это в соответствии с аксиомой Antichamber, то все 3 утверждения неверные. Почему 3, а не 2?! А вот это как раз-таки метафора на перелом сознания - главную мозголомку в игре...

Эта странная суть необъяснимого зарыта ещё в корне слова Antichamber - этакое "Антипространство". Мир, где мир искажается. Наверное самая ближайшая к наркотикам вещь, что я испытал. Не в плане опасности для здоровья, разумеется хотя от таких кислотных контрастов из кошмара эпилептика мои глаза теперь слепит даже ультрафиолет, а тем, как все элементы этой игры будоражат своей непохожестью с первого же прикосновения, будто ток по телу. Сознание, помните? Так вот в Antichamber ты словно ничего не можешь осознать - ходишь по невидимым мостам, наворачиваешь буквально бесконечные марафоны в коридорах-восьмёрках, слышишь лягушек в полностью безжизненных стерильных помещениях, попутно следуя подсказкам.., вредящим скорее, и думаешь, что до покупки игры разработчик тебе что-то подсыпал в чай. Вау, многовато для стартовых минут, не правда ли? Наверное, не будет преувеличением сказать, что ни одна другая игра не зайдёт к вам за порог с ноги как эта. И вот тут и кроется ответ на первый поставленный вопрос - Antichamber не клон Portal, а в фауне инди-пазлов так вообще неисследованный организм.

В принципе эту штуку можно описать, как если бы мир зазеркалья из "Алисы" вдруг бы стал интерактивным. В отношении Antichamber в прессе часто фигурировало то имя нидерландского художника М. К. Эшера, то какой-то заумный термин "неевклидовая геометрия". От первого создатель игры, австралиец Александр Брюс, подчеркнул стиль абстрактного окружения: полунагая цветовая палитра с очень точечным подбором акцентных цветов, нагромождением симметричных строений, будто бы плавящихся как металл в сочленениях друг друга - словом, сплошь оптические иллюзии, построенные на извращениях с перспективой. Второй же аспект - это, грубо говоря, окружное пространство. Отсутствие параллельных линий отвергает в нём как симметрию, так и привычные нам законы геометрии и где-то физики. Самое забавное то, что даже эти, вроде бы, определяющие элементы Antichamber растяжимые настолько, что любая резинка бы уже лопнула. Напрямую Эшера цитируют такие проекты как Echochrome, Monument Valley и Manifold Garden. Что же до неевклидовой геометрии, она тут такая же редкая, как атеист на Ближнем Востоке, хотя всё ещё заметная. Весь сыр-бор Antichamber в том, что он комбинирует лишь частички этих элементов, но непредсказуемо - чтобы опрокинуть ваш мозг, всполоснуть, встряхнуть и вывернуть наизнанку. Причём это та грань, когда произведение, будучи напрочь самобытным и артистичным, не пытается, как это обычно бывает, лишь играть в искусство.

Так что же такое Antichamber на самом деле? По сути - головоломка совмещённая со структурой метроидвании, что уже делает её весьма штучной. Обычно любая игра подобного формата проводит вас по рельсам с комнатами-испытаниями. Здесь же вы будете ошеломлены, как кошка на льду, от всех тех трюков с искажением пространства, о которых я упомянул, но сильнее всего - от гибких решений головоломок, которую такая свобода предоставляет. К ключевым для прогресса пазл-пушкам можно порой подобраться как минимум 3-мя путями, а некоторые из них превращаются ещё и в новые способы на этом пути. Комнаты для пазлов тут представляют собой ветвистые коридоры, в которые можно в любой момент телепортироваться, просто нажав Esc, тем самым зайдя в интерактивную хаб-локацию, которая содержит в себе динамичную карту местности, экран с настройками и ещё одну фишку игры - стену для печенек с предсказаниями?! Я немного слукавил, но суть сохранил. Эту игру явно сделал физик-лирик, который, словно взяв за основу личные заметки, проведённые во время наблюдений за звёздами, сопроводил каждый пазл карикатурной зарисовкой. Кликнете - выскочит жизнеутверждающая метафора на происходящее. Ключевое слово "сопровождает". Автор как бы завуалированно обращается к вам - порой с иронией, а порой с назиданием - специально после выполнения любой задачки. Эта идея может показаться претенциозной, но она получилась действительно эффектной. Один из моих любимых примеров такой игры в восприятие особо запрятанный тупик с табличкой "подлежит восстановлению" на заблокированной двери, рядом с ним карикатура со свинкой... в шлеме... на роликах... с надписью: "Некоторые вещи не имеют особого смысла".
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2690925616
Antichamber постоянно обманывает ваши ожидания. При каждом новом правиле логичная последовательность тут может смениться иррациональным экспериментом. Преуспеть в этой игре можно только если не бояться творить уникальную ахинею чуть ли не при любой удобной возможности. Этот пазл скорее про нестандартное мышление, нежели разгадку. Любое направление тут может оказаться ещё более озадачивающей развилкой, опять телепортом в никуда, а порой и комнатой разработчика, что делает проект неким мета-комментарием в стиле "анти-игра"! Также никогда не знаешь наверняка, что за поворотом, ибо даже тупик тут может рассосаться при приближении. Функциональные места игры на первый взгляд шизофренично разбросаны, а на второй - ты уже лавируешь в этом аду словно партизан из Въетконга в подземных туннелях. Мир игры чем-то смахивает на фильм "Куб 2: Гиперкуб" - вся территория непрерывная загадка...

Подход к геймдизайну тут изящен в том числе с такой вторичной для жанра вещью как пазл-пушки. Каждая из них кроме оригинальной обладает уникальными свойствами, работающими по сюрреалистичным законам внутриигровой физики, что сбалансировано так грамотно, что может и дальше привести к "эврика!"-моментам. Даже самая первая пушка может быть использована настолько нестандартно, что мне казалось, будто я ломаю игру. А упомянутая выше вырвиглазность графики здесь на самом деле один из практичнейших примеров минимализма. Кислотные участки мгновенно выделяют точки интереса в окружении, а предустановленные в некоторых местах блоки могут цветом подсказать, каким инструментом можно решить уравнение раньше времени - в том числе когда кажется, что это невозможно. На самом деле всегда возможно, просто решение проблемы может оказаться крайне уникальным в любой момент. Самое потрясное здесь - это возможность срезать путь к финалу, выискивая всё более эффективные алгоритмы действий. Первое прохождение у вас может занять от 3 до 20+ часов. Второе - от часа до 10 минут без каких-либо рефлексов Джона Уика. Игра крайне ценит вашу любознательность, что либо обескураживает её подходом, либо выпячивает IT-грыжу от ощущения собственной гениальности, и никакого сокрытого третьего в этот раз не дано.

Благодаря такой эластичности Antichamber стал для меня любимой головоломкой, в то же время это - аки секс с девственницей - любовь через кровь. Тот же визуал, мягко говоря, субъективен. Свободное перемещение вкупе с нежеланием игры быть голословной иногда приводят к контринтуитивности. Кого-то сильно разочаруют статичные задачки, вшитые в стену для пушек. Финал здесь скорее как факт. Для меня же самое обидное - опциональные розовые кубы, которым разработчик смысла не придал, ибо вымотался.

Как итог, если вы любите в играх исследование, эксперименты, самопровозглашённые испытания и креативность, эта штуковина может раздуть вам голову аки шмель. Antichamber буквально недостающий кусочек пазла в вашей игровой мозаике. И неважно, что розовый куб ложь, а в конце не появится голая Ева Грин.

But seriously though, this is the best tactical shooter in the history of men, at least among the CQB ones! Yes, even better than the incredible SWAT 4. Don't be scared of it's clunky UI and outdated graphics, because this is certainly the game which deserves to be finished. The AI of your teammates alone is some sort of black magic! Friendly bots scan every corner, shoot very accurately and proceed with disciplined caution - they are indeed useful, however, not overpowered. Swat bots even mark every breached room with a lightstick and correct your reports to command center on the fly. That is the reason why SWAT 3 is actually better than the 4th one, which can be pretty common opinion among some die hard fans. Yes, as a gothic operator i absolutely miss enviromental storytelling in SWAT 4, it's grim New York locations inspired by the movie "Seven", unique personalities of the team members, user-friendly UI, more gameplay options, etc., but the 3rd installment excels exactly in what the 4th one could have done better.
Here's another example, for unknown reason Irrational games removed highly useful feature from SWAT 3 - 2 phases of assault. When you press a dedicated button your AI squad can instaintly switch from Stealth mode to Dynamic mode. A killer feature (no pun intended), because once you've changed the siege style you and your team will move quicker, list of avaliable commands will change to suit aggresive tactics and, most importaintly, your partners-in-law will shoot suspects on sight, but the AI is so remarkable that they won't just insta kill everyone even then, they use force only when there is no other option.

You can split your team of 4 members to red or blue couple. In-depth in-game menu with detailed list of contextual commands is what makes the experience constantly fresh. Sadly, this feature is much better utilized in SWAT 4. You will simply need to get used to multiple order buttons here and a clunky UI. Confusing as hell at first.

Enemies are dangerous too. Eventhough they are less dynamic and won't roam from room to room like in SWAT 4 they are at times even more focused and won't hesitate to pick the best defense option against you - a.k.a hostage.

Of course, this game is too old, but not a tad obsolete. It uses 16-bit color palette plus there can be other unforseen issues. Take a note about these fixing methods:

• https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=937035975
  
• https://steamcommunity.com/app/560370/discussions/0/3062995463263825909/
  
• https://steamcommunity.com/app/560370/discussions/0/3119273879022263103/

Also not everyone was fond of pacifistic rating system in SWAT 4 which forced you to use pepperball gun/taser/less than lethal shotgun against suspects to achieve the best score possible. That is not an issue with this game. Though i still liked that extra layer of gameplay depth in SWAT 4, what i appreciate about the 3rd one is it's straight forwardness when it comes to goals. You don't even need to clear the entire location if some additional civilians were left, because mission briefing is always based on some sort of goverment reconnaissance without extra civs - you know, the ones who could have been ended up in this place by accident. SWAT 3 won't punish you severely for not being a scout boy or complete pacifist just because you forgot to bring in your pepperball gun, while sniffing evidence cocaine, you - idiot sandwitch of a cop! But you can play as different officers and get a medal as an award, so there is still something to master, not to mention sheer game design lack of bottom: NPCs will appear in random places each time like in SWAT 4.

Aside from some tricky workarounds to make the damn thing boot up, SWAT 3 is out of major flaws, only some minor ones. Firstly, i can't understand why my boys are wearing these weird motorcycle helmets. Never seen any kind of tactical protection like this. The game contains extra skins by default or you can apply various mods for them, but they are not presented in the main campagin. Morever, you can complain about limited amounts of content: not many weapons, only a few customization options. Also worth mentioning that, unfortunately, the community lacks Discord server, so it's hard finding some partners for coop (you can message me though).

What's also cool about the game is the ability to change reaction times for AI via main menu. GOTY edition provides a few neat mods, like proper SWAT uniforms and even a 10 man campagin. Frankly, the 2nd team of 5 psychopaths with fogged up motorcycle helmets will be controlled by AI, however it's pretty useful to send them on another infiltration point. You can even hear their reports to command center on your radio frequency.

Overall SWAT 3 is undeservedly forgotten masterpiece. This game do what it aims for with laser focus. The AI, the complex level design, the amount of tactical options, the variety, the fair challenge, the methodical gameplay - you name it. SWAT 3 to tactical shooters is what Thief to stealth-action games. No execuse not to play, if you are a sucker for such sort of games. By the way, there are lots of great mods. Helps to forget about her...

• http://induktio.net/swat3/COOP.html
  
• https://www.gamepressure.com/download.asp?ID=72669
  
• https://www.moddb.com/games/swat-3/addons/page/6#downloadsbrowse
  
• ht tp://www. mediafire. com/file/m2b4oqg3ntbq2jn/Blue Light. zip/file

Are you kidding me?! Almost EACH ONE of so-called "High-Quality" tracks in FLAC from here is upsampled from MPEG source! Only the last one - "19 - Firewatch OST - Ol' Shoshone" - is transparent 16 bit/44 kHz CD quality! Same case scenario with Deezer by the way. Campo Stuido or whoever posted this, you've released two vinyl editions of this score, can you, please, at least take gamers seriously?

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"Bloody Walls" являет собой "таймкиллер" чистой воды. Он нужен в первую очередь охотникам на достижения, ибо они там все очень лёгкие, а также желающим, кхм, обагрить свой вечер на свободные 30 минут. Может, час, в крайней случае даже два. Любая названная составляющая "Bloody Walls" сделана дёшево и сердито, начиная с её модели распространения. Так самый бюджетный вариант предлагает 4-битную картинку в стиле первых "Game Boy". Сплески крови в таком случае очень кстати вносят в игру яркости. Самый царский же вариант пестрит более насыщенными 16 bit. Умно, не находите? Тоже можно сказать о дизайне уровней, которого и след простыл: ящики, коридоры, другие ящики, колбы с мутированными эмбрионами, одна дверь, связанная с концовкой игры. Говорю я это всё, потому что игра более чем на любителя. Её не упрекнёшь в некомпетентности, но в то же время она выветривается из головы похлеще тех матриц по высшей математике

Вся соль "Bloody Walls" в уничтожении зомби. Здесь типичная затравка о внеплановом заселении мертвичинкой в n'ом секретном комплексе. Вам предоставляется 6 одинаковых по ширине этажей научной лаборатории (позднее откроются ещё 3). Первый этаж - единственное безопасное место. Там вы знакомитесь с разношёрстной компашкой из выживших: занятой генерал, врач, голова в колбе, девочка, толстяк, учёный и торговец. Пять человек попросят определённый предмет на одном из этажей, который соответствует их типажу. Ну серьёзно, с какой стати врачу аптечка не нужна? Угождать всем полезно для геймплея, ведь в него инкрустирована мини-экнономика. Вот максимальный вес на 20 килограмм и какая-то странная валюта (похожа на пузырки).

Фауна игры в меру разнообразная. От этажа к этажу появляется какой-нибудь новый зомби - от банальных заражённых людей до жирных пиявок, двух монстров в одном, громилы в броне. От чего сложность, порой сильно, подскакивает на последних этапах. Вот в чём петрушка - урон наносится закликиваниями левой клавишей мыши по голове противников. Если вы коснётесь нечисти хоть раз, сразу экран смерти. Покуда комнаты заядло фрустрируют своей однотипной ленийностью, быть зажатым опасностью будет как раз плюнуть. Отдельные твари требуют особого подхода. Лично мне не раз навредили броколиподобные крепыши. Загвостка в том, что они раскрывают броню только на большой дистанции.

Забыл прикупить несколько мин или не успел просчитать маршрут зомби? Начинай сначала. В этом основный раздражающий фактор игры

В целом геймплей данной времяубивалки очень монотонный, подобно единичному 2D-спрайту кровавых сплесков на стене. Знай себе, закликивай левую клавиши мыши аки дятел и надейся, что просчитал снаряжение на текущее противостояние. А короткий рок-аккомпанемент скорее соль на рану сыпит, нежели атмосферу задаёт.

"Bloody Walls" очень хорошо нарисован для какого-никакого сюжета. К сожалению, создатели поленились его хотя бы закончить. Финал обрывается на грубом "to be continued".., заставляя безповоротно пожалеть о потраченном времени. Игра не плохая, она просто сырая.