Recent reviews by Dr. Bloodraven

This game has a hilarious and silly plot with deep meaning. Say NO! to everything !! Funny AF.

Pretty looking game but story doesn't make sense at all. I clearly remember that the protagonist was named Sheila in the prequel, She is called Shelia in this one (like Shell-lia).

If you are really looking for a coherent story then this is extremely dull. Also the game is very short as the campaign can be finished in 2 hrs.

The characters in the cut scenes have zero expressions.

This game is more of a project showcase at what the solo developer is capable of.

If you are planning to get this, buy at above 60% discount or skip it. There are far better FPS games with better stories.

This game doesn't have much story. You take the role of one of two barbarians and begin your journey into a mystical land. There are codex entries scattered throughout the levels providing some exposition and lore.

The game play perspective is in first person. Your character wields an old sword as a starting weapon. There are key items scattered in each level that can help to unlock doors and passageways. There is a levelling system. To level up, you have to kill enemies, collect their essence and find a save fountain. The skill tree system is minimal as there are 3 skill trees i.e Might, Speed and Resilience. It is advised to allot points based on your own preference. As you progress, you can come across new weapons such as hammers, spears and blades that can parry attacks!! There are a total of 10 weapons in the game and each of them plays differently. Some swords and hammers can block but the best part is the parrying weapons like Sickles or Katars. If you time parry right then you can execute a counter attack that deals more damage which can feel satisfying.

There are a variety of enemies in the game and each of them can present a challenge. The boss fights are satisfying when you learn their moves and strike accordingly. Some rooms have traps so be on the lookout for visual cues, The traps can hurt enemies.

You can spartan kick enemies into an abyss or over a high place.

There are only 3 levels in the game but two of the levels feature some interconnected areas that are similar to souls games. There are only 3 major bosses but I liked the souls like reference in some of them.

There is an emphasis on memorising areas since there is no auto-map system.


The game is a satisfying mix of melee combat with souls like elements. Some improvements could be made like more levels with interconnected areas and more puzzles.

Its good. It gives off Diablo 2 vibes.

Soul Survivors is a well made vamoire survivors clone. For now, it is still in early access and there is room for a lot of improvement. The devs should add secrets into the game. There are a lot of fun easter eggs like the invader and a boss from Dark Souls and some small influences from Diablo. The game captures the retro style very well. The soundtrack is also great.

Decent Shooter with Decent plot and some quirky characters. Beware of the mature language used.

Be The Bullet Hell

Vampire Survivors is amazing with lots of replay-ability. There are even secrets in the game such as hidden characters with unique abilities.

Good Boss Battle game but hard to call it a souls like. Souls games are well known for unforgiving difficulty, this one is forgiving because you don't lose much on death of your character. Some areas in the game are more confusing like Grimvald's Cove and there isn't any tracking map. Maps are there in the game but you have to figure out how to go. Combat is good as there are many varieties of weapons in the game. The blessings mechanic adds goals for you to grind areas. There is also a new game plus mode which allows replay value.

Shadow Warrior 3 is set a few years after the events of the 2nd game. The hero Lo Wang has to defeat a world ending dragon, very few familiar characters return.

The Story
Story in Shadow Warrior 3 is boring and short. Remember that in Shadow Warrior 2, you had many characters which were memorable. This entry has very few characters, some old ones and some new ones. Only Lo Wang, An old friend and the raccoon actually make an impact. The game fails to acknowledge the existence of many characters from SW2. There is zero mention of Kamiko or Xing from SW2.

Gameplay
Game type is first person shooter with a couple of platforming sections. Everything that made SW2 great is absent in this entry. SW2 felt like FPS Diablo with so many guns and lot of enemy variety. This SW3 features only 6 guns. You do have some platforming sections which require the use of a grappling hook to navigate around. There are very few enemies this time. No female enemies at all. Only 2 major bosses.

Gameplay is basically enter an arena, fight some enemies, finish off major enemies, explore and do platforming and repeat. Hardly much innovation. You do get to perform glory kills that is familiar to Doom 2016 to all enemies except bosses. The gameplay loop gets repetitive and stale very fast. There are also no secret areas to find in this game.

Soundtrack
Game soundtrack is okay but not as great as the previous games.

Verdict
You got Wang but this title is short and has so many features removed. It is also not worth buying it on full price, Best get it on sale at 75%-90% discount. Buy it only if you want an FPS that helps to fill in the itch of not owning the latest Doom games (2016 and 2019).

Story

This is set to be the final entry for Batman Arkham Series by Rocksteady studios. You face a totally new villain who has trained many soldiers and militia in taking down Batman, unfortunately the new Villain is predictable. Scarecrow is the major antagonist, Some villains like Two Face, Penguin, Deacon Blackfire, Deathstroke appear as villains in side missions. Is the story decent ? Maybe.

Gameplay

The old favorite freeflow combat system returns along with predator rooms. There are also new gadgets such as the voice synthesizer which can fool your enemies into following commands. For the first time in the series we can ride the batmobile. The batmobile is very unique to Arkham Knight entry as it functions as a battle tank to take out militia drones, fire rockets, solve puzzles etc. You also have racing challenges using the batmobile.

Riddler trophies
Riddler trophies return in Arkham Knight, This time you have to collect 243 riddler trophies and challenges, riddler informants do return, there are also 10 challenge rooms as part of riddler side quests. Collecting all the riddler trophies gets you a secret ending. I did manage to get all trophies but it felt like a real chore.

Arkham Episodes
You have dlc episodes that let you play as Harley Quinn, Red Hood, Batgirl, Catwoman, Nightwing and Robin. These episodes are short but enjoyable compared to the main story which felt too long and streched out.

Graphics
Graphics are great, Characters felt realistic.

Technical issues
At the time of launch in 2015, Arkham Knight was literally unplayable on PCs. WB had to temporarily suspend sales for a while because it was too buggy. Fast forward to 2022 when I played it. It still has many issues of lag, freezes and stutters. The issues seem to persist during Batmobile chases or when driving through founder's island. I still faced choppy audio and sound stuttering when game transitioned to cutscenes or while autosaving.

Hated parts of Arkham Knight
Lags and freezes, sometimes crashes (I had like 4-5 crashes). Riddler's challenges especially the 9th trial and his trophies. The Batmobile chase sequences were the worst, game lagged or froze when chasing APC vehicles.

Verdict
Decent Batman game but not the best entry in the series. The best entry in the Arkham series goes to Arkham City, It is highly recommended to play it on a PC rather than a laptop. The technical problems hamper the enjoyment of the game.