Recent reviews by Cinetyk

"Lilly Looking Through" is an adventure/puzzle game in a somewhat minimalistic approach, with a very relaxing and heart warming atmosphere. The presentation of the game is nothing short of magical. The art is beautiful, the music is dreamy and ethereal, and the characters' animations are most exquisite. The kids, Lilly and Row are so cute and animate so well that right from the start it was unbelievably endearing. The game immersed me in a feeling of childhood, with all that innocence, curiosity, cuteness and sense of awe and adventure, like I never have experienced before.

Speaking of the actual gameplay, it plays like a point and click puzzle adventure where one needs to figure out how to get past the obstacles of each screen to progress to the next. I can't spoil you, so I'll just say that along the way you pick up an item that not only serves as an excellent, original and creative device for the puzzling itself, but adds to the wonder and magic of the game and its world as well. Some of the puzzles are quite hard to figure out, but the hint system, which highlights items/actions you can click makes sure you're not missing out on where you can click, so you can focus on the puzzles themselves. If you have no patience for this genre (or in general), though, or you can't stand low tempo, relaxed games, I wouldn't recommend it.

Despite all that I loved about the game, which was, in a nutshell, that it provided me with a nostalgic reliving of the magical feelings of childhood, the game has some problems. Mainly, it's short, around 2-3 hours long, which is a pity and a little frustrating. Towards the end, the puzzles get a bit repetitive in "theme", and their mechanics get a bit more cryptic, thought one can argue that's the point of a puzzle game. But more importantly, and again, without spoiling, the end has little closure and feels more like a cliffhanger than an actual resolution it's surprisingly abrupt and open. Also, it creates the idea that there will be a "sequel"/continuation, one feels that there should be, that the game/story isn't quite finished.

It pains me to give such criticisms to this game, because, in spite of its failings, the it is so magical and endearing that I was really impressed. It was one the most memorable gaming experiences I ever had. I really hope that there will be more and longer "Lilly" in the future.

Hell, boy, Gunslinger is the fastest single-player FPS in the West! Where most of them "shooters" nowadays go all serious and business-like, arguing fancy tactics and whatnot, Gunslinger is like jumping off a stagecoach, off-loading lead from your trusted six-shooter while pouring down your favourite Whiskey refreshment.

The game plays as a fast-paced, action-packed shooter, with a story and presentation style that capture the exciting atmosphere and feel of the "Wild West", with all the tropes from your favourite Westerns. If you like shooters or have even a remote interest in the Wild West, I challenge you to try the demo and not be hooked. You get a taste of the full game, the rest is pretty faithful to that demo.

The gunplay is really great, and the gameplay mechanics with "concentration" (kind of a bullet time) and "sense of death" (last chance to dodge that bullet that was about to kill you) are really satisfying and fun. Plus, it features different tropey locales and situations, like prision escape, bank heists, mines, indian caves, train robberies, ghost towns, etc etc. The graphics engine is really good, providing nice detail and beautiful sceneries, and is as fast as the action itself, with ultra high fps even in the highest quality settings.

Hell, boy, I ain't had this much fun shooting since Lord knows when. TRY IT!

Having only barely known about "hacking" games, I decided to give it a shot, as this game was on sale for 2€. I found myself having mixed feelings about it, and writing a lot, so bear it with me. (skip to the last paragraph, above the PS, if in a hurry)

Right off, you notice that the game doesn't support 16:9 or 16:10 resolutions and the text is small and hard to see, and nothing can be done about that. Still, I was intrigued and started playing. The intro of the story lacks a bit of depth and background, but you get the idea. The game is mainly played in a command-line console, with some other monitor screens that are the same throughout the game. Although the atmosphere is right (the music, though not brilliant, helps) the presentation is limited and repetitive, there's not much to see. Essentially, the gameplay is that of a slow paced puzzler where in each "level" you have to figure out the best way to complete the objectives (gain access to computers/systems, steal files/money, upload viruses/trojans, etc etc) by taking down security measures (passwords, encryption) in various nodes/computers in that screen, and also finding "hidden" ones. Each action raises your trace level; if it gets to 100% you get traced and loose. You’ll have to delete “footprints” of your activities and pay your ISP to reset your IP, etc, to manage that and avoid getting traced. It is very non-linear, you can never be sure what the best way to proceed is, and there are non-essential things you can do, which may or may not be to your advantage: for instance, you may find a link to new servers that have money to steal, but they can also have nothing of interest and only serve to increase your trace level. Also, you'll have to figure out if you'll risk spending money to upgrade your rig or save it to decrease the trace level when needed, which is always a tough choice. That said, progressing through the level and finding out what to do is mostly interesting, and the "exploration" involved actually makes you feel like you are "unwrapping" what happened, and helps telling the story and getting the plot forward.

In the first two missions you have lots of help, which is nice if you start off without any knowledge about the series and/or command lines in general. In the third mission you’re more on your own, and that’s interesting. Then, I realized that your trace level sometimes carries from mission to mission (which was not explained), and you may find yourself in a situation where you raised it too high or didn’t get enough money on previous levels to have “room to breathe” to complete the next one. If that’s the case, all you can do is start from the very beginning of the game (!) which is extremely frustrating. There is no multiple save game slots, just the one! And there is no saving in the middle of a mission either! The fourth mission I found VERY difficult because of this. Then, on the fifth one, EVEN MORE DIFFICULT, I finally managed to proceed, but disregarding some “instructions” that were provided which supposedly I should have followed to get to the next level, which was a little confusing!! But apparently, there's (always?) more than one way to get past the level(s?). So, one can safely say the game is challenging and difficult.

All this would still be ok, but the ending, let's just say, is just very abrupt, anti-climatic and unsatisfying. It's really a pity, I mean it wouldn't hurt to write some more lines of text and close the story properly...

In short, the game has some fun if you like the hacking/command-line thing, but it is very a challenging game. Maybe that's part of the point of the game, but with the poor presentation, being repetitive, having a very bad ending, and sometimes being extremely punishing by making you start from the very beginning, I fear that unless you are very passionate about IT/hacking and also like very hard puzzles, it will more likely frustrate you than provide you with fun.

(PS: comparing with the original game (Hacker Evolution), though, this one is better. Not going much into it, the previous one is even more punishing with some game-breaking flaws in the mechanics, imo. After finishing this one and playing a little of the first one, I find myself surprisingly cheering for this one. So, all things considered, if you want to try one, I recommend trying this one rather than the original.)

Being an old Tomb Raider fan I had very high expectations about this game and was very pleased to be so impressed by it. In short, Tomb Raider provides a memorable adventure and a wonderful experience. It intertwines and balances very well exploration, action, combat and story, alternating its focus between them with just the right pace. Throughout the game you will not only witness Lara’s character develop from a young, inexperienced, insecure 21y old to what you know of her from past games, but also you will experience and feel that transformation first-hand. It’s her origin story, and in the end you’ll feel that she is reborn, and left something memorable inside you.

The pacing of the game is just masterful: the way the scale evolves (not necessarily growing) is a constant surprise. Lara begins “green”, with limited capabilities and very scared, trying desperately to be reunited with her colleagues. You feel her vulnerability and desperation, and only with the support and encouragement of the expedition’s captain is she able to build up courage and confidence. The “level up” system used for this is superbly designed as the XP gained as Lara progresses allows her to develop new skills that not only increase gameplay possibilities but also constitute traits that define Lara as a character. It’s exhilarating to witness and feel Lara’s growth in skills, confidence and determination, which, in turn, permeate to you as you go alongside her. It truly made me feel like I was living the adventure.

The visual presentation is stunning with almost all settings being downright jaw dropping and even “magical”, littered with detail. The environments are wild, atmospheric and realistic, ranging from immensely beautifully to disturbingly creepy. Open spaces and buildings aren’t just random, either, they are unique and not repetitive, and every small detail gives them personality and background. In the periods of exploration in the game there is little or no music, just the ambient sounds, providing a magnificent sense of immersion in the environment and story. The weather and time of day keeps changing making it a joy to watch.

Although the game isn’t an open world sandbox, I didn’t find it linear; there are lots of open spaces you can explore. You’ll encounter some optional Tombs, consisting basically of a bigger puzzle, not that difficult, but enough to make you pause and think. The only remark I could personally make, as a fan of previous games, is that I would prefer even longer Tombs and more of them. But it totally makes sense in this game’s story.

As in previous TR’s, the mythical and fantastic elements are present, and you can find various cultural and historical relics and documents scattered about, which provide a good unraveling of the island’s mystery.

There are some action set pieces, with some QTEs, but I didn’t find them to be excessive in number or obtrusive at all. Quite the contrary, they helped make those action moments more tense and immersive.

One detail I loved is that Lara will often “talk to herself” as she progresses in the environments. She will react to what she encounters or will be thinking out loud about how to progress or do something. Also, she will comment on the history on documents and relics she finds, providing interesting information. In the action sequences she will also react to what’s going on with screams, groans of pain, etc etc, which made the experience all that more immersive.

I found the combat to be smooth to control, very enjoyable and diverse, with just the right difficulty as to be tense without being frustrating. Sometimes you’ll have the option of using stealth, which is satisfying. In regular combat, enemies try to take cover and to flush you out of cover with grenades or molotovs. Some will also try to use suppressive fire while others try to get close. When that happens, the melee combat with its dodge-counter mechanics makes things feel very up close. I had no complaints about the AI.

This is a very good and fun game to play with your friends! Heavily inspired by the
2nd Aliens movie, it takes all the best from that sci-fi Aliens-like lore. The execution of the game's storyline and gameplay elements is just brilliant. There are 4 well designed classes of marines, each with its strengths and weakenesses, so the game inuitively encourages the co-op of 4 friends: as you play and work together you will feel engaged and rewarded for cooperating and coordinating with each other. The campaign has a good pace and a nice variety of objectives and situations. There's also lots of weapons and items to unlock as you level up. There are some really nice touches, like being able to draw on the mission map with your mouse, either in the briefing or during missions, to help plan and coordinate strategies, or reviewing your performance after a mission with different charts. Connecting your friends together in the same game is effortless via the main menu. Amazing game!

Simply amazing! Other than "Homeworld", it's the best space strategy game in existence. It's beautiful and very intense with an engaging story full of sci-fi's best elements. You'll feel the menace of the vast outer space.

While "Homeworld" has a more typical RTS approach, with resource gathering and units to manage, "Nexus" has a more "navy" approach: it's about commanding 1-8 ships at a time (persistent along missions), making use of their different weapons and managing the engine and systems generators.

I love both approaches and I think fans of space sci-fi and RTS/strategy games can not do much better than this game and "Homeworld".

Nexus 2 coming soon, check news page on steam.