Recent reviews by Radioactive Lobster

is good

Omae wa mou shindeu.

Nani?!

I'm just here for the award. Sue me!

Jokes aside, it's a great game.

Well, I'm sort of conflicted on this one.

On one hand, I am admitidly dissapointed by this latest venture into the over-the-top Saints universe. The game on a whole does feel unfinished. Not down to numerous numbers of bugs, but just a sensation that something was missing from the game. Avoiding any spoilers, information that is presented during the final cutscenes of the game reinforce this, leading me to believe that the guys at Volition may have had far more grandiose plans in mind for Gats trip to New Hades, but I can only imagine time constraints and budget concerns are the true reasons why those plans have not bore fruit.

Despite that niggling feeling that there should be more to the game, what -is- there is unadulterated fun. Well, perhaps a little. This is Saints Row afterall. While perhaps not a match for the powers that The Boss/President gains in the previous title, those abilities that Johnny earns through the use of Lucifers Cracked Halo are interesting non the least. Most enjoyable perhaps just being his flight ability. While not technically true flight (it's like an advanced glide with a boost mechanic thats limited to uses per flight) it still grants you a great deal of mobility and you'll find yourself often forsaking ever using the now redundant vehicles. Throughout my playthrough, the only times I ever used a car for transport were when I was forced to. All other times, I was just flying.

This however does bring me back to that same niggling thought of dissapointment. As this constant need for Volition to crank the Saints up to eleven seems to be sending them further and further away from what originally interested me in the franchise. What had started as a competitor to Grand Theft Auto, offering a tongue in cheek look at the life of crime, has now become a series where familiar characters are thrown into various, outlandish situations and given the tools to cause as much mayhem as they can. Judging it purely as a sandbox for destruction, it's an A+. But my nostalgia over the old Saints Row is what keeps me from turning fan-girl over this one. This is what the new Saints is always going to be now, I fear. The Boss, Johnny, Kinzie, Shaundie, Pierce (who sadly wasn't present here, WHY VOLITION? You have Satan involved in a musical scene but not Pierce?!) and that host of uninteresting paper characters that have been thrown in the last two games, all of them being thrust together into these strange non-sensical situations, all for the purpose of providing a backdrop for the havoc they want you to create.

If you're looking for some mindless violence with some fun toys, definetly pick this one up. Especially if its on sale. However if you were looking for something that expands the Saints universe positively, I'd stop holding your breath now. It's not going to happen, they're heading in a whole different direction now.

Xenonauts is a refreshing throwback to XCOM's classic glory days. One could say that this is a more truthful-to-the-source remake of the XCOM franchise than any of the new games. Xenonauts features a deep and intimidating tactical combat system, one which will be familiar to anyone who has played almost any TBS game or XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within, but with such a larger difficulty curve that you will at times be left feeling hollow, alone and abused as your squad of soldiers gets minced like tender beef in a meat grinder. The game makes a respectful nod in the direction of the original XCOM games, in that it is virtually impossible not to suffer casualties at some point in your game. Where as the recent titles even had achievements encouraging you to try completing a campaign without anyone dying, or having a lone soldier complete a mission, in Xenonauts both these tasks are virtually impossible.

The reasons behind the difference in diffuclty doesn't come from a more advanced or biased AI, but simply more input that players have to manage. Not only on the ground with your soldiers, but also back at base and infact globally. Your soldiers inventories have to be carefully managed, ensuring they have enough weapons and ammunition to last their contact with the aliens, but also not overloading them to the point that they suffer TU (Time Units, the equivalent of Action Points) penalties that cripple them and make it difficult for your men and women to gun the enemy down then make a hasted retreat to cover. On mention of cover, more things are destrucable on Xenonauts too. Where as in XCOM: EU/W there were some indestructable cover options that would at worst explode, but still offer protection, in Xenonauts pretty much anything that can be used as practical cover can also be turned into dust. So often, it becomes the case that you don't just want a wall between you and the aliens, but several and a yew yards of empty space from the walls too so you don't get caught in any collateral damage.

Moving onto perhaps the more important part of the game (at least in terms of your chance of success in the campaign to save Earth), the Geoscape. You're given access to a global map and allowed to place your bases (Yes, plural. You can have, nay, WILL NEED, multiple bases at some point in your game) anywhere you like in the world. Whether you want to set up your alpha base in New York state, the Guangzhou province of China or perhaps just outside of Zimbawe, you're given some pretty hefty freedom on this matter. Though you also need to consider something else when placing bases. Their radar range. Since you're not fed mission options on a timed basis like in XCOM EU/W, you need to ensure that your base is in a decent position where not only will your base be able to detect incoming alien vessels, but also that there's a landmass large enough to make sure you can then follow up and board any crashed ships to kill surviving aliens and salvage their equipment. Poor base placement early on can lead to a starved economy, as you're largely funded by your actuall progress rather than on whether you chose one country over another in mission options.

Additional to the base placement in the Geoscape is the base's design itself. You choose how the facility will be constructed, what building will go where. And this will be reflected later in game when the alien menace starts to invade your base. So rather than just filling every single space you can with facilities, you may want to build so that the aliens have few channels to transport through your base. Maybe even forcing them to bottle neck one way in, since they always break in via your hangars.

Mention of hangars brings up another very important aspect of the game. Managing your aerospace force. Especially later on in the game, you'll find yourself getting swamped with radar readings for multiple UFO sightings. And since your fighters aren't equipped with an unlimited supply of fuel or ammunition, their ability to engage targets is quite limited. So you'll want to ensure you've enough hangars and jets filling them to confront any aerial menace that pops up within radar range. Without this ability to combat UFO's, you'll quickly run out of funding and let the planet fall into a state of panic.

To sumarise what I'm trying to convey here, Xenonauts is XCOM for big boys. It's challenging, frustrating but overwhelmingly satisfying when you get a moment where you feel like you're doing well. Even if those moments are short lived, as the aliens will likely knock you back down a peg in the next terror mission filled with Reapers.

There's not a lot I can say about Godus as it has been a colossal dissapointment. Even after the promised updates to add complexity and remove frustration from the game, Peter Molyneux has just added to his far reaching repotoir of hyperbole and false promises that have been voiced this past decade. To save wasting my time on writing a full and critical review on this alpha title (I admit, it is still in alpha so there is always the chance for things to change, but the fact that they called their last radicual update a huge change is quite an obnoxious joke and I don't see anything siginifcant changing) I will summarise what the experience amounts to. It is an iOS game through and through that is being developed and playtested on PC. It's overly simplistic interface leaves a lot to be desired by a PC gamer, and clearly is designed with a touch interface in mind.

The past complaint by players of how the game involved "Too much clicking" has largely been ignored, despite statements to the contrary by 22cans. It seem's as though Peter, or perhaps the lead developers on a whole, have somehow made a design path that has lead them to the same end result of most cow clicker games you can find on your mobile device, that center around town building and what have you. The only difference? Godus has next to no resource management save for Belief, which is frankly retrieved in a horrible manner where one has to wait a full 5 real life minutes for a settler abode to generate a bubble, then you must click the bubble to gather said resource. Sound's harmless? You burn through belief in a manner of seconds just from terraforming the land, and often have to click around 100 houses to gather all your Belief. The problem becomes less of an issue late game, where you have access to Towns that auto collect -some- of the Belief into one giant bubble, but it is still too easily spent and leaves you waiting to anymore work. The amount of waiting you have to do in this game is it's biggest crime. Which add's to my theory that it is designed for mobile devices. You're only supposed to play the game in small snippets, then leave it in the background as your settlers breed and generate Belief. That's unacceptable for a PC game. When you're sat at your desk infront of the monitor, you don't want to be waiting for 80% of your gaming experience.

TL:DR?
Godus is shaping up to be a cow-clicker that has yet to be monitised, but I can see that being added further down the line as they approach full release. If you're looking for a God game, I highly advise people look elsewhere. As Godus just does not deliver on it's namesake's implications.

Perhaps the most inspiring sandbox titles I've seen since I first played Minecraft. Space Engineers has that same sense of unlimited creation found within the aforementioned title, with a few bells and whistles that make the game all its own. A complex set of inertia based physics coupled with the ability to create your own ships (from small fighters to enormous carriers) and space stations make for a title that challenges you to come up with something you -can't- do in this amazing, though still early in development, game. Want to make a mining vessel to harvest resources from asteroids? Easy. How about creating a fleet of fighters to fill the hangar bay of your carrier vessel? You'll have it done in a couple hours or days depending on your building skill and the builds complexity. These are just simpler examples of what you can build, more complex ones would include replica's of ships you know and love such as the Millenium Falcon, the SS Normandy or perhaps for you fellow Brits, the legendary Red Dwarf.

The game is also showing signs of wanting to head into the territories of other games. A crafting mechanic is already within the game, activated within the Survival game type which is also customizable in difficulty. So you can tailor the challenge to your tastes or the number of people you're playing with on multiplayer. There are also elements of a GMod style contraption construction, where you are able to build turrets to place on top of your larger vessels, or enormous missiles/torpedos to wreak havoc on opposing ships. There's no AI at present, though the devs have said they will look into it even if AI isn't a priority. On top of this, some of their more recent updates show signs that they may very well be working on the AI as we speak. With the Decoy Block having just been added, allowing automated defenses to track whatever object is attached to said block.

To sumarise, Space Engineers is a game I'd highly advise that people keep a careful eye on. It has the potential to do great things and fill a niche that doesn't normally posses this level of customization in a deep space based game.

Perhaps one of the best stories I've had the pleasure of experiencing in quite a few years. Especially amongst the zombie horror genre. TellTale have done a wonderful job in crafting a provocative story that yanks at the strings of your heart whenever it can. Forcing you to make tough decisions within a very short time, that often have dire and unforseen consequences. It's a beautifully woven tapestry of choices which can create varying and unique stories between each individual's playthrough. To top it all off, it has one of the most satisfying and emotional endings I've seen to date. It's hard to understate just how much the relationship that Lee and Clem develops can affect you as the player. For me it drove me into the role of a father figure trying to protect his daughter. And I imagine it can and will do the same for many others.

With all the praise I can give to the writing and story, I do have to point out a critical flaw with the game. In that, it's not much of a game at all. Point and click adventures have always been rather awkward for me, since they always just feel more like an interactive movie to me. And this can at times deter from your enjoyment of the story. A number of times I found myself hovering over my mouse or keyboard, just waiting for that inevitable quick time event. And as a result I felt myself growing somewhat detached from whats going on, which broke the immersion for me somewhat. But then again, this would not work as just a rolling movie either. As it is the decisions and choices that you make that help add a level of involvement to the story. Making it much more personal, as what happens is because -you- chose for it to happen. So you have to deal with the benefits and consequences of your decisions. There is no "Good" or "Best" ending in this game. Only "Your" ending. There's no scoreboard for how many survivors you met/killed, how many Walkers you decapitated. It's a mature story that's meant to be enjoyed as just that, a story. If this is what interests you, then I can't in good conscience let you go without recommending The Walking Dead whole heartidly. If you're looking for another zombie game though, I'd suggest you move on. This is one for a mature audience.

10/10 from me.

For anyone interested in this title, be forewarned. As of 17th December, this is still a -VERY- rough game. When they say it's in beta, they mean it. This isn't a quick release with beta slapped on it to cover up the bugs. It runs very poorly, currently runs a placeholder map and area's that are smaller and more linear and is also missing several skills (due to balance issues from what I read). The game itself shows promise, working with a modernized version of the classic character development/combat system we all grew to love in the original Wasteland. And in it's spiritual successors, the Fallout and Fallout 2 games, of course. If you want to show support to the devs, then by all means buy in. When the game is finally polished I think it's going to be a nice throwback to the classic open ended RPG games of our old Win '98 days. If you're looking for something more solid in construction though, I'd suggest you wait off buying Wasteland 2 right now. It's just not utilising a solid build right now. It's graphics may look simplistic, but even on the fastest settings I struggled with 20 fps and terrible mouse lag/jitterieness.

This game had so much potential... And it was squandered and wasted. The combat system is flawed and fineky, with the allied AI being about as helpful as a Resident Evil partner. Weapons don't really scale that well, with some of the convertional Earth weapons being usable (and in some cases forced upon you) throughout the campaign. The campaign itself is not what you'd expect from XCOM, being a very linerarly driven experience with only around 5 real choices that affect the end of the game in no other way than rolling an alternate audio reel. The original FPS design for this game seemed more interesting than this too.

To sumarise... It's a piece of garbage, result of the design house being indecisive with the direction they want to take the game in, and likely a lot of pressure from the producers to actually get the game marketable. Such a shame. 3/10 from me.