Recent reviews by DRo

LEGO Builder’s Journey is an isometric puzzle adventure, initially released in 2019 for macOS and IOS. Here, the player follows the sweet and short tale of a young kid and his workaholic father on their adventures in an astonishing Lego world.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2527259021

Honestly, I’m far from being a fan, or even fancying, these puzzle-based games where I need to utilize my scarce brain cells in order to progress. Usually, I tend to ignore them and get on with my day. However, this game instantly caught my attention — and in a day and age where most Lego entries essentially are nothing but adventure-based copy-pastes, I thought this title could be something else. And it indeed is. Builder’s Journey brings to us something we haven’t seen in quite a while; a Lego game where its central focus is actually, well... the Lego itself.


The gameplay of Builder's Journey is rather simplistic but satisfying and relaxing. It consists of solving several puzzles in order to guide the Lego figure to the opposite side of the scenario in a sequence of distinct levels. To do so, you’ll have to rely entirely on your creativity and the small assortment of pieces scattered throughout the maps, to build, perhaps, a bridge, platforms, or even a tangled skate course. In this game, the sky's the limit to your imagination, as there isn’t a right or wrong way to solve a puzzle; everything is up to the player on how they’ll proceed to overcome a given challenge. And that's what I like the most about the gameplay. It continuously encourages the player to use their creativity to build anything their mind aspires to in order to progress through the levels.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2527259367

Overall, I had nothing but a good time with the puzzles; every single one of them is fun and therapeutically relaxing to solve. Their difficulty is precisely at the right spot for a enjoyable experience, but with a hint of challenge. Hence, expect nothing extremely complex that will defy your intelligent, but something to pass your time and chill out with.

Another thing I quite enjoyed was the controls. They are pretty simple, with only the LMB (left mouse button) performing each of the actions. For instance, clicking once on a piece will pick it up, clicking while holding it will cause the piece to rotate, and pressing the button will either place or drop it. I found these commands to be functional, and most importantly, easy to remember and get the hang of. Still, I believe an option to remap them would be very welcome.

🎮 The game also supports and plays great on a controller.

If there are a couple of elements that truly disappointed me in Builder’s Journey, it would have to be its total length and the lack of content. While I knew this title was a short one, it only took me roughly 1.9 hours to reach the end credits. And I honestly expected a lot more regarding this and, especially, the content — which besides the campaign, there is none. I would really like to see, maybe somewhere down the road, new content to the game, such as a sandbox mode, to let players further stretch their imagination or even some additional levels.

PC Specs
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5 5800x3d
Display: 3440x1440
RAM: 32 GB

Visually, Builder’s Journey is breathtaking; from the environmental lighting and 3D models to the ray-traced reflections, everything is near-perfect. I can’t remember the last time I played a small game like this with such impressive visual features. However, this comes at a great price — Builder’s Journey made my graphics card struggle quite a bit, as well as reaching temperatures hotter than the sun's surface. I played the entire game with everything maxed out (RTX ON and DLSS set to Quality), and it ran at an average of 60FPS, with some tiny drops to 55FPS. With DLSS off, however, the frame rate fluctuated around the 30-40FPS mark, which wasn’t surprising due to how graphically demanding this game is. Nevertheless, after turning off the Ray tracing and setting the DLSS back to Quality, I got a solid frame rate, usually hitting the mark of 90-100FPS with no problems. Fortunately, during my playthrough, I didn’t encounter any bugs or glitches whatsoever.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2531113476

In most of my reviews, I usually refrain from commenting on the soundtrack; this time, however, I feel like I need to make an exception to it. The score of Builder’s Journey is so soothing and sweet. With both sorrowful and uplifting tracks, every tune perfectly fits the context of the overall game. Of course, the soundtrack is light-years from being some sort of Beethoven symphony or something mind-blowing, but even so, it is one of the best aspects of the game.


Builder’s Journey is definitely an excellent experience and is a must for Lego and puzzle fans or even for people who only want to chill and have a good time. However, due to its short length and base price of $19.99/16.99€ (R$ 37,99 in my currency), I can’t possibly recommend buying it at this very moment. Wait for a sale.

Resident Evil Village is a first-person shooter survival horror developed by Capcom. The game is set in the present time, three years following the events of RE 7. Once again, the player assumes the role of Ethan Winters, who, after an unfortunate series of events, finds himself separated from his family and stranded in a remote Romanian village. Here, he will set himself on a journey to save his family and, at the same time, survive the dreadful and unforgiving place.

By far, its story is my favorite in the entire series. The writers have surprisingly taken the Resident Evil narrative to a whole new level, and that’s something I didn’t think I’d ever say. Ethan’s arduous journey to rescue his family is convincing, immersive, and full of mysteries and twists, with memorable moments and characters — definitely an experience that will stick with me for a while.


The game’s heavy, bleak, and terrifying atmosphere is remarkable. Wandering within the various bewildering and interconnected rooms of Castle Dimitrescu, exploring decrepit sheds, and running in the claustrophobic corridors of a colossal factory definitely felt like a dose of adrenaline. At all times, I couldn’t help but feel this eerie and disturbing feeling of vulnerability and anxiety — always expecting a jump scare or something of the sort at every turn and corner.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2483196646


Gameplay-wise, this title is beyond excellent. From frantic combat to exciting exploration, everything is fluid, well-crafted, and entertaining. Once again, Capcom opted to deviate a little from their last iteration and give Village a more significant focus on the action. At first, I was slightly skeptical about it, as the last thing I wanted was this to be just another mediocre title, with some cheap Michael Bay-style sort of action segments and uninspired gameplay — yes, I’m talking to you, RE 6. Though, to my surprise and satisfaction, it wasn’t anything like that. In Village, they flawlessly attained the precise equilibrium between action and horror, essentially creating the perfect incorporation of RE 4 and 7 into one. Hence, even if you are not fond of this slightly more action-focused turn the game took, you shouldn’t be all worried; because, in the end, the game still manages to be a true survival horror, truthful to its roots.

The pleasant combat mechanic is one of the key features that made this title stand out the most. Whether gunning down a crowd of enemies who dare stand in your way, or just trying to protect yourself with a mere knife, Village’s combat plays fluidly and actually strives to keep the player engaged at all times. In order to stand your ground against the myriad of repulsive monstrosities, you can count on an immense and diversified arsenal that will help you send your foes to the other plane of existence. I’m really fond of the game’s large weapon assortment and how the guns work; each weapon in the game, from shotguns to hand cannons, is unique and feels totally authentic and pleasant to handle and shoot. And things don’t end there: during the journey, the player can additionally find a plethora of attachments to enhance their guns, these varying from extended magazines, barrels, foregrips, and even scopes.

While the game indeed recycles some of its predecessor’s core gameplay mechanics, it also brings plenty of additional features to the table, as well as tweaks to pre-existing ones. One of my favorites is that Ethan can now parry basic enemy attacks in addition to blocking them — which can be pretty useful; it certainly saved my life countless times. The crafting system was also further improved, and it is much simpler and quicker to craft your items this time. Instead of the old mechanic of “combining items” present in pretty much all previous iterations, here, crafting has its own exclusive tab where you can quickly assemble your items by pressing one mere button. And, surprisingly enough, Village has a pretty interesting hunting and cooking mechanic — which works in a very simplified manner.

Scattered throughout the map, you can find a variety of animals to hunt, ranging from pigs to fishes and even goats. Once you kill any of the animals, it will drop a piece of meat, which can be delivered to the merchant to brew your selected desired meal. Eating certain dishes will highly improve Ethan’s overall stats permanently, such as health, movement velocity, and even how much damage he can take in fights. This cooking mechanic is indeed a very welcomed feature; even with its simplicity, it still is one of the best additions to the title.

One aspect that the RE series is well known for and nearly constantly delivers in great fashion is, definitely, the boss fights — and here, it’s no different. Village has some of the most charismatic bosses and thrilling battles of the series. Every boss encounter plays uniquely, with each one of them having their own distinctive move sets, attack patterns, and weak spots the player must exploit to prevail in the fight. Even though I didn’t find them very arduous opponents (besides the final one), standing your ground against all the daunting monsters on the hardest difficulty certainly made me break a sweat.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2513232711

To my surprise, the optional bosses are back in Village. There are five of them you can encounter as you progress in the narrative. Even though they aren’t as creative or their fights as unique as the main villains, I still had lots of fun facing them.

The revamped level design is one of the best aspects of the game. Most areas are much more open now — with a surplus of broader sections to explore and secrets to unravel. This novel approach regarding the levels is excellent and also refreshing to the series. Though, what caught my attention the most, was the much more extensive exploration system. Fortunately, that mechanic is excellent, and very much worthwhile. Similar to various horror titles, exploring each part of the map is essential for your survival. Here, investigating and exploring the various intriguing and breathtaking areas in search of crafting resources, ammunition, and all sorts of supplies can be the only thing that determines whether you die or stay alive to fight another day.

PC Specs
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32 GB

Throughout my multiple playthroughs, I, fortunately, had very few performance problems. I played the entire game on the max settings (RTX On) and had a pretty decent overall frame rate; it usually fluctuated around 85-100FPS with no stuttering. The only time where my PC struggled a bit was in a particular section with a bug swarm. Regarding the game’s performance with the RTX turned off, it ran smoothly, far above the 100FPS mark with no problems whatsoever.

On the topic of bugs, I encountered few of them. Those I came upon were mere collision bugs that caused enemies to clip through environmental props. I also had this weird glitch where every time I’d alt-tab, the frame rate would lock at 20FPS; though it was fixable, however, by just setting the game to borderless.


Resident Evil Village was, undoubtedly, my most delightful surprise this year thus far. I surely had a great time and have solely good things to say about the game — it absolutely has surpassed any expectations I had. Capcom did everything right this time, from the narrative and atmosphere to the gameplay mechanics; everything was made with the utmost care and attention. Therefore, with all that said, even at full price, I can’t recommend this game highly enough. Village is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best survival-horror experiences out there.

Outriders is a third-person looter shooter RPG developed by People Can Fly (PCF). The game is set in a distant future where Earth has collapsed, and humanity is nearing extinction. In a desperate effort to save humankind, the ECA (Enoch Colonization Authority) sends colony ships across the stars with Enoch as destination, a planet similar to Earth, humanity’s last chance of survival. Here, you fill the shoes of a member of the Outriders - an elite group of soldiers - trying to survive on a new and dangerous planet, afflicted by an endless war for survival.

Considering PCF’s last work on Bulletstorm, I wasn’t expecting much regarding the narrative. However, to my delight, Outriders has a very well-written and engaging story, accompanied by dense lore and excellent world-building. I’m very fond of how they took a turn with this title and went with a more serious and mature approach. From every character with their distinct personalities and purpose to the dark themes depicted in the plot, it is clear that the writers surpassed themselves this time.


Once again, the devs nailed the combat system. When I thought they couldn’t exceed their work on Bulletstorm and its combat system, Outriders proved me wrong. The game’s fast-paced, fluid and brutal combat mingled with all sorts of overpowered abilities is by far the highlight of the gameplay experience. This game - at most times - made me feel like a powerful being. Right from the beginning of my adventure, I felt like I was a demigod, teleporting behind enemies and slashing them with my energy sword. The gunplay is also magnificent. From light machine guns to sidearms, every weapon feels authentic and pleasant to handle and shoot. All of that is what makes Outriders’ combat so great in my eyes - it’s all about the fun. I haven't had this much joy slaughtering my enemies and feeling all mighty in a while.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2466949940

Alas, the uninspired and flawed level design is the most mediocre aspect of the gameplay. After playing PCF’s previous title, I was really hoping to see a superior level design here in Outriders - though I presume my hopes were all in vain. The levels are very restrictive, following an old-fashioned design akin to other more traditional third-person shooters such as Gears of War, Spec Ops: The Line, and even a more recent title, Remnant: From the Ashes. Here, for most of the time, you will simply be running in a straight line, advancing through combat arenas towards your objective. At first, I thought this wasn’t so bad since third-person shooters usually work similarly. However, at the end of the game, I felt like I essentially played the same level repeatedly for over 30 hours - and that was utterly wearing.

Even with the limited level design, the game has a considerable amount of things to do and places to explore. First off, the game has a pretty rewarding exploration system. Throughout the levels, the player can come across loot boxes to expand their arsenal and document files that provide more knowledge about the world surrounding them. Secondly, on almost every map, there will be side quests and activities such as hunts and mercenary jobs, which will reward you with better equipment.

I Have The POWER!

As I previously said, sometimes, Outriders will make you feel powerful; and that is only possible thanks to the class system. The game has a pretty broad and meaningful class and skills mechanic. There’s a total of 4 classes available right from the start, these being: Technomancer, Pyromancer, Trickster, and Devastator. Each of those is unique, with its distinct abilities, skill trees, and roles in combat. For instance, the Trickster - the one I’m the most familiar with - is a more agile class, mainly focusing on close-range combat, with impressive powers such as teleportation, time rifts, temporal anomalies, and many more abilities that fiddle with the concept of space and time. After playing with each class, I must say that the Trickster is by far my favorite. I had so much fun toying with my enemies, shooting them, and then vanishing into thin air only to appear on the other side of the combat arena.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2466983836

Along with the classes, the game also has an extensive skill tree where the player can spend the points they received after leveling up. You will earn 20 skill points throughout the game to spend the way you desire - with the possibility to relocate them at any time you wish with no costs. For those like myself who fancy creating all sorts of builds, that is a great feature.

PC Specs
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32GB

Outriders has a significant problem concerning the difficulty and balancing. The difficulty as well as the loot, are both tied to the World Tiers. Hence, the higher the tier, the better your loot and tougher your enemies. This mechanic by itself isn’t a problem. It is quite the contrary; it’s reasonably compelling and serves to encourage you to play in higher difficulty settings. However, the execution was pretty awful. The game on higher tiers is totally broken and thoroughly unfair - and this is more evident when playing solo. For example, I lost count of how many times I got one shot by a sniper with superhuman reflexes or had my health leeched in seconds by some random enemy scout - it is so unbalanced that it becomes frustrating.

I know for a fact that one of the concerns of many people - myself included - regarding games similar to Outriders is: can it be played solo? Fortunately, yes, it can. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean they designed this title with enough thought on the single-player experience. For starters, there’s no offline mode in Outriders; you’re always required to be connected to their servers while playing - and that is something very troublesome, as every now and then, the servers will eventually go under maintenance or have some issue, making it impossible to play, even by yourself. Sadly, that is a recurrent issue. By the end of my journey, I was tired of getting kicked out of my game session and seeing that “Internet Connection Error” message. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the devs will implement an offline mode anytime soon - if ever. So if you recently bought or are planning on purchasing this title, then you better hold on tight to endure the tiring and endless disconnects.

If you thought Outriders couldn’t have more issues, then I have some bad news for you. The entire game is a bug-fest, with several minor glitches and a few aggravating game-breaking bugs. These range from a crucial cutscene with no sound, inaccessible quest areas, and invincible enemies to even having your whole progress wiped. Throughout my time playing Outriders, I encountered almost every kind of bug present in the game, but what infuriated me the most was the constant crashing. I already lost count of how many times I saw that stupid bird flying across my screen when re-entering the game after a crash.

Performance-wise, the game lacks polish. I didn’t have a stable frame rate throughout my playthrough; it usually runs around 80-100FPS, but with huge stutterings, dragging down the frame rate, causing the game to be unplayable at times.


Outriders had everything to be one of the best games of the genre, with its amazing gunplay, entertaining narrative, and exciting class system. And I’d really have liked to recommend it. However, afflicted by many issues and questionable design choices, the game fails to deliver a solid and remarkable experience. Overall, regardless of the fun I had, I can’t recommend this game in its current state. Wait for a sale.

Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition is an over-the-top first-person shooter originally released in 2011. The game is set in a distant dystopic future where the galaxy is ruled by the Confederation of Planets. Here, you fill the boots of Grayson Hunt, a drunken space pirate and former leader of Dead Echo - an elite unit of mercenaries. After purposely crashing his ship into a Confederation’s battlecruiser, seeking revenge against the general who double-crossed him years ago, he and his crew end up stranded on an unfamiliar planet. Now, the main character and squad will have to work together one last time in order to escape this deadly world.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2414911840

First of all, this isn’t in any way, shape, or form a serious game, so don’t expect an excellent and groundbreaking narrative bearing the purpose of life behind it. Bulletstorm is pretty much what a ludicrous type-b movie from the 80s transmuted into a game would look like, and that is perfect. The story is there merely for the purpose of having one; nothing makes total sense. The game makes you feel like you’re in a movie, basically just existing - a witness to a chaotic tale. Bulletstorm has very dark and childish humor, with an overabundance of swearwords and awkward 5th-grade jokes, which perfectly fits this title. Sadly, the writer tried a bit too hard to be funny almost all the time, causing some dialogs to seem out of place. The game has an interesting feature for the sensitive public, who doesn’t find this type of humor amusing: the profanity filter. As the name implies, this allows you to tone down the abundant number of obscene words. All that said, this isn’t a game to worry about the narrative but to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

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Bulletstorm’s over-the-top gameplay differs from the conventional shooters and leans towards the helter-skelter, gory approach of games such as Duke Nukem and Gears of War. This title superbly accomplishes keeping the player engaged throughout the campaign. Right from the start, the game sets you into a non-stop, brutal carnage that lasts until the credits roll. Even with this frantic and fluid gameplay, the Skillshot feature is the one that deserves the spotlight, as practically the whole combat system revolves around it.

Rip and Tear Until it... Ops, Wrong Game

Skillshot is a feature that generously rewards the player for murdering in the most artistic and inhuman ways possible. For instance, kicking enemies off a precipice, impaling them on the ceiling, running them over with hot dog carts, and so on. Performing Skillshots will reward you with Skillpoints, which can be used to upgrade your weapons and purchase ammunition in supply drops scattered throughout the levels.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2422405524

The Skillshot is what makes Bulletstorm stand out from other titles until to this very day. It also adds replay value, which is great for those who seek 100% completion or just wish to replay the levels purely for fun. I had a lot of fun replaying some levels, increasing the difficulty, trying to perform new Skillshots, etc.

Unfortunately, the weapon upgrade system is very narrow. For each gun, the player can only increase the ammunition capacity and unlock a secondary shot. At first, this was a tremendous letdown to me since I expected to improve things such as accuracy and damage, as some enemies are bullet sponges. However, the lack of upgrades is offset by the range of distinct weapons present in the game.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The level design is what I’d call a double-edged sword, but with one end considerably larger than the other. First, I’m very fond of how each environment blends with the gameplay, encouraging the player to use their surroundings in combat - making every fight section feel unique. However, the levels are painfully restrictive and totally linear, leaving almost no room for exploration whatsoever. What bothered me most, though, was the excessive number of obstacles to crouch, slide, and jump through. I’ve never seen this quantity of obstructions in an FPS before. A few of these are acceptable, for instance, the ones where you have to traverse a certain part of the map. Still, most of the obstacles are absolutely pointless, therefore breaking the pace. And in a game where the pace is so important to the gameplay, this ends up being a setback.

Some of those odd design choices - besides the overabundance of obstacles - are reasonable, as they were a very common feature a decade ago. However, for this day and age, this fashion of level design has indeed aged pretty badly.

Even with very limited exploration, the player can find a plethora of collectibles hidden throughout the game. These include newsbots, electroflies, and bottles to shoot and drink. Once you gather, or better yet, destroy them all, the game will reward you with a few achievements. I’m not someone who will mindlessly search for collectibles, although I must admit; I had a good time searching for them.

Bugs... Bugs Everywhere

Bulletstorm has a very serious problem regarding bugs. These range from characters running in place, crashes, invisible walls, scripted sections not triggering, enemies vanishing, headless enemies moving around, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, I came across all of these multiple times - sometimes even in the same level. But if there’s one bug that bugged me the most, it has to be the one that happens in the most important cutscene of the game - causing the character to be silent the whole scene. Fun fact, people have been complaining about this bug since way back in 2017. And guess what? They haven’t patched it yet. This is absolutely pathetic; there is no excuse for not having fixed this bug.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2422833298


Titles like Halo, Call of Duty, and even Metro, are the first to come to mind when I think about remastered games. With their modern visuals, high-quality sound effects, and sometimes even new gameplay mechanics. However, Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition is nothing more than a mere update. They literally just re-titled the game and now are selling it for almost full price. Of course, this version has some additional features such as new game modes, 4k support, smoother frame rate, and visual enhancements. At first glance, all these features sound great, and some are indeed good, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. The visual enhancement is very superficial; it is literally a color filter you can turn on and off in the main menu. The new game mode: Overkill, is just an NG+ (New Game +) with an alternative name - which is not bad, as it contributes to the replay value. The only thing I truly appreciated besides the NG+ was the 4k support and the extra polish; because playing in 4K is indeed a refreshing experience. It’s not like Bulletstorm is a well-known game, so I can't imagine what purpose, other than greed, led the team to develop such a lazy and unwanted edition.


Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition - even with its flaws - is by far one of the most entertaining FPS titles out there, a true hidden gem. The game is a complete experience with engaging combat, unique features, and amazing visuals that still holds up pretty well. However, I’d not recommend buying this out of a sale, especially if you already own the original game.

The Evil Within (TEW) is a third-person survival-horror directed by Shinji Mikami (creator of Resident Evil) and developed by Tango Gameworks. Here, you fill the shoes of Sebastian Castellanos, a detective, who alongside his partners, is investigating a multiple homicide case at the Beacon Mental Hospital. After getting ambushed at the crime scene by a supernatural force, the protagonist awakens in an unfamiliar and hostile place. Now, he starts a dreadful journey to seek answers and survive this mysterious, fierce world.

While a few similar games tend to provide a confusing and overwhelming plot, this game does an amazing job explaining the story; and making sure the player doesn't feel overwhelmed. The whole plot is well written, with some of the gaps filled by notes, audio diaries, and even DLCs.

Another thing that The Evil Within achieves flawlessly is the deep and macabre atmosphere. Which spans from start to finish, with only a few moments to let the players catch a breath. The whole time, the game will constantly take you to the edge of your seat, not only with its boss fights or combat sections; but, most importantly, by how the ambiance is built up. That led me to an uncomfortable feeling of claustrophobia mixed with angst, where ,at every corner, I always expected a jump scare or something to happen. I had that kind of feeling throughout the whole game, even in places where I knew to be safe.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2395243093

Gameplay

Gameplay-wise, TEW is pretty satisfying and fun. However, it overall feels like a mash-up of other survival-horror titles, thus failing in delivering something new and innovative. Some aspects regarding the gameplay can be a little frustrating, mainly at the beginning of the game. For instance, Sebastian has an unsteady aim and is unable to sprint for longer periods of time. Nonetheless, after you get the hang of the thing and commence upgrading the skill tree, the game morphs into a completely enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, TEW has some odd gameplay-design choices. As some actions, like climbing ladders and opening doors, take a lot longer to be performed than they should, they sometimes end up breaking the pace.

The level design is relatively simple, but it works perfectly with the title, as its levels are linear and divided by chapters. The game has a big emphasis on exploration, similar to most games of the genre, with the constant search for resources and ammunition being essential for your survival. The majority of levels works in the same manner: a linear path with interconnected rooms, hallways, and/or small open areas to explore. The exploration is always rewarding, and, unlike many other games, it doesn't feel dull nor tiresome. The search for collectibles is also fun, even for those who aren't seeking achievements - as there is a plethora of them scattered throughout the game. These include: map-fragments, newspapers, documents, posters, etc. Like other games of the genre, The Evil Within indeed rewards the player for gathering all collectibles, thus, it never feels like time wasted.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2395247739

As I briefly said previously, the player is able to make upgrades to Sebastian's body. The upgrades range from weapons upgrades to physical enhancements. They can only be performed within the safe zone, accessible by mirrors found on every level. Inside this safe area, you can also save the game and open safe boxes with keys that you can find throughout the levels.

TEW has a really useful stealth mechanic, which works fluidly. After encountering an enemy, a small eye will pop up at the top of your screen, indicating your stealth status. In order to hide from the enemies, the player can crouch and hide inside closets, under cars/beds, and also toss glass bottles to lure them away. The stealth mechanic is seldom required when playing on lower difficulties. However, on higher difficulty settings, it plays a big role. Since Sebastian dies much more quicker, and every bullet can make a difference.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2395790397

Technical Details

Visually, The Evil Within still holds up pretty well. Despite its outdated textures, the game has breath-taking art, with an outstanding design and scenarios. Performance-wise, it runs locked at 100Fps for most parts, with only a few FPS drops. Unfortunately, TEW doesn't support ultrawide displays, thus requiring the use of third-party software in order to fix. Regarding the bugs, I only encountered a couple of them - Sebastian spinning when kicking a body on the ground and enemies flying after being hit.

This game was played with the following specs;
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32GB (3000mhz)
Display: 3440x1440

Disclaimer: For a proper experience, Outer Wilds is more enjoyable when blindly playing, meaning: the less you know about the game, the better.


Outer Wilds is a sweet and unique experience, in which you control a young and inexperienced alien astronaut ready to set out on his first space expedition to unravel the mysteries of the Nomai, a long-gone ancient civilization. Outer Wilds is mainly based on exploration and doesn't have a defined objective besides your everlasting search for answers; you are free to choose your own path on how you discover the mysteries surrounding the solar system, so embark on your spaceship, buckle up and go anywhere you desire. The game has no tutorials, only dialogs that roughly explain how to pilot the spaceship and control your spacesuit. That being said, everything is based on trial and error; you will continuously die until you get the hang of it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2375992253

Dying plays a huge role in Outer Wilds, as the protagonist is stuck in an endless time-loop, you have a mere 22 minutes to explore and learn new things before the cycle ends. However, the character will remember every place you went to and everything you did within the time-loop, causing your general progression to feel satisfying and rewarding. Although your progress is not always quite obvious, a terminal in your spaceship keeps track of every location you have visited, and summarizes the dialogs and main events. At the beginning of every loop, I caught myself often checking the terminal to plan my next steps and where should I go afterward; this is a big help, especially at the beginning of the game, where the limitless possibilities can make you feel overwhelmed.


One of the things that make Outer Wilds special is everything changes over time: planets falling apart, paths getting blocked by sand, making it impossible to go through, natural disasters, and so on. Each one of those things makes this game unique and fun, as you have to manage your time, and every mistake can cost the run. I died multiple times when exploring dangerous places while the environment changed; although this is sometimes frustrating, it also serves to teach you a lesson that you'll never forget.

Easy to learn but hard to master

The gameplay core is reasonably simple, though as I said, it can be quite difficult to get the hang of it at the beginning of the game; but fear not, as time passes, you will get used to the mechanics ,and everything will flow naturally. The controls are a bit sloppy at times for both the character and spaceship, as the game will require you to be very precise when approaching a planet or just trying to land on a tricky surface. The protagonist also has an essential spacesuit for your survival outside the spaceship, and you will need to manage your oxygen and jetpack fuel as well. Sometimes I felt like I was playing a management game, and this is far from bad; it adds a lot to the general experience; as there are many things to manage and do simultaneously, raising the difficulty bar.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2375992114


Outer Wilds soundtrack is beautiful, melancholic, and exciting: it made me experience all types of good emotions while flying my spaceship above the sun or even when exploring caves and ancient ruins. The game has its own way to communicate with you through music, and it works perfectly. I'm sure that Andrew Prahlow (composer) gave his heart and soul to make this soundtrack outstanding and unforgettable.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2376005683

PC Specs
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5600x
RAM: 32GB

The only complaint I have about the game is the absurd number of crashes: in my playthrough, the game crashed roughly eight times in random locations and circumstances. All things considered, it ran smoothly at 100Fps (average) without any FPS drop nor visual bugs/glitches; that said, regarding performance, Outer Wilds is one of the most polished games I ever played.


Outer Wilds is a sweet and unique game with interesting mechanics and marvelous story-telling, and on top of that, an amazing soundtrack. By far, this game is the most pleasant surprise I had in a long time; I didn't expect much of it, however, Outer Wilds managed to give me an experience that I won't forget any time soon.

Need for Speed Payback takes place in Fortune Valley. Here, we take the role of Tyler Morgan, a former street/drag racer, and his crew. Tyler’s crew successfully steals a luxury car, Koenigsegg Regera, from a cartel called The House. However, they got double-crossed by their former business partner, Lina Navarro, who now works for the cartel. Morgan manages to reassemble his crew six months later with one goal on his mind: to take down The House and to get his Payback

If I had a list with the worst NFS games in relation to characters and story, Payback would easily occupy the top 3. I never thought that a Need For Speed plot could be that uninspiring and tedious, but believe me, it can. This is the same old story about the protagonist who is desperately seeking revenge and in the process ends up messing with the wrong people. The characters lack personality and are totally forgettable, unlike the ones in Most Wanted, Carbon, and Underground, etc.


As we take control of three distinct characters, the gameplay works surprisingly well, with minor design flaws. Various events occur with every character thus the gameplay is not the same. For example, as I said in the beginning Tyler is a street/drag racer, thus we'll play with him for these sorts of races. Every type of event will require a different car class to participate, and the categories range from off-road to drift. The mechanics are similar to any other arcade racing game: accelerate, brake, use nitrous, and the handbrake. However, handling differs between various cars . We can choose from 3 difficulty settings: easy, medium, and hard. I was extremely disappointed with the difficulty, as the game doesn't provide you any challenge at all. The police AI is completely stupid, as they just blindly drive the car in your direction desperately trying to hit you. Sometimes it can pretty funny watching the police cars get confused and attack each other. The same happens with the drivers' AI, but less frequently. Though occasionally it can be frustrating having five cars attacking you while racing.


Outside missions and activities, the core world is completely lifeless, and sometimes I found myself totally alone in what should be a populated highway. The city center looks unoccupied as well, generating an unsettling lonely feeling. Apart from events, there are no police vehicles to pursue you. This is an enormous downside, as it makes an already blank world feel even more abandoned.

All things considered, Payback has 10 different events, and some of them are quite ordinary for a racing game like circuits, sprint, drag, drift, time trials, and off-road races. For the non-ordinary types, we have the courier missions, which consist of going to specific points on the map delivering packages, and doing other unique tasks. In escape Point mode, you need to reach the designated location before the time runs out while being chased by the police. Bait crates are packages scattered throughout the map, and once collected the game will send the police after you. It works exactly the same as Escape point missions, however, this event tends to be shorter and easier. Lastly, there are the main story events scattered throughout the world. The main story missons are divided in two parts: street leagues and chapter missions. The street leagues are racing crews you will need to defeat to progress the main questline. Each of them has their own boss and racing style. In order to get to the crew boss, the player has to complete some races and activities. Every chapter will have three to four crews to beat. After defeating each crew, the game takes you to a story event that leads to the next chapter.

However, it still becomes repetitive, even with all of those unique events. In the third chapter, I was already feeling weary and bored, wanting to wrap up the game and move on. The game is considerably longer than it should be, causing the majority of the main missions to feel tedious. The side missions are not required to progress with the main quest-line, but it will provide you cash and car upgrades, which can be really useful. Outside the main missions, we can participate in minor extracurricular activities similar to those present in past entries, like: roaming racers, speed traps and drift zones.

Two specific types of collectibles are within Payback: billboards and casino tokens, which can be found hidden across Fortune Valley. Unfortunately, there is no reward, besides an achievement for collecting all the 130 collectibles. I couldn't care less about this, however, if you are aiming to do 100% of the game prepare to feel bored. Derelicts are abandoned cars that we can find at locations marked on the map. Every derelict has 4 parts that you need to obtain in order to assemble the car.



The developer went with another approach regarding the upgrades. In past Need For Speed games, all you had to do was go to a car shop and acquire the respective parts. However with Payback, instead of a car shop, we have the Tune-Up shop. There we can buy Speed Cards, which increase our ride performance. I don't despise this current way of upgrading the car, though I find it unusual. They should've stuck with the old method, although the money speaks louder. The cash grabber this time is the shipments, which have two versions to choose from: base and premium. To buy them you need Speed Points, an alternative in-game currency that you can purchase with real-life money. Shipments can also be unlocked by completing challenges and events.

The visual customization maintains the fidelity of its predecessors with hundreds of paints, stickers, etc. You can also choose a paint-job from the community tab, where players can upload their own to download. There are parts like the fender, spoiler, and diffuser, which are already unlocked by default in any car. However, to obtain some parts, you have to complete a number of specific activities. Vanity items are a selection of unique items such as neons, nitrous colors, tire smokes, and so on. These can only be obtained through Shipments.


Visually the game stands out with its beautiful environments and colors, though it would look even better if it had high-resolution textures and higher quality lighting. After a total of 18 hours playing NFS Payback, I encountered some minor glitches, nothing aggravating. Performance-wise, I played the entire time with everything maxed-out at 3440X1440/130Fps and had no performance issues whatsoever.


Need For Speed Payback extracts a bit of everything that made the previous entries great games and twists it, to create an uninspiring game with forgettable characters and story. Even though they managed to make fun and interesting gameplay, it gets dull really fast. I can't recommend anyone buy this game out of a sale

In Titanfall 2 we take the role of Jack Cooper, a Rifleman Class-3 in the Frontier Militia. Cooper is part of the 9th Militia Fleet, whose mission is to attack an IMC(Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation) controlled planet called Typhon, which houses a military research facility. After getting attacked by IMC soldiers, the protagonist finds himself as the sole survivor of the attack force, alongside his new companion: a Titan named BT-7274. Their only chance of survival is to uphold the Captain's original mission.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2350103279

I never thought I would be so emotionally connected to a Titanfall game and the reason for this is the friendship between Cooper and BT-7274, making these two one of the most memorable duos in recent years. Even though Titanfall 2 story-mode is quite short and can be finished in around 4-5 hours, the devs did a good job creating and building both characters. Throughout the game, BT and Cooper will have some interactions that allow players to choose between dialogue options, causing both characters to feel more realistic.

Some of those dialogues can be pretty funny, as Cooper uses some expressions when talking to BT and, as a Titan, BT often doesn't understand or takes the expression literally. Those wholesome moments add more realism to the experience and make you feel more immersed in the story. As for the other characters, I didn't find them that interesting to be honest. Mainly because the short campaign didn't leave much room for side characters or villains to shine.


Titanfall 2 has one of the smoothest gameplay experiences in recent years. There are two types of gameplay within Titanfall(Campaign/Multiplayer), the "Pilot" and the "Titan". The Pilot gameplay, which I consider the primary style, consists of playing without a Titan and is relatively similar to other games out there. Within this playstyle, we can sprint, double jump, slide, wall-run, toss a variety of grenades, there's also a cloaking ability to assist us in getting out of combat. The Titan gameplay-style is a bit different, however nothing that far from the core gameplay. It consists of controlling the Titan, in this case, BT, with some similar mechanics, although instead of jumping, wall-run and sliding, we can do double dashes and use a variety of special abilities. Those skills can vary from loadout to another. Throughout the game, we'll find some loadouts to increase BT's weaponry. The game also makes us alternate between those two gameplay styles in order to progress the main plot.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2350109896

The gameplay core feels totally right and maintains a good pace. In some parts, the game will make us go through some parkour-puzzles, that thankfully it doesn't slow the gameplay pace unlike other games. The movement is exceptionally good, and the controls don't feel sloppy at all, even when controlling a Titan. The gunplay feels really good as well, depending on the weapon you choose, the combat can also feel a lot easier. The difficulty is pretty standard, even when playing on the hardest one. However, it can get a little tougher when fighting against bosses, nothing extremely difficult, though. Throughout the levels, we can find Pilot helmets that serve as collectibles and grant us an achievement when all are gathered. Personally, I really found it boring to search for collectibles in Titanfall; usually, they're quite easy to find, so for those who enjoy searching for collectibles, don't expect anything challenging.

If had to mention one downside, I would say it's AI. Much like in other similar games, the AI isn't always that good, although, in Titanfall, the enemies can be really stupid most of the time, allow me to give you some examples: enemies turning their back against you while in the middle of a shooting, running towards your sight, trying to melee BT, tossing explosives at each other, and so on.


The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, with high-quality textures, realistic lighting, and believable environments. Performance-wise the game runs smoothly and without any problems on older hardware. I recall playing on PS4 Fat and on my old PC equipped with a GTX 980TI back in 2017, and not encountering any problems related to performance nor bugs. After doing some research and watching some benchmarks, I saw the game running with the same specs as my old PC at 4K/55-60fps and 1440p/90-100fps with everything maxed out. So it's pretty safe to say this game can run on a toaster. In my most recent playthrough, I haven't encountered any bugs whatsoever. Just characters clipping through some objects.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2350102997


I would take my hat off to Respawn Entertainment if I had one, for making such an incredible and sweet game. They did almost everything right in Titanfall 2 campaign mode, such as main characters, graphics, storytelling, gameplay, etc. If it wasn't for its AI, short campaign, and lack of good side characters and villains, Titanfall 2 would be an absolute masterpiece. With these negative points aside, Titanfall 2 is a must-play game for everyone who enjoys story-driven FPS, thus I encourage everybody to play this game.

Several months after DOOM 2016 ending the world has collapsed, overrun by demonic forces. After the Doom Slayer sent far away to an unknown location by Dr. Samuel Hayden, he returns with a fortress-like space station that serves as his headquarters. Now with 60% of the world consumed by demonic forces, the Slayer has to cease the invasion on earth by killing all three Hell Priests that seek to sacrifice all the human race.

As we all know DOOM is mainly known for its frenetic and brutal gameplay and in Eternal they've taken this to a whole new level. After getting a glimpse of what Eternal had to offer I began to comprehend why some people say that you can't really go back to DOOM 2016. When I said they've taken the gameplay to another level, I mean it. I'm convinced that Eternal is the most frenetic game that I've ever played. When about to start the third mission I sat back in my chair and realized my heart was pounding really fast and my hands were sweaty, this game will make you feel exhausted.

The gameplay core remains the same with major tweaks to make its gameplay even more frenetic. The combat system has been enhanced with a new 'minor' mechanic, now the Slayer utilizes a flamethrower/grenade launcher on his shoulder, that can be used to burn enemies that'll drop armor shards, or even froze them with ice bombs. However, it is the mobility that shines in Doom Eternal with its reworked system. Now the Slayer can dash a couple of times before had to be recharged and there is a grappling hook attached to the super shotgun making it possible to approach new combat methods. There are extra lives scattered throughout all levels that can be used as instant checkpoints if I can put it that way.

Unlike Doom 2016, Eternal makes it almost necessary to use all kinds of weapons and tools at your disposal to slay the different kinds of demons. Each enemy has a weak spot and to exploit that you need to use weapons combinations in order to defeat 'em. This just makes the game more interesting because it breaks that boring monotony of using just one weapon.

Unfortunately, ID Software got rid of the good n' old multiplayer modes such as team deathmatch, freeze tag, domination, etc. They've got replaced by the Battlemode. Battlemode consists of two players playing as demons and one taking the role of the Slayer.

The map design is relatively similar to its predecessor but now with slightly larger maps and more vertical combat arenas. One thing that bothered me a lot was the pace-breaking puzzles. After wiping the floor with some demons and left wanting more, many times the game just makes you abruptly stop your carnage to solve some unwanted puzzle. And for God's sake, why that purple goo?

If there's one thing about the missions that got me really happy is the fast travel option that you unlock after finishing the level. If you are like me who likes to search for every piece of collectible, this will definitely make you happy as well.

As I said at the beginning of my review, the Slayer is settled in some kind of space-fortress headquarter called Fortress of Doom and at the end of every mission, you return to the headquarter, and there you can unlock new skins for your Slayer, songs from previous ID Software games, upgrades, using sentinel batteries that'll find throughout the levels, and chill out in the "Slayer's room." Inside the Fortress of Doom, there's a lot of easter eggs from ID previous games such as the skull of Commander Keen, the soul cube from DOOM 3, etc. And by the way, you can play the entire DOOM I and DOOM II on the Slayer's PC, imagine playing Doom inside Doom.

Doom Eternal soundtrack, in my humble opinion, is the best that I've heard in years, Mick Gordon, composer of the previous title soundtrack for sure did a terrific job in Eternal. I doubt that without Mick's soundtrack Doom Eternal would be this great. You know whenever a soundtrack is great when makes you feel powerful and capable of taking down an entire army of demons with your bare hands.

Night City, 2077. You play as V, a mercenary that wants to be a legend in Night City, and for this to happen, you'll need to steal The Relic, a biochip invented by Arasaka, one of the most influential megacorporations in the whole world. Now that I've just scratched the surface of the plot, I can begin with this review.


Cyberpunk 2077 has the most beautiful city that I've ever seen in a Video game and at first sight the most vivid city in game history. But only at first sight. When walking through Night City you can see all NPCs going on with their lives, working, shopping, or just walking around, but of course like in any game it is just an illusion to make the city feel alive, however, they failed trying to build up this illusion, mainly when there is no major interaction with the NPCs, just a one-line dialog that repeats over and over again, just like in The Witcher 3, but here in cyberpunk hits different. Another thing that killed that illusion for me personally was the crowd AI, oh boy, that AI is terrible. When you look back at GTA V and older games even and compare its AI with cyberpunk, well there is no comparison, Cyberpunk 2077 AI, in general, are awful and totally immersion breaker.


Continuing on with the world itself, CDPR managed to handcraft a beautiful and immersive open-world full of details that you can get lost in its beauty, although there isn't a lot to do in it. In my point of view, night city as I said, is the most beautiful but at the same time the most empty city that I've seen in the past years, because there is absolutely nothing to do in this huge city, besides walking and doing some repetitive activities that pop up around the map. Yet, there are no random events like we've seen in Red Dead Redemption 2 for example, nor extracurricular activities as we see in many other games, hell, even in GTA San Andreas (2004) we could go to the gym, barbershops, casinos, even take a taxi, so on. Another one of its downsides is the lack of character customization after the character creation. For a game where style is everything, this is a huge problem. I'm pretty sure that CDPR planned a lot of those activities but to meet the deadlines they've had to cut it out of the final game, now we just need to wait and see if they're going to implement some of those things in the game.

Back in 2019, CDPR stated that Cyberpunk would have a 'Wanted' system and corrupt police. Well, at least we got a wanted system, but not as you expected. The police system is just awful. Literally, there is no car chase or a proper AI for the police, they just spawn behind you whatever the place you are at. I remember GTA 3 from 2001 having a better police AI than Cyberpunk, and that's ridiculous.


At the end of the day, Cyberpunk 2077 tries to be an RPG, but is it really? When they first announced the lifepaths I got really excited, and even more when I read that every lifepath choice would affect the world around you, and that was a big fat lie. First of all, lifepaths just change the game introduction and some minor dialog options, and that's it, no major changes at all. About the general choices, yes, a lot of the choices that you made in the main quests or even side quests can have an impact on your ending or at least some important dialogs throughout the story. When it comes to RPGs, one of the most important things is the skill tree. Here in Cyberpunk, we have a huge skill tree, and it works quite similar to the Skyrim skill tree, you can upgrade your character to be a melee specialist, heavy weapon specialist, or combine everything in one and be an overpowered one tap machine.

The gameplay itself is pretty average, nothing spectacular but not bad either. We can carry 3 main weapons and toss a variety of grenades. There are the implants that we can only buy new ones or change the currently equipped on ripper docs. The implants that you acquire on ripper docs can play a huge role in your gameplay, as you can upgrade your max health and carry weight, etc.


The best part of the game so far is the main story and the main side quests, if I can put it that way. CDPR did a great job telling the story in a way that you don't feel overwhelmed or tired and gets even better when you get to know the characters and their stories. You can connect really easily with the characters, and that's a huge point for me. In this huge game industry, lately, there's been a lack of good characters that you feel for, and Cyberpunk 2077 makes you care about the characters, even more than you should.
The soundtrack is impressive, even if many of the songs didn't suit my style, they did awesome work creating the soundtrack. Unfortunately, the main quests are too short compared to Witcher 3, about 20 hours if you rush throughout the game. I finished the main plot in 50 hours, however, half of my playtime was doing side missions and exploring the map. I've had so much fun doing side missions, and some of'em are, I dare say, better than some of the main story-related quests.


Nonetheless, the bugs. As everyone might know by now, Cyberpunk 2077 is full of bugs, I can make a book with five thousand pages about the bugs. In my playthrough, I didn't encounter any game-breaking bug, thank god, but there's a lot of glitches, for example, cars flying around, NPCs appearing from nowhere, and a lot of clipping glitches, more than usual, etc. The most annoying bugs are quest-related ones, even though I didn't encounter any game-breaking bugs, there are still some glitches that ruined my immersion, and I hope that they'll fix those very soon.


I'm really divided about this game, in one hand, there are the great main story/side quests, and the great characters, but on the other hand, there's a lot of bugs, glitches, and main issues that make this impressive world, well, less impressive. I'll recommend Cyberpunk 2077 more because of its great story, characters, and fun gameplay. However, we should treat this review as a mixed one, but steam doesn't allow us to do so. I'm looking forward to seeing if CDPR will pull off a Hello Games, and make cyberpunk a more enjoyable game.