Recent reviews by dux

Having never played Earthbound and other influences on this game I can only imagine they were similar but with less nuance and refinement. I get that out of the way because this game does one thing better than everything else- it's incredibly easy to simply drop in and play at any time and just spend some time on without having to worry.

People say not to compare this to FTL but for me the similarities are immense and both share many things. What separates them is that this usually involves much quicker and more immediate gameplay, and yet it can be just as long or longer. I love this as both a slow-paced, planned and carefully calculated strategy game, and other times I just set it on easy or normal, grab a squad at random and blast through a 40 minute game.
The other major difference is the lack of story- where FTL is about becoming part of an evolving thrilling story, Into the Breach has little story elements and is more about the gameplay.

It might seem weird to review this in 2018 but Quake II remains one of my favourite and most played games and I'd be remiss not to at least give a few kind words. It's certainly dated graphics-wise, but compared to other games of the time, nothing really comes close in terms of fast pace and ultra-fast movement that you just don't get elsewhere and while most people will have started with, and love Quake 1, for me it was Quake II- I play it every few years from start to finish and haven't found many other games as satisfying and well put together.

Is it worth picking up these days? Absolutely. I'm coming from a place of nostalgia but few games age better than id software titles, and even fewer let you jump it and play and get to grips with the brutal weapons and maps so quickly while still offering some challenge. There are admittedly some technical complaints from others but again, for me, it's always been one of the games I can install on any new computer and be literally be playing within a minute or two of purchase and one that friends and new faces love to watch and try for themselves.

The soundtrack and level design deserve special mention as they tie together wonderfully. To this day Quake II is one of the few games that makes me tense and scared while playing and perhaps it's laughable but the 4 legged guys jumping out of dark corners and the silent deformities when you turn corners still make me crap myself despite knowing the maps as well as the back of my hand, and the game deserves credit for that.

Fantastic older title and one I'm happy to still recommend today.

Having lived through the Maxis downfall of the late 90s and eventual handover to EA, and having played every Sim City but the newest one, having loved different things about all of them and having realised I'd spent more time on Sim City 4 Deluxe than any other, I felt I owed it to this game to give it my retroactive review.

Like most of us city-builder fans I tried out and fell in love with Cities Skylines shortly after it came to the limelight and like all new and improved game interfaces and technology, my expectations for a City Builder have increased along side them. So it's hard for me to appreciate the Sim Cities now as much as I did then but SC4D, despite having many annoyances with UI and a lack of some modern freedoms does still offer an unprecedented amount of control in the Sim City range.
Small things like different zoning densities and diagonal roads don't seem like a big deal, but because Maxis was basically the only big company doing these titles, it was a game-changer for the time and playing around with those limited complexities is still incredibly satisfying in 2017.
The other thing SC4 does better than many other games is the introduction and tutorial of the concepts and screens. Everything is intuitive, even to non city builders and I remember always loving Maxis' ability to produce fluid gameplay from start to finish, it's held up just as well today.

Ultimately most of the things I don't like about this game are because more modern titles have done them better, added more freedoms and removed small annoyances, but to criticise a game by comparing it to something that didn't exist at the time is a fools errand. Yes, I would recommend other titles above this now if you're new to the genre or have limited cash, but I would also very much recommend trying out some of the older Sim City titles because they're still engrossing and satisfying and stand up well today.

After getting a case of nostalgia for older RTS games I installed and played this game for the first time in 2017 and I'm disappointed that I left it for so long- it has many features and mechanics which, even by todays standards, are unique and lacking in other games.

The story, art style and set up are good and reminded me a little of the C&C games, particularly the way the writing encourages a similar Cold-War paranoia feel. The way each character has a name, a backstory and a personality is really refreshing and makes Original War far more engaging than it's contemporaries.

The gameplay isn't as cookie cutter and each mission is strategically different and now with the online play and community still somewhat active I can't commend this game enough.

This is by no means anything fancy or revolutionary- it doesn't have amazing graphics or incredible gameplay mechanics, and it only lasts about an hour, but it tells a living story and does it fantastically well. I felt more and more invested in the story and the characters as I kept discovering and exploring the world and despite the obvious lack of polish and nothing that can really be considered exciting gameplay this was still a great way to spend an hour and change and I'm glad I picked it up.

This is by no means a good game- it has poor level design where you'll have to backtrack unexpectedly and even design flaws where sections of the map will reset on saves and the likes, but it's also not a bad game- it has challenging but not hair-pulling sections, puzzles and bosses every few screens. Most importantly it does what old school games used to do right- it introduces a new mechanic then gives the player a challenge to overcome using that mechanic, then finally a boss battle where the player needs to use it in order to progress.

With all that in mind, it's one of the better games around this price mark and I can think of a lot worse ways to spend an hour. Don't expect much more than a short, basic platformer and you'll do fine.

Linear gameplay done to perfection. One of those games you sit down to play for 30 minutes and have to peel yourself off of the chair 8 hours later because of just how engaging and fun basic gameplay is.

Doom 3 got a lot of hostility around the time it came out because it broke away from the Doom tradition, because it was a different game in pace, plot and design, and later because it would release this BFG Edition which took away as much as it added from the gameplay (see below for details)- despite all that it's finally being realised as the high calibre and incredibly fun game it really was. Doom 3 is a marriage between a horror and an FPS action game in a way that far too few other titles have managed. Like the newest Doom from Gearbox it leaves the horror elements as optional, and while it's much slower and arguably less engaging overall than 2016s Doom, it's still a thrilling horror game underneath if you have the time to poke around and find and read and listen to the audio and data logs and reveal story elements.

There are mechanical and design choices that feel lacking and small annoyances here and there, but overall Doom 3 is a fantastic addition to the series and a really good choice for a night or two of gaming.

I often get asked why many people prefer standard Doom 3 over the Doom 3 BFG Edition and it mainly comes down to the fact the BFG Edition was mainly for consoles but sold and distributed for all platforms which inevitably took away from the PC version if you had a good enough rig. Here's are some comparisons of each, specific to PC.

Doom 3: BFG Edition
* Difficulty greatly reduced. Lots more health and ammo packs available possibly removing some strategic gameplay.
* Flashlight can be used simultaneously with weapons, removing some of the games horror element.
* Lighter graphics/lighting.

Doom 3
* Offers better graphics options with mods.
* Offers many of the same features of BFG Edition with tweaking.
* Doesn't include the older Doom titles.
* Doesn't offer VR support.

Overall Doom 3 is fantastic if you want a more horror orientated experience with better graphics, but the BFG Edition has been patched many times now and doesn't have as many concerns as it once did, it also offers VR support which is a biggie for many of todays buyers.

Fans of Doom 3 may also want to check out Quake 4 on Steam which came out a year later and is similar in that it broke away from it's famous forebears, is slower, darker and more of a horror game, and beautiful and fun is in many of the same ways.

This game flourished off the back of the success of the TV series, but it's every bit as enjoyable and well made in its own right. I'm one of the people who enjoyed the comic and the early series' of The Walking Dead more because they were more about the decisions and choices the characters make in different situations and scenarios and helped to show that human nature is an ugly beast, but very complex and interwoven, and never black and white. The video game facilitates this same process- showing the results of our different choices and decisions through the characters, and because you're playing one of those characters and vested in their outcome, everything that affects the world affects you on an emotional level.

When it came out it was a somewhat unique gameplay mechanic for Point & Click Adventure games, and it's still limited- most choices don't actually affect the world or the linear story, yet it absolutely reaches you and makes the story and the things happening on screen more vivid and real.