Recent reviews by Mild Blobfish

As a long-time fan of post-apocalyptic games, I was genuinely surprised by how much content Project Silverfish offers even in its current early access state. The game already includes a decent "what happened" story and groundwork mechanics which clearly has plenty of room to grow. There’s a solid foundation here, and I’m excited to see how the game continues to develop.

Some standout highlights from me:

Open World Map -
The map is decently sized and strongly reminiscent of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. There’s no “you are here” marker, so players must rely on landmarks, the compass, and general map knowledge. It’s a refreshing diegetic approach that adds to the immersion. Even quests will give descriptions of “the door near the base” instead of an X marking the spot.

Area Regeneration -
Each time you enter or leave an area or die, the enemies within are regenerated. This keeps the world feeling alive.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Inspired Elements -
From artifacts to strange anomaly like locations and even what I think are Blowouts, Project Silverfish wears its inspiration pretty blatantly. This isn't bad, its done decently.

Faction Reputation System -
There’s no HUD marker pointing out allies or enemies when you ADS. You have to assess each situation yourself, which is greatly appreciated. It’s immersive in the right ways and keeps me on my toes. The AI impresses too, engaging in inter-faction fights or against hostile creatures, I don't know how simple it is behind the scenes but it plays off nicely.

Environmental Interaction -
I really appreciate the attention to details: using a crowbar to pry open containers, lighting candles with your lighter, or cooking over a campfire. These touches add a depth to the world not alot of games have. It makes you feel rewarded for picking up an item earlier for the crafting system and gives meaning beyond combat.

Streamlined Mechanics -
This game trims the fat that often bogs down other entries in the genre. For me it's Weapon degradation which I find is often more frustrating. Instead, you focus on what you find, with simplified ammo types and a clear choice between weapon styles. It feels clean and rewarding without constant min-maxing.

Lore and World-Building -
The backstory is compelling, with an intriguing explanation for the presence of lizard-like survivors. The lore unfolds and leaves enough questions to keep me pushing through.

Character Creation -
You can play as a pre-made class or build your own character using a Project Zomboid-style perk system. Choosing pros and cons to balance your build keeps each playthrough feeling everso different.

Black Mesa is more than just a remake of Half-Life, its a love letter to one of the most genre pushing franchises from 1999, brought to life with care, creativity, and modern game design sensibilities.

The game captures the tense atmosphere of the Black Mesa Incident, immersing me in a struggle that feels like Gordons worst day imaginable. This leads to one of the best parts of Black Mesa: how alive and believable its world feels compared to the original. NPCs no longer come across as background props; instead, they feel like people caught in a catastrophe. Their reactions and interactions, as well as environmental details; breathe life into Black Mesa as a place. It's a subtle improvement that adds weight.

The developers have also stayed true to the spirit of the original game keeping physics puzzles and major set piece scenes intact; all while adding additional lore and explanation to the surrounding world.

A standout highlight of the game is Xen. What was once a slog of frustrating platforming has been transformed into an alien playpen. The level design no longer punishes players with annoying segments consisting of constant fall damage but instead rewards exploration and pushes you to take risks. The addition of new hostile fauna and environmental details makes Xen feel truly alien, and more importantly - plausible. It feels like a place where life exists naturally - with new creatures and ecosystems. Most importantly, Xen now feels like an actual scientific pursuit for the researchers at Black Mesa. Set dressing, environments, and the game’s expanded lore showcase a reason why the scientists were so invested in studying this borderworld. It’s a fascinating narrative layer that wasn't as developed in the original.

Lastly; the soundtrack is another shining element, complementing the atomosphere. Multiple moments had me pausing the game to open Shazam just to add some songs to my Spotify playlists.

In short, Black Mesa takes everything that made Half-Life a masterpiece and amplifies it.

9/10

The Outlast Trials is a great addition to the Outlast series; even with multiplayer it stays true to its roots. It's easy to pick up and lose hours to.

The game significantly expands the Outlast lore, and my favourite element is that its multiplayer elements are tied to the lore. This keeps the co-op gameplay immersive and justified which is always something you worry about when Multiplayer is added to a Single Player game. It manages to maintain the dark, body horror unsettling atmosphere that defines the series.

At its core, the gameplay loop is simple: you enter a trial, complete various tasks, then are granted the ability to escape - all while more and more enemies spawn. Within the maps; there are tasks like the radio frequency finder which is more then just get item A for location B - however most of the time it feels like the minigame is find X Randomized Key in X randomized location.

The level design is excellent, rewarding players who learn the maps and master their layouts. Randomized elements—like door placements and item locations—keep each playthrough fresh, and one thing I enjoy is that the difficulty curve changes based on player count so you can enjoy the game alone if you want the original Outlast feel.

With that being said; replayability is a strong point. Varied loadouts, rigs, perks, and skills allows the maps you play over and over again to be tackled differently, as well various challenges and developer-led events introduce twists.

The game has "battle passes" but unlike some ingame monetization aspects; I found this one respects the player’s time, with fair rewards for playing the game, good cosmetic unlocks and incentives to keep playing even after freeing your character. I don't feel "scammed", finishing trials gives plenty of rewards.

If there’s a downside, it’s that with enough experience, the fear factor starts to diminish. You begin to see through the horror to the mechanics underneath, turning it into more of a calculated process rather than a pure survival nightmare.

All in all - very nice will continue to play. 8.5/10.

STALKER 2 was one of my most anticipated releases, pre-ordering the ultimate edition back in 2022, and it managed to exceed my expectations—despite a few hiccups.

Many of these issues, such as the economy balance, mutant sponginess, and crashes, have already been addressed by the developers within the first week. They’ve also acknowledged other concerns, like the ALife system, and promised updates in the future. This level of active communication is one of the reasons I recommend the game. In its current state, STALKER 2 is good—but with these updates, it has the potential to become great.

About the game itself; Visually, STALKER 2 is a masterpiece. The switch to Unreal Engine 5 brings the Zone to life in set dressing like never before. The level of detail and atmosphere hits all the feelings of the original Zone and adds to it; making me terrified to actually explore certain areas.

The gunplay feels satisfying - utilizing some of my favourite features like augmented reality scopes (as opposed to the blackout around the screen), and the addition of new anomalies—alongside familiar ones—keeps exploration unpredictable. The map itself is massive, and while it can be a bit overwhelming at first, it’s exciting to uncover piece by piece.

That said, there are a few notable omissions, like binoculars and night vision. However, references to these features have been found in the game’s code, so there’s hope they might be added down the line. Another feature that is a bit underwhelming are Emissions, a terrifying moment in past games, feel less impactful so far. It’s unclear to me whether they’re random, or scripted.

It’s worth mentioning that this review was written before multiplayer PVP was implemented, so I can’t comment on that aspect of the game yet.

7.5/10 but 8.5 with Alife Fixes

The Silent Hill 2 Remake is both a faithful recreation and great addition to the franchise. It’s a must-play for any fan of the series or anyone looking to get into Silent Hill.

There are two main standouts: Audio Design and Level Design.

The audio design in SH2 easily makes this one of the most atmospheric games I can remember playing. The work done to communicate enemies, give each area a unique feel, and keep me on edge the entire time is top notch.

Secondly: level design is a clear example of how to do it right. Each area (while faithful to the original) has its unique differences. It’s easy to navigate, keeping details of the world present without washing out interactables. The work done gives a great linear illusion of choice without the world becoming a foggy maze.

The only downside is the occasional frame hiccup where the game drops and stutters. This doesn't last long and I normally just stand there and wait for it to pass, but if it happens with enemies nearby its a death sentence.

Overall, great job Bloober.

A fun and addicting puzzle game that is easy to pick up, kill time and continue after being put down. Dorfromantik has a relaxing soundtrack and gameplay style with progression and new tiles that come fast enough that nothing gets stale. Full customisation with creative mode is one of the much needed more recent updates that help create your ideal little European village.

A super relaxed and laid back game.
A great time killer that is easy to play, but hard to master.
Dangerously Addicting.
Big fish

Subnautica Below Zero's world is smaller then Subnautica's but by far much more detailed. Denser flora, more world-building and intricate level design makes each area just that much better thought out when exploring.

Below Zero contains more "out of water" areas and their added hoverbike makes zooming around on land fun. New creatures to keep the land areas a challenge while the added mechanics such as a cold-weather system keep you on your toes. Additionally, new ways to explore areas, with the newly added module customizable Seatruck, the Spy Pengling, but also classics such as the Prawn Suit make a return.

Unlike Subnautica, Below Zero's main character Robin has more character building then Ryley did. This means that players may have a harder time putting themselves in the shoes of this non-silent protagonist. Below Zero does bring in NPC's (as opposed to the previous sole survivor motive) and builds upon both the Precursors and Alterras lore.

Regarding Early Access:
At its current state, I think it's worth picking up to see how in-depth the world is, how the vehicles handle, and new mechanics play out. Small parts of the story are implemented, but not voice acted. If you're good with a silent experience with subtitles, (that is being reworked throughout the updates) then that is what its current stage is. Like any indie game, it has its bugs that the UWE team is working to fix with each update.

UWE has a very driven team. Their passion for world-building, lore and the end product shine through as each update gets released.

Addendum: At the time of writing this I was a playtester

Sams Story is a very smooth end to (at least the current) Metro franchise. The DLC follows Sam as he leaves for the eastern city of Vladivostok after the ending of the Exodus main campaign. The overall DLC is about 4 hours of gameplay on its main playthrough. It offers an area to explore about the size of the Volga, introducing 2 new weapons, the .45 pistol and Sub Machine gun which takes the place of pneumatic weaponry in the gun slot, meaning you can have 2 guns plus the new SMG. The SMG also adds incendiary rounds which light up any creature in sight. A few guns also return from the Exodus story, including the Ashot, Valve and Kalash. This offers a nice variety of gameplay. Unlike the previous Metro DLC, Sams Story contains a moral choice which does give you a different ending cutscene.

The city of Vladivostok is traversable using a new vehicle, a Motorboat, which is a much faster equivalent then the rowboat from the main campaign. The enemies in Sams Story are the same from Exodus campaign however a few have new abilities. This time around they did seem to add a few new pieces of music for both the intro and during gameplay which stood out to me.

The graphics are the same as the original game, no change there.

Overall, i'm very pleased with this DLC.

Story - 5/5
Music - 4/5
Gameplay - 5/5
Graphics - 5/5
Overall - 9/10


Metro Exodus review
"The Two Colonels" Review

We All Fall down is the conclusion to the We Happy Few DLC Trilogy.

After another 2 hours of gameplay as Victoria Byng, this DLC expands on happenings after the primary story arch as a final climactic finale regarding the future of Wellington Wells. You discover Victoria's backstory and moral dilemmas that she faces after being captured by Ollie in the main games section and being forced off her Joy.

Like the other 2 DLC's that add to the Season Pass, this adds a new weapon to the We Happy Few universes, the whip. This, along with an electric dart gun are the only two weapons which are provided, and which you upgrade throughout. Using the whip you can soar through spots of the town, which flows very smoothly with the animations provided.

The DLC is linear, and not a sandbox experience. It is hard to become lost, Combat is, however, optional, as the game gives you more opportunity to sneak past enemies through bushes or via rooftops, yet leaves that open to you to take down brute enemies. The whip never got tedious during combat, but if you become overwhelmed, you tend to run in a circle and kite enemies much like COD Zombies.

After Completing on the hardest difficulty I died maybe 4 or 5 times at max. This DLC doesn't allow for crafting and coming across healing balms on the hardest difficulty is rare. I was primarily at 3% HP for most of the experience, however, managed to escape enemies more often than not being able to easily run past all of them if the need arises.

If you were to only complete this DLC without knowing the history of Wellington Wells, and playing the main story, understanding the difficulties of what Joy causes, then this DLC may seem more like an off branch expansion. It should be played last.

We Happy Few Review
What Came from Below Review
Lightbearer Review