Recent reviews by it's morbin time!

"we live in a caste society"

One of the worst story games I've ever played; couldn't even finish it. Terrible dialogue, insufferable characters, asinine decision making. Supermassive has made some incredibly entertaining games; this is not one of them.

If you set out to make a narrative driven game with consequential choices - you better at least have an interesting story that doesn't feel like it was written for a high school English class. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is severely lacking in meaningful characterization of any sort, high stakes tension found in Until Dawn, as well as the mysterious tale that the game fools the audience into thinking they will be experiencing.

Look. Grab a couple friends, drink a few brews, and I guarantee it'll be a decent time. Though, not necessarily the time Supermassive Games intended on providing to its audience. At best, this is the equivalent of a Video Game "B Movie" and you will definitely be laughing at the game more than laughing with it. The characters are one sided, dull, and the dialogue will have you near beating your head against the wall. Seriously. It's so stupid.

However, only playing through this game once isn't what the devs had in mind in the first place so maybe I have to play it over to see if anything else interesting during my run occurs - though I severely doubt it. I currently have no motivation to play through this game a second time because honestly - I don't like any of these characters. If you really want the audience to feel engaged with a story, especially in a game that RELIES on story, MAKE THE CHARACTERS INTERESTING. Or at least layered.

The graphics are truly the only thing to be commended in this game because this game truly looks gorgeous at times. The same can't be said about all the character animations though and these really are the moments that pull you out of the game.

Overall, a decent effort but I know Supermassive Games is capable of far greater things. Excited for Little Hope though and I Beeg Hope that it'll be better than this mess. Or at least more engaging.

Go play Until Dawn.

i actually haven't even played this game, i just had it running for 3 days by accident.

My mini-review is from my solo experience with this game.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a boring, uncreative, and generic shooter. I played the first few missions and I was extremely bored the whole time. The dialogue was uninteresting and mundane while the story was nowhere to be found; it felt as if I was just doing random missions. Maybe it picks up later in the game but I was honestly too bored to continue, and that is not something that happens commonly for me with video games.

The gameplay is just as generic and mundane of the rest of the game. It consists of running, shooting, and finding cover. There are a few gimmicky items, such as the sensor grenade and the drones, but most of them are usually useless and found myself not using them too often. The gameplay is so repetitive and has no substance behind it. I just kept doing the same thing over and over again and none of it was any fun.

Honestly, there are about two good factors I can think of about this game, and none of them really redeem the game for what it is. Firstly, the UI and style of the game is fairly nice and slick. Secondly, some battles can get intense for a bit but then it quickly dies down and has you repeating step after step, killing enemies left and right like there is nothing to it.

If you are going to buy this game for a solid campaign, I strongly advise against it. As for the multiplayer, it is pretty much dead. If you get three more friends who want to play a boring game and somehow make it fun, that may be the only way to somewhat enjoy this title.

4/10

Balance.

Being a fan of both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, it was inevitable for me to try this game out eventually. I was not expecting much from the game, hearing mixed reactions and such, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to enjoy the game for what it is. A short and sweet action-packed repetitive beat 'em up game.

If you are a fan of the show, this is just a fun ride to see a small story take place between Book 2 and Book 3. It is not the most interesting story but just seeing Korra in action is fun enough. The gameplay mechanics allow you to use any of your bending (Earth, Fire, Water, Air) fluidly and switch between each, making combos and such. However you must level up each of the elements to gain powers and abilities for each, which honestly does not take too long. Also to me, Earth bending seemed the most powerful so I stuck with that for a majority of the game and did not really alternate too much, rarely ever going into Fire.

The game also takes away your bending in the beginning for the sake of the plot and it is kind of fun to unlock each one, but since the enemies dont really vary, I felt as if I would have had more fun if I had all my elements to bend the whole time. The New Game + mode (Extreme Mode) of this game is actually more fun than the normal mode because you do have all the elements at your disposal the whole time, and actually need to use quite a bit of them strategically to face the increased swarms of enemies throughout each chapter.

There is also a Pro-Bending mode you unlock in this game which is really fun, especially when you first start it, with several difficutlties and if you are a fan of the show, it feels great to be playing. There are also a Temple Run-esque portions of the game with Naga which feel like its own mobile game, which is a definite low point in the game for me.

The game feels very cheap though, in terms of graphics and overall quality. and its obvious that it was made on a low budget. I just feel as if the game could be a lot better if more time and money was given for its development. Though the game is short the first time around, I feel it has replay value with the addition of the Extreme mode. Overall, its a game that doesn't really shine but I still managed to have fun with. And once again, if you are a fan of the show, it is definitely worth a buy if you get it a good price.

6/10

Arkham Origins is the third game in the Batman Arkham series, though it is a prequel. It is obvious when playing through the game that the developer of this game is different than the previous two installments, Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. The game feels clunkier and is not as well optimized but the game still has a sort of charm that drives through, which makes it a unique, though flawed, addition to the series.

The story in this game caught me by surprise because of how honestly interesting it was. The game takes place on Christmas Eve and features the first night Batman encounters The Joker. There is a twist that happens during the beginning of the game, but do not expect anything of Arkham City caliber. The character interactions are fantastic and honestly my favorite part of the game, especially the relationship portrayed between Bruce and Alfred. To see the beginnings of many characters and their involvement with The Dark Knight is interesting as well, including Officer Gordon and Barbara Gordon. Many parts of the story actually portrays Batman as a ture detective, which is very well done and satisfying.

The voice acting in this game is pretty solid, even thought the actors Batman and The Joker have both been replaced. Troy Baker must be commended for his outstanding job as The Joker and filling in the big shoes left by the much talented Mark Hamill. A huge negative for me though is how awful the lipsyncing in real time is in this game. It looks extremely clunky, unfinished, and just plain bad, especially by 2013 video game standards. The cutscenes, on the other hand, are a big plus because they are extremely stylized and are a huge factor that sets this game apart from the previous installments in the series.

The graphics in this game are nothing special and even when they are maxed out, they do not look as good as Arkham City does. That said, it is definitely not a bad looking game (though the fire effects are absolutely atrocious). The funny thing is even though the game came out two years after Arkham City and does not look as good, it also does not run as well. I have a pretty solid PC which can run games such as Battlefield 4 on high smoothly and at a constant framerate but for this game, it manages to lag (though not frequently) at random locations throughout the game, and especially prominent during the last couple portions,

The gameplay in this game consists of what you have already been accustomed to in the series, except it just seems to be a bit clunkier. Though the flow of the combat is fluid, sometimes the takedown controls did not seem to work which got quite annoying in specific portions of the game. Also, the combat in this game is much easier than the other games because once you get a flow going, which is easy enough, you can attack enemies that are stunned and already on the ground which somewhat removes one of the only challenges in the beat-em-up combat this series did so well. There is a return of stealth portions within the game but it plays quite differently because of the very different level design compared to the previous installments. In this game, the stealth portions really just seemed easier and if you are caught sneaking around, it was also simple enough to dodge the enemies' bullets and take them down non-stealthily, which honestly should not be the case. So one of the biggest gripes about this game is the fact that it is really a lot easier than Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. There are also many new weapons introduced in this game, which does not make sense since Batman could have used them in the other installments, which take place later on the timeline. Though when making a prequel videogame, it is inevitable to run into problems like that. One of my favorite additions though is the grapple accelerator, which allows Batman to increase his speed when grappling on to any surface, which happens a lot in these games. This is one feature I definitely want to see carried over into Arkham Knight.

The map in this game is slightly bigger than that of Arkham City, though it may feel emptier because of the lack of interesting and engaging sidequests. The game takes place in Gotham this time around and it does not make a whole lot of sense since the only people we see roaming the streets or the rooftops are criminals. It made sense in Arkham City, since that is an entire area infested with criminals, but the same cannot be said about this game. One great addition though is the fast-travel using the Batwing. There are multiple fast-travel spots that can be unlocked throughout the map and this idea works very well and I hope it is implemented into Arkham Knight.

Though the game is still pretty fun, even compared to the first two installments, it is lacking something huge. A variety of Batman villains. We get some interesting bosses in this game but we also get some fairly unenjoyable ones with villains I don't really care about. Arkham City had an assortment of crazy and fun villains, but this game takes a slump in that department. Bane returns for a total of three different boss battles here and though they are fairly fun, it would have been more interesting to change up the formula. There is a boss battle with Deathstroke early in the game and it is very well executed, and one of the highlights in this game for me. One thing to note is that one of the boss battles is very annoying to play with a mouse and keyboard, so using a controller for this game may be a good idea.

Overall, Batman: Arkham Origins is a solid game muddled by being unpolished and some poor design. However, it is still a good game in my opinion and one that is worthy to be in the series. WB Montreal did a good job at portraying these characters in a new light and I really appreciate that.

7.5/10

Think of it as a running gag.

Batman: Arkham City is a fantastic game, which literally improves itself in every way from its predecessor. The game features a wide array of iconic Batman villains, even more than Arkham Asylum, and they include The Joker, Harley Quinn, Hugo Strange, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Ra's Al Ghul, The Penguin, and some more surprises because I don't want to spoil the fun.

The story in this game is all-original and pretty well executed, having some interesting twists and turns as it leads up to an intense and satisfying finale. The story is not as focused as the previous game but instead juggles itself around with its two main villains, Hugo Strange and The Joker. The game does not solely focus on the Joker, even though his side of the story strongly drives the narrative along, but has the mystery of Hugo Strange's "Protocol 10", which Batman is on the case to uncover what it truly is. One complaint I have in this department however is I wish that the story was longer because it can truly be finished within 7 hours, even on a first try. But even though the length of the story missions may be lacking, the game makes up for it with fantastic side missions in a new open world to explore.

The main difference between Arkham Asylum and Arkham City is the scope of the world. City has a great open world to roam around in, with different and unique side missions which are actually engaging and will keep you invested in. It is fun to swing around from building to building, and even gliding here and there. Though the map is not huge, especiaally compared to many games nowadays, its side missions are engaging enough to keep you interested for a longer amount of time.

The gameplay once again consists of the fantastic hand-to-hand combat introduced in its predecessor, though it has been improved here significantly, as well as the stealth-based sections. Both are executed succesfully and I enjoyed bashing enemies' heads in just as much as sneaking through corner to corner, taking out each and every single armed thug. The hand-to-hand combat is much smoother in this title, feeling a lot less clunkier than its previous installment and much more responisve to the counter triggers throughout many times in the game. There are a few new gadgets as well which provide more gameplay options.

The boss battles vary pretty greatly between each of them but the one that stood out to me was one with Mr. Freeze, which requires you to use no special abilities given to you during a boss battle, which is so generic nowadays, but instead requires you to use every normal ability you have already learned about while playing. There is a lack of repetitiveness to the boss battles this time around, which is great, probably due to the lack of Titans. The graphics are also a great improvement, with a significantly lesser amount of muddy textures.

Overall, Batman: Arkham City is a blast to play through, especially if you're a Batman fan, from its smooth and polished combat to its engaging open world. It improves in every aspect from its predecessor and this is a prime example of how sequels should be done.

9/10

Welcome to the Madhouse.

Batman: Arkham Asylum started something extraordinary, from its fantastic combat to redefining superhero video games. As the first game in the series, it is sure to have a few flaws and quite a bit to improve on, which Arkham City does so magnificently, but this still remains to be a fantastic game nonethless.

The game is loosely based off of Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, by Grant Morrison, and it does great in conveying that dark tone one feels when reading a Dark Knight comic. The story takes its turns here and there and though it gets a little ridiculous and over the top, at least how I felt, it is still very solid. After the Joker takes over Arkham Asylum, he launches a full scale assault on the island and the GCPD protecting it, causing Batman to go on a hunt to uncover what The Joker is truly up to and to stop him.

The combat in this game redefined action games, and though it is improved on in later installments, it still manages to be a very satisfying experience. Other games which have borrowed from this combat style are Sleeping Dogs, The Amazing Spider-Man games, and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. The game manages to keep the combat interesting by having upgrades for the base system, which is small but feels adequate.

You will face off against a numerous amount of Batman villains that include The Joker, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Bane, Victor Zsasz, and The Scarecrow. Each of them have their own unique sections, which keeps the game exciting. However, some portions of these unique boss battles got somewhat annoying due to the fact that the PC controls are a bit more troublesome to use than a controller for this game. However, it was not too big of a disturbance for the overall enjoyment of the game.

Now, though the game is great, I do have to say that six years later, it does feel sort of dated so be aware of that if you are meaning to jump into this game anytime soon. That said, the game is still a greatly enjoyable experience and though the story manages to get a little ridiculous at times, the fantastic combat and Batman lore is more than enough to have you invested in the first installment of the Arkham series.

8/10

Episode 1: "Chrysalis" Review
Playtime: 2.4 Hours

Life is Strange is a point-and-click interactive adventure game that relies heavily on its storytelling. And for a game like this, storytelling is crucial to the overall scheme of how everything feels and plays out. This is not a game for everyone and plays out much like games such as Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, or any recent TellTale titles (The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead). The game isn't revolutionary but it does what it intends to do pretty well, though with a few flaws.

You play as Max Caulfield, an eighteen year old girl who just returned to her hometown after being away for five years. The story is pretty well told and the scenes are very well directed. The voice acting is also great but the game suffers from poor lip synchronization, which actually may or may not have been a design choice. The art style is quite nice and actually very mesmerizing in some scenes, but this also affects the characters to look somewhat bland and unemotional when delivering some pretty heavy dialogue. However, both these flaws do not retract from the overall experience of the game.

The key difference between this game and other interactive adventure games is one feature: The ability to rewind time. This supernatural element is implemented into the game and Max acknowledges this fact, although I hope there is more development and clever use for this feature in future episodes. So far in this episode, you are able to go back in time to make a different to change the outcome of how the story unfolds. This is a very neat feature and the fact that it really does have an impact on the storytelling makes it all the better.

Overall, Episode One turned out great and the story and characters definitely have my attention. I will be looking forward to the future episodes.

8/10