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6 votes
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Half-Life: Alyx - The Digital Foundry tech review
5 votes -
Half-Life: Alyx review (spoiler-free): The greatest VR adventure game yet—and then some
21 votes -
Doom Eternal - The Digital Foundry tech review
8 votes -
Doom Eternal review
8 votes -
Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary PC tech review - analysis of The Master Chief Collection version
9 votes -
Ross's Game Dungeon: (a review of) Deus Ex
7 votes -
Odroid Go Advance Review - Should You Buy One?
4 votes -
Prosperous Universe - This deep simulation of space economics is surprisingly compelling
7 votes -
Death Stranding: Hideo Kojima’s latest release is strange, celebrated by critics, and highlights how hard it is for any video game to achieve mainstream legitimacy without a vast budget
5 votes -
Alien Isolation Switch review: Image quality is better than PS4
8 votes -
Pathologic is genius, and here's why
9 votes -
Digital Foundry's Google Stadia tech review: The best game streaming yet, but far from ready
8 votes -
Minecraft: Builders & Biomes condenses series tropes into a family-friendly board game with tough tactical decisions
12 votes -
Mini Motorways: Build roads, grow cities, fight gridlock
9 votes -
Dragon Quest XI (dunkview)
4 votes -
Online indie games on Steam are slowly bleeding due to revenge/burnout reviews
21 votes -
Cube World wasn't worth the wait
7 votes -
Darkwood
4 votes -
Untitled Goose Game review: The year's best video game about geese, reviewed from a goose's point of view.
12 votes -
Alone in Public - A "No Man's Sky" Review
4 votes -
The new Nintendo Switch review: The updated Tegra X1 tested in depth
10 votes -
Review: Ion Fury
6 votes -
Eliza review: Startup culture meets sci-fi in a touching, fascinating tale
7 votes -
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is the second worst game I've played this year
7 votes -
Super Mario Maker 2 review: Much more than a game design toolkit
8 votes -
Cyberpunk 2077's E3 demo has weak gunplay and unimaginative stereotypes
25 votes -
Watch Dogs: Legion hands-on: one hour hacking my way through London
7 votes -
In 'Don't Wake The Night', You Have The Power Of A God Without The Omniscience
6 votes -
Valve explains their thoughts about whether the recent Assassin's Creed: Unity giveaway resulted in the first "off-topic review bomb" with a positive effect
14 votes -
Days Gone OpenCritic sitting at 72
6 votes -
Red Dead Redemption 2: six months later – A detailed look at the failures, and success, of Rockstar’s latest hit
10 votes -
Steam announces plans to identify "off-topic review bombs", and remove them from games' review scores
13 votes -
I don’t wanna do my video game chores
28 votes -
Tetris 99 isn’t just a great twist on a classic—it’s a gameplay revolution
28 votes -
Kingdom Hearts 3 (dunkview)
22 votes -
Who do you go to to learn about the state of PC ports?
I used to watch TotalBiscuit's videos to learn about PC ports of games, to see if they were any good. Obviously I can't do that anymore, and the best replacement I've found so far is looking at...
I used to watch TotalBiscuit's videos to learn about PC ports of games, to see if they were any good. Obviously I can't do that anymore, and the best replacement I've found so far is looking at PCGamingWiki. If a game has a long page with a lot of issues and workarounds, it is probably a bad port.
But that doesn't really help if I want to know if a game has improved a lot since launch. Does anyone do a good "state of game x a few years later" series?
8 votes -
'Red Dead Redemption 2' fails to justify its own excessive existence
11 votes -
Red Dead Redemption 2 review – gripping western is a near miracle
8 votes -
Video game 'Donut County' asks big questions about gentrification...
7 votes -
Destiny 2: Forsaken review - Hallelujah, Destiny’s back
5 votes -
No Man's Sky Next on PC: Brilliant visuals but performance is concerning
14 votes -
Zero Punctuation: E3 2018 roundup
8 votes -
Jurassic World: Evolution feels like a copy paste of Operation Genesis
So I picked up Jurassic World: Evolution recently because I loved Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis as a kid and have a "dinosaur park sim"-shaped hole in my heart. I'm enjoying it for what it's...
So I picked up Jurassic World: Evolution recently because I loved Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis as a kid and have a "dinosaur park sim"-shaped hole in my heart. I'm enjoying it for what it's worth. I think 60 bucks is a little steep for what it's offering, so I can't recommend you pick it up right now unless you REALLY want a Jurassic Park sim game with potential for future growth.
Anyways, that being said, I am 99% convinced this game is just a reskin of the old one. Everything from the dinosaur animations, to the mission types, to the vehicle controls, to how the general flow of gameplay goes feels almost identical to Operation Genesis. I get that there's only so much you can do when you're making what is essentially the same game with from the same property, but take this from a man who put an ungodly amount of time into OG as a child: it feels 100% the same. Like I think all they did was take OG and give the dinosaurs a very nice new paint job and then give everything else a half-hearted coat of paint.
I don't mind all that much since I can't play OG anymore, but I still found it odd how shockingly similar this games feels to OG. Anyone else notice this? Or am I just crazy/supplanting my memories of the old game onto the new one?
8 votes -
Just for funsies: Just Let Me Play! | A review of Bloons TD 6 (Android/iOS)
For those unaware, the Bloons TD series consists of tower defense games where you place monkeys along a track to pop balloons. It's called TD and not Tower Defense because a scumbag company...
For those unaware, the Bloons TD series consists of tower defense games where you place monkeys along a track to pop balloons. It's called TD and not Tower Defense because a scumbag company decided to trademark the name of an entire genre, but that's beside the point.
Since the series's debut as a flash game over a decade ago, the games have evolved to contain a wealth of strategic complexity. Aside from the towers having different attack rates and ranges, there are different types of damage (e.g. popping, fire, explosion) that make each tower unique. Additionally, the balloons occasionally have resistances to certain types of damage. This forces you to be creative with your tower placement, and opens each game up to an incredible depth and variation. This helps keep the game fresh and exciting, as you try out different strategies.
...Or at least, it would do that if it weren't for the arbitrary roadblocks the game puts in place. Presumably in order to ease new players into the mechanics, you're forced to unlock everything through gameplay. This doesn't just include new towers, tracks, and game modes -- you're forced to unlock every single upgrade for every single tower. You unlock these by using the towers to earn them XP.
In theory this wouldn't be so bad. You could argue that it makes you learn the strengths and weaknesses of the towers before you can upgrade them. But why is that learning forced on me by the game? Why can't I learn at my own pace? I care so much because the game's pace is hellishly slow. You will certainly have to spend time grinding in order to unlock everything.
If that sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. I should not have to grind in my mobile tower defense game. I've been playing for two days now, and I'm still incredibly far from being able to play without restrictions. I'm mentally preparing myself for the long haul on this, but I can easily see this alienating new players, or those who just want to experience all the game has to offer.
It really is ridiculous when my own attempts to win the rounds are foiled because the game won't let me have the upgrade I need.
The other major problem I have with the game are its in-app purchases. Ninja Kiwi, the developer, seems to adhere to the despicable model of charging $5 up-front and also charging for things in-game. The game tempts me every time I look at the menu of which upgrades I've unlocked. "Don't you want to use this tower now, instead of many hours from now? Why not pay $5 to unlock all of its upgrades instantly?"
There are in-app purchases for different amounts of Monkey Money (which let you continue to play a failed game) that range from $2 to $55. Double Cash mode, which in previous games was unlocked through playing, now costs $19.
There are good points to this game. The graphics are 3D, which is quite different than the older games, and they look good. They're not an outstanding visual pleasure, but they also aren't irritating or ugly. The word I'd use is serviceable. I preferred the cartoony graphics of Bloons TD 5, but I can see myself getting used to these.
The music is also adequate. Different tracks may have different music, but the repetition may have you cringing as you grind, grind, grind away for hours at unlocking everything. At 20 tracks, there is certainly enough variety to help alleviate some of the drag, but you also have to remember that the more difficult tracks are likely impossible to beat if you still don't have access to every tower's upgrades.
So there you have it. I give Bloons TD 6 three rubbery balloon-husks out of five while shedding a single disappointed tear, because all the fun is locked away behind hours of grinding.
Or you could pay real money to skip all that and actually have fun. Ninja Kiwi, you've broken my heart.
8 votes -
Just picked up HORIZON Zero Dawn and... Wow. Just wow.
I know I am VERY late to the game on this one, but so far this game has eaten up 20+ hours in 3 days. For anyone who doesn't know, it's an open world action adventure (?) game set in the 31st...
I know I am VERY late to the game on this one, but so far this game has eaten up 20+ hours in 3 days. For anyone who doesn't know, it's an open world action adventure (?) game set in the 31st century. Robotic animals roam the world, and you play an 18 year old girl that hunts them, utilizing bows, spears, slings, ans traps. It has a very primitive feel to it, so you can only assume this is either an alternate universe or a post apocalyptic earth.
While I've already had most of the plot spoiled for me, I'm enjoying all the little bits of lore I'm finding. I csnt wait to see how the plot plays out (as I said, it was spoiled, but only broad strokes, like knowing Vader is Luke's dad.) It's HARD sci-fi in a VIDEO GAME, not something shallow that's been done to death or that's too predictable.
I am severely overleveled, but combat is still fresh and challenging (playing on hard for my first play through.). There are so many different ways to approach situations, I can always change things around and try a different Tactic. I've had so much fun just going around farming and questing that I've ignored the main story for the most part.
The way the game handles its lore is phenomenal. I can't go into details without spoilers (just go read the wiki if you want to I suppose) but I'll save everything happens for a reason,and beautifully so.
Its not without its cons, however. As great as the combat is, a lot of the more difficult parts (so far) can be avoided by going out of bounds where enemies can't reach you (say a cliff or up a rock face, which if you can't climb, some careful jumping will take care of for you.)
It feels like some other games. I'm a big fan of open world, so its in the same family of MGSV, Farcry, and Shadow of Mordor, down to the map markers, collectibles, and inventory wheel. But hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
11 votes -
BattleTech is a more tactical, punishing view of mech battling
8 votes -
Beat Saber is now the highest rated title on Steam – VR or otherwise
4 votes