More, please

Stop with the clown skins

GOTY

For those who are hesitant about buying Balatro because it involves cards: in reality, Balatro has nothing to do with poker. Poker is merely the theme, the aesthetic backdrop for an incredibly fun card game.

The real goal of the player is to "break" the game using joker cards. Jokers provide score multipliers under different conditions. Sometimes, you have to take a big risk, but the rewards can be through the roof. The key is to find a combination of cards that lets you rack up an absurd amount of points and climb the leaderboard. You might think, "Well, just find one winning combo and use it every time." NO. The selection of jokers and other cards is randomly generated each round and also costs money.

A crucial aspect of the game is its economy. Winning rounds earns you money, which you can spend on new cards and upgrades at the end of each round. Sometimes, you might not get lucky with the jokers, forcing you to adapt. And that's how the hours fly by.

I wholeheartedly recommend this game to those who enjoy deck-building, assembling unique combinations, and card-based puzzles. The main thing this game lacks is multiplayer.

I do not recommend buying Hellblade 2 for those expecting an actual "game." In essence, Hellblade 2 is more of an experience—placing you in the mind of someone suffering from schizophrenia and psychosis. The issue is that this concept is being presented for the second time, and the sequel doesn't bring any new ideas to the table.

Moreover, Senua as a character goes through the same narrative arc with minimal new insights. By the end of the game, she reaches a new conclusion, but it hardly justifies the five-hour runtime of the “game.”

I use the term “game” loosely here because Hellblade 2 is much more akin to a movie where you occasionally need to click or press W to progress. The gameplay is primitive, resembling Supermassive's interactive “movies,” except Supermassive doesn't shy away from embracing that label.

Yes, it's visually stunning—arguably the best showcase of Unreal Engine 5 I've seen. However, the engine's power is primarily spent rendering rocks, trees, and more rocks. It's a pleasure to look at initially, but even that grows tiresome after a while. You can only see so many rocks before it becomes repetitive.

In the end, it's unclear who this game is for. Newcomers are unlikely to dive in without playing the first installment, and revisiting the same experience after completing the first game feels pointless. The same simplistic puzzles and non-existent gameplay, the same emotional turmoil. Hellblade 2 might aim to be “arthouse,” but it's hard to call it original when it’s an unnecessary sequel to a finished story.

What we’re left with is essentially a 6 hour tech demo.

Honestly, I’m no longer surprised that it’s struggling to find it's audience and that Ninja Theory is on the brink of potential closure.

Все таки, без Valve, Turtle Rock не могут ровным счетом ни-хе-ра.

Бюджетный VR-шутер.
Мало интерактивности, часто глючат скрипты, окружение сделано за три копейки.
Главный герой шутками сначала веселит, ближе к середине — тотально надоедает.

Игру спасает очень (очень!) сочная стрельба и большой арсенал.
Ну и всё ж иногда игра выдает крутые сценки, где-то раз в полчаса.
Если хочется «что-то пострелять и с зомби» — норм.

При этом, Arizona Sunshine Remake мне показалась более гармоничной и сбалансированной. Лучше купить сначала ее или взять обе игры в бандле.

Скорее рекомендую, но по скидке.