All I want is for the frame rate to be fixed instead of locking at 15 fps for boss fights, and for that stupid hippos hitbox to be fixed as well.

OS: Arch Linux
GPU: GTX 960
Controller: Keyboard and mouse, steam controller

Few stories break boundaries like this one did. I stumbled upon it while browsing youtube and i was impressed so much by it that I wanted to experience the game myself. This game ends up leaving you with questions, often questions about yourself and your morality. For a game that's so under rated, it is still highly popular among the community.

[THE GOOD]

The aesthetics are phenominal and the graphics (for the most part) hold a level of realism that blends well with the art style.

The music really gives a gritty feeling and a truly hopeless and depressing one as well .

The story is (without going into much detail) probably one of the best uses of parallels, multiple themes, imagery, foreshadowing, level of detail, and a final message that I have ever seen so far in any game.

The gameplay isn't as bad as many claim it to be, especially on the higher difficulties. Level design really improves towards the end of the game and I can't help but feel that was intentional as well.

The voice acting is probably the best I've heard and seen in any game and even any movie. Moreover not a single character feels like filler. I still remember even the ones that appeared for only one mission, for each character is truly unique.

[THE BAD]

There are moments where the graphics didn't fully render and there were a few glitches with the soldiers. There was also a moment during the last mission where Konrad's body suddenly became bright and was visible for a split second before the scene played where he was turned around.

Cursing is used throughout towards the end of the game, but at the same time I can understand due to the war scenario.

As some have pointed out before regarding the white phosphorous scene, it could have been done better, where enemies wouldn't end up spawning immediately.

Violence is throughout the game but it is good that it tries to show it in a negative light.

Gameplay wise combat can feel a little clunky every now and then. Sometimes when you want to take cover in a location that looks possible to cover behind, you end up standing out in the open instead. Personally I had few issues but it was annoying when it did happen. Also the range and accuracy on some of your arsenal is too much and too precise. Understand that it's not meant to be a fully realistic game, but there are areas where some reality would be beneficial to have included.

[THE MASTERPIECE]

Few games have left me chills like this one have, chills that keep coming back as i remember the music and the moments throughout the game. It questions the psychological and spiritual stance of one's stance and values, and even questions narratives that are portrayed in games, movies and other forms of media as well. Truly this game was well thought out to the very most intricate detail and it shows well with this game.

So if you've grown up on games like Pharoah and Cleopatra from way back when, then you will definetly (not sure exactly though) enjoy spending countless hours of playing, having fun, then ultimately regreting having spent valuable time on a video game instead of on something else in life that can be considered productive. Of course if you consider productive being the act of learning how to manage a nation of varying cultural backgrounds, histories, and in turn how to change history then this game is for you!

[THE GOOD]

You can develop your civilizations towards whatever path (within the confines of the game rules) you want. Want to be peaceful? Go right ahead. Warmonger? Not the best option but its your choice as well. You have that kind of freedom in this game.


You ultimately end up wanting to expand and grow your civilization and enjoy seeing it grow as time progresses. The fun arrives in what type of strategy you should take in terms of what technology you should research. It becomes a game of balancing the need for research to improve how much money you can make, the military strength you can get, the rate at which you can build things, and the means of which you can get more culture, research, happiness and faith for your people.

The visuals are also impressive and each unit also changes their appearances as you progress in the game's time.

[THE BAD]
Micro managing can be very annoying in this game, especially when you're at war with another nation in the game. You don't have the option of dragging the mouse over several military units at the same time and then tell them where to go. Instead, you have to go through countless units at your disposal and give each and every one of them a command as to where they should go. In those case you just end up telling your units to go whereever just to save time, but in doing so you can send them to a place which you may end up regretting later.

I also wish there was a way to have nations and city states merge with yours through peaceful means instead of just conquest being the option. Of course there is a civ which has the ability to merge city states peacefully with their own, but I was hoping for something like that being available for all civs.


[THE FANTASTIC]

This game will take countless hours as you enjoy growing and spreading your civilization's borders. Will it stand or will it fall? That is the battle you have to face as you play each game.

Controller: Steam Controller, Keyboard and Mouse
GPU: GTX 960

Just Cause 2 is a game where you play as the bad guy, Rico, whose sole purpose is to cause chaos in a foreign country and bring it into a state of destruction and put someone else in power. Throughout the game your sole purpose is in causing chaos and collecting items which can be used for upgrading your health, vehicle and weapon levels. You have hundreds of locations you can visit in a large sandbox map, which may vary from small towns to military bases in varying sizes. With that said, let’s talk about both the good and the bad elements in the game.

[THE GOOD]
Controls offer a variety of options including swimming, skydiving, parachuting, driving cars, driving boats, flying planes, flying helicopters, stunt jumping, akimbo firing, grappling like Scorpion’s and Spiderman’s powers got fused together. There’s a wide range of options.
The physics are wacky, crazy, and I love it. You’ll fall far longer than how you should in reality. You can tether yourself toward the ground as your falling over hundreds of meters and come out completely unscathed. Yours and enemy vehicles will tumble and toss exponentially out of control. You’ll find yourself fighting against hordes of enemies as you use this world’s physics to your advantage. It’s in the moments where you don’t have any weapons to use to your advantage that the game really shines its potential, where you have to really think fast and carefully as you try to destroy the last destructible areas in a settlement.
Of course going direct is the most common option as you have a wide variety of options from primary types such as shotguns to rocket launchers, to secondary types such as submachine types, as well as grenades and remote trigger types. You can also akimbo secondary types. When falling you’ll have an infinite amount of parachutes at your disposal in which you can keep traveling by gliding using the main gizmo at your disposal, the grappling hook. It’ll pull you towards things, it will pull things to you, and it’ll pull things together. The grappling hook is the main tool which you will more than likely be using throughout the game. It’ll offer a quick escape and also opportunity to reach otherwise nearly unreachable goals.
Vehicles come in a variety of land, sea, and air based types. You’ll have armored vehicles for causing mayhem and sports cars for having a speedy escape as you try to get away. You’ll have boats going in pursuit after you and hoards of enemies heavily armed trying to take you out. You’ll have helicopters for getting away and causing mayhem, planes for getting away and trying to cause mayhem. All of the vehicles you can stunt jump on, allowing for some nice shots and additional actions to follow. You can even jump from vehicle-to-vehicle as well.
For both weapons and vehicles you can upgrade them to increase their stats, such as armor, capacity, and so on. You’ll find upgrade parts that cater specifically to weapons and specifically to vehicles throughout the map.

[THE BAD]
Not a big fan of causing chaos for the sake of chaos to honest, even though the game’s story tries to justify the intentions behind you actions. To some it might be a petty reason but for me it’s a big deal.
The character himself was uninteresting and his small remarks and phrases weren’t enjoyable, they came off as annoying instead. His appearance isn’t that interesting and there’s also no option to change his outfits as well.
The sound could be better, with explosions sound like they don’t hold enough power behind them. Music could be much better in this game, it becomes so repetitive and annoying to the point of which I just turned off the music.
There are a lot of glitches throughout the game. At times when I’m firing and suddenly turn around abruptly my weapon keeps firing even though I took my finger off the button, and it only stops when I press the button again. There was certain section at the end of the game where right after the cutscene I landed in the water instead of staying on the moving objects, which required me restart from the last checkpoint.
An issue I found occurring often was when I was falling from a tall building or structure and I just wanted to get one floor below it and grapple to it then. However, when doing so I suddenly end up skydiving and the camera resets to below me instead of the area I was getting ready to grapple to, in which I found myself missing the area I wanted several times just so I can get an item due to how the game was structured around this mechanic.
I had a hassle getting the steam controller to work properly in terms of camera sensitivity, so I finally ended up switching to mouse and keyboard. However there was one area where the steam controller excelled above the mouse and keyboard, and that was in flying helicopters and planes. For helicopters there was a minimal difference except with how the camera would stay properly centered for steam controllers vs how the camera was slightly off center when I used the mouse and keyboard. But when it came to flying planes, the mouse and keyboard made it almost impossible to properly fly as the camera would go far in front or to the side as I tried to move left and right, making it extremely difficult to fire upon targets using planes.
Grappling hook options feel limited for something that seems so powerful. I try to connect to enemy helicopters together and instead they detach easily from each other and keep causing me problems. It’s really when it comes to helicopters that I find myself wishing that the grappling hook could have shown more of its possible abilities.
Crouching is another issue I had in that couldn’t fire and crouch at the same time. I could only crouch and not move from that position.
It’s in this game where realized how stealth should be an option even in large scale crazy physics sandbox games like this. How does the enemy know where I’m at when something blows up far from where I’m at? Or how do they know I was the one who destroyed the water tower using a remote item? They suddenly all know who did it, and where I am at the same time. It’s an annoying feature when suddenly I have 3 helicopters chasing after me every single time. Even more so stealth could have offered more features and funny interactions from enemies as they’d see something chaotic occurring, or in seeing a vehicles spinning out off control on a wire.
I’m also really tired of helicopters suddenly knowing where I’m at after traveling miles away from where I last was and they suddenly spawn on the map. I understand that that’s part of the “heat” mechanic where the higher the heat the more enemies as well as the more dangerous enemies are.
The logic of how the game’s world suddenly has enemy boats spawning in a lake below me where its obvious there aren’t any docks or villages surrounding it in the first place.
The towns are boring and offer very little variety, and there are so many throughout the map. What’s worse is that you have to look for collectables in order to fully complete them instead of just destroying a few key points. Fortunately you have a radar that can help you navigate and see it there’s an item nearby. But it can be apparent after a while how it is hard to know if you obtained all the items or not. Cities were the most unenjoyable parts about the game. The collectables are the most annoying part about settlements. There's also not much to do after completing most of the game.

[THE MEH]
This game has positives that hold potential, but the negatives just end up annoying and bother me instead.

GPU: GTX 960
Controls: Keyboard and Mouse, Steam Controller

Let me tell you about a game that everyone keeps referencing when it comes to PC gaming, one that I ended up playing late ahead of everyone else. In the end I didn't expect it and had a lot of fun. It isn't just spoken highly of for the memes and highly advanced graphics that continue to stay up to date even today. This game is fun, visually beautiful, and is overall a masterpiece in my view.

[THE GOOD]

Let's start with the settings, you have a variety of features you can tinker around with. But really got my attention were the little ones such as being able to change the suit UI color scheme, that is the color of you menu when you pause, and the suit voice settings of either male or female.

The game itself starts out somewhat cinematic at first and the game is somwhat linear when you start it, with a path that you can only go in one direction to the objective. But it feels natural none the less. During this time a tutorial plays out. After that the game shifts between open world and linear paths. That said it fits well and doesn't feel unnatural as it occurs, as the paths you can take to reach an objective on the map are your choice.

The gameplay is a lot of fun, switching between moments of stealth, high blown action, and large scale battles as you fight against enemy combatants of varying types. There is a large weapon select as well, with you being able to wield 3 main weapons and a explosive type. The fun part with side arm is that you can dual wield them as well. You can also customize you weapons as well mid battle. The suit itself has a nice variety of abilities for you to use. Nothing too overpowered, but also enjoyable to use when you get the chance. The most popular has to be the stealth and armor abilities. But you can also mix things up a bit with strength and speed as well when you feel like being in the middle of the fight, evading quickly, and using heavy objects in the environment at your disposal. At a moral level I'm happy that violence is rare and not over the top as though the game indulges itself in it.

The music isn't bad and is actually enjoyable when it plays throughout the game. The audio sound effects are also enjoyable as well.

The aesthetics are fantastic, with each object in the world feeling like its real in its visuals.

The story feels new and refreshing (despite the fact that it was released years ago). It has a mix of creative, serious, and overall something that doesn't feel average from most fps games. It's unique, mixing in sci fi with a war game as it has its various twists and setting changes throughout. It reminds me a lot of those dreams and daay dreams you have when you imagine being a hero and having an adventure. The world feels alive and the characters feel unique with each having their own personalities. You character rarely speaks, with most of the time its you imagining what he's saying. That said when he does speak, he speaks similar things to what you would probably say.

[THE BAD]

Sound wise I wish it was a little better, mainly regarding when you turn away from a character talking and all of a sudden there voice sounds like they're suddenly 20 meters away from you.

The suit itself loses power far too quickly when I use it, and I wish it would recover just a little faster. That said it's not that big of an issue in itself.

Faces could use more detail but considering when this game was made they still hold up well and haven't aged poorly.

There are a few glitches throughout the game that require you to save here and there to overcome.

I don't like the cursing that occurs throughout the game, though it isn't often.

Story wise the game ended when I was hyped to see what comes next. My other complaint would be on the language (swear words) that's used by some of the characters.

[THE FANTASTIC]

If you can handle the negatives I mentioned, then I think you'll enjoy this game as well. This game is a marvel that I did not expect to enjoy. Most fps games don't even compare to this one to me. It's an exciting ride and adventure is you go from one location to another as you discover new places, new enemies, new weapons, new people, new plot twists, and new encounters. The pace will change from fast and exilerating as you wave past enemies and try to reach an objective, to slow and cautious as you try not to get caught by enemies who are strong despite your suit's abilities. The world feels alive as you listen to sound of the nature around you and even the conflicts that occur as well.

To this day it's a shame that it doesn't have a proper sequel.

Controller: Steam Controller
GPU: GTX 960

To be frank (there's a pun) I couldn't get through the main menu. They warn you at the start that this game has a flashing lights and instense effects and that there is a siezure warning, they even offer an option to back out or continue then with one of 2 buttons. This is the first time that warning was necessary for me.

[THE GOOD]
The effects seem well done, there are controller options at the start which allow you to choose what your controller inputs are. You can change those later in the options. Music also sounds well done. The effects go along to the beat of the music.

[THE BAD]
You start getting a headache 30 seconds in and you start looking away 10 seconds in. There is just too much flashing going on right at the start. I'm not even sure if I can change those settings since I felt like I was getting sicker and sicker as time was passing. Looking away from the screen and I could still see the flashes the room I was in, this is with a somewhat lit room. I closed my eyes, I could still see the flashes. I covered my eyes, and I could still see the flashes. It gets even worse once the rock music kicks up and the flashes become even brighter and more intense and rapid. That brief moment when the music toned down for the beginning of the rock music was a sigh of relief when I no longer noticed intense flashing lights, until the rock reached intensity.

[THE HEADACHE]
This game might be fun in controls and the beat aspect is a nice thouch that goes to the music. The problem is is that I couldn't even start the game to begin with due to the flashing lights, and that point I didn't even want to due to how irritated my eyes and head felt. There might be options to tone this down, but looking through the lights and flashes more and more made it difficult to navigate. By the end I just wanted to get out of it. This game might have potential, but I'm taking a pass on it.

Played with: Mouse and Keyboard
GPU: GTX 960
Version: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

This is my first paid online only game I've ever played. I never played CounterStrike, but I have played games with a campaign mode and multiplayer mode such as Call of Duty. That said this game is far different from any multiplayer shooter I've played so far. I won't be covering everything in the game, since I haven't tried everything that there is in this game, but only from what I've tried. Also, I'm not an expert in any graphics or aesthetics terms and details. If it looks pretty to me, then I mention that and how it looks. My main focus is on how fun the game is to me.


[THE GOOD]

Let's start with the visuals, they're beautiful in many ways. The details on and in the buildings as well as around them are wonderful. The textures on the walls and grounds are pleasing to the eye, and the models and weapons aren't lacking either.

In terms of gameplay modes, you have a "campaign" mode which is only a series of tutorials that let you take on a few scenarios with certain opperators against computer AI terrorists, you have a terrorist hunt mode which consists of going against computer AI in defending a hostage, rescuing a hostage, disarming devices, and search and destroy all terrorist units. This can either be done with a team of 2-5, or you can choose to go solo in lone wolf mode. You can change the settings to have certain modes more active than others as well as the maps. Lastly there are the multiplayer matches which consist of casual and ranked modes. Ranked mode has players trying to get their ranks higher, allows players to choose their spawn points at the start of a round, and allows getting more renown than in casual mode (more on that later), while casual mode lacks all of the features I jsut mentioned, but allows for a lot of fun as well. All multiplayer matches consist of one team defending a hostage, defending a biohazardous container, or defending two different points from being diffused (note: if one of the two is diffused then that round is lost). While the other side has to extract the hostage, secure the room where the hazardous container is located, or having to diffuse one of the two. Note that if you die during a round in terrorist hunt mode or multiplayer mode, you won't be able to play until the next round comes. However, you will be able to spectate.

When playing any mode you can aim down or hip fire. You can lean right or left to peek passed walls and angles without exposing you whole body to gunfire, this can be done while crouching or standing. You have the standard forward, back, left and right movements, crouch and prone positions, melee attack, sprint, and vault buttons. You can also communicate with teammates if you have a microphone. If you don't have one, then you can text chat with them during the match (note that text chat and microphone communication can be done while dead during a round as well).

Here's where it gets a little different. In this version of the game, you have a recruit operator from the start, you have an initial 20 operators which are non dlc, and 14 dlc operators. With the 20 initial operators, you have 5 different branches of service where the operators originate from (FBI SWAT, GIGN, SAS, GSG 9, and Spetsnaz). Each operator in each area costs about 500 "renown," then after purchasing one in that branch the price raises to 1000, then 1500, and lastly 2000. There is no select way to get one in a branch, it's your choice which to get. Now you may be asking what renown is. Renow is an ingame currency you can get which you get by playing, and it's not too hard to get. Win one or five matches in casual mode and you can get enough points to get all the operators in a branch (this is based on likely flawed memory, as I got operators a long time ago.

Each branch has certain weapons they use only spetsnaz use Russian AKs and so on so forth. However, with every weapon you are able to customize them with several attachments (silencer, holo sight, etc.) and different color schemes. You can also do so and change your weapon layout right before a match begins. Not every character has a grenade for the "g" key. Rather, some may carry barbed wire (defenders side) which slow down the attackers when they come across it, and it also makes sound at the same time. Some carry barriers, others impact grenades, etc. You are also able to change character attire as well, but I never really looked into how that's done.

The biggest difference with every character is their special skill or item that can be activated and used. For some it can be used multiple times in a single match, for others it is very limited. Take Tachanka, he has a portable machine gun he can mount anywhere in the map and in turn use it against attackers. But Kapkan on the other hand has a limted amount of trip wire explosives that can be used in door ways, and once the trip wires go off on an attacker there is no getting them back. The choosing of certain operators over others in itself can be done for a strategic purpose, and choosing the right operators can make things much harder for the opposing side. I'm not saying that it's impossible to win using operators that might be considered not the best choice for certain maps, but it can at times make it easier.


[THE BAD]

I played this game with no knowledge of the gameplay pre-alpha trailer Ubisoft showed at E3. However, those visuals, aesthetics, animations, and game design elements made me feel sad when I saw how good it looked. I'm not sure if the reason for this is due to console limitations affecting PC ports, or if those elements removed were to create a more competetive and balanced game, but I am still saddened by the lack of those features. A hostage with many reactions and emotions to the environment around them, rooftops capable of being breached, helicopter spawn points, and lighting and detail much better than what's shown now.

There's another issue I have with the game, and that is that in stages with police cars all around, they don't seem to have anyone in or beside them. Moreover they don't give much back up when a defender comes out from the building and decides to rush you instead. It really bugs me.


[THE FANTASTIC]

Rainbow Six: Siege is a game that can yield many different results every match due to each player constantly changing their approaches to deal with different scenarios. It's feels satisfying to win a match, to be the last one standing on your team and still holding your ground against the enemy and surviving, it feels good outmaneuvering the other team. The game feels fun and has a lot worth coming back to. The designers put a lot of work into this game, and they deserve the recognition for making such a great game.

Played with: Mouse and Keyboard
Graphics: GTX 960
Graphics Options: All ultra (except for motion blur which was set at medium)

I'm new to the Crysis franchise, I started the first game a few days ago and finished the day I started Crysis 2. I'm not going to compare which had better aesthetics, I'll just say what looked good and what didn't in this game. However, my main focus will be on the gameplay and overall fun I had with this game.

[THE GOOD]
I'm treated to Hanz Zimmer's music for this game, and I already like the main menu design. I like that I can change the difficulty when I start a new game. The music and sound quality seem improved as well.

When playing, the environment seems more detailed and the city environment is an interesting approach and change from the last game, and when the environment takes damage it looks great (a concrete pillar fired on by an MG). The animations in the game are also improved, and there are better designed character models as well.

Continuing with gameplay, I like that I can finally toggle crouch mode on and off. You can finally climb over objects/through open balconies instead of just jump to, on, or over. For those that want to go guns blazing, you can finally detach mounted machine guns on cars, and use them to mow down enemies. Kicking cars in the direction of enemies is now possible for a more loud approach. Now if you want to to take the silent but deadly approach, they made a stealth kill option when invisible and next to an enemy.

[THE BAD]
Right from the menu options I noticed things that, although minor, are still unpleasant. You can no longer customize your suit's voice, you can no longer customize your suit's HUD color (military green, blue, red, or white), and there are no longer as many key customizations. The key customizations that are lacking which bother me most are leaning left and right. You can no longer disable blood. Also, you can no longer save at any point any longer, it seems to now be checkpoint driven.

When playing, I was bothered by how the game had to hold my hand step-by-step in a linear enclosed environment, where everything is conveniantly placed (I'm talking trucks and debris) to prevent me from diverging a different path. I can't use stealth mode at the start until it gives me a prompt to do so at the beginning of the game, the same with armor mode.

Then there is the gameplay, let's start with the suit. From the start, all the abilities aren't unlocked (each ability has additional unlockable perks/upgrades that enhance stealth, armor, etc.), and I wasn't motivated to unlock anything. I just wanted to use the suit's powers and play how I wanted to with little restrictions in that regard. I also disliked how I wasn't able to choose strength mode and sprint mode any more (the abilities are now automatically used when sprinting and "hold" jumping), part of the fun in the previous one was in juggling around between each ability and knowing which is the best choice for a moment (whether combat or simply traversing terrain). Also, when looking at my HUD, I could no longer see a health bar, instead the screen effects were kept and a low health warning was added to the screen.

Now looking at gameplay,you cannot dual wield pistols anymore. The amount of weapons you can carry at a time has been reduced since pistols are considered a primary instead of a backup. Leaning left and right isn't the same anymore, it's replaced by getting behind something and aiming down your sights while using the camera axis to control you leaning over or past the cover. At one point I tried a lasersight weapon, but it was no longer it's own attachment like in the first game. Instead, it was a sight attachment which prevented me from using iron sights and instead zoomed in from hipfire. At one point I saw an enemy through the glass of a bus and shot at him, but the bullet wouldn't go through and would just spark off. I got some distance and shot again with the same results. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or if this is how it was designed to be.

[THE UGLY]
Part of the beauty of Crisis 1 was in it's very open environment and how you could approach different combat scenarios. It had its own charm with its story and gameplay. There were problems there, but even with those problems it felt fun. It felt like it had a lot of passion put into it. But something about Crysis 2 sets me off. I went into it with high hopes after finishing the first, wanting see where the story and action would go next. I liked how it started, but progressively I felt more and more annoyed, tired, and even bored with it. I'll admit I didn't play long and I didn't even finish it, because the truth is I don't even want to finish it.

They included collectables this time, which is a nice but unneccessary addition. If the other issues would have been fixed then I would have welcomed it. But without those issues being fixed, it only feels like a cheap attempt at having the player go on a scavenger hunt and make it more fun.

There were some fun moments where I could jump on a car, detach an MG from it, fire at the enemies, jump off, and power kick the car at another group of enemies. But those fun moments get overshadowed for me by all the negative aspects I found.

To each their own, to mine my own.