Games Completed 2024

[Indiana747]

(Nov) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Series X.

How did you find Black Ops 6?

Found it the most enjoyable CoD campaign in recent years, although ive always preferred the Black Ops take, early Black Ops titles were so good "the numbers Mason" & all that stuff. I only downloaded the campaign so ive no idea about BO6 multiplayer or Zombies & have no desire to find out either. Never missed a CoD campaign so was nice to get this one on Game Pass. Was a nice bonus really.

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Battlefield 3 - Series X.
(Jan) Hi-Fi Rush - Series X.
(Jan) Daymare 1998 - Series X.
(Jan) The Beast Inside - Series X.
(Feb) XIII - Series X.
(Feb) Close to the Sun - Series X.
(Feb) Atomic Heart - Series X.
(Feb) Return to Grace - Series X.
(Feb) MADiSON - PS5.
(Mar) TDPA: House of Ashes - PS5.
(Mar) RE Village: Shadows of Rose - PS5.
(Mar) Those Who Remain - Series X.
(Mar) Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Series X.
(Mar) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - PS5.
(Mar) Control: Ultimate Edition - Series X.
(Mar) DREDGE - Series X.
(Apr) Little Nightmares - Series X.
(Apr) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - Series X.
(Apr) Robocop: Rogue City - PS5.
(Apr) Little Nightmares II - Series X.
(May) Fallout 4 - PS5.
(May) The Maw - Xbox 360.
(May) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Series X.
(June) Alan Wake II: Night Springs dlc - Series X
(June) Castlestorm: Definitive Edition - Series X
(July) Still Wakes the Deep - Series X.
(July) The Quarry - PS5.
(July) Bright Memory Infinite - Series X.
(July) Diablo IV - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Duty: MWIII - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Xbox 360.
(Aug) No More Heroes III - Series X.
(Aug) Trepang 2 - Series X.
(Sept) Deliver Us Mars - PS5.
(Sept) Black Myth: Wukong(True Ending) - PS5.
(Sept) Age of Mythology: Retold - Series X.
(Oct) Lies Of P - Series X.
(Oct) Alone in the Dark(2024) - PS5.
(Oct) Operation: Polygon Storm - PS5.
(Nov) Elden Ring - Series X.
(Nov) Dark Souls Remastered - PS5.
(Nov) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Series X.
(Nov) Alan Wake II: Lake House dlc - Series X.

[Alex79]

JAN - Strider (Arcade on Evercade)
JAN - Strider (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - God Of War (PS5)
JAN - Universal Paperclips (Android)
FEB - Alwa's Awakening (Evercade)
FEB - Little Inferno (Android)
FEB - Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (NES on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (NES on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan (Gameboy on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers (Gameboy on Switch)
MAR - Mario Golf (Gameboy on Switch)
MAR - Duke Nukem Remastered (Evercade)
APR - Castlevania Legends (Gameboy on Switch)
APR - The Combatribes (Arcade on Evercade)
APR - Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen (Switch)
APR - Bioshock (Switch)
MAY - Tinykin (Switch)
MAY - Elden Ring (Xbox)
JUN - Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Arcade on Switch)
JUN - EAFC 24: Euros 2024 Mode (PS5)
JUN - Policenauts (PS1 on Vita)
JUN - Nyghtmare: The Ninth King (Evercade)
JUN - Cocoon (Switch)
JUN - Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Switch)
JUL - Atari 50 (Switch)
JUL - U.N. Squadron (Arcade on Vita)
JUL - The Legend Of Silkroad (Arcade on Evercade)
JUL - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (Switch)
AUG - Ninja Gaiden (NES on Switch)
SEP - Balatro (Android)
OCT - Balatro (again!) (Android)
OCT - South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Switch)
OCT - Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja (Arcade on Evercade)
NOV - The Walking Dead: Season Two (Switch)
NOV - Forgotten Worlds (Arcade on Evercade)
NOV - The Outer Worlds (Switch)

NOV - The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (Switch)

AKA the third season of the Telltale series. I really liked this. I had no idea going in that you don't actually play as Clementine in this game so was surprised about that, although she features heavily throughout the game and, I believe, returns as the playable character in the final series. The new character, Javi, I really liked. His family were well written and his story really well told. Having looked around online it seems this season wasn't as well received as the first two - honestly not sure why, it's excellent.

[Indiana747]

Spoiler: show

(Jan) Battlefield 3 - Series X.
(Jan) Hi-Fi Rush - Series X.
(Jan) Daymare 1998 - Series X.
(Jan) The Beast Inside - Series X.
(Feb) XIII - Series X.
(Feb) Close to the Sun - Series X.
(Feb) Atomic Heart - Series X.
(Feb) Return to Grace - Series X.
(Feb) MADiSON - PS5.
(Mar) TDPA: House of Ashes - PS5.
(Mar) RE Village: Shadows of Rose - PS5.
(Mar) Those Who Remain - Series X.
(Mar) Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Series X.
(Mar) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - PS5.
(Mar) Control: Ultimate Edition - Series X.
(Mar) DREDGE - Series X.
(Apr) Little Nightmares - Series X.
(Apr) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - Series X.
(Apr) Robocop: Rogue City - PS5.
(Apr) Little Nightmares II - Series X.
(May) Fallout 4 - PS5.
(May) The Maw - Xbox 360.
(May) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Series X.
(June) Alan Wake II: Night Springs dlc - Series X
(June) Castlestorm: Definitive Edition - Series X
(July) Still Wakes the Deep - Series X.
(July) The Quarry - PS5.
(July) Bright Memory Infinite - Series X.
(July) Diablo IV - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Duty: MWIII - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Xbox 360.
(Aug) No More Heroes III - Series X.
(Aug) Trepang 2 - Series X.
(Sept) Deliver Us Mars - PS5.
(Sept) Black Myth: Wukong(True Ending) - PS5.
(Sept) Age of Mythology: Retold - Series X.
(Oct) Lies Of P - Series X.
(Oct) Alone in the Dark(2024) - PS5.
(Oct) Operation: Polygon Storm - PS5.
(Nov) Elden Ring - Series X.
(Nov) Dark Souls Remastered - PS5.
(Nov) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Series X.
(Nov) Alan Wake II: Lake House dlc - Series X.

(Nov) GI Joe: Operation Blackout - Series X.
(Nov) The Bluecoats: North & South - Series X.

[Alex79]

JAN - Strider (Arcade on Evercade)
JAN - Strider (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - God Of War (PS5)
JAN - Universal Paperclips (Android)
FEB - Alwa's Awakening (Evercade)
FEB - Little Inferno (Android)
FEB - Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (NES on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (NES on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan (Gameboy on Switch)
FEB - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers (Gameboy on Switch)
MAR - Mario Golf (Gameboy on Switch)
MAR - Duke Nukem Remastered (Evercade)
APR - Castlevania Legends (Gameboy on Switch)
APR - The Combatribes (Arcade on Evercade)
APR - Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen (Switch)
APR - Bioshock (Switch)
MAY - Tinykin (Switch)
MAY - Elden Ring (Xbox)
JUN - Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Arcade on Switch)
JUN - EAFC 24: Euros 2024 Mode (PS5)
JUN - Policenauts (PS1 on Vita)
JUN - Nyghtmare: The Ninth King (Evercade)
JUN - Cocoon (Switch)
JUN - Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Switch)
JUL - Atari 50 (Switch)
JUL - U.N. Squadron (Arcade on Vita)
JUL - The Legend Of Silkroad (Arcade on Evercade)
JUL - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (Switch)
AUG - Ninja Gaiden (NES on Switch)
SEP - Balatro (Android)
OCT - Balatro (again!) (Android)
OCT - South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Switch)
OCT - Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja (Arcade on Evercade)
NOV - The Walking Dead: Season Two (Switch)
NOV - Forgotten Worlds (Arcade on Evercade)
NOV - The Outer Worlds (Switch)
NOV - The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (Switch)

NOV - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Switch)

First played this back on PC when it was first released on that platform and it immediately became my favourite GTA. It's held up okay, but I don't think any of the PS2 trilogy really compare to the more modern games (well, all two of them so far I suppose), but it was still fun to go back through this game. Checkpointing, whilst better than in the original release, can still be a bit of a pain sometimes, and the completely arbitrary loss of all your weapons when you die or are arrested is annoying, but the game still has some cool moments, let down slightly by a bit of a lackluster final couple of hours (although the very last mission is pretty decent). Not much more to say, everyone's played this.

[Scrustle]

21/11 - Half-Life

To be honest I didn’t really enjoy this one. I didn’t even expect to, frankly, and mostly only played it out of a sense of obligation because of its notoriety. That, and as preparation for maybe playing the sequel at some point too. But on its own it has never come across as something that appealed to me at all, and having played it that impression turned out to be correct. I could go in to all the things I didn’t like about it, but I don’t want to dwell on it.

[Alex79]

Yeah I'm not sure how well it's held up, but it was pretty revolutionary at the time. Compared to FPS games that barely had any story at all and were mostly just run and gun, and the enemy AI seemed really impressive 25 years ago.

[Truk_Kurt]

Depending on what you didn't like about it, you might have been better playing the remake Black Mesa.

[oni-link]

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak (2021)

It's really hard to talk about the Trails games to someone who's never played one before. They're a long running series of JRPGs where all the games take place in the same world and where the overall story moves forward with each game.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, is the 11th game in the series, and features characters and references from all 10 previous games.

The worldbuilding is as ever, fantastic, and there are so many great moments and call-backs for long time fans. The new cast are also all really fun and charming. it's nice to just spend time with your party as the story unravels.

It's not going to convert anyone who didn't like the previous games, and like them, it's also an incredibly long and slow game, but if you have the hundreds of hours to invest into the series, then this is another hit.

[Scrustle]

Yeah I'm not sure how well it's held up, but it was pretty revolutionary at the time. Compared to FPS games that barely had any story at all and were mostly just run and gun, and the enemy AI seemed really impressive 25 years ago.

Yeah, I've long been aware of how much of a shift it was supposed to have been when compared to the genre standard of the time being little more than key hunts in a maze. But not having been part of that context of the PC shooter scene around then, it's hard to appreciate that on a personal level. I've played a little bit of the original Doom, but that's about it when it comes to that sort of game.

Depending on what you didn't like about it, you might have been better playing the remake Black Mesa.

That is something I considered doing actually. In retrospect I probably would have enjoyed it more. But I already owned the original, so that's what I went with. And if I'm playing these games for the sake of learning about them and what they represent, playing the original seems like the more authentic way to do it. I can also see perhaps Half-Life 2 ending up coming across as less impressive if I played Black Mesa first, which might be a bit unfair on it. I wouldn't be against trying it out at some point down the line though, depending on how HL2 goes.

[Alex79]

I do find it quite odd that there's never been any official proper remasters or remakes of Half Life 1 and 2 for console. Surely they'd sell like anything. I know there was the Orange Box for 360/PS3 generation but even that must be almost 20 years ago by now, and didn't include the first game. Perhaps they're just so intrinsically tied to PC that it's never been a consideration.

[Truk_Kurt]

I do find it quite odd that there's never been any official proper remasters or remakes of Half Life 1 and 2 for console. Surely they'd sell like anything. I know there was the Orange Box for 360/PS3 generation but even that must be almost 20 years ago by now, and didn't include the first game. Perhaps they're just so intrinsically tied to PC that it's never been a consideration.

I wouldn't say they are intrinsically tied to PC as both Half Life 1 and 2 had console ports. On Xbox and PS2

[ratsoalbion]

And thr all-but complete yet unreleased Dreamcast H-L1 port, which would have landed first.

[Alex79]

I remember playing the Dreamcast port back in the day from a burned CD. Terrible loading pauses all the time!

@ Kurt, I know there were console ports but I still associate them much more with PC (and the PS2 port of the first game was over three years after the initial PC release). Like for example Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 - they've been released on various platforms over the years, but they'll always 'be' PC games to me.

[ratsoalbion]

I do know exactly what you mean, Alex.

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Battlefield 3 - Series X.
(Jan) Hi-Fi Rush - Series X.
(Jan) Daymare 1998 - Series X.
(Jan) The Beast Inside - Series X.
(Feb) XIII - Series X.
(Feb) Close to the Sun - Series X.
(Feb) Atomic Heart - Series X.
(Feb) Return to Grace - Series X.
(Feb) MADiSON - PS5.
(Mar) TDPA: House of Ashes - PS5.
(Mar) RE Village: Shadows of Rose - PS5.
(Mar) Those Who Remain - Series X.
(Mar) Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Series X.
(Mar) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - PS5.
(Mar) Control: Ultimate Edition - Series X.
(Mar) DREDGE - Series X.
(Apr) Little Nightmares - Series X.
(Apr) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - Series X.
(Apr) Robocop: Rogue City - PS5.
(Apr) Little Nightmares II - Series X.
(May) Fallout 4 - PS5.
(May) The Maw - Xbox 360.
(May) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Series X.
(June) Alan Wake II: Night Springs dlc - Series X
(June) Castlestorm: Definitive Edition - Series X
(July) Still Wakes the Deep - Series X.
(July) The Quarry - PS5.
(July) Bright Memory Infinite - Series X.
(July) Diablo IV - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Duty: MWIII - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Xbox 360.
(Aug) No More Heroes III - Series X.
(Aug) Trepang 2 - Series X.
(Sept) Deliver Us Mars - PS5.
(Sept) Black Myth: Wukong(True Ending) - PS5.
(Sept) Age of Mythology: Retold - Series X.
(Oct) Lies Of P - Series X.
(Oct) Alone in the Dark(2024) - PS5.
(Oct) Operation: Polygon Storm - PS5.
(Nov) Elden Ring - Series X.
(Nov) Dark Souls Remastered - PS5.
(Nov) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Series X.
(Nov) Alan Wake II: Lake House dlc - Series X.
(Nov) GI Joe: Operation Blackout - Series X.
(Nov) The Bluecoats: North & South - Series X.
(Nov) Demon's Souls - PS5.

[seansthomas]

Jan 4th - Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS5)
Jan 10th - Jusant (Xbox Series S)
Feb 6th - Resident Evil 4 (PS5)
Feb 19th - Resident Evil 4 - Hardcore (PS5)
Feb 25th - Interaction isn't explicit (PS5)
Mar 10th - The Last of Us Part II: Remastered (PS5)
Apr 16th - TLoZ: TOTK (all shrines) / Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Challenge Tombs) / Helldivers 2 (PS5) / Split Second (Xbox Series S)
May 1st - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Xbox Series S)
May 17th - Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways (PS5)
May 27th - Shadow of the Colossus (PS5)
July 23rd - Shadow of the Erdtree: Elden Ring (Xbox Series S)
July 24th - Lego Builders Journey (Switch)
July 29th - Metroid Fusion (Switch: NSOnline)
August 7th - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PS5)
August 13th - Thank goodness you're here! (PS5)
September 5th - Arranger: A role-puzzling adventure (Switch)
October 3rd - Astrobot (PS5)
November 18th - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS5)

November 25th - Tomb Raider (1): Remastered (Switch)

Seeing Tomb Raider and WipEout 2097 playing in a department store window in the early hours of the morning on my walk home from a night shift, was what convinced me to get back into gaming after a generational lapse. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Platform games are now in 3D?! And I can pretend to be Indy and go visit lost civilisations I'll never manage to get to?!

Incredible.

And Tomb Raider has been a special series for me since. So I was fascinated to see how this remaster holds up.

And for me, it was largely great.

Not gonna lie, those early hours were a struggle. I couldn't figure out if D-pad or stick was the way to go, with both not ideal. I lost a ton of progress not realising it had manual saves. I died from falling off edges. A lot.

I imagine coming to this new after the seamless movement in Zelda, Uncharted or modern Tomb Raider would be an utter culture shock. It is so clunky and also so precise. It initially feels more like a geometric chessboard grid you have to inch around than a flowing open world level.

And the platforming is even more exact. And yet for all it's grided precision, the landscape traversal is a genuine challenge. Finding secrets is never easy. Knowing how to orientate yourself towards certain ledges to have a chance of grabbing them always makes you question yourself. Figuring out what hitting various slopes will do at different angles is the difference between life and death. And perfecting when to hold jump to get in a two stride long jump is always heart in the mouth stuff.

But little by little, the muscle memory returned and I remembered just how much good stuff this game nailed and pioneered. The platforming feels so satisfying once you figure out where the way forward is, and rewards bravery. You really feel like you are exploring a dangerous environment and a slip is fatal.

And the level variety is great. The middle, more complex multi pathed levels are a bit more of a chore, and had me resorting to a guide a couple of times to find which random door had opened somewhere, but the opening half dozen and final run stand the test of time brilliantly.

And the music. Wow. Still the star of the show. Brief, hypnotic, beautiful, iconic.

Combat is less great, but pretty groundbreaking for the time given the array of weapons and the pace it introduced than at. You end the game feeling proper tooled up.

All in all, I have no idea if coming to this game in 2024 is a good idea or not. Would a newcomer put up with it, like I did? Maybe not?

But also, maybe they would.

Because for all it's quirks and annoyances and instadeaths, at least you can save regularly now (I am somewhat impressed with myself that I beat this back on PS1 with about 2 save pints per level, given I spammed save states here about 200 times). And the remaster treatment has been lovingly applied here, with the ability to switch between old and new seamlessly.

If you stick with it, there is still a great game here. One that's aged a lot better than I feared. And that's still a genuine original.

[Indiana747]

Spoiler: show

(Jan) Battlefield 3 - Series X.
(Jan) Hi-Fi Rush - Series X.
(Jan) Daymare 1998 - Series X.
(Jan) The Beast Inside - Series X.
(Feb) XIII - Series X.
(Feb) Close to the Sun - Series X.
(Feb) Atomic Heart - Series X.
(Feb) Return to Grace - Series X.
(Feb) MADiSON - PS5.
(Mar) TDPA: House of Ashes - PS5.
(Mar) RE Village: Shadows of Rose - PS5.
(Mar) Those Who Remain - Series X.
(Mar) Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Series X.
(Mar) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - PS5.
(Mar) Control: Ultimate Edition - Series X.
(Mar) DREDGE - Series X.
(Apr) Little Nightmares - Series X.
(Apr) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - Series X.
(Apr) Robocop: Rogue City - PS5.
(Apr) Little Nightmares II - Series X.
(May) Fallout 4 - PS5.
(May) The Maw - Xbox 360.
(May) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Series X.
(June) Alan Wake II: Night Springs dlc - Series X
(June) Castlestorm: Definitive Edition - Series X
(July) Still Wakes the Deep - Series X.
(July) The Quarry - PS5.
(July) Bright Memory Infinite - Series X.
(July) Diablo IV - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Duty: MWIII - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Xbox 360.
(Aug) No More Heroes III - Series X.
(Aug) Trepang 2 - Series X.
(Sept) Deliver Us Mars - PS5.
(Sept) Black Myth: Wukong(True Ending) - PS5.
(Sept) Age of Mythology: Retold - Series X.
(Oct) Lies Of P - Series X.
(Oct) Alone in the Dark(2024) - PS5.
(Oct) Operation: Polygon Storm - PS5.
(Nov) Elden Ring - Series X.
(Nov) Dark Souls Remastered - PS5.
(Nov) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Series X.
(Nov) Alan Wake II: Lake House dlc - Series X.
(Nov) GI Joe: Operation Blackout - Series X.
(Nov) The Bluecoats: North & South - Series X.
(Nov) Demon's Souls - PS5.

(Nov) Space Marine II - Series X.

[Truk_Kurt]

Spoiler: show

(Jan) Battlefield 3 - Series X.
(Jan) Hi-Fi Rush - Series X.
(Jan) Daymare 1998 - Series X.
(Jan) The Beast Inside - Series X.
(Feb) XIII - Series X.
(Feb) Close to the Sun - Series X.
(Feb) Atomic Heart - Series X.
(Feb) Return to Grace - Series X.
(Feb) MADiSON - PS5.
(Mar) TDPA: House of Ashes - PS5.
(Mar) RE Village: Shadows of Rose - PS5.
(Mar) Those Who Remain - Series X.
(Mar) Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Series X.
(Mar) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - PS5.
(Mar) Control: Ultimate Edition - Series X.
(Mar) DREDGE - Series X.
(Apr) Little Nightmares - Series X.
(Apr) Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - Series X.
(Apr) Robocop: Rogue City - PS5.
(Apr) Little Nightmares II - Series X.
(May) Fallout 4 - PS5.
(May) The Maw - Xbox 360.
(May) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Series X.
(June) Alan Wake II: Night Springs dlc - Series X
(June) Castlestorm: Definitive Edition - Series X
(July) Still Wakes the Deep - Series X.
(July) The Quarry - PS5.
(July) Bright Memory Infinite - Series X.
(July) Diablo IV - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Duty: MWIII - Series X.
(Aug) Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Xbox 360.
(Aug) No More Heroes III - Series X.
(Aug) Trepang 2 - Series X.
(Sept) Deliver Us Mars - PS5.
(Sept) Black Myth: Wukong(True Ending) - PS5.
(Sept) Age of Mythology: Retold - Series X.
(Oct) Lies Of P - Series X.
(Oct) Alone in the Dark(2024) - PS5.
(Oct) Operation: Polygon Storm - PS5.
(Nov) Elden Ring - Series X.
(Nov) Dark Souls Remastered - PS5.
(Nov) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Series X.
(Nov) Alan Wake II: Lake House dlc - Series X.
(Nov) GI Joe: Operation Blackout - Series X.
(Nov) The Bluecoats: North & South - Series X.
(Nov) Demon's Souls - PS5.

(Nov) Space Marine II - Series X.

Any good? Around launch people were singing its praises but as time has passed I have heard it's a bit too repetitive and that it shows all the best parts of it near the start with the horde tech.

[Scrustle]

29/11 - Half-Life 2

This is a massive step up from Half-Life 1. That was perhaps too far ahead of its time. A lot of what it was trying to do felt like it wasn’t really fully formed, or that it was struggling against the limitations of the technology it was built with. That is not the case at all with this sequel. It’s still very forward looking for its age, but it pulls off what it’s trying to do very well. Not just for the era it came out in, but it stands out as being an excellent example of its style even when compared to stuff coming out now. It’s clear to see why this was such a big deal back in the day and why everyone else spent so long trying to catch up to this.

The campaign is a really well paced experience, always full of interesting and unique set pieces and engaging encounters. There’s a lot of creativity and variety in the stuff you do, having you always eager to find out what’s coming next. The only times where it felt like it dragged slightly was the vehicles sections that went on a bit too long. The way every level is seamlessly joined together adds a great sense of cohesiveness to the game as well, and I really like the touch of how you can see the time of day gradually change over the first half of the game as you progress along your journey.

The visuals are pretty impressive too. This looks amazing for a 2004 game. It has a somewhat austere but also natural look, in a way that does feel characteristic of games of this age, but with an added level of detail and scope that feels like something much newer. The lighting in particular is fantastic, as well as the character models and their really detailed and impressive animations. They have a sense of subtlety to their emotions that few games of this age manage. The aesthetic of the Combine architecture and technology is cool as well, with its cold metallic brutalism that also feels very alien and inhuman. Although there was one strange thing that I noticed. A couple of times I ended up getting stumped not being able to tell what the way forward was, and upon looking up a video guide to help, I realised that this 20th anniversary update actually subtly changes the way the lighting in this game looks, making it darker in some areas, which lead me to miss important details. It only happened a few times, but it’s strange given how Valve has such a reputation for guiding the player through clever use of light sources.

The narrative has some really good elements too. The central plot isn’t the most compelling but the characters and background details are where this game really shines. Thanks to the aforementioned animations, and some good writing, the characters are all very engaging and come across like actually believable people. The more incidental stuff you come across, like Breen’s propaganda broadcasts, spark a sense of curiosity about what this world. What it has become since we last saw it, and what life is like there, and what exactly is going on behind the scenes orchestrating all of this. Some very effective yet light-handed worldbuilding, it’s very immersive.

Another thing that I wanted to talk about it how I played these games. For both of them I played on PC with a gamepad, but with the addition gyro controls, and that turned out to be a decent way to do it. This is the first time I’ve actually used gyro for any shooter outside of Splatoon, even though it’s something I’ve wanted to try for a long time. I’ve always been an advocate for the viability of controllers with shooters, even ones that can be relatively fast-paced and demanding, as long as the game itself has a good implementation of them. That tends to not be the case with certain games that were created with only the capability of a mouse in mind. HL1 is very much an example of that, which has been a big barrier to me playing this game before. Although it technically does have controller support, it is abysmal, and becomes pretty much impossible to play as soon as enemies start shooting back. So I decided to give my Switch Pro Controller a shot to see if that improved things, and it turns out it did. If it wasn’t for that, there’s no way I would have been able to make it through the game at all. Even though HL2 does have better gamepad support, I went in using gyro from the start. I did briefly switch back to normal thumbstick aiming to see what it was like, but it felt like such an immediate downgrade that I went right back to the gyro. Even though it might have been possible to get through the game like that, I had gotten used to the extra precision by then, and the idea of having to retrain my muscle memory to get a worse outcome seemed like a bad idea anyway. I’ve heard people praise using gyro for PC shooters for a long time, and it always seemed appealing thanks to my experience with Splatoon, but now I can also say that it’s a surprisingly good option, and I definitely want to try it out with more games too.