Recent reviews by OozeMan

It's the closest re-imagining of the Commandos formula, with its own thing going on as well. There can be a few fixes (finding Youngster's thrown knife for instance) but the core gameplay is challenging and, thus, very addicting.

Don't play this game with a controller. The essence of Hotline Miami lies in the Keyboard/Mouse combo.

Psychonauts 2 is every bit as charming as its predecessor. The writing, witty dialogue and new cast of characters are every bit as good. Gameplay and platforming is sublime and the vibrant use of colours are liable to make your eyes bleed (in a good way).

Every level is unique and memorable. The creative genius behind game and level design is there for all to see. This is a game I'll keep thinking about for a long time.

Double Fine job by Tim Schafer and his team! All hail the Gzar!

"Ori and the Will of the Wisps" is one of those rare cases where the sequel does everything better than the first game. But "Ori and the Blind Forest" is like your first-born, may perhaps not be as refined but nothing can trump that experience.

Will of the Wisps is a really really good game. Playing it ultrawide at an unlocked framerate will remain one of the gaming highlights of my life.

Return of the Obra Dinn makes you feel like a proper sleuth, straight out of a story-book.

It is an engrossing tale set in 1807 where you, as an East India Company Insurance Inspector, are required to find out what happened aboard the as-of-now-empty ship, "The Obra Dinn" and solve the fates of all sixty (yes, 60) people on board.

You come armed with a pocket-watch device that transports you to the moment of a corpse's death, a logbook containing a roster and two unidentified drawings of the ship's companions. The objective is to find out the identities of each of the sixty companions, their respective role in Obra Dinn's eventual fate and their cause of death (or disappearance).

The game is thoroughly engrossing with a very compelling story and cast of characters. And quite surprisingly, it doesn't feel like a drag at any moment; unlike most mystery and exploration-themed games.

Trying to piece together the puzzle, that is Obra Dinn, is a very fun and rewarding experience. I cannot recommend this game enough even to people who have a passing interest in the genre. It is short and very uncomplicated.

NieR: Automata is an incredible soundtrack accompanied by a very good game.

The OST really pulls you in and helps immerse the player into the game's atmosphere. Automata would've been only half the game were it not for its spectacular music. Definitely the best in the business!

The gameplay itself is your usual run-of-the-mill hack'n slash open-world RPG where a lot of the time will be spent roaming the desolate landscape. The traversal mechanic starts to feel a bit long in the tooth after 10 hours, but thankfully the game has a fast travel option that gets unlocked after progressing in the main campaign.

The combat mechanics are fluid, fast and very enjoyable. The game allows a lot of customisation options in terms of plug-in chips and Pod programs which help you choose from a variety of combat styles. But fights often tend to get messy to the point where you're blindly smashing buttons because you could barely see the action happening on-screen. That's one of the few technical problems that plague NieR: Automata.

The plot is very good but it tends to come with your typical anime flavour, both in terms of character design, conversations and quest design. The characters are largely well-written but feel under-explored. Barring one or two great side-missions, the game is chock full of fetch and other forgettable quests.

What is truly admirable in game design was the change in perspective, mode and camera angle at different points of the story. Apart from the music, that's one of the things I personally loved and thoroughly enjoyed with this game. It kept the experience fresh and engaging.

To sum it up, NieR: Automata has an absolutely marvellous soundtrack, enjoyable gameplay and an engaging story but suffers from certain glaring technical issues.

P.S: 9S is <3 and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. His growth during the course of the game is praiseworthy.

Disclaimer: This game involves reading, lots and lots of it. But this works for it because it is perhaps the best-written game ever made.

Disco Elysium is an RPG but not in a traditional (rather contemporary) sense. One conversation can turn into a 20-minute affair and each decision-making is basically a dice roll. There are four main abilities with six unique skills in each, letting you play as the detective character of your own choosing.

The plot tends to get philosophically and politically heavy which might not sit well with most people. But the cast of characters are multi-layered and extremely well-written. And the underlying mystery and lore will compel players to move ahead.

There's a constant sense of regret and foreboding in the game's atmosphere. It sure gets crazy but never really cheerful. Parts of the game are hilarious and very intelligent, in a melancholy sort of way.

The first few hours are difficult because the game's mechanics are part of a steep learning-curve. But persevere and Disco Elysium will reward you like not other game.

Outer Wilds is a puzzle/adventure game with a strong emphasis on exploration. It is also a technological marvel and a profound narrative experience.

One can't be faulted for feeling lost at times while playing it but think of it like a jigsaw, everything comes together beautifully at the conclusion. Every random clue you find is a piece of the ultimate picture. The lore is what pushes you to explore further after each loop reset.

I doubt many games could capture the void of space as brilliantly as Outer Wilds. It is fun, for instance, when you attain escape velocity to finally break free of a planet's gravity pull. The Day/Night cycle, the underlying physics of rotating bodies and how time affects your surroundings is very impressive and a spectacle to behold.

If SOMA had a sister game, Outer Wilds is it. Two dissimilar yet very similar games in the way they help propel forward the medium of story-telling. You realise you've experienced something special when it still occupies your mind days after.

It is not a short game, easily clocking over 20 hours to complete. Few games will give you such great value.

Prey is, undoubtedly, Arkane's greatest achievement in gaming. If there's one game worthy of being termed as a spiritual successor to System Shock 2 whilst keeping its own identity intact; this is it.

At first glance this might look like a shooter but it is anything but. Like Arkane's other franchise (Dishonored), gameplay involves a taking a tactical approach because going in guns blazing will bring a swift end. This is not Dead Space.

The setting of Talos 1 is incredibly vast and elaborate. Exploring its nooks, crannies, vents and exterior is a thoroughly rewarding experience on its own. Plot requires a lot of backtracking so many areas will be revisited. Audio logs, emails and notes supplement the storyline and also trigger side-quests so exploration is an added incentive.

The pacing is largely fine but it sees a considerable dip in the final quarter, because the game forces you to rush through completing objectives. That is probably my only gripe with the game.

Just ended the game at Low Chaos with the Good ending and while I enjoyed my time with the game, I have a few observations (and some complaints) that I wanted to make.

TL;DR Far-reach (Blink) ability makes Dishonored 2 far too easy to beat, even on Harder difficulties. Level design should've incorporated a better and more creative usage of Power abilities.

Note: There will be spoilers underneath so read at your own risk

I chose to play as Emily because while I respect the developers giving us the option to play as either her or Corvo, I felt this was Emily's story to experience. Also, because I thought it would be cool to play with different powers than Corvo's , which would otherwise make it too similar to Dishonored 1.

So most people would be aware that very early-on in the game we are offered to choose whether to accept The Outsiders offer of gaining special powers or not, unlike Dishonored 1 where Corvo gets The Mark regardless. Naturally, I felt inclined to accept his offer because the game dabbles with the supernatural element. But that's where the trouble started.

I normally play games on Hard because I relish the challenge a game throws at me, to a certain extent. Playing through the game it's obvious to see that the levels and traversal mechanics were designed to aid players who choose the No-Power mode. But the downside was that it made the other group feel far too over-powered and resultantly, made the game very less challenging with even just Blink (or Far-Reach) equipped.

Stealthily circumventing around enemies in levels with outdoor areas was especially child's play. Just travel above ground and you won't encounter a single enemy anywhere in the game. And while I could have abstained from using traversal powers but that would have defeated the entire purpose of the powers mechanic. The almost complete absence of a challenge also discouraged me from fiddling around with other powers like Possession or Void Gaze. Domino was fun but I used it very rarely.

So it's no surprise that the most "challenging" fun I had playing the game was escaping Dunwall Tower and A Crack in the Slab (Stilton's Manor), both levels where you either couldn't or have limited use of your powers.

That is not to say that I didn't have fun during the course of the game or while exploring the levels and coming across story tidbits. The Clockwork Mansion, in particular, was near genius in level design and the time warp ability in A Crack in the Slab was a novel mechanic. I had gone into the game near-blind and those certain moments WOW'ed me.

Lastly, while this may not be a Dishonored-specific gripe I feel certain mechanics, in other games as well, have been over-simplified over the years. For instance, in the final level where you can craft a Corrupted Ruin in the Overseer's Chapel, I hoped (or rather wished) that the game made me back-track and traverse to other areas of the level to obtain the requisite ingredients (think Thief or System Shock 2). But to my utter disappointment, all ingredients were placed right next to the crafting table. The level difficulty also didn't scale either as the game progressed and the latter levels were mostly devoid of any fruitful quests. Made it look as though the later half of the game was rushed past development.

Dishonored 1 was undoubtedly the better game, in my opinion of course. It had a complex and more fulfilling story and the levels were designed around using your powers, making you exercise those "little grey cells" of yours a lot more to achieve the objective.