Recent reviews by Kitsune Jimmy

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is a truly horrific and well made game based on Harlan Ellison's short story of the same name. It isn't fun, it isn't truly "winnable" as sometimes in life, there are only losing situations. It does some things wrong just as most point and click adventures did, like pixel hunting, but for everything it did wrong, it did so much right with the presentation. It is truly dark, depressing, disturbing, and sometimes downright offensive. And I love it so much.

Story: Cogito ergo sum; I think, therefore I AM
Without getting into spoilers, a Cold War era computer, the Allied Mastercomputer, or AM for short, is created. AM is a sentient, self-aware computer who is filled with hatred for humanity and essentially ends up causing the absolute death and destruction of the entire human race, except for 5 people. He refrains from killing these 5 to take them to the center of the earth, extend their life span, and torture them. After being tortured for 109 years, they are given a message on a monolift from AM stating just how much he truly hates them and has a new game for them to play, and he created a mission for each of them. Their quests each have something to do with a fatal flaw of theirs which AM plans to use to his advantage to further break the final humans. In other words... He's a huge ***hole in power. After blatently explaining to you via exposition why he feels hatred for each one of them, the "games" begin. You can choose your own order in which character to play as. The characters have been changed slightly from the original story (Which in fact IS included in the Bonus Content folder) but none are too annoyingly different. Most changes were made for gameplay purposes and probably because in the gaming industry, certain things are taboo.

Presentation:
The game's S.A.G.A. engine hasn't aged as well as the SCUMM engine it was based on, but it is still easy to navigate and a simple engine for the type of game IHNMAIMS is. Graphically, the game is both beautiful, and sometimes frightening depending on the story you are doing. The character art of each person on the bottom left of your GUI is well drawn and very detailed. Nimdok, one of the characters you play as for instance, is so detailed and well made that it is scary. He is... SO OLD! The only actual problems when it comes to visuals is a little bit of pixel hunting for specific items, but almost every 90's adventure game had that issue, and the character animations could have been better. Other than those two issues though, the game as well as the soundtrack is amazing and truly disturbing. Fits the story perfectly.

I would definately recommend the game, but you shouldn't play if you are faint of heart or sensitive to some certain topics. Some of the 'triggers' in the game include mentions of the Holocaust, insanity, murder, suicide, rape, and paranoia, so if those things truly bug you, maybe you should avoid the game and the book as it may offend you.

Extra Content:
Original manual from 1996 release in PDF format
Full soundtrack by John Ottman consisting of 33 ingame songs with 21 bonus tracks in both MP3 and OGG format
The original short story the game is based on in PDF format
The Making of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream in PDF format

Saint's Row: The Third in my oppinion is an amazing game. if you like over the top scenarios and a fun sense of humor this is your game. Volition got the driving mechanic right, vehicle control is MUCH better in Saint's Row than it is in GTA. It isn't all about story but actually has a good, but rather weak storyline but dispite that there are so many hilarious and lovable characters involved. Unlike all the other modern games coming out, this game does not take itself too seriously and that is one of its biggest redeeming factors. Also the character customization is amazing, it reminds me a lot of Yuke's work with the WWE games create a wrestler mode.

The voice work is also amazing, from veteran voice actors like Troy Baker, Steve Blum, Laura Bailey, Tara Platt, Megan Hollingshead, Robert Atkin Downes and Yuri Lowenthal to highly revered celebrities like Hulk Hogan, Rob Van Dam, and Burt ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Reynolds himself, you are almost guarenteed to find someone's voice you recognize.

When you are looking for a game to let loose, not deal with a story with a long convoluted conflict and have fun, definately get Saint's Row 3, what better way to relax than cruise the streets of Steelport in a pimped out ride, drop grenades from the window blowing everything on the road up while listening to some good tunes then smacking cops and soldiers around with a giant purple dildo bat? Nothing, that's what! 8/10