Recent reviews by UX1∴73C

Beneath the towering technical issues within Blitzkrieg Anthology lies a captivating and memorable experience. Alas, the aforementioned issues, such as slow frame rate/animations, translucent vehicle models, and resolution conflicts overwhelmingly overshadow what the product had to offer in terms of gameplay and narrative. As a general rule, consumers should be extremely wary of purchasing video games that have engines that are more than two decades old and have little to no information on how to patch such technical failings.

Creeper World IXE is not a bad game, but it is less than satisfying in defining mission constraints. Of course, players are given the option of enabling a feature that disables build limits, with the only consequence being an aesthetic markdown next to their publicized score, all missions begin with players operating at an unwarrantable deficit to race against the ever-growing "Creeper" threat (lest players spend more time than needed in a level that might be less than liberal in resources and terrain). This is especially maddening when certain levels bury much-needed resources in Creeper-related hazards or require players to dedicate much of their time digging out those resources while said looming threat thickens to either deadlock the level or misappropriate much of the player's precious time. Whether it is because Knuckle Cracker still thinks it is in the flash era or they take too many liberties in boxing players with rigid level design, this product caters primarily to those most loyal to the Creeper World series as it is unimaginable for the standard RTS enthusiast to not be bored to tears after playing a few hours' worth of levels.

I've no issue with games that require long-term thinking and management, especially offline, but the way that Virtual Villagers: A New Home currently stands makes the experience unbearable and mind-numbing. For a game that requires some micro-managing, using any keyboard shortcuts that minimize the game's window causes there to be a display error which is generally temporary but there have been instances where it remains even when the game is closed. Unlike other Last Day of Work products, this game does not have a functioning pause button for players who are not in a position to play every day, so consider this product to perpetually be running irrespective of what game speed players last left the game on before closing it. In all, the product is nearing its two-decade mark and it is quite unsuitable to allow it to be sold for $10 seeing that it has not aged well technically or mechanically; Consider any other of Last Day of Work's products other than Virtual Villagers: A New Home.

For a flash game imported onto the Steam store page for $5, Creeper World 2: Anniversary Edition is not horrendous. Still, it is mediocre to the point where you would much rather play one of the most recent titles in the series rather than a SWF artifact. In terms of gameplay, each level has the player slowly build up their resources with a few bonuses here and there to create the illusion of diverse level design. After a few hours, whatever charm that this video game withers completely, and the only incentive to continue playing is to get all the achievements or have the right to say you beat this title in the Creeper World. In other words, you would have to suffer from some sort of mania.

All that can be said for Project Zomboid is that it is true to the first part of its name as it is a long-term early-access game heavily dependent on its community to keep it relevant through mods and guides. Even years later, the product's concept is barely fleshed out to the point where playthroughs can easily be blurred together due to the lack of variety provided by the base game. As it currently stands, the video game is a self-confessed sandbox with no real goal other than surviving as long as one can until one eventually dies and has to repeat the same routine in an ouroboros-like manner. For the pretentious price of $20, you would expect more mechanics and details to be implemented into the decade-old product to incentivize players to continue playing. Alas, it looks as though it will always be a project and might never be fully realized due to the slow updates, permanent sandbox approach, and lack of real accomplishment irrespective of how far one has gotten in a saved game.

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition was an exceptional experience then and still is an exceptional experience even by today's standards. With there being plenty of strategical setups and strategical setups and interchangeable character classes (for the Nameless One), players have a multitude of tools at their disposal to understand and overcome all challenges, from puzzles to combat situations, appropriately and satisfyingly. What consumers will be most interested to know about the product is its in-depth storytelling through dialogue and object descriptions, which tend to be expansive yet enamoring due to how the plot revolves around a scarred, amnesiac that slowly recovers his memory of self and the world around him. To say the least, this video game is refreshing in that it allows one to get a comprehensive understanding of the lore and game mechanics comfortably to the point where they can confidently face any trial within it with little to no error per se.

THE FINALS would be tenfold lovable if it were not for its brazen flooding of the main menu with micropayments — whether it be a seasonal/battle pass, virtual currency, or some event promising players some cosmetics if they complete a challenge like winning 5 games in a row or playing long enough until their eyes bleed out of their sockets. Furthermore, there are not many game modes to play from, outside of cashout and cashout tournaments (world tour), so players do not have much to look forward to in terms of entertainment; grinding in video games needs to be classified as a habitual addiction by mental health researchers. In sum, this product can only provide a few days' worth of entertainment before its virtual high begins to wane and consumers are left in a cycle of minuscule rewards — tremendous grinding.

Populous™ II: Trials of the Olympian Gods is yet another product of Electronic Arts' attempt to sell video games from bygone eras without having ensured that their engines are up-to-date with modern operating systems. In the case of this product, the emulator experiences issues with its frame rate, leading to the game running at 500% of its natural speed than usual.

Other than the technical issues, the game plays much the first wherein players must compete with a rivaling god for dominion. If players have read and understood the first game's manual and mechanics, then they've not much else to learn in this sequel outside of allocating experience points to specific powers of nature. The only discernible difference is the improvement in graphics and evidence of progression.

As a principle, these sorts of products should be avoided as they lack the necessary refinement to justify their rerelease on contemporary platforms with consumer bases that primarily operate modern devices.

Looking back at POSTAL, it was never anything more than a generic, top-down shooter with much of its memorable qualities lying in its senseless violence and schizoid visuals. Although the product was made free on Steam recently, perhaps an attempt to take advantage of the unspoken market of unsupervised children on the Internet, there is nothing more that can be truly derived from shriveling POSTAL as all the controversy regarding violent video games had died in the mid-2000s and much of its entertaining value relying on game design without any direction outside of absurdity, cruelty, and repetitiveness.

Like many video games in the same genre as POSTAL, much of their value comes from their outward appearance (thanks to the aforementioned controversy and the community it usually attracts) rather than their actual substance.

Outside of rose-tinted glasses and console peasantry that Konami relied on selling METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version, all that is being sold is an incomplete emulator lacking in customization and a few games that control like Hell with keyboard controls; there were no attempts to modernize the control scheme for modern players, specifically for those expecting Konami to dedicate most of their time ensuring that PC players were appropriately accommodated to the tank control scheme. Still, even the bare minimum of allowing control mapping is disabled.

It is no surprise that there are moments when the PlayStation emulator freezes during cinematic moments and multiple instances of audio issues are present only in the console port version of the three games available. It is clear that classic games are meant to be played on the consoles they were intended for due to their limitations and the lack of competency from modern studios in attempting to modernize and sell such archaic products along with their obsolete engines.

As I mentioned, these types of products (remasters, special editions, definitive editions, etc.) are often fecklessly unloaded onto PC platforms, with a pretentious price tag to accompany, as companies and studies realize they can make a few dimes off of habitual nostalgiacs and console lunatics who will attach as many devices and software to their personal *computer* to player *console* games. Konami is no different in realizing this trend and is not above attempting to take advantage of said trend in an equally cavalier manner.

Consider products such as METAL GEAR SOLID - Master Collection Version to be nothing more than venus fly traps preying on the unsuspecting consumer to be lured in by its nostalgic and name brand nectar.