Recent reviews by Gambit Lucis

When we talk "Greatest of all Time", Hitman Blood Money is always part of the conversation.

FEAR 3 is the straight to DVD sequel nobody knew existed that your dad would rent on a random Thursday evening.

I had a blast playing it, I won't even deny it. Definitely flawed and messy but I enjoy its more "personal" narrative and edge that I thought the last game lacked, felt more Monolith sometimes.

F.E.A.R. 2 is quite an interesting one...

A tricky one in fact, depending of the perspective you look at it. Because its ambition is undeniable, and it does so much well as a sequel, but there's also things that make you raise an eyebrow and you can clearly see this is a "post Call of Duty 4" first person shooter. Its predecessor had a one of a kind atmosphere, and a gun play that rivals many games today. Although this game feels super good and has a lot of variety, it doesn't quite hit the spot like the 2005 game did.

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to love here and I don't wanna fully compare it to the first game. The combat encounters are great, there's more enemy variety, the more "in your face sci-fi horror" is quite fun although not too scary and the Powered Armor sequences were super memorable.

It's a cinematic spectacle that must be enjoyed, I wish I did in its peak honestly, but even today it still holds up!

Condemned is like the perfect definition of its era. It does not lack edge, it is dirty and vulgar, but most importantly an excellent horror title. I started this game expecting something different because of F.E.A.R. and boy, was I surprised.

Its heavy focus on melee combat is the love language here... in a pretty messed up way. See, you fight addicts and quite some disturbing enemies in disgusting abandoned buildings, sewers and tunnels. And all of this combined with the excellent hand to hand combat really makes every encounter an experience which will leave your blood pumping. The enemy AI is insane, they will bait you, parry your attacks and even hit each other and start fighting to the death.

Now the story is... interesting? I think it does a lot well and there's a lot of mystery to it. The voice acting is excellent too and it is all very intriguing, but I feel like by the end everything just happens and there's not much to it. And the detective work was pretty flat and doesn't give much beyond the scripted actions.

But again, this game is a great time for horror fans, especially those looking for something stressful and aggressive. The violence is constant, and the atmosphere is just phenomenal. It's crazy this came out in 2005.

Nothing brings me more joy than visiting games I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy in its prime and being blown away. Two decades of F.E.A.R. and it still holds its ground firmly, to call it ahead of its time is an understatement. It is insanely cinematic, the atmosphere never fails to impress and every encounter ends like a violent Tarantino shootout. It is like the perfect love letters to fans of Max Payne, Half Life and old Rainbow Six titles.

Don't get me started on the enemy AI, these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ will flank you, jump from windows and communicate with each other. The gun play is so satisfying and there's gonna be smoke and particles after every fight.

And... the horror elements are.. good. Not as scary as it was being sold but for its time I can see the effect it had. A lot of great Japanese influences mixed in with the urban/abandoned brown ish vibe makes it one of a kind. There is a lot to love here.

Better than Starfield

This week we celebrated 11 years of Max Payne 3, and I HAD to replay it.

I remember finishing it for the first time weeks before I jumped into the generation of Xbox One and PS4, and I was blown away. To me, alongside some fantastic games here and there, it felt like a strong hint at what's to come in that said generation of gaming, with spectacular voice acting, cinematography, smooth gameplay and so much more.

There's a lot of depth and love put into this game, and to this day it feels fresh to play and isn't held back by anything. And very importantly, personally at least, I see it as the main pillar of what we got later in GTA V.

I truly cannot wait for the remakes of Max Payne 1 & 2, it's gonna be a life changing experience.

15 years later, and GTA IV still is one of the most important games I have ever played, and honestly it remains numero uno in the franchise, personally. To this day, the writing and characters are on top of the list when the conversation about video game storytelling comes forward.

And not only that, but its incredible version of Liberty City, which for me still has one of the finest atmospheres in the genre. Everything about this concrete jungle is excellent and alive. It's grim, it's almost claustrophobic, full of characters and things to see in every corner, which for better or worse, can be believable.

Grand Theft Auto IV has aged extremely well, and I truly doubt that will ever change.