Recent reviews by Katangen

Update (23/5/20): With officially launching, Deep Rock Galactic has retained everything that made it great during its Early Access days, and then some, while Ghost Ship Games have proven to me that even games in Early Access can be worth your time, as long as they're in the hands of the right developers.

The complaints I've had in the original review about the upgrade and perk systems being too straightforward have been completely alleviated, as the developers have expanded on both of them. Weapons have received multiple balance patches to make all of them viable and fun to use, and the Overclock System, which lets you equip your weapons with powerful mods, some of which completely change the way they function, allow for various playstyles, even with the same weapon.

Perks have also undergone similar changes, with them now being split into Active and Passive. Active perks can be activated a certain amount of times, gated either by a usage cap or a cooldown, while Passive ones have bonuses that persist throughout the mission.

All the other systems, such as the bar, weapon and armour customization and the brand new pickaxe customization, have been substantially improved upon as well. No one can say that Deep Rock Galactic lacks options for players to express themselves.

The Soundtrack, which was already excellent, has almost doubled in length. All of the new tracks fit the game well, with some of them being even better than the old ones.

Complaints boil down to a couple of annoying glitches, especially ones that are related to sound, that have been present even during my initial review. Some areas of the Space Rig, the hub area in the game, are still seemingly unfinished, as they lack the proper models, still using basic ones from Early Access, and texturing. You also get reprimanded by the game's narrator when entering certain areas, with him citing that they are still "under construction", despite them being finished. One has to ask themselves, could Deep Rock Galactic not have spent an additional month in Early Access to iron these issues out, as it still would have made its Q2 2020 launch window.

Overall, it is a beautiful game with plenty of content, some of the best co-op gameplay there is, rich customization, a great soundtrack, and enough variety to keep you entertained for dozens, if not hundreds of hours, and it's only bound to get bigger and better in the future, as devs already have additional mission modes and biomes scheduled to release later this year. It's just a shame it couldn't have been polished to its entirety before release, as it cheapens and gives a bit of an arbitrary feeling to the Early Access tag, as if it wasn't already so.



Update (28/11/19): Nominated for the Labor of Love Steam Award. Even in the short period that I have owned the game, Ghost Ship Games have shown the utmost respect for their community, and a dedication to their game that is hard to find anywhere else.

Original Review:

I'm not one to purchase Early Acces titles, but I respect a lot of things Deep Rock Galactic is doing and trying to do.

For starters, it's got its core gameplay loop down. All that should be done now is add more of what we already have, while polishing what is already there, without trying to reinvent it. It's clearly a game with a focused vision and an experienced development team behind it, so I hope that it will avoid falling into the trap of endless content creep.

While the game's gunplay is surprisingly satisfying, there's a lot more to it than that. The co-op element is greatly emphasized, as it should be. Each of the 4 classes has its own unique abilities and they all complement each other well. For example, if the team spots a mineral vein high up on the wall, the Engineer can use his platform gun to put a platform underneath it, while the Scout uses his grappling hook to climb onto it and mine the vein. It elevates the gameplay above "4 people shooting at a thing in the room... TOGETHER " which co-op titles tend to boil down to more often than not.

Playing alone unfortunately means that you'll be missing out on the great co-op experience, but it can provide you with a more atmospheric and tense one, thanks to the great visuals and lighting effects. Every aspect of the game's presentation is focused on making you immersed as much as possible. Even the way you select, go to and from missions, and spend time in the lobby are all connected and make sense within the game's world.

Completing missions nets you gold, minerals, as well as perk points, that you can then use to upgrade your gear, stats, and customize your character. While the customization is varied enough, the upgrade and perk systems are a little bit bare-bones, as they don't offer much room for experimentation, essentially forcing you into always picking the upgrade that's objectively the best instead of the one that's the most suited for your playstyle. I feel like this is the only element of the game that should be revised before launch to give it more depth. Even so, it's far from not being serviceable and, outside of some technical ones, the only issue I have with the game.

Regarding the aforementioned technical issues, there's the occasional sound glitch when interacting with some objects, especially the resupply pod, as well as some inconsistencies with the terrain's hitboxes. Nothing that noticeably hampers the experience, but can take you out of it.

If the developers keep up this level of quality while staying focused and not falling into the trap that is endless content creep, Deep Rock Galactic will become a must-own title once it officially launches out of Early Access later this year.

Not in my wildest dreams did I expect to enjoy Prey as much as I did.
Hearing how heavily inspired it was by System Shock always made me somewhat interested in the game, but I never would have thought that it had a chance of being one of the most impressive games I've ever played.

It's a bit of a shame though, as the only issues I've had with it are highlighted because of how good the rest of the game is.

First, I'd like to point out that in the past, I've cut out story synopses from my reviews, not only because I believe you're already somewhat interested in a game you're reading Steam reviews for, and as such are familiar with the setup of the story, but also in an effort to make them more concise and to the point. However, I'll make an exception here just to point out that to fully enjoy Prey, you need to know as little about the story as possible before you start playing.

It's the year 2032, and you're aboard Talos I, a space station orbiting the moon. You're part of an important science experiment when things go terribly wrong and the station gets overrun by aliens.

That's all you need to know, and should know. I can't emphasize this enough. Read through the store description if you must, but don't go beyond that. Even if you're confused during your playthrough, don't rush and let the game explain itself.

Now, on with the review;

The attention to detail throughout the entirety of the campaign is absolutely insane. It's clear how much effort went into making the space station the game takes place on as believable as possible. Even so far as to make every corpse you come across have a name, face and purpose in the game's world. The downside is that the faces of characters not essential to the plot tend to repeat a bit, which takes you out of the experience.
While the graphics themselves aren't spectacular, the art style and ingenious design of the environment make the game wonderful to look at. It seems well optimized too, as my mid-range rig could run the game almost maxed out, with little to no fps drops below 60. The level design doesn't lag behind qualitywise, and makes traversing the station fun in of itself, as it allows for many ways to do so. Backtracking could be an issue for some people, but because it makes sense in the story and adds a certain strategic element a la Resident Evil, I didn't find it to be an issue.
While I didn't find the story as interesting as the stories of the games Prey is heavily inspired by (such as Bioshock and Dead Space), it is told really well, both through primary exposition and optional world building, and is paced with such perfection that I'm honestly at a loss for words. It starts off as a slow burn, but it definitely pays off.

I assume it goes without saying that the atmosphere is spot on?

Apart from that, what continues to set Prey apart from similar games is how dynamic the gameplay is and how strongly tied to the storytelling it is. I found the whole "choose your own way to play" thing to be a gimmick most of the time, but Prey truly allows for it. It goes way beyond choosing between stealth and shooting your way through trouble, as the actions you take and the way you play have effect both on the gameplay and the story, down to the most miniscule details sometimes. It allows for some great roleplaying, even if the game doesn't really consider itself an RPG. It leads to some great feelings of personal achievement. Will you blindly follow your quest log, or will you play the game your way and let things take a different turn? That feeling of control you have over your character and your actions never lets up, and it's absolutely perfect.
There's a lot of replayability here, which is taken a step further by providing you with a Game Plus mode and some survival options that make the game more punishing.
I do have some issues with the ending though, but not because I think it's bad. I wont say much because, as I said, going into Prey is best when you know as little about it as possible. You'll figure out how you feel about it when you get there.

Some people have complained that the enemies and the combat are somewhat lacking, but playing on the hardest difficulty I was never allowed to let my guard down and each encounter was as thrilling as the next. Therefore, I feel like you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice by playing on anything below Hard.

Some might find the UI clunky. True, parts of it are redundant and the quest tracking system could be improved upon, but I'd take it any day over a simplified UI.

As far as I'm concerned, Prey is a masterpiece of interactive storytelling, taking full advantage of the technological advances made since the days of System Shock, Bioshock and Dead Space. I'm positive that the future of story driven, single player games is safe as long as Arkane Studios are around, provided Bethesda doesn't make them do anything stupid.

My impression of the Wolfenstein games has been mixed so far.

I found Return to Castle Wolfenstein to be a game that really delivered on the fantasy of a spy experiencing the secret history of World War II behind enemy lines. While I enjoyed it, I was unable to commit to it fully because of how dated certain elements of it were.

On the other hand, 2009's Wolfenstein had more fluid gameplay (even though stealth was virtually non existent), but felt clunkier because of how bad of a console port the game was. It was also a complete breeze to play through, even on the hardest difficulty. The atmosphere, story, and characters were so uninspired that I felt nothing as I played it; not to mention that the game managed to look worse than its predecessor as it borrowed the gray and brown color pallet, as well as copious amounts of bloom, from popular shooters of that time. While it wasn't a downright bad experience and something I managed to have fun with, it's not a game I ever plan on replaying, and one I wouldn't rate higher than a 5/10.

To be the Wolfenstein game I truly enjoy, New Order had to deliver on the atmosphere of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, while having even better gameplay than 2009's Wolfenstein. So...

I'm happy to report that everything is smooth as butter in the gameplay department. The gunplay feels satisfying, stealth is an actual option, and the level design rewards exploration with alternate paths and worthwhile collectibles, while still managing to serve the story and remain coherent. There's even a neat, if somewhat inconsequential, perk system that rewards you for playing the way you want to play. For example, if you manage to score an x amount of kills with a certain weapon, you'd get an increased clip size for that weapon. Get an x amount of kills from stealth, and you get to move faster while crouching, etc. My only lament is that, rather than having a wide range of weapons to chose from, you get 4 weapons total (not counting the special weapon you mostly use for the occasional puzzle solving). However, to compensate, each weapon can be dual wielded and has a secondary fire mode you obtain as you play through the game. While serviceable, it's a lot less exciting using a rifle mounted rocket launcher over a Panzerschreck, or dual wielding shotguns over a Venom Gun.

There's some technical hiccups here and there, with textures loading in and the sound getting choppy when there's a lot going on. I'm fairly certain this has to do with the id Tech 5 engine that the game is using, as my system should be able to run it flawlessly, and I've had similar issues with 2016's Doom. Other than that, the game looks good, but nothing groundbreaking for a game from 2014. Some of the textures are straight up bad, especially certain ground textures, and posters and papers on the walls and tables that are so poorly rendered they're usually unreadable.

As for the whole atmosphere thing, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed. The whole secret history angle is gone, and we're now in full blown alternate history. While it's not necessarily what I want Wolfenstein to be, and is the logical progression of Nazis continuing their experiments from the previous two games, it's not badly done. In fact, it's done really well, even if something is lost when the Nazis literally have a 100 foot tall robot in the very first level. The story and characters have all the ingredients to be good, and the game doesn't shy away from it one bit. Some of them come across as one dimensional, sometimes to the point of eye-rolling, and the story overall is somewhat contrived, but it's above anything I've expected. There's a lot of major world building going on and you even get to know your companions better in between missions, as you help them come up with attack plans back in your headquarters. Hell, even Blazkowicz himself is hard not to relate to, when in the previous games he either had no character at all, or has been completely bland.

On a final note, I'd like to harp on the soundtrack a bit. While the industrial riffs it consists of for the most part aren't bad, I find that an orchestral soundtrack would fit Wolfenstein better, like in the previous games. I assume that this change was done as the series is past the time period those two games took place in, but even then I think that a mash-up of an industrial and orchestral score would fit a lot better. After all, "The war ain't over. Look at all these Nazis walking around.".

The Swiss cheese of video games!

An RPG through and through, Alpha Protocol offers meaningful player choices that branch off in so many different ways that the game's own Wiki admits to not being able to list them all. Paired with its great writing, characters and an interesting story, it would be a near perfect experience if not for the obvious holes in content.

So much of the game feels missing. There's gaps in the narrative, character development and gameplay, as certain mechanics end up underused or go nowhere. It does a great disservice to its story and characters, making them appear confusing and poorly thought out, without the gist of it being all that complicated. Had certain things been given more time to sink in and had been properly explained instead of glossed over, you'd be in for a much more satisfying experience.

The actual gameplay is clunky as hell, but it doesn't feel broken aside from a couple of unfair boss fights and the final level, which I think took me more save reloads than the rest of the game combined. My biggest gripe with it is that the stealth system boils down to moving when the enemy patrols have their backs turned on you, rather than actually being stealthy. It's hard to be too forgiving, as something like Splinter Cell came out in 2002, and had far superior stealth mechanics as well as more functional shooting in a way, despite not being as action packed as Alpha Protocol. You could argue that this is because Splinter Cell is a stealth game from the ground up, but Alpha Protocol still has a deep stealth build path, which tends to suffer in the late game because of how superficial the underlying system is. Not to mention, a spy this incompetent at stealth takes away from the whole spy fantasy.

On a technical level, the graphics were at least 5 years behind even on release, but the art direction doesn't make the game difficult to look at.

Bugs and glitches mostly boil down to jittery movement and sometimes getting stuck on terrain, which makes the game more awkward rather than unplayable. I also had to restart my game at one point, losing about 10 minutes of progress when enemies failed to spawn at a point where it was needed to finish the level.

The cover system feels inconsistent. It's hard to tell what's cover and what's not without walking up to it first, which can leave you exposed to enemy fire. Sometimes, you're unable to shoot or throw grenades from cover and enemies can hit you from weird angles.

It's gone from digital storefronts right now, but if you can get it someplace else, or once it comes back, then I'd say it's worth your time as an RPG alone. Just don't expect too much polish and prepare to get frustrated here and there. Try to appreciate it for what it is.

At first I thought it was me being spoiled by more recent titles, or maybe that there was something seriously wrong with the game running on modern systems (aside from having to download a fix for the resolution), but I've played shooters older than this one while not running into similar problems.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein starts off great, with the first level providing a good challenge, while showcasing what's best about the game, that being its level design, setting and atmosphere. Everything after that feels like a mixed bag.

While the level design remains great throughout the later levels, the game feels all over the place from a mechanical standpoint. From useless mechanics, weird AI behavior, the traitorous fall damage and ladders, you can get frustrated at every turn. And in some cases, that's quite literal, as enemies take note of you within the same frame of turning around a corner and downing your entire health bar. Yes, the same enemies that struggled to hit you at point blank range and ran in circles as you shot at them a mere two rooms ago. I know this game is considered difficult, but this is not a healthy way to build up difficulty. It turns the game into a cheese fest at times, and that sucks out all of the fun. I want to beat the game by besting the AI, not exploiting it. Survive a battle because I played it well, not because the enemy randomly didn't shoot me.

Furthermore, this discourages usage of mechanics like leaning, as you cannot shoot while doing it. This will leave you vulnerable as you peek around corners, and if the AI decides to take note of you immediately, you're out of luck and approximately half of your health. All of this can become especially frustrating if you're nearing a point where you have to go down a drop to proceed in the level, but you may or may not take fall damage and die if you barely survived the prior fight.

Weapon choices also seem rather poor. You'll be mostly using what you find on the very first mission throughout the rest of the game, and by that I mean the MP40 submachine gun. Other weapons are either highly situational, straight up weaker than the MP40 even though they share the same ammo pool (which renders using them pointless), or weapons used by the Allied forces during WWII, which makes finding ammo for them almost impossible as the Nazis apparently didn't have access to it. Other than that, the rest of your arsenal is made up of powerful late game weapons that are best saved for bosses or elite units.

Despite all of these glaring issues, I do look back on my overall time with the game as a positive one. I loved running around secret Nazi labs, castles and European villages. While the gameplay feels like it's been outdated even in the year the game came out (it's certainly no DOOM II or Half-Life), the atmosphere and the level design offer a lot of fun, especially when the game works properly. It's a real pleasure to play when that happens...

If it happens...

While L.A. Noire doesn't do quite well as an open world game, there was a huge attempt with it to innovate adventure games when it first came out, and that's commendable and worth the attention of anyone who's a fan of the genre. Those looking for something like a GTA or Saints Row game set in the 1940s might as well give it a pass, unless intrigued at all by the story.

A shame its formula never caught on.

Fun little game to kill some time with your friends. Otherwise, it's not really worth it.

There's a solid variety of game modes to pick from across the 10 modes the game has. Unfortunately, almost every map is its own game mode, so if you're only interested in, for example, team deathmatch, you're stuck to playing only one map. There's also a bizarre lack of match settings, such as setting a time limit or team size, so you can't play for more than 10 minutes nor can you do fun things such as 3v1s if you so desire.

Worth getting on a sale provided your friends aren't ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, as you're bound to get at least some fun out of it that way.

Looks and runs decent enough.

Although not as good as I remember it being 5 years ago, Mafia II is still worth a play today.

Be advised though. If you're looking for a GTA clone set in the 1950s, this game ain't quite it. While you do have an open world, there's not much to do in it besides the main story. There's no side missions or activities you could get lost in like in similar games. Unless hunting down collectibles is your thing, the open world is not much more than a background for the story.

The story itself is really good, albeit it does have some pacing issues. There's some great characters to be met along the way, and some entertaining dialogue to be heard. The soundtrack is nothing to scoff at either, featuring a great original orchestral score and radio hits of the era. There are plenty of little details that add to the believability of the setting, and let you become fully immersed.

The driving mechanics are some of the best I've experienced in an open world game, if not the best. The guns have good sound design and the environments are somewhat destructible, resulting in satisfying gunplay and each weapon feeling as powerful as expected. The bounty system is a lot better done than in similar games, with police reacting accordingly to your crimes and not just shooting or trying to arrest you from the get go. You'll also be required to change your clothes or your car's license plates should you become wanted and fail to escape for long enough.

So, if you're not just looking for a GTA clone set in a different time period, and aren't afraid to try out a game that does some things differently, then by all means give Mafia II a go.

There seems to be a certain pattern when it comes to Devolver Digital's releases. Either the game will be an indie classic, or a gorgeous pixel art spectacle full of undercooked ideas.

Unfortunately, Mother Russia Bleeds falls within the latter category.

The game's biggest attribute is, undoubtedly, its graphics, which is apparent from the moment you open up the store page. The animations follow suit, making the gameplay fluid and chaotic, something to behold once it ramps up. You've got your punches, your kicks, your grabs, your dashes, melee weapons and guns that you can pick up...No one will deny that it all looks great once it comes together. However, I couldn't help but find it repetitive only after an hour of playing. And while I'm no expert on fighting games, this one feels like it slighly misses the mark when it comes to the combat. That extra something the game desperately needs seems to be proper multiplayer, as even playing with bots proved to be a much more exhilirating experience when compared to playing solo. The fact that the only available option is local co-op means that you'll be missing out on the best way to play, unless you have 3 other friends that are able to come over and play the game with you. It seems like the game would be a blast in those circumstances.

As far as the plot is concerned, it does an okay job of stringing together the different locations and fights, as well as providing context for them, but it's by far the game's weakest aspect. None of the characters stand out personality wise, nor is any of it memorable or gripping in any particular way. Combined with the trashy writing, which seems forced for the majority of the time, it's not hard to imagine the whole thing ruining the game for you. Personally, I was expecting something a bit more highbrow.

In summation, Mother Russia Bleeds is a beautiful and highly responsive fighting game, held back by repetitive combat, weak story and writing, while lacking online multiplayer, which feels sorely needed to carry the whole experience, ultimately turns it into a slog before you've had time to porperly settle in.

It's not a bad game per se, but it pays off knowing that you're in for style over substance, lest you feel disappointed.

Despite the great atmosphere and the intriguing stories they delivered, I could never get into games like Outlast or Amnesia. What one finds scary is subjective for the most part, but I've always found not being able to fight back and only having to rely on running and hiding when facing a threat, a lot less terrifying than having the ability to fight back, but being actively discouraged to use it. With the former, your course of action is always clear, which removes a lot of the tension, where as the latter has you anxiously biting your nails, debating on your next move.

Enter Alien: Isolation, a game that despite being released solely for the purpose of making you forget about 2013's Aliens: Colonial marines, manages to go above and beyond with the concept of an unstoppable predator.

Throughout the 20 hours of the story, you will be exploring Sevastopol station, as you try to figure out what happened to the freighter ship Nostromo, gone missing during the events of the first Alien film. The developers have done a great job recreating the retro-futuristic style of the Alien universe, and it's obvious a lot of care and effort went into making the game as beautiful and tense as it could have been. Various obstacles will be in your way, such as the eponymous Alien, but also other humans fighting for survival, haywire worker androids, and the station itself.

The game surpasses titles such as Outlast and Amnesia by giving you multiple options to work around these obstacles. While you'll be able to fight your way through on occasion, doing so will be exposing your miniscule health bar and quickly wail away at your limited supplies. A noisy distraction could lure away a patrolling android, but also attract a bigger threat to your position. Stealthing it up entirely may prove to be the safest option at first, but there's a chance you'll find yourself backed into a corner should a hasty escape be required.

While playing on the hardest difficulty is highly recommended, it is also the source of many difficulty spikes and dips. With the AI of the Alien being unpredictable as is, the increased difficulty takes it a step further. At times, the Alien will score a cheap kill, giving you no chance to defend yourself or flee, while other times he will simply wander off, letting you crawl your way through the level almost unchallenged. The human enemies suffer from this as well, sometimes being able to see you from a mile away, opening fire almost instantly, while still speaking out their warning lines, and sometimes being as dumb as a door knob. Other issues include the save system which, while appreciated and adding to the overall experience, can be a tad bit frustrating, especially in the earlier stages. Several graphical glitches are likely to be encountered. The enemies were also able to inexplicably see me through walls, several rooms away, on two occasions. Your character is also prone to getting stuck on obstacles, as well as upon going in and out of doorways and pre-rendered animations.

Some criticism should also be directed at the story. It gets the job done, without it, or the characters in it, being particularly interesting. The ending, while not ruining the rest of the game, certainly lessens it and leaves something to be desired.

In summation, Alien: Isolation is more about the journey, rather than the destination. The tense gameplay, rich atmosphere, visuals and sound design, are what carry the experience. The story and characters do nothing to help them out, but don't weigh down the whole thing either. That is done by the unrewarding ending, annoying glitches, difficulty inconsistencies and some slightly unrefined design choices which, while annoying, are heavily outmatched by the positives in the grand scheme of things.