Recent reviews by Iron Meaden

Update: I've gone back and enough of the previous issues were fixed for me to now recommend. Also, the third issue in my list (scrolling menu) was caused by having a Razer Tartarus Pro plugged in - Generally this gets treated as a keyboard by most things, but the thumbstick is occasionally recognised as a games controller. This was giving a constant input and made the menu scroll infinitely. Unplugging this device fixed the menu.


Original Review:
Oof, this needs more time. I hate to give this a thumbs down because I am a huge fan of what 3D Realms and Slipgate have been doing so far, but this shouldn't have been released as a finished product. Please Fred, take this down and relaunch in another six to twelve months.

Bugs/issues seen in my 11 minutes of play time:

1. Menus, UI, interface AND cutscenes were all stretched on my 21:9 monitor so "ultrawide support" was a bold claim
   
2. Text prompts when loading a game save were default dev strings (example: load_UI_Last_hub_blah)
   
3. The main menu would constantly try to scroll up to the top, making navigating the menus impossible - I tried unplugging all controllers and USB devices except those needed to play to no avail (kbm) - Will try on my other machines (three laptops and four desktops) to see how easy it is to repro
   
4. The loading times are crazy - I have the game installed on a gen 4 SSD with read times of ~7000MB/s and all initial game loads took upwards of a minute - Long enough to make me think the game was crashing
   
5. Ambient occlusion implementation is bad - Seems to multiply the further away you get so some NPCs had massive drop shadows
   
6. Option to scale the HUD and interaction prompts was nice, but didn't apply to the interactions: So when I tried it on my 4k 16:9 TV to see if my ultrawide was causing issues the HUD was massive, but the "press F to bleugh" was miniscule
   
7. Might not be a bug, but the font usage is really haphazard - Some places use a unique looking font, others a generic one, but the only thing that's consistent is that it's inconsistent
   
8. I'd have to replay the original to see if this was the case, but the AI is crazy erratic - Even nudging someone would send them into a frenzy - But the original was jank too so who knows

I was really looking forward to this because I loved Kingpin, and I love what companies like 3DR, Nightdive and etc are doing with all my favourite games - But this one is a disappointment. Please do the right thing guys and put this one back in the oven.

How would you feel about helping me kill some evil bastards?

NUGGET SAID NO

And I say yes. To this. It's simple, menacing, gripping and somehow adorable. I went in expecting a bit of a laugh, and ended up going for 100% completion. I'll definitely be going through the sequel.

It reminds me a little of Darkside Detective and Last Door.

My one line summary about Graven: Feels like Hexen and Deus Ex had a baby, but that baby casts fireballs and kicks ass.

A lot of people are slamming this, and I don't understand why. This game has plenty of content compared with the average Early Access. But it already does most of what it says on the tin. It's a retro styled FPS RPG with a focus on exploration and atmosphere. Yes, it's not finished, but it's much bigger than any demo I've recently played and it's not like it's hard to see that it's an EA title. I recommend it wholeheartedly, if you don't want to play an unfinished game then wait for it to finish before paying for it.

As for my short playtime, I had an issue where it wasn't tracking for a long time (I was mucking about in the game's directory to be fair though, so that might be why). I'd say I've gotten somewhere between 4-7 hours out of it so far.

Ion Fury is a dream come true for me. I grew up on classic shooters from the '90s, and the Build Engine was host to a slew of games that held my obsession for countless hours. My favourite titles from this amazing era of gaming were all Build Engine titles. The experiences I've had with games like Blood, Exhumed, Duke Nukem 3D, NAM, Redneck Rampage, Shadow Warrior and countless user maps and mods over the years have given me the biggest nostalgia bias towards any title built in this glorious Engine.

Thank you VoidPoint, thank you 3D Realms (both the old and new), thank you Ken Silverman, thank you to all those who worked on the eDuke32 project, and thank you to all those in the modding community who have offered up so much to keep us booming away for decades past, and more to come.

TL; DR:
It's a good game, buy it.

As much as I expected this game to swing and miss thanks to all it's hype, I was surprised.

Kingdoms of Amalur is a game that has clearly well designed and developed gameplay but lacks somewhat in the story department. The lackluster characters and plot leave you wanting more but the visual style, bright colours and slick, fluid combat more than make up for it. Any shortcomings are easily overlooked, too, as narrative sections are short and mostly simple. Plus the freedom to pick and choose your fighting style and the ability to mix things up however you like, help to smooth over some of the creases.

TL;DR - Plays like Fable meets God of War meets Dragon Age.

Overall, a decent title and worth it's £29.99 tag.

What can I say? One of the games that got me through high school and easily one of the most enthrallingly beautiful experiences I have ever had the pleasure to play. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is a great place to start playing the series, even today. A massively open-world RPG with a lore-driven story that truly captivates its audience with mesmerising environments, deep character writing and strong RPG elements. A truly awesome game that should not go unplayed by anyone. It really is difficult to cover everything that makes this game what it is without writing an essay, except to say: "Try it for yourself."

If you are a fan of the classic Heroes of Might & Magic games then this is one for you! The game feels and plays very much like Heroes 3 but maintains a decent amount of fresh content that clearly seperates and distinguishes the game. The traditional turn-based, RPG strategy recipe has once again produced an amazing game that, sadly, will reach only a handful of people.

A modern "touch-up" director's cut of one of the FINEST adventure games ever made.