Recent reviews by grinch

The $15 price-tag is a bit steep, but they did add quite a few cool cars and, in particular, a bunch of killer engines we'd been waiting to get official versions of in the game. The real downside here is that the devs still inexplicably have not added unique engine sounds, and half the appeal of a V10 comes from the absolutely beautiful note it gives off, which of course we don't get here, because all the engines sound the same. Hopefully in the future they'll remedy this and we can actually hear the awesome engines we work so hard to install...

8.5/10

This game is loads of fun and the voice acting and writing are top-notch. One of the things that makes Guardians of the Galaxy such a great IP with entertaining films is the dynamic between the characters, and that strength is on full display in this game, despite that the characters aren't voiced by their movie counterparts. Eidos-Montréal nailed the interactions between the members of the team, and the banter is downright hilarious at times. I can't remember a game during which I've laughed so much (in a good way) while playing. The serious parts are excellent as well, with moving backstories told with true-to-life emotion.

The gameplay loop isn't anything groundbreaking, but it does the job well enough that you won't get bored and you'll want to keep playing. Combat is fairly simple, but the squad abilities are really cool and there are a lot of combo opportunities where you can team up with another Guardian to take down a tough enemy, and the alternate modes on Star-Lord's guns are tailored to specific enemy vulnerabilities and make for interesting and effective combat effects. Enemies are varied enough to keep the game fresh while avoiding overwhelming the player with having to memorize tactics for dozens and dozens of different enemy types (and, once you get the corresponding upgrade, you can always use Star-Lord's visor mode to refresh your memory on what a particular enemy's weaknesses are). Navigating levels is also simple but fun and modern, and you won't struggle to find collectibles for upgrades and dialogue opportunities as long as you survey each new area when you step into it and apply the old "check behind every waterfall" rule of RPGs.

Guardians of the Galaxy is optimized quite well. There are a lot of graphical options you can tweak, and it still looks gorgeous even at lower settings and with 30 fps. I'm playing on a laptop that's several years old and just barely meets the minimum system requirements; I keep the graphical settings on the lower end of the spectrum and the environments still look stunning while I'm experiencing little to no stuttering. I would make sure that your system meets the minimum requirements, but as long as it does, you should be good to go and have your expectations of a smooth and pretty experience met without issue.

The game's length seems to be about 25 hours, a respectable playtime that avoids the game overstaying its welcome while also being long enough to make you feel like you got your money's worth, and if you buy Guardians of the Galaxy -- which you should -- you'll definitely feel like you did.

Best hunting game I've ever played. There are eight locations around the world and counting, with multiple biomes in each and many species to go after. The environments are gorgeous and even if you were to treat this game like a walking simulator you'd enjoy yourself. The DLC might seem like you're being nickled-and-dimed at first but once you start playing you'll realize you actually want all that stuff (OK, the ATV DLC was a bit of a cash-grab, and should've been part of the base game). There are main quests and side-quests for each hunting reserve and they're all pretty cool. Progressing to level up for new skills and perks is compelling, and the new weapons you unlock and can eventually afford are all cool to try out until you find what you really like (though you'll be switching it up based on where and what you're hunting). I only got the game a couple weeks ago and haven't been playing games much at all over the past year, but I've already logged over 40 hours in Call of the Wild, and when I can tear myself away from the game to do something tediously necessary like sleeping or eating, I mostly think about firing it up again. Definitely get this if you like hunting games (or walking simulators) at all!

This is one of the best roguelike games I've ever played. It's logical and RNG plays a very limited role compared to other roguelikes/roguelites, it has a phenomenal, interesting story, the finishing of which somehow still encourages replayability, beautiful pixel artwork against high-resolution backdrops, an appropriate "spacey" ambient soundtrack, and a cold, desolate aesthetic that fits the setting and story extremely well. My only gripes are that it could've used another 3-4 chapters (it has 6, which I finished in 17 hours), and it might be a little on the easy side once you understand all the mechanics. I completed it on normal, only dying twice, both to the same boss (who appears in the middle of the game and is significantly more difficult than any of the other bosses, including the final boss). I'd absolutely love to see an expansion, although it would be difficult to fit into the story, which is very self-contained and doesn't lend itself to prologues or epilogues. All in all, this game has very few downsides and is a fantastic purchase, especially at such a low price point. I highly recommend it!

This is the best isometric stealth real-time tactics game to come around in a while. The missions are challenging and varied and the stages gorgeous. Great Japanese voice acting and an Edo period setting buttress an engaging story with interesting and endearing characters. The tale begins with a tutorial mission in which one of the five playable characters aids an assault on Osaka castle led by another member of what will become the Shogun's elite team, in order to seize it and install your daimyo as Shogun. You'll then embark on the uncovering and unraveling of a plot against the Shogun after a successful period of his administration. The story is quite well-written and the setting, art style, and voice acting make it very immersive.

On the gameplay side, I've often been amazed at how long I've spent on a level, after observing, planning, executing, and retrying even seemingly small engagements in order to get them right in what are often very small exploitable windows of time requiring instantaneous coordination between two or more of the five playable characters. Thankfully, there's a "shadow mode" during which you can queue up actions for each character before hitting "enter" to watch them be carried out simultaneously.

As to downsides, I haven't found many. It can be quite challenging at times, but not so much in an "RNG" way that feels unfair. Every problem has at least one solution, and almost all appear to have multiple, so if you stick with it and plan patiently you'll succeed. Names and details of the Edo period setting have been changed, so you're not serving Tokugawa Ieyasu as such, but this isn't a historical simulator and the details that are present more than suffice to make the story and gameplay immersive. I have encountered a few areas in which I can do things I clearly shouldn't be able to, such as knock out a civilian on a balcony and then throw her down between two buildings in an area with no visible gap, where she then gets stuck and can no longer witness my systematic dispatching of the guards. The loading times for the first playthrough of a new mission can sometimes take up to about 120 seconds, but this is a one-time inconvenience. In fact, I'd say the game is optimized very well as I'm running on a graphics card (Radeon HD6870) that sits below that of the minimum recommended system requirements (HD7750) and am able to run the game on high-max settings with no performance issues.

Although I'm still only on my first playthrough, that the replay value is high is immediately obvious, with each level having multiple paths to the objective(s), and several challenges per level ranging from unique environmental kills to extremely difficult time hacks for speedruns. This game will give back a lot of fun hours of play for its fairly modest price tag. If you enjoyed games like those from the Commandos series, are interested in Edo period Japanese history, or both (like myself), you won't regret this purchase in the slightest.

9/10 Highly recommend!

The best entry in the Europa Universalis series yet. It looks slick and beautiful and plays more dynamically than its immediate predecessor, and introduces a new mechanic -- monarch points -- which adds a fresh layer of strategy to an already complex game. The music is outstanding as always with any Andreas Waldetoft contribution. The definitive grand strategy game covering the Renaissance and Early Modern Period.

Don't get this. It's essentially a scam. See the top thread in the Steam forums' subforum for this game for details