Recent reviews by Vidios

Hatty Time is an excellent game.

This game is simply enthralling, although it doesn't always respect your time.

It hooks you with an absurd story, then keeps you around with an incredible toolset of stealthy mechanics (and some less-stealthy, more shooty options for when you screw up).

As many others have noted, the story kind of craps out after the first act, and is unfinished. Much of it is also told through what are essentially audiobooks; if you're good at splitting your attention for that sort of thing, that'll add to the fun, otherwise they're an unfortunate distraction. If you haven't played a Metal Gear Solid game before, as I hadn't, this isn't much of a concern, although you will be confused as all hell for a while. Don't worry about it.

No, the main draw of this game is the stealth gameplay. Sneaking, tranquilizing, going into bullet-time because you were spotted by a guard but bopping him in the head with a magazine to KO him before he alerts anyone. There's the infamous Fulton recovery system (balloons!), which rewards non-lethal play (and animal herding) with progress toward growing your base, which leads to weapon unlocks.

And there's the multiplayer component, which is unfortunately near-dead already. More third-person shooter goodness, with a reasonable emphasis on teamplay. Unlike many other shooters, non-lethal play and melee combat are significant, and are really entertaining to pull off.

I said at the start that the game doesn't repect your time-- and that only really applies if you end up wanting to go for 100% and/or end-game (but balanced) upgrades for multiple multiplayer characters. Each mission in the single-player starts with an unskippable "pre-credits" sequence (Did I mention this is a Hideo Kojima review?) as your helicopter makes its way to the start of the mission. If you're going for an S rank and screw up, you generally have to restart the mission, which replays this sequence... More generally, going for 100% requires playing each mission at least 3 times, not counting screw-ups, including the 2nd act ones that are essentially repeats themselves. Then there are the animal cages, side-ops (which are great the first few times you clear a map, but get repetitive), painfully timed dispatch missions... Upgrades take longer and longer per tier, in addition to their normal cost, and the absolute best items (which you won't need) are gated behind real-world time delays lasting a day or more... unless you spend the damn F2P currency. Thankfully that doesn't really get in the way unless you get strongly tempted to acquire extra bases, but it's still an asinine move to include a real-money currency in a game of this cost.

With all of that said, I think the game is still worth it; just try not to get sucked in to the idea of 100% completion unless you truly have time to burn.

Quite frankly, it's not at all worth it unless you were DEEPLY entrenched in the era this game constantly references.

The controls lie on the awkward side, and it's nearly impossible to aim in combat, including the lock-on feature... which is annoyingly difficult to lock. Jumping is also difficult to aim correctly. It's probably better with a controller; haven't tried that myself.

The graphics are meh, although I understand that's the point. The arcade-like borders around the game come off as pointless to me, thankfully they can be disabled in the options menu easily.

The story is an excuse plot; acceptable for this sort of sandbox game, and of course allows you to run around a variety of enviroments parodying games of the era. However, again, if you weren't part of the era, most of the references will sail over your head.

The gameplay: run, jump, shoot, evade police, etc. The story missions may screw with that a bit, but only temporarily.

For the third time, don't bother unless you really, really know the era well. There isn't much more to this game past that, in my opinion.

This is probably the only turn-based strategy game I have ever liked, so far at least.

Its rounds are short, simple, and are accompanied by a particularly snazzy jazz soundtrack.

It's also very winnable-- maybe that's why I like it.
Either way, worth a shot.

This game is absolutely beautiful. Not only in the visual sense, featuring many more colors besides brown & grey, but also in the story and gameplay sense.
This is essentially a top-down shooter with RPG elements (e.g. experience, levelling up) that works quite well.
In the auditory sense, we have a silky-smooth talking narrator. And I mean silky, like, listening to the narrator will pleasure you sexually. The soundtrack is excellent as well.
If that isn't enough for you, there's a Portal crossover if you buy it on Steam. Which you're going to do, because this game is great.

One of the grandfathers of the "sandbox" or "survival/build/craft" genre, and still one of the best after all these years.

Live out your wildest fantasies about being a computer cracker without actually ruining lives or getting thrown in jail for doing so.

Commit false bank transfers, falsify a few PhDs in Truthiness, get people thrown in jail for repeated jaywalking (plus breaking parole) and more!

*Disclaimer: Gameplay is mildly repetitive. But the thrill of breaking into systems you shouldn't be in makes up for it, usually. Those who don't consider themselves "nerdy" in the slightest need not play this.

The greatest game for narcissists: the world literally revolves around you!

This is a decent platformer, although it is a bit short in terms of level content.
Completionists & speed runners will find a bit more mileage in the challenge modes.

Still, it's worth a shot if you find the concept interesting.

TL;DR: Don't buy it if you often say "too long, didn't read."

This is an amazing game, but it is designed for people who like to think, seek intellectual challenge in a game, or both. If you didn't understand what that sentence meant, or if it just doesn't apply to you, then SpaceChem is not for you. Don't buy it exclusively for the TF2 items, or you'll have wasted your money by not being able to get them-- the last puzzle is a bit confusing.

Nevertheless, if you think you can handle a series of thinking puzzles, go buy it now. There's an interesting story to be had here, plus the music makes you feel like an scientific badass as you work on the problems.
Also, did I mention Robin Walker thinks it's the greatest game ever?
http://steamproxy.com/id/robinwalker/recommended/

If you're one of those odd folks that doesn't own this game yet... You're missing out. Endless multiplayer, sweet visual style, hilarious critical kills and more hats than your hometown haberdasher. (Go look that up.) If your tiny town doesn't have one... Screw it. There are just a lot of hats here, and great gameplay to go with 'em.