Recent reviews by ROCK AND STONE!!!

An underrated FPS gem. A little over-dependent on set pieces though. Some balance issues with certain weapons like the penetrator and the tone's all over the place. One moment the protag is making somewhat forced ♥♥♥♥ jokes, the next, his cyborg buddy is spouting edgy, cheesy dialogue. Shame it didn't sell particularly well. I haven't had this much fun with a shooter in a while. Solid 8/10.

Probably one of the best shooters you will/can ever hope to play. Speaking only in terms of gameplay though. The level design and enemy variety are somewhat lacking. Grey industrial areas or office ares. But at least the developers trusted you to know which way to go. And you're literally massacring a batallion of clones. But the attention to detail tense, fast-paced combat and pretty clever enemy A.I more than make up for that. There are some technical issues you may face. Specifically with the frame rate. It doesn't like HID stuff. Turn off anything that's not essential, like your mouse and keyboard, and it'll run perfectly.
Purseus Mandate: Same strengths and weaknesses as the base game. Adds some new enemies and weapons. It's surprisingly long for an expansion and has some really nice, challenging bosses and fights in it.

This is a review for both Titan Quest and the expansion. This is probably the greatest iso rpg game I've ever played. It's simple, but not to a degree that it could be called "dumbed down" and it has some complexity. Like with the hybrid builds/classes you can make. And because of this it also has a lot of replayability. Due to the hybrid builds you can make, piece of loot that have buffs for two different stats, for example, strength and intelligence, are no longer pointless and confusing because, with the right build, it can become important to invest in both of these stats. I can't speak too much about balance though. Certain abilities can allow you to kill enemies from all the way across the map. Like volcanic orb. But, despite a game that was made to appeal to a wider audience, it still manages to be a easy to use, but not too simplified, action rpg. Shame that some developers think Dungeon Siege 3 and Diablo 3 are the ideal way to make a relatively simple rpg. And it also manages to be fun.

Too ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ easy to be called a DMC game. Also the characters, music and story are more annoying than usual. Mute that ♥♥♥♥ and blare your favourite music in the background and you can have fun with it on one playthrough or so.

The entire game was way too short. Especially when you consider it's file size. 9 gigs. 9 gigs of what? The graphics were pretty good for their time. But the game's very clunky and unrefined. It feels very rushed. I never even bothered with the Marine campaig. I DID have some fun playing as the Alien. It was challening enough to feel satisfying. Especially when you have to fight three predators. There was some nice attention to detail such as being able to see your 6 fingered limbs while you were climbing around. And the effect that the headbite had on enemies. But that campaign was also way too short and unrefined. Your goal seemed to be to return to the queen. And adding some more to that could've been interesting. But instead you move through levels with no idea what's really happening in the story and she suddenly gets killed and you replace her. Huh. Also it doesn't really make sense that the Alien should have health regeneration. Keeping the old mechanic of gibbing dead enemies for health would've worked fine here. It would've made the player more cautious, particularly on higher difficulties. And it also would've added some risky decison making when you were low on health and a possibly vulnerable enemy was nearby for you to replenish your health. It also would have made that final boss fight all the more satisfying once you were done with it. As for the Predator, the stealth's a nice touch I suppose. Same as it was in the 2001 AVP game. And you're not overpowered immediately playing as the predator as your healing and energy is limited. But the spear and smart disc made wading through areas filled with enemies a no brainer. Just switch between the two, heal occasionally and you're fine. That final boss fight was OK. Shame you can't really deal with it with melee like a proper predator might do (on higher difficulties that is) because of it's grab move and AOE attack. Back to the stealth though. The A.I are incredibly stupid. More so than they were back in 2001. They'll become alerted but won't really bother to pursue you. And it'll take them awhile to see you even when you're standing right in front of them. In AVP2 enemies would become alerted by this regardless of whether or not you were cloaked or not and regardless of difficulty iirc.

I only bought and played it because it's one of the few games my laptop could run. It's fun for a short while but it's missing the variety that the other dungeon siege games had. For a given character, say Karina (?) the only weapon worth using is her rifle. And you can only acquire different versions of the rifle. With the same 3 animations playing over and over again. It also isn't hard to make your character OP to the point where the game ceases to be fun in the slightest. My advice? If you're looking for a good dungeon crawler, this isn't it. Play the 2nd one instead.

It starts off well, but having finished it I feel obliged to point out the lack of danger that was present in the previous Amnesia game. It barely has any character involvement at all. The environment and music are beautiful as they are in Dear Esther, and that makese sense. It's the same developers and the same composer, respectively. The story is also very well written but you won't be able to appreciate it unless you can find the majority of the notes. And that's the only real thing to actually DO in it, besides the occasional simple, boring puzzle and avoiding the occasional pigman who will only spawn at scripted moments and will usually follow a set path, moving around stacks of crates or through hallways. It's only a matter of timing to avoid them. There is no survival elements either, further negating the actual danger in the game and making for poor payoff for the well-designed atmopshere. If this game had all the good elements in it's own right, the story, music, atmosphere and level design as well certain aspects of the first game such as the unpredictable enemies, survival mechanics and intillectually stimulating puzzles I would have appreciated it much more. My verdict 6/10.