Game 153 - Butcher - Week X - August 24

utcher is a perfect game. Not among the greatest of all time by an means, just that it executes all its ideas perfectly. The high concept is Quake meets Hotline Miami as a side-scroller. The enemy design, weapons, pickups and world are all Quake with a touch of Terminator. The quick snappy twin stick gameplay and unforgivably punishing difficulty is very much Hotline Miami. It's unapologetic in its approach with a difficulty tier of Hard, Harder and Hardest, and this will filter a lot of people but I'm all for it. The mechanics and gameplay are a struggle at first, but once you get the hang of snap shotting enemies you'll be running through levels in your first, second or third try. The presentation is superb. Whether it be the human enemies, which seem augmented in some way whether that be cybernetic or exosuits or a combination I'm unsure but splattering them into a puddle of gore, or listening to their whimpers and yelps as you Butcher them never gets old. Wielding a chainsaw, rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher and rail rifle the inspiration for its weapons are clear. I loved the depth in weapons and the amount of ammo you receive is perfect, requiring you to manage your resources to deal with the right enemies. Assault rifle is ideal for the grunts but quickly runs out of ammo and is best for crowds. So the shotgun is best used for single or dual humans, while the grenade launcher is best for heavy enemies and the rail life is good for everything, charging it up and lining up multiple elite enemies for a one shot kill is super satisfying. 

The enemies range from civies ripe to be chainsawed, to generic foot soldiers who can use any weapon you can (RIP Rail Rifle), jetpack wearing humans to minigun toting super soldiers or hijacked ambulances fitted with missile launchers. It's very rustic and feels appropriately scavenged. Took me way too long to realise what the story was. A terminator-esque drone created to seek out and destroy the last bastions of humanity. Eventually fighting the guardian Robot and destroying the core of Earth itself, including you. All the levels are unique from grey industrial ironworks, yellow old military bases, a deep green jungle outpost, orange volcano research station or the dirty and colourful last city of humanity. I tried the user created levels as well, and disappointingly could only find test levels from the devs. Not sure if I need to download these but I decided to move on. At 3 and a half hours Butcher was the perfect length to romper stomp my way through the last remnants of humanity as a cold machine. 

The inspiration here is evident...

Game 152 - GoNNER - Week X - August 24

oNNER is a minimalist adorable side-scrolling rogue-lite shooter. You play a water droplet where you must help your best friend Sally the Whale, by descending into a world to find the holy grail and heal her. As the blob you can select a skull which sets various perks, health or melee abilities. You can select a number of weapons from pistol, shotgun, rail rifle and scythe as well as a backpack that gives you an active ability like explosion, jetpack or my favourite a shark fin which gives you a rapid fire that costs no ammo. On the last or no bullet, your next kill will drop ammo. 

If you get hit you drop everything and must collect it, if you get hit without head you have no health and will die. You can also drop items off ledges entirely, which will make even the most seasoned players heart sink. Finally you can jump on enemies heads. All this adds for a very strategic and in-depth gameplay loop. Each level has its own layout and set of enemies. The first has porcupines, guys that run at your or fish that swim to you. The second has clouds that fire other clouds at you. The third has explosive enemies and the fourth and fifith I don't know because I didn't get that far. After finishing each level you have a randomized shop where you can change your weapons, this is important as some loadouts are better for certain levels, which you also figure out as you go. After this you also fight a boss. The first are floating heads that dash you, the design of which reminds me of Kids See Ghosts. Simple in premise, but can deteriorate very quickly. I was actually dreading the second boss but to my surprise it was more of a unique platforming section with wall hugger shooting enemies. The art and soundtrack is very lo-fi and the vibe offsets how intense the gameplay can be at times. My one major issue with the game is it does get stale, as you tend to find a a favoured loadout and stick to it and the game doesn't throw enough at you through your attempts to justify experimentation. It'd be cool if through grinding the game allowed you to unlock other items. So a skilled player could unlock it quicker, but a more casual player could also get them eventually (perhaps an increasing change to see new items in the shops after each level). As I mentioned earlier I wasn't sure what the final boss was and after more attempts at the third level than I cared for I decided to look it up on YouTube. Third boss, a giant blob thing with armour, destroy all the armour, pretty simple compared to the others. There are other explodey tree things shooting at you. The fourth level basically turns into down well with the boss requiring you to escape tendrils (that look like the ones you use to transport between stages) as they come for you. The last stage seems to be some kind of graveyard, basic platforming section kind of like the second boss, however you start at the top and it has death pits from stage 3. All enemies seem to be on display here. Final boss is a giant skull that has a poison cloud power. 

The story is pretty cool. Ikk the droplet is friends with Death, who is helping you by keeping you alive to help save Sally. You realise this quest is futile, somewhat analogues for the rougelite gameplay and in the end Ikk turns on Death and kills him. After realising both his friends are gone he returns to the Tree of Life and finds Death's mask, donning it and seemingly becoming the new Death. The cycle continues. Perhaps Death had been on a similar path and allowed it to happen, sympathizing and also knowing how it would end one way or another. An unexpected tale for an seemingly simple arcade experience that's very much open to interpretation. Even though I gave up this was a fantastic roguelite I could see myself coming back to, putting it in the same camp as Down well with a fantastic level of replayability. 

Allsorts 7 - Sports Games Suck (Mostly...)

ports games were always beyond me. I understand the appeal to the fans of those sports, and I did have my time with games like Rugby League and WWE, but for the most part I would much rather play the sport IRL than a boring simulation of it. There's certainly an appeal to playing a top tier athlete, especially online competing against human intelligence. Or if you were past your prime or unable to play for another reason I'm glad these games exist even for that reason alone. But in general they're not for me. On top of that a lot of the games don't seem like they've really changed much since the PS2 era, which seems to be reflected as the biggest complaint in their reception. Most have a mid 6/10 or less with excerptions like NHL24, MLB, Grid and F123 which are both by Codemasters and have surprisingly enjoyable  well voiced campaigns even if a little melodramatic. 

Tennis World Tour 2  

This game didn't have a lot going for it considering out of all the sports Tennis interest me the least. I wasn't wrong in this regard, it's boring as fuck. You serve, they hit the ball, you run and hit the ball back. Like a lot of games on this list I wouldn't be surprised if there's a level of mechanical depth I'm missing, but I didn't care enough to find it. The basic character customisation is very bare bones but still cool. They even let you choose serve and stance style which is a nice touch. Playing my first opponent I noticed I could equip 3 green basic cards, 2 of which duplicates. While the opponent had five epic rainbow gold cards. My first thought was oh boy, here we go. But to my surprise it appears they can only be earnt, unless I just missed it or perhaps they intended to add it and got gun shy. The career mode is cool, where matches give you XP and fatigue. You need to metagame and make sure your player gets RNR. I don't think this goes far enough however and should go full second life. Let me visit the physio or massage parlour. Hell take it a step further and have the player balance initially small income, by having to choose by cheap options that worsen performance or premium RNR such as a remedial massage. Then when I make it big I can spend a lot, hit the bars, purchase a bunch of stuff for my crib and pick up. Fulfil that fantasy of struggling to breakthrough. This one gets hidden. 

NHL24 

First impression was the settings are insane; especially the difficulty options you have. The presentation was phenomenal, the crowd, music, the sponsors, commentators, advertisements and visual noise all combine to create an atmosphere that really adds to the experience which is often missed and creates a much more dull experience in other games usually with a barebones commentator.  The game is very easy to control with twin stick shooting (right analog to hit pick in a direction). Yet its difficult to master with a surprising amount of moves you can do with just one stick, such a deke, a feint maneuverer. This was the only game I played the teaches you as you go, which is fantastic as you can just jump right in without overbearing text or an extensive tutorial. The replays when you actually score are absolute fire as well, really adding to the presentation and hyping up the joy you get from scoring. 

There are an insane amount of modes on display here like team manager and franchase, where you make a team, trade players, manage morale and owner expectations all while it full simulates play. It'd be cool to combine this mode so you could actually play the game or maybe even a hot seat mode where you play and a friend or stranger manages your team; or vice versa and you can send feedback. Perhaps they can spectate during the game and you can get into blues. Speaking of, the fact that you actually get into a fight and have moves for this is just perfect. You might think this is an obvious essential part of a Hockey game, but I thought it might be missing in the new world of PC cotton wool. The career mode is cool as well, setting up the fantasy of a new up and coming player perfectly. You start in the snow mountains while your coach sells you to some industry commentators. As the career goes on you have to give your input and balance your comments to favour your team, manager and the fans; adding an RPG factor. You get XP for doing actions which is cool. I never played a team sports game as one player before and its a unique feeling to have to consider passing and setting up your team. This is definitely one I could see myself playing again. Ice Hockey is something I always wanted to play as a kid and being an Aussie that wasn't really a possibility, also its not a cheap sport to get into. But at least here I can get a taste of what it would have been like. This one remains in the library.

FC24 

It's just... Soccer, just as boring as I remember. It honestly feels like the PS2 version, especially in terms of graphs and detail. Pass, pass, shoot, repeat. I'm sure there's more depth in the types of passing, feints, etc and when you get into the action it gets complicated especially online but it was jut not interesting me. It has the same career and franchise mode as NHL which is cool. This one gets hidden. 

2K23 NBA  

Same feeling as soccer tbh. Just pass, pass, shoot. Presentation and graphics are a little better but nothing special here. It probably has a high level of complexity and depth in moves, especially in multiplayer, but didn't interest me enough upfront to dive into that well. Same career and franchise mode again, I'm starting to think this is the standard. Both this and soccer got slammed by user reviews so I get the sense that this might be the norm for these games, probably why they were free on PSN as well. This one gets hidden. 

2K21 PGA 

I always joke that Golf isn't really a sport, or an old man's sport, but this was actually very enjoyable. It's pretty Zen and I could see myself playing this again. Perhaps a novelty version instead like Mario Golf. There is immediately a lot of depth in this game in how terrain factors into it. You can see the topography in hills, breaks, etc with the green and red grid they show you. There's also an insane amount of clubs and they balance it really well by choosing the best club for you on lower difficulties but advanced players can choose for themselves. Career mode is here but no franchise obviously as a non-team sport. However to compensate they do give you a course creator which is pretty darn cool. NHL is the only one that has in built tutorial but so does PGA to an extent. It does force a short tutorial at the start, but that might be necessary. I'm starting to think there could be a pattern here for the most enjoyable sports games. Instead of just sucking for X amount of games, or make the AI so bad to compensate the game becomes boring, it shows you the ropes in a effective way. This one remains in the library.

MLB: The Show 19 

I put this in the same department as Soccer and Tennis, pretty boring. Pitch and hit, and run. There seems to be a lot of depth in both actions but unlike NHL or PGA they don't do a good job of explaining it at all. For example I have no idea why my character doesn't run to next base after I hit the ball. Not really sure what the rules are beyond the basics and this is the only one where I didn't actually finish a match. Leave this one to the baseball nerds, because for filthy casuals like me it holds no interest. This ones gets hidden.  

AEW: Fight Forever  

Just. Superb. No campaign, just pure wrestling and I'm here for it. I love how intense and savage the moves are. Wrestling is pulled back or orchestrated but here no punches are thrown or held as blood splatters from each hit. The signature moves go hard, where you drop peoples spine into your knee or leap of a ledge and coat hang someone so hard it would have snapped their neck if this was real life. The taunts are fantastic as well and do a great job of making the wrestlers feel distinct and not just muscly reskins, but also have mechanical benefit by adding to your Signature move meter. The game is exactly how I imagined my eight year old self viewed wrestling before he realised it was all "fake". The outfits and presentation of AEW go ham like WWE and yet it all feels like real wresting. The game has the basic modes but also a few novelty like Ladder (climb and grab coin) or exploding barb wire for the laughs. Though to honest they'd be better as a 4 player free for all. Imagine trying to climb the ladder and constantly being knocked down or throwing each other into explosive barb wire. For this reason battle royal is my favourite, four teams with each having a rotating tag team of 4 players. This would be fantastic in local coop, one I'll be returning up for exactly that with the boys. Also its the best because unlike the 4-player fre for all its last man standing, and not the first knockout wins, which befuddles me why they did that. This one remains in the library. 

F1 23 

It's somewhat simulated for a casual audience to fulfil the F1 fantasy. This is no more apparent then the breaking point mode which is F1 + Soap Opera, which has some great voice action and soap opera level melodrama. Not actually a bad idea, and helps justifying the annualization of the series, each containing a new season of the soap. The career simulation is cool as well, with plenty of drama as you blow up on social media and news, which you can read between races as the days go by and you mark races off your calendar. Gives you a good taste of an up and coming driver, same as every other career mode. That being said that actual gameplay did not appeal to me at all. As far as I could tell it was mostly cock pit view, go round and round on a track and get penalties for any corner cutting. This one gets hidden. 

Grid Legends

Now this is pod racing. It's immediately apparent to my tastes are arcadey. I love the flash back mechanics that you can use when you make a mistake, it's a novel idea and adds an extra dynamic of resource management. Especially for causals like me or someone going for that perfect run and they make that one mistake that puts them in last place. Gameplay reminds me of NFS Most Wanted but genuine racing and the campaign has less cheese, presented well as an up and coming professional new racing team on the block and the protegee leading the charge (you). Not my style though, I prefer underground racers like Midnight Club or rally games like Motor Storm. This one gets hidden. 

Dirt 5  

It's in the name, you start with a pristine car glistening with awesome decals which by the end is covered in grunk. This is actually a satisfying feel as your "own that dirt". Driving feels great, tight, not clunk but a touch arcadey. Campaign is cool, no story, just unlocking cards as you progress like MotorStorm. The commentary is a night touch as well, adding an element of story, especially as you can choose your own nickname and they refer to you as such. This adds a degree of personalisation and investment, as you improve I'm sure you'll go from rookie to legend. I certainly like it more than the others but I think it's a bit of a fence sitter for my tastes still, I'd much prefer OnRush or MotorStorm. Reading online it doesn't seem prior games are like this, more dirt sim and fans hate 5 for that reason. Between this and Grid there also seems to be a trend of give away season 1 or on PS+ and then sell 2-5 as DLC. Actually a smart way to monetize the game via something via Gamepass or other subscriptions. Reading up on MotorStorm I noticed that after Driver Club most of Evolution went to Codemasters and you can certainly see that DNA on display here and in OnRush. As it turns out I'd been playing Code Masters games for years, as they made Micro Machines V3 for the original Playstation. They also made Colin McRae Rally 2.0 which would become the ongoing Dirt series, which I remember seeing around. This one gets hidden. 

Descenders  

Probably the coolest game of the bunch here. BMX simulator with a lot of physics and cool tricks. Very sandbox and Zen campaign, just descend down hill and don't stack with very chill music. The level of creativity on display here is indie AF and I'm all for it. Steam certainly agrees with an overwhelmingly positive status. They also give you a certain amount of lives and if you lose them all you have to restart the campaign, which is an interesting choice to keep it challenging. It's just not for me though as I'd much prefer my four wheels in Pro Skater, Session or Skate. This one gets hidden. 

Game 151 - Retro City Rampage DX - Week X - August 24

etro City Rampage DX is a retro GTA inspired arcade game. The map is small and tight and mostly comprises of roaming around in a car running people and cars down for money, or pulling out a Worms level of weapons to destroy any pursuers. The combat itself is nothing to write home about but the missions themselves have a great deal of variety and do a good job of breaking this up. There is an insane amount of references her to both retro games and pop culture alike. Frogger, Mega Man, Bionic Commando and Mario down to having the exact pixel animated Mario jump. There are entire levels based on this such as escaping prison by using a cardboard box ala MGS; sewers that have ladders and pipes, areas reminiscent of Contra or Pokémon. In terms of pop culture I noticed Doctor Who, Dark Knight, Back to the Future, TMNT and many more. One villain is easily based on Dark Knights Joker as the prince of crime and another is Dr Wiley from Mega Man. Your ally is Doc Brown and you spend a great deal of your missions helping him repair the DeLorean with various McGuffins you scavenge during missions. The final mission is very cool. You assault a castle, take down a private military, fight Dr Wiley in a Mario style mission, then escape as the evil castle crumbles around you in a green van, running down turtles in a sewer. The view then switches to a 3rd person POV with 2D sprites, reminiscent of Mario Kart as you speed your bike down the high way to catch the DeLorean. Once you do you and Doc take down the big bad Wiley as he fires rockets and many other obstacles at you. The final boss is true to form for the series, running people down in your rampage. The game overall is pure retro, the graphics, 8-bit music and voiceless dialogue with "chirps" and "beeps" to simulate dialogue. There are some really standout missions and side missions. One mission has you steal recording tapes of a corrupt publisher that show them saying "employee indies for nothing, then when they complain say they don't understand the industry" or "charge players x10 what they are currently". You give this to a journalist who thanks you. Only to see them report "Publisher donates millions...". 

A flurry of clever jabs at the AAA games industry. Or the Ice Tea mission which apes the infamous Hot Coffee mod in San Andreas. After a one night stand with a lovely lady you find she's pregnant, our degenerate career crime wants to get tested and instead he's thrown in prison and must escape. Combing back for the final time has her get a bunch of muscly guys to try drag you somewhere. There are also several arcade games you can play, mean of which are knock off version of games also inspired by the arcade error like 8-bit runner, Minecraft, Super Meatboy, and even the YouTube channel Epic Meal Team gets a reference (someone on the team must be a huge fan). The levels of meta on display here are awesome. Last but not least is the garbage mission. One of my examples of what makes GTA V so boring is a mission where you Franklin covers for his deadbeat friend, at the request of his partner, and does his day-job; literally driving around and picking up garbage. Here you do the same thing but instead you're "taking out the trash" by throwing people into a garbage truck. And it takes less than 5 minutes. I always preferred my GTA games arcade which is why I've never truly like one since IV; but Retro City Rampage captures that spirit perfectly and I enjoyed almost every moment of it. 

Game 150 - Infamous: Second Son - Week X - August 24

nfamous: Second Son is a game that I'd avoid for the longest time. I'm a diehard fan of Cole and without him to me there was no Infamous. Even so the game still intrigued me and after starting to use my static bike again, I decided this would be a good one to play through on the bike. 

To begin with my impressions of the game was somewhat mix. The controls were fantastic and the powers felt just as good as any other Infamous game. But Delsin felt a little bit like Troy Baker playing Troy Baker. This dissipated as time went on and that faded and his character became more believable. Even so I do wonder if Delsin is what they wanted Cole to be in Infamous 2 before the backlash (of which I was involved by sending a strongly worded email to Sucker Punch lol). As the game went on I did appreciate him and the other characters he has a strong relationship with, such as Reggie, Betty and Fetch. Making the Rowe family Inuit is a cool, especially for the brother dynamic and it sets up a good motivation for Delsin and what's at stake after the villain terminally disables several of them. In other words do I stop and nothing to gain power, defeat Augustine and abuse Conduits and Normies alike as Reggie would want "You protect the tribe". Or do I take the highroad, build a group of allies and set everyone on a path to freedom. The ability to absorb powers on touch via pure conduits is a great idea for a power and way to evolve the gameplay. It also sets up the potential to reset his powers in any future games considering they're not his natural power. When he absorbs the power he also absorbs their memories, otherwise known as "Sympathy Gate". But you do get a dope water colour splash comic cutscene similar to the first two games, which is always welcome. I love all the new powers. Smoke is dope and it's not just fire with a new skin. It stuns enemies by making them cough allowing you to subdue, you can blast rockets. All the other powers follow the same pattern of normal blast, rocket/beam/spears, grenade, shotgun blast; with the except of video powers which also includes an invisibility power. The major differentiator between the three are the movement abilities. Smoke includes a dash that moves through grates or bars and the ability to move through vents in buildings that will bringing you through to the roof giving you some airtime. Its fluid and fun and has fantastic synergy with the parkour early on in the game; reminding me of the ice launch. Video includes wings giving you the ability to fly for a short period; Concrete has a armoured dash and my favourite Neon has a flashing dash allowing you to run up walls and dash from building to build that you can upgrade to go forever. The  movement is always a highlight of these games and reminds me of the better part of DCUO. I also love that he uses a Ghost Rider style chain as his melee attack, continuing the tradition of using random ass objects to fuel power. It matches his whole punk anarchist vibe as well having a chain wrapped around his arm. The melee attack augments differently depending on the power whether it be a smoking whip or straighten into a neon sword or video claymore. You can tell this game is  a product of its time, a launch title that grossly overuses the touch pad in various unnecessary ways like the spray paint mini games across the map. 

The story really centres around its villain as it always has, true to any good comic hero story. The government has given full power to a shady tasks force, removing rights and freedom, to arrest "bio-terrorists" seems like a natural and historical way to evolve the story after events of prior games. Augustine is the head of this imitative and after our first encounter she sentences many tribe members to their death by interrogating them to find Conduits. This sets the Rowe brothers on their path to absorb her powers and save the tribe, a pretty simple premise. Along the way you can influence others and decide if you want to corrupt or uplift them. At first she seems a little one dimensional, an evil tyrant using powers to torture, but as the game goes on all is not as it seems. She manipulates Hank, even though he has escaped many times, she doesn't put him down or lock him in a deep dark dungeon. She spares Delsin on many occasions and even asks him to join her. She also has no problem killing Reggie, RIP. Eventually its revealed that she did it all to create a Haven for Conduits, foreseeing that they would be killed by the military. She's basically Magneto, an ex-soldier gaining the trust of the government. Pretty much the plot of any X-men movie. She's no Kessler, but still a good enjoyable villain overall and somewhat relatable, an essential aspect of any good villain. I saw what they were going for with Delsin's libertarian ideals, freedom at the cost of danger as opposed to Augustine's security at the cost of control. Unfortunately the choice system at this point, like Mass Effect feels very outdated. Especially when compared to games like The Witcher 3 and BG3. The choices are between selfish or self-sacrificing with very little grey. Do you want be a hero or an arsehole? Not much of a choice. I understand what they're going for, as mentioned stop at nothing to save the tribe. But they do a poor job of reminding you of this in the moment and also hinting at any risk of not taking the darker option at the cost of the tribe. Even at the end you choose to expose Augustine for who she is, a fraud, or kill her. But you decided before she reveals her motivations, now somewhat relatable, without any opportunity to change your mind after learning this. The other character standouts are Reggie. The older brother struggling to remain the voice of reasons, when he realises he doesn't have the power in this situation to protect the tribe like he normally does. But he does try to guide Delsin in his own way and protect his brother. His sacrifice was one-for-one with Zeke and I think his character deserved a little better if I'm being honest. But that's only a testament to how good this character is. He's less of a goofball than Delsin and much more enjoyable to begin with. Lastly there's Fetch, on a revenge quest to avenge her brother, who died after they went on the run due to her being a Conduit and succumbed to drug dealers. You can accelerate her path or course correct but her character is just as enjoyable as Lucy Kuo as a partner in crime, and as a love interest. Sucker Punch know how to do those really with without them coming across as cheesy. She also gives you Neon, which is a closer runner up to lightning for my favourite power. 

Last but not least the final boss deserves special mention. It's pretty lackluster, especially when compared to prior fights with the Beast or Kessler where Cole absorbs energy directly from thunder strikes in a storm. An absolutely epic spin on every way you'd recharged and gained power previously. The show down with Augustine is basically a rehash of the prior fight but with video power instead of smoke. Then you absorb her powers and learn them as you fight her in stone golem form, full cutscenes and awkward Delsin absorb scene interrupting flow of the fight and making it very awkward overall. It's kind of cool to dismantle her and her empire with her own power (including post game) but still a let down overall. Especially considering how emotionally charged the fight is after Reggie's death. It should have been a giant arena that requires you to use all four powers, each one being the key to a specific puzzle as you disable her defences and destroy her empire. Give us stone but ignore the rules, let us absorb a "mega power source" and get everything in one hit. Then we can just figure it all out at once and fuck it, make it over powered. While a little shorter than prior games it was still very enjoyable and I'm glad I got around to playing it. I would love to see a sequel where we play as both Delsin and Cole, and they can team up and bond over their lost brothers. 

Game 149 - Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Week X - July 24

nsanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a gem of the Xbox live era along with Braid, Castle Crashers and Limbo. A time when downloadable games were rare and a novelty to most. It's one I missed and I'm glad I came round on it. And what can I say, it's all in the name of the game. A 2D Metroidvania where you control a saucer drone navigating a dark planet, collecting tools that lets you resolve puzzles and combat new threats. It has a very low fi vibe, with no dialogue and characters to speak. This is especially present  in the collectibles you can find such as footage revealing what happened to the planet. The game is easy and fun to control; with basic graphics for gravity effecting certain aspects such as movement, weapons, telekinesis, etc. All the worlds are fantastic with a special shout out to water and ice which have the most novel variation on puzzles. The gears section is pretty cool as well; requiring you to use telekinesis to slot it through a puzzle section in a difference area. Last but not least are the boss fights, epic, Lovecraftian but simple in nature; requiring you to use the most recent tools you acquired and then giving you a new tool upon vanquishing the threat. A very satisfying loop all in all. The story is seemingly absent until you reach the end where its revealed that eldritch creatures, perhaps parasitic in nature, have twisted the planet into what it is. It's your job to remove the drone and clean the planet for the surviving inhabitants in bubble cities, completing the mission revealing a green planet. I like the meta idea that we're a survivor in one of these cities, both controlling the drone in-game and IRL.

Intermission - The Almighty Backlog

It's been almost a year and a half since I did one of these, and I forgot how cathartic it was to go through and scrub a list of games that I'm never going to play. It's a weird and somewhat sad reality that I'm happier to write off more games than I play. Every game that slightly interests me that comes out which is a 6 or 7 sends a sigh of relief, rather than a moan of disappointment. It's a reality in which I question whether I should move 90% of this backlog to "Moved On", skip to the part where I just play new games and than occasionally pull something from that folder in the dull moments. I started this in January 2020 and as I quickly approach year 5 I realise how far off my goal I am. "If I finished one of these 1-6 hour experiences a week it would take me 3 years to complete 85% of my steam library." is what I wrote in my original post when I started on this journey. Originally I had 186 games finished (including 60 indies). On Steam this now sits at 275. This seems like an abysmal improvement in 4.5 years at only 99 games; but when you factor in games played on PlayStation this figure comes out better at at 334; a little shy of double where we started. Even so 1.5 years after my original due date we're still under half way towards the original goal. It's also worth noting there are 230 games on Steam and 30 on PlayStation to finish. 500-334-260 leaves us with an additional 94 games from when we started (Unfortunately I may have gotten caught in the Humble craze again after fixing my PC; breaking some hard rules). Easily making this the Steam 600. In addition to this "Moved On" has increased from 67 to 97. In my defence, many of these games were a monumental task; with a big focus on large PC centric games over smaller indie games in anticipation for the indie machine that is the Steamdeck. That being said I think I'll need to refresh some of the rules I gave my self when I started this journey to get myself back on track, and provide some fail state conditions. 

1. 1 game per week - By Jan 2025 we'll be at 260 weeks. At 148 games finished I'll need to finish 102 games in 26 weeks. While seemingly so, it's not impossible. At my current pace I'll need to finish four games a week with 4-5 hours playtime. Considering at least half my indie backlog falls into that this is achievable even if incredibly unlikely. 
2. PlayStation games will be mentioned here as well - this rule is becoming less relevant now that I have a Steam deck. The original purpose was "some games are better on the TV, couch with a controller" especially after work. The Steamdeck, bluetooth and a dock negates this entirely. The games I sought out on the PS I now play on Steam due to the sheer utility of the platform, deck and PC. Now I'm still going to count any PS games I play but I foresee this being a dying breed of games relegated to exclusives and a backlog of 30ish games. 
3. Can only purchase a new game if I intend to play and finish it then - and only bimonthly - I moved away from this one for a while but after realising what I'd done I've been thoroughly on course this year. SteamWorld Quest, Shadow Warrior 3, Helldivers 2, Lethal Company and a major exception for BG3 are all the new games I've bought in the last 8 months. That's bi-monthly. 

There were a few rules I noticed almost entirely redundant. "This is about having fun - if I don't like it nor want to play it, it's moved on into Moved on (i.e. content)" with a "...minimum of 30 minutes to get a good sense of the game." After playing through Hector, a genre I have zero interest in, I realise I either I have a great sense of what games I'll enjoy or I can see the joy in every game I play; or a mix of both. The deck I'm sure helps a lot for plenty of games, but it's clear this rule is rarely applicable. As my library on Steam sits if I tip the 230 games into my 275 that's 505 games played, which would roughly be game 380. I'll refer back to this in January 2024, but if I'm not close to realigning these rules (260 games played) then I'm going to archive at least 100 games to bring me to the same backlog amount when we started. The plan will then pivot into the end goal of "play the games you want, and dive into the well during the lull moments". Eventually I'll reach game 500, which will take longer but I won't be running into the issue of creating secondary backlogs via my Wishlist and denying myself new experiences to play stuff only because it's on my backlog. 

Game 148 - Hector: Badge of Carnage - Week X - July 24

ector: Badge of Carnage immediately reminded me why I hate adventure puzzle games. First section wasn't too bad but when it opens up and you have multiple areas to go between, with no clue where to start, non-obvious backtracking and random items to be used in each area, it certainly drives that dislike I have home. The very obscure “you have to use the paint with the toothbrush and give it to the monkey” isn’t really here thankfully. I just don’t have the patience for these types of games. If you don’t have a good bearing you can find yourself hitting a wall, backtracking through areas and click everything and using all your items on every pixel as you go. Hector is wise enough to have an extensive layered hint system full immersed into the game. It begins with Detective Hector asking his partner for a hint which is vague at best; this goes to the next level of a more implicit hint; beyond this you can go to a clear step by step instruction with no nonsense. If it wasn’t for this I wouldn’t have made it through all 8 hours of Hector and it would have found itself to be the game in a while that received the “content” status in 30 minutes. Aside from my dislike for the genre the game as absolutely excellent. The game appeals to a generation who grew up with these adventure games for children, recognising its audience it instead takes on a mature setting full of blood and bodies with a British comedic undertone and plenty of gratuity. The setting is perfect for a funny mystery murder story, a downtrodden town in the UK with all the characters you’d expect. From cockney bogans to Scottish drunks and dim-witted criminals and police alike. The game pokes fun at everyone alike, young, old, police and all walks. All the characters are superbly voiced with special shot out to Hector, Lambert and the villain of the whodunit Barnsley. Hector as a lazy sinful slob of a Detective, reminiscent of stereotypically 80s sitcom dads and full of punchlines. Lambert is his buffoon of a partner who you often control. Barnsley is a down on his luck tourism planner, jaded by how destitute the town is and orchestrating the terrorist attack on the town. It all fits very well and the writing is very clever, enough so to make me want to see it out and follow the story to its end. I thought this was made by Telltale, but I was surprised to find out they only published it and instead it was made by the one-time developer Straandlooper. A shame as they clearly had talent. 

Allsorts 6 - PS+ Cleanup

llsorts 6 - PS+ Cleanup

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker  

5 minutes in I remember exactly why I stopped. Why is it every Bandi Namco in house game is full of jank even down to the menus. The only good Shoen game I remember playing existing after PS2 generation was Dragon Ball FighterZ and that was developed by the god tier Arc System Works. It just makes me wish someone would liberate the IP from these studios, Sony, Microsoft, anyone at this point so other talented developers could work on the properties. The combat itself isn't too bad even if weighed down by the netcode (or at least my oceanic location) but the actual movement is phenomenal and makes you feel like a wall running kunai throwing ninja. If we could get the combat of Ninja Storm series, movement of Shinobi Striker and an open world setting then we'd have an easy smash hit. I played one match and noticed the game is basically dead, taking forever to get into a queue. Also there is next to no customization for character appearance, likely gated to the stores and unlocks. I remember just how grindy it was to get a katana or Anbu mask; not to mention it kind of ruins the sanctity of earning those items without any substance or story to it. Even a ninja head band has a lot of weight and achievement behind it in the world of Naruto. All the more reason to get a non-Bandai studio to build that RPG. 

Divine Knockout

In a nutshell this is basically baby's first Smite meets Smash bros with a 3D arena. A lot of the gods translate and it's actually fun as a charming casual smite. Unfortunately for my self it was ruined by lag, with a lack of oceanic servers like due to it not being popular. Weirdly the Aussie lag was a little nostalgic, reminding me of when I played Smite and pushed through the lag, learning to adjust my telegraphing and skill shots. I got so used to some of these that when they finally brought out the servers I had to readjust my skill shots, as I was overshooting. Lastly like many of these cutesy games I feel bad stomping the target audience, as I wouldn't be surprised if the opposing team had less years on this Earth if you totalled them up. I wonder how many kids play these games off Daddy's PS+ account. 

Dragon Ball Z: Breakers  

I respect the premise and a novel idea but this just aint it. The concept is cool; another asymmetric multiplayer survival game where you play as the humans surviving the onslaught of the many villains in DBZ. When I saw it I thought we'd be experiencing the horror of surviving the Androids in the Future Trunks arc. But instead we get a small arena with a DBZ skin and a lot of jank mechanics where you run around collecting items, then hold a button to stabilize the timeline and warp the villain away. You can select the spirit of a hero like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, etc and assume their move set to fend off the villain. Even in a group you can't defeat the villain, it's merely holding them off as you complete the objective. The villains themselves feel cool with all the classics returning. Cell for example starts in his larva cocoon form, too weak to kill PCs but must find NPCs to evolve. As you evolve you can select new powers. Each evolution allows you a one-time attack to destroy part of the map, closing the net on the enemies. A cool way to progress the game in keeping with the world destruction from the anime. Unfortunately their fighting is still bogged down by what feels like the worst version of the Tenkaichi games, combining this with a thoroughly janky collectathon and you have a concept with a lot of potential but fails to deliver dye to Bandai jank. I really wish they played up the horror aspects. Perhaps the villains view was DBZ art style, but from the humans it was dark and the villains looked horrific to play up that DBZ horror vibe. Add in some creepy tense music and you have a cool unique game. As with Naruto I wish this was handed to more talented studios. 

Evil Dead: The Game  

Now this is how you do your own spin on a asymmetric multiplayer survival game. The music, the art, the menus, it all oozes quality and the style and charm from the movies. The concept is similar to Dead by Daylight but so much more with a PvPvE concept. Players can control any of the characters from the series; including like five Ash's each with their own move set and my personal favourite Army of Darkness. As you play you can find items and trinkets to upgrade your character as well as weapons using a loot system similar to action RPGs like Diablo. The combat itself goes hard with punchy melee and ranged weapons. Fighting the cursed creatures and evil dead holds up with any of the zombie games. There's also some surprises here with unique enemies such as trees that lash at your or Eldritch bosses that requires unique cooperation to exorcise them. This is certainly one I'll be coming back to. 

Worms Rumble  

This game was not what I expected. Looking at the art I thought it would be 3rd person shooter worms but it appears to be a quick 2d arena style game ala stick fight where you bounce around the map with one Worm. It seems like it could of been good fun but sadly it's another dead game and with no local co-op I'll be unable to play.

Tribes of Midgard  

Immediately no. Not sure what I was expecting this one but with a Norse theme and survival crafting and building elements I imagined something like Valheim. What I got at surface level was an ARPG with those mechanics and an art style that felt a little budget. There's nothing wrong with that and by all means there could be a lot of depth here, but none that I'm willing to delve deep enough to discover. Especially considering naked Rust man survival games and Diablo style ARPG are a dime a dozen and there are plenty more I'd love to play before I considered this, including the lauded ARPG survival game V Rising. 

Foamstars  

First impressions are not good and the introduction is cringe with its "Foamstars rule!" immediately reminding me of the satirical "Tunnel Snakes Rule". The whole "Vegas and champagne", be a baller, wing big and make it is very cheesy. I wonder if its appealing to the youth and Tik Tok generations of "gotta be a hustler". 

Surprisingly once you get past that the character designs are really cool and unique between each of them. I like the music as well and it amps you up for the tight gameplay. As you foam up the levels you can surf around on your foam and gain map control. Foam up enough enemies and you win. It gets pretty hectic and it reminds me of the awesome mode in Tony Hawks where you grind enough territory to your colour to win. It's a bit chaotic at first but once you get into it it's quite fun. Overall I can tell this one won't be enough to keep me coming back however. 

Aliens Fireteam  

This is a game I wanted to play at launch and my first impression of it was "generic horde shooter". The come from the vents and swarm you, running up the walls. The Xenomorphs have a variety of specials like Warriors, spitters, exploders, and many more in keeping with the theme. You have plenty of machine guns, turrets, grenades, shotguns and "Hoorah!" attitude to go around. In my first match I didn't even realise I was playing with one other player; the NPC was just as good which is a surprise. I thought this was all pretty bland until I discovered the class system and a surprising amount of depth to the weapons system. There's a lot to be explore here and I actually found myself interested to delve deeper, so I think I'll keep playing a while.  

First Class Trouble  

Now here's a game I wish I tried earlier, love the premise, love the idea. I never even knew it was a live service game. I thought it would be entirely dead considering how long its been but surprisingly there's still people playing (albeit some rude Americans). I did however play enough to get a good idea of the game. It's basically a high definition Among Us on a space station. You can interact with a lot more and there's plenty of opportunity for social roleplay. You can get drunk, light cigarettes and schmooze others. You can interact with players, cooperate to unlock hidden areas, set things and other plays on fire and more. Oxygen is limited thanks to the rogue AI (not Hal) and you need to complete puzzles to progress each area or die. The game does require a mic to be worthwhile playing and I couldn't be bothered finding my PlayStation headset. This is certainly one I'd love to play on PC instead. 

Meet your Maker  

Immediately love this junkyard sci-fi style with a touch of grimdark. The junk enemies look slapped together from scavenged parts and remind me of Oddworld meets Doom or Quake. Flesh and machines slapped together to create hulking monstrosities or flying buzzard cyborgs. The setting is so cool and has no right to be this good for the type of multiplayer game it is. Humanity is endangered, Earth squandered and all the remains are bunkers of humans sending out robots to raid other bunkers for genetic materials to create a cure, leading them in turn to create traps and guard their own GenMat. This is where you come in, Meet your Maker. You are a robot being sent to those other bunkers to retrieve the genetics and to do so you must survive the various trap mazes that other players have setup. In turn you must build your own death traps to protect your own materials. I'm not exactly sure how the  raid mechanics work as I never got around to building one, if it's like Clash of Clans or Rust and you can be depleted or you merely get bonuses for other players failing to complete your maze. I suspect its the latter; as wise players can just spend all their materials before they go offline, rendering the economy mute. The gameplay itself is really tight with the grappling hook allowing you to zip around levels, Spiderman to roofs to avoid traps are climb over the maze and view inside and scout. Weapons are limited and require you to pick up ammo; making you carefully consider how often you use it. There's also some unique defence weapons (shields?) that essentially let you parry traps. Along with Aliens and Evil Dead, this is definitely one I'll be coming back to, and might do a full post depending how in depth I get. 

Game 147 - Dead Space 3 - Week X - July 24

 asdas

Game 146 - Dead Space 2 - Week X - July 24

Dead Space 2

Dead Space, that is, the original, is one of my favourite games of all time. The atmospheric and iconic Ishimura as well as the struggles of our engineer, Isaac Clarke was amongst the best of horror games for me. So much so that I'd finished the game 3 or 4 times in  I was always remiss that I hadn't played the sequel, even if the demo I played left a poor impression on me with its big blockbuster gunship sequence. When I decided the time had finally come, I had to go back and play the original so the experience was fresh in my mind leading into the sequel. 

The feeling of being just a guy was the first thing that returned to me. You feel vulnerable and enemies can cut you to pieces, especially on harder difficulties. I also forgot just how immersive the menus are. Everything is presented via hologram, whether it be a small ammo counter on the gun, a menu displaying inventory, a projection so you can talk to your team, or the health bar on your suit it all feels integrated and grounded in the world. The added immersion not only serves the purpose of elevating the horror by absorbing you, but it also provides added stress to gameplay in that you cannot heal or recharge stasis without opening a menu. As for the weapons I love how most of them are engineering related. I can't remember what I liked before but I can say for sure that the line gun is OP, as it severs multiple limbs at once and the ripper goes hard with stasis, carving off the limbs of multiple enemies with a hovering saw blade. The force gun is okay in certain scenarios where there are death vents you can push enemies into. The flamethrower sucks. Not only does it take too long to kill enemies but it defies a major appeal unique to Dead Space off "cut off their limbs!". Contact laser hits hard but its fairly boring and the upgrade path sucks. The pulse rifle is overrated, but cool thematically as the only military weapon. The zero g and no air sections are a big part of what makes this game so awesome; all the puzzles are fantastic. The lore and details are great. Seeing the lives lived or the struggles as you piece together what happened on Ishimura. A lot of major world building can be found in them too; like how Unitology (great name) is a religion based on the Markers and Government is aware of the Marker and want it for research purposes. It reminds me of BioShock in that sense. There's a lot of small attention to detail in the environment, whether it be messages written in blood, warning or all the fat Necromorphs in the penthouse, luxurious fat gats and gluttons, profiting from being high ranking Unitology members. I forgot just how sneaky the Necromorphs are, making even the most basic types deadly. They'll flank, play dead, jump into vents and reappear, keeping you on your toes. I also forgot about the Necromorphs that have been imbued with stasis, making them very quick. It always catches you off guard as you go from groups of slow lumbering Necromorphs to one jittering corpses dash at you. The marine shuttle that crashes into the Ishimura is an awesome section, full of propaganda to "Service Earth Gov!". The haywire laser and stasis Necromorphs made for a cool enemy/puzzle. The story is subtle and doesn't get in the way of the atmosphere and true character of the game, Ishimura. Chloe will appear to you in visions, on screens and eventually in person. Slowly she will talk to you but the cracks begin to show as she consistently says "Make us whole again". Clearly she is a messenger for the hive mind, wanting us to return the government. Kendra Daniels and the government have other ideas however and betray to take the Marker for yourself. In a struggle with the hive mind she dies, you slay it and destroy the Marker, and escape. Only for a final jump scare from a grotesque morphed Chloe. All in all I think this game is a perfect 10/10. Everything a survival game should be, even if the tail end begins to lack surprises in its enemies and AI. The game is criticized for having outdated clunky controls, but I always argue that this aids it in its pacing and horror. 

Dead Space 2 reintroduced me to Isaac as a new character; reinvented and full voice. I thought it was an interesting choice and perhaps necessary to explore the effects Ishimura had on him. But I do think it had an impact on the atmosphere and how we perceive the game. Instead of the events happening to us Isaac. We were witnessing the events happen to Isaac. I don't disagree with either approach, but one does lend itself more to horror and there's a reason why the best horror games have either silent protagonists or long levels with minimal chatter and then cutscenes in between, not mixing the two. This game gets a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. Let's start with all the major things the game improved. The kinesis immediately feels better. The game had a brilliant stroke showing us kinesis first as we break shelves to use the metal rods and pierce Necromorphs to walls, it demonstrated it as not only viable but a necessary weapon compare to the first game. Something about the rag dolling and enemies hitting the wall or spearing a head off its body feels infinitely more satisfying in this game. So it's no surprise my favourite gun of the game was the Javelin gun.  This bad boy is build for large industrial construction and piercing two objects together, and that's exactly what it does. It however has my favourite alternate fire mode which electrifies it and stuns nearby Necromorphs. If you upgrade it all the way it adds a special effect that detonates it at the electrification, absolutely destroying anything you stick it to including even the regenerator. The ripper is the runner up as my favourite game from the first. Except now the blade is larger and closer to home, making it easier to wild and perfect for taking two or three frozen Necromorphs. Plasma cutter and line gun of course round out my kit. No major changes there but the plasma cutter does have a nice upgrade that sets enemies on fire.  The pulse rifle is its same old reliable self. The contact beam has an epic special ability when upgraded that puts an AOE stasis on its alternative file. Actual game changer in a game where you're often overwhelmed by numerous hyper aggressive enemies. I didn't try the flamethrower and force guns, the former for the same reasons as the first game, the latter because there wasn't much opportunity where it was useful. Detonator is cool especially for charging enemies but a little too situational and the seeker rifle is a little too vanilla for me as a militaristic sniper rifle. I can see why people love this game for its replayability. There's a lot of potential for different builds and run throughs. In general the gunplay feels much smoother and better to play than Dead Space, but as mentioned previously I do wonder if this has a negative effect on the horror experience. Limiting a players controls slows everything down and makes slowly approaching enemies more foreboading. The Zero G is a massive improvement. The jumping wall to wall is gone replaced by a floating and thrusters that feels effortless and easier to use; every section with this as with the air lock ones from the first game feel great. The presentation and variety in levels as move through a dozen unique locations is great and holds up really well, even if its at the cost of the isolated claustrophobic decks of the Ishimura. The Necromorph designs are awesome, highlights being all the new enemies. Bloated babies that roll towards you and explode, children who swarm you with razor sharp talons, slenderman like enemies that drop spiderlings that leap at you, and the stalkers that ambush. 

The gameplay is not without its flaws and even though all the Necromorphs are improved, overall they feel like a step down. This is in major part due to the pacing and AI. In first game Necromorphs were sneaky, they would flank you, dissapear and reappear through vents and play dead. This often made even the most basic Necromorphs deadly to the unitiated. In the second game this is all gone, in favour of super aggresive enemies that swarm and overwhelgm you. The slow lumbering group of enemies building dread as they close in on you has been replaced by frantic panic and often frustration as groups of enemies dash at you. The pacing does not lend itself to a horror game, but rather an action game. There's nothing wrong with that in theory but when you're considering what makes a succesful sequel, that's evolving what made the first game great. Dead Space 2 fails in this regard, the atmosphere, horror and enemy AI is a step down. The mine enemies deserve a special mention as an annoying hindrance. Hard to spot as you go in a treasure hunt in the dark to waste your ammo on these things that just slow you down unnecessarily. The leapers got my ire early on in the game and I might have fast tracked upgrading the line gun just for them. There speed is ridiculous and if there's two it's pretty much game over without stasis; as they can dash or leap at you quicker than you can even aim... Chapter 7's elevator scene also deserves a hateful mention. This encounter is so bad as enemies jump on the elevator, whipping their tentacles through the window and killing you in a few hits. The section goes for 2 minutes and is painful as all hell. I read online if you stand in the middle only one can hit you. Not exactly how I'd want to beat it but cheap sections deserve cheap solutions. There are some additional design choices that also don't make sense to me. Stomping for loot gets old and enemies often despawn, robbing you of an opportunity to get your loot. This will leave you often stomping enemies between shots in a comical fashion. 

Deciding to roll all the DLC weapons into the base game is a neat choice, but displaying them in the first store you come across is baffling. In ruins the immersion and pacing as well as the intent to reveal new weapons organically through the game. In the first store all you can buy is an engineering suit and you get that "I'm back baby" after struggling to survive in a straight jacket. Instead you're shown every possible set of armour you'll get in the game; also ruining the reveal of new suits. In the end I acquired it all and put it in a safe, pretending like it never existed. Only for this to bug the game causing infinite loading screens... what the hell. When I try to reinstall to fix the issue my saves get wiped, 8 hours into the game. This is due to the Steam deck not having cloud saves, a flaw with the device no doubt, but it wouldn't have happened if not for this bug. Unfortunately I Had to waste another 4 hours speed running back to where I was. 

As mentioned about the presentation and levels all have a phenomenal level of detail. Whether it be the Unitology church with its indoctrination rooms and bizarre cult like iconography and wall carvings. The nursery with its creepy baby Necromorphs, the apartment with its foreboding rituals, or the government sector, untainted by Necromorph activity (until Isaac arrives and lets them in). The gun line in the opening area was cool, and Isaac disappearing into the dark only to show down the power and let the Necromorphs is absolutely brutal, and a clever way to avoid human combat. Some of the set pieces are pretty awesome, such leaping from the train and using your thrusters to boost to the next cart; having it crash, hanging from the edge and killing Necromorphs as the approach, only to be knocked down by a brute and fight it. Or the gunship firing and pulling everyone into space, as Isaac narrowly escapes into a section with a hulking beast, runs from it and is pulled into space with the gun ship. The beast leaps for them and Isaac shoots the missile, knocking him back through a window. They're awesome when they happen but they do feel out of place. For example being shot from a cannon in space; dodging space rubble, crashing through a tower window, slowing descent via thrusters before landing in Avengers style pose feels badass no doubt, but out of place and comical in a Dead Space game. It certainly adds to the the action hero feeling of this game, but also tarnishes it as a sequel to the first game. I would much prefer set pieces like the encounter with the military gun line. There is also far less environmental storytelling overall, which may be due to voice acting. But could also be because of level design. Ishimura gave you the opportunity to get intimate with the game and multiple opportunities to uncover stories written in blood (figuratively and literally). Returning to sections you had been in also added dread, at first with "oh I've cleared this room before it must be sa... oh shit oh no..." and then eventually, "what new guys are going to be in this room". Forcing you back into rooms you already shit your pants in gives a lot of opportunity for environmental storytelling and subverting expectations. A great example of this is in the first game you have to learn then cutting off Necrmorphs limbs is the way to kill them. This is either from experience or you can see it written in blood on the walls. A very ominous and helpful tip. In Dead Space 2 you find an audiolog of a desperate fight with a guy screaming "it's the only way you can kill them". Then Daina literally mentions it to you. Then you find it written in the blood. Like how many times is this game can force this on me and think I can't figure it out for myself. As good as the levels themselves are overall, unfortunately none of them are scary except for one that is. Ironically when we return to Ishimura it is the best part of the game. The slow descent into madness, with nothing but haunted objects moving around and  audio logs to reinforce this feeling, tracing your original path, as something in the walls whispers "Isaac" to you deeper you get. All the while you don't encounter a single Necromorph. Then eventually you reach a long hallway; and they all come at once, to many to handle and so you run, driving you deeper into the abyss. As you explore you retreat old ground, old wounds. A giant tentacle whips around the corner, dragging you. Then it flashes back to reality, a hallucination. There are several of these and they're all great. Demonstrating the sheer PTSD Isaac is going through in this moment. Then there's the decontamination sequence where the doors lock down in a tight room.... but it doesn't come? The game is messing with us. I especially love the last sections, the dark mines full of way too many Necromorphs, moving the giant mining truck with Ellie in an on rails fight. The government sector with the return of the Regenerator, and finally the Marker. This thing is huuuuuuuuge. I love this section, as you fight you way towards Marker and Convergence happens all around you.

Lastly is the story. I'm conflict on this one. On one hand I think giving Isaac his own voice is a great way to evolve the events of the first game. On the other hand it makes you feel less isolated and alone, as mentioned previously. The actors is a short list but they're all great. Ellie is a standout favourite as she represents what Isaac went through in the first game; and we quickly become allies. Daina, Tiedemann and Stross all play their part very well. Daina betrays as as Unitology rep. A twist I didn't actually see coming. We find out Unitology wants us to create Convergence, as we made the Markers with the code in our head. While Earth Gov wants us for the same reason, but to harness its energy with Earth's resources dwindling. Stross is our anchor to the story. They suppressed our memory via induced dementia, so they could unlock the could in our brain without us going insane. Stross as far more developed than Isaac and remembers more. So we need him to destroy the Marker before we too go insane. It's all very cosmic horror and I'm all here for it. As Ellie protects him he becomes more unwieldy and it's clear this isn't going to end well. To no-one's surprise he takes her eye. In the end he couldn't beat "Step 3" and goes insane. The game tries to throw a red herring, when Chloe says the fourth step is acceptance, implying that it was our grief, Stross's grief that we were holding on to all along. Throughout the game we're faced with hallucinations and haunted by Chloe as she tells us how good we had it together and how guilty Isaac should fell. So when we accept her death and that we couldn't save her she changes from her haunting image into Chloe, and then finally a glowing warm image of her. The final twist would have worked except for in the first game she lets slip a "Make us whole", clearly a messenger for the Marker, manipulating us and does not have our best intentions in mind. Once we reach the Marker we find Tiedemann who shoots a few Javelins into Isaacs shoulder and hand, before we disarm and execute him in an absolutely brutal fashion. Now appears Chloe's glowing warm image, as we embrace her she thanks and says "Now you die". We play witness to a final fight with "Chloe", her children and the heart of the Marker. It's a thoroughly lacklustre boss fight even if fits the story. After destroying the gargantuan Marker the game ends with a clever little sequence as Isaac sits down, ready to end it all and the credits begin rolling. This is cut short as Ellie breaks through the roof, creating a vacuum as the ship and Isaac ascend, thrusting towards the gun ship, catching Ellies hand and making it away from Titan Station just before the reactor detonates, destroying the Marker and everything aboard. I really like the story, Isaac story and his relations with the characters. Especially the cosmic horror direction it took with the Marker feeling like some kind of "relay device" like the Reapers. I just wish it didn't come at the cost of atmosphere and horror from the first game. 

Read below. Proof. Add screens. Anything missed below? 

stomp to loot but despawn. church is awesome (almost beats Ishimura for sheer uniquness). religion venerate death,ascendensd. also resi callback

line gun limb destroyer beast. quik heal less tac survival. horror gud hallucinations.

DS1 - absolutely nails atmosphere and isolation. Ishimura is the star of this game. 

The horror is better simple by nature of psychological horror being better.

For example "twinkle twinkle little star" undecipherable at first and being sung in the background and increase in volume as the game goes on. 

Chloe talking to you and occasionally injecting "Make us Whole" as foreshadowing. Wish might go undetected at first but becomes increasingly aparent as you move into

DS2 - Faster paced. Enemies move quicker, kinesis and weapons are better. Shooting is tighter and smoother. 

You move from area to area, often interacting with NPCs and seeing others. You don't feel alone. 

A lot of the horror is enemies dashing at you or hallucinatory jump scares.

The game doesn't shut up; Isaac by all means should be traumatized which the game makes a poor attempt to demonstrate and yet he acts like a badass war veteran most the time. Where is the panic? Where is the "oh no not this again, please no".

The game doesn't subvert your expectations. Here basic necromorphs are basically zombie filler. In the first game they were always a threat. They would hide amongst bodies. After a while you'd be paranoid every time you see a body worried it was going to jump at you. Then there were the ones were you cut off a limb and they go down; only to jump back at you when you near them. 

Issac is an engineer, not a soldier. The second game forgot this and you lost vunerability. Even something as simple as the quick shortcuts to health and stasis eroded this. I would compare Dead Space 1 to Resident Evil 2. The zombies are slow but can be hard to miss and in groups after a few missed shots you can quickly panic as the slow lumbering enemies move ever closer. The reduce pacing is missed, and you don't have time to "get scared" in these frantic scrambles to survive. It's really just an action game. 

In DS1 for example there might be 4 or 5 enemies in a stage area. A stage will often have ramps and pathways with vertiaclity and obstacles to line of sight. Not just one big arena. They'll come at you from different angles, dividing your attention, requiring consideration of positioning and using kinesis (if you're lucky enough to have it) to divide and conquer. Enemies will often jump through vents and reappear behind you. 

In DS2 for the most part this is thrown out the window. You find yourself in a large open areas. Queue the music and enemies run directly at you, with such speed they can quickly (and often frustatingly) overwhelmn you.