2003’s Manhunt is a brutal, gritty title that occupies a strange place in Rockstar’s catalog as something that should be considered the company’s best work, yet it remains overshadowed by their own mega-hit franchises. This bleak, uncompromising meditation on the nature of voyeurism questioned the player’s participation in horrific bloodshed, and has since become something of a cult title — and PIGFACE is certainly one of its descendants.

Set in a post-industrial wasteland, PIGFACE places players in the role of a woman with a bomb in her head. Faceless handlers have assigned her to murder members of a drug-dealing gang across a handful of locations, and what little characterization the game offers has those same handlers shocked by how little pushback they receive from their living weapon – almost as if she’s as much down for all the murder as the people playing the game. The gameplay is as basic as the graphics – this looks like a Quake-era experience and feels like gritty, vicious shooters of that time, back when most titles were developed by a handful of people and when it was easier to smuggle bizarre and extreme content into even major titles.

After choosing a mission, the player picks their loadout from a decent arsenal – but in a twist that feels strange for an FPS (and may have been inherited from Manhunt) the player can only bring a single ranged weapon. This creates a bit of awkwardness, as the player is asked to decide on a playstyle before they have a sense of what the level is like, and pre-mission the briefings are not particularly voluminous. So, there’s often nothing to do but guess whether a sniper rifle or a shotgun is better for any given area, and if that doesn’t pan out, they can hope to snag a more appropriate weapon off of a dead body somewhere along the way.

The strange part is that for a game seemingly built around experimentation and taking chances, the developers punish players harshly for mistakes. Any time they fail a mission, a steep financial penalty is incurred. While guns only have to be bought once and ammo is free, healing syringes cost money, ensuring that if a player fails a particularly difficult level more than a couple of times, they’ll be forced to try again with even fewer resources, and consequently, less chance of success.

Enemy AI is also a little on the spare side at this point. I’m sure it’s a difficult to balance and all of the enemies can be best described as drug-addled wastrels, but they were remarkably unobservant and unresponsive whenever violence kicked off — enemies will watch a guard’s head get blown off with a sniper rifle, shrug, and then get right back to their patrol seconds later. Setting off explosives or blasting away with a machine gun might attract reinforcements, or it might not – enemies were largely unpredictable in an ‘is the AI broken and not responding to triggers?‘ kind of way.

Still, there’s plenty to be optimistic about here. The violence is every bit as brutal and upsetting as one would hope given PIGFACE’s obvious inspiration. There are huge blood spatters with every shot, and enemies scramble around and scream as they’re injured, making the whole thing feel doubly unpleasant.

This unpleasantness also permeates every bit of the world. Every room is full of trash and dirty needles. The player is asked to shut down drug factories, and all they find are a few drums and jars crudely linked together with hoses and tape. This game is about the absolute lowest-tier of criminal being executed by an assassin who lives in a dingy one-room apartment next to a set of elevated train tracks. It’s a celebration of the grindhouse aesthetic and seemingly pointless violence – although as the story gets developed in later updates, that might well change.

PIGFACE is in a rough Early Access state at the moment, with inconsistent enemies and no real narrative to speak of. I don’t expect the graphics to get any better – the low-end look is the point — and it’s a clear throwback to a rougher, more brutal past. Anyone lamenting that we never got a Manhunt 3 will find a lot to love here.

Assuming gameplay is rebalanced and more levels are added – I beat all five in just under an hour – this is extremely promising. Hopefully the devs manage to turn it into a more complete experience, as games this heartlessly brutal are few and far between.

Or maybe this kind of game being rare is a good thing? I’ll let history be the judge.

The post PIGFACE Preview appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Exceptional multiplayer. 

LOW Lackluster campaign. Some slow progression.

WTF Staying up late during work nights to try and end on a win.

Within the storied history of multiplayer shooters, few contenders can carry the weight of something like DICE’s Battlefield. This long-running military series has been a major staple in the online space, offering large-scale battles across different settings ranging from World War I to the far-flung future. 

Over the last decade or so, players have experienced some highs (Battlefield 1) and lows (Battlefield 2042), but nothing has truly brought the series back to its peak. The best installments, Battlefield 3 and 4, seem like distant memories now, but over the last couple of weeks with Battlefield 6, I’ve walked away telling myself something I never thought I’d say — Holy shit, Battlefield is back. 

Developed by the newly-formed Battlefield Studios (comprised of developers DICE, Criterion Games, Motive Studios, and Ripple Effect Studios), Battlefield 6 is a first-person shooter comprised of two main game modes — a story-driven, single-player campaign and an online multiplayer suite. The latter is the obvious star of the show, with multiplayer being the bread and butter of any great Battlefield experience, but the campaign deserves mention. 

Being the first Battlefield campaign since 2018’s V (and the first non-episodic entry since 2013’s 4) I was surprised at its inclusion at all, given the series’ history as a multiplayer-first experience. Taking place between the years 2027-2028, players control a series of US Marines who are fighting a private army known as Pax Armata. Set across locales like Brooklyn, Cairo, and Tajikistan, gameplay in the single-player is largely linear. 

Most levels have players shooting enemies, running from one point to another, and ending each chapter on a major setpiece. Certain levels feature elements that shake things up, like giving light commands to AI squadmates — telling them to scout enemies ahead or to fire on a large group of hostiles. 

Overall, Battlefield 6’s campaign felt like a ‘best of’ collection comprised of various military shooter bits. There are dedicated sniper missions where players sneak around the perimeter of an area and take enemies out from afar, there are plenty of vehicle sections where players either drive large trucks or man turrets, and there are even some sections that play out in a neat night-vision mode focused entirely on stealth. Those who have fond memories of playing things like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) might get some enjoyment out of the campaign’s short length and ease of play. 

While the narrative itself is not the most interesting, the main reason to play is that it essentially serves as an extended tutorial to the mechanics. Things like squad commands, different weapon types, vehicles, and even the destructibility of certain levels all come into play when players take to the online modes. The offline adventure is a good way to ease into it, even if it’s not a dramatic extravaganza. 

The campaign is gorgeous in terms of presentation though, with Michael Bay-esque set pieces and Hollywood-level sound design coming together to create something cool. Playing with some decent headphones elevated this experience and added to the immersion. However, with all that said, the real meat of BF6 is the multiplayer. If the campaign was less than impressive, the chaos that comes from any given multiplayer match more than makes up for it.

Spread across several different modes, the main offerings in rotation are Conquest, Breakthrough, and Rush. All three revolve around a mix of defending and attacking certain objectives or sectors on the map. Up to 64 players across both teams can play in these modes, with each team being separated into groups of four called squads. 

From the jump, the gameplay loop is exceptional thanks to these large-scale battles, ensuring that no two matches are ever the same. The tension that comes from dealing with enemy snipers, constantly trying to revive fallen teammates, or using a sledgehammer to tear down walls and create new perches was all exciting. Most matches last between 30-40 minutes, and the hours flew by as that “one more game” feeling kept hitting.

While the gameplay structure of each mode is largely unchanged from prior BF titles, there are some smart tweaks to the formula and refinements that I can appreciate. The overly large, sprawling maps from 2042 are gone, replaced with smaller (yet still huge for an online shooter) arenas that feel more dense. Navigating these zones no longer feels like a drag, and the annoying weather events from the last installment are also gone. The experience has been refined down to its purest elements.

Also returning from prior BF games is the class system, with each offering different advantages and weapon specialties. I mostly ran with the assault class, which primarily uses assault rifles and has faster health regeneration thanks to an adrenaline shot. BF6 clearly labels which guns work best for each class, and leveling up is a straightforward affair. Killing with specific guns levels them up and unlocks slots for attachments, while raising the overall level of the player unlocks more weapons. There are also class-specific assignments that unlock gadgets and secondary items ranging from simple feats like getting kills with a shotgun, or something more specific like getting kills while on adrenaline. 

I like the progression here, as everything is telegraphed clearly, and I’m always working towards something — even bad matches that end in a loss feel like they get me closer to my overall goals. I do wish that leveling up were a bit faster, though — it does feel like a slight grind when it comes to reaching the next level, but it didn’t impact my enjoyment of multiplayer. 

At launch, there’s a lot to love, and I was especially surprised by how smooth the experience has been. I had no major connection issues to impede progress, and I was unaffected by long server queue wait times. Connectivity has been stable, and being able to squad up with friends via crossplay is nice.

Playing Battlefield 6, I was transported back to a time when I enjoyed online multiplayer. I hopped off the competitive shooter train a while ago, trading my regular Call of Duty sessions in for sports and racing titles. However, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent all my free time here, and as dangerous as this might be to a full-time student with a demanding full-time job, the quality of that time spent rests heavily on the fact that I’m going to stick with it after my review is complete. While the campaign might be little more than a glorified tutorial, this remains a war worth fighting.

Rating: 8.5  out of 10

Buy Battlefield 6 – PC – PS – XB 

Disclosures: This game is published by EA and developed by Battlefield Studios. It is available on PC, XBX/S, and PS5. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 30 hours were spent across the single-player and multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. According to the site: Battlefield 6 is rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB with Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. Also includes Users Interact and In-Game Purchases. This is a first-person shooter in which players command a NATO squad against a private military faction during a war. Players engage in military missions, firefights, and battle mode with enemy soldiers/other players. Players use pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, and explosives to kill enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by blood-splatter effects, realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and large explosions. Players can perform stealth attacks on enemies, using knives to stab them from behind. One cutscene depicts a character getting his thumb cut off close-up. The word “f**k” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are plenty of visual cues during gameplay, in the form of markers and map icons. All of these can be adjusted in the menu. Subtitles are present and can be resized. As no audio cues are needed for gameplay, I’d say this is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Battlefield 6 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH I never knew a chainsaw leg power slide would be everything I needed in life!

LOW The grappling hook can be aggravating to use.

WTF You can fight a vending machine, because reasons!

Ryan initially covered Turbo Overkill in his main review, and I tended to agree with many of his points. However, there were some additional aspects of this title I wanted to cover. While I also think the game is great, it’s not without some minor flaws.

As the cyborg Johnny Turbo, players explore the cyberpunk and neon city of Paradise, mowing down enemy after enemy in pursuit of the renegade AI Syn. Along the way, he has to traverse the city’s many dangerous sectors and roadways, dispatching the hordes of goons and monstrosities Syn has in its thrall. Over the course of three episodes, Johnny shoots, dices, and burns his way to closer to the menacing AI.

The combat, overall, is incredibly solid, and every level is frenetic. Using a variety of guns he finds along the way, Johnny has many options for decimating enemies, but he also has another secret weapon — a chainsaw leg (the Chegg). That’s right, Johnny’s leg is a chainsaw, and he can use it to power slide into numerous enemies. This saves ammo, of course, but it also looks cool as hell when he does it.

The Chegg isn’t the only cool weapon, though — every weapon has an alt-fire mode that expands its capabilities. The chain gun, for example, becomes a flamethrower. One of the shotguns can become a grenade launcher. It’s this kind of versatility is something I liked about Turbo Overkill. Having tons of great options for tackling waves of enemies is always a good thing.

Another cool feature is that in certain combat arenas, Johnny will become corrupted, which limits his weapon choices and initially seems bad. However, he gains infinite ammo for the entirety of the corruption’s duration, a neat trick that forces the player to learn all the weapons, rather than their favorite handful.

Maps are also interesting, colorful, and diverse. Many take place in Paradise’s city streets, but some add unique and interesting designs. My favorite was a section where I had to get out of my car in a busy highway and jump from car to car while pursuing a train.

Movement is super fluid and felt great for the most part. Johnny can double-jump from the get-go, dash, and after a certain point, slow down time. Like the versatility in weaponry, this agile quality gave a ton of options for getting around and avoiding getting trapped by enemies.

Without turning this review into a laundry list, there are a lot of things to like about Turbo Overkill — a great upgrade system also allows players to customize their Johnny, bonus items in each level that can grant upgrades, tapes that unlock secret levels, game mode modifiers, and an awesome soundtrack full of synth-heavy tunes that matched the atmosphere.

However, while all of that is great, there are a number of issues that hold it back, as well.

One of the most aggravating elements in Turbo Overkill is the grappling hook. It’s tricky to activate it correctly, and I had to have my reticle placed too precisely to use it. This was fine when I was stationary, but there are numerous climbs that require tight and consecutive uses of the hook. It’s too easy to miss in a tight spot and get sent hurtling into a pit.

There, are also a few UI elements that can are hard to see. The grappling hook activation icon is one of them, but the amount of armor Johnny has is also fairly tricky to see at a glance.

Levels can also be too long, many padded out with combat gauntlets. While it can be enjoyable to blast away at enemies left and right, these sequences made some levels last upwards of an hour at times, which turned them into a bit of a slog. The third episode of the game is particularly egregious with this.

In terms of production, I encountered some bugs. One kept trapping me under objects and in weird positions. Another prevented from progressing because some events wouldn’t trigger. In one instance, I had killed all enemies in an area, but the required door wouldn’t open, and I became unable to progress until I reloaded a save.

Despite these grievances, I still enjoyed my time with Turbo Overkill. It’s a reminder of the shooters we used to get on the reg back in the day, and it’s a great homage to those classics — it’s a must-play for fans of old-school fragging, for sure.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Buy Turbo Overkill – Steam – Epic – GOG – Xbox – PS5 – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed by Trigger Happy Interactive and published by Apogee Entertainment. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 18 hours was devoted to the game, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. The Rating Summary states: “This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a futuristic bounty hunter (Johnny [Turbo, initially written as Nitro]) trying to prevent a powerful AI from taking over a city. Players infiltrate building/facilities and use a chainsaw-like weapon, pistols, and electric shotguns to kill enemies (e.g., cyborgs, street punks). The frenetic run-and-gun combat is accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks result in dismemberment/decapitation, causing bloody chunks to stain/litter the environment. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence and blood/gore: a cyborg thug’s entrails used as a tool; a first-person view of a character’s hands blown off. The word ‘f**k’ is heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. The subtitles do work when playing audio logs, however, there is no closed captioning. This omission can make it difficult to understand some character logs and detect incoming enemies. This title is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Turbo Overkill Second Opinion appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Cool concept and highly customizable gameplay. 

LOW The main horde mode can get stale.

WTF Looking up Spider-Man 2 action figures on eBay.

Growing up, I had plenty of action figures ranging from the then-new Power Rangers Wild Force line to some pretty sick hand-me-downs I got from my older cousins. I have distinct memories of crafting wild storylines involving the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, Rey Mysterio, Beast from X-Men, and a velociraptor from Jurassic Park working together to save the world from destruction, all while driving a red Tonka truck. I outgrew those toys and moved onto videogames, seeking handcrafted experiences that can rival the scenarios I created in my head.

Hypercharge: Unboxed, a shooter from Digital Cybercherries, allows players to relive their own childhood memories of staging great battles between their action figures. Played from either a third- or first-person perspective, players control a customizable action figure tasked with protecting a central MacGuffin known as a Hypercore. In a fairly expansive and somewhat bizarre story, this Hypercore keeps the memories of action figures alive for the kids who play with them. 

Presentation is a strong suit here, reminding me of Saturday morning cartoons like G.I. Joe or even the hilarious Action League Now! Its approximation of real-life toys, like the aforementioned G.I. Joe, He-Man, and even Beyblades, was cool to see, and I appreciated the comic book-style presentation the cutscenes employed. They’re fully voiced, too, adding context to why players are defending a Hypercore and why they have to shoot enemies.

The story mode introduces all of the core concepts while players control their chosen action figure in gargantuan recreations of children’s bedrooms, toy stores, and even a bathroom. Similar to how 2023’s Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged used scale to highlight the feeling of controlling a toy in real-world settings, seeing the shelves of a toy store warehouse look as tall as buildings or a simple garden feel like a battlefield is a cool design choice.

In these levels, players are tasked with protecting three Hypercores in a wave-based horde mode. Before each wave starts, there’s a brief build period in which defenses can be built. These range from LEGO-like blocks that surround the Hypercore to anti-air turrets that scan the skies for flying enemies. This downtime also allowed me to explore the maps. While not huge or completely open-ended, there are a cool secrets to find, like collectibles that can be used to unlock customizable items and money used to build structures or buy weapons between rounds. 

Once a round starts, combat is the priority. The shooting feels satisfying, though enemies are fairly bullet-spongey, though nothing too egregious. Enemy types range from mindless drones that will walk towards any of the objectives to smarter opponents that can fire guns at the player. The variety in enemy types is solid, showcasing things like green army men that parachute to the battlefield and even Madball-ish slime monsters that explode before dying. 

The gameplay loop of defending and shooting is agreeable, and the variety of each level means I was always seeing something new. Players have the choice to go through the entire campaign solo or with other players. I liked the difficulty options and how smart NPC teammates acted, meaning I didn’t feel too bad about playing by myself when I couldn’t squad up. While not the deepest single-player shooter around, it still provided a lot of entertainment, and I was happy to go back and replay levels to explore parts of the maps I may have missed.

Players who are exhausted of horde modes might be more interested in the suite of competitive modes that Hypercharge offers. Like the single-player, these are highly customizable and can either be played online, split-screen, or against AI bots. Modes include deathmatches and even objective-based types, all set within the maps of the main adventure. Being able to play against bots and customize what weapons spawn on the map is a great throwback to the days of playing old console arena shooters, and I spent a decent amount of time running through multiplayer levels with ultra-skilled bots.  

If I had to nitpick anything about HYPERCHARGE‘s gameplay loop, it’s that the main mode lacks depth. While the levels are fairly big and lend themselves to extra objectives and exploration, offering only horde modes in the campaign becomes too repetitive. I would have loved to see a traditional single-player campaign focused on changing things up with some linear shooting levels or even large-scale arena firefights. I got a lot of enjoyment from what’s offered, but this feels like an excellent jumping-off point for a much better sequel. 

Overall, Hypercharge: Unboxed is a delightfully enjoyable old-school shooter that harkens back to games of the past and action figure-obsessed childhoods. Being able to fine-tune many aspects of the experience with various options on top of the solid action and exploration makes this one of the most enjoyable shooters I’ve played. If the devs can use the groundwork laid here to deliver an expanded experience in a potential follow-up, I have no doubt it’ll be even better. For now, though, anyone with an appreciation for action and action figures will want to keep an eye on this.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Buy Hypercharge Unboxed: PS5— Xbox — PC — Switch

Disclosures: This game is published and developed by Digital Cybercherries. It is available on PC, PS4/5, XBO/S/X and Switch. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 10 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed. 5 hours were spent in the multiplayer modes

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence. The game is a first/third person shooter, with violence happening to plastic toys. There’s no blood and gore, and the violence is over-the-top and cartoony. Parents should be fine with their kids playing this one.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles in both the cutscenes and gameplay, and there are also visual cues alerting players of enemies around the map. These can all be adjusted and resized, and as such I’d say it’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Controls can be remapped.

The post HYPERCHARGE Unboxed Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The enhancements improve the creepy factor of an already-eerie game.

LOW The first two titles have numerous bugs and crashing issues.

WTF Burers, man…

I never got a chance to play the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games back in the day, so I was happy to try the Enhanced versions that recently came to new platforms, and I was delighted to find that they held an intriguing and dangerous world of outcasts, monsters, and treasure.

For those unfamiliar with the series, this S.T.A.L.K.E.R. package features three FPS titles with survival and horror elements set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine — Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prypiat.

This fictional version of the Zone is a highly irradiated area filled with strange anomalies, horrifying mutants and numerous mysteries, and Shadow sets up the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. Clear Sky acts as a prequel to it, answering questions players may have had about the Zone’s origins. Finally, Prypiat is a direct sequel to Shadow, with a new area of the Zone to explore and new mysteries to solve.

For owners of the original versions on PC and console, there’s great news — they’ll get the updated versions for free. On top of that, new owners will also the original versions as well. The one exception was Epic Games Store, which I couldn’t confirm. On top of that, saves from the older versions of each title can be transferred from the main menu, allowing players to start where they left off.

In this updated everything-in-one-package, there’s also a new Ukrainian voiceover option, which allows anyone to have a more immersive experience while playing these titles if they wish to experience the language of the country it’s set in.

Of the three titles, Prypiat was the best. Its world was the most fleshed out and lacked many of the problems the other two had (more on that in a bit.) Also, the side quests were the best in the trilogy. Overall, it was the most realized version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s ideas, with a world that delivers on its premise thanks to updated mechanics like the ability to pass time while sleeping and better gear customization. Niceties like his helped make the experience more engaging, and the world easier to interact with.

There’s also a commitment to realism that I found added to the challenge of these titles. Every object has weight, so I had to be strategic with what I carried at all times. I could only carry so many weapons, ammo, and healing items before I would start to be affected by encumbrance. For example, if I exceeded my carrying capacity by a little, I wouldn’t be able to run for long before tiring out, and even walking could become taxing. If I exceeded my carrying strength by a lot, I couldn’t move anymore.

Also, the pause menu doesn’t stop the game like a proper pause. Things still happen in the world while looking through menus, which meant that I had to be on my toes. Critters and other stalkers could sneak up and destroy me quickly if I wasn’t attentive. It gave the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy a great sense of realism and identity that I haven’t seen in many other titles.

On the PS5, the new features are smartly implemented. If I missed an on-screen popup, the adaptive triggers would help me know that a weapon was jammed. The rumble feature also gave great tactile feedback, letting me feel thunder and rain on my characters. The controller’s speaker would crackle when the Geiger counter would start up, alerting me to radiation. In one area of Clear Sky, it even played a song from an encampment that increased in volume as I approached it, like it was on a radio.

The lighting effects were also nice, and enhanced the ambiance. Daytime was accentuated with ‘god rays’ and other wonderful lighting effects. Dark areas, however, were very dark, and made things a bit scarier (even with the flashlight on), which I enjoyed.

Multiple endings in Shadow and Prypiat provide great replay value, and the first title features at least seven endings, depending on various gameplay factors and quests completed. The third title, on the other hand, provided only slight variations on the ending cutscenes/

While Legends Of The Zone is clearly a great way to catch up with these cult classic titles, there were a few anomalies throughout my time with the trilogy, particularly with the first two installments.

Bugged enemies were common in Shadow and Clear Sky — some would get stuck behind something, or some would attack and hit me from behind cover. Sometimes, enemies would also spawn right next to me after loading into a game despite not being there when I saved, leading to some unfortunate deaths.

Crashes were also common, with the first two titles crashing several times each during my playthroughs. Prypiat had a single crash, but otherwise ran well.

These games could also be quite frustratingly hard (especially Shadow) at times. Enemies could be bullet sponges at times, especially in later areas, while I could go down in just a few shots. Some needed tutorials are sparse. While the original release may have had a manual, these don’t and that makes tutorialization more necessary to include. Thankfully, changes to Call of Pripyat helped make things a bit more manageable.

There were numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout the Shadow’s text, which definitely made this Enhanced edition not feel so updated.

Auto-saves, only happen when loading into a new area, and after some events and dialogue. Could have used some for safer areas. Again, Prypiat adds in some auto-saves after some events to help prevent players from losing progress.

The “Quality” mode didn’t really change all that much, and the FPS ended up being a bit unstable as a result. In fact, using it can cause blurriness when rotating the camera. Performance mode, thankfully, ran better and delivered a stable 60fps while the graphics still looked fine.

While this trilogy’s first two games suffer from issues that should have been fixed, they’re still worth playing. Call of Prypiat is clearly the standout experience, but all three as a package represent extraordinary adventures filled with lore and monsters that FPS, horror, and survival fans alike should all try — even if the “enhancements” aren’t quite what they needed to be.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy En. Ed. — Steam — GOG — Epic — PlayStation — Xbox

Disclosures: These games were developed and published by GSC Game World LTD. They are currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. The original version of the trilogy is also available on Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 66 hours were devoted to the trilogy, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language and Use of Alcohol. There is no ESRB summary for this collection. All three games feature gratuitous violence from gunfire, explosions, demolition, and the like. Profanity, such as “sh*t,” “c*cksucker”, “fa**ot”, “a*shole,” and “b*tch” can be heard in spoken dialogue in all three titles. In many instances, characters will partake of various drugs. The player character can also consume alcohol. In Call of Prypiat, players can take steroids.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. This game is not fully accessible. While the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have subtitles on by default, they can be small and difficult to read at times, especially with no option to add a background to them. This can cause the white text to blend in with some background elements, making reading even more difficult. In addition to this, there isn’t any closed captioning, so the lack of visual cues is a challenge. Lastly, some characters will chatter outside of communication with players. However, there aren’t any subtitles for this ambient dialogue, which can be especially frustrating since they speak in Ukrainian.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. However, there are a couple of alternate control schemes.

The post S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends Of The Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Portal seems like a game-changer in user-generated content.

LOW I kind of want to play something else now.

WTF This will probably be my favorite game of mid-2022.

It’s hard to put a finger on where competitive shooters are these days. While the variety out there is interesting, there’s just no way to know what’s going to stick. The rise of the battle royale subgenre with titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone have been prominent lately, generating the most revenue and attention. This year, however, has seen the return of smaller-scale arena shooters harkening back to the PC’s earlier days with releases like Splitgate and the Halo Infinite. This then begs the question, does a large-scale experience like Battlefield 2042 have a place among these distinctly different styles of shooters?

The answer is a resounding yes, though there are a few caveats…

The latest in EA and DICE’s first-person shooter series comes off the lukewarm reception of 2018’s Battlefield V. Ditching the World War II trappings of that entry, 2042 takes players to the near future. Despite not having a single-player campaign, bits of story and lore about a conflict between the US and Russia make themselves present through gameplay. It’s all cliché and certainly feels like past Battlefield entries, meaning that I was never that invested in what the script was trying to say, and the attempts at storytelling fall flat. 

However, I ultimately don’t mind the lack of a strong campaign. To me, Battlefield is first and foremost about gameplay and multiplayer, so seeing DICE focus on those strengths was a great thing. 

Gameplay-wise, BF 2042 takes place across large maps where players engage in one of two main modes — Breakthrough and Conquest. Breakthrough involves one team trying to take over the other’s control points on a map. The defending team must try to maintain supremacy. Conquest has players from both teams trying to take over every control point on the map at the same time, competing with each other for entire sections. 

These modes are nothing new, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is still exciting. Shooting and mobility feel drastically improved as the devs have opted for a lighter feel that makes moving around much easier. In a way, it feels more accessible than past iterations, opting for something akin to modern arena shooters rather than a full-blown military simulator. I liked these changes, as it made navigating the gargantuan maps a bit more palatable. Sure, I’m not the best at most multiplayer games, but the shooting feeling as good as it did made it seem like I had a fighting chance.

Every map is gargantuan, feeling dense and as 120 players populate them. The lush vegetation in jungle-themed areas looks incredible, as do smaller details like the sand on a highway in the Middle East. Each location also has a different weather event, like an elaborate sandstorm that can completely obscure most of the action or a tornado that can sweep almost everything up in its path. While I do miss the amount of destruction present in a game like Battlefield 4 (in which players could level skyscrapers) I understand wanting to focus on something new and exciting like natural disasters, or even the spectacle of a giant rocket blasting off in the middle of a match.

While these elements are cool, they get old fast. They seem to follow a pattern every match and become less of a spectacle and more of an annoyance. I kept thinking to myself “Oh great, another tornado” as the warnings would pop up on the screen. I would have liked more variety in how these events played out and more ways they could incorporate into the gameplay.

Thankfully, the maps are large enough to avoid any undesirable elements. Players can drive tanks, jeeps, hovercrafts, jets and even regular civilian pickup trucks to get around. While the driving feels a bit floatier than I would like, it offers options for interesting strategies. Players can also summon them after earning enough points in a match, so being able to summon a tank while on the roof of a skyscraper becomes a viable strategy in the heat of battle.

However, the most meaningful change in the formula comes from the “specialist” system. Building upon the class system from past games, players select a character with a customizable loadout and special abilities. My personal favorite, codenamed “Sundance,” has a grappling hook and a glider that allows her to catch some air if she needs to bail from a helicopter or from the top of a building. Weapons can be customized either in the menu or in the middle of the match. Arguably my favorite feature, players are given a cross-shaped HUD that lets them completely change gun attachments whenever they want. It offers a large degree of freedom, which I like.

I enjoy playing Battlefield 2042. Several late nights were lost to playing with friends, wrecking tanks, losing matches, and cracking the absolute worst jokes ever to grace a headset. Unfortunately, the amount of enjoyment is undermined but how incomplete the package feels. There aren’t a lot of maps included and the matches soon start to feel the same.

BF‘s saving grace comes in the form of the Portal, a new mode that has more potential than the mainstays. Here, players can use elements from past DICE games like Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3 to create their own maps and modes. It’s like a sandbox of sorts and completely shakes things up, not only for the series, but for large-scale shooters in general. I’m excited to see what players can come up with, and just being able to mix-and-match modern weapons and World War II-era vehicles is way more exciting than any other shooter out these days.

While the repetition and lack of content cooled my enthusiasm a bit, I am excited to see where DICE can take Battlefield 2042 from here — if current industry trends hold, I’m confident this will be a strong addition to my already-full shooter rotation after a few months of additions and updates.

Disclosures: This game is published by Electronic Arts and developed by DICE. It is available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 35 hours were spent in the multiplayer. There is no single-player

Parents: According to the ESRB this game is rated  M for Blood, Strong Language, Violence. The official description reads as follows: This is a first-person shooter in which players command a military squad caught in a fictional war between the US and Russia. Players engage in military missions and skirmishes against enemy forces. Players use pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, and explosives to kill enemy soldiers in frenetic combat. Battle sequences are highlighted by blood-splatter effects, realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and explosions. During the course of the game, players can perform finishing attacks, using knives to stab and/or slit enemies’ throats at close range. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the dialogue.

Colorblind Modes: There are colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Subtitles are available for certain cutscenes but not during actual gameplay. The minimap that is displayed during gameplay will show things like vehicles on the map, player movement if they are firing weapons and other large-scale events. However, even with those indicators, it’s not that helpful if players can’t hear what’s going on. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No the controls are not remappable but there are presets.

The post Battlefield 2042 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Fast, smooth shooting that feels timeless.

LOW Burying the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack in the audio mix.

WTF Being unaware of motion controls and thinking my controller needed replacing.

Quake was a game that passed me by.

Unlike Doom, it hadn’t been released on every console in existence, and by the time I played it on PC around 2000, it felt archaic in a post Half-Life world. In fact, I’ve always seen it as Doom’s less charismatic relation and the brown color palette hinted at a lack of a clear identity which the inconsistent sequels seemed to confirm. However, Quake’s influence on gaming is not in doubt, particularly due to it pioneering fully 3D graphics and online multiplayer. Its relevance is clear, and this omission from my playlist has always felt like a gap in my gaming CV, now rectified.

Originally developed by ID Software, this remaster is handled by Nightdive Studios. Players make their way through levels filled with enemies while avoiding traps and finding colored keys for locked doors, all in first-person. It includes the original campaign, the two subsequent expansion packs, another that was developed as part of the 20th anniversary, and a brand-new one developed for this release. 

Remasters like this one can be tricky to review as they need to be faithful to the original release while having enough improvements to make them more palatable to modern audiences. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and memories become distorted with age – I would say a successful remaster should offer an experience that emulates how someone thinks they remember an old game looking and playing, and Quake does a good job of achieving this.

When I think about classic ID Software games, I think about fast, smooth and responsive first-person shooting. For me, this is what makes them timeless and enjoyable to this day. Quake has these qualities in spades, now bolstered with a higher, more stable framerate. Slowdown only reared its ugly head when I moved onto the first expansion pack. It also looks how I remember Quake, with grotesque-looking enemies in large (usually brown) architecture, yet appearing sharper than ever in 4k and with subtle improvements.

This is all well and good so far, but my problems with Quake Remastered are holdovers from its original release.

While the fully-3D environments were groundbreaking at the time and added verticality to gameplay, I feel these environments lack character. There is an overuse of brown in the color palette (common to games of the period – I grew tired of this ‘look’ years ago) which results in drab, plain-looking levels. The lack of a plot isn’t really an issue, but levels seem to be randomly-ordered and there’s no feeling of a progression, mechanically or narratively, though the expansion packs rectify some of this.  

There’s also a lack of enemy variety which can be attributed to the limitations of technology back then. However, the situation is made worse by Quake pulling some of the same tricks as Doom — things like spawning enemies behind the player character after grabbing up a power-up.

However, Quake does manage to stay interesting in how each enemy provides different challenges. For example, the Ogre is deadly at short range with chainsaws, but can also shoot grenades from a distance. Some enemies (such as the Vore) cross the line from challenging to irritating thanks to spamming homing missiles, but I found Quake to be a fair challenge overall. For those looking for stiffer resistance, the expansion packs increase the amount of enemies onscreen at once, but sometimes at the cost of slowdown.

Quake Remastered sees the triumphant return of the original Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, which had previously been missing due to licensing issues. As a longtime fan of the band, finally getting a chance to hear it in game was exciting. Ironically, I was disappointed early on — it sounded basic and lacked depth. However, after turning down the sound effects and turning up the music volume, I began to appreciate it. It’s a shame the default audio mix buries it, because it really is a fabulous, throbbing soundscape of disconnected audio that gives Quake more of a horror feel than Doom. Once I was able to foreground the soundtrack, the tension rose notably.  

Quake is also famous for its multiplayer, and I felt duty-bound to at least try it, despite my disinterest in playing with others. I spent two fruitless hours dying a lot, with not a single kill to my name. I was completely out of my depth, with fellow fraggers skilfully jumping around and killing me with ease. I therefore cannot give an opinion on Quake’s multiplayer aside from commenting that it is stable and I was able to be matched with others without many issues. 

Apart from being repeatedly blasted to atoms by the pros, I enjoyed my time with Quake. It doesn’t have the same nostalgic pull for me that Doom does, which may contribute to a sense that it’s Doom’s less charismatic relative. That said, it’s a remaster done correctly, feeling like the original with technical improvements that help to showcase its timeless, quick and smooth gameplay.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Nightdive Studios and published by Bethesda. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via paid download and reviewed on PS4. Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.  2 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Violence. The official description reads as follows: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a soldier that travels through time to stop an evil force from destroying humanity. Players traverse through maze-like medieval environments and use shotguns, nail guns, and grenade launchers to kill various enemies (e.g., zombies, demonic forces, scorpions, humans) in frenetic run-and-gun combat. Battles are accompanied by gunfire sounds, screams of pain, and large explosions. Large blood-splatter effects occur frequently, and several attack cause enemies to explode into bloody chunks. Some areas depict mutilated body parts on the ground or falling from ceilings.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does not offer subtitles, but has no dialogue in game. At the end of episodes, the ending is described via text. This cannot be resized and could be hard to read against the background. Playing without sound revealed that without sound cues, gameplay can be affected – for example for clues for enemy placements, being able to react to ambushes and hints at other traps. Due to reliance on audio-only cues, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. Movement is left stick. Camera is on the right stick. Jumping is X and L2. R1 is weapons wheel. R2 is shoot. Up on the d-pad switches to shotguns, down switches to projectile weapons, right to needle guns and left to melee/special weapons. Clicking left stick centers the screen.

The post Quake Remastered Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Satisfying, fast-paced combat.

LOW There isn’t a lot of unique content.

WTF What happened to my hands before I got here?

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi Everyone! Eugene Sax here with another review from Gamecritics.com

From NullPointer games comes Into The Pit — A roguelike first-person shooter with the speed of classic shooters wrapped in a gritty classic aesthetic. Players take the role of a mystic roaming the land and searching for rumors of dark magic. After getting a letter, players head into a small town rumored to have evil lurking beneath it. When they arrive, the town keeper begs them to help save the town from the evil below. Players will use runes to open different areas of this pit and descend to fight off demons and evil beings.

At the start of each run, players will get a passive power-up and two weapons — one for each hand. Each level will have four rooms players must complete to unlock the next level.

Most rooms will be combat arenas where players must defeat enemies. After clearing one, players will also get an upgrade. Upgrades can give the player’s weapons buffs like elemental effects, increased range, an increased critical chance, or general upgrades to the player like increased health or defense.

Besides these earned upgrades, some rooms offer resources that can be used between runs to buy or upgrade power ups and keys that unlock different areas, while other resources will be useful in the current run with things like luck runes that make rare power ups appear more often.

Every four rooms unlocks a fifth which contains a boss that must be defeated to complete the run.

Once I dug into the game, the gritty aesthetic, satisfying movement and the kinetic energy of shooting demonic foes hooked me. The enemy designs are gloriously grotesque, and each one plays into the area that the players are currently in. Spiders and poison mushroom demons for the plagued forest, rabid rats and bulky pirates for the corrupted docks, and tree creatures and specters from the petrified forest — each realm has its own unique flair to keep things interesting.

Sadly despite a strong start, Into the Pit didn’t keep me hooked. While there is a lot of style on display, there’s not a ton of content — players will see almost all of the combat arenas in two or three runs.

Also, while the combat is fast paced and kinetic, I took a lot of cheap shots from enemies placed in blind corners where it’s near-impossible for the player to avoid them before getting hit in the face.

The abilities and extra powers that players can buy between runs are fine, but the ones players get right from the start are superior — there’s not much motivation to experiment with the other ones.

Another issue I had is that players can only progress by finding specific rooms in each run to rescue villagers. As more villagers are rescued, players will be able to open more shops and offer the player new runes that let them get to the other areas of the campaign. This means players will see a lot of the same rooms over and over again, in varying combinations, for a good portion of the game as they try to find the necessary villagers needed to move on.

I have a great fondness for roguelikes, but this one puts me in a weird place. Mechanically, Into The Pit is a welcome throwback to classic FPS games with the added twist of randomized elements to keep things interesting. However, the pool of random elements is too shallow and there are not enough interesting combinations to keep all but the most dedicated players interested.

For me: Into The Pit gets a 6.5 out of 10.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Nullpointer games, and published by Humble Games, and it is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 14 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the multiple runs of the game were completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, Into the Pit is rated T for Violence and Blood. Players will be using magical weapons shot from their hands to fight demons, who will have spurts of blood come out of them when hit before dissolving into ash once they are killed. All of the demons will be coming at the player with claws, talons, and magic of their own. Not for the younger kids, but not extremely gory.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All information is displayed through text, but text size is not resizable. The sound provides ambiance, but is not necessary to play. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The game does offer fully remappable controls.

The post Into The Pit Video Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The Popemobile.

LOW A 500-square-kilometer level with no map.

WTF Flaming Rocket Powered Chainsaw Launcher.

After a misstep with Serious Sam 3: BFE and a decade of VR remakes and indie titles, Croteam has finally found its footing with Serious Sam 4 — the best in the mainline series.

Moving the plot even further back in time, Serious Sam 4 is an FPS set entirely in the future during the war against an evil alien overlord named Mental who’s hellbent on dominating the universe by any means necessary. Players control Sam as he leads a rag-tag group of soldiers through action setpieces and boss battles that climax with a truly enormous battle.

Thanks in large part to the amazing work done by the indie developers who toiled for years exploring the idea of what a Serious Sam game could be, SS4 is the first truly story-driven title in the series. Yes, the vast majority of the gameplay is non-stop action, but there’s an extremely well-written action-comedy framework holding it all in place and making the experience more meaningful by its inclusion.

In Serious Sam and its sequels, players were told that Mental had blown up the Earth and it was Sam’s job to make him pay, but there’s no reason for the player to get emotionally involved in that quest. It succeeded as a launchpad for great action mechanics, but was otherwise mediocre. In SS4, the writers take the time to humanize Sam’s team and add a little depth to Sam himself. Most importantly, they give players a window into how the people of Earth are reacting to Mental’s invasion.

Through audio logs, radio broadcasts, and conversations with resistance fighters, Serious Sam 4 paints a picture of a planet teetering on the edge of destruction, populated by regular people who have been plucked from their mundane lives and forced to fight. In a war between worlds, everyone is a soldier. So, when the campaign opens with a real-time image of thousands of soldiers fighting an endless army of monstrosities, it sells the idea that everything is at stake and pulls the player right into the world.

This brings me, naturally, to what players will be doing in that world — constantly shooting enemies.

While Serious Sam 4 repeats SS3‘s mistake of having too many bland, ‘realistic’ weapons that need to be reloaded with infuriating regularity, this is largely made up for by offering a huge arsenal.

SS4 offers sixteen different weapons, each one with its own strengths and weaknesses. Three kinds of shotguns, four types of explosive launchers, a variety of fast-firing heavy weapons, and two different guns so monstrously overpowered that they essentially break the game, exactly as they’re supposed to. Players who are conservative with ammo for the best weapons will find themselves able to wipe out bosses in just a couple of shots, as long as they don’t mind the many, many swarm battles along the way being considerably more difficult.

SS4‘s third-best feature, after the story and arsenal, is how the developers manage the combat. Most of the campaign is set in and around two European cities, but play doesn’t get bogged down in street-to-street fighting the way SS3 did. This time players can look forward to a great mix of desperate battles in cluttered alleys and huge skirmishes in plazas and arenas. The engine is able to put hundreds of enemies onscreen, and in level after level, the developers manage to craft impressive combat scenarios by mixing and matching enemies in devious ways.

Speaking of enemies, nearly every one of the series’ classic foes have returned, along with a few new additions. Fans hoping to slaughter Kleer and Werebulls by the hundreds will be satisfied, and even the witch, SS3‘s worst enemy, has been redeemed as the developers now realize that an enemy stun-locking players was a disastrous choice in a game all about fast-moving gunplay.

While SS4 gets most things right, there are a few crucial errors — the first are the melee attacks.

Serious Sam 4‘s melee attacks are supposed to ape the function of DOOM’s famous glory kills by rewarding the player with health in exchange for a gory execution. Unfortunately, they just aren’t effective — not only does nearly every one have the same animation, but they earn the player up to a paltry five points of health which will immediately be canceled out by the enemy horde who aren’t staggered by the sight of Sam stabbing their compatriot in the brain.

Even more egregious is the lack of an in-game map. I know this sounds like a crazy request for a Serious Sam game, but SS4‘s levels are a departure for the series. The maps are huge, full of optional paths and secret combat encounters, and it can be extremely difficult to keep track of what parts of the neighborhoods have already been explored.

The lack of a map is even worse on the two open-world levels that offer a huge change of pace halfway through the game. It’s a bizarre interlude in the middle of the campaign, with Sam suddenly having access to vehicles and traversing huge distances between gunfights. I would have liked to explore these levels, but without a map it’s a fool’s errand. There are around 25 secrets hidden in those two levels, and I didn’t find a single one of them.

Serious Sam 4 is, without question, the series’ high point. It provides all of the wanton violence the brand promises, adds a story worth investing in, and still has the time to try out bizarre experiments like the open-world areas, kaiju battles and an extremely retro game-within-a-game. Serious Sam has never been better than this, and the sequel hinted in the game’s ending had better arrive faster than the nine-year-gap since the last one.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It is currently available on PC, PS4 and XBO.This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC.
Approximately 20 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 1 hour was spent in online campaign co-op, which is the only multiplayer mode.

Parents: According to the ESRB this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, and Strong Language. Constant bloodshed, characters getting drunk and talking about cocaine, naked female harpies flying around, and, of course, numerous weapons designed to transform enemies into bloody chunks. So no, please no kids allowed.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: As is always the case with Serious Sam games, an inability to hear the screaming suicide bombers will make the game unplayable on anything but the lowest difficulty level. Luckily, the developers have included ‘Tourist’, a casual difficulty level, in which it’s nearly impossible to die no matter how many times a suicide bomber sneaks up behind the player.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Serious Sam 4 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.