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Reviews
Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)
Yet another solid entry
It doesn't reinvent the wheel of the franchise, but this is yet another great and polished entry in the legendary franchise. If you like fighting games I don't see how you could dislike this.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
Gears of the Wizarding World
Hope you don't mind a little bit of Gears of War thrown into your Harry Potter game. Oh? Did I say "little"? I meant: a Gears of War game with a Harry Potter paint job not done very well. It has some fun moments but it's such an odd choice to make a shooter game for a fantasy world like Harry Potter.
Max Payne (2001)
A noir classic
Sure: it may not have aged very gracefully, especially in terms of some of the controls and targeting, but this is a staple among third person action games for a reason and if you're a fan of Remedy you owe it to yourself to find this game and play it. It's literally available to buy on your iPhone, you have no excuse for not picking it up.
Resident Evil 6 (2012)
You ever wonder what a Michael Bay horror movie would look like?
If you ever had the weird desire to see what would happen if Michael Bay directed a horror video game, I think Resident Evil 6 fulfills that urge. It's dumb, sloppy, makes no sense, is loud, explosive, and at times it can be quite fun. It sort of breaks the "stupidity meter" allowed for the franchise I would argue, which is a mighty big accomplishment.
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (2010)
Nobody on Earth remembers that this existed
The developers have forgotten about it, the press has forgotten about it, and gamers have forgotten about it. And I've almost forgotten about it till I remembered out of thin air I played this like only a few weeks ago. It does have an ending so abrupt you have to see it to believe it, credit where credit's due I suppose.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)
Ends just as soon as it begins
I don't understand how a company can, in good consciousness, charge $60 for a game that's shorter in length than the movie it's based on. That's the epitome of greedy and just pure laziness.
Infamous 2: Festival of Blood (2011)
Vampires meets superpowers
A crazy fun little side story, clearly non canonical, but fun nevertheless. Think of Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn meets Avengers, and if that sounds appealing to you you're going to have a fun time with this one.
Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
Biggest problem this game has is it came after Cod 4
Coming after the masterpiece that was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, COD 5 was always going to be facing an uphill challenge. But Treayarch manage to pull through for the most part with a solid campaign, fun multiplayer suite, and the classic introduction of the now famous (and overdone) zombies mode.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)
Yet another solid entry in the franchise...but....
Remember when it used to be sort of an "event" whenever a Call of Duty game came out every year? I can't help but feel like this franchise is becoming almost an obligation for consumers to get every year just so they can say they've gotten it. The development of this was known to have been a mess and it really shows, and the fact gnat it was developed during a global pandemic did it no favors. The zombies mode here is among the most bland and banal to date, I don't understand how the zombies mode seems to get worse with every installment. The campaign is pretty great though, and the story it tells is a fun ride that harkens back to the goodness of Black Ops and Black Ops 2, and throws in the cool surreal aspects of Black Ops 3. The voice actors being changed for no real reason is somewhat lame. The multiplayer is the same thing you've played before, nothing has changed.
Can this franchise please take a year off? If Assassins Creed can do it I don't see why Call of Duty can't. The series is becoming over saturated. Activision has devalued all of its other franchises to focus on this one and when one of these not only "disappoints" but outright flops, I cannot imagine the catastrophic result that'll have on the company. Then again, considering the workplace culture they have, maybe they need just this sort of reckoning to change.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint (2019)
Tom Clancy in name only
The Division has ruined the way Ubisoft makes games. This is what I've taken to be the case over the last few years, cause every game they make seems to feel the need to mimic that game. Ever heard of the phrase "diversify your portfolio"? Apparently Ubisoft hasn't because Breakpoint is literally the most bland, underwhelming, least tactical Tom Clancy game I've ever played and I've played quite a few of them.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter (2012)
A game that could've been something but wasn't
A talented team, a great engine, a good intellectual property, and a predecessor to build upon: this had all the makings of a decent shooter. Something had to have gone wrong that we still do not know about, cause it's polished and fun at some points and insanely sloppy at others. There's a reason this arguably killed the franchise.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
Arguably a classic
This game was truly one of the defining shooters of the 360/ps3 era and for good reason. Story may have been dumb and borderline incompetent, but it was such a fun ride, the multiplayer was tuned to perfection, and the spec ops mode was tons of fun to sink your teeth into. Truly a phenomenal sequel.
Rogue Warrior (2009)
Ummmm....
They charged $60? Ain't no way, that's literally a scam. I can't think of a single aspect of this game that isn't horrendous. It couldn't end quick enough for me.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel (2011)
Also known as: the video game of racial stereotypes
Literally the most racially insensitive, and it can be argued, downright racist game I've ever played and it's shocking that it came out only a little over a decade ago. I can't think of a single thing this game doesn't screw up, there's a reason the developers have tried to scrub it from existence. This isn't me being easily offended, it's a game full of nothing but racial stereotypes, built around terrible gunplay, graphics, bugs, the list goes on. This almost killed the franchise for a reason.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012)
Umbrella apparently doesn't have the highest standards of quality
The concept of playing as Umbrella soldiers trying to retrace the steps of the classic heroes of the series in Raccoon City, destroying evidence, and at times encountering them in a fun "what if" scenario, is quite appealing. The game struggles in execution, despite being trained mercenaries you are insanely week and underpowered, mainly due to the fact the enemy soldiers are pure bullet-sponges. It takes sometimes an entire clip or two to put down an enemy soldier, and the zombies are best killed through melee since bullets shockingly aren't super effective against them either. The whole concept of "your actions changing the course of resident evil history" as the developers sold the game on is kinda misleading, the only time where the player is offered the chance to rewrite history is literally at the end of the game and it's pretty much like a cage match of "get ready to rumble!". A very disappointing showing from this legendary franchise, even for a spinoff.
Evolve (2015)
It's got a cool concept that it's not afraid to use...over, and over, and over
A team of monster hunters chase around a creature as it evolves (ha! Ya get it?!) from a weak form to a stronger one. It's a fun game at times but it's lacking in content, it becomes rather boring just chasing the creature around for what feels like an eternity, and the monetization is as bad as it's reputation would indicate. Quite a letdown.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes (2009)
Who knew the force could be so mediocre?
The best thing Republic Heroes has going for it is the story. Taking place in between season 1 and season 2, it's a pretty fun Star Wars romp filled with appearances by the classic characters from the show with good voice work and the such. The gameplay on the other hand, particularly when playing as the Jedi, is unfun, clunky, imprecise, frustrating, the list goes on. The targeting system does whatever the hell it wants, the platforming makes you wanna tear your hair out, and the moments of fun are few and far between. This is the type of game that makes you remember "wow, a lot of Star Wars games kinda suck".
Medal of Honor (2010)
Another one
There must be a book on how modern military shooters have to go: because Medal of Honor follows it slavishly. There's the on rails helicopter section they usually have (best part of the game I'd argue), scripted sequences, military jargon spoken aplenty, deserts, specific objective paths you cannot deviate from, the list goes on. The characters and story are just...there...to put it simply. You won't care about anything going on and will wanna press "skip" on the cutscenes, the graphics at times look pretty with some nice textures and other times they look murky and almost ugly. The game is competently made, that's what it has going for it. By not deviating from the modern military shooter template, and having a talented team at the helm, Medal of Honor manages to be a competent military shooter and nothing else.
Rage 2 (2019)
You're gonna forget you played this amazingly quickly
Rage 2 is a gorgeous looking game with a fun combat loop. I don't see how that can be denied by anyone who plays it. What also cannot be denied is the following: the open world is bland and un memorable, the storyline is pretty terrible, the endgame is somewhat of a letdown, and after you finish the game there's no reason to go back and replay it. It's a fun ride all things considered, but Rage 2 carries the same problems as it's predecessor while introducing new ones.
Anthem (2019)
It's like Destiny, except it's not
Anthem is a game that's both ambitious yet amazingly unambitious. It wants to be a rival to Destiny, yet there's hints it wants to be something more. It has a decent fun combat loop, but it lacks the good loot and becomes repetitive. It's story is a joke, which is sad for a legendary company like BioWare. The graphics are amazing and gorgeous, the art design is brilliant and pure eye candy, despite being a pain to use Frostbite is among the best when it comes to visual fidelity in gaming. Nobody talks about Anthem anymore, and there's a good reason for that.
Battlefield: Hardline (2015)
RIP Visceral Games
What a shame this is the last game that came from this amazing studio. That being said, it's a decent romp I suppose though it feels really odd as an entry into the Battlefield franchise. Multiplayer is typical Battlefield but with a "cops and robbers" paint job, the campaign is cliche and often cringe, the episodic format is kinda cool as far as mission structure though. You could do worse for a shooter romp. You can do better too.
Battlefield 3 (2011)
Battlefield is best when it doesn't ape the competition
Battlefield 3 is a solid military shooter. Gorgeous visuals, an amazing sound design, solid voice acting, and high levels of polish. The multiplayer is some of the best in the modern military shooter genre, and the modes and variety of maps are awesome.
The campaign makes one wonder what the point even was for DICE to try however. It's embarrassing whenever it tries to copy Call of Duty, it's like that wannabe kid who tries to ape the popular kid but looks like a dork. It's too on rails, lacks interactivity, and the story is uninteresting and lacks stakes and likable or interesting characters.
Heavy Rain (2010)
SHAAAAAAUUUUUUUNNNN!!!!
Hilarious memes aside, Heavy Rain is quite brilliant, it truly shows that gaming can tackle more serious subject matter involving dark subject matter such as child death, sexuality, murder, in a (mostly) tactful and artful way. Some of the plot points are left unresolved (cut from the game late in development as I understand it) and some of the voice acting is of questionable quality, but with Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream shows that games can be more than mindless shooting affairs.
Destroy All Humans! (2020)
A fun remake
I grew up playing the original Destroy All Humans on the PlayStation 2, so this remake touches all the right spots as far as nostalgia goes.
It is more than a simple remaster, the game is seemingly built from the ground up. New beautiful engine, vast improvements to targeting, restoration of a deleted mission from the original game, the list goes on. It is not without its faults (checkpoints towards the end are insanely unforgiving), but the game is just plain fun. At the end of the day: isn't that why we all play video games? To have fun.
Doom Eternal (2020)
Rip and tear
Fun fast paced gameplay, gorgeous visuals, great level design, fun loony story, awesome boss fights and weaponry, it's all here. Doom Eternal is AAA gaming at its best. Only one problem: it can be harder than hard at times, and it leads to some frustrating moments. But as the saying goes: get good, dummy.