Recent reviews by firsou

As a long time lover of the Western genre, and a huge fan of the original Red Dead Redemption, I couldn't have been more excited for this game.

The story is simply marvelous. The game makes you care about the characters, makes you bond with them, and when they leave you makes you grieve for them. Every inch of this narrative that Rockstar created fills a complete and fantastic experience that culminates in one of the greatest examples of world-building and fan service in gaming.

The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful. I did not appreciate it as I was playing because I was constantly longing for the more acoustic themes of the first game. Not only is it ambient and compliments every setting you explore, but it also delivers gut punches of emotions all throughout. When you're done, you will be listening to the OST for days on end.

The gameplay is solid, if you liked the horse mechanics in the first game you'll be amazed to see that they've managed to top it this time around once again. The gunplay feels crisp, you actually have to pull back the revolvers. Some controls can get tedious because of several buttons mapped onto few keys but nothing to complain too much about.

The world is ALIVE. You walk into towns and realize that every character has his own routine, their own conversations, their own thoughts about world events and intrigue. Other modern titles that pretend to have "living worlds" should be ashamed of themselves. RDR2 does not provide you with thousands of blank faces within a small space to pretend it's an organic environment, it simply brings the stories to life.

I could write an essay about how great this game is, but I cannot bring myself to spoil an inch of this amazing video game.

We discussed Red Dead Redemption a decade after its release, and we'll still be talking about Red Dead Redemption 2 long after.

What a game.

Assassin's Creed III is the third main installment in the Assassin's Creed series. It features a new engine (AnvilNext) as well as a complete new set of animations and new assets. It is therefore a fresh new start in the series, with a new protagonist and yet still delivering the same narrative style and continuin the story of the previous games.

The AnvilNext engine was promoted for its ability to display enormous crowds, making the game's open world and cities feel much more alive. Additionally, it allows the game to display a great number of soldiers making historic battles (Battle of Bunker Hill, etc) much more believable. At least, that's what was stated during the promotional campaign.
The truth is that the developers have delivered on their promise when it comes to displaying civilians around the cities of Boston or New York, however, the main instance where you are actually seeing a legitimate battle taking place, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, is a joke.
Yes, there are quite a bit of NPCs rendered, however, they feel very static and the interaction is very limited, they are displayed on the background and you do not get to have a significant part in the action.

Next up, we have the infamous combat system of the AC games. If you are looking for a skill based combat which will challenge you throughout your experience, this is not it. It is based upon button mashing and counter kills. I don't think it is that much of a turnoff, but for some people it might be very boring and repetitive if not distracting.

I do not think AC3 is a bad game, there obviously was quite a bite of effort and love put into it, however I have a couple of main problems with it.

1 - The Tutorial

I have never seen a longer tutorial in a game before. It literally takes about 5-7 hours to compelete the entire sequences of the game which are designed to form the protagonist into the skilled Assassin he is meant to become. However, you might think that this might be dentrimental to his development as a character. Worry not, most of these sequences are simply narrated cutscenes in which you have no possible control over. Plainly said, the game is way too slow in its beginning.

2 - The Story

The story of this game is just not believable. Part of me thinks the game as a whole and especially towards the end was extremely rushed. The dialogues are bland and way too random. I cannot count the amount of Ex Machinas in this game in order to drive the narrative forward, such as random characters giving an answer to a plot point. The protagonist is annoying, and the main redeeming factor of the story is that the modern day elements of this particular AC games are actually very well executed and quite enjoyable.

All in all, AC3 is not a bad game and for its current price it deserves a try and you might find it quite fun. But do not expect a masterpiece.

6.5/10.

There is no way a simple paragraph of words can describe what a journey Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is.
This is not a casual game intended for audiences here to have bits of fun every now and then. This. Is a grind.
The goal of this game is simple : Improve. In the Competitive game mode, the only true way to play Counter Strike, you will be put against 5 enemies of similar skill and put up with 4 teammates. The goal ? Use your experience, your aim and your "Gamesense" (the ability to react to every in-game situation based on your own experience and your common sense) to win.

Yes, there are modes such as Arms Race that are fun, or even Casual which is an absolute disaster of a mode for anyone trying to improve, but this is a game. If you want an experiencing challenge, this game will give you one. After thousands of hours of playing you will look back on your past and realize how much you've gotten better.

This is a must own for anyone that wants to be challenged and is an eSports amateur.

If you are looking for quick 5 to 10 minute rounds of mindless fun, turn back. This isn't the game for you.

If, however, you are looking for a gritty and exciting adventure, it might very well be.

DayZ started out as a mod for the popular Military Simulation game Arma 2. The game was unique and single handedly started the survival genre explosion on PC. The mod was however extremely buggy and limited by an inadequate engine.
Due to its popularity, Bohemia Interactive decided to develop it into a standalone game. After a commercial success (despite the fact that it was clearly disclosed that the game would be in Alpha for a long time and therefore a buggy mess), the developers decided to push the vision of simply providing the DayZ mod on its own. They decided to produce a new renderer to improve performance, a new engine that came with its own modding tools and scripts and a new player controller. The development time has been extremely long for a publicly available game (almost five years).

However, after the launch of version 0.63, the new engine was made available which greatly improved performance and did away with the clunky gameplay of Arma 2.

DayZ is a great game to play with friends. I frequently have long conversations while looting and exploring the immense map of Chernarus. But as soon as I see another group of players, the threat of losing all my progression suddenly drives my adrenaline production into overdrive.

You will die a lot. You will be angry. But each character comes with its own tale of killing zombies, nearly starving and running for your life.

The game is a vast and gorgeous open-world, and walking around the map will always be a delight.

Make no mistake though, you will walk all over the map for a long time and when night falls, you will need to find shelter and light or you will barely be able to distinguish your surroundings.

The game is not feature complete, helicopters are still missing and a wide variety of weapons from the mod have not been introduced yet (but some weapons are present that were not in the mod, let alone customization and weapon attachments). Regardless, DayZ is a solid survival multiplayer game that will be well worth your money.

Please keep in mind that the game is still in Beta and that comes with bugs, missing features and updates that will wipe your characters. If you are not comfortable with that idea, do not want to support the development of this game, and would rather wait for a full release: Do NOT buy the game in its current state.

Fantastic game. The story is a bit forgettable, but overall, it's a ton of fun. It's truly satisfying to kill and blow up everything and to wreck havoc. The map is ridiculously big and it's always good to surf on a plane and then basejump to reach your objective. Graphics are also top notch, and there are great customization options for your experience. Good game :)