Recent reviews by alecandstuff

Just like old times

Firewatch is a first-person singleplayer mystery game set in the dense forests of the Wyoming wilderness. Firewatch follows the story of a man named Henry, who's recently took up a job as a fire lookout in an effort to escape his messy life back home. Shortly after his arrival, Henry finds out that his only form of human contact is with his supervisor, Delilah, through a small walkie-talkie that he keeps on his person whilst on the job. As I said before, Firewatch is a first-person mystery game, and a great one at that. While I don't want to touch too much on the story (it is a mystery game after all), what I can say is that the game's pacing is phenomenal. There were plenty of times where I felt like taking a break, but just couldn't because the story just kept pulling me in, making me want to find out just what happens next. It's a great quality to have for a mystery game such as this one, and it's only taken to even greater heights through the amazing writing. Since almost all of the game's story is told through Henry and Delilah over a walkie-talkie, the dialogue between them needs to be strong, and let me be the first to tell you that it is absolutely the crowning achievement for this game. Henry and Delilah (voiced by Rich Sommer and Cissy Jones respectively) deliver a performance that feels believable, charming, funny, and undoubtedly human. Watching their relationship and dialogue evolve from co-workers talking strictly about the job, to good friends sharing life-stories and aspirations with each other is an absolute delight. What makes these conversations even better is the implementation of a dialogue tree that never once feels forced upon the game or tacked-on for the sake of it. Each choice in dialogue elicits conversations between Henry and Delilah that feel unique and genuine, and often times left me wondering what may have been said had I chose to say something else. Another thing that makes Firewatch so special are the visuals. Simply put, the game looks astounding, and this is achieved through the highly stylized environments that really capture the serenity of wandering around the great outdoors, perfectly lending themselves to the overall tone of the game. There's not much to be said about the game's soundtrack, featuring not much more than light acoustic guitar and some synthesizers, the music fits the game well, matching itself with the environements and overall personality that Firewatch has. Overall, Firewatch is a fascinating singleplayer mystery experience with a good story, great visuals, and incredible dialogue between characters that you won't forget for years to come.

Layers of Fear is a first person horror experience that relies heavily on creating a creepy atmosphere rather than resorting to cheap jump-scares. It's an approach that works well, complimented by the game's story revolving around a once-renowned painter's slow descent into insanity. Over the course of a playthrough, Layers of Fear will have the player exploring and navigating through a constantly changing Victorian-era mansion, encountering ghostly visions as well as haunting flashbacks that offer some insight to the events leading up to the artist's breaking point. The princial focus on art and the supernatural carries over to the game's level design as well, making for some abstract and often nightmare-ish environments whilst exploring the mansion. More often than not I would find myself feeling more uneasy with my surroundings more than anything else, this is thanks in part to the game's incredible soundtrack. While there's not much substance to the music past some white-keys piano playing for ambiance, there's a certain beauty to the music that goes hand in hand with the game's overall tortured artist motif. Layers of Fear is a great pickup for fans of the horror genre, while the game's ending can leave a bad taste in the mouths of some, rest assured that Layers of Fear paints a portrait worth going insane over.

To the Moon is one of those games that I wish came around more often. Although, perhaps the fact that it is one of those games that comes around once in a blue.....moon is what makes it so special in the first place. To the Moon is a game built on RPG Maker XP, and feels miles ahead of its time. What the team at Freebird Games have accomplished with To the Moon is nothing short of a grand showcase on just how great you can make a game simply through fantastic storytelling. In To the Moon you play as Eva and Neil, two doctors from an organization that offers a sort of wish-fulfillment to the dying in the form of crafting artificial memories to their patients. Their patient, and one of the game's main characters, Johnny, has requested to go to the moon as his final dying wish. Throughout the course of the game you travel through Johnny's past life and experiences in order to piece together and construct his final wish. The game is a simple to understand point and click adventure that comes out to about 3 hours in length, and while the game certainly doesn't break any new ground in this depertment, the real crowning achievement here is the game's story and narrative. While I can't say what happens over the course of the game (trust me, it's better to not know before going in), I will say that the writing here is simply top-notch. Everything from the pacing, shifts in tone, to the raw, completely human emotions throughout makes this game's story one that you won't forget for years to come. Musically, the game aces with flying colors. Time and time again throughout the course of my playthrough I felt my jaw hit the floor as scenes became more lively and impactful simply because of the game's stellar soundtrack. To the Moon, upon first glance, looks like your typical RPG-point and click kind of game. Thankfully though, through amazing writing and pacing to the game's story as well as excellent music providing a great soundtrack throughout, To the Moon ends up becoming a game that will make you laugh, cry, laugh again, and cry even harder and overall love.......To the Moon and back.

UPDATE for The Game Awards 2016: To The Moon is fully deserving of any and all of the praise it gets and here's hoping that it gets the recognition it deserves :)

Bioshock Infinite is the prime example of what happens when spectacular storytelling meets with stellar gameplay. Infinite is the 3rd entry in the Bioshock series and is also nothing like the games before it. Sure, it shares the same name and SOME of the core mechanics of past entries, but rest assured there's a whole new experience to be had here. As I said before, Bioshock Infinite has some of the most top-notch storytelling I've seen from a game in years. Everything from the smart writing, witty character dialogues, and even the world around them are all well thought out and tailor made to create a world that feels alive and real. I will refrain from saying anything further about the story, since it's more of an experience the less you know about it before heading in. Of course, a game needs good gameplay to backup such a great story, and Infinite delivers here as well. Veterans of the franchise may recognize the game's Vigors as previous entries' plasmids, and they pretty much work the same here. There are 8 in all, each with their own characteristics, power and utility, some even combo-ing into each other when used in succession. This added in with the assortment of traditional gun weapons makes for an interesting change of pace from the typcial shooter. Lastly is the game's DLC; In short, it is very well worth the extra cost. Burial At Sea, Parts 1&2 were both developed post-release, as director Ken Levine believes that game content released shortly after the base game ends up hurting the game in he long run. This has been a sensitive subject in the gaming community for years, and this would probably be one of the better examples as to why that is. Burial At Sea is a joy to play, offers an interesting new perspective to the base game's orignal story ending, as well as boasts new TYPES of gameplay elements that have yet to be done in the series before. All in all, Bioshock Infinite is a must-have, whether you're a fan of the franchise, enjoy good storytelling, whatever it may be, stop what you're doing and PLAY THIS GAME

TLDR: At almost 200hrs in so far and not even liking cars, or even soccer for that matter; Rocket League hits the nail right on the head. The game is fun, and a joy to get better at. 10/10 would Soc-car again!

Rocket League is a game I wasn't expecting to like going in. It's a car game, but it's with the addition of the Soccer element that makes Rocket League stand out as a must-play. First of all, don't expect to be good at this game during your first matches in, the game is certainly tough to wrap your head around ESPECIALLY if you're like me and have little to no experience with any games of similar genres. That being said, once you get over the initial hump of learning the mechanics and the importance of team-placement, the game is a BLAST to control! You would think an idea as complex as cars with rockets playing soccer would be a nightmare to control, but that's just not the case here! Controlling your car feels great, and pulling off a flashy goal for all of your teammates to watch in the post-goal replay feels even greater! After each match finishes you also have a small chacne of unlocking cosmetic items for your rocket car like hats, antennas, even decals! These items give no boosts to stats and are simply cosmetic. In addition, Rocket League does a phenomenal job at keeping the game accessible enough for more casual players as well as complex enough for more competitive players like myself to keep coming back for more!

Despite the overall feeling of mediocrity one might get from a game like this. It's actually grown to be surprisingly fun. Not something I could pour hours on end into but something I can take and play for short bursts of time. Worth a pick up, but most likely when it's on sale.