Neue Rezensionen von talgaby

Deus Ex is an old game, but still among the best cRPGs you can find. It offers a wide variety of options and choices, which are supported by a complex and conspiracy-heavy storyline keeping up your interest. Just don’t forget to get the community-created patches to make the engine compatible with modern video cards.

The internet likes lists, especially if they want to collect the best of all times in a specific category. If you find one about the best cRPGs, you’ll more than likely see Deus Ex near the top of that lists, and for good reason.

The gameplay is all about freedom. Freedom in play style: you can take out your enemies in lethal and non-lethal ways (you can finish the whole game with only taking one life), or you can sneak past them using cover, or create a diversion (throw an object, hack security, or even blow something up). You can rely on your wits, your items or your special augmentations, which– like magic in fantasy games– let you do supernatural feats as long as your energy levels remain.
There is also a freedom in the story. Almost all goal can be reached in at least three different ways; all of the maps include several hidden spots and secret routes that lead you to shortcuts, additional rewards or sometimes even new secondary goals. And to make the list complete, you can choose among different endings for the story, which is something that even some of the best RPGs out there couldn't tell about themselves.

The game was made on arguably the best engine of its time, Unreal, which really shines in night scenes. (Pardon me the oxymoron.) This not only creates a very fitting atmosphere, but it's also integrated into the game: there are plenty of dark corners to hide – and that’s another reason why Deus Ex is often compared to another successful FPS/sneak hybrid, the Thief series.

The plot itself is an amalgam of all modern conspiracy theories ranging from the little grey people of Area 51 to the Illuminati and government-controlled epidemics. Still, it’s a very complex story with a lots of questions regarding human nature and sociology. And if we add in the excellent and memorable soundtrack, it's easy to understand why this game is still ranked so high even to this day.

The L. A. Noire DLC bundle is a collection of probably the best cases that never went into the game… more than likely with the sole reason of selling them individually later to exert more money from the players. The fact that people who bought the complete edition couldn’t even tell which cases were added later into the game just proves the suspicion of the publisher removing them not so long before release date.

Normally I’d say it’s a bad idea to support such an act, but the cases really are top-notch with exciting, self-containing stories and interesting characters. Sure, the last one is stretching the last shred of credibility when it throws your hard-boiled LA cop into the world of international espionage and pits you against a whole army base, but it may be the single best case in the whole game.

So, in short, if for some reason you didn’t buy the complete edition of L. A. Noire, then get this pack as soon as you can, you won’t regret it. Not to mention that finally all of the desks will be as long as the murder department’s, balancing out the plot progression.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare takes the best parts of the original game (the atmosphere, the setting, the mystery, and the cast) and throws it out completely; then takes the worst part of it (the combat mechanics, which are only enjoyable against a small group of enemies) and builds a whole game around it. The end product is a shallow, outrageous mockery of the original game, which may only be enjoyable for those who like the simplest B-grade shooter titles, or just thought that Alan Wake wasn’t like Max Payne enough.

If Alan Wake was the video game equivalent of a large-budget mystery thriller miniseries that aired on prime time, then Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is like as if Syfy made the second season.
The original game featured a highly detailed and lush environments and led you through several unique and enjoyable levels. This one has three painfully empty maps with a few objects scattered here and there and buildings crammed together with little coherence. And the maps are recycled three times in the so-called “story” with the exact same objectives, but with some new type of enemies.
You can also forget the memorable supporting cast, here you have the most clichéd evil twin of the protagonist and three female supports, who are so bland and void of all character traits that you will most likely forget their names by the time you see the level end screen.
In some manner this is all explained in the intro and in the (horribly banal) narrative: the whole story is supposed to be taken as some low-budget late-night horror show with all the bad things it comes with. But the problem is: they nailed it too perfectly. It is boring and uninteresting, and in all the wrong ways.

And this leads us to the worst part of the game: it’s nothing, but a huge shooter. The weak story and the non-existent characters are only cardboard decoration to the never-ending shooting. The combat focus becomes even more painfully obvious when you see the Arcade mode in the main menu, which is exactly what it sounds like: you get dropped in an arena and must kill the never-ending wave of enemies.
The only problem is: the mechanic is the same. You still have to shine light on them for several seconds to make them vulnerable, and you still can’t shoot while doing it. So each fight is nothing but a big chase around the empty maps: you try to dissolve shields while dozens of baddies are trying to get you. Sounds fun? Probably not, because it isn’t.
Just avoid it and act like Alan Wake’s story ended with the last chapter of the original game.

Alan Wake is masterfully written mystery horror thriller with great narrative, excellent level design, memorable supporting characters and a combat system that starts out excellent but turns into a chore near the end. If you love a good mystery story and don’t mind that it uses the age-old light versus dark theme, then Alan Wake is certainly a game you should play.

Alan Wake is a little bit like playing a video game version of Stephen King’s early novels; after all it’s a supernatural psychological mystery thriller set in a small US town in the middle of nowhere. (Though instead of Maine it’s situated in a heavily forested area somewhere in the state of Washington.) Therefore the main focus of the game is on the story and the narrative, which complement each other in such levels that is very rarely seen in a video game.

As a game, Alan Wake is a mixture of survival horror (the Alone in the Dark kind, not the Resident Evil type) and third-person shooter. The early parts of the game focus mainly on the mystery and the narrative, all enemies are only there to keep up the suspense. Sadly it eventually turns into straight-up arena combat against waves and waves of enemies. And the combat mechanic is really working against these scenarios, turning the last part of the game into a series of trial-and-error fights.
The game also has way too many collectibles– almost four hundred, counting the ones in the DLCs– and only two type of them serve any real purpose: the hidden chests, which give you some additional gear; and the manuscript pages, that will eventually tell the story of Alan’s missing week, and shed some more light on the mystery.

If you can get past of the combat system, that turns the game into a nightmare in late levels, and focus on the story only, Alan Wake will be one of the best thrillers you have ever played, on par with the most well-known movies in that genre. Good enough to play it more than one time, which is a rare thing on story-focused mystery games. Just don’t try and get all achievements, unless you have a very large amount of patience…

L. A. Noire, just like Rockstar’s later titles, is a controversial game. On one hand, it was advertised as some realistic detective simulator and crime drama, which is a blatant lie. On the other hand, it provides a clichéd, yet well-crafted story, some decent acting and quite a few enjoyable individual cases. Just don’t go besides the main plot: none of the side content is worth it in any way.

Although L. A. noire was initially marketed as a detective simulator, don’t fall for that: it’s about as realistic as any Hollywood blockbuster. All of the clues are in the open, almost all of the cases involve shooting and killing somebody (the story mode’s bodycount is higher than GTAIII’s), and your average everyday cop will be involved in cases that feature a Jack the Ripper style serial murder, city-wide political conspiracies, international espionage (where you’ll have to massacre a US Military compound all by yourself) and drug trafficking that would put the Columbian Cartel to shame.
Add in some very sluggish controls, the most boring and frustrating collection minigame and side missions that are literally all the same, and you may think that anyone who gave positive reviews about the title were paid large sums of money.

So why the thumbs up? Because of the story. It’s quite decently acted– the biggest weak point is Aaron Staton’s performance as the protagonist, who just looks and sounds perpetually annoyed– and even though the plot is as clichéd as you can imagine, it uses these clichés to their best. Sure, this will eliminate most of the surprise at the plot twists, but they aren’t even set up as something to be surprised of.
Plus some of the individual cases– especially for the Traffic and Arson desks– are pretty damn interesting. They are well-written crime stories, worthy to be an episode of a classic police drama. Sure, the overall plot pales in comparison, but some of the cases are so good you may want to play them again, separate from the main story.

So, in conclusion, L. A. Noire is the kind of title which you should play from start to the end once, and never again. Luckily, the main story is more than 12 hours long even if you use a guide to get past the clue-collecting phases, so you get decent amount of entertainment for your money.

Short version: 81%
An enchantingly beautiful hidden object type game which is also a perfect tool for teaching children. The short length may not keep you occupied for more then a few hours, but that will be one of the most wonderful few hours you spend in front of your monitor.

Long version:
The Tiny Bang Story is a short and sweet hidden object puzzle game. Since these kind of games are a dime a dozen, it’s hard to stand out among them, and luckily Tiny Bang Story knew exactly how to do it: with its style. All scenes feature gorgeous hand-drawn graphics which also help hiding the various collectible objects, since they blend in even more than in some other hidden object games.

Apart from the visual style the game is aiming for an interesting artistic goal: not a single word is spoken, nor there is any kind of writing, anywhere, apart from the mandatory main menu. Everything is told by visuals, which is always a great challenge for any artist, and the game achieves this flawlessly.
This also makes the game perfectly suitable for little children, which is also supplemented by the modern (somewhat steampunk-like) fairy tale theme and the soothing music. It’s not a child’s game per se as it’s more than enjoyable for adults too, but it may also serve as a really good tool to help the cognitive development of the little ones.

The negatives? The game’s puzzles are set, so replay value is fairly low. Also, the game is quite short, shorter than some Big Fish Games hidden puzzles, clocking around 2-4 hours. And the downside of the hand-drawn graphics is that the game has only one resolution (naturally it supports full screen and windowed modes).

Short version: 73%
Chicken Shoot Gold/2 won’t revolutionise the light gun shoot ‘em up genre and they probably won’t entertain you for more than 20 minutes, but they are perfect to just whip up a simple little game to pass the time when you feel a bit tired or lazy.
They are also exceptionally great to keep little kids occupied. Trust me, it has been proven numerous types, your little brother/sister or your young child can sit in front of it for hours on end while you will be free to do anything. Especially if you show them there are more levels so they can play with a goal to progress.

Long version:
Chicken Shoot Gold and Chicken Shoot 2 are actually cash-in games that rode the success of Moorhuhn (Crazy Chicken), a franchise that lasted 10 years and 30 games. Apparently Germans really like to shoot chickens around the turn of the millennium; during that time you could find dozens of these themed (usually cartoonish) shoot ‘em ups on the internet and on gaming magazine CDs.

Chicken Shoot’s primary selling point is the hand-drawn graphics, and I have to admit, they look good even in 2014 on a full HD monitor. While the game itself is simple as a stick (you get a gun, you shoot chicken, you reload, then shoot more chicken), the small details can really add a few layers to it here and there.
For example all levels (there are five of them in the first one, six in the second, plus an end boss screen in both) feature hidden bonuses you can shoot for additional points: shooting a mine cart into an abandoned mine, blowing off the top hat of a snowman and so on; this also emulates Moorhuhn’s crazy level secrets. And these are just a few of the Easter eggs you can find in the game– apart from those the chicken throw in your face of course.

Yes: the games have several levels. Most people who try the games out will never notice that, because you either need to kill all chicken (Arcade) or get to 2500/3500 points/level (Classic) to advance to the next stage.
And yes, there is actually an end boss in both games, and in the second one beating the Chicken King can be a really difficult task. So… good luck if you try it.

Short version: 71%
Yesterday is a very well-crafted dark thriller and mystery story, revolving around satanic cults and one of the best-written amnesia cases in video games. The quality acting and the well-written story will easily suck you into this world, but sadly not for long: the game is shorter than most budget indie adventure titles.

Long version:
Yesterday is probably the strangest game Péndulo Studios made since they hit big in 2001. It moves away from the previous titles’ colourful and light atmosphere and introduces us a bloody thriller involving satanic cults, torture, a serial killer, and a big load of mystery in the form of the protagonist, who suffers from a very strange case of amnesia.

Since this is a dark story, the visuals reflect this all the way: the scenes are realistic and use mainly darker tones, but they are not moody. The storytelling is done by using European style comic panels with probably the best voice acting we heard so far in a Péndulo game.
The puzzles are quite straightforward. You will probably spend more time with cross-inventory trial and error than trying to figure out what the developers intended for a certain scene.

The greatest problem with the game is the length. It barely reaches four hours if you are even decent at adventure games. I forgot to make a save by quitting (another shortcoming: you cannot save) and I had to race through the story again to watch the other endings; this is how I realised you can speed through the whole game in less than 20 minutes. The story itself may compensate for it, but since it’s a thriller-mystery, the replay/rewatch value is quite low. Still, for the few hours it lasts, it's good, really good.

Short version: 71%
The Next Big Thing is a solid adventure game with incredible visuals, a well-crafted world, and an interesting, yet very short story. The puzzles are easy and fun to do, yet there is one that will cause rage-quits in large numbers. Though its shortness hardly justifies the price, it’s a real deal even on a 50% sale: you get a fun and entertaining adventure for your money that won’t disappoint you later.

Long version:
The Next Big Thing is one of Pendulo’s many point-and-click adventure titles with the studio’s trademark cell-shaded 3D characters and carefully constructed, astonishing hand-drawn backgrounds.
The game is set in another world, where the classic Hollywood movie monsters from the 1940s and 50s are real people who live among the humans. The story follows the adventure of two journalists– a cynical sports-maniac and an enthusiastic and downright loony investigative reporter– fresh on the trail of a new scoop that will eventually leave to kidnapping, brainwashing and of course lots of puzzle solving.

The style and the story is more cartoonish than horror-like, and this shown in the characters and the puzzles themselves. The latter ones aren’t especially devilish, but there is one that gave many people nightmares and caused many rage-quits and unfinished games. It’s a purely time- and rhythm-based puzzle which is hard to figure out, even harder to properly execute.
Apart from that the difficulty level may only come from pixel-hunting if you chose not to use the item highlight feature, as some of the objects you need to interact with can easily be missed.

Although the story is quite good and well-paced, and even the dialogues are well-crafted, the fact that the game is actually a sequel to Pendulo’s 1997 title Hollywood Monsters, and sadly for some reason the developers thought that anyone who plays this game will know the prequel: we learn next to nothing about the world and how it works in the first half of the game, and only small bits are revealed later in optional side-conversations and item descriptions.
Also, the game is short, even for an indie adventure game: shorter than their previous three title on Steam (the Runaway trilogy), clocking in about 4-6 hours depending on how much you may get stuck (especially on the aforementioned tango puzzle). The story itself compensates for it, but still, for costing as much as other Pendulo games, the play time feels awfully short in this one.

Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen, Please! are two typical indie point & click adventure games that try to bring back the atmosphere of the old wacky LucasArts titles with a large dose of British humour. And it’s not just a gut feeling: the games are full of references and easter eggs about titles such as Sam & Max, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle and all other loved classics.

The first game was originally released as a freeware, and like most of the freeware adventure games, it’s more of a showcase of the writing and game design capabilities of the two creators, not a full game. Still, the story works in its own completely absurd way, the places you visit are designed well, and the puzzles are sometimes hard, but not too difficult. And it’s one of the few adventure games where item usage does not equal the main protagonist robbing every person blind, the items come from very logical sources. (Well, mostly.)

The sequel was made as a commercial game and the developers really wanted to give as much as they got. And the problem is that they gave too much. The story takes a very drastic turn in Time Gentlemen, Please, and in the end it becomes too convoluted even for the writers. The puzzles start as quite challenging and I the end they reach almost impossible levels. In the meanwhile the trademark absurd humour start to fade slowly to give room to the increasingly complex plot.
But the game has saving graces, and mostly in the main ideas behind the different time periods, where the developers constructed the most far-fetched, zaniest alternative timelines you can see outside of Doctor Who. And all of those are featured in Day of the Tentacle-like four-dimensional puzzles of course.

To sum it up, these games – particularly the first one – are excellent for those who love British humour and still hold a special place in their hearts for the LucasArts adventure library. And if you like a good challenge in brain-twisting puzzles, then all the better.
But if you don’t like games where some puzzles remind you of Gabriel Knight 3, or absurd humour is not your cup of tea (or pint of ale), then you will find very little enjoyment in these two.