Tomb Raider Legend (PC) Review

I have very little contact with this franchise. Outside seeing the first movie in theaters back in the day, I really had not done anything with it since playing the demo of the first game on my old 486. And while I enjoyed myself playing that demo, I had other games I wanted to play more so my interest never went any further then that. Then came the summer sales this year when I got this little title for about $1, curious what I had missed. I wanted to like it, I really did, but the big warning came up. When I have a hard time deciding whether to play with a controller or my mouse, it's usually a bad sign. It was here, and I'm glad it was so cheap, cause much more and I would have felt cheated.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PC) Review

I know so many players who the moment this was announced were already ready to throw money at the screen. Maybe too many as I honestly expected to be playing just about nothing else for months between everyone I know who wants to play. But at the same time, my only real concern was being trapped in a single game for far longer then I would like as I do love my variety. The game itself already looked great. In fact my only real delay was that as a rule I wait a month to play anything with a major publisher behind it. (Don't blame me, blame how many games release as broken messes.) However, once I decided the game had enough time to bake I was in.... and for once, the AAA world made something I shouldn't have even waited that long on.

BROTHERS! TO BATTLE!

Ys IX Monstrum Nox (PC) Review

And for at least a few months, we have finished yet another series. (Nordic is dropping soon.) I have absolutely loved every Ys game I have played till now, but I will admit I was a bit nervous this time around. I was not hearing great things from friends about this one, so I waited this time till I could get it on sale. But I am here to tell you right now, there was no reason to fear such concerns. In fact, I think I have a new favorite of the series.

Persona 5 Strikers (PC) Review

This game was going to happen eventually, though to be fair, I wound up playing it on a different machine then I expected to. When it was announced, I knew it wasn't a traditional RPG, but it wasn't a dancing sim (like the Persona 4 offered as spinoffs to it's portable playing fans there for a while) and I honestly have had almost nothing but great experiences with the entire franchise. However, since the PC version would not have a physical copy to go with the rest of my collection, I figured I was going to wind up getting it on Switch. Then Steam came along and did what it does best... sales. So I picked it up and in time, began to play.

It was definitely worth my time, despite showing me why the game series it's play belongs to will never be for me. Step inside.

Ys VIII - Lacrimosa of DANA (PC) Review

Once again we we have here another adventure with gaming's leading adventurer, Adol. (Seriously, how many characters actually claim their job title is Adventurer?) And each time we have spent time with him, I have to say I have enjoyed the hell out of it. Was this time any different? Not really... I had a blast here too. Come on in and have a peak.

Devil's Hunt (PC) Review

I had some high hopes for this game when it came up in the dice rolls. After all, the trailers looked amazing and promised some solid demonic combat. But it didn't take long for the game to dash my hopes of anything good being here. In fact, I knew I was in for a wild ride before I even finished setting the game up. It became obvious quite quickly that this is the kind of game I play so you don't have to.

Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (PC) Review

I have to admit, I picked this one up shortly before finishing Saints Row IV because I was legit enjoying myself that much with the game. I already knew Agents of Mayhem was a severe departure not worth my time and the less we talk about the reboot, the better. But I was hoping to get just a little bit more of this formula and all the goodness of it out of this stand alone expansion. I will not tell you it was a waste of my time, because it wasn't. I did have fun with this one, but it just can't even begin to compare to what the previous games offered.

Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (PC) Review

I had a great time playing Saints Row the 3rd, so when the next entry got it's turn to play, it was without hesitation I loaded it up and started playing. It did not disappoint, and in fact I think I liked it even more... but I would have to agree that it was also a less balanced experience then the previous. Step inside.

War Tech Fighters (PC) Review

I was pretty excited to start this game when the dice rolled it up. The trailer looked awesome and lets face facts, giant robots are always cool. Put them into a hectic battle or three and it could be absolutely amazing. But I think all the excitement was a little bit premature, as half-baked ideas included with the battle pretty much spoiled it all.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite (PC) Reivew

I will admit, I was excited for this game when it was announced. It's no secret to anyone who knows me I am a huge fan of this series of movies and have even enjoyed a few games from it in the past. (Alien Trilogy was actually a fun game back in the days of DOS, for example, even if it was NOT true to anything in the series.) However, this is not a game I would pick up right away as one of the big reasons I wanted to play it (cross-platform so I could play with my brothers who will only play on Xbox). But when this was announced to be ready, the stars aligned and the game went on a steep sale at the same time. I picked it up and recently we finished up our adventure. As an Alien fan, I am VERY satisfied. As a gamer, not so much.

God Eater: Resurrection (PC) Review

I really wanted to like this game. Having watched the anime, I absolutely love the world created for it so I was looking forward to taking part. However, trouble brewed with this one very quickly. I found myself repeating the first hour of the game to figure out which way would play better: keyboard and mouse or a controller. Mixing two forms of combat repeatedly, both fitted well for only one type of control did not bode well for this game... and ultimately was the first hint of it's undoing for me.

Gears of War: Judgement (XBox 360) Review

I knew this day would come. When you have an Xbox LIVE Gold account, you get "free games" once a month. (This is not the place to argue if the game is free or not since you have to pay for the account, so for the sake of argument, roll with it.) Unlike the games for Xbox One X and up, when your account expires, the 360 titles remain available to you, both to play and download at a later date, so I made a point to collect some here and there. This was one of those games. I knew it had a reputation as being one of the lesser games in the franchise, but at the time, I did not have any other in the series, nor was I willing to buy any of them. (Again a discussion for another time.) YEARS later the dice picked this one, as I knew they would one day. I had hoped, however, it would at least be an interesting, if not particularly good experience.... I was so wrong.

Alan Wake (PC) Review

 

I remember when this game was announced. Originally, it was supposed to be a PC game Remedy was making, but it wasn't long before Microsoft partnered with them, announcing it was coming out for the Xbox 360 as well, until finally it had migrated to being a 360 exclusive and released in 2010. It would arrive as a port on PC a few years later. By this time excitement for the game had come and gone, including my own, but my interest was still there to an extent. As such, it became another game to add to the backlog on a sale over the years. But now it has finally become time for the writer's story to shine. But did it? Well, kinda... but it's not that simple.

Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition (PC) Review

This is not the first time I have played this game. In fact, not only is the first time I played also here on this very site, but it was the first game I ever played on the ill-fated WiiU. And back then, I absolutely loved it, even as I had some serious issues with it on a technical level. But over time looking back, I found myself disappointed with the support the game (and console in general) received. While other platforms had DLC campaigns to extend the game itself, they were never even offered to Nintendo's system.

But then the Humble Bundle came through and suddenly I found myself with not only the PC release, but the "Deathinitive edition" containing technical updates, game balance updates, and most importantly, all three DLC campaigns. Coming back was inevitability.... but was it worth the time?

Ragnarok Odyssey ACE (PS3) Review

My history with Ragnarok has been scarce, but personal. Back in the day, a now ex of mine that to this day I consider a damn good friend introduced me to the original game on a private server she played on, and we had fun running around and wrecking monsters for a little while. But I never found myself interested in the game itself enough to go play any of it’s sequels. But it’s introduction left the series feeling warm and something I might to play with later. When I saw this game, it was already late in it’s life, but that warmth and wanting to see if something can stand up to Phantasy Star with Sega refusing to bring their newest game to the west, I gave it a shot. All I can say is I hope I'm not looking at the original game with rose-colored glasses due to who I was playing with at the time.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (PC) Review

When GTA IV dropped, a LOT of console gamers jumped on it as a reason console was better then PC. After all, you couldn’t play the dream-game of GTA on PC, could you? And while I would never argue a single game makes a platform better or worse then another (even if it can make a platform worth having), a lot of PC gamers were looking forward to playing it on their chosen device.

I was not one of them.

However, I did finally get that interest when an expansion the Lost and Damned trailers hit TV, but I did not count on being able to ever get ahold of it where I could play with camera aiming the way I want and demand, so I let it go… until this collection made it’s way to steam. I didn’t care enough to grab it immediately, but when a summer sale dropped, I picked it up. And then recently, it made the selection, so I checked out the trailers and thought “why the hell not?” I found out why not… and then the game showed me.

Now before we begin, this is a combination review. Since you could not install or run these games apart from each other, but had to run them from a single program, I decided it was best to treat them as one game. But in doing so, I have also split them up so clicking either name below will bring you directly to that game. Also, to be up front, I did not finish The Ballad of Gay Tony. You will find why as you read.

• The Lost and Damned
• The Ballad of Gay Tony
• Bugs
• Overall

DmC: Devil May Cry (PC) Review

EDIT: With Capcom's move to add DRM to their old games, they have proven a will to ruin their old stuff, which I can not support. When the DRM (Enigma Protector) is triggering antiviruss all over the place because of it's relation to straight up MALWARE, I am calling it. Consider this game and any other Capcom game broken (0/10) until further notice.

I’m going to have to be honest here. I’m not showing up as a fan of the franchise. Yes, I was aware of it, but I did honestly didn’t care a hell of a lot about it when it originally launched on the PS2. This was at that time when I had migrated away from consoles entirely in favor of games my PC had to offer. The game just didn’t draw my attention.

So when this version came out, I didn’t have any expectations of it aside from what the trailers showed me. I knew it would be an action game and it would be a combat heavy title, but what really drew me in was the world. Watching the demonic influence mutate the land in real-time while fighting enemies, I was interested… and when I got a good deal, I picked the game up. Having finished it just about at the end of my Extra Life marathon, I was not disappointed.

Case: 006 Paranormal peers provoke polished plot to please the most pertinacious of proponents- (Ghostbusters the Video Game-PC 2009)

 

Let it never be said that I believe in spooks. ‘Cause I don’t. For every chain rattle and spooky sound, every thump or bump in the night there’s someone looking to make a quick turnaround. In my business, plenty of grieving widows or widowers have been taken by so called mediums ( Hucksters and charlatans of the highest order kid, don’t let the fancy title fool ya.) I’ve seen a lot in the cycles I’ve been here, real “ Ghosts” in this machine but, in the end? It’s all a scam, a big con.

So, when I came across this gem of a title? I had to re-evaluate my position. Not because I became a believer mind you, just because sometimes you wish there was something out there.  Now, browse over that file and make up your own mind.