Just finished System Shock 2. Third time playing the game, first time finishing it!

Tomb Raider Definitive Ed (Xbox One)

I played it on 360 earlier in the year when they offered it as part of GWG. I planned to give it a second play anyway, then this month they made the def edition the GWG for Xbox One, so i played it again to see if the next gen update has any merit. The answer is there is no difference apart from a higher fps and maybe slightly higher res, still it's the version to use if given the choice. Though of course as far as GWG goes, the 360 version is a purchase whilst the Xbox One is a rental of course.

Anyway, i really like the game. I think it really nails the feeling of starring in a modern blockbuster OTT action movie. And that is the point of the game really. It's most comparable to an Uncharted game. As far as that comparison goes, i think the Uncharted games have better, or a more developed cast of characters. But i prefer the TR balance of game play between hectic combat and action vs quieter exploration moments (i think the Uncharted games just have too much combat focus).

Anyway i really am looking forward to "Rise", especially given the promise of much larger and more intricate tombs this time. The tiny tombs in TR actually had some good puzzles, but were too small.

If you can at least play Old World Blues, it's one of the best parts of the entire game.

How did you find the story? :p

Also I've finished 30 games so far this year. Gonna give a list when its closer to January.

The story wasn't anything that will be remembered as an all time classic, but perfectly adequate for what is essentially an action game. The usual over the top supernatural stuff that these types of games usually have. Though i believe that Terry Pratchett is one of the greatest people to have ever walked the earth...and the TR story was written by his daughter, so i'm never going to be too critical of it.

I did another Fallout 1 playthrough two days ago. Still an awesome game, but I feel that Fallout 2 is superior, mostly due to the much larger and more interesting world. The only thing that really bugs me about the first one is the fact that if you don't reach the Necropolis quickly enough, then all the ghouls are dead and you miss out on several quests and at least one talking head. I only found out about that afterwards and always assumed it was due to a bug, but I now realize that due to my patient playstyle I have twice missed out on the Necroplis content in the game due to that completely unnecessary time limit.

Mad Max
I really enjoyed this one, more so than Shadows of Mordor which I believe is by the same developer.
It's a bit too easy and if you're an achievement hunter there is a bug preventing you from getting 100%.
But for me personally it was a fun open world sandbox-y experience.

Melee is the now standard basic Batman Arkham Asylum style with counters and finishers.
You only have the sawed-off shotgun when on foot with only a few (upgradable) shots.
With the amount of skulls you'll be bashing during the game the gun is more for shooting out of the car window or taking down 'heavies'.
The melee is fairly forgiving and easy and fun IMO, it's a lot easier than in Batman or Shadow of Mordor.
Vehicle combat can be a bit annoying, especially in the beginning when you don't have a lot of upgrades.
But you can always drive away or get out and initiate a melee fight or dodge and shoot the cars' fuel tanks.
When aiming from the car you'll always enter a kind of bullet time and all the crucial areas on the vehicles are then marked and easily selected for a shot.
So you can aim in slow-mo and select the wheel for example and you'll nearly always hit.

Thanks for the additional info :). As you've probably guessed, this game looks great to me from what I've seen, the melee combat it the only thing dampening my enthusiasm. Good news for me that you mentioned the melee combat is easy, at least it won't cause me frustration.

Is melee combat a frequent occurrence in Mad Max, or is it just something on a long list of things that you do every once in a while? Do the melee combats take a long time to complete?

It's what you'll be doing most of the time :P
Every stronghold, camp, scavenging location and such are often inhabited by goons and often there is no way to get inside except on foot which means you'll have to crack some skulls.

Hmmm, yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I think I'll be waiting a year or two until the game hits a steep discount :D.

Bionic Commando (Arcade)

Since I'm about to play the two modern Bionic Commando games, I'd first try my hand at the older games and what better place to start than the arcade version of Bionic Commando?

Bionic Commando is the side-scrolling run-and-gun platformer that you can't jump, but you can use a grappling hook to navigate around obstacles. Being unable to jump means that you'll have to be far more careful, though, about your positioning and how to preemptively react against the enemy forces, something made significantly harder by the game having predominantly vertical stages and you being completely unable to aim your weapon upwards or in a diagonal angle. Add to this the fact that you die in one hit and you will lose a lot of lives and continues. Fortunately, it ends quickly (took me less than half an hour).

In the end, it was somewhat enjoyable, but its dated and restrictive controls leave a lot to be desired.

Full list.

Not really. Shadow or Mordor was made by Monolith Productions, while Mad Max was made by some of the folks who did the Just Cause Series (Avalanche Studios). Mad Max looks amazing graphics wise, but hearing that it has Shadow of Mordor combat (which I really didn't like) is a major turn off.

Ah I saw the AGGA logo in both and they're very similar, that's why.
The combat is much easier and simpler than in SoM, but it's still the same Batman-style combat.
I can see why that's a turn off though, unfortunately it's also a staple of open world games these days.