Screw empty coffers, I've missed out on a lot of income due to bad weather in the last couple days** so my finances are decidedly suboptimal and I should not be buying any games at all at the moment but shelling out for Technobabylon was a no-brainer, even if I had to buy the game twice due to my unfortunate self-therapy rules which are really biting me in my posterior. But a word is a word!

If you don't want to wait for a sale, you're welcome to participate in the giveaway (open for one week) to potentially win a free copy of the game. Giveaways are meant for entering so no need to hold back, no need at all!

Btw we're in the same boat concerning A Golden Wake, that's the only Wadjet game I haven't played yet. Waiting for a good sale on that one as I'm not 100% sure if it's as good as the other ones. With Technobabylon, I felt entirely confident that the game was good and I was not let down in any way, it's precisely as good as I expected it to be.


** on the bright side of things, the lousy weather allowed me to pull a 12 hour allnighter and finish the game in one session, something I wouldn't have been able to do if I had to go to work today.

System Shock 2

The ultimate Why Is There Always Someone Behind Me sim.

I'm now afraid of my own shadow. Thanks, game.

Would play again. In about ten years.



Pro:
+ atmosphere
+ the demented trio is quite entertaining
+ voice logs
+ progeny (Deus Ex and Bloodlines)

Con:
+ poor balance (hint: don't play the psychic if it's your first time)
+ a few remarkably stupid plot moments (big reveal, ending)

Giana Sisters: Rise of the Owlverlord

I liked Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams quite a bit, so playing this stand-alone expansion was a no-brainer. It's more of the same, with just some new tracks, and a bit more variety in the environments, but no new enemies. Strangely enough, while I was expecting the game to be more difficult, this didn't prove to be the case in the end. Sure, the beginning stages were pretty brutal, but the last stages were actually pretty easy. In the end, though, I still hunger for more Giana Sisters, with more levels, level variety and music, and less reliance on spikes to provide a challenge. Who knows, maybe the announced sequel will succeed at doing so, and maybe it will prove to be worse. :P
I'll certainly keep an eye on it.

For now, another update to the list.

Mark of the Ninja: Special Edition DLC

Normally, I wouldn't bother writing an entry for a DLC that is comprised of just a single level, but I completed the base game last year when I didn't have the DLC and, thus, I'm left with no choice. Unlike the other levels in the game, you are controlling a different character who has his own playstyle and you can't change the items he carries or any other of the outfits you might have unlocked. Dosan (the character you are controlling) doesn't carry a sword (and thus can't assassinate), can't use farsight to scout up ahead, and when he's going into focus, time won't stop. To make up for these disadvantages, Dosan can perform non-lethal takedowns and can carry double the amount of attack/distraction items (albeit, only his own). Completing the DLC level unlocks a new costume which can be used in the other stages and grants Dosan's abilities. For a DLC that costs $5 separately, I can't help but feel that a single level, along with a new costume, aren't quite enough value for money. Still, it was more awesomeness for the already awesome Mark of the Ninja and I just couldn't pass it up.

Another update to the list.

Alright, don't wanna waste too much time on this, but I have just gotten through Killzone 3 and it is the better game (with regards to Killzone 2) by a mile or a league or whatever. It's better in controls, it feels significantly less clunky and slow and much more responsive and tight. The guns give good feedback and are powerful and are actually cool this time, the shotgun is actually useful and the Hig assault rifle works well like how the MP 40 is in most WWII games. The story takes itself less seriously and by extension when it is stupid it feels less so because it is at least having fun with itself. The ending makes little sense, but it works well enough. The game looks better with well designed environments that reminded me of better Halo scenes and Metroid Prime. The colors and explosions all popped out at you and in general the game looked so much better, that weird tunnel vision thing also was mitigated. Rico is more likable, though I hesitate to call him likable, same with Sev. Narville is actually a sensible character most of the time except those weird moments that seem to be meant to place your sympathies against him. He becomes stubborn at points where it seemed to me he would have been willing to listen earlier, but all of a sudden because the story needed conflict he becomes difficult.

The vehicle segments are all better this time around, the mech feels good and exactly like something else that I just can't recall, and the on rails segments actually work pretty well I thought. The designs for the new weapons introduced worked well I thought and while I like how they handled melee combat more this time around I thought the brutal melees were a bit odd and I had a hard time getting used to them, though they look cool so do try. On a final note, the game is still dumb, but at least it's a popcorn shooter dumb and not just the plain dumb that the previous game suffered from. Overall, this is a legitimately good game and I would only recommend playing the previous one to appreciate this one more.

Vertiginous Golf (Linux)

The design and narration is like "Bioshock - Minigolf Edition". :D
This is the logical next step of all the minigolf games from the 90s. The graphics are beautiful although a bit repetitive, it takes full advantage of the 3D surrounding and has a few nice twists. It is a crossover between golf and minigolf and features both kinds of clubs on the same courses. The story mode tells some political curroption story that is not fitting into such a game that is supposed to be plain fun at all but can be ignored. Controls are either gamepad or mouse+keyboard and both is working quite well, wou need wsad or up-down-left-right now and then to control the influenza bug that is like a small jetpack on your ball that consumes a lot of "rewind" time but can be used to alter the course. The greatest aspect is the multiplayer mode, it features local hotseat for 4 players maximum and is really fun.

I highly recommend this game and it should be on GoG someday, even the Linux port is quite polished.

Into the list:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2015/post68

Ironclad Tactics - Picked this one up in one of the past Humble Android bundles, and have been playing off and on since then. This is the first card (CCG) game I've played, and it's probably the not the best one to start out with. The random nature of the way cards are dealt out can cause significant frustration. Getting nothing but maneuver and upgrade cards at the start of a level essentially means you will have to start over. You can affect this by changing the number of each type of card in the deck to get a higher change of getting desired cards, but even this isn't set. You can be destroyed quickly one round and the very next win by a landslide. However, this can be a fun game if the cards turn out well.

I played this on a tablet, and it was well suited for the interface. Not sure how it would play on PC, but I did see PC-specific tips left in the Android port.

So far:
Kingdom Rush: Frontiers
Kingdom Rush
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
FEAR
FEAR: Extraction Point
FEAR: Perseus Mandate
Consortium: The Master Edition
The Cat Lady
Hitman GO
Ground Control
Ironclad Tactics

Fire

The casual prehistoric adventure game by Daedalic, that is. It was nice enough for what it is, which isn't something outstanding and ambitious, but rather a Samorost-like sequence of puzzle screens hardly connected by a (fittingly) primitive plot (fire gone out, travel around to get new fire). So not much story there and not even a consistent setting, but a random array of weird places the caveman has to deal with, including space.

In each place the goal is to get to a small firefly creature in a bubble (why not?) that will open the portal to the next level (of course!), and you get there by clicking on all the hotspots in 2-5 connected screens, checking out how the caveman interacts with them and then trying to figure out what it is good for. There are items you can pick up and use, too, but only one at a time. Due to the limited number of hotspots and lack of any other interactions, the game is very easy. I didn't have to consult a walkthrough to solve it, and only one level had me puzzled for a while, because I overlooked a hotspot (even though SPACE will display them all, which makes it even easier). Took me about 2 hours for completing all puzzles and finding half of the collectibles to unlock some making-of sketches (I don't think I will hunt for the other half though, that part is just an HOG-style game of finding hidden coins on the screens).

I'm not complaining though, if you accept its casual, short and rather nonsensical nature, it can be fun to play through. The comical art style fits the game very well, and some of the levels were quite amusing. I'd definitely recommend this over Gomo; these two games resemble each other in gameplay, but Fire is much nicer to look at and much more professional and polished. The best thing about it is probably the soundtrack though, that one was really great.

I haven't actually played &/or beat many games this year. Far too busy. Here is a list of the ones I have beat though...

1. The Order 1886- 4/1/15- PS4- 8/10- It was a solid game for what it was. It was a bit short (I got the Platinum trophy in like 3 days/10 hours)... but in my case, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing considering my lack of time for games anymore.

2. Assassin's Creed: Unity- 4/5/15- PS4- 8/10- Started this game upon release, got busy & didn't finish it until then. Was a lot better than it was given credit for (even upon release). Still not my favorite in the series, but it was certainly better than AC3 & 4 in my humble opinion. Tons of side quests too.

2.5. Assassin's Creed: Unity: Dead Kings- 4/14/15- PS4- 8.5/10- I enjoyed this & its story more than the base game actually (As is par for the course with most Ubisoft titles nowadays). Even if I had got this as part of the season pass that I purchased (instead of the resulting drama that resulted in me getting a free copy of Far Cry 4) I would not have felt cheated.

3. Mortal Kombat X (Story Mode)- 4/18/15- PS4- 8/10- It was certainly structured better than MK9's story but I am not entirely convinced that it was as good of a tale. I did enjoy it (even if it was, once again, a bit short) & the ending alone made it worth playing through.

4. Metal Gear Solid 3 HD- 5/20/15- Vita- 8/10- First time I ever got more than an hour into the game. It was a bit talky in places (which didn't bother me unless they were boring me to death with fake military tank nonsense) but overall it was a very solid game. I can see why it is often regarded as the best in the series.

5. Dragon Fantasy: Book 1 (100% Completion)- 7-31-2015- Vita- 6/10- The game is very reminiscent of early Dragon Quest games... & damn is that a bad thing. The encounter rate is absurd.... you take maybe 3-7 steps & you are in another battle. I do like certain aspects of the game... The battle system is refreshingly simple (as opposed to several modern JRPGs who's battle system that you need at least a basic understanding of Advanced Calculus to understand) & the story is serious but has humor without being obnoxiously constant with it (see: the majority of Nippon Ichi's game other than Disgaea).

6. Outlast- 8-6-2015- PS4- 6/10- Nowhere near as scary as it is made out to be (& I played in the dark with my surround sound headphones on). The game is marred by repetitive gameplay that basically amounts to: walk through a few halls where nothing happens, find out that you need to collect/flip/turn a certain number of random items to progress, run into The Big Guy &/or group of crazies while searching, find items, use items to open door, scripted chase, rinse & repeat. Speaking of the Big Guy.. I absolutely hated every one of his sections (except for a certain one near the end of the game >:D) because I found nothing scary or even tense about them... I just found them ways to artificially extend to length of the game. I know I may be in the minority with this (judging by steam, PSN & Metacritic reviews), but I find nothing all that special about this game.

Two today.

Resistance 2: Started on it yesterday, beat it today (starting to wonder if I'm actually savoring these things). It was an excellent game in many ways, it could have been better in others, and it was not the best game to follow up Fall of Man. First off, it felt more like a CoD game than FoM. This is because of the greater emphasis on narrative (or rather funneling you through an area), back and forth comms conversations, easier to kill enemies. It also felt more like a zombie game in atmosphere and with some of the enemies. The weapons were still really good but the lack of the weapons wheel felt really weird, especially since it felt like they designed segments for certain weapons (like when you have a wheel as opposed to most any weapon could work) and would give you a weapon for that segment, and then a minute or two later it's a new segment and you get a new, more area appropriate gun. I liked the squad in this game actually, even Capelli, but thought that making Hale more of a typical protagonist rather than the silent hero was not quite to my preference with these games, but I suppose I like it better than people talking to him and he just stands there like a jerk and not say anything. The game looked really good to me, except there were quite a few artifacts that would just stand out (you know, they're lighter than everything else, lower res, unaffected by lighting) and look odd. To summarize, it's the best game in the CoD vein that I have played in a long time and maintains a lot of the fun from the first game. Oh, and the controls work well, not as well as FoM, but very well.

Modern Warfare 2: Despite my ardent hatred for these games, my brother bought a cheap, cheap copy and my brother and I played it while waiting for something today. Mechanically it is good, nothing really wrong with how the shooting felt or any frame rate drops. I found the story to be really dumb, and that might just be me. I thought the American missions after the EMP explosion were the most enjoyable, I liked the idea of fighting continuing after such a game changing event took place. I found the game being really short to be a plus, but if I paid $60 for it when it was new I would probably be very irate about its campaign length. Overall a good, not great game, if it's cheap and you're interested go ahead and play it in an afternoon.

Take No Prisoners: An ultra-violent top-down shooter from 1997 that most people seem to have forgotten about. Apart from its unusual perspective, this game is quite interesting in that you are literally on your own. The only thing you are being told ist that you need to get a matrix crystal out of a place called the dome, but at the start of the game you have no idea where this place is or what is needed to extract this matrix crystal. It is really up to you to discover the necessary steps by piecing together text logs you find along your way. This and the fact that you can freely travel the city without any restrictions (or hints where to go next) really add to the immersion.
I think that this game has a lot more depth than expected, and that it has fallen into obscurity undeservedly.

Shadowrun: Returns

I could say this is the first Insomnia Sale purchase I've beaten, except that I gave away the copy I bought in insomnia, and got this in a bundle about a month ago. So I think I'm sadly still 0 for 10 on Insomnia games ><

Really great little story and the game engine is solid. Great atmosphere - it hasn't been so dark in Seattle since they lost the Super Bowl. Good character customization options.

Few flaws though. I think the big one is that each chapter is modular, and whatever team/gear you go in with is what you have, and if you don't save carefully before launching each chapter you can find yourself mid-mission without what you actually needed - the autosave design won't help you there. A few quests will let you know you need a decker, but otherwise not much hint. So I ended up running with basically the same team over and over so at least I'd know what they could do in a pinch.

Perhaps more realistic in that way. Also, because it's story-driven and linear, replayability is somewhere between middling and zero.

Shadowrun:Dragonfall

Improved from Returns with a beefier story and better writing. Good characterization and some fun situations. As bler144 noted about Returns, it's linear and you can't switch team members once you start a mission. This is, I believe, a design decision, although IMO it would be a better idea to have the autosave occur before the mission starts instead of just after. But if you use Quicksave and manual saves judiciously, there shouldn't be many issues.

The story ties in with elements of the previous games, and I feel it;s setting up some backstory for the third one as well. I'm intrigued to see where it goes in the next installment. Overall, a great game and well worth the time and money I spent on it. I'm now eagerly looking forward to jumping back into the Sixth World when Hong Kong is released.

Full List

Lol, i wish i was a beta tester for Shadowrun Hong Kong so that we could have a full combo going on here.