Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/04/2019
Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Switch, Xbox One. Leave a comment

81xGtMEVbiL._AC_UL320_SR196,320_Publisher: Saber Interactive8

Developer: Mad Dog Games

Release Date: 10/04/2019

MSRP: $29.99

Rating: Teen

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Ghostbusters is one of the few franchises out there that doesn’t get enough attention. With Ghostbusters 3 floating around for decades, most fans gave up hope completely. Then, what turned out to be the script for the third movie pretty much turned into what we have today. With all the original cast coming back to voice the game it was like a dream come true. While not the best game ever, it was incredibly faithful to the franchise and made every Ghostbuster fan happy, including myself. This was one of my favorite movies growing up as a kid and to play as a Ghostbuster was just awesome.

Here, we have a remastered version of the 2009 game instead of a fourth game, but this is great as it will spark new interest in the franchise. I highly recommend watching the two movies before diving into this game, because there are a lot of references to those movies that won’t make sense unless you have watched them as they aren’t explained including many easter eggs. You play as a rookie Ghostbuster who just recently got hired, the fifth Ghostbuster, and fight alongside the original four voiced in their original glory. It’s just amazing and gets my fanboys juices flowing hearing the original cast together. While the game isn’t exactly a movie it feels like a larger evolution of the mythos and lore of Ghostbusters taking you from the ghostly issues of New York to a global scale and bringing us into the ghost realm which most people expected in the third movie.

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The game has many locales from the movies such as the Ghostbusters headquarters, Sedgewick Hotel, and the Public Library. Ghosts from the movies and news ones made it in and it’s a blast to see. You really feel like an actual Ghostbuster in this game. You have your pack strapped on with all it’s fictional science tech flashing and buzzing and you can shoot your stream at ghosts to whittle down health and finally capture them and bring them into the box just like in the movies. It looks and sounds exactly how it should and it’s pretty awesome. That is, for the first level then it does start getting old. That’s the major issue with this game is that repetition sets in early and there’s no change in gameplay outside of a few scripted events which I think there should have been more of.

Fighting and capturing ghosts aren’t’ the only enemies as there are smaller ones that can get blasted away, then you have a boss fight at the end of each level. Of course, my favorite level in the whole game is when you fight the Stay Puft, but as you progress more in the game and get to more original content it just isn’t as memorable or exciting as the first half of the game that used more stuff from the movies. Locations feel generic, the ghosts aren’t interesting to look at, and there are far less scripted events. The game even gets downright punishing thanks to the constant need to revive teammates every 5 seconds. I spent more time reviving everyone than I did capture ghosts. Once everyone is down and you go down its game over. I felt this was one of the worst parts of the entire game and brought it down a bit. It doesn’t help that shooting ghosts has zero feedback outside of a circular health bar getting smaller. There’s not hit feedback or anything and it’s not very satisfying.

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Due to no cover system you run around shooting at these guns aimlessly and once you bring them down into the box it’s on to the next scene. I loved hearing the banter between the original cast, but sadly Bill Murray phoned the whole thing in as his voice acting is terrible and is a huge contrast to Harold Ramis, Dan Akroyd, and Ernie Hudsen’s excellent work. It’s still great to hear them cracking jokes and sarcasm to each other, and it breaks up the monotony of running around linear hallways shooting ghosts.

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With that said, the game has aged well and is really only suited for fans of the movies, but there are things that could have been fixed like better hit feedback, the need to constantly revive everyone, and the boring later levels. I would have liked to have driven the Ecto-1 at some point, I would have like to explore more of the Ghostbuster’s personal life as these are established well-known characters that everyone loves. I don’t just want to go from scene A to Z with nothing in between. Even though there is a decent epic plot that involves the realms of reality and the afterlife colliding together, I wanted more and Ghostbusters missed that opportunity. The visual enhancements are nice, and the game runs decently on Switch with only occasional slowdown, but what this feels like is Ghostbusters fast food and not a steak dinner.

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Control

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/10/2019
Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Xbox One. Leave a comment

5d1dca307e696c2e34146f72Publisher: 505 Games7.5

Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Release Date: 08/27/2019

MSRP: $59.99

Rating: Teen

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I love Remedy’s games and always have. From the first Max Payne all the way to Quantum Break there have been ups and downs, but Alan Wake still remains my favorite game from them. Control takes place in the same universe as Alan Wake and even explains what kind of happened down there, as you play as Director Jesse who has a crazy gun that can transform and you fight off weird enemies call The Hiss and your goal…well…I can’t tell you what the end goal is as this is Remedy’s most incohesive story yet with many plot holes and even after the credits rolled I still couldn’t make sense of the story at all.

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Let’s start with the exploration. Control takes place solely inside the Federal Bureau of Control and is a generic boring and ugly building that is basically a labyrinthine maze that requires a ton of backtracking and is a pain to navigate. There are several floors in this building and spread throughout are Control Points which you use to level up Jesse and fast travel. Even though fast travel is nice trying to find new areas from those points is a serious pain. Throughout the game, you can find files to read and solve simple puzzles that use your telekinetic powers. Jesse can throw objects as weapons and break off pieces of the buildings as well and hurl them. This is a key combat mechanic as you will swap between this and your weapon when either is recharging.

Combat in Control is pretty boring and frustrating. In fact, I would have rather had no combat in this game and it would have been more enjoyable. Shooting enemies that float in the air, have shields, larger health bars, and some bosses are all fun, but not in Control. The game throws an insane amount of enemies at you at every turn and there are no cover systems so you must run around like a bafoon trying to avoid explosive enemies, bullets, and projectiles. You don’t get to levitate until the last fourth of the game and I never even got the dodge move or shield as I completing side missions is an absolute chore and I didn’t care enough to see the level up system all the way through.

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Many times I died because you can’t heal unless an enemy has dropped health and if you picked it all up you’re screwed. This is essentially a broken mechanic and I hated every minute of it. Not once did I enjoy the combat because instead of fun and unique bosses you get tossed into arenas and gauntlets and waves of enemies to chew through and it seriously hinders progression. Not to mention they respawn in certain areas when you’re trying to cut through somewhere. The gun itself isn’t fun to shoot as it requires recharging and there’s no ammo or reloading. There are various forms such as a sniper pistol, machine pistol, grenade launcher, shotgun pistol, etc. but I only stuck with a couple of forms through the whole game. You can add perks to Jesse and each weapon that can increase health, decrease recharging, energy costs, etc. and these are vital to surviving.

As you explore the game you will notice Remedy’s signature trippiness as level twist and turn and transform and there’s a supernatural aspect to the game of course, but it’s all for naught. Nothing in the game is ever explained like why can I pull a string three times and get warped to the Oceanview Motel and have to solve the same stupid puzzles inside. Ring the front desk bell, go into a room remember the placement of objects, ring the bell again, and move the objects in the next room. It’s stupid and makes no sense. Why is Jesse communicating with this Hadron entity and who is her brother anyways? What purpose does the Director have in all of this and why does a slide projector harness so much power? Yeah, makes about as much sense as it sounds and nothing is ever explained. It’s hard to push through the boring and frustrating combat only to get another confusing cut scene that seems like a random piece from a storyline.

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Control looks pretty good, but Nvidia’s DLSS anti-aliasing is awful here and the game is a blurry mess even with MSAA enabled. The engine is decently optimized as I got a steady 60FPS through most of the game with RTX on and it rarely dropped below 45FPS. However, the art style is dull and stale with concrete hallways and corridors. It doesn’t have a unique identity and that’s sad as Remedy is good at this.

Overall, Control is a disappointing follow up to Remedy’s legacy. With Quantum Break being as disappointing as it was, was Alan Wake their last great game? Control isn’t the game we all wanted, and I honestly won’t remember this game a week from now, and that’s sad as there’s lost potential here with Remedy’s signature touches that just don’t quite connect. The combat is boring and frustrating and very repetitive, lots of backtracking, and a confusing mess of a building to explore just doesn’t strike me as fun. If the story was at least solid it would be worth it, but it makes no sense and when the credits roll you just shrug and wonder why you wasted your time.

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Corsair K95 Platinum Keyboard

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/10/2019
Posted in: Editor's Choice, Hardware, PC Reviews. Leave a comment

CORSAIR-K95-RGB-Platinum-Cherry-MX-Brown-MechanicalManufacturer: Corsair10

Release Date: 01/05/2017

MSRP: $199.99

 

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I’ve had various keyboards over the years, but there’s always something off about them. The keys don’t feel right, I never use the features on them, the software is horrible, or something along those lines. I’ve held off on Corsair keyboards for so long because they’re the most expensive ones on the market, but after 6 months with the K95 Platinum, I can see why and it’s justified.

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The K95 is one of the most solid keyboards I’ve ever used. Just holding it out of the box you can feel the solid build with an aluminum body and very satisfying keycaps. From the sleek media buttons and the subtle yet useful proprietary keys up top and the awesome wrist wrest. The K95 just oozes quality and style before you even plug it in. The K95 has a thick braided cable just also features USB 3.0 passthrough which I actually love and use myself.

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I want to start with the proprietary buttons on this keyboard before talking about anything else. On the right side, you have six shortcut or macro keys and I love the placement of these. They are out of the way enough to allow you to ignore them or also if you use them they are easily accessible. Along the top, you have three buttons on the left that are used with Corsair iCUE. The little person icon allows you to flip through RGB profiles while the sun icon has three brightness stages and the lock button keeps the Windows button locked. Further right is three white LEDs for Scroll Lock, Caps Lock, and Num Lock. I love how small and minimal these are. They are just big enough to tell you what’s on. To the far right are a volume wheel and a mute button. I honestly love these to death. An easy to use the mute button and the volume wheel feels amazing as it has some weight, isn’t plastic, and feels good to use. I’ve never once had a useful volume adjustment option on my keyboard until now. Below that just above the Numpad are the four media keys. Again, the best I’ve ever used. No need for a function button just press the buttons and they work. I use these all the time when listening to music and they feel solid and actually are shaped differently than the other buttons.

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The keys themselves are nice and big and just feel right. I can’t do the keyboard justice by just describing it. This is the most satisfying keyboard I’ve ever used as it just feels perfect. The actuation distance is perfect, the keycap size, and each key is spaced perfectly apart. I’ve spent 6 months with this keyboard so I can really tell if it’s all that different from other premium keyboards and it is. I don’t think I can use any other keyboard as they all feel sub-par compared to this one. The other major attraction is the RGB lighting as Corsair has the best RGB in the business and the K95 is beautiful. With a lightbar up top and bright, vivid lights underneath each key I have never seen a better RGB keyboard. Nothing tops this. Corsair iCUE is the most versatile RGB software out there and the customization options are endless. You can make scrolling logos, insane patterns, with endless possibilities. I have seen some of the craziest RGB setups on this thing and it looks amazing with all of my other Corsair products.

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The wrist wrest actually has a magnetic reversible rubber pad that sits inside the rest. It’s not adjustable, but I highly recommend using it. I also haven’t’ found the rubber to deteriorate over time like over products. It’s a very hard rubber material and the rubber under my wrists is the same as it was when I bought it. Overall, the K95 Platinum is expensive but well worth the price as you won’t get a better experience anywhere else. Corsair are masters in their class and have perfected the keyboard over the years and it clearly shows.

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Corsair Void Pro RGB Wireless Headset

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/10/2019
Posted in: Hardware, PC Reviews. Leave a comment

195238121Manufacturer: Corsair8.5

Release Date: 08/22/2017

MSRP: $129.99

Colors: White, Black, Yellow

 

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Headsets are always some of the most subjective pieces of tech out there because everyone’s listening preferences are different. I’ve never owned any audio devices from Corsair before as these replaced my HyperX Cloud S headset from a year ago. The Void Pro is a solid headset with a few issues, but nothing that really brings the experience down.

The headset itself is built quite solidly with large ear cups and a cushioned band on top and a large range for adjustment. There are two RGB logos on the outside of each cup and these can, of course, be turned off to save battery life. The battery typically lasts around 14 hours and maybe 16 without the lights on. I found the overall sound quality to be very clear but lacking a deep bass that I normally like. Now, this headset is also touted as having 7.1 surround sound with the press of a button, and that’s negligible. It seems to only add an effect to make it sound like surround sound as I couldn’t really tell in some games. Now if you turned surrouned sound on in the game there was a striking difference. I can’t tell if this is a true 7.1 headset or not or if it’s just a gimmick. Usually, surround audio in headsets is hit or miss, but it seems okay here when it actually is supported.

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The largest issue I have with this headset is the software support. Sure, Corsair iCUE is a great piece of software and my headset can now light up in sync with the rest of my Corsair products, but the equalizer portion is abysmal. You can’t export or import EQ settings so every time I changed a lighting theme I had to take a screenshot of my EQ settings and manually enter them every single time. The preset EQ settings are also horrible and I can never seem to find the perfect adjustments. It’s either too much treble or not enough bass. I’m really disappointed in this aspect as it almost made me return the headset for something else. For $130 I expected better software support and it hasn’t changed and I’ve had this headset for 6 months now. I also found the volume to be too low on some things at max volume.

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The headset features a fold-up boom mic and there’s a red LED on the end to show if it’s muted. When you fold it down it unmutes and seems to be of really nice quality and it bendable and adjustable. The headset also comes with a long USB cable for charging and a wireless dongle. I paired this with the Corsair headset stand and it works nicely. The dongle could stand to be smaller, but overall I never ran into connection issues or cut-outs, crackling, or the headset having trouble finding it. This is the best wireless headset I have had just for this alone as all my previous ones constantly cut out and the range seems to be great. I was able to walk into my kitchen without any audio cutting out.

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Overall, the Corsair Void Pro headset is a solid piece of tech with crisp and clear sound despite a terrible EQ and lacking bass. If you can get the EQ adjusted right for yourself you’re going to have a great time. While the 7.1 surround sound is iffy as it’s simulated, it’s there if you can get it to work right and with decent battery life, you can game all night without charging it.

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Gears 5

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/04/2019
Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, Uncategorized, Xbox One. Leave a comment

lzpLWGhogdx5UPfbbnYbh3HSNciTg12ZXBetbBcv3yY_390x400_3x-0Publisher: Xbox Game Studios8.5

Developer: The Coalition

Release Date: 09/06/2019

Rating: Mature

MSRP: $59.99

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Gears of War has always held a special place in my heart as it was the first game to introduce me to “next-generation” graphics. You know, shaders, real-time lighting, high-resolution textures, ambient occlusion, all that jazz. It was the first Xbox 360 game I ever played and I will never forget the first time playing through that game. It’s still one of the best shooters ever made and nothing will change that. After Gears of War 4, my hopes for the series died a bit as it had a mediocre campaign and average multiplayer. Gears 5, however, takes the series a step further by adding open-world elements and a rock-solid campaign.

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I didn’t mind the new additions to Gears 4 they were just not implemented well enough. The new weapons were lackluster, the older weapons didn’t pack the punch they used to before, and the level design was bland and stale. I got tired of playing in the same areas throughout the whole game and the entire base building or defense gameplay was just boring to me. Gears 5 strips the base defense gameplay and tunes everything up several notches and makes what was introduced in Gears 4 really good now. The weapons pack a serious punch, the game is more challenging, and the waves of enemies are more balanced and the entire ebb and flow of the game are like the older ones. I was glued to the game through the entire campaign and didn’t want to stop. Gone are the boring Deebee robots (they’re back as Swarm now but only sparsely), and a larger variety of Locust Swarm.

Gears 5 starts out like any other Gears game with story elements, it picks up right where Gears 4 left off, and a linear bombastic level full of scripted events. This is where you get to learn about Jack who is actually a usable partner now with various abilities that you can upgrade. Things like cloaking, shield, armor, he can zap people and various other abilities. Upgrades are found throughout the game and I only found a few of Jack’s abilities useful, mainly the armor and shield. Cloaking is useless as the game tries to force stealth for the first time and it just does not work at all. Sneaking around knifing Locust is fine and all but their patrol patterns are poorly laid out and it almost seems random. Never do all the patrols perfectly line up for multiple stealth takedowns. This leads to the horrific AI in both the enemies and partners. When you’re down but not out it can take forever to be revived even if someone is right next to you. I died several times because an AI couldn’t figure out how to climb a ladder as well. Enemy AI will also sometimes get stuck behind walls or just freeze up all together causing objectives to not clear and having to hunt down where someone got stuck.

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It’s not all bad though as stealth sections only popped up a few times and AI rarely messed up, but when it did it was the most inconvenient times. Thankfully the new open-world idea works well, but it’s not what you think. You drive a wind-powered Skiff sled that pulls you around on two separate “open” maps. These maps are just a huge excuse to get upgrades for Jack. Outside of going back and forth to main objectives you can stop by and locate 1 out of 3 of something for Jack. These are just various enemy arenas and don’t take long to complete. They’re fun as they vary and are challenging, but unnecessary. It’s just an excuse to extend game time. I also don’t understand the complaint about needing to fast travel between areas. Riding the Skiff is actually fun and there are some scripted sequences that take place out here between main missions. The maps are not that big and the two environments are snow and desert. They’re fun, but I wouldn’t miss them if they disappeared in the next game.

That leaves just the campaign itself with well-paced gameplay throughout and there never was a dull moment. Enemies are better spaced out and the addition of armored enemies adds to the challenge as well as Scions and Wardens which are the big baddie additions of Locust similar to the larger enemies from the Swarm we got in Gears 4. There are plenty of scripted events and sadly the story doesn’t really evolve during these open-world scenes as the game is sandwiched between two large traditionally linear chapters and these are more enjoyable than the middle of the game. The story ends on a cliffhanger again and there are just a few more answers that are given in the traditional Gears way.

That finally leaves multiplayer which is bigger and badder than ever. With the original modes tweaked and fine-tuned such as Horde and Versus, the new Escape mode sees you escaping from the center of a Swarm nest with two other partners and it’s incredibly hard. You start out with a Snub and must fight through waves as you make your way out. It feels more like a reverse Horde mode. In Horde mode, you also play a base defense game like in Gears 4 but Engineers play larger roles than before. It’s all been tweaked and I liked it for a while, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of Gears multiplayer. That’s part of why I’m not going super in-depth into it. There are more customization features than ever before with skins and characters and of course microtransactions, but it’s all cosmetic. You also get ability cards and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t really care for.

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The game looks fantastic and much better than Gears 4 did. The character models are amazing, fantastic animations and voice acting, and everything just looks so great and it runs well…well at least it did after the first patch. I had constant stuttering and audio glitches for about a week, but it seems fine now. The game is well optimized for PCs with tons of graphics options and support for ultrawide screens. The game can run on a vast variety of older hardware which is also a plus.

Overall, Gears 5 is what Gears of War 4 should have been. Fantastically balanced gameplay, well-paced, and an open-world concept that seems to be done just right and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The enemies are fun, the new tweaks and additions are a blast, and multiplayer is larger than ever. I just wish they would concentrate on more core Gears gameplay and level design and story rather than trying bold new ideas. This isn’t the series that really needs that.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/22/2019
Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Switch, Uncategorized, Xbox One, Xbox360. Leave a comment

cq5dam.thumbnail.319.319Publisher: Ubisoft8

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Release Date: 03/04/2014 (PS3, PC, X360) 03/13/2018 (PS4, XONE), 09/25/2018 (NS)

Rating: Mature

MSRP: $59.99

Also Available On

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Good ‘ol South Park. One of the granddaddies of television backlash. Before Family Guy was South Park. An adult cartoon featuring four children living in a rural town of South Park, Colorado who run into various antics and adventures. The series is still ongoing and started in 1997. I remember fondly as a kid not being allowed to watch the show unless my parents watched it first, and if it wasn’t too graphic, we could watch a re-run. The Stick of Truth is a turn-based RPG with roots from the show and features the same humor as well.

You play as The New Kid, or Sir Douchebag despite Cartman ignoring whatever you name your character, which is hilarious. You’re a voiceless protagonist that is swept into the children’s D&D game of The Stick of Truth. There are two factions fighting over it, the Elves and the Knights. Your goal is to continuously get the Stick back from the various people who steal it and it leads to one crazy adventure. Throughout the game, you also have to recruit two factions that are the girls and Goths. This leads to various interesting areas like a UFO where everyone is getting anally probed, to shrinking down to a gnome and battling on the bed your parents are having sex on to crawling into Mr. Slave’s anus and fighting through his intestines. Yeah, it has over the top humor that will offend most and is one of the most graphic games I have ever played, but that’s not a bad thing.

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Outside of wandering around the town of South Park discovering the few side quests there are,  you can shoot things down and bash open things to find a hidden treasure. Just like any RPG, you have armor, weapons, consumables, and cosmetic items. The weapons and armor come in steadily and I was always happy to have a new weapon that let me hit harder. Depending on the class you choose it will affect what weapons are available in the game as you can only find weapons for that class. There are fast travel points, which are a lifesaver. You have four different abilities you acquire throughout the game such as shoot, buddy commands, shrinking, and using your anal probe to teleport. These are all context-sensitive so you can only use them when you’re allowed, but they give a sense of discovery as you can access parts of the game later on that were blocked before. Your magic consists of…farting. Yes, you fart for magic and you have four magic attacks you learn. Dragonshout, Cup-a-Spell, Nagasaki, and the Sneaky Squeaker. These sound downright hilarious and absurd, but who still don’t laugh at fart jokes?

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Combat is where the meat of the game is and it’s flawed for sure, but works. You can only have one other person in your party, but the enemies can come at you as large as groups of six. A strategy is key here, especially during boss fights, as you need to balance consumables, magic, power attacks, abilities, and what your partner is capable of. It’s good to know that the Nazi Zombies can’t be grossed out, but are only weak to bleeding. You can hit them all you want, but you will only do 1 point of damage until their bleeding effects stack up. It’s not too hard to figure out and I only died a couple of times through the whole game. Any RPG fan will be able to dive in and understand right away. The combat is surprisingly deep, but these mystery buffs can frustrate some.

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The game is also not particularly long-running at 8 hours if you just finish the main quests. It’s a fun story with awesome humor and tons of references to South Park episodes and geek culture. South Park isn’t afraid to be bold and do what it does best. The jabs at right-wing politics are especially funny as well as name brand references and various other things. South Park’s characters have always been memorable and stand the test of time. This is by far the best South Park game ever made and it captures the show perfectly. Of course, the game isn’t for everyone as some of the humor may come off as childish, crude, brash, or just downright offensive, which is fine. Everyone’s sense of humor is different, but that doesn’t stop this from being a bad game. It may be too simple at times, with combat that can drag on too long, but a lot of love and effort was put into this by the guys who made Fallout 2, New Vegas, and Divinity: Original Sin. I can’t complain there.

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Darq

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/18/2019
Posted in: PC Reviews. Leave a comment

darq---button-1-1564508848848Publisher: Unfold Games7.0

Developer: Unfold Games

Release Date: 08/15/2019

Rating: N/A

MSRP: $19.99

Available Exclusively On

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Minimalistic indie puzzle/platformer games are something I really adore. Limbo, Inside, Little Nightmares, Unraveled, and many others like it are just full of atmosphere and clever puzzle design and great platforming. The issue with all of these games is the story. It’s nice to be minimalistic with no tutorials, simple controls, no cut-scenes, etc., but please guys start making stories we can care about. Darq falls under the same problems like these before it with interesting character designs, but no context. Why am I running around themed levels solving puzzles and running away from creatures with lamps as heads, creepy women in wheelchairs, and a guy in a wheelchair with a tuba as a head? Why am I placing severed legs into sockets to solve puzzles? What does this all mean?

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I feel like the meaning of the game would mean more than the game itself. Darq is only an hour-long, probably the shortest of these minimalistic platformers I’ve ever played, and yet there’s no purpose to any of it. Sure the concept of walking on walls, flipping switching to shoot you between area, and all the other puzzles are done very well and are quite clever, but why am I doing it? I don’t even know my character’s name, there’s not a single piece of written dialog, and all I know is that I’m waking up in a dream to solve these puzzles.

There are 7 levels, with one being a scripted running level and they get progressively longer and more complex. By complex I mean the game consists of “where does this piece go” type of puzzling and once you figure out where it goes the actual puzzle is fun and not very hard. I had more trouble finding the pieces than solving the puzzles, and there was an occasional section in which I had to hide from an enemy, but it was only a single section of the level. Puzzles range from switch flipping, lining things up properly, twisting things, etc. Nothing Myst level or extremely vague. You can mow through the game in 60-90 minutes and be done, but I honestly wanted more, now only more if there was a story or something.

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I found the atmosphere and art design to be rather fantastic. The main character looks like something from a Tim Burton movie with everything in black and white and creatures that could fit into Silent Hill. The levels themselves range from a hospital, train, subway station, four-way street in a neighborhood, to a mine. Each level was unique and memorable and I loved how you can walk on walls as this game just worked your brain and really made you think, but everything made sense. There are no vague hints here if you think it works then it probably works. Each level can take about 10-20 minutes to solve depending on how stuck you get. I found the final level the most challenging, which is expected.

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Again, the visuals are amazing, the art style is very unique, great monster designs, the puzzles are well designed too, but why am I doing all of this? I’m tired of these indie developers thinking no story is some niche thing. Are developers catering so some pseudointellectual niche audience who think they “understand” these games or something or are they just too lazy to design a story? Whatever the case may be, the flack “walking simulators” and other indie games that focus on gameplay and “story” over AAA bombastic scenes need to grow a little and maybe add a story and characters that we can care about.

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