Recent reviews by Navrin

So far I've only played through the Vatican and I can honestly say that it feels like Indiana Jones. This is not Uncharted or Tomb Raider, and I'm super thankful for that, it's it own thing. The controls can be a little clunky at times, but you get used to it and then it becomes section nature. So far great story and I'm eager to play the rest of it. Excellent graphics, runs smoothly, no crashes or anything like that.

Overall, way better than D4. LE is actually fun to play - you feel powerful, it's easy to understand, you get good rewards, crafting actually means something. From a small studio - this game is fantastic. Doesn't have the polish as some other games. Server issues since launch seem to have all been fixed. I'm now in the end game and it's fantastic. Would highly recommend.

Comparing to the 2013 HD version - this is a good improvement and worth the investment. I still play this via multiplayer, and the additional features including updates to idle villager, queing and the new civs are all welcomed additions.

Finally a good Star Wars game - been a long drought...

I’m writing this review after being refused a refund… that’s the one-line version of the review…

Main Gameplay:

Elite Dangerous doesn’t have a single player story per se, instead, you can boil it down to grind, grind, and more grind. My main gripe, is that it takes you several hours just to learn how to fly – the tutorial missions are a joke, and there is very little guidance in the game – everything is trail and error. By the time I realized this game sucks, over Steams 2-hour limit – and no refund options for me (although I still tried 4 times with different comments).

Elite Dangerous offers many ways to play and make credits – all without guidance – from trading to bounty hunting, mining to being a cruise ship. You can accept missions without having the necessary equipment to perform them and without the game notifying you of that fact. You can chart courses without having enough fuel, and without the game notifying you too! The game is severely lacking in any sort of guidance which makes for a very steep and frustrating learning curve.

In my roughly 5 hours of game play I managed to earn a quarter million credits, which I used to purchase and upgrade a ship, only for it to blow up upon leaving a space station without any warning or explanation. That is a paltry sum in which to complain about, however it takes time to earn, and with no help from the game. I won’t be wasting my time on it any longer.

Multiplayer:

The game is a persistent universe in which everyone joins, although I haven’t seen any benefit in doing so. Multiplayer does exist as it is a type of MMO, but I don’t see any reasons why you would join up with anyone – no missions require multiple people to fulfill for example.

DLC:

Horizons is the main DLC at this point, and from what I understand makes the game worthwhile. I played the Horizons DLC as my main gameplay and never did any tutorial or education happen in which explains how to land on a planet, what gear is needed, etc. – so the DLC is there, but how to use it I have no idea.

Controls and Graphics:

Flying the ship in space is life like – meaning it is very hard, but worthwhile. Once you get the hang of it you won’t have any issues, but it takes time to master the skill. Graphics are fantastic. From the ships, stars and planets, everything is crisp and for the most part unique. Visually, I have nothing to complain about.

Control scheme could be a bit better, but after awhile you get used to it - mostly keyboard control. The game could be improved with a little more mouse functionality.

Final Recommendation:

The lack of guidance and the hugely not to be understated grindy nature of the game, combined with zero story make this a game that I simply can’t recommend. Not only that, but it makes it a game that I simply can’t play due to an ever-increasing amount of frustration. I haven’t played Everspace or No Man’s Sky, so I don’t have a comparison at this point, but those will be the next two games I try out in this type of gameplay experience.

Rating: 3 out of 10. Not Recommended.

Playing on i7-6700, 16Gb RAM, GTX1070

Spoiler Free Review:

Right off the bat let me get something out of the way. I’m ignoring Paradox’s insane decision to raise prices right before the sale. My review isn’t based on that horrible policy, rather on the game itself. But still, don’t buy it until they fix their pricing…

To the game!

This one was super difficult to get a handle on. Over all I feel disappointed, but I still have been playing nonstop, and time just goes by. Many times, I’ve come to realize, “Oh crap, it’s 2 am!”

Stellaris is a 4x game which aims to be the definitive science fiction game, providing freedom in customizing your empire, it’s traits, policies, and planets. Regardless of that overall goal, the longer you play the game, the more repetitive it becomes, and the more obvious the flaws become.

Here is the breakdown:

• Combat: Lame, it’s just a numbers game. Whomever has the biggest fleet wins. Reminiscent of Civ3 army of just tanks. You got the numbers, you’ll win no matter what.

• Technology: is all the same regardless of species. You don’t get to choose a technology path, instead technology research is thrown at you randomly to choose from (in 3 categories). What’s frustrating, is that if you’re mammalian, insectoid, reptilian, etc – all tech is the same.

• Economy: all that matters is energy credits and minerals, and the only way to really get a good economy is to colonize planets. A 4x game becomes an expansion only game, and you only have 2 relevant buildings instead of the 3 dozen or so the game offers.

• Diplomacy: When other empires ping you for a trade deal, migration treaty, etc – it isn’t obvious what they are asking for. Many a time I joined a federation when I didn’t want to, instead of agreeing to what I thought they were asking about. Diplomacy itself becomes a popularity contest, and doesn’t really change anything on how the game is played.

• AI: Stupid…. Enemy empires don’t attack, and when they do they choose worthless star systems. Winning wars against AI is the easiest thing to do.

• War: You get 100 war points to spend, these include liberation, ceding a planet, obliterating a species, etc. – the only purpose I can think of is that this makes the game take longer, but besides that it isn’t realistic, and only slows down play.

• Game Ending: Basically, you win the game by colonizing 40% of all habitable planets. You’ll always end up with 2-3 empires or federations. End game crises is a joke – just another big fleet and by the time it happens your fleet will be 3x bigger. All that time building an Empire and all you get is a feeling like, “oh, was that it?”

Stellaris does offer multiplayer, but due to the length of game it’s hard to actually find someone to stick through it. The game itself though in multiplayer is good – no lagging whatsoever. Can't say the same for the people I’ve played with so far…. I’ve been mostly playing single player on this one and haven’t felt a strong need to branch out.

Stellaris also offers DLC, the content of which hasn’t been overwhelming. New species, new missions, but it all really doesn’t matter in the end do to the other problems I’ve already mentioned (wow, a new portairt!). Right now, I can’t recommend any DLC purchases. The one DLC I haven’t tried yet is Utopia – which will always you to build megastructures (ring worlds, dyson spheres). I’ll update this review once I’ve had a chance to give that a shot.

Controls and Graphics:

Controls are with a keyboard and mouse, and honestly just the mouse. Doesn’t take any time to get used to, and once you learn special shortcuts things will fly by. Graphics are great, playing at max settings. Planets have individual animations; fleet combat graphically is wonderful to watch; star systems have wonderful variety. Excellent rendering of the space environment.

Final Recommendation:

Overall, I want to say I can’t recommend Stellaris due to all its flaws. But I keep playing it anyway, and I keep playing it for hours on end. So yeah, I do recommend Stellaris, just be aware of what you’re getting into.

Stellaris:
Rating: 6 out of 10. Barely Recommended.

BONUS MATERIAL (for Star Trek fans):

OMG! The Star Trek New Horizons mod is amazing! And totally worth getting. All the problems still exist with Stellaris, but with this mod it suddenly becomes the best Star Trek game out there! Big shout out to the developers. All the Star Trek races are present, and the universe unfolds as presented in the TV episodes. My only complaint is that the Klingon and Romulan empires don’t get any sort of bonus bump, on several play throughs they get defeated or are pretty small – would like to see them rival the federation as in the shows.

Stellaris with New Horizons mod:
Rating: 9 out of 10. Highly Recommended.

Playing on i7-6700, 16Gb RAM, GTX1070

Spoiler Free Review:

It’s been a while since I’ve played a game that I felt strongly enough to write a review, I’ve been stuck in indie land for some time playing games that just made me feel… meh – simply aiming for achievements rather than enjoying the gameplay. That changed with The Turing Test. Simply put, its a wonderful puzzle game.

Fans of Portal or Attratico will find the gameplay familiar. You’ll play as Ava Turing, an astronaut on Jupiter’s moon Europa, and without going into detail you will be traveling through puzzles created by your crew members in order to prove that you are in fact “human” – the aim of which would be a spoiler. You’re only companion during these challenges is the base’s AI – T.O.M. While these challenges story wise are a bit of a stretch, it is the core aspect of the game, and are quite fun to solve. The main story is provided in snippets as you progress both in dialog with the AI, but also in audio recordings which are worth listening to. At the climax of the game, you are presented with a moral dilemma of sorts, and the audio recordings help add extra drama to your final decision. I found the story line to be the best part of this game.

My largest gripe is that the game is short, 6 hours without rushing, completing all challenges and secrets without the aid of YouTube or walkthroughs. The puzzles while initially seeming daunting, are easily solved with a little patience, making Portal and some Attratico puzzles look downright impossible in comparison. Due to it's short length, I'd recommend holding off a purchase of this game until you can get it on sale.

The game is very atmospheric and reminiscent of Alien Isolation (without the horror) and Event[0] (without all the text), movie-wise it would compare well to 2001:A Space Odyssey. Without sounding silly it does an excellent job transporting you to Europa, feeling the isolation, exploring the base, and being part of an unfolding discovery. I found the graphics themselves (max settings) to be sharp, although when picking up objects there is a delay for them to come into clear focus.

There is no multiplayer, and no option to build and upload your own challenge creations to the workshop – somewhat of a disappointment that could have extended the interest. The DLC, I got as part of a package, I can’t recommend buying, its an upgrade pack that really isn’t work your time (includes artwork, soundtrack, and an alpha demo).

Final Recommendation: The disappointments in length and DLC are easily overlooked due to the engrossing story, smooth gameplay, and atmosphere. The moral choice you are presented with at the end is a difficult one to make, and I’d be interested in hearing in the comments section the choice you personally made after completing the game.

Rating: 8 out of 10. Highly Recommended.

Playing on i7-6700, 16Gb RAM, GTX1070

Ellipsis was quite a delightful surprise for me. I recieved it as part of a Humble Freedom Bundle (Feb 2017) and having played it I can say it is definately worth purchasing on it's own. It's an arcade style game that has over 150ish levels where you collect five orbs while avoiding traps and enemies. Blue good, red bad. The universe which you play through is interesting throughout, and the difficulty slowly increases always keeping you on your toes, but never making you want to bang your head on your desk.

The game has a star based system for each level. 3 stars if you do the minimum, 4 stars if you beat it and obtain all the orbs, and 5 stars if you get all of the orbs and beat a timer. Be prepared to die a lot to get five stars, but don't worry - it's super fun doing it. It is not an easy game to get 100% achievements in, but once you'll do you'll get a good feeling of accomplishment - in some levels that time is super hard to beat.

The minamilist neon graphics are sharp and clear. No studdering or lag what so ever, and no loading times. I played on a keyboard and mouse - all you need is the mouse - and I rocked it. It does support controllers and touch screen however. Sound effects are also right on target. This game really blew me away with how polished it is.

This game is excellent. Huge congrats to the developers - Salmi Games. I just don't think it's worth $10. $5 yes, but not $10. As an arcade game, it is now my favorite, however once you beat the levels at five stars I'm not confident it is going to have replayability like Pac Man or other arcade games. That being said, it does have Steam Workshop support where you can make and upload your own levels, as well as download others (please check out my Workshop creations!).

Rating: 10 out of 10. Highly Recommended. Be prepared to always want to play one more level with this one.

Playing on i7-6700, 16Gb RAM, GTX1070

Loved the ending - great sound track - super easy - free

Give it a shot - takes 5 min at most.

Spoiler Free Review:

I had high hopes going into Alan Wake, it being recommended after completing the Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and now that I’ve finished my first run through I’m a bit disappointed.

In Alan Wake you play as Alan, a writer confronting a “darkness” with your trusty flashlight to guide the way. It’s an episodic/narrative type game, not to be confused with Telltale games where you barely get to move around – in Alan Wake you do have combat, driving, and most things you’d expect from a normal video game.

My first run through of the story, including the two DLC episodes only took 11 hours. Each of the main 6 episodes take about 1.5 hours to complete. While other reviewers are praising the story, I just couldn’t get into it. The writing and voice acting were excellent, and there were some very good parts, however the story never drew me in, mainly due to Alan Wake’s many faults and the general premise of a writer or artists impact on the supernatural.

To the main drawback - the gameplay itself was frustrating. The camera view alone, being force on a “over the shoulder” experience didn’t fit with the play style. Sprint in the game became a joke, forced into a perpetual reminder of how they could have done soooo much better. If you sprint for too long (5 seconds?) you basically stop in your tracks to catch your breath – terrible for escaping enemies. The main drawback is the gameplay is extremely repetitive. Walk, trigger a scene, use flashlight to stop darkness, shoot, and repeat. It’s the same cycle throughout the entire game. When a boss fight, or a major skirmish does happen, they all unfold in predictably the same ways, with the same waves of enemies, which you combat in exactly the same method.

As mentioned before, the DLC consists of two episodes which continues the main storyline, but not in any meaningful way, and there is no multiplayer which is a good thing. Graphically the game is fine, in line with the times, but nothing spectacular. The graphical rendering between gameplay and cut scenes is obvious and they could have done a better job smoothing it out or rendering the cut scenes with actual gameplay.

With the lack of a gripping story, and lack luster and frustrating mechanics, finally nailed by the repetitiveness, this isn’t going to be a recommendation. However, just like with books there are some good and some bad, but either way when you’re reading it you enjoy it slightly…. that is kind of how this was. I still had fun playing it, just didn’t leave a good aftertaste.

Rating: 4 out of 10. Just can’t recommend it.

Playing on i7-6700, 16Gb RAM, GTX1070