Recent reviews by Thuzar

I am mad at Madshot... no, it would be more appropriate to say that I'm mad at the devs behind Madshot, because what is on offer is pretty good... as a foundation, which is never built upon further. Five weapons, multiple subweapons, a nice roster of enemies, some 8 grand bosses and 6 mini-bosses, all this spread across 8 biomes sounds like great fun, right?

Well, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you by saying that ALL this content, 100% of it (sans grinding for cosmetics) can be done in as little as 10 hours. This is ludicrously low for a roguelite game that elicits tedium once you've beaten it twice. And after a long pause (and in combing my library for those near-100% achievements games), I realized I spent another 16 hours (!) basically grinding the first two biomes (since the enemies die easily and there are plenty to mow down per arena), from already beaten 18.000 enemies to a whoopin' 50.000 - a 16 hours of maddening, numbing, rewardless lowbrow grind, because the devs thought that their game's quality vouched for as much. With how utterly bored I was in those moments, I came to realize that the Codex (which lists in-game lore as in types of enemies, bosses etc.) has unrevealed entries which amount basically to planned (but unreleased) content in form of new enemies, mini-bosses and bosses - all of which went down the drain with the devs giving up on the game soon after release (or it would be more appropriate to say they pushed the game out of Early Access into full 1.0 release version half-baked).

I believed in this game, I liked how it looked, how it played, was hoping for more robust roguelite systems, for random bosses per biome (since you can get Edward or Bog Beast as final boss at the end of biome 1, while all other biomes feature only one boss due to cut content), for more of everything showcased in Early Access! Alas, I am once again reminded that fool and its money are easily parted, having fallen for a promise of a delicious game only to be served with barebones broth.

In short - do yourself a service and skip Madshot, unless you like going mad from thinking how awesome the game could have been if the devs stuck with further developing it.

I gotta hand it to my fellow countrymen - if there is one feature that SCORN showcases exemplary, it's its atmosphere. Truly foreboding, gloomy, with certain scenes instilling uneasiness and chill running down my spine. The thorough study of Beksiński and Giger is masterfully reflected in the visuals, to the point where I cannot marvel enough at it! Environmental storytelling is also a big plus given the design of each animate creature, protagonist included. The "puzzles" are also pretty logical, if logic and rationale can even be applied to this somber, unwelcoming world Ebb Software had created. For a "walking simulator", SCORN gets my highest praise.

Alas, it stumbles in a couple of other areas which excite both frustration and sorrow. The first one stems from pretty short game time and unrealized potential as far as hostile interactions go (namely, there are only three enemy types you can encounter (four if you count the parasite, which is passive and sort of a MacGuffin), which is overall pretty low). I do understand that the game is not an FPS in a classic sense (and actually like the hopelessness and vulnerability of the main character, scarcity of ammo for each of its 3 projectile-based weapons, and clumsiness in applying lethal force), but more visual splendor reflected in the gruesome-yet-majestic environments would have been a treat.

The "sorrow" part stems from two reasons - the protracted, arduous development cycle which skyrocketed expectations of fans worldwide only to crash & burn upon finally releasing (mostly due to the said expectations), as well as ludicrous price for what the game offers (got my copy from Humble Choice way back in February 2024, so this point does not apply to me). Similar games at the time didn't go over 30 (The Invincible), and even the newly released Necrophosis (which is considered to be at least inspired by SCORN) is $15 at release!

So why the positive review then, if there clearly are glaring issues with the game? The reasons are both objective and subjective - subjective because this is by far & hands-down the BEST game to come out of Serbia. The person and patriot in me wants Ebb Software to succeed, to continue doing this kind of thing (albeit a bit more restrained in terms of promises and deadlines), because we need more of SCORN! To be a harsh critic of their first foray into building their dream game would be cruel and inappropriate, for the spark of genius is clearly present in SCORN. It needs to be further nurtured so that, eventually, it grows into something truly genre-defining. The objective reason for my positive rating is that the game really delivers on what it sets out to do - it unnerved me, made me feel at awe and (finally) shocked me in its final chapter, and I'll surely pitch it as a topic for discussion amongst my peers for these reasons alone. It just, once more, pains me to see it not being more successful due to questionable pricing and the perceived lack of content.

I gotta hand it to Headfirst Productions - they were definitely pioneers of trying (and mostly succeeding) to adapt Lovecraft to the video game format. The sense of dread I've experienced while playing this title was definitely palpable, owing mostly to how vulnerable Jack Walters (the game's protagonist) is. This is where I must stress that Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is NOT your run-of-the-mill FPS. If anything, the shooting aspect of the game was its weakest point, while the greatest flaw was how much this game is bugged, sometimes glitchy, and definitely rushed in development (or at least lacking polish severely). The developers' pedigree in point n click adventure games (Simon the Sorcerer series) really shows in CoC:DCotE, and if I'd have to compare it to a modern game of the same caliber I would choose SCORN, which is also not a traditional FPS and is more oriented towards atmosphere, exploration and puzzles.

With that said, one cannot deny that CoC:DCotE paved the way to such Lovecraftian cult classics like The Sinking City, Forgive Me Father, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and ultimately Call of Cthulhu "remake" by Cyanide (to name a few), and for that alone it deserves praise. It shall forever stand as a bold attempt by a relatively inexperienced crew (at least in the FPS genre) to breathe life to Cthulhu Mythos in a way that puts you in the boots of a trainwreck, deranged individual, wrestling with his own sanity while facing the horrors that lurk in the dark corners of the Earth...

Aside from some very nice looking skins in this pack, i'd gladly support Passtech in their endeavours to further work on Ravenswatch for many years to come!

Here's hoping we get a Japanese folk hero down the line (samurai Momotaro, anyone?)

I consider myself a fan of these dime-novel narratives of yesteryear, which was very well enacted in movie industry (Indiana Jones movies and The Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser) but is pretty much underrepresented in video game format (The Strange Brigade and The Lamplighters League being the only games that really hit the nail on the head; alas, haven't played Sumerian Six, nor the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which may easily join the ranks of the former two). The Lamplighters League is a stellar game - both naratively and gameplay wise, but what keeps it from being truly evergreen is bad performance and some DEI stuff - more on that later.

In terms of atmosphere and music, the game exudes the 30's vibe that is much beloved due to noir, jazz age that clicks with almost every connoisseur of Prohibition era, Thompson SMGs and fedoras. It also ties this era to Lovecraftian elements, the occult and stirring tide of WWII in the not-so-far future (albeit under House Strum instead of Hitler) pretty seamlessly, and the lore you find during missions, through cutscenes, conversations between both NPCs and playable characters, certain items and agent infoboards was well-written and captivating. In fact, I would say that the story in Lamplighters League was the best part about it, and the reason to push through some of it more bland/poor elements (which, as I said, will be detailed below).

Gameplay is also pretty good for an XCOM-like, something no one should find surprising given how Harebrained Schemes perfected it through every turn-based game they released thus far. I especially liked how Agents' abilities combo nicely, the environmental hazards, as well as the real-time movement/stealth approach (obviously lifted from Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden) that the community seems to loathe for some reason. The Agent ability progression, being tied to doing missions and allocating skill points as you see fit to any Agent regardless of if he participated in the said mission or not, is a breath of fresh air as you can keep running your favorite trio and still build up the rest of your Agent roster along the way, eventually trying new Agent combinations to quench the staleness of using the same trio (should it arise - some people wouldn't trade their favorite group of characters no matter what). Other Agent progression is tied to Allies you can rescue on a specialized missions, providing you with a wider selection of consumables, offensive and defensive items and enhancing your Undrawn Hand draws/ink collected from discarding the cards. Speaking of which...

The Undrawn Hand tarot cards are your post-mission rewards, and they work very well - adding new abilities, buffs and debuffs and passives, and being upgradeable by either stacking the same cards on an agent to whom such a card is assigned/upgrading directly with ink is well-designed. Such cards also have some nice (albeit simplistic) art, as well as little flavour texts, which drive the immersion into this world further. Now, for the poor stuff...

First, the optimization is utterly bad - you would think that for a game looking this stylized, without using any advanced graphical tech, it should run like butter even on older machines. While I have nothing to brag about (AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7GHz, KINGSTON Beast RGB 16GB DDR4 3600MHz CL18 and SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB GDDR6 Pulse OC), this pc build is more that capable of running this game at way more than 60 fps (which, frankly, is my prefered frame rate), yet it dips as low as below 40 in certain areas it is not even funny. I shouldn't have to run FSR for a game like this.

The second poor decision is the notable infusion of DEI standards - while I do not mind the world-wide character of this ragtag bunch of scoundrels, thieves and killers forming the new Lamplighter League (as this comes natural to such world-spanning secret organization, much like my other two favorite games in this vein - Strange Brigade and Evil Genius - implemented them), I finf it distasteful that there are only 4 male playable characters (5 with DLC) compared to 5 female characters (6 with DLC) and a non-binary character. Gender politics should not have a place in video games (and all the more so in respect of an era - 1930's - in which the game takes place, despite the devs proclaiming "alternative universe" reasons for woke-minded decisions), and hopefully (should they decide to do a sequel to Lamplighters League, if they didn't sell the IP to Paradox) we will see their adventures in a much better light devoid of such pandering to a crowd that doesn't even consume video games (nor cares about such representation much) to an extent your average male gamer does. Wouldn't write off the possibility that the game did poorly sales-wise because of DEI stuff, which shouldn't come as a shocker with recent DEI-infused games of similar fate, but should serve as a lesson to be learned. A pity, given the numerous good stuff that Lamplighters League provides.

This leads to a conclusion that my recommendation is kinda mixed - if you can look past poor optimization and DEI stuff does not bother you, I would wholeheartedly recommend you play through The Lamplighters League at least once. Hell... even if you cringe at the aforementioned you should play it, just so you can lament at how much of a giant this game could have been had the developers had some technical competency and sound mind devoid of chasing trends in virtue-signaling.

Won't waste too many words on this game. There are too many unfair mechanics and not much in the way of rewarding you run after run. The music is repetitive, the weapons pretty lackluster, the "classes" - or as they call them "Favors" - lacking, and enemies (especially one-eyed ghosts that escape on first shot at them and shooting basically homing missiles) cheap and unimaginitive.

I'm all up for roguelite FPS experiences (this game reminding me of Ziggurat and Into the Pit, the latter I've beaten and thinking it was much better than IR despite its own flaws), but Immortal Redneck left a sour taste in my mouth. I doubt I'll be returning to finish it anytime soon.

"Just one more planet.... just one more solar system" - this is what I've kept telling myself throughout my nearly 60 hours of utmost fun I've had with this game. It was a hard purchase initially, seeing as the price is pretty steep for something that looked pretty convoluted/uninteresting from the gameplay videos I caught glimpse of on Youtube, but man - once you get into the saddle and learn the ropes, the game keeps you glued well into the night with its tight FPS arena showdowns and light strategizing on the overmap.

The main star of the show are (of course) tense showdowns (played on Very Hard difficulty, both normal and a repeated run on Super Ironman, back to back) where you will sprint, shoot, try to outflank enemies and use many of the different outlaws' weapons and abilities (powered by Wild Bastards' version of whiskey/booze called "the Juice", which you can find throughout the arena) to be the last mutant/xeno/robot standing once the dust finally settles. The showdowns can also be quite underwhelming (when you use many of the overmap sites to reduce initial opponent count to basically 1,2 or zero), but most of the time prove to be extremely satisfaction-inducing once the adrenaline starts pumping as the enemy peppers you with lead, lasers, exploding ordinances, rockets and everything in-between. Should you survive through sheer will, cunning wit and keen aim, you will most assuredly feel like king of the world at that moment.

The narrative presented in the main campaign also hooked me from the get-go - all characters had interesting personalities, and paced the otherwise pretty standard roguelite runs nicely, forming a coherent whole of some 15 interconnected, consecutive runs until you reach the end credits. I liked their petty squabbles and bond forming, while the language used throughout the game was very much in the spirit of Wild West genre and speech of that era, thoughtfully and cleverly written by someone who apparently lives and breathes Western flicks.

The music, while quite atmospheric and therefore not too high key, managed to present a few themes that stuck to my ear even after a week from finishing the game - namely, the "Forest" (ear worm, this one), "Outlaw Sortie", "Posse is Coming", "Moon" and "Wild Bastards Titles" tracks stood above the rest.

The artstyle made me wish this was a Cartoon Network Toonami series aimed for older crowds, with lots of cussing, brutal showdowns and overall somber tone full of both camaraderie and resentment. All characters were designed in such a way that you could easily discern each and every one from their outline alone, and much though was evidently put into how they look and play (on a personal note, Roswell and Spike stood out as not-so-Wild West-ish, but there are kinda lore/personality reasons for such design). The enemies (of which my favorite personality-wise and looks-wise was the first Prince, the half-witted McNeil) were also designed with heavy Wild West inspiration behind, with some even tiered (and their design slightly changing to reflect this). Overall, great visual presentation!

Should Blue Manchu find success with this second "Bastards" game (Wild Bastards being sort of spiritual successor to their first outing - Void Bastards), I would urge them to cease experimenting with universes and stick with making a direct sequel (or DLC) for Wild Bastards - I am not the one to do a re-run of a game back-to-back once I've beaten the campaign (and have done so on maybe 2-3 occasions in my 30+ years of gaming), yet Wild Bastards made me do it! Not only that, but I had even MORE fun the second time around, knowing how the game flows, who works best in tandems and who plays better solo for those 3-man beam-downs, all the while staying on my toes with Super Ironman defeat conditions looming over my head ominously.

If there ever was a game to simulate an entire Spaghetti Western Epic with all that it offers, it is, without a doubt, Wild Bastards. Here's to riding towards a distant sunset, somewhere in another galaxy far, far away...

Wind's howling, and with it brings stench of both beast and men... hmmmm, ♥♥♥♥.

A promising, yet very short, proof-of-concept that showcases the strengths of the developers (narrative, writting, and art in general) as well as weaknesses (gameplay is pretty basic and unrefined, and VO is atrocious).

Hopefully, they don't stop after this little venture and expand on this world they've created in the foreseeable future.

Very light on lore, pretty repetitive and grindy, and definitely not worth the asking price of $20. The only good thing going for it is the actual twin-stick shooter gameplay with manual reload mechanics. Wish the game got more time in the oven in all other areas of importance, but I guess that people who like fun-but-repetitive gameplay might like this game despite its glaring shortcomings.