Going Through My Old Steam Reviews (Part 3)

Back in the day I used to write these short and silly reviews on Steam - now after several years I'm going through them and taking a look at what kind of weird things I've said. Don't forget to check out Part 1 and Part 2!

''Great looking FPS in which playing with fire and explosions is especially fun. You can blow up enemy bases, eliminate them with sniper rifle before they even notice you and watch the sunset on the savannah. Or you can hunt some zebras.'' Well, if we leave the last sentence out I still pretty much agree with these words. Far Cry 2 is easily the best Far Cry game and one of the most iconic open world adventures - there's just nothing that captures the same atmosphere.

But seriously, don't hunt zebras. They're cute. What was wrong with me back then? I remember playing Far Cry 3 and getting physically uneasy when the game made you skin animals. That's just not right.

''MMO in which you can be a superhero? And it's free-to-play? This must be every gamers dream, right? On it's core Champions Online is your typical MMO but the fact that you can play as a a superhero and beat down bad guys is very fun. And the character editor allows you to create your own dream superhero, if you take your time with it.'' I remember Champions Online vaguely - it's like a dream that haunts in the corners of your brain. Game was fun, though it was little bit rough on the edges and as with any other MMO, I got bored pretty quickly because grinding isn't really my thing. I should revisit this game at some point and see if there's still active community or something.

''Worst Source engine version of any game ever made. Valve didn't even bother to change the character models. But because it's Half-Life, all will be forgiven. You should play the original version. You can at least understand why it's such old-school...'' So, about this ''review''. I guess I was reading a lot of negative comments about this version of HL and wanted to jump into the bandwagon - I'm pretty sure that I didn't see any difference between HL:S and original HL back then. But then again, you don't need to play this version, there's for example Black Mesa: Source, which is complete remake of the original Half-Life if you prefer more modern approach. 

I like the first HL. Yes, it's kinda old and clunky but still at the same time it has such a great atmosphere and certain charm that any other game haven't really achieved ever since. I'm in fact planning to replay it at some point and maybe even upload a playthrough on my Youtube channel, so stay tuned.

''Fun assassination's in the past. Game suffers from the repetitive missions. It would have needed a little bit more content. Also the ending doesn't make any sense. Great game anyway.'' This is my favourite double-ass game - in fact I prefer the repetitive nature of it over the sequels, which added so much useless stuff (like keeping up shops and so on). Story is what it is, it tried that scifi-ish approach and on some level it works. But no-one plays these games for story, right? Right?

''Same as always. Still addictive...'' I got nothing more to add, though I haven't played any Call of Duty game since. Are they still rail shooters with minimal player interactivity?

Let's end this part with Borderlands: ''Just fighting. But it doesn't matter when it's done as good as it is Borderlands. One of the best FPS/RPG's of recent years, thanks to addictive gun collecting and crazy enemy designs.'' I recently replayed some of the original Borderlands and even though I agree with everything I wrote nine years ago, I would add that the game is so much more fun with other player - it's still enjoyable as a single player but co-op makes the action so much... I'll use word headless. Yes. That's a perfect word for this game. 

The zombie DLC is still one of my favourite add-on to any game ever.

So that's it for Part 3. I'll return with more old reviews in November, so prepare yourself. They're getting worse and worse.

By the way, I have given up on publishing a new blog post every Sunday for now, and the posts will come when I get them ready, at least for now. 

First Impressions of Civilization VI on Switch

Photo: Steam

I got Sid Meier's Civilization VI on Switch a few days ago. Previous installment is one of my favourite games, and after seeing that I can have Civilization game on my Switch to play whenever and wherever I am seemed a dream come true. I was little worried how the game works on controller setup but surprisingly it has been enjoyable so far. 

Civilization VI plays like your ordinary Civilization game with some new and interesting mechanics which I need to spend some time learning and I’m happy that at the same it feels familiar yet new and mysterious. Graphics look good, though being a console version the UI resolution is a little bit big for my preferences but maybe there’s a way to change that? Though I couldn’t see smaller elements from my TV so maybe big UI is all good in this case.

Controls seemed weird at first glance but I got hang of them pretty quickly. Civilization VI uses controller buttons wisely and though there’s nothing like that precision you’ll get with mouse, it’s not needed in slow-paced game like this too much. Of course I’d prefer using mouse anytime, but the fact that this allows me to take game with me all around is a price I’m willing to pay for the controls.

And that’s that. I enjoyed Civilization VI and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna take FIFA’s place as my new addiction. You should give it a try too!

Oblivion: Horse Riding Simulator 2006

What can I say about The Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion that haven't been said million times before? Probably nothing, but at least I can tell how I felt about this classic RPG as a fan of Bethesda’s newer games like Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. 

First of all, I personally liked this game more than Skyrim. I think this is pretty usual opinion within The Elders Scrolls fans, but I never really understood why. Oblivion looked so... outdated. Skyrim on the other hand is still pretty cool looking game and especially the character graphics are so much better. But then again, when you're playing Oblivion these are not the things you are focusing on - especially in 2020s when there's so many great looking character overhaul mods available. And there is certain charm in Oblivion's stupid looking character models in my opinion. In general I really love the artistic style that is goin on with Bethesda's RPGs as they are somewhat realistic looking but still have clear and specific look.

But I don't really think that graphics are thing that I want to focus on game that's released in 2006. Not at all though Oblivion looks sometimes stunning. For me the gameplay and the feel of controls is more important. Oblivion unfortunately is pretty janky (but then again all the Bethesda games are). Movement was what you expect, pretty old-school, but aiming and sword swinging on the other hand was pretty unresponsive - there was not really too much weight on weapons. And as the ragdolls go crazy when enemies die this illusion of weight didn't hold up at all, though it was pretty entertaining.

Oblivion's story is not anything special, it's your typical fantasy script: save the world, help peoples, fight monsters. There was many interesting and funny side quests though. I especially liked the Dark Brotherhood storyline and Shivering Isles DLC, which I would say has one of the best environments in TES games ever. Overall I enjoyed doing the little side quests with weird plot lines more than the main story. And yes, I'm avoiding spoilers so I don't describe none of them.

Main focus of Oblivion seemed to be caves and Oblivion gates, which are you typical - and boring - dungeons. I enjoyed few of the early-game dungeons as I was approaching them like Indiana Jones, but pretty soon dungeons turned repetitive and I really didn't want to spend time to complete them to find some rewards that I wouldn't ever use. And Planes of Oblivion themselves... well, they looked cool. But not fun to go through at all. 

For me the best part of Oblivion was traveling, as I told in my earlier blog post. I decided to not fast travel at all, and riding my horse to new and interesting places was hypnotizing. Running away from wolfs, killing robbers who tried to stop you and finding secrets is all fun and games, but I truly liked travelling to new town, learning about its history and residents and maybe doing some quests for them too. Oblivion makes travelling fun even though for some it's the most boring part of the game - for me it brought some calming moment in this hectic modern world, and those moments I will treasure - even more than my water walking boots or night vision helmets.

Oblivion has an odd charm which makes you return it again and again. Yeah, it's janky at times and A.I. isn't really smart, but at the same time the world has that magic that makes you wanna be there no matter what. Saying it's one of the best RPGs ever made? Sure.