Few Words About Tomb Raider I

Photo: https://laracroftonline.com/music/tomb-raider-one-soundtrack-1996.html

First obstacle with the original Tomb Raider wasn't any of the puzzles or platforming, instead it was getting it to run on Steam Deck and Linux in general. After one evening of irritation and fighting with different emulators I finally got it working without any bigger problems, except cutscenes didn't really work – there is sound, but screen is black. Thankfully you can watch them on Youtube, so that's exactly what I did.

After getting used to terrible (old-school) controls game surprised me by being fun. Of course it feels old and outdated, but that doesn't really matter because on its core Tomb Raider is a fantastic game. Atmosphere is unique and difficulty is just perfect for my stupid brain. I had so much fun trying to figure my way through the Indiana Jones styled obstacles while occasionally fighting some nightmare creatures (and dinosaurs). And thanks to very detailed walkthroughs at Stella's Tomb Raider Site I rarely got stuck on any puzzle for too long.

I especially enjoyed later levels with more macabre and grotesque designs – it truly felt that Lara Croft went from this pretty ordinary tomb raiding into something unsettling and unknown. PS1 era graphics and minimalistic sound design (though I think that at times music was bugged because it played only for a short time at random locations and stopped just like that) gave me at times horror vibes that modern indie titles that are trying to replicate original Playstation's looks can't reach – after all imitation isn't the same as the real thing in bigger picture. But that is a conversation to be had on an another blog post.

Overall I would say that original Tomb Raider is great piece of history, that I'd recommend anyone who is interested in 90's gaming or gaming culture in general to check out. And as the remastered version just released, I think even more players are able to see what Lara Croft's first adventure was like. I need to try that new version myself at some point too as I am very interested in modern control scheme it has. But until then I will be continuing my Tomb Raider adventures with the original titles.

I'm trying something new: I will be uploading these blog post on a video from on Youtube from now on – just trying things out. Tell me what you think!

Doom (1993)

Photo: Steam

After all these years I finally tried and played through one of the most influential video games ever, id Softwares 1993 classic Doom. And what a game it is! This game is older than me but gameplay is so much fun, and shooting demons with different weapons while navigating maze like levels can sometimes be truly exciting – at times this old PC game captures better horror atmosphere than many modern survival horror experiences, which is truly unbelievable. But I think there’s a reason, and it is Doom’s now outdated, sprite based 3D graphics and simple textures combined with lo-fi sound design and midi music. It leaves more room for your own imagination, which is always a plus in my books.

Unfortunately everything is not perfect, not even in Doom. Some of the boss fights even on lower difficulties are such a bullet sponges that I just turned on god mode (which is easily accessible in the Steam version as are other cheats). id has really kept Doom alive with making sure it runs on modern machines with all bonus features (like those cheats) you'd hope for. Game preservation at its best.

As Doom is not too long of a game, I would recommend that anyone who is into FPS or game history in general play it through at least once in their life. It really makes you appreciate how far video games have come from mid-90's and how technology has developed rapidly to allow us to have modern gaming experiences from MMO's to VR. Or if you just enjoy shooting some demons with cool weapons, that is really a great reason to play Doom too.

Best Games I Played In 2023

Instead of doing your typical ”best games released in 2023” I’m doing something different - I’ll share some of the best and most memoriable games I tried this year… and maybe even talk about some that were not so good. But let’s start with the best ones.

Photo: https://www.nintendo.fi/nintendo-switch-perhe/pelit/the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom

I’m putting these two here together as they are pretty similar - after all TotK was meant to he an expansion. Both of the Switch Zeldas are great on own, but together they create one of the most fun and memoriable gaming experiences I have ever had. And I haven’t even finished TotK yet!

There is something really special about these games. It took me a while to get into BotW, but after that it’s been really hard to let go. Exploring Hyrule with both games different and unique mechanics is such a fun activity that I can spend hours just climbing walls or trying to get into weird places. And almost every time there is at least Korok waiting to reward me. 

BotW and TotK both have strong atmospheres. First one is one of a kind experience in a desolated Hyrule where people are just trying to get by while Link is trying to find out what happened while he was gone. As the story and events slowly come back to him defeating Ganon starts to feel more and more important task. TotK on the other hand builds beautifully on the foundation first game sets and it’s really fun to explore Hyrule that is being rebuild. You meet familiar faces from the first game and visit places you helped before. And I really enjoy how the Guardian technology from BotW is included in the world, not as a threat but as a helping device. 

I think BotW is a one of a kind experience with unique atmosphere, while TotK is probably the best open-world game so far - there’s so much you can do and ways to play it how you want.

This blog post explains how I fell in love with BotW: How Breath of the Wild Became One of My Favourite Games

Photo: https://www.cyberpunk.net/nl/en/cyberpunk-2077

Cyberpunk 2077

For a game I had no interest in at all Cyberpunk 2077 really surprised me. Even though there are some funkyness gameplay wise and to be honest, as a video game it is not anywhere near perfect (works better than Bethesdas RPGs though), especially after doing most of the missions world starts to feel little it meaningless and empty, the story and characters really take this one tot he next level. I don’t think there have been any video game so far that really made me feel like I’m part of the world and made me care about characters like Cyberpunk did - even though some of them are just jerks. It’s a great story (and DLC is fun too) set in a beautiful world and I hope to experience something similar again. Hopefully in a Fallout-styled world…

Here's link to my more in-depth post about Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk 2077 Is Great

Photo: https://www.psu.com/wallpapers/the-last-of-us-part-1-wallpapers/

The Last of Us Part 1 

We got Playstation 4 and first game I bought was The Last of Us Part 1. I had really high expectations for this one and most of the time it delivered. It looks some time to get familiar with the Playstation way of playing – I am a long-time PC gamer after all – but it didn't stop me from enjoying the story. Writing in this game is magnificent, and both main characters are really charming in their own way. It was fun to follow their interactions and (spoiler warning?) see how they turn from complete strangers into people who deeply care about each other. Can't wait to play Part 2 and see where the story goes.

Gameplay was mostly enjoyable. Sneaking around the zombies while trying not to alarm them was at the times kinda spooky and that feeling of success after those moments was really something else. Unfortunately The Last of Us Part 1 developers thought that it would be fun to shoot other people in the post-apocalyptic world (same sin that The Walking Dead for example did), so a lots of times this game just turned into your typical cover shooter which was not what I expected or wanted. But it is what it is. The best moments in this game were enough to suffer through the shooting parts.

I'd like to write a more in-depth post about The Last of Us, but I'll probably do that after I've played the second part too.

Photo: https://laracroftonline.com/music/tomb-raider-one-soundtrack-1996.html

Tomb Raider 1

Original Tomb Raider from 1996 was really fun experience. Of course it took first some time to get it to run on Steam Deck and even then cut scenes wouldn't work so I had to check them on Youtube, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this classic game. There is something really charming about these old 90's games with their ugly character models and low detailed textures, and it's not a miracle that nowadays many indie developers are trying to replicate that. 

Controls are a relic 90's, which at the times made me question my life choices. I could have waited until February when the remastered collection is being published, but at the same time I want to experience these older Tomb Raider games as what they are – I'm just longing for some lanky controls and early 3D attempts. 

With that said, I'm planning to go through all of the Tomb Raider games – right now I'm playing the second one – and after that I'll write some kind of a longer retrospective of all of the games and my experience.

Photo: https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/27/18243404/alien-isolation-digital-series-cutscenes

Alien: Isolation

Alien movie series is my favourite in the horror/scifi genre, and Alien: Isolation is my favourite horror/survival game. Do I need to say more? Alien: Isolation is a fantastic experience which is made by people who clearly know the movies, and Alien as an enemy is perfect for game like this. This game feels like a old scifi horror movie in a best possible way. 

It's been a while since I thought about this game though so you'd be better off by reading my post from February: Alien: Isolation + Steam Deck Experience So Far

Photo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/21090/FEAR/

Honorable mentions

Let's end with some honorable mentions – every game will get a one sentence in which I'll try to capture my thoughts and experiences.

The Forest's cannibals game me chills.

F.E.A.R. was like a Half-Life 2 but from alternate dimensions.

Detroit: Become Human took narrative to the next level. 

And No Man's Sky is a perfect space sandbox for 10-20 hours.

I'd also like to mentions that I started the new Saints Row during the Holidays and it's really good. Me and my partner also started playing Beyond: Two Souls (starring Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe!) and it's been fun so far so expect some posts about those two games in the future.

That's it for 2023. Next year I'm planning to write few longer retrospectives and of course I'm gonna play more games. 

Happy New Year!

Cyberpunk 2077 Is Great

Photo: https://www.cyberpunk.net/fi/en/cyberpunk-2077

What can I say about CD Projekt Reds 2020 game Cyberpunk 2077 that hasn't already been said a million times? That it’s breathtaking? That at the times it has a such a strong and silly male gaze going on that I could write a book about it? That it’s a buggy mess? Or could I just say that it’s just a great game?

All of those things are true, and don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077. I would even say that it’s one of my favourite gaming experiences of all time. And this is coming from a person who wasn’t a all hyped about it, in fact I doubted if I’m ever even gonna play it, as previous CD Projekt Red games I’ve tried all were just not for me gameplay wise. But Cyberpunk 2077 is different. First of all, it’s FPS instead of a third person RPG – small thing for some but a big deal for me, especially if I want to get invested in a game world (though there are some exceptions like Breath of the Wild which works as third person game perfectly). And that’s the thing I especially didn’t expect from this game – it really felt like I was there with the characters. You see, in Cyberpunk 2077 developers were – even though Night City is giant place with big, big buildings, all the most important and intimate meetings and moments happen in small, closed places like apartments, diners and so on. And that really turned out to be my favourite part of the game. I loved sitting with the other characters, just talking or hanging out, drinking shots and watching out of the window. That something that Bethesdas games for example – as much I love them – never captured. 

And that feeling of being there, being part of the world and its stories really made all the glaring problems obscure. Yeah, sometimes you pass by many NPC's that are just clones of each others or you car flies from the force of crashing in something to out of the bound areas which you cannot escape but in the end does it even matter? I don't think I really felt so many emotions as when I've finished game and saw my character on their way to next adventure... Or the second ending I got after I resumed to play through Phantom Liberty DLC and... Well, let's just say that I didn't expect my choices to lead to that. It was heartbreaking yet somewhat understandable – in a macabre way.

Yeah. Cyberpunk 2077 is a great game. I really hope to get to play other experiences like this at some point – but now it's time to get back to Hyrule. I'm coming for you, Ganon! 

Black Mesa

 

I recently played through fan-made Half-Life remake Black Mesa. I've been following it's development for years, and was really interested on how it turned out. Everyone seems to love this game, and of course that means that it's good. Right?

Well, let's start with the positives. Black Mesa reimagines Half-Life's famous military complex in a very beautiful way - it almost looks like a real place. Shooting is fun - fighting in general is very enjoyable and guns behave as you'd expect - and new soundtrack is awesome, though not as good as the original. Some of the added things and NPC's bring much needed life to the place, and the game looks as good as you can do with original Source engine. 

But as much as I enjoy how the game looks, it feels wrong. There's something special about original Half-Life's blocky 90's interiors, and remake looses some of the charm and atmosphere it had. 

Xen is something that many people have praised in Black Mesa. I'm not one of them. Sure, it's beautiful (when it's not running like piece of poop) and it's fun to see more of the alien world and how life there is, but for me the original, short and focused Xen is perfect ending for Half-Life. Black Mesa's version is long, sometimes boring, focuses too much on fighting and as mentioned before, it runs very badly so playing it wasn't even that enjoyable.. 

My overall impression of Black Mesa is little bit confused. At the beginning it's seems that there's much work and love poured into it but the longer you play and closer to the end you get it starts to feel less like a remake of Half-Life and more like a mod. But It's a amazing work anyway even though I didn't personally liked all the aspects of it.

Rage(quit)

I remember seeing Rage for the first time in the gaming magazine back when it was released. It looked so cool! Unfortunately I never got to play it back then, and I just kept wondering how great game it had to be. And then I forget the whole thing for a while. 

Until some time ago Rage was on a sale on Steam and I got it. And forget it again until the beginning of 2022. Finally, after almost a decade, I was ready to play this game that made so big impact on me years ago even though I never even tried it. And it was awesome, is what I would love to say. Unfortunately, Rage isn't awesome. Its not even okay. This game is... missed opportunity. Mediocre looter shooter. And so on. 

It's painfully clear that this game is over 10 years old now. Gameplay is kinda clunky, and in-game menus for example are straight from the early 2000s. But at least the story and world are passable?

Nah. Story is pretty straight-forward copy of Half-Life 2's campaign but without all the charm and depth that HL2 has. And characters... Well, they are your typical and stereotypic FPS ones. Lots of muscle mans machoing and women that are clearly written (and modeled) by men. Especially main character of the games The Scorchers DLC, Sarah, is something from 90s media that we didn't need back. 

But yeah, even though characters and story are not Rages strengths, they do their job. Somehow.

Rage is a hybrid of open-world sections and more traditional straight-forward maps, which is both its biggest strength and weakness. Open-world parts are boring, you'll be driving a car from one place to an another in a canyons, so open-world aspect isn't even so open-worldly. There's some fighting, but most of the time I just drove away from enemies to get to the next mission. World is your typical apocalyptic wasteland, so there's not even anything to look at. On-foot sections at least are little bit better mostly because a big arsenal of weapons, which make fighting fun. Unfortunately too many times enemies just became bullet-sponges, which is okay in some games, but when you can headshot most of the enemies and not others, it's... not fair. At least in my opinion. And yeah, most of the places you visit are pretty generic.

I almost stopped playing Rage for these reasons. I was about halfway through and didn't touch the game for about a month, and when I returned it was still as bland as before. And then begun the second act and I found myself in Subway City, which looked shiny and interesting. But after exploring it for a while I realized that it's just more of the same, just in a little bit more interesting casing.

I accidentally became a boundary breaker.

Yeah. This is not a great game. But you wanna know what I really, really liked in Rage? Nail gun with rebar as an ammo. That might just be one of my favourite weapons ever on video games. Its so powerful and fun, though slow, which forces you to aim your shots perfectly and do some sneaky tactics to not die while reloading. Most of the other weapons are pretty good too, but I found myself using nail gun almost all of the time. 

*SPOILER ALERT*

I fought my way through the campaign, just because I wanted to see what kind of mysteries where waiting. Maybe there would even be a big and epic boss fight! But no. Last level of Rage is a sci-fi tower (Citadel, anyone?) with previously mentioned bullet-sponge enemies, and the climax is.... pressing few buttons, short cutscene and fade in black. And then you are thrown back to the wasteland with a little congratulations message and opportunity to finish any (very boring) side missions. 

I have never felt so angry after finishing game. Like, what just happened? Was this all for... that? Did my actions matter? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

And that is why I'm so negative about this game. It forces you through repeative missions with a promise of something interesting happening at the end, but it never delivers. It's a slap on face.

I had to Google if this could be really that. And yes, unfortunately it is. In Reddit players have said it's the worst ending ever in any video game and share many of opinions I shared in this blog. Even Polygon wrote an article about Rages ending. It feels that developers ran out of the time, or spend so much time on the visuals (which still hold up pretty good) that they forget to finish the most important part of the single player game: the campaign.

I really wanted to like this game. Unfortunately it's a shallow Borderlands wannabe without the charm that game has. It tries, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. 

I wonder if Rage 2 is any good?

Revisiting Fallout 3

I played through Fallout 3 years ago and it was okay. Not great, but okay. I enjoyed my time with it though, but for some reason in my head I created this attitude towards the game that it was complete poop. Maybe it’s because newer Fallout games have so special place in my heart, maybe I didn’t appreciate this old schoolish FPS/RPG enough. Whatever the reason was, I just felt that I wouldn’t ever return to Capital Wasteland.

Until I did. 

Drugs. Not even once.

Emerging from Vault 101 to face the dangers of Wasteland felt different this time. I decided to skip the main story and just went wandering, which was the best decision I could have made. Exploring and finding new places while escaping dangers was much more interesting than following the main story line which in my taste is pretty bland. And taking a different path led to some interesting adventures, like searching for Nuka-Cola Quantum, making money by selling slaves and hunting Deathclaws for sport for example - my character became a little bit a psycho to be honest, but that was fun. Throwing Tenpenny’s body out of his tower and walking around in his suit without anyone noticing what has happened made me giggle out loud, like so many other silly thing that just happened, thanks to broken game engine and AI that does whatever it wants.

I have still my problems with Fallout 3. It’s showing it’s age at this point, and sprint function is something that it needs, though there is mods for that (which I forgot to download…). Difficulty is varied, as some points are just too easy and the next moment you’re getting your ass kicked by swarm of radscorpions that came out of nowhere. Then again, this keeps exploring interesting as you never know what kind of fight to expect. There are some cool and interesting NPC’s and quests, but too many just start repeating themselves pretty soon, and as the map itself is empty compared to later Fallout games there’s sometimes nothing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I like to get bored in open world games (and that’s a whole different blog post I could write!) but world of Fallout 3 is mostly just boring. It underlines the fact that this is supposed to be a destroyed city though pretty well. Maybe my decision not to fast travel has something to do with this too.

This guy had a lot of problems.

I had few mods installed but nothing too fancy. Mostly quality of life stuff and some cool armors. 

Unfortunately my adventures came to an end thanks to updating my OS to a newer version. After that Fallout just broke and is not launching at all. But that's okay, I got to do mostly everything I wanted and more - and as I had no clear point set where I wanted to stop my playthrough I think this ''forced'' one worked pretty well.  

In general, Fallout 3 felt better second time around. Yes, it’s getting old and outdated and might be a shock to play for younger players but it’s still something that should be experienced, at least to be able to appreciate how far open world games have come. 

Your typical Fallout experience.

Ps. I'm back! Though don't expect too many blog posts in the near future as I'm still wondering what kind of texts I want to write and I just don't have enough  free time right now. I'm playing Dragon Age: Origins, Earthbound and The Legend of Zelda: Oscarina of Time right now, so there might be some blogs about those games coming at some point. Until then, stay safe out there. And play games.

Some Thoughts on Fallout 3

I've been replaying Fallout 3 after, I don't know, many years. It's a weird game, because when I originally played it through I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It felt empty and blunt compared to Fallout: New Vegas for example (which happens to be one of my favourite games ever). Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Fallout 3 - I thought and still think that it's magnificent game but at the same time it feels like it's missing something. And somehow I managed to skip half of the (somewhat boring) main story when I first played Fallout 3.

Now that I've been visiting ruined DC area again even though game feels better than before - maybe I've grown as a gamerrr - I still feel that emptiness and boringness when I'm playing Fallout 3. But as I've approached it differently this time, taking my time, exploring new places and not using fast travel instead of rushing through story as I did on my first playthrough, I'm beginning to understand why people love this game. It's truly apocalyptic and unforgiving experience at the times, with some sugary nostalgy on the top. There's something about older Bethesda games and clunkiness they have that drives us towards them over and over again.

I already knew it back in 2015: ''somehow wacky A.I. fits already dotty world of Fallout.' And I still think so. These games wouldn't be the same without all the bugs and glitches - in this point those are almost like features.

Anyway, now it's time to go kill some super mutants.

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. 

Revisiting Dishonored

After watching some of Noclip's excellent documents about Arkane Studios games my interest towards them has been awaken so I decided to replay Dishonored, which I completed years ago. But now it feels like a whole different experience.

I wrote a review of Dishonored in 2015 in which I praised the level design and graphics, said some nasty thing about A.I. and about how sneaking is sometimes impossible, and kept comparing it to Half-Life 2 - maybe too much. In general I remember enjoying the game but at the same time I didn't gave it a chance as its own entity - for years Dishonored was just an attempt to copy Half-Life 2's atmosphere.

Comparing Dunwall to City 17

Yes, Dishonored reminds a lot of Half-Life 2. Especially Dunwall as a place is very close to City 17 with its colour schemes, weird technical roadblocks and miserable citizens, but at the same time it's very much its own thing. Dunwall is more open and allows different paths - you can go up, down, and everywhere between. That's not what's really going on City 17 which is more linear which works great in the context of Half-Life 2 but wouldn't work in Dishonored. And that's why now years later when I'm sneaking around the streets of Dunwall it feels so great. 

There's a lot of replayability going on, and you can attempt the levels again and again in different ways. That was something I didn't understand back in the day when I just run straight to the target. I didn't care as much about alternative ways to complete the missions, I just wanted to rush through the game. That's probably why I thought it was too short. Now that I'm trying to approach my targets from different ways and at the same time I'm trying to complete all of the side quests and find all the hidden stuff game feels so much better. Sure, it's still short but I've understand that there's no rush - I can keep exploring the levels if I want or tease the guards in different ways. And that's fun!

Little stories make all the difference

I don't have anything new to say about games story as I'm still in the middle of it, but at least it's coherent. Maybe not the most interesting one, but game like this doesn't need one - it's better to have clear objectives than Rick And Morty styled story with too much going on. But now I've come to realize what's the most interesting part of the game story wise - it's the citizens you meet along the way. Like in Half-Life 2, many of them have their own little stories and problems, and helping them or just listening gives a lot depth to the world. I love the dark and dystopian setting of Dishonored, and using the heart to learn more about people you meet on your adventures is one of my favourite game mechanics ever in any game.

Living game world

And finally, about darkness and dystopias. I love how Dishonored's world reacts to your action. This once again was a thing that I did not appreciate on my first playthrough, but now after learning more about Arkane's games it's a huge deal for me. The fact that Dunwall becomes more plagued or in the other hand not because of what you have done and who you have killed makes your own playthrough special - you're not just going through a story, you're making it as you go as well.

And that's it. I'm happy that I decided to play this game again. It's fun, it's dark and it makes me appreciate game development even more.

Going Through My Old Steam Reviews (Part 2)

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!

"Funny online shooter with many flying red pixels (I guess I was trying to describe blood?). Recommended for playing with netbooks in school... I mean recess." Do you guys still remember netbooks? I use to have this blue toy-looking Dell which was my first own computer. It began my game making journey as well my more active gaming journey - I played old games like first Counter-Strike on it!

About CS though, it was never my favourite one to play. It was already old, kinda ugly (but in a good way) and player base was already established. For me this game was an interesting relic of the 90s.

Let's continue to the next Counter-Strike game. ''One of the best online shooters ever, especially with mods." To this day CSS is, at least for me, the online shooter. As you can see, I haven't played it so much but still it holds a special place in my heart. It led me to skins and the Source modding community, which for me was probably the most interesting part of the whole Source engine based games. The things you can do with in some ways very limited options is inspiring.

For me the latest Counter-Strike, Global Offensive, is the one I have played the most but it never captured the same magic as CSS. 

"This is how RTS should be done: fast-paced action, destroyable environments and different enemies. DoW II has no dull moments; you need to keep your eyes glued on the monitor so you're own soldiers die, because without your brothers you're in trouble." Poetic. I don't really remember much of Dawn of War games - I think I enjoyed more of their artwork and atmosphere than the gameplay itself. I'm not even big fan of RTS genre in general, but maybe I should give these games another try? Though Animal Crossing is enough excitement and micro managing for me nowadays.

"Worst part of HL2 trilogy. There's something missing in Episode 1 that made HL2 so good. It's also way too short for a full priced game: four hours! But it's still great." To be honest, I don't know what I'm talking about. Full priced game? Was Episode 1 never sold at 40-60 euros price or something like that? 

In fact it was not. According to all-knowing Wikipedia, it was sold in Steam at discounted price and in retail stores as a part of different Valve-themed collections. So that's it then. I guess I was angry that there were not yet a closure to the HL2 story (oh, how the years fly!) because in retrospective I've learned that though Episode 1 is not the best it has some interesting stuff going on A.I. wise. I really need to replay Half-Life games. All of them.

"Game that leaves too many questions open. Waiting for the sequel..." This pains me. 

As I look back, I realize that I haven't really appreciated how great game Episode 2 is. In many ways it was the best Half-Life related game in story, environment and mechanics wise but I guess it's legacy is to be ''that game that left us waiting.'' 

I need to get my hands on VR kit and try out Half-Life: Alyx. It's one of the few games released recent years that really excites me.

Let's end this part with an another Dawn of War game. "An example of how you include an epic story to RTS." You know what? I don't remember anything about Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising. Like anything. Even looking at the box didn't woke any forgotten memories. But I guess it was good? At least I though so nine years ago.

And that's all for Part 2. Part 3 will be out - hopefully - in October, so stay tuned!

Going through my old Steam reviews (Part 1)

Sometimes you forget things that you have done in your life - like I forgot Steam reviews I wrote years ago. I thought it would be fun to go through all of the small reviews I wrote between 2012 - 2014 and see, have my opinions changed or have I written just some smelly garbage. This is gonna be a few parts long blog series, so follow my Twitter (@MZ_plays_games) to stay tuned when the next part is published!

I had ''a concept'' with my reviews: few ''funny'' lines and a number rating with maximum being 10. These first ones are in Finnish and it seems that I've posted almost all of them during the same day.

Ah yes. Team Fortress 2, ''the lan-party dream game''. Back in 2012 younger me thought that TF2 is ''the best and funniest online FPS ever, which you can not get tired of, thanks to comic characters, many hats and mods. Especially when your team plays well together TF2 is one of the most addictive games ever!''

Well, is till think that TF2 is the best online FPS, though I haven't played it much lately because of the bots and because I found Overwatch, which have given me some of the same feeling that TF2 had when I started gaming. I have many good memories of TF2 and I don't think that any game can ever come close to it, but nowadays it is just a mess that is probably never gonna get cleaned up. And that's kinda sad.

Also 9/10? This game deserves 100/10!

Another online FPS that I hold dear, Day of Defeat: Source. I said that ''this Counter-Strike stylish WWII shooter is nice change to all the games that are based on the modern days.'' I think that what I wanted to say was that I was tired to both Battlefield and Call of Duty (and maybe CS itself) just releasing new games with boring modern day scenarios? 

''It's just awesome to walk towards the sunset in the Mojave wasteland with your follower. You should install the best mods so the game shines straight away.'' Very poetic, indeed. I don't really care about number ratings anymore, but how have I given to my all time favourite Fallout game only 9/10? I must have been sick on my head!

I think that Fallout games peaked on New Vegas. In fact I think that open-world games peaked on New Vegas - it has something that any game after or before haven't been able to achieve. But what exactly? I think that is a blog post for the future.

''Best part of the best game series. Realistic characters, great atmosphere, intelligent enemies and countless mods make sure that you return to Half-life 2 again and again.'' But as you can see, I haven't returned to this game after 2012, which is a shame as I think about this game almost everyday. I should replay it soon.

It seems that back in the day mods were a thing that I was looking out on the games. I miss that, because as I've grown older and smellier, I mostly want my games to be as finished as they can be - I sure enjoy bugs and glitches, but I have no time and energy to search for new content. 

Though nowadays I want to play older games on the consoles so I think it's okay.

”One of the best co-op games ever. Killing zombies with a good team is fun. Great setting and multiple weapons are the icing on a cake.” To this day Left 4 Dead 2 is my favourite zombie game - though I have played it less than it feels like. One of my best memories is going through the demo of the game and cutting zombies into pieces… It would be cool to relive those moments!

I think that with right mods Left 4 Dead 2 works as a great singleplayer experience - no special infected, no teammates, just you and hordes of undeads. It’s challenging and kinda scary as it’s pretty much game over if you die because there’s no-one to revive you.

Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the few games that I come back from time to time, playing few custom campaigns. During this pandemic it has been almost therapeutic experience.

That’s all for Part 1! Part 2 will probably be out in September.

''No one has rated this review as helpful yet.''