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Recent reviews by validore

Showing 1-9 of 9 entries
No one has rated this review as helpful yet
2.7 hrs on record (2.4 hrs at review time)
Based off of the main Sniper Elite series by Rebellion studios comes the stand alone spin off. Nazi Zombie Army! Now four different zombie army games one for each Sniper Elite game, these titles have become some of the best examples of Co-op zombie games in the gaming medium. Right next to Nazi zombies in Call of Duty. These spin offs include a stand alone story for our main characters to reach goals and defeat the zombie army. Highly recommended. This game is only in its true glory when played with four players.
Posted 19 March, 2024.
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1 person found this review helpful
25.6 hrs on record (24.5 hrs at review time)
Among Us released over two years ago, but the jellybean/astronaut online game is currently seeing a massive surge in popularity that began in early September. The world may have started out quarantine by playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a wholesome game about friendship and taking care of our islands, but after many months of pandemic life, we're hungry for the void of space filled with chaos and deceit. That’s what Among Us is all about.

Developed by InnerSloth, the foundation of Among Us is simple: a social deduction game where a player is either a crewmate or the lone imposter. The imposter must pretend to do the assigned daily tasks in the game while stealthily killing off each crewmate one by one. If a body is discovered, a crewmate can call an Emergency Meeting to have a group chat trying to figure out who the imposter truly is.

The main level (of three) is aboard a spacecraft where players see sectioned rooms where daily tasks are. Using basic vertical and horizontal movements, the imposter and crewmates move from room to room to accomplish their respective goals without giving any other players cause to vote them out. Each Emergency Meeting discusses who is suspicious and who is not, and the player that has the most votes against them is effectively gets the boot. Players that are killed then become "ghosts" to see how the rest of the match plays out.


This is where the game gets hilarious. Picture this: It's my first time playing Among Us, and I am the imposter. I don't know the tasks or where they are; I am just a blundering 2D astronaut bumbling around looking for stealthy ways to try to eat my crewmates. I'm confused, but I use that to my advantage.

One crewmate suspects me, "purple," and hurls out the most offensive accusation ever seen in-game: "Purple is sus" (a popular slang version of "suspicious" that is the root of all Among Us memes). I panic, but then try to see myself through their eyes. "I'm sorry, I was just following you guys," I reply. "This is my first time playing, I'm not really sure what I'm doing." My response lands the way I need it to, the rest of the players now feel the need to teach me instead of suspect me. Little do they know it's the last thing they will ever do – at least until this match is over.

This is the level of intrigue that makes Among Us so fun despite having basic visuals. Another charm is that it also has meme-quality features as seen in its comedic art style and low-budget animations. Friends turn against one another, bonds are broken, and the chat is absolutely comedic.

Among Us takes meme culture to its highest peak with parody costumes, my absolute favorite being the sticky note for your face that has "dum" written on it. That, or the toilet paper. The costumes add a personal touch to gameplay in addition to several color options, skins, and even pets. Does this add stat value? No, but it adds customization that allows players to immerse themselves fully in a way that stays inline with the "don't take this too seriously" feeling that Among Us offers.

What makes this game such a hit for me is that a lot of online games today are set up in a way that you have to play with friends, otherwise the entertainment value can decline drastically. One aspect of online gaming that turns me off when I want to play solo is the severe level of trolling that can turn hateful and malicious at the drop of a hat. While it's easy to just turn the other cheek, sometimes I don't want to have to do that, I just want to enjoy the game. The entire nature of Among Us is basically one giant troll, so the usual suspects in the online gaming community really lose their power here; you're encouraged to troll, making it an ingrained mechanic, removing the feeling of satisfaction from people acting in bad faith.

Another refreshing aspect that makes Among Us worth checking out is the minimal time investment it requires. Some online games are built to keep you playing for months on end; I often joke that Destiny 2 and Apex Legends are second marriages because of the grind for the former, and the desire to be the best in the latter. With Among Us, you can play as much or as little as you want and still have a good time. When I want to stream for a few hours, this is a good fit because of the type of interactive content it produces, but I can also pick up the free mobile version and play for 10 or 15 minutes during my lunch break. There are no player levels, there is no Battle Pass; there is no penalization for playing as little or as much as I want, which makes it easy to return to again and again.

As much as I enjoy playing Among Us, I have just as must fun watching it. Its simplicity makes it easy to boot up for streamers, and the conversations about who is sus are great entertainment for active livestream chats.

Diving into Among Us, I see the charm despite its simplicity, and I can't help but to love the way this game makes me look at everyone as if they are super sus. Among Us is what it is, and unapologetically so. This year may be bad, but having fun experiences definitely isn't; Among Us provides a much-needed reprieve from reality without taking itself too seriously.
Posted 13 October, 2020.
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1 person found this review helpful
155.6 hrs on record (95.6 hrs at review time)
Horror in games (and films) is too often characterized by jump scares; shocking, startling events designed to trigger a fight-or-flight response. Dead by Daylight, to its credit, eschews these in favor of real horror--a gradual increase in tension resulting from the unshakable sense of impending doom. That it manages to do this in an asymmetrical competitive action game is what is truly impressive about it.

Dead by Daylight features two teams--four survivors and one killer--and pits them against one another in a battle for all the marbles: The four survivors need to repair five generators to power the gates which will allow them to escape. The killer needs to find the survivors, knock them down, put them on hooks and then sacrifice them to the Entity. The odds are skewed heavily in favor of the invincible killer, and as a result playing Dead by Daylight as a survivor can be a nerve-rattling, sweat-inducing, terrifying experience.

After queuing into a game with three other survivors, Dead by Daylight puts you in one of several eerie horror environments and tells you, very simply, to fix the generators to escape. When you find the generators, you then need to repair them--a painstakingly slow process, where you hold the left mouse button down while crouching in front of it. If you're alone, repairing the generator can take more than a minute. As you crouch next to the very noisy generator, the game will throw skill-tests at you by way of a rotating bar--if you fail the QTE, the generator will backfire. This creates a noisy explosion, and the killer is visually alerted to the location of the backfire, turning you into a target.

If the killer does find you (and he probably will) your options are limited. If you have a flashlight you can blind him temporarily, but your best bet is to run away. The killer moves faster than you can run, maintaining the traditional horror movie 'ominous walk', but you can slow him down by leaping through windows, or pushing down pallets to block his path. You want to put as many of these obstacles in between the two of you as possible as you flee for your life.

Fortunately for the survivors, a sixth sense mechanic alerts them to the presence of a nearby killer--the closer the killer is, the faster your survivor's heart beats. Unfortunately the sound is obscured by generator revving as you repair it. When 90% repaired, the generator nearly drowns out the heartbeat entirely, forcing you to rely solely on your eyes to see the killer.

When you play as the killer, you're able to see all the map's generators at all times, allowing you to patrol them. If any of them are making noise, you know at least one survivor has been working on it, and you can hunt for signs that the others are nearby. Panicked survivors will sprint away, leaving scratches on nearby walls and breaks in the grass, and you can follow these markings to find your prey. Once you find your prey you chop them down, pick them up and put them on a hook, sacrificing them to your god after 60 seconds.

The scoring system initially encourages players to create exciting game play opportunities by rewarding risky play. Survivors who engage in lengthy, drawn out chases escaping the killer will earn more points for their boldness, and you can rack up the points by rescuing other survivors who have been captured but not yet sacrificed. As a killer you're rewarded for killing more of the survivors, although a single sacrifice is counted as a victory. Inevitably though, this scoring system leads to immersion-breaking actions like exploiting the killer's slow movement past obstacles, as survivors earn huge points by taunting their hunter.

Dead by Daylight executes the concept of a competitive horror game well. As players become more familiar with both roles, the horror dissipates and they begin to play for the competitive element alone. The matchmaking and game play have stayed significantly incredible and it is a fantastic game for friends to work together to accomplish a goal. It is a completely original concept for a game and it is executed incredibly well. I give this game a 9/10.
Posted 23 July, 2020.
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1 person found this review helpful
5.6 hrs on record
9/10 Score!

A man, in the woods, with nothing but his troubled thoughts, nature, and the only other emotional comfort is some unseen friend on the other side of a radio. What to say about Firewatch. This is a game unlike what I've seen before in recent years. From story telling, to soundtrack, to art style, to character development this work is phenomenal to say at the very least.

You start off with a short but effective choice making text narrative to develop your character Henry who has been going through some family trauma in recent years. To say that this method of introductory narrative is unusual is accurate but on the other hand it is very effective at accomplishing what it sets out to do which is develop your backstory very quickly and very well to the point where you are deeply emotionally involved with Henry by the first twenty minutes. As the story progresses you come to get to know a lovable character named Delilah whom you only ever speak to on the other side of a radio. Delilah is part of the neighboring fire tower and Henry and her get to know each other very well over the summer during Firewatch. Everything is fine for awhile except for some small forest fires and mischievous campers until Henry and Delilah start to uncover some deeper plots going on in the woods. As the plot develops the story unravels into something of epic proportions with a big twist and excellent story telling.

The soundtrack is simple but amazing. heart pounding and suspenseful at times but relaxing and somber at others. Never a failure to portray the proper mood. The soundtrack adds significantly to the games atmosphere and transports you to the world in a way most other games can't.

Firewatch takes the cake for one of the greatest and most unique art styles for a game in recent years. The mix of colors and abstract that they mix perfectly with realism to make gorgeous scenery that you could look at and explore in for hours and never get tired of what you're looking at. Every time you turn your head you get a new scenery to gaze upon. The scenery consists of dense forests and beautiful rocky mountain ranges that drop a jaw and could be used as wallpapers.

I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone looking to invest in a game that has replayability or will last longer than 5 hours at most. This game is strictly a linear story driven game that wouldn't be worth playing through no moe than a couple of times. However on the other hand, by combining this astounding soundtrack, art style, story telling, and character development, I found myself caring for these characters within only a couple hours very deeply and I'm very impressed with their ability to do that. If you're looking for a game that will allow you to escape reality with a very good story for several hours and transport you to another world then you've come to the right place. The under tones and messages and character development leave everyone with a message to decipher and a metaphor to take back to reality with them. This game changed me just a little bit for the better and has left me thinking about it day in and day out with a lasting impression. A story about friendships. A story about family. A story about not running away from your problems but facing them head on. A story about finding yourself in nature. But also all of those thrown into the mix with a deep conspiracy of being watched and spied on in the woods by secret government agencies out to kill them and burn the whole forest down with Henry and Delilah in it. Uncover the mystery, make it to the end, and enjoy the whole journey along the way.

I rate this game a 9/10 for outstanding character development, outstanding world building, outstanding soundtrack, outstanding art style, and I refrain from giving it a full perfect score for the fact that once the story is done there is not much else to do other than finish collecting achievements and walking around looking at scenery.
Posted 15 July, 2020.
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1 person found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
90.9 hrs on record (89.0 hrs at review time)
War Thunder is an excellent Free to Play game for any person that has a passion for online war games involving Aerial Warfare, Tank Warfare, or Naval Warfare! The intricate leveling and research web system is expertly crafted and well made to make game play fun and smooth flowing for players of all ages and and backgrounds! From the serious competitive gamer to the casual "every once in awhile" gamer. At first the amount of leveling and customization may come with a slight learning curve but with some time you will quickly come to be an expert. There are plenty of online youtube videos that can help you as well. Being that it's a free to play game it doesn't come without micro transactions if you would like to spend money in the game however you can not buy your way to the top of the leaderboards nor is spending money in the game at all necessary to progress at a reasonable time scale or have fun! All in all I recommend this game to any player who has an interest and I give it a 5/5 stars for playabilitiy, compatability to all types of players, and variety of gameplay.
Posted 24 June, 2020.
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1 person found this review helpful
158.4 hrs on record (58.5 hrs at review time)
Soundpad is a fantastic way to use high quality mp3 soundbites through your microphone for any amount of applications from video games, to comedy, to allowing everyone to listen to music together! Highly recommend for any user interested in buying.
Posted 4 June, 2020.
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1 person found this review helpful
22.2 hrs on record
It's 11 years later and I'm literally still playing this game. Servers are still plentiful with non hacked lobbies. Great gameplay. Nostalgia all the way.
Posted 17 May, 2020.
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1 person found this review helpful
13.3 hrs on record (10.3 hrs at review time)
Adventure deep into the facility and uncover more and more about the goings ons of what is gong on and how you came to be there. This game is amazing in every way and portrays and immensely huge plot without even a single word of dialogue. I give this puzzle side scroller a 10/10!
Posted 21 November, 2018.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
3.0 hrs on record (0.1 hrs at review time)
definetly a fun game to play with friends. good fun little shooter. good game. 4/5 stars
Posted 6 January, 2014.
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Showing 1-9 of 9 entries