Reviews by Alleycat

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Season Pass
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One more for Claptrap!

The final DLC into Claptrap's mind is a funny ride with Glitched guns and annoying pop songs! Get it on sale if you're a fan!

by Alleycat, France - Sep 22nd 2015

Heroes of Might & Magic V
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The origin of freemium castle defense games

I jumped into M&M Heroes V after finishing M&M X.I haven't played any of the other games but to me it feels like ubisoft tried to make a franchise more accessible with childish designs and story (spoiled by the title of each mission). I've only played the first chapter against the demon Hordes and fighting was pretty dull until you get magic attacks near the end, but you can leave it on autopilot (on and off in fights whenever you want) and have it as a second screen app doing ressource management. Sure, the different Heroes you can control independently spice things up a bit, and the difficulty can become unforgiving if you take to many wrong turns but out of the 10 hours I played I barely enjoyed a third of it. Ultimately it feels like those castle defense apps that are polluting the web and eating yout time with a subpar gaming experience. This is Ubisoft's weak link as far as 3D conversions from old licences go... And as usual the online multiplayer doesn't seem to work...

by Alleycat, France - Sep 16th 2015

Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition
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Batman returns in 3D

Batman will meet a plethora of characters (mostly villanous like the Penguin, Mr Freeze and Two face but also playable allies like Catwoman and Robin) in this relatively big Arkham city with hundreds of riddler secrets and humongous fight that will keep you busy for months until we get to explore Gotham city in the new installement of the series...Warner Brothers can now compete with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed with the bat!

by Alleycat, France - Aug 15th 2015

Another World - 20th Anniversary Edition
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A stellar ride

A beautifully made puzzle/platformer that will keep you guessing on how to proceed. Although it's short, it's very challenging and if you refrain from checking any walkthroughs you're bound to do a few hours of trial and error until you figure out how to advance to the end in this other world. You have to do things in the right order to succeed in your great escape with your alien friend!

by Alleycat, France - Aug 11th 2015

Call of Duty Deluxe Edition
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The original at it's best

The first and biggest 'Call of Duty' is by far the best in the series. Relive the battles of WWII in an epic Campaign from the shores of Normandy to Russia fighting against the Nazis with all the allies. Despite a few bugs (mostly on the DLC when you play like a wimp) the over 30 missions with the DLC will keep you busy for as long as the war itself!

by Alleycat, France - Aug 11th 2015

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
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To the moon and back

What we all thought was going to be the epic final DLC for Borderlands 2 ends up being a smaller separate game. The changes of scenary are very few for a Borderlands game, as there basically are a couple lunar landscapes and the space station. The story ties Borderlands 1 & 2 nicely by developping Jack's story (you fight along side him this time around) and his rise to power. The low gravity and butt stomp add some interesting gameplay mechanics but fundamentally the game stays the same. Despite some good passages (like the infected station or abandonned factory), enemies and situations tend to be repetitive. The only way to enjoy this all the time is having one of your teammates play as claptrap; with his comments and robotic mayhem, gameplay stays hilarious even when the game bugs.

by Alleycat, France - Jan 22nd 2015

Might & Magic X - Legacy Deluxe Edition
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Nothing Magical, but a mighty effort.

I got this to play a classic First person grid RPG, something similar to Legend of Grimrock. The adventure seemed promising but as soon as you leave the first town, enter the worldmap and try to enter other dungeons it constantly crashes. Apparently it has something to do with the 64bit version, but I'm tired of recent games not beeing debugged like they used to, I'm not being payed as a playtester, I'm just looking for some fun, not endless bug fixing...Didn't expect this from a Ubisoft release...
Anyway, I did persevere and played on 32bit with downscaled graphics (specially in the open maps to avoid lag), Although the game has funny details (air bass guitar playing sharks?) and quests, the open world is filled with dead ends if you have a low level party, therefore you have to figure out the right order to do the quests or you'll wander around aimlessly as much tougher enemies grind through your defenses. but a relatively monotonous storyline all the way to Karthal...
The third act does pay off and the game actually starts realizing it's full potential with the harder and more imaginative free DLC. You have to sneak out of a prison and fight your way through hard terrain (sometimes you can't reach the enemy because he's throwing arrows at you from higher ground). All in all it's a 100 hour endeavor with endless lore, and actually one of the harder quests require you to memorise the names of the 8 corners of this imaginary world.

by Alleycat, France - Sep 17th 2014

Spec Ops: The Line
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Apocalypse yesterday

Every part of me wanted to enjoy THE LINE, and occasionnaly, while blasting enemy defenses with rock'n'roll music in the apocaliptic Dubai I did, but mostly, playing through the game was a chore. A straight look at the horrors of war with horrendous gameplay mechanics (this one reminds why I hate third person shooters) and rather lousy controls (you use the same button to jump or melee, the spacebar to run or cover). It basically plays like 'Frontline commando', yes the free app, and although the scenery is beautiful and many levels feature a lot of verticality within the broken buildings, it's repetitive as hell, and the mac version is a little glitched with weird performance issues and mouse lag.

The game had great press and reviews, hailed as the mature alternative to Call of Duty, but besides one great moment around the middle of the game, SPEC OPS is totally streamlined and would play exactly like COD if it was first person (and it would probably be a better game thanks to more reactive controls). The game plays on rails and there are no important choices to be made as advertised. You will be forced to commit atrocities and deep down the story (although inspired by Apocalypse Now) doesn't make much sense and the soldiers are rather flat, with no specific characteristics. There are other games out there that bring criticism to the genre itself and a much more subtle mind♥♥♥♥ (like Bioshock Infinite) with better gameplay, so i suggest you only get this if it's on sell or just watch the youtube movie that compiles all the cinematics so that you know what the fuss is all about.

PS: Coop and MP are virtually unplayable thanks to the controls (the same button does several actions so half the time it won't work, you'll hit an obstacle when you want to jump or execute a soldier when you want to melee the one next to him) and almost no players are online. Also the game is very sentitive to the hot corners on the mac so you have to deactivate them with a script or work around by adding an extra input key if you don't want to force pause the game when aiming through the barrel, breaking down the action and causing many unnecessary deaths.

by Alleycat, France - Sep 17th 2014

Driver San Francisco Deluxe Edition
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The Good, the Bad, and the Drifters

DRIVER: San Francisco plays like GTA for kids: instead of beeing a gangster or a thug, you're an undercover cop trying to stop a big bad criminal from a hospital bed by shifting (i.e. possessing any driver in town). This allows you to become uncoming traffic to stop or slow down opponents by crashing into them and a few other cool things but the game is only about driving so the missions have to end when you leave the car leaving you unsatisfied most of the time. The college kid races and police takedowns are some of the highlights of the adventure but the game story mode quickly becomes repetitive and the plot is so simple it doesn't really need the 'previously on' each time you start a new chapter. The dares and random challenges around the rather monotonous San Fran map are actually more fun and the soundtrack is pretty impressive. But the chit-chat in the car is more convetionnal and less interesting than the radio chatter in GTA. All in all this made me want to play GTA 4 and I wonder why it hasn't been ported to the mac so far...

by Alleycat, France - Sep 9th 2014

Borderlands 2: Creature Slaughterdome
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The smallest arena and shortest DLC ever in Borderlands

Although it's as fun a ever to go through the wild animals of this extra room in the wildlife exploitation preserve, this mini annex should be a part of the game, having to pay for it feels greedy from 2K...For completionists only, It's probably the only way to get Moxxi's health regen rocket launcher.

by Alleycat, France - Aug 22nd 2014

Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition
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DUKE MEGA BURGER

The classic Duke 3D levels and crazy DLC's all wrapped up in one big Xmas edition. An alien invasion on earth has never been so much fun!

by Alleycat, France - Aug 16th 2014

Duke Nukem Forever
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Call of Duke

Besides bringing topless boobs in 3D, 'Duke Nukem Forever' is a stepback from Duke 3D in the nineties in terms of gameplay and level design. Somehow all the flaws of the 'Call Of Duty' series seemed to have rubbed off to the king: the health regeneration, shoot and cover during heavy combat, sniper rifles (without headshots?!), 2 weapon limit (although a later patch allowed 4 because of the complaints), checkpoints instead of saves. Although these limitations made sense in the arcade-style action-packed later installments of the COD series, here they don't, Duke is not supposed to be a realistic war game beating waves of enemies, and Duke can't live up to the specatular scenarios we have seen in recent years in shooters. Also, most of the exploration is now gone and there's no sophistication whatsoever to replace it (the only thing you can scavenge for is porn mags to get more ego). One addition to the controls is the hotkey for pipe bombs (a must for modern shooters) but he lost his jetpack in the campaign. Even if the game had come out a decade earlier as announced, there are no risks taken in terms of game design, no creativity at all, and Duke looks more like a giant dildo from Toys'r'us, than the badass we all remember. His one-liners and his Vegas Palace are still fun and all the sexual un-pc comments will crack you up. But the game is more of a weak parody of modern shooters that are ultimately superior to the king in every way. It is only in the multiplayer and DLC that you get a glimpse of the better game it could have been: Multiplayer levels are cool (and you get the jetpack) and 'The Doctor who cloned me' is really funny and sends you back to the moon for an epic finale. Having all of this in the mac version thanks to Aspyr makes the trip worthwhile while we wait for an eventual return to form where the Duke will be more like himself, a real badass in a wicked game.

by Alleycat, France - Aug 16th 2014

BioShock Infinite: Clash in the Clouds
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Best of the worst

'Clash in the Clouds' is basically a training arena to test out different battle strategies with all the different guns and vigors with the blue ribbon challenges. I actually found out about combinations and maximized vigors here that I didn't unlock in the actual game: The crows that grow out of dead bodies cumulating damage on other enemies extensively, as well as the 1-2 combo (bucking bronco then charge to make the ennemy fly out of range).

Concentrating different combat situations really makes you practice taking out enemies in different, more effective ways than in the linear, rather random gameplay experience of the story. Problem is, like in the main game, the AI is weird (sometimes the handyman would actually stop from attacking when it got too much damage - and most enemies tend to have excellent aiming even when you are far away from them) so ultimately the combat tends to be annoying. Because of the 2 weapon limit (they should have removed it here as they did in 'Burial at sea') and the lack of multiple environmental damage types in the same arena, the action gets repetitive quickly. The unlockables in the Museum are cool though, with a few 'making-of' materials, and an actual tear to the Lutece lab. The leaderboards are nice to compare your score with your friends but hardly anyone is playing this, after all it doesn't even feature multiplayer! This was the perfect opportunity for some real COOP between two player controlled characters, Booker and Elizabeth, finally attacking together (after all you get to play her on episode 2). Having this flawed practice option in the game would have been okay but paying extra for it is just ludicrous The locations are also just a remix of places from the actual game so very little imagination here, the enemies are also always the same and they actually brought the Siren boss from the main game in several of the waves. MP and more polished levels would have made this truly worthwhile. You do get a better sense of what combat you could have had in the game but never fully appreciate all that could have been if the design had stretched to unlock the full potential of your armament in different sitations.

by Alleycat, France - Jul 14th 2014

Borderlands 2: Wedding Day Massacre
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Romeo and Juliette must die

Hilariously written, this shakespearean flavored Valentine's day slaughterfest will keep you bloody entertained until the bitter end!

by Alleycat, France - Jun 24th 2014

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock vs. the Son of Crawmerax
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Last and least

Although ultimately a little disappointing as the final Headhunter package, the paradisiac island is a great setting and chasing a drunk mutant fly around is good fun. I guess all good things come to an end, sometimes with a whimper. Squishy, squishy.

by Alleycat, France - Jun 24th 2014

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
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Best of the 80s

A pink neon playground with a Scarface twist. Miami was never this much fun. Bikes, choppers, malls and bank heists, and boats! From zero to gangster, from the streets to porn sets and stripclubs, say hello to my little friend!

by Alleycat, France - Jun 24th 2014

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
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Gang wars

Shape up to rule your hood and **** the police! From downtown LA to Santa Monica and San Fran, this installment is the biggest of the classics. More interactions (ejem, you can have Hot coffee here) and a more expansive storyline make your journey with rappers and dealers worthwhile.

by Alleycat, France - Jun 24th 2014

BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 1
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Back to Rapture

A film noir return to Rapture before it's downfall. In this claustrophobic underwater complex you must use the geography of the rooms to your advantage. The DLC makes the most of the new features from 'Bioshock infinite' like the skyline and grapple and a more strategic use of the elements in the familiar environment filled with turrets and secrets. As usual, great storyline and dialogue. MP would have been most welcome!

by Alleycat, France - Jun 23rd 2014

BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2
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The end of the Beginning

This DLC ties up the Prequel with the original Bioshock. You actually play as a stealthy Elizabeth this time with the brand new dart crossbow which allows you to go through the game without actually killing any of the Splicers (1998 mode). The Mood and cutscenes are far out, and although we learn little about the fate of Booker De Witt, the revelations about Rapture make up for it in this tragic and melancholic game.

by Alleycat, France - Jun 23rd 2014

Blades of Time Limited Edition
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Pretty mayhem

'Blades of times' packs a sexy heroine with lots of action and puzzles. The controls are a little weird at first but once you customize and get used to them there's a lot of exploring, fighting and gun play around the corner, the story unfolds pleasantly and the different landscapes are very beautiful to watch. Also, the innovative time travel feature which basically allows you to replay at the same moment that your double(s) are doing the original action(s) to kill difficult hordes of ennemies or solve more complex puzzle that require you to be in multiple places at the same time. Sounds confusing? Time travel always is, but despite it's complications it's definetly recommended for casual adventure gaming!

by Alleycat, France - Feb 16th 2014

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