1. DUSK
Dusk is a GODLY return to form in FPS games. It is REALLY that good, from start to finish. Quake-like mechanics, stellar level design...everything about DUSK is nothing but sheer
. It never ceases to amaze me how they managed to make such an atmospheric game while intentionally going for a "dated" look.
Dusk is a no-cutscene, no fat, no filller experience. All levels are good and plenty of them are quite memorable.
Erebus Reactor aka CRACK IN FPS FORM
While episode 1 does a great job "easing you in", the game takes a turn into the "I don't know wtf is that, but it's fucking awesome" territory at about mid episode 2. Ep2. has an industrial-nightmare theme that kinda reminds me of the original Silent Hill, while episode 3 manages to MASTERFULLY stay away from copying DOOM and instead goes for a "disturbing nightmare" atmosphere instead.
Game is great, 11/10, people who don't own a copy are either ignorant of Dusk's greatness or have irredeemable shit taste. This isn't a "good for a modern game" it's a "good, period" scenario.
2. AMID EVIL
First off, let me clarify some confusion: AE is NOT developed by the same guy that did Dusk, but it IS published by the same company (New Blood Interactive). It's also NOT an Unity game, AE runs on the Unreal engine. With that out of the way, let's go into the game proper.
AE takes heavy inspiration from Heretic (and some from Hexen), and features a fun projectile based combat that feels right. While Dusk's arsenal is pretty "standard", AE's arsenal is...guess I would call it "exotic". From a sword that launches spells that can clash mid air with enemy spells to a mace that lauches spikes that NAIL ENEMIES TO WALLS and Sceptre that launches fucking planets, AE's arsenal is very memorable and FUN to use.
Nailing foes to walls never gets old
Another thing that I found quite interesting is that the game's level design philosophy is a stark contrast to the garbage we see nowadays. AE's levels are YUUUUGE and its usage of verticality is a fucking work of art. Every level looks gorgeous and I don't think there is a single map WITHOUT usage of climbing/swimming/dropping from staggering heights (no fall damage here, boyos).
The only thing I would bitch about is that the later portions of the game kinda start moving away from the "shooter" genre and go into the "1st person plataformer" genre. I left some constructive criticism about ep 5 on the forums. My HOPE is that episode 7 goes back to the awesome arena-like fights with tons of enemies that defined episodes 1-4, because if it's more of what I saw in The Forges my opinion might change. I mean... it's just MY OPINION, but I prefer killing shit instead of dealing with a gazillion traps and pitfalls. Oh well...
AE is an overall great game with some frustrating parts here and there. The core gameplay mechanics are close to perfection, the level design is beautiful and interesting, but on some maps you get the impression that the devs care a lot about how their maps LOOK, but not so much about "how fun they are to play".
Well...they DID warn me.
3. Killing Floor 2
I've seen plenty of negative opinions on the Codex thread, but I enjoyed this one. Most of the issues pointed by people there were addressed at some point in development. I'm a latecomer to KF, so don't expect me to know how things were during Early Access or something.
At this point in time the game is quite enjoyable, as far as new games go, anyway. It's an edgier Left 4 Dead, with more options and more things to play with. I also found the map design to be more interesting, with maps like Airship, Nightmare, Monster Ball and others being legit creative and quite unique.
Personally I dislike the shitty grind mechanics, but whatever. The game also features shitty micro transactions and the whole "leh ironic funneh meme hat" monetization scam, but thankfully this crap can be ignored as the actual content is NOT behind paywalls of any kind.
It's also quite funny how some members of its "community" get insanely butthurt when you say the game is "kinda like L4D, lel", but it really is. And YES, it is repetitive, but I don't see that as a deal breaker. Play some KF2 -> get bored -> go do something else. You'll be back wanting to repeat that perfect fleshpound takedown you managed earlier.
The game isn't groundbreaking or anything but what little it does it does REALLY well, with proper weapon impact, great sound design and overall FUN experience. Get it cheap like I did and you're golden.
Dusk is a GODLY return to form in FPS games. It is REALLY that good, from start to finish. Quake-like mechanics, stellar level design...everything about DUSK is nothing but sheer
. It never ceases to amaze me how they managed to make such an atmospheric game while intentionally going for a "dated" look.Dusk is a no-cutscene, no fat, no filller experience. All levels are good and plenty of them are quite memorable.
Erebus Reactor aka CRACK IN FPS FORM
While episode 1 does a great job "easing you in", the game takes a turn into the "I don't know wtf is that, but it's fucking awesome" territory at about mid episode 2. Ep2. has an industrial-nightmare theme that kinda reminds me of the original Silent Hill, while episode 3 manages to MASTERFULLY stay away from copying DOOM and instead goes for a "disturbing nightmare" atmosphere instead.
Game is great, 11/10, people who don't own a copy are either ignorant of Dusk's greatness or have irredeemable shit taste. This isn't a "good for a modern game" it's a "good, period" scenario.
2. AMID EVIL
First off, let me clarify some confusion: AE is NOT developed by the same guy that did Dusk, but it IS published by the same company (New Blood Interactive). It's also NOT an Unity game, AE runs on the Unreal engine. With that out of the way, let's go into the game proper.
AE takes heavy inspiration from Heretic (and some from Hexen), and features a fun projectile based combat that feels right. While Dusk's arsenal is pretty "standard", AE's arsenal is...guess I would call it "exotic". From a sword that launches spells that can clash mid air with enemy spells to a mace that lauches spikes that NAIL ENEMIES TO WALLS and Sceptre that launches fucking planets, AE's arsenal is very memorable and FUN to use.
Nailing foes to walls never gets old
Another thing that I found quite interesting is that the game's level design philosophy is a stark contrast to the garbage we see nowadays. AE's levels are YUUUUGE and its usage of verticality is a fucking work of art. Every level looks gorgeous and I don't think there is a single map WITHOUT usage of climbing/swimming/dropping from staggering heights (no fall damage here, boyos).
The only thing I would bitch about is that the later portions of the game kinda start moving away from the "shooter" genre and go into the "1st person plataformer" genre. I left some constructive criticism about ep 5 on the forums. My HOPE is that episode 7 goes back to the awesome arena-like fights with tons of enemies that defined episodes 1-4, because if it's more of what I saw in The Forges my opinion might change. I mean... it's just MY OPINION, but I prefer killing shit instead of dealing with a gazillion traps and pitfalls. Oh well...
AE is an overall great game with some frustrating parts here and there. The core gameplay mechanics are close to perfection, the level design is beautiful and interesting, but on some maps you get the impression that the devs care a lot about how their maps LOOK, but not so much about "how fun they are to play".
Well...they DID warn me.
3. Killing Floor 2
I've seen plenty of negative opinions on the Codex thread, but I enjoyed this one. Most of the issues pointed by people there were addressed at some point in development. I'm a latecomer to KF, so don't expect me to know how things were during Early Access or something.
At this point in time the game is quite enjoyable, as far as new games go, anyway. It's an edgier Left 4 Dead, with more options and more things to play with. I also found the map design to be more interesting, with maps like Airship, Nightmare, Monster Ball and others being legit creative and quite unique.
Personally I dislike the shitty grind mechanics, but whatever. The game also features shitty micro transactions and the whole "leh ironic funneh meme hat" monetization scam, but thankfully this crap can be ignored as the actual content is NOT behind paywalls of any kind.
It's also quite funny how some members of its "community" get insanely butthurt when you say the game is "kinda like L4D, lel", but it really is. And YES, it is repetitive, but I don't see that as a deal breaker. Play some KF2 -> get bored -> go do something else. You'll be back wanting to repeat that perfect fleshpound takedown you managed earlier.
The game isn't groundbreaking or anything but what little it does it does REALLY well, with proper weapon impact, great sound design and overall FUN experience. Get it cheap like I did and you're golden.
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