Recent reviews by Nip

It's ok I guess

If you're a fan of Vermintide, horde games, cooperative shooters and W40K, Darktide is the game for you. However, for everything that it does well - and really damn well, I should add - there's also still a long way to go before it's finished.

Consider Darktide as currently in its Cyberpunk phase. Most of the elements are there and you can see the concept behind the curtain, but there are still huge chunks of missing content (e.g. half the crafting system doesn't exist yet), it's currently very grindy and in terms of story or character progression, it feels like almost 90% has been left on the cutting room floor.

Pros - all the classes feel unique and interesting to play as, which makes for fun builds. The weapons feel nice and meaty, with great audio design as expected from FS. Maps are vast, detailed and likely the most intricate looks we'll get at proper W40K settings that aren't Space Hulk (shivers).

Cons - currently feels like a half-finished game, with nothing yet to keep you playing in the endgame (I imagine that's why it's currently haemorrhaging beta/longer-term players). Load times are still horrendous in places - but admittedly are a lot better than launch, and the maps/conditions pool seems to feel increasingly smaller the more that you play. Also the final cinematic for reaching level 30 is hilariously cut-off and awkward.

TL;DR - fun, but needs more game.

Frog Detective is once again GOTY 9/10

I had to take one mark down purely because of Mary's acting. I feel like there was a point in the performance where she seemed a little distracted and it instantly broke my immersion, letting down the narrative arc and atmosphere. I know Mary is a professional and she can do better, which is why it was so disappointing to see. You can do better, Mary - an actor never brings their issues onto the stage.

I grew up playing Quake and I will die playing Quake

The rats, they must be bashed. Again.

Even with about 5 mods downloaded to make this game run properly, it's still fundamentally unplayable. Ridiculously difficult in places (more or less relies on luck), dodgy mechanics and seemingly unfinished development haunts this otherwise promising title. Which is a massive shame, because it otherwise gets the atmosphere, story and setting bang on for a Lovecraft game!

A direct continuation of QII, you're thrown into the fight against the Strogg as part of the regular marines, looking to finish their command structure in the wake of Bitterman's success against the Makron.

The best way to sum up this game is Doom 3 with friendly teammates, but suffers from the same level darkness issues (albeit, with a better flashlight system). Luckily, there are a wide range of mods available to modernise the graphics and improve general performance to an acceptable standard.

Pros:
-Having a squad is genuinely useful and they're actually pretty damn helpful in tight spots
-A lot of recognisable enemies from QII are included as you progress
-Vehicle sections can be a bit janky, but it's nice to have the shake-up
-On harder difficulties, still a bit of Arena satisfaction, cycling weapons and using precision shots

Cons:
-Every level makes you backtrack, constantly...
-Railgun feels very underpowered in comparison to other Quake games
-Some enemies become absolute true-shot bullet sponges on harder difficulties
-Very little emphasis on secrets, which feels a little odd for the series

I really like the slower, beefier Kombat in this compared to X (which basically means, less chance of spamming rapid combos infinitely with the same character every battle), but - and it's a BIG BUT - game still has issues with random Nvidia crashes that have plagued it since day 1. Has actually made me stop playing it entirely, which is a massive shame, considering how rich it feels with content. When I know it's fixed, I'll definitely return, but until then it's just unplayable if I have no guarantee I'm about to lose all current progress at any given moment...

I've played this game on Android since 2016 and i'm still playing it now. If I was actually any good at it, that would probably seem more impressive, but here we are.

As someone who enjoyed Doom 2016 - but not enough to smash the hype button - this has actually surprised me. The full arcade nature of the game has completely returned (if not majorly exaggerated) and it really feels satisfying. Importantly, not too time-sinky. The arenas are small, use a lot more vertical space than they used to and, despite not being skilled enough to start making it look like the gameplay trailers, does have a sense of reward when you start utilising the environment.

Only downside I can communicate is the slow transition of control learning, as having multiple weapon and passive body mods make usual keybindings (defaults like R for reload, Control for crouch, R Click for zoom etc) a recurring mistake, but that ends up more of a player learning fault than a game one.

Enjoyable, fun, will keep playing, will keep ripping and tearing.

Side, soundtrack review: 10/10 for Mick Gordon.

Update edit: Season pass does annoy me though.