Video Game Reviews

The theme of the criminal underworld in the USA during the 1930s-50s seems to always capture the interest of gamers. "Family"—just one word, but it transforms ordinary crime into gangster romance. Shootouts, car chases, Prohibition, and corrupt cops are merely extras that have become part of the setting of that era. Most developers, however, prefer other popular themes: zombie apocalypse, World War II, fantasy universes, and so on. Maybe that's why the genre is still in demand—after all, there are very few quality games about the mafia, and only one true masterpiece. Many were looking forward to the game from Haemimont Games. After all, together with publisher Kalypso Media, they created the Tropico series, so it was reasonable to expect something good from the economic strategy Omerta: City of Gangsters.

Greetings, dear friends. Get ready for a conversation about a game that literally turned my perception of modern games upside down. It seems that this game is not just someone's fantasy come to life, but a real, hidden alternative reality. One way or another, games like BioShock have always attracted players like a magnet. But in the past, luck turned its back on the series. It was precisely because of this that it was extremely difficult to refrain from skeptical statements.

To be honest, I didn't follow the development of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon and wasn't really planning to check out the release version—it looked like a The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim clone on the Unity engine at first glance. However, after seeing dozens of positive reviews on Steam and a stable online player base (okay, and at Rodion's request), I decided to give it a try—and ended up losing myself for dozens of hours, forgetting all my basic needs. Yes, it's hard to believe, but a small Polish team with a tiny budget managed to create not just one of the most atmospheric RPG's—but in many ways, it surpasses the latest works of Obsidian and Bethesda. A true hidden gem that shouldn't be missed. I played through Tainted Grail from start to finish and want to share my detailed impressions.

Launching The Cave, the new creation of Ron Gilbert, you expect to see yet another masterpiece. The creator of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island simply can’t deliver a second-rate product. Or perhaps it’s our warm memories of classic quests that make us think so. The image appears, a voice sounds, and we are immersed in a fairy tale.

The legendary city-building simulator series SimCity has returned to computer screens, making use of all the perks of modern technology such as online co-op play and extensive social features. However, the reboot can hardly be called successful: SimCity (2013) is full of subtle gameplay flaws, bugs, and technical issues like "Error 37". But let's start from the beginning.

Tomb Raider is a cult game series, the pioneer of the third-person shooter genre, which has had a significant impact on the development of this direction. Its unchanging main character, Lara Croft, remains one of the most recognizable symbols of video game culture to this day. The owner of a perky bust and a pair of pistols with infinite ammo has managed to become a sex symbol for more than one generation, as well as get into the Guinness Book of Records with the title of "the most famous video game heroine among people.

MindsEye is the debut project of the studio Build a Rocket Boy, headed by Leslie Benzies. This person worked with the Grand Theft Auto series since the third part, but in 2016 he left Rockstar and founded a new company. In this article, we will figure out whether the game designer GTA 5 managed to repeat his success.

Elden Ring Nightreign is the most unusual project from FromSoftware, one that could easily be mistaken for a fan-made modification or a free DLC that the publisher decided to sell as a standalone game. The developers simply took ready-made assets from their most popular game and wrapped them in a roguelite shell with a cooperative mode. Despite the obvious cost-cutting, in the end we got a rather entertaining thing that you actually want to play. We have quite a few complaints and questions for Nightreign, but the idea of half-hour multiplayer runs not only works, but is also very addictive. We explored all the available content and even reached the end credits (yes, this is a regular game, not a live service), so we could tell you about the strangest experiment from FromSoftware, whose experience will be used in the upcoming The Duskbloods.

According to the developers' idea, Crysis 3 was supposed to combine the wild jungles and open world of the first game with the "vertical gameplay" of the second. Admittedly, the concept was great, but the result turned out to be far from what the series' fans had hoped for.

Over the past 10 years, the Alien xenomorph universe has taken several serious hits. Here we can recall mediocre films like "Alien vs. Predator" and weak attempts to recreate the confrontation between humans and Aliens in video games.

Long before the release of Dead Space 3, fans of the series were already trashing the developers. Everything came under fire: the co-op mode, item crafting, the online store, and the fact that the setting would be a planet and not a space station. There were accusations that the developers had turned the horror into a shooter, "consolized the game," and so on. But in fact, Visceral Games delivered an excellent game, on par with the first two installments and even better!

How often have you heard the phrase: "You need to come to terms with your demons, and then you will find peace..."? Personally, I've come across this phrase repeatedly—in movies, in games, and in all kinds of songs. And when my mind touched upon the thought of those very demons, I would just sit and wonder: "Is it really impossible to fight them?" But fortunately, there is something—or more precisely, a game—that showed me that very struggle against a world without truth, honesty, or personal opinion. A world full of lies. A world that became the result of the secret, devilish imagination of the developers from Ninja Theory. This world is called Devil May Cry.

Borderlands 2 can be called a major hit of this year, as it is an exciting game with well-designed gameplay, witty and cynical dialogues, as well as countless weapons and equipment

The release of Diablo 3 was not without a lot of criticism, both towards the game itself and towards the DRM protection, which required players to be constantly online. But what does the game look like now, about half a year after its release? Let's try to figure it out and see what conclusions we come to.

Once upon a time, we got the chance to step into the shoes of a real hashashin in Assassin's Creed. The game was unusual, but rather monotonous and boring. Then came the sequel and two expansions, which were already more varied, complex, and interesting. Old gameplay elements were refined, new ones were added, locations changed, and with them, the story developed. Finally, we have a game that is supposed to be the final point in Desmond Miles' story and become the most outstanding game of the trilogy, absorbing all the best from the previous parts of the series and getting rid of the unnecessary. In a sense, Assassin's Creed 3 fulfilled its mission.

Hitman: Absolution is a game that belongs to the very rare genre of "purebred" stealth games. No trendy gadgets, sensors, or scanners. Just cold calculation, stealth, and a garrote in your hands. The innovations introduced by the developers at IO Interactive in Absolution shifted the focus from hardcore gameplay to "mainstream appeal," so the new game doesn't quite reach the benchmark set by the exemplary Hitman: Blood Money.

It’s almost funny how high the price of foolishness can be in a fit of emotion. An inexplicable sense of confidence makes a person imagine themselves as immensely powerful. Even though that’s far from the truth. And yet, it all started so well. There wasn’t even a hint that your perception of the world around you could collapse in an instant. And at the moment when you fall from the heights of your dreams, dusted with meaningless stereotypes, you realize how insignificant you really are. But despite the pain and the countless obstacles, you discover something new within yourself. Life and struggle change your mind, your character, and your perception of yourself. What seemed wild and astonishing yesterday becomes ordinary and real. In such circumstances, you want to understand just one thing: how far can you go? This, and many other questions, is what Ubisoft’s new creation tries to answer.

A dream come true for fans! The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy has received an improved edition — Enhanced Edition — with updated graphics, gamepad support, adaptation for new generation consoles, as well as achievements and fixes for bugs that are 20 years old. It would seem that GSC Game World has thanked «its audience» for years of support and popularizing the brand. However, player reviews on Steam and their comments on social networks leave much to be desired. Legends of the Zone Trilogy is being called one of the worst remasters of the year, with a quality even lower than Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. In response, the developers have begun accusing the Russian-speaking audience of deliberately lowering the ratings. So, we decided to test Enhanced Edition ourselves and share our impressions.

Released in 2010, Call Of Duty: Black Ops managed to shake up the entire series, not so much with its story, but with its exciting missions, gameplay, and graphics. In the sequel, Treyarch tried to outdo themselves, but ended up turning Black Ops 2 into more of a zoo of absurd situations than a serious shooter about future wars.

Need For Speed... how much meaning there used to be in those words... about five years ago. Now, Need For Speed has become synonymous with how not to make racing games. Showiness, pretentiousness, worn-out clichés—all of this has become deeply ingrained in the latest games of the series. And Most Wanted (2012) is yet another confirmation of that.