Reviews - DJ_Zephyr

Put me up against a Hunter without the ammo or guns to take it down? Sorry, but I like my games winnable, not unpassable.

Artistically, this shows some promise. I mainly downloaded this because the screens interested me, and the author does seem to have a good hand on textures, lighting, and mapping.

From the get-go, tho, there were problems. The glitchy icon in my Steam menu was forgivable, but then the game started with no sound- the default volume settings were at zero for some reason. Then, even more discouraging, was having no clue what I was looking for or where I was going in the very first area. Finally getting out of the area, I soon discovered a needlessly difficult combat system- no crosshairs, overpowered enemies, and a convoluted fireball system (cast it, chase it down, grab it grav-gun style, THEN throw it and hope it hits... while under fire, and again without a crosshair). Add to that further level navigation difficulties, a very intense film grain and forced letterboxing (making it very hard to see on my old 17" tube), and I decided this was too much of a headache to play thru.

It's quite a shame- the sights in the screens look like things I want to see. But I won't give myself a migraine getting there.

To my shame, I haven't seen the movie this is based on. But now I must- this is one epic campaign. Tons of scripted events and cool details, and even fully-voiced (tho never seen) characters to guide the story along. I'll definitely need some more run-thrus to fully explore the maps- each stage is enormous, with plenty of side-paths to get you distracted and lost. And the mapwork is indeed brilliant- loads of details, great lighting (or in some cases, the lack thereof), good atmosphere, and a frantic but manageable pace with enough gear to get a team to the end.

My only quarrel is that some sequences are nearly impossible in solo mutations (like Single Player Realism). Several sequences require one to sit and hold an activator, and these sequences usually involve hordes. Without at least a bot or two for cover, you simply can't complete the objective.

Nevertheless, worth the big DL. This is a fun run, and should be even more fun once I rent Dawn of the Dead. :P

For a while, I steered clear of the bigger gameplay overhauls for Oblivion and Fallout, unsure of what kinda chaos they might wreak. I did, however, have gobs of mods for each- very little of my FO3 main character's equipment was vanilla hardware, and I did indeed have a plethora of gameplay mods. It got quite unstable, all those plugins fighting each other for supremacy, and the crashes chased me away from the game for a while.

After some thought, I decided to give the well-acclaimed FWE a try by starting some new characters, and I am very glad I did. Many of the features I used to have a stack of mods for are all rolled into one with FWE. Things work much better now, and due to its popularity, many other plugins are made with FWE in mind, so compatibility is no sweat.

This is the game Bethesda should have given us. Survival is now the challenge it should be in a post-apocalyptic world. Ammo, chems and caps are rarer, healing is no longer as simple as spamming stimpaks, and food, water, and sleep are now truly vital. Combat is now a brutal affair- increased global damage and reduced player health mean a lot more ducking and covering, and oftentimes a lot more pain.

If you've played Fallout 3 to death, and are looking to refresh the Wasteland experience, I'd gladly recommend Fallout Wanderer's Edition.

This is scary done right.

Incredible lighting, good use of forcers to hurl stuff in one's face... or drag them out of sight to who knows where. Some mapping tricks I haven't seen before, too- rooms and hallways changing before your eyes- or right after you take your eyes off them. As necessary for a horror game, the sound work is top-notch in all areas- voice work, music, and of course ambiance. Good gunplay and plenty of freakies (and extra-freakies) to shoot at, mixed with some bits of puzzle-solving and environment destruction.

Play in a dark room with a good speaker set for maximum effect. And if you hafta snack, pause while eating and swallow before resuming, or you may decorate your desk with grub. Plenty of full-body twitches and corners you won't wanna go around here. The mannequin sequence is easily one of my favorites. Artistically and technically awesome stuff.

Kudos to the We Create Stuff team! I look forward to seeing them Create more cool Stuff in the futre!