Video Game Review #259: Resident Evil Zero

Resident Evil Zero

GameCube

Nostalgia Factor:

Considering that I’ve played this game from start to finish only one time in my life, I have quite the history with it. Resident Evil Zero came out in 2002, when I was 20 years old. I didn’t have a GameCube at the time, but I went out and picked one up a year or two later. By then, Resident Evil Zero was considered an “old” game, and I was able to find a used copy of it in the bargain bin at my local GameStop.

At this time in my life I was living with my mom after suffering a bad breakup with a girlfriend I was living with. It wasn’t long before I was dating someone else: Jessica, a woman I had met online. I’ve mentioned her in a few of my reviews. We played Super Mario Sunshine, Eternal Darkness, and Kingdom Hearts together – among other games. We didn’t necessarily play Resident Evil Zero together, but she did come over while I was playing the game a few times. She seemed really into the game. I remember getting stuck on one of the puzzles where you have to light candles below a series of animals in the proper order. We were so stumped that we had to log on to my mom’s dial-up internet to find the solution. Jessica wrote the solution on a small scrap of note paper, and we were able to use it to advance further in the game. I must have stuck the scrap of paper with the puzzle solution in the game’s case – because to my surprise nearly 20 years later I found that piece of paper in mint condition when I brought this game out to play it. Seeing that was a blast from the past!

Anyway I’ve played through nearly every Resident Evil title twice. Most of them - like the original game, the remake, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 4 - I can safely say I’ve played dozens of times. Even the ones I don’t like that much, like Nemesis and RE 5 I’ve played through more than once. But not Zero. Why? I don’t know! It’s not like I dislike the game or have bad memories of it. How the heck did it take me nearly 20 years to come back to this game? It was just the perfect storm of other games to play, I suppose.

Well, in 2021 I finally returned to Resident Evil Zero – a game I hadn’t picked up since beating it about 18 years ago. I didn’t remember much about the game after all that time. If you had asked me, I would have described it as “the Resident Evil on a train.”

But there is more to it than that. And slowly but surely it all started to come back to me as I played. Read on for further thoughts.

 

Story:

This game serves as a prequel to the original Resident Evil. Rebecca Chambers and the STARS Bravo Team are dispatched to the Arklay Mountains to investigate a series of bizarre murders when their helicopter crashes. Rebecca escapes the wreckage and takes shelter on a nearby train that is oddly stopped on the tracks. It is here that she meets and teams up with Billy Coen, an escaped convict accused of murdering 23 people. Together they explore this mysterious train, which is filled with zombies and other creatures.

An attempt to destroy the train leads to it crashing outside an empty facility, which Rebecca and Billy explore. Turns out that this was a former Umbrella training facility. You play through a couple areas that seem like your typical Resident Evil retreads (a mansion, a sewer, a lab, etc) before you end up destroying the main bad guy, who uses leeches as his primary form of attack. The facility explodes, Billy escapes as a “casualty” of the conflict, and Rebecca wanders from one nightmare into another as she discovers the mansion from the original Resident Evil game. Funny how she never mentioned any of these crazy events to Chris at all, huh?

Anyway, the end. There’s not much that is too horribly deep or thought-provoking about this game’s story. It gives you a little background information on Umbrella and some of their genetic experiments, but that is about it. Continuity seems like it could be an issue, if you’re really THAT wrapped up in the lore of Resident Evil. But I didn’t care about any of that. I just wanted to be entertained and for the most part I was.

 

Gameplay:

At first glance this game looks and feels like one of the PS1 era classics. Tank controls, similar menu screen, similar control scheme, similar camera angles. But it quickly becomes clear that this game is attempting to do something different. I’ll talk about the two main differences first.

The first difference is that this is the first Resident Evil game to abandon the “chest” system used in previous games. In this game, if you run out of space in your inventory you simply drop the item on the ground. The item will be marked on the map in case you want to come back and pick it up later. Say I need to pick up a key that I need to unlock the next area of the game, but I don’t have any space in my inventory. I have two first aid sprays, so I decide to drop one of them to make room for the key. I can leave the room, use the key, and come back to pick up the first aid spray and add it back to my inventory. In other instances you’ll find yourself being forced to leave items behind since you just simply don’t have room to bring everything along with you.

This system can be both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that the item box system is just so much easier. This way involves a lot of backtracking and being forced to abandon precious ammunition and health items because you simply don’t have room to bring them along. Plus your inventory space in this game seems smaller than the usual Resident Evil game, and you have guns and other items that take up multiple spaces in your inventory. It can be quite the hassle going back and forth trying to micromanage your inventory spots when in the good ole days you could just throw them in an item box and not spend a second’s thought worrying about them.

The good part of this is that in the short-term this can be a very helpful tool. If you need to grab a key item but don’t have space for it, you don’t have to worry about backtracking to a save room and using the chest to clear up spaces. Just drop something and grab what you need to grab. Plus, the OCD part of me enjoyed creating “item rooms” where I’d dump all my items and use the room like a hub where I’d come back and manage my inventory. If you asked me, I do prefer the item box method of inventory management, but I don’t think that this way is as bad as people make it out to be.

The other big difference between RE Zero and other classic Resident Evil games is that this game features the buddy system. You don’t just control Rebecca, you control Rebecca AND Billy. You can switch back and forth between the characters any time you want. Using one character, you can tell the other one to either stay behind or come along with you. There’s little actual utility in traveling around with Rebecca and Billy together at all times, as whichever character you aren’t controlling will wildly waste ammo or get in the way or get hurt. I usually have one stay behind while I explore with the other.

This gimmick, while fun at times, really only comes in handy when solving puzzles. I appreciate that they tried to do something different, though, both in the character-switching and the new item system. It definitely makes Resident Evil Zero unique and memorable, setting it apart from other status quo RE games that do the same thing and use the same tired formula over and over again.

Love the changes or hate them, almost everyone seems to have some kind of strong opinion on them.

 

Graphics:

Even though this game is nearly 20 years old it still looks really good. It is easily one of the best looking classic RE games, right up there next to the remake of the original Resident Evil. The GameCube definitely did wonders for the graphics of this series.

Characters are detailed and sharp, but the 2D environments steal the show. They are just stunning. The fine detail put into these environments is top of the line. Some of these areas almost look photo realistic. Throw in some awesome environmental effects (rain, lightning, the train shaking, etc) and you’ve got one impressive looking video game.

The only area of the game that shows its age are the cutscenes. Man, some of them are just laughably bad and outdated. I’m not complaining, though. It gives the game that sweet B movie charm that the early part of the series is known for. I love it.

 

Sound:

This game’s music and sound effects are right up there with the very best of the classic Resident Evil games. Moaning zombies, your character’s footsteps, the bloopy bloops when you navigate the menu: this game is pure classic Resident Evil. The voice acting isn’t too bad either, for once. 

If I had to complain it would be that this game doesn’t quite have as iconic a musical score as, say, Resident Evil 1 or 2. But the game’s music is still darn good. It helps create a tense and creepy atmosphere for everyone playing. All the small touches are nice, too. The rumble of the train, the crackle of fires. You can easily immerse yourself in this game and completely forget about the real world.

 

Overall:

I had a fun time with this game. I can’t believe it took me so long to come back and play it! I think its difficulty may have played a factor. I remember struggling with this game the first time I played it (a long time ago) and I definitely struggled this time around too. It may be the hardest classic Resident Evil game I have ever played. I was constantly either almost out of bullets or almost out of health items. I had to ration like I’ve never rationed before, often reloading save points if I felt I had wasted too much ammo or taken too much damage in battle. But you know what? I didn’t mind this at all. It’s called survival horror. Kind of cheapens things if they are too easy, don’t you think? This game is definitely not too easy.

Is Zero as good as some of the all-time classics in the series like 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica, etc? It is debatable. I wouldn’t put it above 1 or 2 but I definitely enjoyed it more than 3. I haven’t played Code Veronica in AGES so I’ll refrain from commenting until I replay that game (which I recently just purchased, actually).

If you love the Resident Evil series I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t like this game. Yeah, the item management system and the dual character thing may turn some people off, but neither of these ruin the game for me. Like I said before, they give Zero a unique identity and personality. This game wouldn’t be the same without them, for better or worse.

So yeah. I liked it. I don’t think this game will go down as an all-time classic, but at the same time I don’t think it is trying to be one. It’s a fun, quirky, often overlooked entry into what I consider one of the best video game franchises ever made.

Is it great? No. Is it good? For sure. Should you play it if you are a fan of the series? 100%

I can’t guarantee it will be your cup of tea or not, but personally I enjoyed it – flaws and all. Hopefully you do too.

Final Score:

B

 

Believe it or not, this was my tenth review of a Resident Evil game. Here are the others:

Resident Evil: Director's Cut

Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Resident Evil (remake)

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil: Revelations

Resident Evil 2 (remake)

Resident Evil 3 (remake)

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

Re-Review #12: Horizon Zero Dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn

PlayStation 4

For my original review of this game, click

>HERE<

I first played through Horizon Zero Dawn a little over 2 years ago. I absolutely loved the game, and I ended up giving it a perfect review score of A+. I always knew that someday I was going to return to Horizon Zero Dawn and play it again, but I had no idea it would be so soon.

In 20202 my wife and I welcomed our first baby to the world. As a new parent, it was quite the hectic time for me. All of a sudden I found myself with no spare time to play video games or attend to any of my favorite hobbies and pastimes. Since I am the type of guy that fully invests himself when he plays a video game, I didn’t want to start up a brand-new game that I was going to constantly be distracted from by the baby. So I figured I’d play something I had already played before. I settled on Horizon Zero Dawn.

Normally I am not a New Game + person, but because I had played through this game so recently I figured I’d give it a shot for once. If anything, it would earn me an extra trophy on the PlayStation Network. Plus, this time around I could focus more on the game’s story since I remembered combat being somewhat difficult the first time around.

At first, I regretted my decision. I was destroying enemies and carving them up and left and right. The game was offering no challenge to me whatsoever. Sure, I was able to focus on the game’s story, but I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that I was losing too much of what had made the game such a fun experience for me the first time around. Without that feeling of fear or being on edge, because any enemy encounter could kill me, the game became too easy. And thus: less enjoyable.

Plus, the game’s story itself had lost some of its magic for me. As I played, I found myself simply going  through the motions. I wasn’t enjoying myself. I wasn’t having fun. How could my mind change on an A+ title so quickly?

As my interest in the title waned, so did my time playing it. Days and weeks would go by between playing sessions. As the baby started to develop a normal sleep schedule, I found myself with more time to play video games again. I renewed my GameFly subscription and put Horizon Zero Dawn on the backburner for several months while I turned my attention to newer and flashier games.

2020 turned into 2021. March came around and I decided I was going to cancel my GameFly subscription and start focusing on playing and reviewing my backlog of games again. Well, I am not the type of guy who likes to leave loose threads dangling when it comes to video games, so I made up my mind that I was going to come back and finish Horizon Zero Dawn before I played anything else. And that I did.

Luckily I was able to jump back into the game just as it was getting good. It wasn’t long before Aloy encountered Sylens for the first time. From that point on, I was hooked. The story really grabbed me this time around. The Faro Plague, the Zero Dawn Project, the audio and the holo logs, Dr. Sobeck, all of it. Even though I already knew what happened based on my first playthrough of this game, I really was digging it this time around. I played it every day religiously for about a week. And then all of a sudden the game was over. It seemed really short in my mind, but I had to realize I had been playing this game off and on for about a year. I must have made better progress initially than I had thought! The fact that I skipped some of the side quests and didn't explore 100% of the map this time around, may have had something to do with it as well.

This game’s story really takes quite a long time to get going. I couldn’t care less about the tribes and the hunting lodges and the Sun King and all the NPCs you have to help as you explore the world map. All of that stuff is just, well – meh, at best. Things didn’t take off until I started digging up what happened to cause the apocalypse that destroyed humanity, and the resulting project that arose to save humanity. That shit was fascinating to me, and was the real heart of this game in my opinion.

Still, even as I began to really enjoy the game’s story on my second playthrough, I couldn’t fully embrace its combat. It’s so clunky and poorly designed. Maybe I didn’t notice how bad it was the first time I played this game two years ago, but this time I had just finished playing Ghost of Tsushima – and it couldn’t be more obvious that Horizon Zero Dawn can’t hold a candle to that game’s combat and overall gameplay.

Whenever it is that this game’s sequel comes out, I hope that they’ve fixed the combat to make it more smooth and not so clumsy and awkward.

All in all, I still consider Horizon Zero Dawn to be a good game. Amazing graphics, atmosphere, storyline. Top of the line stuff. Am I as infatuated with this game as I was when I first played it two years ago? Absolutely not. This game was new and exciting back then. It seems to lose most of its magic when I went back to play it a second time. Which is kind of a shame, really. I had it all built up in my mind as this wonderful, A+ title. Now it doesn’t even get a grade in the A range.

There is no question that this is a good game. I would even say it is a really good game. But a great one? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh……

 

Final Score:

B+

Video Game Review #258: Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

This game isn’t even a year old, and I had never played it before, so I don’t have much to write here as far as nostalgia goes. I didn’t even know anything about this game at all until I heard some people talking about it at work, and I decided to look it up. I had never seen a preview of this game, hadn’t read any hype about it, nothing. But it looked good to me, and my coworkers had nothing but good things to say about it, so I decided to check it out.

 

Story:

You control a samurai named Jin Sakai, whose home island of Tsushima is invaded by the Mongols in the year 1274. Jin joins his fellow samurai as they attempt to drive the invading Mongol forces away from the island, but they are hopelessly outnumbered and are quickly slaughtered by the Mongols. Jin is wounded and left for dead.

He awakens several days later after being nursed back to health by a woman named Yuna, only to find that the island is now under Mongol control. The whole game turns into one giant struggle to liberate each section of Tsushima from the Mongols using any means necessary, including “unethical” means like poisoning enemy forces and sneaking around and killing them from the shadows, which goes against the samurai code. As Jin explores the island, liberating it village by village, he draws more people to his cause. His legend begins to grow, and he earns the moniker “the ghost of Tsushima” for his silent and deadly killing ways.

His success comes at great cost, however, as he has to cope with defying the samurai code. His tactics draw the ire of his honorable uncle, forcing Jin into a conflict not only with the Mongols but his own flesh and blood.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as this game’s story goes. As you play, you’ll encounter unique individuals that you assist on various quests, such as searching for missing family members or seeking to take vengeance on traitors who have jumped ship to the Mongol side of the war. There’s lots of character development to be found here. Lots of colorful and interesting personalities you come across. I wouldn’t say the story is too horribly deep or fantastic (there is so much murder and death and betrayal in this game that you become immune to it after a while), but it has its moments. I may have cried at one point.

Gameplay:

If you’ve played any open world games in the last few years, you should know how this works. Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption, Assassin’s Creed, Spider-Man, the Arkham games, Grand Theft Auto, etc. – they all follow the same basic formula. There is nothing too new or groundbreaking to see here. You have a map of the island. Everywhere you haven’t been yet is covered by clouds on the map. As you explore, the map opens up. You can find villages to liberate, people to talk to, quests to take on, Mongol patrols to eradicate, so on and so forth. The map is huge and bustling with activity everywhere.

Instead of collectible items that you must discover, the game often uses secret locations instead. For example, another game may mark a secret item that expands your health with a ? on the map that you have to find. In Ghost of Tsushima, the ? leads you to a hot spring where can rest and reflect on your journey. After a brief butt-nekked cutscene, your health meter expands. There are other hidden (but repetitive) secrets to find as well, including Fox Shrines where you follow a red fox to a shrine that you must honor (make sure you pet the fox afterward!). Other common secret locations are bamboo stands where you learn new sword strikes and meditation sites where you compose haikus. I would have liked to see a little bit more diversity with some of these secret locations, but that is one of my few complaints about this game. It seemed like every other ? on the map was another darn fox shrine.

Use your horse to traverse long distances as you explore the island. And don’t let the word “island” fool you. This is a HUGE game map, bigger than many open world games out there. But getting around isn’t too much of a hassle since every time you make it to a new location, you can then fast travel to it.

The game map is filled with items that you can use to trade with merchants or to upgrade your outfit and your weapons. You also level up as you gain experience, and as you level up you accrue points that you can use to unlock new abilities on your character tree.

All pretty standard open world stuff here, right?

Let’s talk about what makes Ghost of Tsushima different: its combat.

This game has a very intricate combat system. You are armed with a blade and a bow, but you pick things up like poison darts and throwable projectiles as you get deeper into the game. You start with one basic fighting stance. You have your standard weak and strong attacks and a block button. Time your blocks right to parry enemy attacks and gain the upper hand on them. You are going to NEED to master this technique if you want to do well with this game. As you play, you unlock different fighting stances. At first I didn’t understand how it worked, but I quickly realized that different enemies are weaker against different stances. If the Water Stance is proving ineffective against enemies with shields or giant brutes, try switching to another stance. This is another skill you will NEED to master if you want to beat this game. It can get quite difficult sometimes.

When you aren’t engaged in one-on-one combat, you can sneak around and use stealth to pick off your enemies one by one. I became a master of the bow, silently killing all enemies around the perimeter of each Mongol outpost, sneaking my way towards the center while I hid in the tall grass and snuck around, quietly slitting enemy throats. You can throw things like firecrackers and wind chimes to cause distractions and pull the guards away from where you want to be.

I can’t stress how fun this all is. Ghost of Tsushima really nailed the combat system. Whether it is one-on-one fighting or sneaking through the shadows, I never got tired of this game. I even realized how repetitive everything was as I played, but I still didn’t care because it was such a blast to handle.

 

Graphics:

My god. This may be the best looking game I have ever played. From the game’s opening cutscene I was in complete awe of how amazing it looked. I’m a big fan of the “look” of feudal Japan as it is, but seeing it brought to life in this manner was just so amazing. The colors, the beautiful scenery, the trees, the buildings, the ruins, the shrines, the ocean, the sky, the flowers, the wind, the way each blade of the grass sways in the wind. It is just so incredible looking. And I mean SO incredible looking.

The characters look really good, their animations are smooth. Some of the cutscenes are incredibly cinematic and match the production level of big time Hollywood movies.

In case you can’t tell, I thought this game looked terrific.

 

Sound:

The game’s sound is great too. The voice acting is top of the line. Throughout my time with Jin Sakai I came to grow attached to him and his voice. The music, while not offering any catchy tunes that will become iconic over the years, is very well-done. It always seems to match perfectly with what is happening on screen at all times. When it is night time and you’re at a serene, beautiful lake with the moon reflecting in its waves, the music matches the game’s ambience. When you are fighting in an intense battle, the music ratchets up.

I think what may be the most impressive about this game’s sound are all the little things. The sound of the wind, the sound the tall grass makes as you walk through it, the drip of water in an empty cavern. It’s all just so good. Both visually and with the game’s audio you are completely transported directly into the world of the game.

Overall:

In case you can’t tell, I really liked this game, and I liked it a lot. I mean, a LOT LOT.

As I played I was just constantly awestruck by the scope of the game. The story, the setting, the music, the graphics, the combat, the exploration. It’s all so incredibly well done, and I loved every second of it. This is a near-flawless title. I couldn’t help but compare it to other, similar games and how much better it is than them. As good as Red Dead 2 is, it has MAJOR pacing issues and could have learned a lot from this game. As good as Horizon Zero Dawn is, its combat could have learned something from this game, as well as its inventory management system. As good as the Arkham games were, etc etc. All of these games could have learned something from Ghost of Tsushima. This game doesn’t do anything new or groundbreaking, no, but it perfects the formula introduced in previous open world titles.

The only things that bothered me about this game were minor, like how many of the ? icons were Fox Shrines, or how formulaic it felt liberating the villages one by one, or how repetitive the combat became. But none of these things were enough to seriously put a damper on my enjoyment of this title. Once I dove into Ghost of Tsushima, I couldn’t put it down. Every free second I had (which isn’t much considering I have a 10 month old baby), I spent playing this game.

I can see why people were upset that this game lost out on 2020 Game of the Year to The Last of Us Part Two. As much as I liked that game, I thought Ghost of Tsushima was MUCH better.

There were moments where I thought to myself: “Is this it? Is this my new favorite game of all time? Can Final Fantasy VII finally move over?” While I am not sure about that, this game has come closer than any other game in recent memory. If you know me and my love of video games, that should be all you need to know. You need to play Ghost of Tsushima if you haven’t already.

NOW.

Overall:

A+

Click >>HERE<< for a complete index of all my game reviews!

 

Video Game Review #257: Control

Control

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

Control is a relatively new game, and this was the first time I had ever played it, so there's not much to report on the nostalgia side of things. 

I first heard of Control back in 2019 when it won Game of the Year honors for IGN. Upon hearing of its premise, the game immediately piqued my interest and I made a mental note to check it out someday when I had the chance. Well, in 2021 that chance finally came.

Story:

I hope you at least have SOME idea of what you are getting into when you start this game, otherwise you are going to be just as confused as I was the first time I started playing. You are in control of a woman named Jesse Faden. She enters a government building only to find it oddly empty. Time to explore. It isn't long before you meet a janitor, who says some weird cryptic shit to you. You explore a little more and find the body of a man who has taken his life with a gun. You pick the gun up and are transported to some weird kind of astral plane where you are taught how to use it. After your lesson, you return to the real world where you find that you've been tasked with clearing an enemy named The Hiss out of the building.

The building you are in is called The Oldest House, and apparently it is some kind of government installation dedicated to the research of paranormal objects and events. The Hiss have come through to our world through some kind of breach in the fabric of the universe? I don't know. This game is REALLY cryptic and confusing and its plot didn't make much sense to me. The biggest comparison I can think of is if David Lynch and the TV show Legion had a baby. That baby would be this game.

As you play, you discover that Jesse came to The Oldest House in search of her missing brother, who was kidnapped by agents of the house years and years ago. But it is all some kind of weird, elaborate plot by the mainframe or the computer that controls the Oldest House to lure Jesse in so it can make her the new director, fight off the Hiss, and bring stability back to the building once again.

Or something.

Look, I am going to be straight up with you. I had NO IDEA what was happening throughout this game as I played it. Things aren't spelled out for you. Many of the characters talk in riddles. What happens on the screen is ridiculously abstract. Visually, the game is amazing. But storywise I had no fucking idea what was happening half the time. This entire recap is probably 100% wrong and completely inaccurate as far as what actually happened in this game. Any diehard Control freaks are probably laughing at my pathetic attempt to recap this game's story for you. And you know what? I don't care. Once it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to comprehend or enjoy this game's story, I completely stopped paying attention to it. I played for the intense gameplay and the awesome visuals. Everything else became completely secondary to me.

Gameplay:

While I can't say I enjoyed this game's storyline very much, its gameplay is what made it a fairly enjoyable title for me. Jesse has all kinds of fun abilities and powers which slowly unlock as the game progresses. You begin to feel like a real badass as you are playing. Not only can you shoot enemies with your cool astral gun, but you can also use telekinesis to pick up objects and whip them at them. This was just so, SO satisfying to me. Eat it, motherfucker!! Late in the game you feel like an unstoppable force of nature, almost like you're controlling a superhero pulled straight from the X-Men universe or something.

I'm not sure how to describe this title's gameplay, as it is not quite open-world. You start out in the administrative offices of the building. You team up with the remaining survivors of the Hiss attack and look to start fighting back. You take on missions for characters, almost like you would in a GTA game for example. An area of the building is marked on your map. You have to make your way there, kill whatever it is you have to kill, save whoever it is you have to save, do whatever you have to do. When you complete your mission, return to the person who gave you your mission and collect your reward. As you play you can level up your character. As you level up you gain new keycards and abilities which you can use to access areas of the building you couldn't access before. I hate to use the generic term Metroidvania here, but there's almost no way around it. Control fits this video game template to a T.

As you play you're going to notice that there aren't very many unique enemy characters. There are battles pretty much everywhere you go. Expect to fight, and fight a lot. I found the action of this game to be quite repetitive, but at the same time I didn't mind too much because it was just so fun. My main gripe with the game is its absolutely AWFUL map system. This is one of the worst maps in video game history. Routes aren't clearly defined, different levels are confusingly stacked one on top of another, it is just a mess. I got lost sooooooo many times as I played this game, and quite honestly it was really beginning to frustrate me. The fact that all the environments kinda sorta look the same wasn't helping matters at all either. I'd know on the map where I needed to go, but not how to get there. It felt like I was aimlessly wandering for hours at a time, no idea where I needed to go to reach the mission marker. They could have given us an arrow that guides you to your goal, or a clearly defined route on the map. The Guiding Wind. SOMETHING. But no. And let me tell you, it is a real struggle. It almost wrecked my enjoyment of the game completely.

Touching on the combat system once again, while I found it to be overall pretty fun and satisfying, I must say that the difficulty balance is really off-kilter. Most of the time I was able to squash my enemies with ease, but then all of a sudden I would fight a boss or a new enemy type and I'd be destroyed in seconds. The difficulty spikes in this game are SO weird and random. When you hit a difficult spot in the game, expect to die. A lot. Eventually through trial and error you'll make your way through the battle, but not after spending about 3 hours looking at loading screens first. Seriously. The loading times in this game. They are just awful. I had the same problem with Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. Seriously, this is 2021. I know neither of these games are brand new or anything but how are absurdly long loading times like this not a thing of the past?

Graphics:

Ok, this game looks pretty good. I alluded to the show Legion earlier in my review and I can honestly say that this game's visual style reminds me a lot of that show. Trippy colors, flashy special effects, intense BIG LETTERs telling you when you enter a new area. This game has a little bit of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice in it too. Many of the hallucinations and visual tricks in this game seem to be directly inspired by that one. And I'm not complaining. It all looks really good!

My main complaint with the game's visuals is that the environments look somewhat bland from time to time. It's not like a government office building is exactly the most visually exciting place on the planet, but dang do things look really dull sometimes. Grey corridors, white floors, non-descript doors. Can you get any more bland? They all begin to look the same after a while too, which contributes to getting lost all the time, which I already touched upon. Don't get me wrong, overall this game looks really good. But mainly it looks good when things are weird and supernatural things are happening. Other times it can just be really... meh.

Sound:

I can't complain about the game's sound. Even though I couldn't follow Control's story very well, I could at least recognize that the voice acting was pretty good. The sound effects are creepy and weird and really help contribute to the bizarre situation you find yourself in. From an audio standpoint, all the little atmospheric sound effects are on-point. 

I don't remember a single thing about Control's music, so it must not have been that good. But I don't remember it being bad either. So that's a plus. Like I said, nothing to complain about here. 

Overall:

I have such mixed feelings on this game. I didn't like the story, but I appreciated the intense visual effects and the fact that they got really weird with the direction of the game. Combat is fun and satisfying, but there are very few enemy types and things start to get really repetitive really fast. The spikes in difficulty are random and somewhat unfair. I hated the map system and how I got lost all the time. I died a lot of what I thought were unfair deaths where I wasn't watching where I was going or I would mistime a jump and plummet to my death. The load times are TERRIBLE. The environments often look bland and too "same-y" everywhere you go. I have no freaking clue what the game's ending meant or what I should expect if this game ever has a sequel.

It sounds like I have more negative things to say about this game than positive ones. And that surprises me because I did enjoy the game, or at least I thought I did. When I started writing this review I expected I'd give it a B- or a C+ grade. But coming to this blog and putting my thoughts in words makes me realize that I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I should have - especially considering this was a title that won Game of the Year for one of my favorite video game media sites. I expected so much more... and I didn't get it.

I have zero desire to ever come back and play Control again. I'm not even sure if I'll play its sequel. I know that sounds really harsh - and let me assure you I did NOT hate this game. I did have a good time with the combat and completing some of its missions. But it is so flawed. So flawed. I didn't even mention the lagging frame rate and how the action would always get super choppy when a lot of stuff was happening on the screen. I don't know how I almost forgot that, but I'm guessing it is because I was so focused on the plethora of OTHER flaws that bugged the shit out of me as I played.

I won't knock Control and say it is a crappy game. It isn't. I  think buried under all the flaws is a fun and enjoyable title, and I won't judge people for liking it if they think I'm wrong. It's just not my cup of tea.

Final Score:

C-

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Video Game Review #256: Doom 64

Doom 64

Nintendo 64

Nostalgia Factor:

I originally played Doom 64 back in 1997, the year the game first came out. I remember being completely enthralled by it at the time. The graphics, the presentation, the sound, the atmosphere - everything about this game was much better than what I had seen in Dooms 1 or 2. 

I never actually owned the game, however. I had only rented it. Due to the limited time I had to play the game, I fondly remember long nights staying up and playing this until the birds started chirping at 4 or 5 in the morning. I think I ended up having to rent it twice before I was finally able to beat the game and drop it into the slot at Blockbuster Video. Several years passed before I found a used copy of the game at Mega Media Exchange and picked it up for a couple dollars. Even more years passed.. and passed... and passed before I finally got around to actually playing the game again. And that brings us to 2021 - 24 years after the game's initial release. This is the first time I have replayed it since 1997.

Would Doom 64 still hold up, or would it show its age? Time to find out.

Story:

There's not much of a story to be found here. You are a badass soldier and it is your job to kill all the demons that are coming through a portal from hell. Then you enter the portal and you kill all the demons on their home turf. Basically the same plot as any other Doom game. This one differs from the norm in the sense that it is a direct sequel to Dooms 1 and 2, and not an original Doom story. It might as well be though. Let's be real: nobody plays these old school Doom games for their stories. No one.

Gameplay:

This game is a blast to play. It handles well, the controls are easy to remember, gameplay itself is super smooth. I enjoyed it a lot.

If you've never played a Doom game, I'll break it down for you. This is a fast paced, guns blazing first-person shooter. You have a giant arsenal of weapons at your disposal. You race through each level, gunning down an endless number of enemies. Each stage is a maze, with keycards needed to advance to the next section of the stage. There are secrets galore and countless power-ups to help you on your way.

The gunplay is satisfying and a lot of fun. If you are more familiar with how modern first-person shooters work, it may take you a while to adapt. There is less "strategizing" to be found here. There is no ducking, although you can move behind walls for cover. The enemy AI doesn't play around: they see you, they come for you. Your character can take a ton of damage before he is killed, too. Expect to slug it out with your enemies quite a bit in this game. And the action is FAST. I actually prefer games like this to newer first-person shooters like BioShock or Far Cry. I'd use Call of Duty as an example but believe it or not I have never played a Call of Duty game.

Enemies range from simple armed soldiers to projectile flinging demons to flying monsters that shoot fireballs at you. Almost all of the enemies you face are reincarnations of enemies from Dooms 1 and 2. It would have been nice to have some original foes for this game, but at the same time it is super satisfying seeing classic Doom staples like Cyberdemons, Cacodemons, Bull Demons, and Lost Souls (ugh, HATE these things!) make the graphical leap to 64 bit.

When you aren't fighting you are going to be working on this game's puzzles. I say puzzles in only the loosest sense of the word. You aren't going to be rearranging blocks or pushing things around. Almost every "puzzle" in the game revolves around flipping a switch and trying to figure out what that switch does. For example, flipping a switch might open up a door or raise a bridge back towards the beginning of a level. But the game doesn't show you or tell you what happened. You have to explore and figure it out yourself. Other switches are timed. They may only open a door or raise a bridge for a few seconds - and it is up to you to race back and try to find it. Other switches you can shoot from a distance. Sometimes you have to push on walls to try to open them up as if they were doors. Mainly you are looking for keycards which open up the next section of the level, until you can find the stage's exit point. Complete the stage and you move on to the next one.

Admittedly, some of these switches and area puzzles can be a bit obscure or hard to figure out, especially considering the size and scope of some of these maps. I got completely lost numerous times as I played this game, clueless as to where I was supposed to go next. The map system is... okay. It's not great and it doesn't really do much to help. Despite this, I still had a pretty fun time with the game. This did not ruin my enjoyment of it one tiny bit.

Graphics:

I'm surprised at how well this game has held up. It is hard to believe it is as old as it is. Environments are dark and foreboding. Enemies, while flat and occasionally quite pixelated, fit the whole aesthetic of the game perfectly. What really sold me on this game's visual appeal is its atmosphere. Dread and tension fill every step you take as you make your way through this game. The environments are a perfect blend of sci-fi and horror. The lighting effects are terrific as well. There is a level very early in the game that has a dark hallway intermittently lit up by red lights, and I just remember thinking HOW FREAKING COOL IS THIS as I walked through it. It looked terrific in 1997 and it looks terrific now.

Sound:

Sound is great too. The music of the game fits the look and feel of the levels perfectly: dark, foreboding, and ominous. Some of the musical tracks are actually quite scary. One of them sounds like it has babies crying or some shit in the background. It scared the crap out of me while I was playing.

A big part of the game is listening for audio cues. You can hear enemies coming based on the noises they make. When you flip a switch you can listen for the door opening and make a break towards the sound. Really, sound plays a huge factor in this game. I would suggest using headphones as you play. It makes for a quite immersive experience. Even with no headphones, however, the game still sounds really great.

Overall:

To answer the question I posed earlier: yes, the game still holds up. It holds up quite well in fact. I enjoyed it more than I did the 2016 reboot of the series, which I gave a middling score. I enjoyed it more than the old Doom games (which I have yet to review). I enjoyed it more than pretty much every other first-person shooter I have played in recent memory. Heck, I even enjoyed it more than I did the campaign version of Goldeneye 007, which I consider to be an all time classic. It's just a lot of fun to play, and very addicting too. Each of my play sessions lasted way longer than I intended, because I didn't want to turn the game off. Just one more level. Just let me solve this one puzzle. Let me get through this one boss fight. On and on it went. To me, someone with an extremely short attention span, that is an obvious mark of a really good game. I couldn't put it down.

As far as flaws, I already mentioned the game's map. It is pretty useless. I also would have liked to see a wider variety in the game's enemies. Many of the puzzles and their solutions were a bit obscure for my taste as well. And the game is quite short. I beat it in just a couple days. 

But that's just me being thorough, as I try to be in these reviews. Really, the game is a lot of fun. I consider it to be the best Doom title out there. Admittedly, I haven't played them all. But of the ones I have, this game takes the cake. It was recently remastered in HD and put on the PlayStation Store, so even if you don't have a Nintendo 64 you can still play this game. I suggest you do. Totally worth it. Great game.

Final Score:

A

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Doom (2016)

Goldeneye 007

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded

Wolfenstein 3D

Alien Trilogy

Video Game Review #255: The Walking Dead: The Final Season

The Walking Dead: The Final Season

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

It's been a long ride. I first played a brief demo of Telltale's original Walking Dead game back in 2012, nearly TEN freaking years ago. Believe it or not, I actually wasn't very impressed by the game and didn't bother checking out the rest of the first season. A year or so passed before I finally came back to the game, mainly at the urging of one of my close friends, who sang its praises. 

I don't know what changed, but this time around I absolutely loved the game. I ate up all of its episodes, its DLC, and its second season. After that, the series kind of lost me for a little bit. Back then I only had a PlayStation 3, and the third season (A New Frontier) was only available on the PS4. A few years passed, but eventually I purchased a PS4 and was able to play the third game. By then the fourth season was already in development, but then Telltale Games shut down, putting season four (and the fate of Clementine) in limbo. 

I never bothered to check out what had been released of season four, as I didn't want to play a game that possibly may not ever be finished. Luckily, they did indeed find a way to finish this game and release it to the public. The final episode of season four would be released in 2019, seven years after the release of the first entry in the series. Still, for whatever reason, I never played season four. I think I kept waiting for it to go on sale on the PlayStation Store, and it never did. So in 2021 I did what any sensible person would do: I ordered the title from GameFly.

This was it. My journey with Clementine began back in 2012. In 2021, it would come to an end. Read on for my final thoughts on the last season of what I consider to be a pretty darn epic game series.

Story:

As always, I don't shy away from spoilers. Consider this fair warning.

Some time has passed since the end of season three. Clementine and AJ are out in the wild - fighting off walkers, scrounging for food and supplies, and looking for a potential group to join up with. The last time we had seen AJ, he was just a little baby. Clementine had been on her way to rescue him from the people who had taken him away from her. So how are they together now? What happened in that gap between the third and fourth game? All is revealed through flashbacks as you play.

After nearly being killed by walkers in a train station, Clementine and AJ are rescued by a group of angsty teens who have been holing up in their old school. They are distrusting of Clem and AJ at first, for reasons that become apparent later. I don't know how exactly the choices you make change things, but in my playthrough AJ ends up killing the leader of these kids when he finds out that he's been double crossing the group. AJ in general is just a giant brat, and his actions get both himself and Clementine exiled from the school. AJ and Clem are attacked by a hostile group after their banishment, and come running back to the school for help.

Turns out, the kids have been at odds with this hostile group all along. Clementine uses her survival skills to help the group fight off these attackers, and even brings the battle to their base (a large ship off the coast). It is revealed that the leader of this group is Lilly, who you may remember as the woman with the asshole father in the first Walking Dead season. The battle gets ugly and causes some interesting moral dilemmas, as Lilly's group had kidnapped kids from the school in the past and have now trained them to fight on her side. Clementine's side reigns victorious, but at great cost.

Clementine is bit. Both her and AJ are separated from the group. It looks like the end is nigh for our dear Clementine. Her face has gone pale, she can barely walk. Clearly she is very close to turning. You have two choices: let AJ leave while you turn into a walker or have him kill you. I chose to have him kill me. The parallels of Clem's situation with Lee in the first game were undeniable. Now Clementine was acting as the Lee figure and AJ was acting as young Clem. Tears were freely flowing from the eyes of yours truly as AJ raised the axe in the air. The axe drops, and the screen goes blank.

After a short flashback sequence that shows Clementine killing innocent people to rescue AJ as a baby several years ago, we return to the present time. The community at the school is prospering. AJ is working and pulling his weight. Clementine's noble sacrifice seems to have paid off.... until we find out SHE'S STILL ALIVE!!!

AJ had simply chopped her leg off when she'd asked him to kill her. He chopped her leg off, Coral!

Things end on a high note for our characters as they all build a life together at the school. The end. But damn. Damn. Did I feel manipulated or what? I was glad Clementine was alive. I know this sounds silly, but I had come to care for her well-being over the course of the last 9 years. Her apparent death had completely wrecked me as I played this game. But at the same time I was not happy she was alive either. A tragic ending like that almost seemed inevitable for Clementine - and the way she went out had so much symmetry with what had happened between her and Lee. It was poetic, gutsy, and perfect. The game should have ended there. Clementine should have died.

Sigh.

Aside from that, I really enjoyed this game's story. I barely scratched the surface of the character dynamics, but Clem, AJ, and their relationships with the kids at the school were very well-written. You can romance some of these kids, you can squabble with them, you can have deep conversations with them, you can make bad personal relationship choices and you can make good ones too. The things you say to AJ and the lessons you teach him play a giant factor in how the game unfolds as well.

Gameplay:

For the most part this game acts as any other Telltale Walking Dead game, but there are some welcome changes this time around. When you are walking about and checking out your environment, it actually feels like you are playing a "real" video game this time around. You can walk slowly, you can run, you can pick up collectibles, there are even real battle sequences that involve more than just pointing a cursor and hitting a button. It is like they tried to make this game more of a mainstream experience and less of the same old same old. And it is appreciated!

At its heart though, this is a Telltale game through and through. You have conversations, you make choices. You're playing for the story and not the gameplay itself. And I am totally okay with that. The game doesn't drag. It doesn't ever get boring. I was fairly hooked the whole way through.

Graphics:

This game looks so much better than A New Frontier. Colorful graphics, detailed environments, varied and distinct character models. The whole thing has a decidedly more cinematic feel to it as well. It's no graphical masterpiece, but it does a great job at embracing the "graphic novel" look and bringing it to life.

Really though, no one plays these Walking Dead games for their graphics.

Sound:

The music is fantastic. The characters are well-voiced. I don't know what else I can say that I haven't said in my previous Walking Dead reviews. Telltale (or whoever the heck finished this game) has done it again. 

Overall:

I had a good time with this game. I only use the word good because although I liked the game, I can't say for sure that I loved it. 

The story is good. The game has a good cast with some good twists. I like how your choices matter. There are some good, heart-wrenching scenes to be found in this game. There's some good action too. The word good can describe just about everything that has to do with this game. Good good good. It's a good game. 

I think what keeps this game from being more than just good is the ending. I hate to come back to that again, but I can't tell you enough how much it rubbed me the wrong way. They could have given us a memorable gut punch of an ending but took the easy way out. And it was totally unnecessary too. They could have made a way for everyone to live happily ever after that didn't involve the most ridiculous fake out in video game history. It just felt cheap and manipulative, and honestly it soured the whole game for me.

I still like the game. I'm still going to give it a B, which to me is a pretty decent score. Although I wasn't a fan of the ending, I had a solid time with this game the whole way through. But still; it could have been so much better. Clementine deserved a more memorable ending than this. 

Even though this game is officially titled The Final Season, I hope that someday we are able to revisit with our good pal Clementine (or maybe have her character cross over with one of the TV shows. Wouldn't that be awesome?). Until then, I guess we'll have to settle for just a "good" ending to the series. I guess it could have been worse. If you've played the previous games in the series, you still have to check this one out.

Final Score:

B

Every Walking Dead Game reviewed (twice!)

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead Season Two

The Walking Dead: Michonne

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier

Re-Reviews:

The Walking Dead Season One (PS3)

The Walking Dead Season Two (PS3)

The Walking Dead: Michonne (PS3)

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (PS4)

2020 Movie Ranking: The Top 5

It's March, so I guess I'd better hurry up and finish this ranking. Without further adieu, here is my top five. 

#5

Parasite

I wanted to see this movie even before it did so well at the Oscars. I came into it with no idea what to expect, and all I can say is that I liked it a lot. It's about a poor family that worms their way into the lives of a rich family. The way they do it is really clever, sabotaging all the help and one by one taking their place. Needless to say, things go south pretty quickly as the ex-housekeeper returns to the house and uncovers their lies. Violence and chaos ensue. People die, the family frantically tries to cover things up. All I can say is that it is a bonkers movie and well-worth watching. Not only very entertaining but a very clever and very well-crafted and filmed too.

#4

Bloodsport

Another movie I had never seen before watching it in 2020. I'd always heard it was one of Van Damme's better movies, but seeing as how I'm not really a martial arts movie kind of person (which is ironic when you look at my top 5) I never gave it a chance. I finally bit the bullet last year. Much to my surprise, I found this movie to be fantastic. It's part 80s cheese fest but also really well-done at the same time too. It's easy to follow, it's got great characters, the fights are highly entertaining, and it is just freaking fun to watch. I loved it. Why had I never given this a chance before? 

#3

Big Hero 6

I watched this movie on Disney Plus while scouting out kids' movies that I have never seen before that I might want to watch with my son Channing when he gets older. Little did I know that I would actually really, really like this movie. It may be my new favorite Disney movie of all time. It's fun to look at it, it's got an entertaining storyline, fun characters, and some moving plot moments that really get you in the feels. Why didn't this movie blow up bigger than it actually did? I think it is great.

#2

The Karate Kid

A classic movie that has only gotten better with age. This is as close to a flawless movie as you can get. The acting, the music, the cinematography. This movie is pure 80s fun. None of its sequels have come close to touching it, although I do admit that I absolutely love the Cobra Kai TV show. And it all started right here. Watch it and bask in its glory.

#1

Mandy

No movie had as big an impact on me in 2020 as Mandy. I came into this film having no idea whatsoever what it was about, other than that it was "crazy." Well, that is a bit of an understatement. I don't even know if I can put this movie's greatness into words. It's just so... different. The basic plot breakdown is that Nicolas Cage and his girl Mandy are living in a relatively isolated environment, in peace and totally in love with each other. All this changes when Mandy is drugged and kidnapped by a psychedelic hippy cult. Mandy mocks the fragile cult leader and is murdered in front of Nic Cage in brutal fashion. Nic is released and returns home to drink and watch weird TV commercials and freak out and have a mental breakdown in such an overacted way that only Nic Cage can pull off. But it works. Everything about this movie works. Nic goes on a brutal revenge tour to kill the cult that murdered his girlfriend, armed demonic biker guard patrol and all. It's just so freaking weird, but I loved every second of it. The colors, the acting, the way it is filmed, the trippy and hallucinogenic haze that has its influence everywhere. This is a brilliant freaking movie, and it left me in absolute awe every step of the way. I understand this movie won't be for everyone, but it definitely left a giant impact on me. I couldn't stop thinking about it for days. Mandy truly has to be seen to be believed.