Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours
TL;DR: For anyone interested in Half-Life, Valve or game development in general, this is an insightful and inspiring experience that takes great advantage of a compelling storytelling medium.
In the words of Robin Walker, this is “the story of how we fixed Valve”. The reader is privy to the conversations, considerations and concerns of Valve employees as they attempt to shore up instability and quell the anarchy caused by a company “boss free since ‘96”. This storybook provides information on previously unknown projects including story ideas, concept art, script excerpts and development timelines; brief insights into the backgrounds and work lives of various Valve employees as well as anecdotes and conversations; and a greater understanding of Valve’s shift in focus to developing both hardware and software.
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Singleplayer Games.
Visually it looks good, it’s presented well, and like Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar it’s certainly interesting. But it reflects a flawed product, leaves a ton of stories out (including the flaws), and left me questioning if it justified a pricetag.
Missing pieces:
Reliability issues
There was a push to link the sales of the Valve Index and Half-Life: Alyx but there were a lot of hardware problems, with a critical one being the unreliability of the Index controllers - a problem compounded by poor design choices in Alyx that made playing with one controller far more difficult than it needed to be, along with a badly handled RMA system (and the impact of the pandemic ontop of that bad RMA system). Why would a book on the exact subject of those products leave all of that out, especially if it was written by a journalist?
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
The Mind of Marlo
Welcome to The Mind of Marlo. In this narrative-driven, point and click adventure disguised as an hour-long documentary, you will observe Marlo Davenport and you will become Marlo Davenport. Capture his life as he deals with a rare condition called Spontaneous Silly Head Syndrome. A condition that results in his transforming into various creatures uncontrollably. While living a fairly normal life, his condition becomes uncontrollable. After his girlfriend leaves him, Marlo decides to go see Dr. Davenport (The Specialist) to see if he can rid himself of this affliction. Using his recommendations you must help Marlo find a way to get rid of all of his transformations one by one, so he may once again return to the outside world and lead a normal life. The film crew is there to document everything as he tries to reclaim himself and his life in this tale of love, loss, and transformations.
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Indie Games.
The Mind of Marlo is a point and click game, delivered in the format of a documentary, where the viewer will witness the struggles of a man named Marlo who must deal with a severely debilitating condition called Spontaneous Silly Head Syndrome. This causes Marlo’s appearance to rapidly change into various animals and elements and has the player attempting to cure Marlo of his ailment. Click here to watch my playthrough of The Mind of Marlo .
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
CAT SUDOKU🐱
This is the very first public review on the video game known as “Cat Sudoku” It is my duty to make sure that all the humans reading this spends the correct amount of currency to play this wonderful form of entertainment. Please, this video game is very educational and good for the human mind. It also has the species known as “cats” which I can assume is one of the mammals that you humans enjoy owning when domesticated. This game is a wonderful experience and it should be shared among the humans of earth. Thank you.
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Casual Games.
Wanderlust: Bangkok Prelude
⠄⠄⠄⠄⣠⣴⣿⣿⣿⣷⣦⡠⣴⣶⣶⣶⣦⡀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄it’s good
⠄⠄⠄⣴⣿⣿⣫⣭⣭⣭⣭⣥⢹⣟⣛⣛⣛⣃⣀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄Play it
⠄⣠⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⢯⡓⢻⠿⠿⠷⡜⣯⠭⢽⠿⠯⠽⣀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄
⣼⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⣥⣝⠂⠐⠈⢸⠿⢆⠱⠯⠄⠈⠸⣛⡒⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄Merry
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣭⡭⢟⣲⣶⡿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠋⠄⠄⣴⠶⠶⠶⠶⠶⢶⡀Christmas
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢟⣛⠿⢿⣷⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡄⠄⢰⠇⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠈⣧
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡹⣭⣛⠳⠶⠬⠭⢭⣝⣛⣛⣛⣫⣭⡥⠄⠸⡄⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⢇⡟
⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⣭⣛⣛⡛⠳⠶⠶⠶⣶⣶⣶⠶⠄⠄⠄⠙⠮⣽⣛⣫⡵⠊⠁
⣍⡲⠮⣍⣙⣛⣛⡻⠿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠿⠖⠂⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣸⠄⠄⠄⠄
⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⣬⣭⣭⣭⣝⣭⣭⣭⣴⣷⣦⡀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠠⠤⠿⠦⠤
– Real player with 4.6 hrs in game
Sound: 8
Graphics: 8
Story: 8
Gameplay: 8
Commands: 9
Fun: 8
Time to load / lag: 9
Bugs / Problems: 10
Final (my score, my rules - these is not math, punk) - 9
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game