Grey Skies: A War of the Worlds Story
I absolutely love War of the Worlds and anything that involves it.
But if you take the element of the novel and story out, unfortunately the game itself is mediocre at best. The game’s pretty to look at and the dev did a good job of making me feel like I was in England. But the mechanics are generic and the stealth was tedious. Enemies were bland, the crafting system wasn’t all that useful and the characters were next to non existent. I felt frustrated how there was so much stealth revolving avoiding what was basically Human zombies and far too little gameplay against surviving the actual Martians. Speaking of which, we don’t even get to see the Martians! We don’t see how they landed, when they landed and where the invasion began. We go through a drawn out string of avoiding people to get a tiny bit of Fighting Machine activity at the very end.
– Real player with 10.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Survival Games.
𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗕𝗨𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘!!! Grey Skies is absolutely miserable, it is a combination of boredom and frustration. Grey Skies is a cheap, buggy and janky mess of a game.
There are a plethora of bugs that are down right annoying to deal with. The gameplay is extremely tedious and slow. Most of the time you’ll be running around a dull map looking for random crafting parts, that don’t really make sense (such as finding a red weed to make a glass of water). There are moments where you are forced to slowly walk down an empty, linear path for a few minutes straight, doing absolutely nothing. The music that starts in these walking sections ends before it is even finished, so you’ll be walking in silence for the last minute of the section. Also, the main mechanic in the game is throwing cups of water at generators.
– Real player with 9.2 hrs in game
Grey Scout
A tiny stealth game with a great atmosphere and fun mechanics.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Exploration Games.
Another great game coming out of the Sokpop Collective.
Whenever I’m feeling down, I always hit up the Sokpop Collective for a cute and interesting game, and this game doens’t come as an exception. The atmosphere is comfy as heck, and I absolutely adored exploring around the open world, hopping in and out of tallgrass to hide from the guards while saving the little children.
I would love for this game to be more developed and realized into a more thorough experience, as even in this tiny world, I had the same feeling I had when playing Breath of the Wild for the first time.
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Thief: Deadly Shadows
I’m an unabashed long-time fan of the Thief series. I was excited to hear my favorite video games were getting a third installment. Then I played this…
The first time I played through this game, at every turn I sighed and thought bitterly about how such and such was different from this or that in the first two games. And almost every instance was different for the worse, not better. I finished the game with an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I’ve played it again before writing this review, this time deliberately putting the high expectation bar out of mind. The result has been a more enjoyable experience. It’s a shame but I suppose what I’m saying is that I enjoyed this game more when I lowered my expectations for it, ahaha. NOT RECOMMENDED.
– Real player with 91.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Steampunk Games.
I write this on the basis of not having played previous Thief games in the series. However, Thief: Deadly Shadows proved itself a firm favourite and true classic on my list (I owned the game on disc when it was first released but had to re-purchase on Steam so it was compatible with my current PC). It’s true that the graphics are now very obsolete compared to more modern titles - but it has been around for over ten years! - and I still have fond memories of exploring, stealing, sneaking, and eavesdropping.
– Real player with 79.1 hrs in game
Cyber Ops
This game is great and I’m kinda sad it got so many bad reviews. It’s challenging but honestly it’s not nearly as hard as people make it out to be. Once you figure out the mechanics it’s challenging but perfectly feasible after a couple of tries. It had some bugs at launch but they have all been fixed already.
Great atmosphere, good voice acting, nice looking interface and very singular gameplay. Being the guardian angel hacker behind a screen while the operators actually do the work might not be for everyone but I personally love it.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
Every negative review is sadly 100 % correct. Only 25 % ever made 1st mission. Only 0,3 % players ever finished the game and 1 % just hacked the “game finished " achievement, because more players finished game than finished last mission. You will be fighting the logic breaking UI problems more than “triangle” enemies. All moving enemies are called “turrets” when killed. You don’t know at this moment if cyborg or human enemy type died.
You will NOT be able to win after level 5 without good oldschool health cheats. The game is so buggy that some mechanics needed for victory don’t works sometimes. I won spider-tank level 6 fight legit first, but squad just glitched at the door when leving the cathedral. QTE skillchecks are also broken or start at unwinnable state.
– Real player with 23.1 hrs in game
Ghost of a Tale
I can’t name a single other game that can match the unbelievable charm of Ghost of a Tale. The stunning art design and graphics, the adorable animations, the fantastic music, the masterful level design, the deep and engrossing lore and worldbuilding, and the unforgettable characters result in one of the most stunningly realized adventures I’ve had the pleasure to participate in.
This game is simply magical.
Whether you are a fan of the classic animal adventure stories like Redwall, Wind in the Willows, and Disney’s Robin Hood, want to spend some time exploring a beautiful seaside fortress, or just want to dress a mouse in adorable little costumes, this game is more than worth it.
– Real player with 66.4 hrs in game
What a mixed bag this game is.
On the positive side, the world itself is breathtaking, and surprisingly interconnected. I expected a more linear style of progression, where you move past Zones and NPCs once you’ve gotten what you need from them, but throughout the entire game you’re constantly cycling back to places you’ve been and people you’ve talked to. You end up finding all these secrety hidey-holes and passageways that connect all the far-reaching areas of the map in cool, quirky ways. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve absentmindedly been running through a tunnel and come to the end like, “Oh THIS is where I am!”. Perfect example of a smal world done right.
– Real player with 34.6 hrs in game
Thief™ Gold
I can’t believe I played this game 20 years ago and it’s still a blast. Well, it’s my number one game, just look at my avatar.
Technology:
The way this game is meant to be played is with TFix + HDMod. I repeat !!!TFix!!! (not TGTool). I can safely say that now the game looks better than ever, even compared to its original release back in 98. The reason why is pretty simple - the hardware limitations at that time were quite significant. TFix patches the game with the unofficial New Dark Engine lifting the limitations imposed by the original Dark Engine. There are many improvements: support for higher resolution, the in-game objects have significantly more polygons, bugfixes, HD textures.
– Real player with 71.2 hrs in game
It is amazing how as computing technology improves and new tools such as VR are introduced that consumers continue to pine for ‘better’ and ‘more immersive’ games, as though immersion is some ideal we may hope to one day achieve once the graphics are good enough and the gadgets we attach to our forehead become more effective. However, one need only look back to the late 90’s, when a developer known as Looking Glass studios was already forging the path for immersive simulators decades ahead of time.
– Real player with 61.2 hrs in game
Thief™ II: The Metal Age
This is going to be a long one! As my name entitles, this is probably one of THE best stealth game ever made! I will go in depth why it is and why you should be playing it:
Let’s start off with a list. What makes a stealth game one of the greats? In my own personal opinion it is: Have engaging, functional, and consistent stealth mechanics. Provide the player with alternate routes and methods of completing an objective. have interesting, unique levels. Have said levels progressively provide harder challenges to overcome. little to no combat, and have an engaging story and setting that makes the player want to progress. Every stealth game I have ever played usually doesn’t have all of these things checked marked on the list. MGS has forced combat and has a questionably written story. The first two Splinter Cell games were far too linear and also forced combat at times. Not to mention the sub par stories. Conviction tries way too hard to un-check every thing on this list. Dishonored’s story is cliche and is WAY too easy any way you play it (Yes, even the non lethal no powers run is too easy). The list goes on. That’s why everyone’s favorite stealth games usually are Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, the Hitman series, Death to Spies, and other games that manage to check the checklist. What about Thief 2?
– Real player with 238.7 hrs in game
Intro
Thief II The Metal Age is easily one of the best games of all time and the pinnacle of not only stealth in video games, but level design and story telling. I may be in the minority in saying that I prefer both the original and Deadly Shadows more, but goddamn if this isn’t a worthy successor in every way, continuing the series and building upon the world that you helped shape by the end of the last game.
The Great:
++The sound design in this game is phenomenal. The propergation engine, the voice acting, the ambient effects… it’s totally unique (to this day!), and hugely innovative in its connection to gameplay, etc. Everything is just at the highest standard possible, which is to say, totally unmatched.
– Real player with 237.4 hrs in game
Kohate
Update to review:
Well well well, I reviewed at 3 hrs in originally, and estimated there’d be another ~3 or so hours of content and achievement hunting to go.
Now I’m 11 hrs in, thanks to further updates to the game play modes and multiple ways the game can be completed with different endings.
What a gem this turned out to be.
Original review:
Fun little game. Great for the value/cost.
It has quite a high level of polish for the price - various voice over actors, lots of sci-fi and semi-organic/cyber assets in play, many usual tropes like steam vents and so on. The game works and runs well. Enough tension to make you fumble and fall.
– Real player with 11.8 hrs in game
Curator page here-- [url] DaRevieweD #49 [/url] -- [i]New review every Sunday[/i]
That son-of-a-gun DSD’s gone and done it again! He took my smeared brain matter from my playthroughs and obsession, mind you- most notably of Our Secret Below (OSB), INNER and he reconstructed them using some advanced tech! Being a patron of his work, seeing his tireless efforts in creating meaningful yet underrated haunting experiences has been inspiring!
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Starless
A flotilla of three space arks set off for a distant planet.
An emergency has occurred on your ark: the entire team has been infected with a mysterious virus, and the life support’s are damaged.
Trying to save the dying ship, artificial intelligence brings the first colonist out of suspended animation.
Starless is a stealth action game where you as colonists make your way through the gloomy corridors of the space ark. Your main allies are caution and prudence.
If the colonist dies, the next one will take his place, but the number of people on board is limited. Each death is a serious threat to the flotilla’s mission, as a small number of people will not be able to establish a colony on a distant planet.
You are assisted by Aurora, the ark’s artificial intelligence. Her goal is to save the ship at all costs, but the lives of one or two people do not matter to her.
Game Features
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Unpredictable enemies. Be prepared to improvise when you meet them
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A giant space ark that holds many secrets
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Use gadgets: a plaster mine, a teleporter trap, a motion detector, and much more
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The atmosphere of a gloomy cold space
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Contact the rest of the ark fleet and find out what happened to them.
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Mr. Scratch. What fate befell a cat taken on a space trip?
Wonhon: Prologue
Like stealth games? Try this.
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You play a vengeful spirit that’s been allowed to return. It plays out as an isometric puzzle game that requires a tactical approach. The only way you can fight is to possess the bodies of your enemies, but you have limited spirit energy to maintain either possession or a ghost form that lets you move through objects. If you get spotted in your fragile reanimated human body, you die quickly.
This was the first teaser demo and they’ve also released a longer demo with a few more missions (and additional story). The full game launches July 2021.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Feels awesome. Can’t wait to see more.
Perhaps more camera controls like (zooming/panning) wouldn’t hurt.
What I really hope to see in the final release is fast saves/load anytime and insanely hard levels.
Really great works folks!
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game