Aerannis
Aerannis is a Metroidvania platformer set in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. With the rest of the world having been more or less destroyed and depopulated, what remains in Plovdiv is a dystopian and authoritarian post-revolutionary society in which all men have been forced to transition to women through hormone replacement therapy, and are for this reason discriminated against by the populace and government at large, being negatively denoted as “Snowflakes” The game sees you take control of Ceyda Fahri, an assassin, and more or less focuses around Cedya’s plight as a hired gun in Plovdiv.
– Real player with 14.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Female Protagonist Cyberpunk Games.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
So, funny story. I saw the KS for Aerannis and thinking hey, dystopian metroidvania w/a trans lady protagonist? :allears: ….but I couldn’t back it at the time, so I forgot about it til I stumbled onto a 50% off coupon. Pretty soon I heard vague iffy things and that V ETHICAL BACKER CONTENT got shoved into the game and i suddenly got suuuuper apprehensive about my purchase, but i figured hey, i should at least give it a chance, right?
NOPE WRONG
This is a post-feminist dystopia where “listen and believe” (as in the Anita Sarkeesian quote - ‘one of the most radical things you can do is to actually believe women when they tell you about their experiences’) shows up in the same cycle of wackyyyy turbofeminist dystopian PSAs as “CAREFUL, MEN EXIST” and “zero tolerance, zero thought, it’s so easy” and something about trangst.
– Real player with 13.3 hrs in game
Velvet Assassin
Velvet Assassin is an 8 terrycloth towels out of 10 satin negligees
Due to Steam’s character limits, the full review can be found at Gao Li Occasionally Reviews .
Velvet Assassin is a breathtaking World War II stealth game about the missions of Violette Summer, a British spy loosely based on the real-life British intelligence agent Violette Szabo. Summer lies badly wounded in a hospital in France and recalls her operations behind enemy lines from the streets of occupied Paris, over Hamburg, to the Warsaw Ghetto, taking out Nazi officers and sabotaging Germany’s war machine all the while handling more than limited resources to pursue her objective. At no point does Velvet Assassin shy away from pointing out the horrors of war and tries its best to stay true to historical accuracy, but even more amazing than its premise and the suspense created within the game is that this World War II-era title was developed by a relatively small, independent German studio.
– Real player with 46.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Female Protagonist Singleplayer Games.
Velvet Assassin takes us to the cold and harsh years of Nazi invasion throughout Europe. Players take control of Violette Summer, a secret agent enlisted in some of the most important roles against oppression.
Violette Summer is a character influenced by Violette Szabo, a real British/French Agent, who was captured on her second mission during occupied France, and sent to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, where she was later executed.
Violette joined the army as soon as the French occupation started, and when the first victims blood was shed, she was already motivated to do something about it. The player takes part in some memorable actions such as destroying a fuel deposit in the Maginot Line, stealing important documents revealing enemy position, plant signals for resistance bombers during Operation Gomorrah, assassinating important nazi officials, and even delivering cyanide capsules to captured prisons in Warsaw, Poland.
– Real player with 20.8 hrs in game
Assassin’s Creed® Chronicles: China
Assassin’s Creed® Chronicles: China Review
The fight continues…
Some key points that this game offers:
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Stunning 2.5D gameplay mechanics
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Multiple planes to navigate on
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A new and unique arsenal at your disposal
Gameplay & Controls:
The standard layout is advised against. The way the controls are configured for Mouse and Keyboard users is not the greatest. Fortunately, you have the means to change the button loadout to a more comfortable experience. Playing with a controller works just as well if that is your preferred method.
– Real player with 266.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Female Protagonist Assassin Games.
The last mysterious Assassin’s Creed
There is no way I won’t recommend China, it is a great AC experience for those who care about the first two games, despise its flaws. Ezio trained Shao Jun, the most stylish assassin since Altair, performing graceful stunts to kill and then vanishing like a ghost, including a feet-dagger. It is no easy task to go classic, back again as it was in the past, the game is pseudo 3D side-scrolling that looks like Chronicles of Sub-Zero. It isn’t less complex than a full third person 3D game and can find its place on best AC games, maybe its just not enough for the setting. What really caught my attention the main character has the best voice acting on any AC to date and it is a waste to see that character squandered away with just a single game.
– Real player with 29.7 hrs in game
Clandestine
Clandestine is one of the most underrated stealth games I’ve ever played.
I’ll start with what I don’t like: out of all the things to randomly place they chose collectables you’ll need to upgrade your armory.
The game is coded in Unity, so the facial animations are questionable, and the animations overall are very stiff and the collision detection on the environment isn’t great.
The AI is competent, but not particularly complex since guards won’t notice doors opened or trace left by the player.
– Real player with 61.8 hrs in game
The quick recap
because who has the time to read my soliloquy
Clandestine is a genius and unforgiving stealth game in which mistakes are lethal. The only way to avoid the mistakes is to have a good friend in the van monitoring you and planning ahead of time. This is a stealth game where non-lethal playthrough is rewarding because the non-lethal options are numerous and cool, whereas the guns are pretty much all the same and do the same thing without much skill needed. No advanced objective requires a kill. You will succeed or fail based on your preparation, co-ordination and skill alone. Exploration is rewarded but not capital.
– Real player with 31.1 hrs in game
Dirty Wars: September 11
Chile, September 11, 1973
The Military Coup of Pinochet’s army overthrows President Salvador Allende’s democratically elected government, marking the beginning of 17 years of horror and genocide. Exile, censorship, torture and the forced disappearance of people who oppose the new regime are performed on a daily basis.
Maximiliano and Abigaíl, a young couple who decide to stay in Chile, join the resistance against the dictatorship, sacrificing everything to enter a life of secrecy in which they must face multiple challenges.
Dirty Wars is a video game that combines stealth mechanics, puzzles and interactive dialogues in a closed and immersive world with defined objectives.
You play as Maximiliano and Abigail, who must overcome difficult objectives in order to opose the regime, in a time where only one side had all the weapons and the use of information and counter-intelligence are much more valuable.
There are no inventory systems or acquired skills, in the resistance the only weapon to survive is your intelligence and your ability to understand the security rules that will keep you going in the fight against the dictatorship, an unequal fight that will take years.
The compartmentalization is the iron law of resistance. No member can know personal information about an other, or anything that the dictatorship can use. Anyone could be captured, tortured and forced to give out information at any time.
In moments of great tension and danger, armed confrontation is not an option. Use the elements of the environment to hide and avoid being heard by the repressive forces.
Dirty Wars is a Chilean video game for the world. Introducing a completely Chilean and Latin American story that shows part of the culture, art, music and aesthetics from this corner of the world.
Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™
Caution: This review includes information that will spoil Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall and Dishonored 2 for some readers!
While Dishonored and Dishonored 2 focus more on the politics of the Empire of the Isles, the side stories – The Knife of Dunwall, The Brigmore Witches, and now Death of the Outsider – explore the playable characters’ inner conflicts, as well as the dark, supernatural sides of the game series’ lore. This allows the developers to expand on the game universe without over bloating the main series titles, and give the side stories their own tone and personality.
– Real player with 29.9 hrs in game
Roughly a year after Dishonored 2 its expansion pack, Death of the Outsider, was released. Events take place just after its predecessor: we now take control of Billie Lurke and, initially, our job is to find her old mentor, Daud. Once he is located we are tasked with killing the Outsider. An interesting plot (even more interesting is the ending) that will continue in the 5 chapters the expansion pack offers.
New (albeit fewer) powers
It’s always nice to see what new ideas developers come up with. I thought Billie’d probably have Blink and Dark Vision and some new powers. Instead, even these powers have slightly been changed. We teleport by using Displace which first requires us to put a marker somewhere and only then can we finally complete teleportation. if the marker is put on an enemy he’ll die a gruesome death with bloody parts flying every which way.
– Real player with 28.3 hrs in game
Republique
all in all its not a BAD game. in some ways it really pretty ok. the writing is pretty solid, the characters interesting and sympathetic, or deplorable but somewhat understandable, and mechanics not bad. its sort of a point and click old school adventure game mixed with a 3d stealth hunter, but with very little “combat.” the sound is pretty good, the music not bad, and the voice acting ranging from quite good to pretty ok. in many ways i actually DO recommend the game.
where the game lags is in pacing and stability/smoothness. its a pretty slow going game (as many stealth games are) but often at least with these you have a better saving mechanic to keep you from having to run the same puzzle-like timing gauntlet over and over until you finally pull it off, and not really because you dont know what to do as much as it can take many tries to actually do it.
– Real player with 23.6 hrs in game
Republique * 8/10
I never, EVER buy any game on day one. They’re priced ridiculously too high. And another good reason to never buy on day one is because the game might not be complete, whole, especially if it has an episodic structure. I’ve been keeping an eye on this game for so long and I’ve read lots of complaints for the way Camouflaj handled the product while working on other OS and platform ports but, even if these problems probably have been true, I never noticed any of this as I’ve started playing almost 1 year after the release of episode 5. And that’s pretty soon for me.
– Real player with 22.7 hrs in game
Assassin’s Creed® Liberation HD
Short Version: A solid 6/10. Not the best the AC franchise has to offer, but I’ve seen worse games.
The Not So Short Version:
Positives:
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the Bayou area - I could almost smell the swamp.
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The fabric of New Orleans: this city has character!
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The three different personas of Aveline. I loved that you get 3 different lives within one game and one character.
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The story/plot of the game.
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Sugar cane machete as a weapon. Need I say more?
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Connor re-appears. It’s always nice to see a familiar face.
– Real player with 34.8 hrs in game
I am kind of biased because I love the AC franchise, and how it mixes historical and science fiction with conspiracy theories, and I have been a fan of stealth games since the original Splinter Cell way back when as well as the Prince of Persia franchise, which I’ve played to the point where each new playthrough would be essentially a speed run with some story interruption. It should be taken into account that this is a port of a PS Vita game, so it doesn’t have the depth and breadth of a typical AC entry, but it is still worth the time. So, let’s get down to it:
– Real player with 24.0 hrs in game
Shadwen
Shadwen: Full Stealth Rewind and Fast Forward
Shadwen is a third person stealth escort game crafted by Frozenbyte. You play as Shadwen, an assassin on a mission to kill the king. Early in your journey you save a little girl named Lily from a guard and she then accompanies you on your journey through a medieval city on the way to execute your target.
Story
The story in Shadwen is the weakest part of the game by a large margin. It makes zero sense. First of all, there is no backstory. You begin the game as the little girl, Lily, who is on her way to snatch an apple from a tree. She is caught by a guard but before anything can happen you begin playing as Shadwen ( this intro playing as Lily and Shadwen serves as your tutorial as well) and save Lily from the guard. You are on a mission to assassinate the King who has just defeated the old royal and taken up residence in the castle. For some reason, you decide to take Lily along for the ride. There seems to be no legitimate reason to take this little girl along with you since you already saved her from the guard. From this point until the end of the game, you sneak and/or kill your way through the city with Lily in tow, chatting with her between chapters (briefly).
– Real player with 29.3 hrs in game
The first thing that happens when you start to play Shadwen is, you’ll probably be annoyed by the game. That’s because the controls are rather awkward. If you stop moving in the game the game freezes that very moment. Imagine Keanu Reeves in Matrix during a fight where he’s floating in mid air while the camera is circling around him and you’ll get the idea. In order to re-establish the normal flow of time you can either keep moving or have to press a button. The first time you experience this there’s a big chance the game will repel you. The trick is to get over it. The controls really aren’t the downside of this game and you’ll get used to them very quickly.
– Real player with 17.6 hrs in game
The Marvellous Miss Take
The Marvellous Miss Take has the allure of a great Caper Story set in London, where you play as the beautiful Sophia Take, a thief reclaiming her aunt’s art collection. You stealthfully try to take back your aunt’s masterpieces from a number of galleries utilizing quick strategy, an array of high-tech gadgets and the special skills of your fellow bandits, Harry and Daisy. Each level provides a range of challenging security from guard dogs, to lasers, and infrared cameras, requiring masterful forethought in planning your heist. Each character has a number of achievements to unlock based on specific art pieces collected or how fast you finish the level. When it comes to trying to beat the clock, it can be frustrating at times because the random path of the guards almost seem like they know where you are, leaving you no choice but to run and hide or start again.
– Real player with 36.1 hrs in game
A solid 11 oceans out of 10 art heists
This review is a reupload from Gao Li Occasionally Reviews
The Marvellous Miss Take (Wonderstruck, 2014) is a short, but incredibly fun to play and beautiful to look at stealth game. The art collection Miss Sophia Take was supposed to inherit from her aunt was stolen by Ralph Blackstock and she and her friends have not just vowed to reclaim it, but also uncover the truth behind his ill-gotten gains. In this game with an isometric camera angle, players engage in various art heists in 25 different galleries (not counting tutorial and epilogues) as one of three characters: Sophia Take, the master thief Harry Carver, or the pick pocket Daisy Hobbs.
– Real player with 19.4 hrs in game