Quick Opinion - Eisenhorn: XENOS; Reigns; Inside; Mandagon

Because you read it before I decided to do it again. This is a post in which I will write short reviews of the games mentioned in the title. The point of this is to tell you about more games in shorter time, because I do not have the time to write about all of them or some of them are too short and there is not much to say about. Writing for a game in this format does not mean the game is bad or I did not like it. SPOILER: One of these games even may be in the TOP REVIEWED GAMES for this year so yeah... Let us begin:

Eisenhorn: XENOS

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS MY OPINION ABOUT THE PC VERSION

As you may already guessed the first title is set in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40 000. Unlike most 40k games here you are not commanding a great army or squad of marines but instead you take on the role of Gregor Eisinhorn. Young Inquisitor at the time of the game Eisenhorn finds himself  knee deep in a conspiracy which endangers the Emperium so as every loyal subject of the Emperor he jumps head first into it trying to get to its roots and punish all the heretics who stand there. 

The world of Warhammer is rich and vast setting in which you have a lot of freedom but you should also be careful as it has very zealous community and if you screw up your game you will be destroyed by them. Sadly the case with Eisenhorn is exactly this. The game has only one strong side and it’s the story but that is probably because the game is made following the newly published book having the same title. But even this is hardly doing any good to the game as it is literally on rails and you have no saying in what is happening. Everything else is basic and hardly capable of grabbing your interest for long. The battle system is taken from the Arkham games but you barely will do anything else than chop people with your sword and roll aside from time to time. For a game set in universe where everything is massive and glorious Eisenhorn looks a bit dull as when it is ported to PC someone has forgotten to upgrade its graphics. It looks aged, like it’s made in 2005. The voice-acting is generic, animations are low quality, the battle and stealth systems are generic and basic at best. It is just another bad port sadly...as it could have been amazing game. Better go and read the book.

Official Site

Steam

Reigns

I have not reviewed mobile games in really long time, but this is mainly because I have not found anything really worth mentioning( Yeah, yeah there was Clash Royal but I did not managed to get into it for some reason). Until recently when Reigns came out. It easily was crowned as a hit and conquered everyone who played it. The simple and clean design combined with the hidden depth of the game easily made it a must try if you are wondering what new to get on your phone for those long trips to work.
In Reigns you are a king who wants to rule for as long as he can. To achieve this you should carefully balance between the four forces - nobles(money), church, army and the people. Any of this may lead to your end or you yourself may find it...in the dungeon for example. As the King you will have to cope with all kind of questions and requests from your subjects, advisors and enemies. You will go on crusades, meet the Devil, marry, have affairs, wage war...and everything else you can think of. All that you will do only by swiping left or right when presented with a choice. But when you die this is not the end. If you have ruled well you will leave something for the Kings after you, with time you will also meet new characters which will unlock new cards and make even harder for you to survive for long. In this game...your decisions really matter.

Official site

Steam

Google Play

iTunes Store

Inside

Have you played Limbo? Did you like it? But didn't you feel there is something missing, that it still can be better? If the answer to all those questions is "yes" then this is the game for you.

Inside is the straight upgrade of Limbo. In every aspect. It looks better, the story is better, it is more creepy, more intriguing, better atmosphere. It is the next logical step in the genre, after Limbo.

If somehow you have missed all the noise around Inside and you have not played Limbo (where do you live?!) then let me explain. Inside is atmospheric adventure game where you are boy who witnesses strange experiments with animals and human bodies. Why you are there, what experiments, who, how you got there - all those are questions to which you will find answers while progressing through the game, but you should be observent as the story is passively told to you in the background while you are solving jump and logical puzzles.

But this game is not for the faint of heart as you will often get shot down, eaten by dogs, electrocuted to death or fall to your end. Death is waiting behind every corner.

Very creepy and grim game, but excellently done!

Official site

Steam

Mandagon

And last for a finish I want to present you this little platformer called Mandagon. It’s a little adventure of a little stone totem. Inspired by Tibetan theology and philosophy the game tries to show you what means to make a true sacrifice. In it you are in Limbo (or Barbo if you prefer the Tibetan term) but to learn what and why brought you there you will have to ascend the mountain. Mandagon is small but surprisingly atmospheric game with some interesting philosophical ideas. A little adventure made with a lot of love by the small studio Blind Sky. I recommend it to you as it is short, but amazing!

Official site

Steam


That's it! Four games and my quick opinion about them. Sorry for the short post but time is something I did not have in last few days. Should return to normal reviews for the next time. 

SuperHot! - An innovative look at FPS

First Person Shooters were something big for me when I was like between 9-12 years old. We played a ton in internet clubs...yeah it was that long ago. Anyway, back then I really liked the genre but with time things somehow changed and I stopped playing those games. I think the last fps I played was Halo CE in 2006. That continued until this year when SuperHot came out. You will ask what this is?! Doesn't sound like anything shooting related! But to this I will say - does Hotline Miami sounds like one? It doesn't but look at it.

Anyway, we are here to talk about SuperHot by...SUPERHOT Team. The game started as game jam in 2013 I think, it drew a lot of attention and this year from a demo it became a full game on the market. There is a story in the game and its idea is interesting, but very short, so I will not talk about it at all. Skipping the story part let’s take a look at the gameplay - what is SuperHot and why so many people are interested in it?

When you launch the game the first thing that will get your attention is the DOS styled menus, this is theme and story related so I will not go into details but it is interesting touch to the game. After you finish the story mode which is a bit more than two hours (it depends how much you die :D ) you will unlock all sort of challenges and unlimited mode to test your newly acquired skills. Are you impatient enough already? Ok, ok...sorry.

What made so many people interested in SuperHot is its core mechanic - the game moves only when you move. My first though when I heard about it was " Oh, so it’s a turn-based kind of FPS?". Well, it’s not it’s more like infinite bullet-time FPS. Often the game will put you against multiple enemies with better weapons, coming from different directions, coming out of cars which try to hit you and so on.  You will have to plan your moves carefully as there are no hit points in this game while at the same time you will also have to be quick and able to adapt as here enemies will shamelessly spawn behind you and in places where you have already checked. 

The game doesn't grab with its look. The menus are DOS like and the other parts of the game have strange rectangular art style with enemies seemingly made of red glass which shatters when they are hit. But it grabs with its gameplay. It really does! It’s a great feeling when you complete a level, when you run by your enemies slashing them with a katana while dodging swarms of bullets. You feel badass! Powerful! Good! Like the main character in an action movie. And then you die, because as we know "Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer". It is an interesting and unique, from what I have seen, mix of a puzzle and FPS in almost equal measure.

Easy to grasp, hard to master, satisfying, clean gameplay.  A ton of replayability. I loved it!  If you are too looking for adrenalin filled title which at the same time offers something new SuperHot is your game!

Where to find it:

Official site

Steam

"Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer" is quote from Red Hook's game Darkest Dungeon