Reviews

BioShock takes the player to the underwater utopia of Rapture, where genetic modifications have driven most of the city's population mad. These modifications come in the form of "plasmids" - a series of injectables allowing human beings to strengthen themselves or acquire new abilities. These plasmids not only exists in the lore but also the gameplay, allowing players to use the plasmids to perform various, unique abilities, such as setting enemies on fire or using telekineses to throw nearby objects at them. This makes the gameplay very varied, and often more engaging than the average FPS.

Other than the plasmids, the player of course also gets access to an arsenal of firearms, everything from a revolver to a crossbow. Combining the use of firepower with the plasmids feels very satisfying, and offers the player control of the battle in ways that very few games do. While the gunplay might not be the most advanced, the simplicity of it has it's charm.

Then there's the story. It's simply one of the best video game stories I've ever experienced. It's also very unpredictable, mainly because of the many twists and turns. I, of course, won't spoil anything, as I feel you should experience it for yourself. The story of Rapture is mainly told to the player through audio logs found throughout the city, giving the player more insight into how Rapture ended up how it did. The level of environmental storytelling in the game is impressive, and this is further improved by the great graphics, for a 2007 game at least.

I can not recommend BioShock enough. Whether you're looking for an interesting main story which questions the way our society works, or simply a unique shooter game, this is the game you're looking for.

Overall Score: 10/10 - Exceptional
+ Mind-bending main story
+ An unique FPS experience
+ Immersive environments

DOOM was without a doubt the game that kickstarted the FPS genre through the first game released back in 1993, and now it's back with a fourth entry. Let's just get this straight; the game is fantastic.

The gameplay forces you to think quickly, and constantly be on the move. The gunplay is exceptional. As you "rip and tear" through the campaign, you'll unlock new guns, which all feel unique and different from one another. There's also a bit of "resource management" involved, as you'll have to know when to or not to use the brutal glory kills, which not only has a nice gory animation but also rewards you with ammo and health. Sadly, the game loses its charm towards the end, mainly due to the repetitive level design. After 10 hours of gameplay, entering arenas upon arenas filled with new demons to kill isn't as satisfying as in the beginning. I also found the lack of bosses a bit disappointing. There are nearly no bosses in the game, and when you finally encounter one, there isn't much challenge involved.

The soundtrack is another amazing thing about DOOM. The composer Mick Gordon did an exceptional job with his heavy-metal soundtrack, perfectly fitting the gory and hellish nature of the game. You just want to turn the volume up every time you play the game.

For those of you looking for an engaging story, DOOM will disappoint. But storytelling was never a part of DOOM, and will probably never be. However, this is far from bad. Sometimes you just want to have fun playing games without having to engage in a story at the same time, and for that purpose, DOOM is perfect.

Also included with DOOM is a multiplayer experience, with modes such as the classic DOOM deathmatch. While this was fun, it wasn't something I could see myself playing a lot, so therefore I don't have a lot to say about it.

Overall, DOOM is a satisfying FPS experience filled with gore, and of course, demons. While it does lose its charm towards the end, it's still a game worth buying.

Overall Score: 8/10 - Excellent
+ Satisfying combat
+ Great soundtrack
- Loses its charm towards the end
- The bosses could have been better

Extreme Exorcism is a nifty little indie action/arena battler where you kill ghosts regarding around one main gimmick - there's not really AI as such, (aside from evil haunted chairs in the first rounds and in a few specific challenges) instead these ghosts just copy your actions 1:1 from the previous round, including all movements and attacks. Doesn't sound too difficult on the face of it, but it can get a little chaotic as the past incarnations of you start to build up.

Essentially, the game is played in rapid-fire rounds which end when you kill your ghost from the previous round, marked with a crown. You can kill the other ghosts too, but it's typically a waste of time in the main game. That's essentially the gist of it - arena battlers like this tend to live or die based on the strengths or weaknesses of control fluidity and weapon variety, and Extreme Exorcism has an acceptable amount of both, I suppose.

It also strikes the Single Player/Multiplayer balance pretty well - I'm fine with games that are either 100% one or the other like a committed party game or a story driven single player game. When you try to completely half-ass shoehorn a crappy multiplayer mode into an SP focused game (Red Dead Redemption) or the other way around (the weird Mario Party single player campaigns) that starts to annoy me.

Extreme Exorcism avoids that - the campaign is acceptable whether you play it single player or co-op and there's competitive for the multiplayer side and challenge mode for the single player side to balance it all out. Kudos for that, but I've gotta dock at least a little bit for shafting the long distance crowd on any type of online capability.

Certainly not anything to write home about, but it's a fun way to kill a few hours.