S.T.A.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Review

4 of 5 Stars.

Pros:
Gameplay is very much improved--best in the series by far.
Great atmosphere!
Engine looks better.
Artifact hunting is fun and rewarding.
Equipment upgrading is great.
Economy and pacing feels right.
It's a Stalker game.

Cons:
Not quite as atmospheric as the first game CoS.
Dialog and interactions feel off.
I never got much of a sense of story.
Character animations can be wonky.

Despite some negatives, Stalker gives you a vibe that no other game can. Go play it!

Free jumping.

Portal 2 Review

Portal 2 Review
5 of 5 stars

Stop reading this and go play it!

Jumping: Not only can you jump, but you can jump through Portals. What?!!?

Limbo Review

Limbo Review
4.5 of 5 Stars.

Pros:
Amazing visual artistic choices with the black and white silhouette
Astounding audio--makes you feel like you are right in there, and the queues really push you in emotional directions.
Truly evokes a sense of mystery
Excellent animations and tight controls
Great physics
Very well done puzzles and game design
Very moving (if confusing) ending

Cons:
I didn't really feel a build towards the ending. It sort of happened out of nowhere. Though that may have been intentional, I feel like the way the game ended could have been more impacting if the buildup felt more epic

Jumping: You can jump freely and catch ledges and swing on stuff. Heck yeah!

Risen Review

3.75 out of 5

Pros

Top notch exploration game--no matter where you tinker around, there is a something there for you to find (great rewards for exploration)

Beautiful world.

Great faction interaction.

Difficult Combat

Spiritual Successor to Gothic II (Gothic III sucked and Gothic IV isn't really Gothic)

Pretty good voice acting.

Good Humor.

I like that you can get yourself into hot water with tough enemies if you go running to areas you aren't ready to get to yet.

Cons

Difficult Combat.

You need to save/reload all the time.

Final chapters are very lackluster and final battle doesn't make sense in the game.

You will get some cheap deaths.

Except for one case, women are secondary, wimpy inhabitants of the game.

Game needed more development time. Could have been epic.

You can jump freely and actually catch ledges with some jumps!

Borderlands Review

3.5/5 Stars

Pros:

Cool classes with individual skills. Skill trees allow for some good customization.

Combat is some of the best FPS combat out there. It's fast, furious and intense.

Loot system is one of the best out there.

Good value for the money--lot's of gameplay.

Some good voice acting and some good individual NPC's.

Good humor.

Multiplayer is perfect for this game.

Really cool comic book aesthetic.

Good audio.

Vehicles (not the controls) are cool and add a good dynamic.

Claptraps are funny.

Cons:

Missions are basically go kill this.

Gets repetitive after a while.

Many of the boards feel pretty similar.

Beyond important NPC's, everybody is the same.

World feels very static--it doesn't feel lived in at all.

Vehicle controls are TERRIBLE!

Can't customize character beyond weapons and class.

Claptraps can get annoying (am I contradicting myself?)

Can jump freely!

Psychonauts Review

4.25 out of 5

Pros:

Wonderful, whimsical art style

Excellent sound and music

Top notch voice acting

Solid platforming

Tons of unlockables/upgrades/achievements

Good characters

More than one way to solve problems

Cons:

Might actually have had too many skills--could have cut them in half and used them more interestingly

Map felt confusing to to me for some reason

This is one of the best platformers out there. Go pick it up. It's a pity it didn't sell as well, because we are probably not going to see the sequel it set up, though I'd really love to play it. Support this game!

There is double-jumping!

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Skies Review

3 of 5 Stars

Pros:

Upgradable weapons and armor

Improved engine (sun rays look pretty spectacular)

Less bugs than the original

More emphasis on tactics

Some fun nostalgia from visiting familiar places

Cons:

Didn't feel different enough from Shadows of Chernobyl

Frustrating bugs

Need to do quests in order, so you have to reactivate ones you've completed once you've done the "first in chain" to actually complete them

Disappointing as compared to SoC.

Finding upgrades can be a real pain

Feel free to skip this one and pick up Pripyat instead unless you are a die-hard Stalker fan. It's not bad, it's just that it really doesn't feel like you are getting anything different than Shadows of Chernobyl.

There is jumping.