Recent reviews by InitialDesu

Contains Spoilers

Half life 2:
At the release and for the five years that followed, this game was groundbreaking. However, unlike what many reviewers claim, I don't believe it has stood the test of time because "wow, the physics". In its current state, I argue that it has NOT aged well and is in need of update.
What I actually want isn't more hype for Half-Life 3 - that mythical sequel that newcomers, who only just discovered the series in 2025, somehow pretend they've been waiting for over 20 years. What I want is refinement and polish for the legendary game we already have. Why not perfect the masterpiece that already exists?
The enemy AI is a mess. It's forgivable for naturally dumb NPCs like Headcrab or Zombies, but when Combine Soldiers behave exactly the same way, just rushing straight at you and dying - it is becoming a comedy. They don't try to flank. They throw nades rarely, and 50% of the time blow themselves up. When you throw a nade at them, they sometimes don't even try to run. I could excuse this for Civil Protection, but when regular troops and god forbid the Elite act this dumb, it causes laughter and confusion. Why the devs didn't work on this and players just swallowed it is beyond me. You can recall moments where they turn off the lights or blow the floor under Freeman, but those are scripted sequences. In 99% of the cases, they behave like AMOEBAS. Soldiers from Half-Life 1 might have been dumb too, but compared to the Combine, they look like tactical geniuses who use quick cover shifts and aren't afraid to use nades a lot and push you when you go back for reloading.

This game earned its respect because of deeply crafted universe. It immerses you through sound design, music, textures, and that distinct Eastern European atmosphere. The gameplay, however...

WHY Combine snipers shoot zombies that are right next to Freeman literally HELPING him?
Combine have no concept of target priority. A soldier will shoot a zombie near you... while you're actively aiming at HIM!!!
Combine forces drop headcrab canisters on THEIR OWN positions!!!

The exception is the Chopper. Gets its own chapter, and initially, we have no means to fight it. Causes trouble, forcing us to use terrain to hide - still unarmed against it. In those moments, you feel like a partisan fighter. Later, though, game gives us an overpowered machine gun that melts everything, including APC's and the Chopper itself... As for the Gunship, which should be even tougher and more armored, it feels less like a mini-boss and more like just another enemy. Why? Because the devs thought that having Headcrabs unexpectedly jump from corners was a better idea than gradually introducing the threat, you know, without giving us the tools to destroy it IMMEDIATELY.

The real victims here are the aquatic creatures that the Combine turn into gunships and dropships. They are so cute T_T

Those early chapters made the game iconic. You feel like you are against a superior enemy. Then the formula shifts: Here's a tough new enemy - and here's an even tougher gun to evaporate them.
I do not understand how humanity could have lost to such opponents. Alien hardware that we see in-game seems to fit only for gunning down civilians armed with sticks. A single squad of Black Ops from Half-Life 1 - invisible, hit and run tactics - poses more of a threat than a thousand Combine Elite soldiers.

And the Combine commander... Picture this: he sees some guy named Freeman tearing through everything, plot-armored and unstoppable. Instead of throwing EVERYTHING he has at him, he just... sends 1-2 groups of soldiers at a time.

SEND THE ENTIRE AIR FLEET. BOMB HIM INTO OBLIVION. You literally see that this one man is stronger than all the rebels combined.

Half life 2: Episode One.
New interactions with Alyx - shine a flashlight in her face, and she'll cover her eyes with hand. She reacts with dialogue to Freeman's actions and even got new melee combat moves. However, I wasn't fond of how the player is immediately thrown into dark tunnels. Look, this isn't some cheap horror game. The first encounter with the Zombines was impressive thanks to the music and the new mechanic where Zombines take grenade and runs at you, devs saw my review from the future and decided to add a somewhat dangerous enemy :D). The elevator sequence was difficult simply because there were so many Zombies that overwhelm you with numbers.
YES, YES, COMBINE - YOU COULD HAVE DONE THIS!

«Come on, Gordon, crank that thing!»
Once in the streets, Episode One really finds its footing. The Citadel dominates skyline with its red-black-orange vortex crown. But then you have moments where Combine soldiers rappel down from rooftops (positions that give them tactical advantage) only to engage Gordon and Alyx in a face-to-face shootout. It's just laughable. Looks cinematic, but there's no logic.

Interesting moments only happened in the hospital and on the rooftop during the battle with gunship (poor creature T_T).
Also, I want to note the bad pathfinding for friendly bots in this episode.
I absolutely did not cover the civilians during the train boarding. Just ran back and forth with rocket launcher and still got the achievement that no one died. This once again says that enemies are just a joke and pose no threat whatsoever.

The battle with Striders at the end is simply the apex of stupidity. Instead of destroying the rails from a distance with a shots from their powerful cannon, or blowing up the entire station to prevent anyone from escaping - including Freeman, they walk inside it, where their movement is limited, deliberately exposing themselves to fire.
What irritates me is not that enemies are easy to kill, or that they have low HP or damage. On the contrary, because they are so dumb, their HP is inflated. What irritates me is the complete lack of intelligence and any logic in their actions.

If you noticed, the Strider in this episode has its fire rate heavily cranked up compared to the previous game. Meaning: the developers tried to make this mission harder with such crutches - just by increasing the Strider's attack power. It's just laughable. Let it at least move, but no - it stands in place, tanking shots. It’s ridiculous.

Half life 2: Episode Two.
The remains of the Citadel look beautiful, with that turquoise vortex erupting from it into a huge portal storm above. We finally move to the forests, not empty beaches or dense city.

In this episode, devs finally made it so the flashlight doesn't drain your stamina :D

New interesting enemies (Antlion Worker and Hunter). It's longer than Episode One and feels like an actual continuation. (Episode 1 and Episode 2 were sold as separate standalone games - so they were meant to feel like full experiences, not just add-ons)

«Grim Peniata.» - Vortigaunt

Really MANY new lines (they sound on-topic, sometimes she can actually hint) and interactions with Alyx - now feels more like a character, not a mannequin running behind. They even added an animation where Alyx sitting in the car with you will shoot enemies in front.

In Episode Two, the Combine still act badly, but a bit more logically, trying to set up ambushes and attack relatively in mass. I think it can be explained by the fact that now troops are commanded directly by the Advisors. But I won't be the devil's advocate - they're still stupid. Only enemies worth talking about are the Advisors themselves.

I like their design, and the fact that they have powerful abilities (not Lovecraftian-level danger, of course). Their actions feel intelligent - (because all interactions with them are heavily scripted) they came, did what they wanted, and left. Still... Instead of that boring final battle with the same Striders, it would've been cool if the Advisors just came and ACTUALLY killed everybody. Yes. Just like that. No more plot armor. Got crushed by a boulder with alien telekinesis.

Dont treat slimes like that T_T

Step 1: Work at a lazy pace worthy of a 0.5-person indie studio. Deadlines? What deadlines? The key is minimal effort!

Step 2: Release an endless stream of cosmetic DLCs to farm money from those who love customization. New skins for pipes? Take them!

Step 3: Take all the changes players have been waiting for years and put them into a sequel called Space Engineers 2. Brilliant! Updating the old project? Nah, that’s not our style.

Step 4: Repeat the magic. Create even more cosmetic DLCs for Space Engineers 2. Players in glittery astronaut suits will be your best customers.

Step 5: Add a couple of bugs. Can't have the devs looking too competent, can we?

Conclusion: A textbook example of "How to make millions while doing almost nothing."

имба огонь бомба

да

Hot and spicy... Hell
Nice game about newbie demonologist.
Quite easy, but some places ( dat lvl 9 ) will take your time.

The concept of game is cool. But the way, how devs realized it - wrong. Especially their approach to developing. Instead of working to optimize graphic engine and code bugs, they make the visibility of the work. A good example is "Eye Candy Update", which is like clumsy rework of post-processing and shaders (After this update i began to notice FPS drops sometimes, however my PC specs is higher than writen in "Recomendations", but before update FPS was stable.). I played this game in early access, and from that moment until the release, almost nothing has changed. As a conclusion I can say that the game is still raw for the release, and is unlikely to come out of this level with the current developer policy for this game.

Its classic, best RTS in all time.

Imperial force defied, facing 500 samurai
Surrounded and outnumbered
60 to 1, the sword face the gun
Bushido dignified
It's the last stand of the samurai
Surrounded and outnumbered

Best game ever. But i hate flying bikes, they are for kids.