Recent reviews by Lulu's Hawk

Valve may have grown hilariously mercenary in recent years, and moved away from being a proper dev house for non-Steam stuffs.

But it is extremely, EXTREMELY telling that their OWN PEOPLE, including, presumably, ones who worked on the original Half Life, have pretty much given this game their approval, if only personally.

Crowbar Collective tore the original apart, saw what worked and what didn't, and now it pretty much 90% *works*

They even got in somebody whose input made the HECU Marines' dialog feel a bit more authentic (at least to me).

If you can scrape up twenty bucks? Grab this. If you have to wait for it to go on sale? Do that.

Oh, and check out the Blue Shift mod, as well. It's not yet done, but considering that HECU Collective is rebuilding one of the original xpac's from scratch, as well? It's not really surprising; I'd estimate another year or two before they're done, but what they have so far is rock-solid. Watch this space.

Sony: Publishes a game that becomes a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ meme for months, that everyone who plays it gets into hard enough that they start echoing the in-game propaganda (I hope ironically). Don't wanna link your Steam to a PSN account? 'scool, you don't have to.

Also Sony: You know what, nah, you now MUST link Steam to PSN. Oh, you live somewhere that PSN isn't available? Sucks to be you, guess you can't play anymore. Thanks for the cash, sucker."

This is absolutely a bad call from the publisher. Give Arrowhead a bit of flak for their initial response, but give 'em a pat on the head for being perceptive enough to spot when they were in a tough spot, and adjusting their position appropriately.

It should be noted that if the hacker's training ground that is Sony walks back the PSN requirement (which, incidentally, they violated their own EULA terms to implement), this negative review, and probably a LOT of others, will go back to recommending the game. Sony's got a month to walk back the change before it actually goes into effect. Make you some popcorn and see how this goes.

EDIT: Hope you finished your popcorn, 'cause Sony caved, and walked back the PSN requirement.

Now get your ass into your hellpod, 'Diver. The bugs and the clankers won't shoot themselves.

An oddball in the Wolfenstein franchise, this.

Bring a friend. Seriously. Do it. Spring for the Deluxe, send someone with a good enough machine a Buddy Pass, and play with another human. (Ideally one who enjoys the Borderlands series, or RPG-ish shooters).

For the love of Athena, PAY ATTENTION TO THE ENEMY HEALTH BARS, AND SWITCH WEAPONS APPROPRIATELY. Feel like the Jaegers are soaking up too much fire? Put the rifle down, pick up your Maschinenpistolen, and blaze them down. Hammersoldaten wrecking your face against your Blitzgewehr? Swap to the Sturmgeweher and return the favor.

Remember: You may be the spawn of BJ Blazkowicz, but YOU ARE NOT BJ BLAZKOWICZ. Communicate with your co-op partner. Don't do what I keep doing (to my co-op partner's eternal exasperation) and run off without saying anything. If they're on the edge of your minimap, you're too far away.

Gameplay: 7/10. Slightly clunky, but given the time of release, can only have been deliberate.

Story: 238527480831/10. I'm sorry, did you NEED this sanity?

Silent Hill 2 has found a new partner in head-♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ crime.

The first one was an excellent instructor on how to handle a guitar or bass. This one takes lessons learned, and incorporates them, making the game that much more effective an instruction aid. Guitar instructors, beware!

My only complaint is the DLC, which at time of writing totaled up to over a hundred bucks for every unique song. I don't fault the devs for this, I fault the music industry's Byzantine practices and undoubtedly-exorbitant licensing fees for the various pieces available.