Recent reviews by Bassem

I stopped playing this game near beginning because it's too good. I'm not kidding, I stopped playing it because I want to play other, lesser games first, so STALKER doesn't ruin them for me by raising the bar too high.

The best Half-Life game in my opinion. Best visuals, best gameplay (only thing it was missing was the bugbait), best boss fight, most intense ending. And now we wait. And wait, and wait...

This must be my favourite racing game. The feeling of speed is exhilarating, the driving arcadey but still allowing for precise handling. The city is large, wide open and accommodating to speed freaks, road ragers and stunt devils.

This is a game where I speed up my car just to try and crash it in the most spectacular way, watching the metal crumpling in slow-motion and tapping the screenshot button.

The online implementation makes it extremely simple to get an online race going.

I've barely scratched the surface of what Garry's Mod allows and already I am having a blast. Gmod is a showcase of how impressive the Source engine is, even after all this time. And it's a testament to the brilliance and the wackiness of its community.

Now i'm off to go attach a bunch of objects together to form a wheel-legged robot that can shoot explosive barrels out of its butt.

Back when I played the first episode of this five-part game, I gave a negative recommendation. Well, I take it back.

Episode 2 ups the ante in a big way. Choices matter more, there's more real danger, and even though we can see the big reveal coming a mile away - no surprises - it is still intense as hell.

I no longer regret buying this game, and I'm looking forward to starting Episode 3. Just let me catch my breath.

I'm a sucker for games that are both relaxing and challenging, like Zen Bound, Darwinia, even Bejeweled.

Osmos falls into this category as well. Just a beautifully done game, both in its visuals, atmospheric ambient music (my favourite genre!) and simple concept and controls.

You are a mote - a speck, particle or cell. You can propel yourself in a direction by ejecting some of your mass, which makes you smaller. You can absorb smaller motes upon touching them and enlarge yourself, but larger motes will eat you.

And that's about it really. Level goals vary from "become the biggest" to "hunt this specific mote", but don't be fooled - there are intricacies that will emerge as you progress.

But why take my word for it? Give the demo a try. I have this game on Steam and Android, that's how much I like it.

Check my videos for a gameplay example.

I played the first release of this series when it was called Zen Bondage. Zen Bound 2 expands on the simple concepts of the first with some interesting new mechanics - though I still prefer the barebones "classic gameplay."

The premise for this game is odd: binding and wrapping wooden objects with a rope. But soon you'll find yourself concentrating deeply - I often catch my tongue peeking out between tightly pursed lips when playing this.

The "zen" ambience is well done - the music, sound effects and visuals are soothing. But make no mistake, this game is demanding, and you will often have to undo and redo your work to get the perfect result.

I wouldn't call this a "casual" game. Zen Bound 2 requires patience and precision, so if you're into that (or if you want to improve those virtues!), definitely get it.

Played the first 3 episodes for now, waiting for the rest to be released.

It's a pretty good adventure game. The premise (dreams) has a lot of potential.

A couple of the puzzles were of the tedious trial-and-error kind, solved by process of elimination. And the game sometimes blocked you from taking the obvious path, just because you skipped something in between.
But for the most part they are the right mix of logic and thinking outside the box. Largely quite enjoyable!

And of course the game looks amazing. Made entirely with modeling clay and cardboard, I spent as much time admiring each set piece as I did solving its puzzles.

Even with 3 chapters released, I felt it was a bit short. I hope the two remaining chapters will be longer.

Glee is the word that comes to mind when I think of this game. Two words would be "gleefully mischievous." Imps and goblins usually annoy me - like the sidekick in The Darkness II - but these little fellows manage to be endearing.
Anyway, this game has its tongue firmly pressed to its cheek, in a good way.

It parodies LOTR - except you are playing as pseudo-Sauron, sweeping your minions across halfling villages and elven forests with an evil grin on your face.

You (the Overlord) are slow and lumbering, but your minions - whom you can guide with an invisible hand or more precisely assign tasks to - are fast and fluid.

It's sort of open world - open enough to let you revisit previous (respawning) locations to replenish your gold and Souls.

Negatives: Lots of backtracking. No way to sprint or speed up your Overlord character. And no mini-map of any kind. These three problems are a big no-no in an open world game.

Still, I'm early in the game and I am really enjoying it.

Man, I really suck at Magicka. It is too difficult too often; the magic system is complex and requires twitchy, fighting-game level memorising and tapping of button sequences, at which I am terrible.

But you see, this is a game where you WILL die early and often, in all sorts of ridiculous ways. Even more hilariously, you will kill and die at the hands of your co-op mates.

It's a comedy game for sure, not just in the story but the gameplay itself. But it's still a solid game, with a unique magic casting system.

I should spend more time on this game, and get better at it, because it's a blast. Ha! A blast! Get it? I kill me. (and in the game.)