Recent reviews by ✛Sweatdrop™✛

Having played both MAFIA (the original) and Mafia: Definitive Edition, there is only one word that can sum up this sequel: BORING.

First of all, the story: The first Mafia game had a great story, it's what drove the gameplay. You had unique, memorable character design and introductions, great voice acting, and a plot filled with interpersonal drama that actually develops like a movie. Mafia 2's writing feels so watered-down by comparison, with bland characters in service of a generic plot.

Also, taking place only a few years later than the events of Mafia 1, you would expect the game's story would take the opportunity to tie into Mafia 1's rich legacy and characters - but as far as I can tell, it doesn't at all. And I'm not spoiling anything when I say: The game actually punishes you for completing the first few missions by sending you straight to prison! Which brings me to my next point...

The gameplay: I don't know what the real difference between Mafia 2's "Definitive Edition" and the original Mafia 2 is, but I don't think it matters - because it would seem the developers took complaints about the driving and shooting challenges of the first game to heart, and made this game completely about beating the brains out of every knucklehead you encounter with your bare fists.

There's actually very little action in a lot of the game's levels before the third act - and the majority of it involves clunky 1v1 fist-fights with AI opponents in instanced events. This would be fine if the fighting mechanics are on par with a decent brawling game, but this isn't. Wooden, at best, is how I would describe the controls, and most fights quickly devolve into button-mashing trash. It's only after slogging through this that you get the chance to really play the game...

As far as the gunplay goes - it's not bad. It's about the same as Mafia DE; the cover action is pretty smooth, and there's some room for experienced gunslingers to take shots that wouldn't be possible on other cover-based 3rd person shooters. Shooting goons in this game is really fun. Same goes for the driving physics - the quicker 40-50's era muscle cars are a blast to drive, but there's only a few missions where you are actually put to the test driving anything.

On top of that, there's a lot of points in the game where you get your money and weapons taken away unexpectedly, so there's no real point in earning money or visiting shops to access new equipment in between story mission save points... the open world function is basically useless. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this game lacks all of the side missions, secret vehicles, and characters of the first game, besides some soft-core pin up art!?!?

Overall, it pales in comparison to the 1st Mafia, and the 1st Mafia: Definitive Edition. If you can get it for less than 5 bucks it's a fine time waster. Even on hard difficulty, it's a game that you can play at your leisure, as long as you get used to the checkpoint system. But if you're expecting the story and action of the 1st Mafia... well I don't know what to tell ya, champ. Go back to Lost Heaven.

You will have to download a couple community made patches (check the discussions) to get this 20+ year old game looking and sounding as it should on a modern PC... but after that, it's back to the glory days!

This is a genuine classic of the 3D shooter era: Groundbreaking gameplay and storytelling... Plus unlike Max Payne 3, you can save scum any time you want, and are free to use any angle and any move in bullet time, or not, to take down your enemies.

There is no being bound to checkpoints or interacting with cover. You can run and gun spreading man sauce on every wall as you please, or hide like a wimp while picking off goons from a distance with anal precision.

This game is like John Woo meets Heat. It's like Charles Bronson meets The Matrix. It's the gun-slinging, finger blasting masterpiece of 3rd person shooters. 100/10 bullets.

It's been almost 20 years since this game's release - and it brings back so many memories.

POSTAL 2 is not a great game, not even a good one. It is an AWESOME game. In retrospect, I don't understand why anybody would waste their money or time on Postal 4 when this ABSOLUTE GEM is available on Steam. If you've never played it, you can't even imagine what you're missing.

This game marks an era where the Postal series (and 1st person shooters in general) actually stirred controversy in the world of gaming, politics, and beyond - and it makes a big point about it, too. The game gives you choice. Violence is not always the answer... unless you're some kind of hippy-dippie pacifist, anarchist psychopath, or somebody who likes fun.

Without ranting about Postal 4's shortcomings, I will say that POSTAL 2 is everything that Postal 4 is, except better. If this were the movie industry, P2 is the original vision that inspired all the terrible remakes. And to put icing on the cake, every DLC is worth it, expanding the lore and the Dude's adventure just the right amount. Take that while running with scissors.

Take control of Raria Morgandorffer on a sarcastic journey through the set of the original Blade Runner movie.

This is a great adventure game - that is to say: in a casual sense. You're not really facing any action/gameplay challenges, except for a few deliveries with time limits, and the writing has you meeting plenty of interesting characters supported by great voice acting. It's a relaxed gaming experience for those who enjoy cruising around soaking in the cyberpunk atmosphere.

The style, world building, and sense of exploration is great. I've enjoyed every moment playing this game, but it can feel lacking: There's no real secrets - if you hit every blip on your map you will discover all the items, NPCs, and side quests that there are to find.

The game gives you some choices to make in the main story, but I'm not convinced they lead to different outcomes other than unlocking a specific Steam achievement, or some NPC reaction soundbytes.

Again, this all adds to the "casual" aspect of the gameplay, and isn't really an issue if that's what you're into. If you expect any sort of combat/action/stat leveling, this game has none and you will get bored playing it.

I enjoyed playing this game to completion, but I didn't feel accomplished. However, it's a worthwhile experience for the experience itself.

[Disclaimer: This review was written after completing the base game only, and does not reflect any material added in any DLC]

Great buy, great value. Being that this is seemingly the ONLY "Driver" game available on steam, it is highly recommended by me.

If you are a fan of old-school, mission-based driving games, this is a must-add to your collection. There are some levels in the game which require you to shoot guns out of your car or on foot, but the controls are pretty decent on PC, so it's not a big detriment to the overall experience if you're just here for the car action.

The driving engine is arcade-like, but done well. Controls are responsive and the physics feel smooth. Each vehicle has unique characteristics, and... the game is just damn FUN to play. It feels like you're playing a PS2 game, even if you're on PC. Well done.

18 years after it's release, I finally spent 22 hours playing through this game, start to finish. What the hell can I say about it?

Well... it's great, obviously. But I still expected more. What could that be? Well... more toward the end-game. I played through the entire game on Hard difficulty, and the most memorable and challenging moments are found in the earlier chapters of the game.

By the game's midpoint, the difficulty curve has flattened out, and the challenge in terms of enemies you face and the level design seem to lose steam... get it?

Sorry. What I'm trying to say is that the later parts of the game don't introduce any new mechanics, enemies, weapons, or platforming elements... with all the twists and turns that result in a sense of exploration and discovery during the first few chapters of the game, the later stages feel like a slog. Not necessarily easy, but it's a very different kind of challenge compared to the later stages of HL1.

SPOILER ALERT: For example, the final stages inside the Citadel are a total gimme. The overcharged gravity gun is really fun to use, but besides the visuals, level design is super bland, and forego a lot of opportunity to ramp things up with the physics-based mayhem you encounter in the game's first moments. You even see a couple new types of Combine enemy in your "tour" through the Citadel, but you never actually fight them. I shoved energy balls into a portal/reactor thingy while barely having to dodge enemy gunships, and won the game on my first playthrough. Nothing compared to fighting Nihilanth.

Anyways this review is for anybody who hasn't already played, or completed this game. If you're interested in the series, definitely give it a go.

OK: Good driving, but where's the RACING?

I never thought I'd say this, but - this game has good driving. The car control is much more balanced and intuitive than most modern NFS games. You still have to do dumb stuff to go fast, like use boost and drift on every corner, but it's less obnoxious than most NFS. You can actually win by knowing a car's handling, rather than just being stupid aggressive.

My biggest gripe with this game is it locks every activity behind a car/event class system. You wanna use your WRX to haul ass in a street Race or smash a Drift record? Too bad, your WRX is classified as "Offroad" only. Hey, that's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 69' Charger you have! I bet that beast pulls a nice 1/4 mile time - But you wouldn't know, because you can't use it in "Drag" events.

You cannot convert car class. However, you're welcome to buy the exact same car again in another class. What?! This confusing system is ultimately meaningless because you can't tune or mod anything exactly the way you want, anyways - there's no actual car tuning, and all upgrades revolve around a wack-ass card based system. The game takes place in Vegas, but come on!

If you want to beat the game and unlock everything, well then strap in for some tedious stuff. A lot of event types don't feel like actual racing. Instead of a free-flowing driving experience, they are short-sighted trial-and-error runs where you have to micro-manage every move you make in order to meet some minimum score requirement. I'd rather be in an event where crossing the finish line first is what matters, and drive how the **** I want.

The best "mission" moments in this game are where you are racing wheel-to-wheel at high speeds on the open road - Evading and ramming police and thugs into oblivion, triggering real-time cinematic cutscenes. That may sound dumber than the stuff I'm complaining about having to do, but it's 1000 times more satisfying than jumping through repetitive checkpoint hoops in an attempt to rack up points on a clock.

Anyways, this game feels great when it lets you onto the open road - but it's a rare opportunity among race/mission classes that are a total grind, and basically nonexistent performance customization/tuning.

Recommended, as long as it only costs three dollars and you have nothing better to do.

This is a great little arcade minigame for $4.00. It's looks, sounds, and plays pretty slick. There's plenty of cool, original synthwave beats to listen to, and the graphics are CRT VHS neonwave enough to warrant wearing sunglasses indoors.

There's not much depth to... anything. Obviously the biggest improvement would be adding more game modes (like one where you actually race an AI opponent), multiplayer, etc... But if you just want to kill 5 minutes while the Mountain Dew kicks in, this is your jam!

The level of detail in this remake is stunning. It adds so much richness and refinement to the Half Life experience, while staying true to the original game in every aspect of design.

A lot of work went into the core mechanics, as well as superficial polish to make this a real masterpiece. From the completely reworked levels, enemies, and weapons, down to little custom models/textures, easter eggs, and overall ambience, this is a 110% PC campaign experience that utilizes the Source engine to it's fullest.

Whether you're a casual FPS fan investigating what all the hubbub is about this "Half Life" game, or a dedicated veteran of the franchise wondering if this entry will stack up to it's former glory and every other related game/mod, you will not be disappointed!

The most fun I've had in VR! This is definitely the best co-op experience I've had. Running around shooting zombies with your friends or friendly strangers is a blast, and the game mechanics feel rock solid. It's has a very fast paced "arcade" vibe to it, and the game's multiple difficultly levels and modes ensures a challenge for players of all skill levels. It's also nice to see that the Dev's are still working on the game with regular updates, improvements, and new content.