Patient Gamers

Hello. The past few months Ive been almost exclusively playing fantasy and survival games, so much so that I need a break from them.

Looking for single player FPS recommendations with controller support from the last decade. A good story is preferred.

Games Ive played:

1. Warframe (dont ask. The lore is okay-ish. I stayed for friends).
2. Titanfall 2. (PEAK)
3. Apex Legends (Briefly. The sweatiness and timed lore turned me off).
4. Doom 2016 (Dropped this, sadly. Gunplay and parkour was AWESOME, but the whole devil worship thing really turned me off).
5. Dying Light 1. (Okay Story. Awesome fighting. Never played 2 because of the whole controversy with the ~~story director~~. EDIT: Story writer, not director)
6. The Metro Series. 1, 2 and Exodus. (Slightly weak lore. Still alot of fun).

Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: regarding Dying Light:

https://screenrant.com/dying-light-2-developer-techland-loses-another-writer/

https://screenrant.com/dying-light-2-developers-frustration-bad-management/

Something interesting to read on a Monday morning.

A wonderful story to start the day.

So I just finished Shadow Warrior (2013) and I wasn’t blown away by it but I had a decent time. I always like hearing about experiences that people had with the game when it first came out and whether or not a modern perspective paints it differently.

To summarize what I thought: The writing is humorous, but not outright funny to me. The graphics hold up very well and the gore is great. Combat is mostly pretty good. Some enemies are annoying or overly difficult on the hard difficulty but overall it’s pretty good.

I did think it was modeled to be kind of akin to a Serious Sam type game and it lives up to that but similar to that game, many of the weapons/enemies/levels overstay their welcome a bit. Other than that I had a pretty good time with it, thought it was an 8/10 fun time.

What’s everyone’s story with this game series? When did you first play it and what did you think about it?

Just finished this game. It was really something new and unique. I got it on the steam spring sale discount, and can heavily recommend you do so too, if you are into story and mystery in games.

Having played quite a share of games in my life, this one truly stands out due to its unique setting and high quality characters and art.

If you liked for example Disco Elysium or Detroit Become Human, I believe this game is also perfect for you.

I got a free month of Game Pass and am digging into whatever's interesting as a result, and man, I'm really glad I finally tried Clone Drone in the Danger Zone, even though it did not actually look like my kind of game; I just let myself be influenced by Steam's overwhelmingly positive reviews—and they're all correct!

~~What really threw me for a loop (since I only watched the trailer and didn't otherwise read much on it) is that you do not stay in the coliseum! Without spoiling much, it is just hilarious and unexpected how far the game actually goes beyond the trailer~~ (and the difficulty becomes as easy or as hard as you want it to be, in case skill is a concern among any readers here). Edit: Huh, apparently I entirely missed one of the trailers which already reveals this. Never mind, but the shock value was great, so if any of this interests you, try to not watch the first trailer lol.

But even in the arena, you truly feel like a sci-fi gladiator (bonus points if you watched Gladiator—the first one, of course), facing level after level of interesting different enemies with the commentators comedically going at it. You can upgrade your bot with different skills, weapons, or clones to keep going; if you pick cloning (buying extra lives, basically), they say things like, "Upgrade bot is not pleased" (since it would rather have spent that turn giving you an upgrade instead), or "This human fears death. Typical."

It is just so amusing and well-done as you hack and snipe enemies to bits, causing them to hop on one leg, or taking out an arm, or even having these situations happen to own robot body. The AI dodging of your bow's energy slices is also well-done and tricky, and it's crazy fighting giant spiders when they dynamically adjust their movement based on which legs they've lost. Giant alien spiders are no joke.

I actually didn't realize that it has a free demo on Steam, so go check it out!

Background

Superliminal is an Indie first person puzzle game that was released in late 2019, right before the COVID19 era. I recall vaguely hearing about this around the time it was originally released, but never gave it much thought until I saw it was one of the games that was going to be removed from the PS Plus catalogue in late 2024.

Production

For those familiar with similar titles, Superliminal is best described as a hybrid between Portal and The Stanley Parable. The game is a first-person puzzler built around a unique gimmick reminiscent of Portal, while the tone and atmosphere evoke The Stanley Parable—from its eerie abandoned offices and maze-like backrooms to the quaint British narrator. As the game is premised on exploring and escaping from a dream world, the level design becomes increasingly surreal as the game progresses.

The graphics and controls are serviceable but have a distinct "basic Unity-game" feel to it, where it lacks the level of polish that would bring it to the next level. While it's not the sort of game to push graphical boundaries, I could see it greatly benefiting from a ray tracing remaster down the line where a more realistic presentation would enhance its unsettling "liminal" atmosphere. Unfortunately, the controls—whether in character movement or camera handling—suffer from a noticeable floatiness, making interactions feel imprecise.

Similarly, the writing and voice acting for the narration are competent but fall short of their inspirations. The game clearly aims for the tone of Portal and The Stanley Parable, with a disembodied voice guiding the player through an abandoned facility, yet it lacks the same humour and charm, making the experience feel somewhat underwhelming by comparison.

Gameplay

Superliminal’s core gameplay mechanic revolves around perspective manipulation—objects retain their apparent size relative to the player's viewpoint, while their actual size changes based on the background as the player moves the camera. For example, a player can pick up a normal-sized apple up close, where it fills most of the screen, then turn to face a distant ceiling while keeping the apple in view. Upon releasing it, the apple "resizes" accordingly into an enormous house-sized apple falling from above.

The early puzzles gradually introduce this mechanic before ramping up in complexity. While genuinely fun, the limitations of the system soon become apparent: the perspective-based interactions lack the deliberate precision found in other puzzle games, often leading to frustrating trial and error when adjusting an object’s size and orientation. As the game progresses, the puzzle design starts to feel repetitive, with many later challenges boiling down to finding the right object to create a ramp. Although new mechanics are introduced, many feel like one-off gimmicks that aren't expanded upon in later puzzles. Towards the endgame, puzzle-solving takes a backseat, and the game shifts into something more akin to a trippy walking simulator.

The game is relatively short—my first playthrough lasted around four hours, yet certain sections still felt padded for length. A speedrun achievement for completing the game in under 35 minutes highlights just how quickly it can be breezed through.

Conclusion

Superliminal is built around a genuinely innovative mechanic, but struggles to fully explore its potential in a meaningful way. It’s clear that Superliminal draws heavy inspiration from Portal and The Stanley Parable, but this unfortunately invites unflattering comparisons. Where Portal excels in precise puzzle design and gradual mastery of its mechanics, Superliminal often feels imprecise and inconsistent. Likewise, both Portal and The Stanley Parable uses sharp writing and humor to create a compelling world, while Superliminal’s storytelling lacks the same charm and wit. Ultimately, Superliminal feels like an ambitious experiment that's definitely worth checking out for fans of the genre, but falls short of being a truly good game.

6/10 worth it if you're a fan of the genre

[email protected]

I played the original silent hill for the first time without knowing anything about the series and i think i am missing something.

The gameplay was obviously clunky but still enjoyable using savestates. My problem comes from the fact that it wasn't really scary (probably because i don't get scared easily) and from the story. When i reached the ending i was very interested in knowing what was going to happen, only to be faced with a basic bossfight without much information about the story (bad ending).

Then i checked the wiki and apparently there are multiple endings whose requirements are not explained in game (or at least it seems so).

Is it worth replaying the game using a guide to see the other endings or should i just watch them on YouTube?

And why is it considered a masterpiece?

Hello peeps. Life’s thrown me some curve-balls recently, and I’d like a bit of an escape. Can anyone recommend a decent game in the vein of Skyrim, Fallout or Deus Ex/System Shock for the steam deck, that isn’t 25 or 30 quid please? Something on offer for less than a tenner would be ideal. I’m sure there are some great older RPGs out there that I’ve missed, the Deck is the first time I’ve got back into gaming for quite a few years, and while I’m sure I could quite happily just play Brotato for the next few years, I reckon there’s something a bit more immersive out there for me to find!

I have had playstation for a while, but aside from Petz, Rollercoaster tycoon, and the sims <4 I never had a pc that could handle games.

I was gifted a used custom gaming PC cuz the owner was getting a new one! I have an $80 steam gift card I'd love to spend on multiple pop culture classic games I've missed out on and can only enjoy on PC/Xbox.. my favorite are 3rd person rpg with exploration as an important element in learning about the lore/story. Some sort of reward for exploring thar isn't loot.

Games I loved

• Control

• Horizon zero dawn

• Persona 5/royal Those three are S tier life changing, think about forever types

• Bishop trilogy (2 is best @me bro)

• P5 strikers

• Persona 4 golden

• Final fantasy, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15

• Catherine Full Body

• Alan Wake

• Ni no Kuni2

• The forgotten city

• Until dawn

• A plague tale 1 innocence

• TLOU1

• Uncharted 1-3

• Portal 1 & 2

Meh

• life is strange 1
• TLOU2
• Nier automata (ikr, wtf? )

Did not finish/Gave up for lack of interest

• Mass effect 1 (and thus none of the sequels)
• Little nightmares
• Fallout 4
• Cyberpunk 2077 and not for glitch reasons
• Ghostwire

So far the only game I'm sure of is the fable series but I dont even know what version to get? It often gets confusing for older games for a newbie

Computer details: Intel i9, 32gb ram, and Nvidia GeForce rtx 2070

Not sure how I got the idea, but somehow I ended up searching for Life is Strange on Steam, noticed the first episode (of the original) was free and installed it.

Yesterday I finally played episode 1 and immediately bought the other 4 episodes after.

According to my steam achievement, I actually played Life is Strange for 40 minutes back in 2016, though I didn't stick with it back then.
Looking back, I'd say I was definitely in the wrong age group back then to enjoy and relate to the story properly.
Now I really enjoy the characters and I'm interested to experience the rest of the story. Might make another post when I finished it :)

Background

As a fan of Doom and other early id Software games, the breakup of the original team was a sad moment which clearly left a creative hole in their subsequent output. Its interesting how out all the various id alumini, American McGee was the one who ended up lending his name to a videogame title. After recently reading the excellent Masters of Doom, I went on a binge of classic id Software games and ended up picking up a PS3 copy of Alice: Madness Returns (AMR) from a bargain bin. To my surprise, the original American McGee's Alice (AMA) is still available as a free downloadable DLC for AMR so I was able to go through both games back to back.

American McGee's Alice

AMA is a third person platformer that was released in 2000. While I passed it on back then, I still recall seeing the distinctive cover art on store shelves which clearly conveyed the tone of the game as a twisted take on a classic children's story. The game itself follows through with an art style that makes the most of the Quake 3 engine, with distinctive character models and stylized levels with intricate geometry.

The game is set across a large number of small-medium sized linear levels. While there are no checkpoints, saving is allowed anywhere. A playthrough of the game takes about 6 hours. The first few levels actually give a rather poor impression of the game, being set mostly in underground caves. The levels do improve later on, with some stand out levels set in a monochrome world or within a clockwork mechanism. The imagination shown in the level design is a delight, and gives a sense of character to Wonderland. In game cutscenes punctuate the gameplay, although the plot itself is very barebones.

There are no upgrade systems or collectibles in the game beyond getting new weapons. Apart from the starting knife and another melee weapon, attacks consume a shared willpower (mana) pool. Killing enemies drops a pickup that restores both health and willpower, with the amount restored dependent on how hard the enemy is. While combat makes up a large part of the gameplay it feels very janky in the PS3 port. The game was originally released only on the PC and Mac where mouselook controls allow for speed and precision. There is a large variety of weapons, most of which have quite unique functionality. However, most of these weapons are also very gimmicky and are either too slow or situational to use in combat. None of the weapons feel satisfying to use, which is a surprise given McGee's id Software pedigree. The level design itself often hinders combat, with invisible geometry occasionally blocking shots. Enemies are varied but most don't require any change in tactics. Boss fights usually appear at the end of each biome, although I didn't find any of them particularly memorable.

The platforming gameplay has also not aged well, as it seems to be designed with quicksaving in mind where falling results in instant death. The controls on the PS3 also makes some of these jumps quick tricky to execute, while reloading after each death is a huge chore given the PS3 load times. There are some puzzles scattered throughout the game as well, but most are a case of finding the right switch.

For the PS3 version, I would rate this game as a 4/10 due to it's poor translation to a controller and surprising performance issues. If you can get this on the PC, it would be a 5/10, as while the game does have its memorable moments, the core mechanics have not aged well.

Alice: Madness Returns

AMR was released in 2011 and has clearly benefited from advances in game design in the intervening years. The game is far more accessible to a modern audience, with controls better suited to a controller, a generous checkpoint system, upgrades for exploration, and even a new game plus mode. The storytelling is more ambitious and compelling, and takes a suitably dark turn as it progresses.

While AMA had distinct levels which were grouped together by biome, AMR levels are more seamlessly woven into chapters with a distinct theme, such as an undersea chapter (no swimming, thankfully) or a dollhouse full of toys. Each chapter starts in the real world of grimy Victorian era London, before transitioning into Wonderland. The first visit to Wonderland is a visual delight, especially the Vale of Tears—a vibrant outdoor area filled with lush plant life and cascading waterfalls. It feels like a celebration of advancements in video game graphics, standing in stark contrast to the muted, subdued environments of the first game's early levels. AMR's levels are mostly linear, similar to AMA, but includes additional paths to explore which usually leads to upgrades or collectibles. The art design is often outstanding, clearly expanding on the ambitious designs from AMA.

The core platforming gameplay is much easier to appreciate, given the improved controls. Falls now result in being teleported to the last safe platform with no loss of health, which flows much better than the save/reload cycle in AMA. Apart from hunting switches, platforming puzzles now also include weighted scales and invisible platforms that require a special viewing mode. Most of the platforming puzzles are straightforward, although a couple in the later levels took a bit of time to execute. There are also various minigames of varying quality punctuating the gameplay, such as sliding puzzles, a 2D sidescrolling shooter, a 2D platformer, among others. I found some of the minigames to be the low points of AMR, feeling more like an asset flip Unity game rather than an integral part of the game.

Combat in AMR is quite involved, with a good variety of weapons and enemies that require differing tactics. There are 5 different weapons in AMR, each of which have clear uses throughout the game. The starting vorpal blade can't be thrown like in the first game but can now be used in quick combos. The pepper mill acts as the standard rapid fire ranged attack. Toy bombs is weak as an explosive but can draw fire as a decoy. The horse mallet is a heavy melee attack. The teapot rounds off the arsenal as a ranged artillery attack with splash damage. Except for the ranged weapons which require a button to swap between them, all of the other attacks are bound to dedicated buttons, allowing the right one to be quickly used as needed. The weapons also double as tools to trigger certain switches or smash barriers. The lock on system snaps to targets well for ranged attacks, although switching targets can be cumbersome if there are many on enemies on screen. There's no longer a willpower (mana) system but the ranged weapons have individual cooldowns if fired too often. Apart from the bomb, all weapons can be upgraded 3 times using in game currency (teeth) which are dropped by enemies or found throughout the levels. The availability of the teeth is quite generous, as I was able to fully upgrade all weapons by the 5th chapter.

There's a decent variety of enemies in the game, including a number of elite mobs that require particular attention. Alice can now also perform a dodge where she transforms into a cloud of butterflies that zip away from harm while waiting for the right moment to counterattack, as well as getting access to an umbrella which allows her to block certain attacks. The game does a good job of introducing enemies individually, before throwing them into larger fights with a mix of enemies where you need to work your way through the various threats. However, the combat also feels like a bit of a lost opportunity as the majority of combat arenas are mostly flat with the occasional obstacle. The movement, dodges, and attacks seem to lack sense of the responsiveness and control that are found in better games.

Pacing can be an issue with some of the chapters, as some of the length and repetitiveness of some platforming and combat sections can become quite tedious. Overall, I found that the game just about doesn't overstay its welcome. Despite the new game plus mode, I didn't feel a strong compulsion to replay the game apart from the OCD for getting collectibles and trophies.

The PS3 version was probably not the best version to play as there are some occasional drops in frame rate, particularly when combat gets hectic. Production wise, there also seems to be an issue with some of the dialogue where the sound quality is noticeably lower than other lines.

Overall, AMR was an enjoyable experience with a unique setting brought to life by a strong sense of artistic direction. However, the gameplay just about falls short of it not being a mid game at 7/10.

Conclusion

American McGee's Alice is a game from 2000 with most of the gaming mechanics not aging well. The strong artistic direction does mean it merits a look and if you can get it on PC it would be a 5/10. This is a game that really deserves a remake to bring its unique vision to a wider modern audience. Alice: Madness Returns, on the other hand, should be fully accessible for modern audiences. The strong artistic vision from AMA continues is better supported in the sequel by improved gameplay and graphics. However, there are clear flaws in terms of pacing and minigames that leaves this a 7/10 for me. This game deserves a remaster to optimise it for modern consoles. Of note, American McGee did try to develop a third game to round off the trilogy but was unfortunately rejected by EA. The design bible for the final game can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/alice-asylum-v1-78703655

This one kind of flew under the radar for me back when it came out but with all the hype surrounding the sequel, it seemed like a great time to play the first game ($30 USD).

Definitely have never played an RPG quite like it. It’s extremely difficult for me so far but not in a rage-inducing way, more like I keep dying because I’m playing it like Skyrim. It feels like a slow burn type of game, where the more time I invest in my character, the stronger he’ll become and the more enjoyable the game will be.

Anyone else playing the first game right around now?

I have a bit of an obsession with the Need for Speed series, and while I've played all of them, I haven't completed all of them (the ones with a campaign at least). So I started playing through the remainder a while back.

Both Shift titles were in that list, I played Shift 1 first. I don't love it, but it has fleeting moments of something more. Every now and then you get into the flow of a track in a car that handles well, and it just clicks. That's maybe 10% of the time though, otherwise you're dealing with janky physics and brain dead AI.

It's been a long time since I've played Shift 2 Unleashed, from what I remember it was a marginal improvement over Shift 1. Before I get into me being wrong, let me bring you up to speed on racing games in general if you aren't an avid follower of this mess of a genre.

Racing games are generally categorized as arcade, simcade, or sim racers. Arcade would be Need for Speed Most Wanted or Midnight Club 3, sims would be Assetto Corsa and iRacing. Simcade, as you'd expect, is somewhere in the middle. Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo, PGR, GRID, etc.

The best simcades are the ones that simplify the driving characteristics of a sim while adding in something unique. PGR4 has a kudos system that rewards skilled driving and a killer soundtrack to make moment-to-moment racing more exciting, Forza Motorsport 4 feels like a car nerd's wet dream with the amount of passion poured into everything surrounding the driving, etc.

A big problem with simcades as of late (Forza Motorsport 8, Project Cars 3, etc) is that they stop after the first step. They simplify sim physics to make themselves playable on a controller, and then they do nothing else. There is no reason to play FM8 over FM4 or Project Cars 3 over Shift 2.

So what's Shift 2's deal?

It is the most visceral simcade (maybe racing game in general) that you will ever play. Here is a video I recorded of a quick race around Brands Hatch.

(side note: this game is almost 15 years old and goddamn has it held up graphically)

What is Shift 2 doing to make this race as intense as possible?

1. It is pitch black. You better not crash and break your headlights, or you are fucked. Your opponents' headlights light up your cockpit when they get close, adding to the pressure.

2. Your vision blurs the faster you go, until the only thing in focus is the track in front of you.

3. Dirt and bug splatter hits your window, occasionally directly in your line of sight.

4. The hood of your car shakes at higher RPM or when going over bumps, making the cars feel more physical.

5. The transmission whine sound has been made more prominent compared to reality, meaning the car is basically screaming at you at all times.

6. Your head moves to follow the track, every bump shaking your helmet. In most other racing games, you are the car. In Shift 2, you are the meatbag inside the car. This is especially relevant when you crash. Your view jerks forward, your vision goes grayscale and blurry, and your driver breathes heavily for a few moments afterward.

7. No rewind mechanic. If you fuck up, your race is over. Don't fuck up.

8. AI are willing to jostle for position. They aren't as intelligent as some modern sims, but they're way smarter than Forza's AI and collisions carry an actual risk in Shift 2.

Now look at this video of FM8. It feels sterile in comparison.

Even if you remove points 1 and 6 from Shift 2's favor, a race at dusk with regular cockpit view, it still looks and more importantly FEELS incredible. And now here's FM8 again.

Shift 2 isn't perfect, it shares some problems with Shift 1. Notably, some cars just straight up suck to drive (the slower/heavier ones), both PC ports are iffy, and it succumbed to licensing hell and can't be purchased anymore. But still, after 14 years, it's leaps and bounds ahead of the driving experience of every other simcade racer released since, including its own spiritual successor.

It sucks that no other racing games have really tried to follow down this path since. Slightly Mad Studios' own Project Cars (1 & 2) carried some of these ideas into an actual sim, but then they shot themselves in the foot with Project Cars 3 and haven't done anything since. They're been absorbed into EA in the meantime, so who knows if they'll ever have the chance.

I wish it didn't take me so long to revisit Shift 2. If you're itching for a good simcade racer, give it a shot. It feels fresher than ever with how stagnant the racing genre has been as of late.