27/09/25 - Snapbreak Bundle

As I wanted a little break from some of the longer posts/essays/blogs/ramblings, I decided to look through my free games backlog trying to find some games that I can put together in one post. To my surprise, turns out I have several puzzle games from the same publisher Snapbreak in my collection. Seems like an ideal time to post them! This post will cover the following puzzle games: Escape Machine City: Airborne, Boxes: Lost Fragments, Tiny Robots Recharged, the Faraway Trilogy and The Abandoned Planet.

Escape Machine City: Airborne



Most of these games were developer by Big Loop Studios who have appeared on this blog before with Doors Paradox. That was a nice little game that had a unique approach to the genre with its art style but had a weak plot and repetitive puzzles,

Anyway this one is pretty boring. This game focuses on a pilot sent on a mission to stop a flying ship carrying a city from crashing into another city. It’s a very one dimensional story, you may think it gets a bit more interesting with glimpses of machinery on the ship or pilots nearby being destroyed but it doesn’t really do much besides getting a brief acknowledgement from a voiceless radio at the start of each level. Talking about the levels, they are very straightforward. It may cause a bit of confusion if people are new to these sort of point and click puzzle games as the tutorial is very rushed yet it is almost mindless to complete the whole game. Get an item, use an item, and then either select the right number “hidden” in the room or select the right pattern. I’m not against games that don’t pose much of a challenge but I do see potential for it being more engaging and varied rather than similar repetitive puzzles I’ve seen several times before. I did appreciate it going a bit more 3D in parts even if it was brief. It looks ok, some technical glitches involving translucent plants (either that or they really need watering) but it is certainly having a mobile look to it. Overall, not exciting enough for new or veteran players of the genre.

Rating: 4/10



Tiny Robots Recharged



This one is a lot better, mostly because it has some personality in it. This one is certainly aimed more at kids, involving a robot attempting to defeat an evil robot who wants to control all the robots. It’s similar to Doors Paradox, 48 small levels that require a door to be unlocked by solving little logical puzzles and seeking out the correct objects. The puzzles were limited but scaled up nicely, also encouraging exploration with hidden batteries which keeps the robot charged throughout each level. No graphic issues seen here, even a robot doing some silly little moves at the bottom of the screen and short cutscenes which really made it feel more alive than Escape City ever did. Also I enjoyed the random Crossy Road style bonus game, cheeky little bonus. I wouldn’t say it’s at the same level as Doors Paradox, but this is a fun little 2 hours for kids who want to have a bit of a challenge.

Rating: 6/10

Boxes: Lost Fragments



It looked like a The Room copy going in and it was certain a The Room copy. But it is a good copy, they kept the main elements of what made that mobile game work with large opening boxes that combine switches, logical puzzles, and optical illusions all in one to create a decent replicated experience. The story is still weak though, one of those where its more of a setup for a sequel than an actual story. A few crashes occurred as well but each box was generally smooth to operate and the background music wasn’t too tedious to hear. Even if it doesn’t have much of an identity outside of it copying another franchise, it was still an enjoyable few hours and had some challenging puzzles.
Rating: 7/10

The Abandoned Planet



This is a sci-fi point and click with a 1990s art style to it. With all the games in this post, it's a short game with most of it coming from trying to figure out what item to use and where. It's quite responsive, hints are given at a generous amount and I like how things interact with each other to make progress. I think the puzzles themselves are a tad easy at times, ranging from completing themselves to just trying to find the right pattern. There were also random 2D moments which are more annoying than fun, even if it make it feel more of a movie at times. It did incorporate a journal, an item which holds cryptic clues for solving puzzles, quite well. Art style is fantastic, think it blends the 1990s and the genre quite nicely. The voice acting is pretty poor though, can't take the story (if the little amount of it) seriously in the slightest. Still a decent 4 to 5 hours with this, I'd be down to see a decent follow up (with improvements) which continues this story in the future.

Rating: 6/10

Faraway: Puzzle Escape



I was hesitant going into this one since reviews for this were minimal and ranging on the “ok” side on Steam. Adding to that, the game isn’t shown on the company website at all, almost like they are embarrassed by it. Even more surprising is that the fact that we are now focusing on different developers! This time it's focusing on Pine Studio who are mostly known for this genre of games besides a random FPS that combines Quake 3 and Super Meat Boy (their words not mine).

I wouldn’t say it was the worst game ever but it sure made me come close to quitting several times. This mostly stems from puzzles ranging from good to repetitive to why did they think it was a good idea? The worst ones tend to be quite vague with even the answer being a bit random such as ordering certain panels in a particular order twice with no identification it needed to occur twice. Some really questionable choices being made, along with the usual vague plot that tends to continue in the sequel rather than having enough to be interesting in the first part. Controls are also a bit awkward, certainly more of a mobile game which makes walking about quite surprising at all. Every area also has the same sort of sandy look to it, makes me wonder if they could have gone inside one of the several temples just to keep things a bit refreshing over the 18 levels. I think the directors cut adds a couple levels but they aren’t anything worth writing home about.

Rating: 4/10

Faraway 2: Jungle Escape


This one is slightly better than the sequel. Puzzles tend to be a lot less vague, relying more on logical problems on a 2D “screen” with hints nearby rather than going all over the map trying to identify what vague shapes are needed. It scaled up nicely also in terms of difficulty and scope, and I did enjoy seeing each level having more of an identity such as climbing up a tree or travelling through treetops. It’s far from perfect though, interactivity is still awkward especially when trying to climb obstacles or use a boat. A few more bugs this time around, causing me to exit and re-enter the game. If they gave this a little bug fix update, the only thing I could really complain about is the story as it doesn’t really make me care for it much at all. Regardless, a fine game and I’m glad to see it learnt from the first one.

Rating: 5/10

Faraway 3: Arctic Escape



I could say everything I said about 2 and say it here. Not as many bugs this time at least, interactivity is still an issue although isn’t as bothersome as the last one. The puzzles are the same level as the previous one albeit slightly more repetitive. The story ended in a decent way but lacked the punch I think it needed to prevent the final level from being the same as any other level. The terrain I’m mixed on as sometimes it has some good locations such as on a ship but other times it can get a bit too white so it’s a bit uncertain where I can go and where an invisible wall is impeding progress.

On the whole, Faraway is a decent puzzle trilogy, has some good challenges and a nice pace for an afternoon game but lacks some polish in its story as well as some of the graphics and bugs.

Rating: 5/10

Update
Similar to the Big Fish Studios bundle, there isn't too much substance to give a real deep dive into them, especially with games like Faraway where the third entry is very similar to the first entry and the second entry. I did find this bundle more fun than the Big Fish Studios one since, while it was mostly the exact same genre, it was presented in a variety of ways and art styles whilst just keeping to the same one. Not sure when I'll do another one of these bundles again but it'll be a bit I'm sure. For now I'll likely move onto a horror game as October is approaching. Thanks for checking this post out!

19/09/25 - Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask



Haven't been feeling the best this past couple weeks so I figured to play something I know about than something completely new.

Entering the Third Dimension

This puzzle game is the 5th in the franchise, taking place after the events of the 4th game The Last Spectre and the animated film The Eternal Diva (although both are only brought up very briefly in the games plot). It was originally going to be released for the Nintendo DS in 2010 but the introduction of the Nintendo 3DS along with the games released for that system led to the game being redeveloped so that it would be less "psuedo-3D" and more 3D. There isn't too much else said about the development besides that, seems they kept details vague until it was actually released.

A Non-Mystery Mystery Game
I'm going to get the biggest complaint I have about the game out of the way now, the story is very basic. I mean it's not a bad story by any means, just that it's quite predictable even very early on which leads to some of the more emotional scenes being less impactful and the third act being quite rushed out. The characters are strong though, even if a lot of development is given to Layton with his companions, Luke and Emmy, being kept to the side for most of the game. Sure, the plot does revolve around Layton quite a lot although I think they needed more time to shine, and to maybe add a few more twists that don't end up leading to cliffhangers for the next entry in the franchise.

Puzzles as Strong as Ever

It's hard to talk about the gameplay of the game as it's quite similar to all the Layton games before it. Good range of puzzles, both in terms of quantity and in style. The inclusion of an undo button (thank god!!!!) in certain puzzles made it easier to jot things down even if its style a bit awkward to use. A lot more trick questions this time around, quite sneaky but they all made sense. It didn't use the 3D as much as I thought, even the logical puzzles with 3D elements were mostly 2D on the bottom of the screen so at least turning the 3D on is completely optional. The minigames still served as a fun distraction as random as they are (training a rabbit to act?) and the hints were still plentiful and helpful in certain cases. I feel that if you've played a previous Layton game and enjoyed it, you should be right at home.

There was also, bizarrely, a long top-down action-adventure that was just randomly included in. I mean it had to be just to amaze people with its 3D. Or maybe its because they want to throw in more rpg-elements into the game. Either way it's quite out of place and goes on for far too long (about an hour). I don't mind elements like this, there was an ok horse chasing scene at the start of the game, but that outstayed its welcome and I was so glad when it was done. Bold attempt at changing the formula but a no from me. Another puzzle involves moving the 3DS about to access certain spots which is cool although it was a shame it was a one-off, could have been in a few more puzzles at least.

Moving Around Town

For the most part, it's a very similar style to the previous games with a few 3D tweaks here and there. Cutscenes are still in 2D for the most part which is great since that works a lot better in that simple format. The 3D models are fine for the most part, I'm not too off-put by them besides when they start moving about as it can look a bit robotic. The town itself is the usual wackiness with plenty of detail about to explore. Not only have they prevented spamming the whole area with the stylus thanks to a magnifying glass that lights up when something is present, but there are certain areas can be zoomed in to reveal another section. These sections don't appear much although I would like to see more of it in future games as it expands locations even more than just looking at a snapshot of each part of the area. The music and sound effects have barely changed, nothing wrong with that even if it could be slightly refreshing to hear something new occasionally.

Summary
Miracle Mask is a solid jump to 3D for the Layton franchise. Despite a weak story, it kept its identity quite well and embraced the new technology without it affecting the puzzles quality or its style. Worth a go if you've played any of the previous Layton games.

Rating 6/10

Update: A short review but that's what happens when things don't change all that much between the previous game and the current one. Can't exactly review all 150 puzzles otherwise i'd be there all day but it was a pleasant to return to the franchise, even if it is the weakest one so far in my opinion. I'll probably jump to Azran Legacy sooner or later but for now I'll give it a little break and see which game I should return to next. Thanks for stopping by!

This game is strange in that it felt like it started off life as a movie licensed game but then it got retroactively made into a midquel instead. It's probably why it never truly explained what caused the creation of the Dahaka and why the Prince at the start of WW is the way he is. It's a shame because it has the potentially to be a geniunely great story if they embraced the concept.

I do agree with most of what you said, I did like the freezing water ability and how it made for interesting quick thinking jumping puzzles. Combat is on the weaker side but it's still kind of fun. I just really wished they kept the attempt at combining platforming and stealth like Two Thrones did.

The game does have an interesting art style but that is weird thing with Ubisoft games. When it comes to visuals, their games deliver most of the time.

I pretty much enjoy all the PoP games Ubisoft has made. The series may have had a number of weak entries before SoT but generally speaking when the company makes a title in the series, they usually bring their A game.

Regarding the story, my guess is that they wanted to play it safe and keep it as one self-contained story. I do agree that having elements of the other games tying the overall arc together could have been a smart idea, but I'm guessing they just couldn't figure out a way to incorporate WWs story in a manner that feels natural. The abrupt ending feels like it was rushed in the story aspect also, really deserve a little more care.

I think for the stealth to work, the enemies would need to be changed as they are a little weaker in the game. Like one to three hits for most of them, and they only tend to spawn when the Prince reaches the platform and in large numbers at that. I would enjoy seeing that stealth mechanic reappear as it was a great mechanic in TT, but Forgotten Sands wouldn't work with it too well.

Good point with the art style and the franchise from SoT onwards. It's quite consistent in quality and each entry brings something a little different to the table. I hope a new 3D PoP appears in the future. Even if it doesn't polish up this story, I think it'd be cool to see what new mechanics could be brought up along with strong combat mechanics and to see it in a modern game engine, would be interesting to see what visuals will be brought in after a gap of around 15 years.

15/09/25 - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands



Well that bold new direction for Prince of Persia didn't last very long.

Oh Yeah There Was a Movie

Development for the game began at the same time of Prince of Persia (2008) although this would act as a tie-in to the 2010 film "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time". I haven't heard much about the film, heard it earned a lot of money at the box office but the sequels were cancelled because it wasn't that good. So you'd think The Forgotten Sands would be similar to the film although it isn't. A delay in the film meant that the game could take longer to be developed so the team decided to return to The Sands of Time gameplay so that it can act as a return of the old and as "reboot of the series" (that part is a bit strange considering the game takes place between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within). The main version of the game (the Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360 version) was developer by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Singapore and still uses the Anvil engine that the previous game had. Ubisoft Quebec focuses on the Wii and PSP versions whilst Ubisoft Casablanca got to work on the DS version. There was even a browser version by Ubisoft Montreal and Explosive Barrel (a browser developer) which was used to promote the main game! Quite a few versions of the same game, but I'm focusing on the main one on the PC as that is the "official" one.

And despite all this, The Forgotten Sands would be the last PoP title for a while. I mean sure there were a few smaller titles for mobile devices but it wouldn't be until 2024 when a new main entry was provided (The Lost Crown). A game known as Prince of Persia Redemption was in the works although it didn't get as far as a concept. A shame it didn't continue as I'm certain there were more ideas to be had yet I think Ubisoft were more interested in the Assassins Creed franchise by that point, might as well go for that than a smaller franchise...

PoP-Lite Plot
The plot in itself is easily the most straight-forward one and has a bit of wasted potential. The story focuses on the Prince and his brother Malik attempting to fight off an invasion at a palace but, naturally, nothing goes to plan and the supernatural is unleashed by Malik in an attempt to halt the invaders. As with most PoP entries, the most interesting part is the dialogue between The Prince and another key character. In this case, I think it's done well with his brother but could have been explored a bit further, particularly towards the ending that felt quite sudden. The same goes for Razia as well, a queen within the spiritual realm whose just really there for progressing the story and some useful upgrades. The story itself is a classic "stop evil before it's too late", nothing too exciting but action-packed and engaging enough to keep going with it. I will say though, I can at least appreciate to a certain extent why The Prince became edgy by Warrior Within as it gives him a good reason for him to be angry. I'm not sure if the events of this story provides the entire reason but I can at least where the rage comes from.

Sand and Water
In terms of actual gameplay, it is indeed very similar to The Sands of Time trilogy especially with the first in the trilogy. The Prince can execute most of the moves with some decent precision such as the classic wall run, jumping, rolling, crossing beams and pillars, and the ability to rewind time using one of the sand tanks (which are now called energy slots). These work as strong as ever, precision can be a bit off sometimes so the Prince can launch off somewhere completely different but for the most part it's fast action with evading various traps which is what I want in a PoP game. This time around, The Prince does have a few extra abilities such as freezing water in place temporarily to navigate to the next section, the ability to have a massive leap if an enemy is on a far platform as a way to get that platform, and to restore a specific platform from the past to progress through an area. Interesting ideas, I especially like the freezing water on, it can leave to some unique ways of getting across rooms that didn't really happen in the past games. Restoration is a bit similar to the water and didn't really get the chance to shine but I'm alright with it, made for some intense platforming sections towards the end. The enemy leap is quite situational and just feels like one extra button to make progress, and it didn't give the enemies who could fire projectiles a chance to really be used as they were just bait for this. Despite the last part, I'm glad to see a strong platforming move set that compliments both the old and the new.

Basic Combat
The combat is a... hack and slash? No that's not right. It's true there are now a lot more enemies on the screen than every before, with around 20 enemies fighting the Prince at one time. But most of what made the combat interesting before is gone. No combos from Warrior Within, no teamwork like the self-titled, not even a deflect! It's simply either an attack, a power attack (which I rarely used) a roll to dodge, and an aerial attack from above. Now granted you can gain four additional powers to take out the enemies although I never used them as they were behind an upgrade system. I mean why should I gain extra moves when I can simply upgrade the damage and health of the Prince, it made the combat trivial by the end of the game. While I don't think the combat or simple XP system to unlock new moves is bad by any means, it does lack the enjoyment the previous combat systems had where it's more of a chore than an actual fight. The final boss at least shook things up a little bit and I do appreciate the variety of enemies for the 6 to 7 hour campaign the game had. I just wish there was more to it than that.



This image appears from the survival challenge mode. It's also a bit disappointing as not only is it very short and in a simple room, it doesn't even use all the enemy types in the room.

Still Sandy
The levels themselves, the music of them, the sound of them, the look of them, is hard to really talk about as it is simply the same style as before just with a bit of a polish. I mean it makes sense, if there's a movie coming out then keep it simple and try not to go too far away from the look that the franchise is now known for. I think the jump between the 6th and 7th generation was done quite well, it tends to capture what worked with The Sands of Time trilogy (ok maybe not so much Warrior Within) fairly well with the magic of the world and the fall of a kingdom. I think some of the feeling was lost with the jump though, colours don't tend to stick out as much as they tend to and there is a lot of greyish areas. Regardless, I do appreciate how well the game ran (on PC! the PS3 version I know has some graphical bugs) and the animation was fairly smooth throughout.

Summary
An underrated entry in the Prince of Persia franchise, the combat is a bit weak but it makes up for it with some new mechanics in its platforming and provides an engaging 7 hours of gameplay.

Rating:7/10

Update
I remember playing this game when I was a kid and I didn't really enjoy it then, I'm glad to return to it and find more enjoyment from it. The combat was what I expected but I'm grateful that the PC version is a lot smoother than the PS3 version and that the platforming was thrilling. Anyway, that's all I'm covering for Prince of Persia at the moment, I'll likely return to it at some point in the future but I'm happy to have played the games I had. It's an entertaining franchise with some mechanics you don't often see in platformers. I'll likely play some random games now just to mix things up a bit. Thanks for stopping by and reading :)

13/09/2025 - Prince of Persia (2008)



7th entry in the franchise and there is already another reboot, quite an interesting move but ideal if you want to switch things up from The Sands of Time Trilogy.

A Change in Direction

The knowledge of the game came early when some concept art was leaked online. The idea was to stick to the main elements of the franchise whilst going back to the earlier games for inspiration. For instance, combat is still present but instead of fighting several enemies at once, it has become one single enemy. There was also a switch to the Scimitar engine since it was less linear and more variation in its worlds, makes sense considering Assassins Creed used that same engine the previous year. There was also a focus on cooperative play and by that I mean having two characters to control rather than having two separate players playing the game. Not much else going on in development, seems it was fairly well received and got a couple awards.

The Beginning of Greed?

The plot in itself is straight forward. Evil has taken over the world, go fight its corrupted sections and then defeat the evil bad guy (Ahriman). The game is more detailed in what's going on with Elika, the Princess of the region, explaining what was present before the corruption took affect. While I can't say I cared too much about the antagonist of the game, I did appreciated The Prince and Elikas conversations throughout the game as they can range from funny to depressed, it feels natural even if The Prince is a typical cheesy American protagonist. I feel like it could have been developed further towards the last act of the game but they kept things enjoyable throughout the game.

Ubisoft have released so many games that it's a bit hard to tell when exactly they got their negative reception as a greedy company. I'm certain there are several games that led to this reputation but this one certainly is one of the earlier ones. Why? Well the games true ending is hidden behind DLC which, from what I heard, isn't exactly on the cheap side. Adding to that, it's not available on PC so if you want to play the epilogue then emulation is the best pick.

Back to the Fairytale

The grittiness of previous entry's have gone now, it's a lot more colourful and "friendly" than ever before. I enjoyed this new style, it really evokes the charm of the game as it matches the stories tone. The animations are quite smooth as well, a bit of a jump from The Two Thrones. The buildings across the world are a breathe of fresh air after palace after palace of the linear entries, it really showcases where the franchise can go quite well. The music also compliments the games atmosphere, far away from the metal now and more of the standard music you’d expect in a magical fantasy adventure game. It's not as catchy as any of the other games but it's nice to hear. A few moments where it was a bit loud and I couldn't hear clearly what the characters were saying although it has certainly been worse in the past.


Switching Up the Combat
So 1 on 1 fights, well 2 against 1 technically. On the surface, I think it works well and is a good shakeup to the gameplay. A good variety of moves to tackle each enemy along with making smart use of Elika to make her fight during certain situations, even if it is just spamming one button. Majority of offense and defence isn’t about applying a certain combo or spamming attack, but rather hitting the right button. Despite the last minute quick time event and a few moments where there is too much reliance on trial and error with how quick you need to be, it's a solid change to how combat works before. Not that the previous combat system was flawed but sometimes its nice to shake things up a little and I can imagine a more refined version of this appearing in later entries (not that it did).

The main problem I have with the combat is that it’s quite repetitive. The same four bosses (not counting the final one) have to be fought around five times with only small changes made such as a new move to counter or an environment change, so it can get fairly dull particularly that when “losing”, the fight continues with the boss gaining health. This is not counting the soldiers across the land which can at least be defeated easily or even before they are summoned in. By the end of the game I was bored of the combat, even if it's a good change and works quite well, there isn't much that differentiates the fights that makes it worth enjoying.

Platforming Hasn't Changed Too Much

I mean the controls are slightly different but the obstacles are mostly similar. The Prince can now slowly move down walls with his sword, quite satisfying to use if a bit useless as the classic fall and grab technique still works. The ceiling run is ridiculous but a cool concept, use the handles on the ceiling to go across pillar to pillar. I think that's a natural progression for The Princes moves, especially since wall running is a thing. Unless I'm forgetting something that's it really. Wall running, jumping onto things, hopping between beams, rotating the environment with levers all still exist and handle quite well.

In fact the environment is a lot easier with basically no deadly traps nor really any timed obstacles besides a few here and there. Why no deadly traps? Well as with combat, you cannot die from platforming. Falling off the edge or into corruption simply takes you back to the last safe spot you were at. I’m not bothered if a game is easier than the last entries, this doesn't impact my enjoyment out of a game but I think it hurt the game a bit. It limits what obstacles can be thrown at the game and I think, similar to the combat, repetition kicks in quite quickly and doesn't have anything new to challenge the player by the time they have finished the first boss. I guess that's the issue when you can pick the order of what you want to do, if there's nothing specific to a certain region then the moves become natural and there isn't much to spice things up.

Still the levels aren't bad by any means. Sections like having to slide and jump off an inclined platform or one of the four elemental pads that cause the duo to travel a great distance across the map was great though and did a fantastic job at making the moments that could be dull to travel a lot more enjoyable. There are a few puzzles about as well that made for nice breaks, would have been a bit better if there was one or two more but I'm fine with the number available.

The Open World
It’s decent. The freedom to pick which levels you want to clear first is enjoyable and each region of the world is fairly different from the others. I didn’t enjoy having to collect all the light seeds so that the next section could be unlocked. It broke the pace of the game where I had to go through previous levels again, for up to 20 minutes in some cases, to ensure that I have enough to make progress. I mean is it worth it? I feel like its unnecessary for padding out the game time and collecting anything after 540 (out of 1000 I think) is pointless. I do wish there was more interesting things going on in the world but I did appreciate the fast travel though, it saved a lot of time going between places to get to where I needed to go. Same with the compass ability, pressing a certain button summons some magic stating where the player needs to go. Quite useful, saved me going the wrong way a few times so I appreciate the feature.

Summary
A big change in the Prince of Persia franchise that bravely attempts a non-linear style with a refreshing new combat system. The first half might be enjoyable but the repetition may kill some of that within the second half.

Rating: 5/10

Update: I really need to play some bad games to bring down the 5 to 8 range at some point. We'll see if I ever do that! For now I'll jump to the last PoP game I own which is The Forgotten Sands. This one is a replay and I have a suspicion on what my opinion on it will be so it shouldn't take me too long. Thanks for reading the post!

Oh boy, this game. I usually try not to get overly vulgar and heated when talking about any story or game I dislike especially in a series I enjoy but Thief 2014 can be that for me. It's how say a bad superhero movie can piss off certain people.

I'd say the story of this isn't even a generic action movie. It's almost a story you'd find in something you'd find in a David Cage game or Highlander 2 or any Highlander sequel really. It might be one of the worst stories in a mainstream game. You got the stuff like with the whole can't deciding to be a sequel or continuity reboot. There is also how they try to modernize Garrett by having him be in the "Bat Cave" I mean clock tower. He even has an actual no kill rule or moral code now where before he only not killed people out of professionalism and challenge. He's also like some chosen hero or something. The Thief Taker general hates Garrett because he hates thieves? What kind of name even is "Thief Taker General?" There is also some dumb plan on how the villain wants to turn people into zombies.

The line I remember 2014 Garrett saying is when he says, "thieving is my way of life, it sets me free in the night". There is also a scene where he tries to steal some item but he is better off not bothering. I don't like using the term, "not understanding" a character but that is a great example. They even removed Garrett's pragmatism too. Contradicting the, "I make it a policy to never take a job so sentimental" line.

Outside of the story, gameplay is just okay I guess but not really good enough to save the game. The swoop feature's kind of interesting but the scaled back level design really ruins it. Edios Montreal did make Deus Ex Human Revolution and that had some geniunely solid level design even if the game is ultimately design in a "get from point a to b" kind of way with minimal backtracking. They also made climbling and rope arrows contextual too. AI also isn't super great either from what I remember. The open world also isn't much better since there is load screen to enter doors which was weird considering this was on 8th gen consoles.

Compared to Splinter Cell Blacklist which came out a year prior to this, the level design and mechanics are strongly lacking. It does seem that people who enjoy Thief 2014 kind of like it but don't love it.

I've wrote quite a lot regarding this game and it's kind of amazing how I remember this game so vividly and it's been 11 years since I played it. There is an upcoming Thief VR game but I'm wondering if it will suffer the same fate as Splinter Cell VR. There is at least a trailer for the former.

One good thing of Thief 2014 is that there is this gem of a vid:

Duplicate post

Oh boy, this game. I usually try not to get overly vulgar and heated when talking about any story or game I dislike especially in a series I enjoy but Thief 2014 can be that for me. It's how say a bad superhero movie can piss off certain people.

I'd say the story of this isn't even a generic action movie. It's almost a story you'd find in something you'd find in a David Cage game or Highlander 2 or any Highlander sequel really. It might be one of the worst stories in a mainstream game. You got the stuff like with the whole can't deciding to be a sequel or continuity reboot. There is also how they try to modernize Garrett by having him be in the "Bat Cave" I mean clock tower. He even has an actual no kill rule or moral code now where before he only not killed people out of professionalism and challenge. He's also like some chosen hero or something. The Thief Taker general hates Garrett because he hates thieves? What kind of name even is "Thief Taker General?" There is also some dumb plan on how the villain wants to turn people into zombies.

The line I remember 2014 Garrett saying is when he says, "thieving is my way of life, it sets me free in the night". There is also a scene where he tries to steal some item but he is better off not bothering. I don't like using the term, "not understanding" a character but that is a great example. They even removed Garrett's pragmatism too. Contradicting the, "I make it a policy to never take a job so sentimental" line.

Outside of the story, gameplay is just okay I guess but not really good enough to save the game. The swoop feature's kind of interesting but the scaled back level design really ruins it. Edios Montreal did make Deus Ex Human Revolution and that had some geniunely solid level design even if the game is ultimately design in a "get from point a to b" kind of way with minimal backtracking. They also made climbling and rope arrows contextual too. AI also isn't super great either from what I remember. The open world also isn't much better since there is load screen to enter doors which was weird considering this was on 8th gen consoles.

Compared to Splinter Cell Blacklist which came out a year prior to this, the level design and mechanics are strongly lacking. It does seem that people who enjoy Thief 2014 kind of like it but don't love it.

I've wrote quite a lot regarding this game and it's kind of amazing how I remember this game so vividly and it's been 11 years since I played it. There is an upcoming Thief VR game but I'm wondering if it will suffer the same fate as Splinter Cell VR. There is at least a trailer for the former.

One good thing of Thief 2014 is that there is this gem of a vid:

The story is just not delivering at all. It's a real big disservice and that's the nicest way possible I can put it. That video (hilarious as it was) really showed how much they changed Garrett and not for the better. Even if 2014 Garrett was a brand new character, I really couldn't connect to him in the slightest due to how generic he was. Don't get me started on the pointless inclusion of the clock tower or the thief taker general or anything really, just cheap writing for "explosive" gameplay trailers. I think the VR trailer will determine whether they learnt any lessons from this game, I truly hope so.

I can see why some people enjoy the gameplay, it's almost a puzzle with how to bypass enemies and traps. I just find it a bit too repetitive, particularly with the environments not really changing all that much. It's why I didn't bother with the side missions, the relatively small levels aren't rewarding in its challenge or its reward although I do appreciate it being more related to stealing. Maybe if they made them bigger, removed the tracker, and changed the level design to incorporate Garretts arsenal and moves better, it'd be more enjoyable. Here's hoping for a true sequel in the future

06/09/2025 - Thief (2014)



The fourth and, at time of writing, most recent game in the Thief franchise.

The Ten Year Wait

As I mentioned in the Deadly Shadows post, the developers behind it (Ion Storm) shut down due to financial issues. Publisher Eidos Interactive would get takeover by SCi although eventually Square Enix would then take over them. A bit after this (2009), a new Thief game started to be developed with the Eidos-Montréal division taking control. Eidos-Montréal had already done work on the revival of both Deus Ex and Tomb Raider at that point so they were certainly experienced in this sort of thing. Despite that fact, the team was small so it took a while to get out of the concept phase with ideas such as a new protagonist and a third-person perspective (a bit was implemented, it only shows when climbing pipes). Eventually it would be developed and released in 2014, with pre-orders letting players get Thief-based items for Team Fortress 2 and Dota which is a very random perk. There was a hint of developing a sequel but I think the reviews put an end to that. Let's see what caused the death/hiatus of the Thief franchise.

An Attempt at a Plot
The story of this game is easily the weakest of the franchise and for so many reasons. I feel like the main issue is that it's too cinematic. Think of a generic action film and that's what you have here. Characters with no development and boring personalities, not to mention Garrett is nowhere near as interesting as he was in the first three games. A plot that is all over the place with twists that are easily predictable and not really making much sense. I think the best example of this is the Thief-Taker General appearing in every chapter as a "surprise". Ok but how does he know where Garrett is all the time? Why does he hate thieves so much? Is there a past between them? He just seems like a classic example of a one-dimensional character who is just an antagonist for the sake of being an antagonist. Most of the characters are like that, here's a trait so that's who they are. I wish I could go into more detail but it was so generic I can't really recall the specific details besides the important characters and their basic motivations. I feel like more time was needed for me to care and invest in them, otherwise I'm just shrugging my shoulders going "ok, guess I'll do this now".

It gets even more confusing for Thief as its a reboot with elements from the first three games about but not the same story. So for instance, you may see Garretts eye is missing from the first game and the districts of the city found in the third game, but the hammerites and pagans just don't exist besides little nods here and there. I don't think every element is necessary to be present when you're rebooting a franchise but I do think it's important to either start with a true clear slate or have a continuation of a previous plot, not some weird combination of the two.

It Looks Like a Thief Game
Stupid plot aside, it does capture the look of the previous games well whilst adding that 2010s modern edge to it. And by previous games, I mean Deadly Shadows as I do think that game is the main inspiration out of the three. It's dark yet not impossible to see, could have been more colourful in parts to capture the locations a bit better but the gloominess is fine here. The level of detail with its locations in each chapter is still there, balancing the steampunk elements with the horror sprinkled in, if a little lighter than before. Focus mode (a way of viewing important objects by highlighting them in blue) does ruin the immersion slightly although I do think it's still possible to grab everything you need if you are willing to miss a few hidden items and hit the occasional trap. The music is fine, the sound design isn't as good but it does its job well enough. Could do with a little less repeating dialogue but it's the shortest game in the franchise so I can overlook that.

Great Stealth But Linear Stealth

This is where I think the game both shines and yet makes it forgettable.

Garretts stealth mechanics are somewhat similar with his equipment, yet he has had a few additional moves. He can shift quickly and quietly between dark areas, a nice move that enables quick mobility to keep a good pace going. He can slightly grapple which is ok, quite situational and could have been made a bit more interesting. Arrows are still in use, I like the little lock-in it does when aiming at a certain enemy or object, and it's great to see the rope arrows make their return, their omission in Deadly Shadows was missed and they can actually make some sections of the levels a bit easier. Garrett no longer has a sword or dagger, so blackjacking is the best thing to use although I advise against it as its fairly weak and dodging attacks (another new move) is a bit risky so only use it after a few upgrades. And yes some items and skills require payment to provide certain items to progress. I think its fine, gives an incentive to explore levels more further although some should have been given during the campaign, otherwise you may not even realise if you just want to ignore the shops around the city. Overall I think the stealth mechanics are the best part about this game, I do think it gets it right between balancing the old and the new.



The levels themselves are...well I think this is what upset all the fans of the original trilogy. There isn't too much going on in each of the levels, they feel simpler. Each level is smaller than before and while I do think it still keeps the detail, it just feels less exciting. Maybe its the marker that now appears. I don't need to go through every room, I know exactly where I'm going. Why waste time stealing items in the few other rooms where there is little to do in them besides collecting loot and documents, I have enough loot and I'm not too interested in what those documents say. I do think they are still designed well, the traps are quite sneaky and the enemies are well-placed with lots of painting and chests scattered across each level. The levels are quite replayable too, rewarding the player for finishing off each level how they want so its ideal for playing aggressively or as a ghost. A shame the AI is stupid though, it can detect things that aren't there sometimes and run everywhere but the corner Garrett is hiding in. I tried hiding in the cabinets a few times, cool feature but didn't use it all that much. A few additional hiding spots would've been cool although I reckon that would have been the sequel for this game that never came.

The Open World is Slight Better
In Deadly Shadows, I found the open-world to be a bit dull due to how repetitive it is to transverse the same areas and have to constantly wait between loading zones, whilst having to look at a map. In Thief (2014), I found the open-world to be a bit dull due to how repetitive it is to transverse the same areas and have to constantly wait between loading zones, whilst having to look at a map. I mean I don't think its as weak as Deadly Shadows was, there are plenty of side-missions to do which are fun little levels scattered across the city. I didn't complete them all but it made moving between each part of the city a bit more interesting. It also helps to see the environment change as the story progresses, nothing ground-breaking by any means but it's a nice touch.

DLC is Ok
When I got the game a while ago, it came with the DLC so I'll go over it quickly here. The main one is The Bank Heist, a side mission that has Garrett break into a bank. It's a decent level, I liked the security cameras as the base game did lack a variety of enemies. Besides that, standard level. Only get it if you really enjoyed the levels of the base game and crave for more. Booster packs just get you items in the game early...really don't think its necessary to pay for something like that. The final DLC is a challenge map for the level The Forsaken, again don't see a point in playing an arcadic version of the game particularly as two other challenge maps exist in the game already.

Summary
Thief (2014) is a generic game with a generic plot, although it does implement its stealth mechanics well and does manage to keep the ability to play a level in different styles, despite their smaller size.

Rating: 5/10

Update: Finally done with the Thief franchise, a fun one overall. Even if most of that post was critical, I still had some fun with the game even in a sort of mindless way. I do hope that the Thief franchise continues in the future, it deserves more love especially with how influential it was in the genre. It does make me want to play more stealth games in the future but I'll leave it aside for now. For the moment, I'll return to Prince of Persia with the self-titled 2008 released. Apparently its a second reboot? Didn't think it needed rebooting but I'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading!

From your experience with the installer, this is why I would rather emulate 6th gen games rather than play their PC versions.

I do want to come back and play this game again. It is one of my favorite games in the series. I recall it the being the best paced of the bunch. I also like the speed kills as a concept even if furthur you get into the game, it becomes less of a viable option considering how lengthy the kill animations can be and when you kill one guy, he could turn his back and spot you.

I do think the speed kills work wonderfully with Dark Prince.

I'll likely have to emulate if this keeps happening. Even if I still have to go a bit out of my way, at least the game will run a lot smoother. I do agree with your points about pacing and the kill animation, bit ironic that the speed kill takes a while to execute (no pun intended) but I'll take them when I can

31/08/25 - Prince of Persia: Two Thrones



The final game in The Sands of Time trilogy, concluding the story told in The Sands of Time and Warrior Within.

The Yearly Release Continues

Naturally, pumping out 3D action games every year is intense so Ubisoft Casablanca began developing the game whilst Ubisoft Montreal added the finishing touches to Warrior Within. Even with two teams it was a stressful time to complete it, especially when they had to scrap some aspects out due to feedback from Warrior Within about it being too much of a change in its tone. It needed to be lighter with a bit of an edge, not having one outweigh the other. Not much else to comment on really, a year gap doesn't tend to yield many new aspects besides lots of stress and a new changes here and there.

A Decent Conclusion
The story for this leaves me a bit conflicted. The events of Warrior Within have undone the plot of The Sands of Time, so the Prince has to stop the Vizier again. And it does work, it's nice to see the few characters in the franchise all working together again, and it shows how the Prince has changed over time with him becoming a better person than he was at the start. That's probably the key strength with this game, these debates with his dark-self on whether he makes the right choices and what it means to be a warrior, that and the story-telling narrator who adds that fairy tale aspect that was greatly missing from Warrior Within. But then I think it needed a bit more time as some of it felt sudden. I won't go into spoilers but I felt like all the characters had a bit of a rushed ending, particularly the first character who is just there for plot which is a bit of a disservice I think. And what about the people of the city? His father? Exploring the emotions of the Prince is a strong idea, I just think they needed to handle the weight of what was happening on the outside more rather than just internally.

Installer Issues
I am absolutely taking a moment to talk about the installing issues in this game, it wasn't great with Thief Deadly Shadows or the previous PoP games I've looked at, but this is pretty rough. I installed the game and downloaded a patch for widescreen support. I'm ok with that, games from the early 2000s and before tend to have these sort of problems. Then it wouldn't load correctly which resulted in me needing to switch off v-sync and then that solved it....partially. The game crashed several times during my playthrough and it was during these loading scenes in particular. Fortunately the checkpoints in the game are moderately generous so I didn't lose too much time. There was also a random crash during one of the boss fights and some areas were so yellow it was basically white. And I know exactly what's caused all this, Ubisoft ported the console version to the PC and added a few tweaks, you can tell as some of the options are showing console buttons and not keyboards. Really hope this trilogy gets a decent remaster or some fixes as while it is certainly playable, it gets frustrating having it crash about 5 times during a ten hour campaign.

Better Combat, Weaker Enemies
The combat in this game is similar to Warrior Within, a variety of moves that can be executed with the ability to use one or two weapons and parry attacks. I think it's probably the best combat system they have, it's not too overly complex and yet rewards those who apply combos than those who just spam the attack button. I didn't use the slow down attack as much as the enemies this time are a lot simpler, most of them either being a simple melee or a simple ranged attack. There are only two other new enemy types: dog-like enemies who sap away sand tanks or a variant of the melee type who can summon other melees. I think these are alright although some more variety is really needed. Where are the enemies that prevent vaulting? Or those that can fly? The short campaign does forgive this fact a bit although it tends to be more noticed towards the end of the game. Some solid bosses in the game also, certainly more fair and balanced than Warrior Within and makes good use of all the Princes abilities, especially the new stealth attack. Yes, the Prince can now stealth kill an enemy which, while certainly very situational, does speed up some of the fighting with some well placed attacks. I don't see it appearing in any of the other games in the franchise but it was certainly enjoyable to use here.

Platforming With A Pessimist
Most of the platforming in the game isn't really evading traps like it has been before, it tends to be manoeuvring from one building to another with swings, jumping, and now platforms to jump off that sometimes work and sometimes don't. There is also the option to use the sword to hang on to certain parts of a wall which is a natural feature to have I think. I do think it's as enjoyable as ever despite the dodgy platforms, it's fluid as ever and platforming is a nice breather between fighting sections. Reversing time to redo certain jumps also keeps the pressure off a little bit, it almost feels relaxing. I said almost but dialogue with the Prince and the Dark Prince tends to happen here, nothing wrong with it. It's actually quite engaging and really fleshed out the Princes character. It's just if I mess up the jump and I need to rewind, that dialogue is gone which sucks. By halfway through the game, I just stopped and let them chat and then continued on. Even if it's not the greatest plot, I do want to hear what's being said.

There are also sections of the game where the Dark Prince takes over and those sections are far from relaxing. Health is constantly draining, only replenished by acquiring sand tanks from either obstacles or killing certain enemies. Despite these sections being around 5 minutes in length, it's probably the most intense sections in the game as you need to be constantly moving or risk starting again. It's cruel yet enjoyable, it's probably the best you can be tested with platforming as there aren't many timed switches about in the game. Combat is actually the safest as health tends to return quickly during those fights. Does the Dark Prince have extra moves during combat? Yes. Did I use them? No. It just seemed to slow the fight down which would be fine if health didn't constantly sap away. So I stuck to standard attack moves during these sections or just ran away if I had the health, no harm in living to see another day.

Also the horse sections which I certainly didn't almost forget about. Twice during the campaign, The Prince takes some horses to race across the land, all while being pursued by his enemies. I mean it's ok, I like to see them shake things up a bit but it does feel like it was just thrown in at the last minute. Not too many variations of obstacles and they are placed in similar positions. The only time I crashed and had to rewind was during tight corners that suddenly appeared, I blame my lack of driving games experience for that. If this element is to return, I hope it's a bit more exciting but it was a welcome addition as random as it was.

It Still Looks the Same
This isn't a criticism, I expect the last game in the trilogy (where the games release annually) to look and sound similar. There is a heavier focus on outside this time which is nice, running across rooftops is a good change that past entries have only dabbled in. Some areas are filled with extra health or sand credits which unlock art work which I didn't take much time to go out my way for, health isn't essential and I'm not big enough of a fan to find all the credits for artwork, as cool as it was. The soundtrack is more akin to Sands of Time so less metal which I think suits the game well particularly as its moving away from the Warrior Within tone. And besides the areas that were too bright, it still feels like a kingdom with its town and areas. Climbing up the tower and looking down at a burning town I felt captured the games atmosphere quite well, gloomy yet hopeful.

Summary: While the story isn't really there, Two Thrones continues the streak of strong platforming whilst taking the tone of Sands of Time, the combat of Warrior Within, and a few new elements to keep it unique. A nice send-off to the trilogy, just be cautious of installing it on PC.

Rating: 7/10

Update: No image of gameplay this time as, not joking here, it crashed twice when I tried to reload a previous save. Typical. Anyway, not too many entries left of PoP to go, I only have the self-titled reboot and The Forgotten Sands left in my backlog, maybe I'll get some of the others sometime but I'll stop here for now. But before I get into the remaining two, I want to finish and complete the Thief franchise by diving into Thief (2014). If you read the above comments, I think it's going to be a very interesting one. I also ditched the old structure to give myself a bit more freedom with how I write. Thanks for taking the time to read!

This is why I have yet to replay the Thief games. We have now reached a point where a remaster or any form of a return for a legacy game can come back at any moment. If we can get System Shock 2 to have a modern port, I got a feeling Thief could be up next. I would love a modern version of Deadly Shadows were it runs stably.

Thief 2014 is one of the games where I haven't played since around the time it came out but I do remember it vividly in some ways. The story was really bad in that awful adaptation of your favorite story kind of way. It probably isn't the absolute worst game you can play but it is easy for me to get annoyed by it when reflecting on it. I'm also forgiving on many over reveiled titles in game franchises. I also have knack for enjoying certain franchises movies that aren't so well liked either. Everyone has their own version of the bad adaptation or continuation of a story they really like. Thief 2014 is one of those for me.

I'm probably going to be the same with the replay part. Don't want to go through all the hassle of installing a patch again just for it to still run a bit bad. If a good remaster appears, and I do think there's a decent chance to get a Thief Trilogy remaster, then I'll certainly play it again to see the game at its full potential. About to start Thief (2014) today so thank you for the warning of the plot, I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it as the same time.

Deadly Shadows is a weird one. There are things about it I like. I enjoy the ragdoll effects when hitting people from behind with the blackjack, much of the stealth system is intact, the Shalebridge Cradle unsurprisingly is great with lots of build up throughout the game, the final boss even requires stealth to beat, the actual levels are good. The ending I also really like even if it did seem like wanted to continue off of it. Then you would have Thief 2014 being unable to decide if it wants to be a continuity reboot or a sequel since parts of Deadly Shadows can be found in that game.

But as you said, the Steam version is broken even when patched, it's still unstable. Deus Ex Invisible War was also like this. I don't even know if the GOG version fares any better. Going through the City is also boring and a waste of time. It just feels like when a movie adds lots of boring downtime of watching a character get to places. A lot of games with overworlds of any kind can feel this way. The first two games at least cut to the interesting parts. What also annoys me is that getting guard in one loading screen zone means guards will be still be aware when you enter back in leading to a cheap shot.

Deadly Shadows is just weird, there's good and there's annoying things to go along with it.

It is a strange one. I do agree with the ragdoll effects, when the new engine works well, it works pretty well and not only captures how it was in Dark Project and Metal Age, but even slightly improves on it. But for every step forward, it takes one step back. You mentioned the guards in the city, I had that happen to me twice plus one time a hammerite(?) mage threw some fire at me as soon as I loaded into a part of the map as it was trying to aim at a pagan so that was "fun".

The final boss was quite good in that it was threatening and a test of hiding, the other two games had it but one was mostly a straight line to the boss and the other didn't even appear as such. I wouldn't say any level is bad either, all paced well and had everything you could ask for. Again like you said, Shalebridge Cradle was really well built-up and easily stands as one of the scariest in the franchise.

The city part is basically a problem with many open-worlds: how can you make a large open space exciting and worthy of exploring? In this case, I think the city itself is decent. I mean you have plenty of conversations to overhear, optional locations to loot, shops to go to, secrets to get so I do think it deserves some praise for that. The problem I had with it was its repetition. I'm all for world building but I lost count how many times I had to go between Stone Market and the Old Quarter. As you said it's boring and can be seen as filler, I think the open-world could be better if there were more locations to explore to prevent less back and forth, or just cut the open-world and have linear interlude levels.

I do think this game needs a remaster, along with the first two. There's just so much that needs polishing and it deserves a bit of love, especially for their quality and impact. I get that the publishers aren't gonna focus much on a dormant franchise (not counting that upcoming Thief VR game) but it's just a bit of a hassle having to go out of the way to get a mod to fix most of the issues and hope it's both trustworthy and fixes what needs to be fixed. The classic Tomb Raider titles and Legacy of Kain franchise are both Eidos Interactive published games that got remastered recently, Thief had the same publishers so it would be quite nice to see a remastered trilogy in the near future.

Then there's Thief 2014...I haven't heard the best about it. From what you say, it sounds like it has a bit of an identity crisis. It's strange as Deadly Shadows ended on an ideal place to continue on, a lot easier to continue a franchise decades later with that particular plot as most of things that have been setup in those three games have ended one way or another. I'll have to see for myself when I get to it which should be soon (with luck).

28/08/2025: Thief: Deadly Shadows


This is Thief 3 but it’s not titled as the third Thief game although it is actually the third in the franchise and it is continuing on from Thief 2.

Background
As mentioned in an earlier blog post, Looking Glass Studios, the developers behind the original two Thief games, closed down due to financial issues. This led to Thief III being scrapped, despite it being close to completion with an “open-ended city” that story that focused on the keepers. In 2000, Eidos Interactive managed to get the rights to the franchise and gave Ion Storm the opportunity to develop it. Ion Storm Austin had already proven themselves by creating Deux Ex in the same year and having some of the Thief II team at hand, so clearly the people creating the game has the expertise despite the company switch. Probably the biggest changed during development was using Unreal Engine 2 instead of the Dark Engine, allowing the franchise to have better lighting and sound. Despite it receiving positive reviews and some awards, the company didn’t meet the financial criteria that only led to the possible cancellation of Thief 4, but also the last game the company made before it got shut down due to financial trouble.

Plot
Seems parts of the original Thief 3 still made it to Deadly Shadows as this is indeed a story that focuses heavily on The Keepers, the faction of the city that Garrett (the thief) was brought up with until he decided to leave for his own purposes. I wouldn’t say this story is as emotional or gripping as The Dark Project or The Metal Age, but the world-building is top-tier as always and delves more into the city itself and characters who only briefly appeared beforehand. It’s certainly a story fans of the franchise would enjoy although not so much those who are playing it for the first time. Still, have to love those cinematics as it really does capture the feel of this games gothic and steampunk atmosphere.

Gameplay
Let’s get this out the way to begin with, the Steam version of the game is (unsurprisingly) broken which I’m sure is no surprise to people who tend to play non-remastered versions of 1990s PC games. Without it, I’d be unable to see any of the cutscenes or be able to lockpick at all. There are probably several other upgrades with the Sneak Update but I didn’t get far enough through the game to get to see them so I installed the fan-made update and played with that.

Garretts arsenal this time around is not only similar but a little smaller. Most of the arrows make their return besides the vine and rope arrow, being replaced with climbing gloves which is ok? Doesn’t feel as satisfying and they are a bit awkward to use but I like the idea of them. Standard, water, moss, fire, gas and noisemaker arrows all perform exactly as they have done in previous games, although the enemies rarely hear noise unless you’re running past them so typically standard, water and fire are the most essential ones with anything being a nice bonus. The blackjack is a bit more awkward to use with how it sometimes hits an enemy unconscious and other times just whacking them a bit, regardless it’s still probably the most important weapon in the arsenal particularly towards the end. The dagger is a bit better here than the sword was, Garrett gets himself into a position where its easy to tell when an instant stealth kill, although again not really much point in using it unless you have to get into combat with the sword but running away and hiding is probably better for health purposes. Also Garrett cannot swim now…..why? I don’t mind there not being swimming sections, but dying from falling into water at the docks is a bit silly. Early 2000s games huh. Lockpicking is still a thing albeit with a different way of opening as it requires Garrett to figure out the right position of each part of the lock as opposed to trying between two different ones, it’s about the same length of time but I do prefer the new method as it’s less convenient having to swap between two different lockpicks.



The biggest aspect that makes this game stand-out is its open-world structure. Quite interesting considering the original planned 3rd game was thinking of using this. Between each level, Garrett needs to go between different parts of the city and it’s a cool concept. Having a world with NPCs and the city guard patrolling all over with various locations to explore with goodies hidden for listening to conversations is some very nice stuff. I will say that it does get repetitive towards the second half of the game as it tends to involve getting past the same guards in the same locations various times, they do try and shake it up a bit with events happening in the town but not enough to make it much more exciting. My thoughts on factions, groups within the city that either help or attack Garrett based on his actions are fairly similar. A good concept but not really fleshed out, it only really helped during a couple of events and for the two factions it really didn’t take long for them to gain support. The loading zones between each section didn’t help either even though it is undoubtedly due to technical limitations of the time.

The levels themselves are fairly solid. The layout of them is of high-quality, no level I would say suffers from bad enemy placement or cheap traps or just dragging on for ages so consider each level a 45-to-60-minute good Thief level. The reason I don’t say great is for a few reasons. Similar to the arsenal, some features in the previous games aren’t here either. Now I’m not gonna say the security cameras or mechs as those were focused on the metal age so their omission is understandable from a story-perspective and a game developing one also. But no alarms, a lack of enemy variety, and almost no traps makes it a bit too easy to go through, the enemies are even easier to hide from as their pathfinding isn’t too ideal. I still do enjoy the levels, it’s full holds many traits of what makes a good Thief level from its atmosphere to how NPCs all interact with one another, it just doesn’t live up to the heights of the earlier Thief games.

Presentation
Even with a different game engine, it’s still has that same look of a Thief game. A dark world with occasional splashes of light, albeit with less colour this time around. The UI has had a bit of an upgrade, the compass now being the bottom centre of the screen which is actually handy for navigating the open world. The levels themselves have the same dark atmospheric feel Thief games tend to have although the open world itself didn’t really capture the same energy, I assume it’s because I’m going through the same area again and again so I know what to expect. The fact that it’s not too appealing to the eye and moderately empty doesn’t tend to help, despite the fact that there are several NPCs giving the time some life. Music was strong as with previous titles if a bit too loud at points, drowning the voices and sounds of the city so I would suggest turning the music down a bit.

Summary A good stealth game which offers the key strengths of its predecessors with the cost of it not having many of the features they had and smaller levels. I would recommend it to fans of Thief The Dark Project and Thief II The Metal Age, but not so much for brand new fans as I don’t think they can get the most out of it from this first impression.

Rating: 7/10

Update: Games with not many differences between its predecessors tend to be the hardest to talk about as what can I say that wasn't already said! Luckily this had just enough changes to prevent it from being too similar to Thief 1 or 2. Next up should be Prince of Persia Two Thrones and that one might end up in that category so we shall see whether I have enough to talk about haha. Thanks for reading :)

23/08/2025: Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury


Two posts in one day? Must mean I’ll disappear for weeks after this.

Background
Super Mario 3D World is a 2013 Wii U game that is the sequel to a 3DS game (Super Mario 3D Land) that was ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2021 alongside the expansion Bowsers Fury. There isn’t much noteworthy when it comes to talking about the development of the game, they simply wanted to create a Wii U game for fans of the New Super Mario Bros franchise. They certainly wanted to implement multiplayer for the game which ended up being difficult due to trying to get the perfect camera angle, might also be why they added in Peach as a playable character as they wanted more female representation in the game which I do think its especially important when you want to play as a group. Yoshi was scrapped though, apparently his behaviour was a bit too similar to elements already in the game which is a shame but it makes sense.

Plot
In terms of the story, Bowser kidnaps fairies known as Sprixie princesses, Mario and his friends need to stop him before he uses their power for malicious purposes. It’s a Mario game, never really much going on in the plot...I mean at least it wasn’t Peach this time.

Gameplay
It’s quite hard to talk about Marios controls as not only is it quite iconic and well-polished, but it doesn’t distinguish itself much other 3D Mario games. Mario can still jump, hit, spin, ground pound and all the other moves as well as he always has done in the game, it doesn’t take long to master the controls even when the game has jumped from a Wii U game to a Switch one. Talking about the Wii U, the touchpad functionality using on that system has been replaced with a cursor on this game, although I played on the Switch Lite so I used the touchscreen itself, fairly easy to operate and didn’t impact my controls too much.

Time to go over Marios powerups in this game. I’ll skip the super mushroom, fire flower, super star and 1-up as they are quite common in Mario games and fairly self-explanatory. The Super Bell turns Mario into a cat which is quite fun, does make completing some parts of the level a lot easier and the attack is fairly good so certainly a favourite in the line-up. A Mega Mushroom makes Mario quite large and is very situational, only used it to obtain certain stars and that’s it really. A Double Cherry duplicates Mario and I’m fairly certain it’s so people playing solo can access areas that those playing in groups can also access. Bit too awkward for me to enjoy it but I enjoy the idea. A boomerang flower is basically a fire flower with a boomerang instead of a flame ball, quite funky if a bit unnecessary. The propeller box is fun to use even though it’s present a lot less than it is in Super Mario 3D Land, would be great to see this in a few other levels or have the propeller mushroom make its return. The Cannon Box and Light Box are suitable for handling enemies (the latter just being for ghosts), it’s decent and I don’t really have much else to say for it as, again, doesn’t appear to often. That leaves us with the Super Leaf which is ok but I only tend to use it for gliding down to collect stars. Similar to some other Mario games that released in the 2000s and 2010s, Mario has the ability to store one item for situations where he may need it and it’s as handy as always, saved me numerous times during my playthrough.

The levels are fine. Not in a sense of how they were made, naturally these levels are well created whilst providing a balance between a challenge and fun (particularly those who want to play co-operatively). No these games are fine in that they don’t really bring anything new to the Mario franchise. Like I could see a certain mechanic and go “oh that’s a Super Mario Galaxy” aspect. The fact that Super Mario 3D land arrived before this doesn’t really help too much either. But regardless of that, the levels are still fun and if a person hasn’t played a Mario game before this seems like a comfortable place to begin their adventure, particularly as it balances both the 2D and 3D aspect of the games. For those who’ve played many times before, I’m sure the challenge of collecting all the stars and stamps (because everyone loves collectibles) will provide an enjoyable experience throughout the campaign even if to 100% the game it is required to hit the top of the flag pole on every level (why???).

When going through each world, there’s still around 7 to 8 levels and a boss to get through, although I’d like to take this moment to chat about the other events that occur during travelling across the game. There are challenge rooms that require completing certain things under timed conditions, simple yet effective and a good break from the pace of the game. Captain Toad is a pleasant puzzle game, quite easy to see why he got his own spin-off game as it does make use of 3D quite well. There’s a slot machine that requires matching icons to get the most coins so gambling still exists in a post-Luigi casino world.

I did enjoy the final fight with Bowser, they truly made it cinematic whilst showcasing the 3D nature of the game. The other boss fights were a bit too simple, especially those involving Boom Boom and Pom Pom as it’s mostly the same fight with some small twists. The other random ones weren’t too challenging although they were quite creative and a breath of fresh air compared to the other bosses. Hope to see more of those sorts of fights in the future Mario games.

Presentation
I hate to keep repeating myself but again it’s a Mario game. It’s the same art style and music from the New Super Mario Brothers and Galaxy Game, executed quite well but nothing too new. Even with a few levels that shake up the formula a bit, it’s still the same world biomes with the same enemies with similar looking blocks.

Bowsers Fury
Bowers Fury, the add-on to the switch port of 3D World, is quite different to 3D World! I mean it’s still the same art style although the gameplay has drastically changed. Gone are the individual levels, now it’s a massive world involving collecting multiple cat shinnies to make progress. People tend to compare to Odyssey and I can’t really clarify that as I haven’t played it. The best comparison I have is Mario Sunshine with all the water surrounding the area, the shadow aspect of the game (even if it isn’t the same), collecting lots of coins, and many challenges to collect those shinies (that one is certainly Odyssey inspired).
The inventory has a change also, instead of holding one item spare Mario can use Bowser Jr to hold multiple quantities of various items so that’s quite handy when needing a specific outfit to bypass certain obstacles, saves having to repeat a whole level to retrieve one. Bower Jr can also helped Mario a bit by defeating enemies and collecting certain items so it can speed up completing the game and can easily be switched off too. Nice to see a good balance between those who want an easy experience and those who want the challenge, even if the levels are simply just more of 3D World in a (funnily enough) open world.

All in all, it’s a fun few hours of gameplay, Bowser being perhaps the most intimidating he’s been in a while and fighting him is certainly a unique take on the classic fight between this duo. It’s not perfect though as to fully complete the game, some blocks need to be destroyed by Bowser during a time period where Bowser is aiming at Mario. This is fine and all but it just takes a bit of time waiting for him to show-up and unlock the certain area.

Summary
Super Mario 3D World is a fun if safe 3D Mario game, incorporating the 2D aspects of the game quite well to create some well-designed levels that are sure to be ideal for playing with friends. Just don’t expect anything new or ground-breaking in these levels, it’s just walking on well-trodden ground for the franchise. Bowsers Fury is a short and sweet twist on the 3D World formula by making the action take place all in an open-world, certainly an expansion that provides more 3D fun for those who want more than just playing 3D World again.

Rating: 7/10

Update: Wasn't expecting to finish this today but here we are. I was playing through his until Heretic & Hexen got that remaster, if I knew I had half a day left to get through, I would have posted this first then went onto them...oh well. Now I'll head back to Thief 3, curious to see where the franchise goes from here.

23/08/2025: Heretic + Hexen Part 2: Hexen
This is part 2 covering the recent Heretic + Hexen remaster, this time focusing on all the Hexen content.


Background
The word Hexen comes from the German noun “witches” and the German verb for “to cast a spell”. Quite a cool name for a game I cannot deny. Guess Raven Software wanted something beginning with “He-“ as a sequel to Heretic, forming what is known as the Serpent Rider trilogy (with Hexen II being the final entry). In terms of development, there isn’t much to note as there is only a year gap between Heretic and Hexen although to say nothing happen would be a lie. The games engine had a few tweaks to allow for moving objects, along with the ability to play music from a CD, and scripting levels. A year after release, it even for an expansion pack which was sold separately from the main game (typically it would require the base game to even run, this was not the case) albeit with a drawback of no music playing.

Plot
I completely forgot to talk about the plot of Heretic although it’s ok as not only do these games not have too much of a plot but this is also the second in a trilogy (the first being Heretic, the third being Hexen II) so it can all go in here. There are three brothers known as The Serpent Riders who use magic to convert kings across the world known as Parthoris into puppets. One of the elves who resist this magic (a Heretic shall we say) seeks vengeance on these three brothers and goes out to destroy them. As you can imagine, each game in the Serprent Riders trilogy focuses on one of the brothers but for this post let’s just focus on the second of the three.

Oh you expected the elf to be protagonist on this one? Despite him surviving the events of Heretic, Hexen takes place in another realm of Parthoris. In fact, this game has three heroes…and that’s about it really. 1990s FPS games don’t tend to have much of a plot besides a bunch of text at the start of the game and even then that tends to be in a manual. Although I have to say I wasn’t expect any cutscenes in the remaster, quite surprising and even if the graphics are vastly different from what the game offers it. I think I like it overall even though there is a good chance I’ll forget these exist not long from now.

Gameplay
Rather than having one character with several weapons, Hexen lets the player pick between three classes (the three heroes) with each class having up to 4 weapons with the last one having to be assembled by picking up parts throughout the campaign. As I’ve played this game twice, I can talk about The Cleric and the Mage although players in the remaster can swap between these two and The Fighter at any point within the hub. The Cleric has a good melee attack, even allowing for parrying attacks and his magic is fairly decent. I do prefer the Mage though, no melee attack but the magic can handle some of the more annoying enemies such as the centaurs that can block and even deflect some attacks. Plus a weapon with unlimited ammo, saves having to worry about collecting mana to reload the weapons. I won’t go over the inventory system again like I did with Heretic as it’s quite similar with its invulnerability, spawning enemies to help fight, health, armour, and other abilities although it’s nice to see it here in action again as it does prevent the combat from being too restrictive.

I briefly touched on the combat, some enemies have some cool mechanics like the centaurs and whatever the underwater enemies are called that submerge into the water to evade attacks. There aren’t too many different variants of enemies which can lead to attacking the same groups of enemies again and again. Normally this wouldn’t be too much of an issue, I mean many FPS games from the 1990s didn’t have many enemy types, but the fact that some of the enemies respawn as well pads out the game a bit. Bosses were fun though, not too difficult to fight against although their design and environment made them feel intimidating so I can at least go “huh that was cool” after a short fight.

One of the additions they added to the remaster was the inclusion of map markers and that has drastically reduced the time taken to play the game, particularly for newcomers. Hexen has five hubs, each containing about three to four individual maps that can be accessed through the hub (or themselves) via portals. To get to the next hub world, you need to hit certain switches in each of the maps and/or collect items to unlock the hub worlds door. The difficulty in this, however, is that these switches are not easy to find as they can be hidden behind locked doors or certain objects or off in a small area in the map. To make matters trickier, sometimes activating a switch doesn’t state where the change has occurred. It could be in the hub world but it can just as easily unlocked a certain door in the same map or even in a different one. This can lead a lot of annoying back and forth and I don’t mind that if it goes down that route, just that its too vague for it to be fun with the respawning enemies making it a bit worse. Fortunately, the remaster adds those map markers so the location of where I need to go next is easily shown on the map which really helps. I believe there’s an option to turn it off so those who prefer to play it the original way still can but I cannot see myself doing that unless I have a lot of time on my hands.


From the very start of the game, quite gloomy.

As for the rest of the level design, it’s solid stuff. Plenty of pickups and secrets about, usually enough to have the maximum amount and some backup which is fine all things considered. A good hybrid between open areas and closed off sections, a couple cruel spots with enemy placement although for the most part it’s fair for both close and long range attacks. Scripting is executed quite well also, with enemies smashing out of windows and areas shacking from events in the game, it really sells the atmosphere of the game in a way Heretic couldn’t really do at the time.

Presentation
On the topic of atmosphere, I’d say the visuals detain the dark gothic look quite well. More biomes are explored in this game and it is interesting to see how these contrasting locations connect together in a somewhat logical way. Again, the scripting events really showcase how good the engine is at displaying key events in the game so those were true highlights of the campaign. The music was good, set the tone well although quite easily drowned out by all the constant fighting going on. As with Heretic, I didn’t bother with the remix as I think the original midi fits the game a lot better than the remix.

Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
Uhhhhh yeah not a fan of this. More of the same really just with more obscure puzzles and a high quantity of enemies. Nothing new in terms of weapons or enemies, just shooting a lot and trying to find switches. Three hubs this time which is more than I thought for the expansion pack so you’re certainly getting your moneys worth. I certainly wouldn’t recommend this to a person who didn’t enjoy the base game, maybe a fan of the game would enjoy it if they liked both the combat and the exploration but disliking one of them may impact how much fun they have. Just expect a lot of back and forth between levels and a lot of the same enemy group attacking the player again and again.

Vestiges of Grandeur
This is a better expansion, focusing on one hub with four massive levels, an introduction level and a boss level. Again, no new enemies or weapons but the level design and presentation are far better. Not as many cryptic routes to take and fights tend to mix up the enemies rather than lots of the same one. The bosses are also challenging this time around by placing them in dangerous environments or throwing in lots of low-tier enemies so it’s good that theres some sort of tension in these fights that I felt was missing in Deathkings of the Dark Citadel and slightly in the base game. The only drawback I can think of is that the amount of backtracking in the game is quite high as I’m fairly certain the most efficient route to finishing the game is to visit each of the four big levels at least three times and very likely more if the map markers as disabled. Also there is an awful lot of platforming so if you don’t like Hexens jump mechanic then this may cause a bit of frustration in a few places. Overall a fun time even if it is just more Hexen.

Summary
Hexen is a unique FPS that relies on exploration and constant combat, the enjoyment a player gets from it stems from how much they enjoy trying to figure out how each of the levels work and from fighting the same enemies multiple times. Deathkings of the Dark Citadel is essentially the base game on steroids, I found it too annoying with its constant high-tier enemy spawning to enjoy fully but those who wanted more of a challenge from Hexen may get a kick out of it. Vestiges of Grandeur is more of the Hexen gameplay with some tougher bosses and equally impressive environments, certainly ideal for those did enjoyed Hexen.

Rating:
Hexen (original): 5/10
Hexen (remaster): 6/10
Deathkings of the Dark Citadel: 4/10
Vestiges of Grandeur: 6/10

Update: I should really get to the third in the trilogy sometime and maybe that sequel to Heretic which is a bit random. Regardless, this took longer than I expected even if most of it was a repeat but glad I finished off this random remaster. Replaying games isn’t something I tend to do although I will say sometimes its good to return to something and see if an opinion has changed or I missed something the first time. Should be back to Thief soon, just one more game and I should be ready. Thanks for reading :)

Kathy Rain

Yes, that's the one :)

Expecting this to be a tough one but we'll see:

Capsule Silence XXIV?

16/08/2025: Heretic + Hexen Part 1: Heretic



About a week ago, two Raven Software games from the 1990s got a remaster: Heretic and Hexen. Not only did this include the base game and the one expansion pack for Hexen, but also a new episode for each game. As there’s a fair bit for one post, I’ll cover all the Heretic content in this post and do Hexen a little later.

Background
So Heretic is an FPS developed by Raven Software, a company that would go on to handle Star Wars: Jedi Knight, a few X-Men games, and most notably some of the latest Call of Duty titles. Quite a varied line-up, with Heretic being the first big hit for the company. The idea for game came from Id Software, the developers behind Doom who suggested to do a fantasy style Doom. In fact there’s a good reason why many people call it a “Doom Clone” in that it uses a modified version of the Doom engine and the gameplay hasn’t changed all that much (as I’ll explain later). However to say it’s a clone wouldn’t be true as a few additional mechanics have been added such as looking up and down, inventory manipulation , flying, and improved audio, the first two being very rarely seen in FPS games at that point.

Might be important to note the difference between Heretic and Heretic Shadow of the Serpent Riders as both are on the website. Heretic by itself was released first and it was just three episodes long, sent via mail. Shadow of the Serpent Riders came about over a year later, with two extra episodes as it the version found in the remaster and the original Steam version.

Gameplay
Weapons, what have we got?
- A staff? Never used it, there is already enough ammo about to never need to use it besides to make the level significantly harder.
- Gauntlets of the necromancer are a better melee weapon anyway, stun locking enemies to prevent them from attacking which can be good for situations where there is one or two enemies left.
- An elven wand does sound very fantasy-like, this starter weapon is pretty handy for any low-tier enemies with its slow yet hit-scan attack, ideal for saving ammo even at the later levels.
- A dragon claw is basically a stronger, faster elven wand which I used when I had to deal with stronger enemies.
- Ethereal crossbow shoots three bolts at once and its probably my favourite weapons despite the variance in its damage output. I just think it’s ideal for crowd control and sure you could use a fast energy projectile weapon but this just feels more satisfising.
- The Hellstaff is that fast energy projectile weapon, good for the tougher enemies but the ammo runs out quick so I’d rather not use it or else I’m running around the map finding all the pickups for it.
- I barely used the firemace. It’s not bad, quite good actually with its strength but I just tend to forget it exists.

I won’t go over every item available in the game as there’s quite a lot and I didn’t use all of them. For instance I didn’t use the chaos device as I didn’t need to return to the start of the level and sure didn’t use the shadowsphere as why would I want to be invisible in a game like this? Quartz flask and mystic urns were nice for healing up when needed, even if there was an awful lot of them. Armour pickups were also ideal for the same reason. I did fly a couple times but it felt more for specific situations that required collecting a certain item, maybe if there were more I would have used it. Same applies to the torch and invincibility ring, only need it at one specific spot and even then it just makes it a bit easier. Time bombs and the morph ovum were fun but used about once, the weapons were fine enough.

An image from the very first level. Not a very exciting one but a suitable showcase on how the game works.



Combat in the game is exactly how you’d expect. Lots of shooting about and avoiding projectiles in usually small areas. Enemies in the game tend to fire projectiles which are easily avoidable but can be deadly when they are in groups or come from behind. I noticed in the later episodes that the main way of increasing the difficulty was to just throw in lots of lower-tier enemies which is a bit random. Like they can send lots of melee only enemies that can go down with a shock from the gauntlets or several shots with any weapon if there are too many. The stronger enemies were scaled correctly and the bosses were decent if a bit too reliant on the classic circle strafe technique (run around the boss in circles and shoot until it dies). Still, it is an addicting formula that works great here and doesn’t get dull across any of the five episodes.

As already mentioned, this game is based on a modified Doom engine so the level design too is also quite Doom-like. Go through each of the five episodes, consisting of 8 levels with a secret level. Each level involves getting to an exit switch or portal, with coloured keys sometimes needed to unlock certain areas. If you’ve played any old-school FPS then this is fairly familiar territory and shouldn’t take long to get used to, they are the right scale in terms of combat and map size, and don’t lead to trying to find any switches in random locations (Hexen foreshadowing). There never seems to be an issue with health or ammo usage, plenty of it about which is fine but does take some tension out particularly in the later levels. Also, this remaster comes with issues with raising platforms which did break a few levels although I see them easily fixing this issue in an updated version, I did play this a few days after its launch so these things are understandable if annoying.

Presentation
This is one of those games that you can tell it’s a 1990s game but still looks really well done regardless. It’s quite colourful which you don’t tend to get in many FPS games, those tend to be dark and grey and gloomy (although Heretic does have its moments), whereas this nails the fantasy vibe quite week with areas such as waterfalls, cathedrals, and palaces. Music is nice also, having the option between the original MIDI version and the remix and while the remix is a cool addition, it just feels a bit too weird for the game so I stuck to the original where I could.

Faith Revealed
Before concluding the post, lets go over the latest episode: Faith Revealed. It’s a good modern take on the game, it certainly captures the look quite well both in terms of the themes of each level and the colour being used: whether it’s a dark grey for a prison or a bright red for a palace. Level design is quite different though, opting for more arena-style fights with the occasional crowded trap thrown in for good measure. There’s even a few new enemies as well: a Draugr which is a mummy like creature that isn’t too much of a threat, a Troll that charges at the enemy and is one of the most dangerous enemies in my opinion, and a chaos serpent which I’m fairly certain is just a slightly changed chaos serpent from Hexen. All great additions especially thematically, although I do feel that at some points it’s a bit too modern and feels less like a natural episode and more of a mod. No new music which is a shame but completely understandable. Overall, a fun time with some nice additions, no harm playing if you have the bundle, just expect some tough fights.

Summary
A 90s fantasy FPS that provides fun gameplay with an early inventory system and really well-designed environments. Just be warned of some repetitive traps/enemies and the occasional bug. Faith Revealed is a strong new episode that holds moderately large maps and varied locations, just be wary that it swaps the level design for more arena-style fights.

Rating:
Heretic - Shadow of the Serpent Riders: 8/10
Heretic – Faith Revealed: 7/10

Update
A bit tired from working these past few weeks and I wasn't expecting this remaster to drop with new content so glad I managed to get around to it! I have played Heretic before hence why I got around to it fairly quickly. I'm already a bit into Hexen so expect the second part to come around at some point. Thanks for stopping by :)

03/08/2025 - Prince of Persia: Warrior Within



Continuing my journey through the 2000s Prince of Persia games has landed me on a game that could only have come from that decade.

Background

Ubisoft Montreal got to work on this game as soon as the previous game of the franchise, The Sands of Time, was in the final stages of production. The production took about a year to create which explains the one year gap between the games which is a bit crazy considering the changes made but not too surprising if you look at other franchises. Naturally, feedback was taken to help refine the game with one idea (the Prince being able to go down a drape using his sword) came from fans in the Ubisoft forums. With how crazy and popular the Internet is now, I doubt we'll see many ideas being implemented like that although it'd certainly be cool to see. Another surprising fact is that an idea of the premise of the game was called Prince of Persia: Assassins where a group of assassins would protect The Prince. I'm not entirely sure at what point during development it was changed, but the idea was moved from Prince of Persia into its own game that being Assassins Creed. Always interesting to see how franchises link together and I do see the similarities between the two, especially as Warrior Within is more open-worlded compared The Sands of Times linear progression.

Plot
Warrior Within is so funny. And I don't mean in like it being a comedic game, I mean it has done a complete u-turn on the games tone. This game is going for a dark, edgy story which I think the games cover art depicts fairly well. If it was a separate game then I wouldn't bring this up at all but to go from The Sands of Time to this? The best way I can describe it is having The Prince go from a sword-expert Aladdin to Metal Gears snake, and I can get that to an extent based on The Princes desperation but I think it went a bit too far. And don't get me started on the barely dressed female characters and how dialogue is delievered in the most growly way, it's ridiculous. Is this continuation too different from the first game and makes no sense? Yes. Is it hilariously stupid and over the top? Also a yes.

Okay the plot itself is decent. In order to stop a beast known as Dahaka from killing him, The Prince needs to prevent The Sands of Time from being created and thus prevent the Dahaka from being born in the first place. Despite the obvious confusion time-travel stories tend to make, I think its a good premise to have considering the power of the sands and certainly worthy of it being its own game. Seeing the changes between areas from the past to present is done quite well here and while there are barely any characters in the story, the amount of cutscenes prevented it from feeling too isolated. There are even two end cutscenes based on how the player goes through the game which is always a nice bonus for replays.

Gameplay
In terms of platforming, it's pretty much the same. Similar traps, similar vault points, and similar moves to traverse the area. Slowing down and reversing time really helps avoid this obstacles as well although at one point in the game it gets a bit too overpowered and it all becomes trivial. Granted it is towards the end of the game although I suppose that it takes the challenge away a bit too much. Besides that moment, the difficulty of the platforming is about the same as The Sands of Time, a bit of patience and timing is needed but on the whole its about the right difficulty (and this time you can change the difficulty of the game so it can be easier or harder depending on which you prefer).

Combat couldn't be more different. Simple swords attacks, parrying, and vaults over the enemy all still exist but just applying them is simply not enough. Enemies now can more easily swarm and perform combos on The Prince, even being able to grab him and drain his health quite drastically. To counter this, The Prince not only has the capacity to now carry an additional weapon but is also able to perform a lot more moves to handle the enemies with even more being unlocked as the game progresses. It is a bit hard to master at first, the game doesn't really tell you about these moves which is fine as the combos are in the menu although it is quite a difference between Sands of Time. Once I got the hang of it, I was able to take out enemies fairly well using those combos and certainly felt it was more engaging with how each enemy was handled. Enemy variety was also wider as well with enemies with projectiles and massive brutes thrown in to prevent it from being the same old fights again and again. There are even a lot more bosses this time around which is certainly welcome and was a good test of move usage so I hope there'll be more of that in the future games. I mean sure two of them were just repeats of the previous one with one or two little changes although I feel that the minor changes and motivation for the fights is enough to warrant those fights.

I mentioned it earlier but Warrior Within isn't linear and is almost an open-world. The Prince can travel between different times and access most of the previous areas. For the most part I think it works, the map prevented me from getting lost and hidden areas (such as health bonuses and artwork) are all over the place. Areas were also fairly detailed as before, impressive considering the year gap between games. The reason I'm not fully on board with this is that there's a lot of repetition with platforming. Going back to the areas is fine as it can unlock new areas you couldn't access before which is pretty cool, but by the last part of the game its the same sections again and again which switched my brain off in places and with how much health some of the enemies had at that point, I just started to run past them when I could or else that would be 5 to 10 minutes handling that. I think if they added some more new sections or reduce backtracking a little bit I'd enjoy it more but overall I'm alright with this. Also no protecting a person during a fight, big win there!

Presentation
I won't lie, some of the bugs in this game was frustrating and gave me a bad impression of the game. The first 30 minutes of the game I had to redo twice because one of the cutscenes was corrupted, in the end I was loaded in a save file so I could actually begin the game. There was also objects (both enemies and items) just disappearing after rewinding time which can be frustrating as it pretty much means a game over. Hopefully these can be patched out someday or the game gets a proper remaster as it is a bit depressing trying to immerse yourself in the world only for it to just crash.

The music and the looks though? Top-tier! I mean yes it's basically the same as the last game but the looks are still pleasant to look at and the metal soundtrack fits this games tone well especially during combat. The voices can actually be heard despite volume still not being able to be re-adjusted during the game. Not much else to comment it besides that I hope these are both present in the rest of the games.

Summary
Warrior Within is a good game with a different (albeit over the top) tone, refined combat, and shakes up the formula by being less linear and having more bosses. Just be cautious of a fair bit of backtracking and bugs.

Rating: 7/10

Update
Couldn't get a screenshot this time but oh well, maybe I will with Two Thrones. Will take a small sidestep away from Thief and Prince of Persia for one game then jump back into the remaining four games (2 each).

27/07/2025 – Thief II: The Metal Age



Might as well continue going through the Thief games, there aren't too many entries anyway.

Background
Thief: The Dark Project did well critically enough for a sequel to begin development about two months after release. Based on feedback from The Dark Project, The Metal Age was going to focus more on the stealth elements in an urban setting and have less supernatural elements and maze-like levels. The team took inspiration from several movies and a few books to create the world of the game alongside 2000 pictures taken by the lead artist during his holiday in Europe so it’s clear how dedicated they were into creating the game. In fact, it’s a good job they were as they went into “super crunch mode” towards the end as they slipped behind schedule resulting in some staff having to sleep in the office and avoid baths just to meet the deadline otherwise the company, Looking Glass Studios, would be shut down. The good news is that they met their deadline despite some believing it had a lack of quality. The bad news is that Looking Glass Studios still shut down regardless due to their other games not performing well and a wait for several months to receive their royalties from Thief II, with the Gold version of Thief II and Thief III being cancelled. It’s a shame it happened but the game was still received very well so at least the company went out on a high note.

Plot
Onto the game itself now, this game continues a year after the events of The Dark Projet where Garrett (the thief) is being pursued by Sheriff Truart who is going on a major crime cleaning spree. As well as the return of the Keepers, the Hammerites and the Pagans, Thief II focuses primarily on The Mechanists which is essentially a cult that are introducing new technology for security such as cameras with turrets and robots. Thief II is described as a “three-act structure” and I think for that reason it flows a little better than The Dark Project plot as that had some moments that felt a bit slow, although the final part of the game ended a bit suddenly, might be because of the rushed development and/or the planning of the third game directly afterwards. As before, the cutscenes were nice to watch and the characters are solid so if you want a simple, edgy steampunk plot then this game has you covered.

Gameplay
Most of how Garrett controls are similar to the last entry in the franchise. Crouching, jumping, running and peeking all work as before although some surfaces were more awkward to climb as before, by that I mean sometimes I’m awkwardly jumping up and down trying to go up a surface but keep missing. Also a few issues entering secret doors towards the end of the game so that requires a few reloads to the previous save point. Garrett can now also zoom-in to look at areas better, neat I guess but I barely used it as it doesn’t really show much you can’t already see.

The equipment is mostly the same also. Sword is still decent although more of the missions this time around won’t let you kill anyone with it and some enemies are just immune to it. Same applies to the blackjack, even had a bit of a downgrade as you can’t really knock out enemies that are alerted to you with it, otherwise it counts as a death. The bow is more critical than ever here, particular against the newly introduced worker bots who are best taken care of with a water arrow at the back. For that reason, the bow and blackjack are your best friends in this game. The only new arrow type is the vine arrow which is just a more powerful rope arrow as it allows a vine to be attached from many types of surfaces as opposed to just wood, it’s fine and can’t really fault it for it. In terms of the inventory, there's a flare which can light up an area although this feels a bit pointless as you want to be in the dark where you can. Scouting orbs are quite a fun addition, throwing one can allow Garrett to see around corners as the orb acts as a camera and while it wasn't commonly used, it allowed me to plan ahead to avoid some nasty situations.



A screenshot from the very first level, yes it is that dark although there are certainly brighter spots in that level.

Let’s speak about the level design as it’s all over the place in this game. Some of the levels of this game are incredible and capture the immersion of this game very well, probably beating the best levels of Thief Gold. The reason for this is pretty clear, there’s lots to explore without it being overwhelming. Details all about such as hidden rooms with lots of goods, lore regarding the story and characters, conversations about certain flaws in the building. While all of this was found in the first game for sure, they’ve really nailed down the details here and some of the traps are way sneakier than they were in the last game so those sorts of levels, such as Blackmail, Life of the Party, and First City Bank, really bring in the strengths of this stealth game. These levels do range in length, from an hour to two, but the pacing and exploration is good enough so that it doesn't feel too long so time does go by quickly when playing it.

The bad levels though? Utter nightmare. One level is just following some people around which is ok but drawn out a bit too long so it got a bit dull. Then there are the infamous two mansion missions right beside each other which is the exact same mansion (we are talking the exact same map with the same start point and end point) only with different mission objectives and some minor modifications (some doors are now locked, more patrols, etc). It would be a lot better if it was just one level instead of the two separate ones in what I can only assume was to pad out the game as then it’d just be seen as a solid Thief level. The final level provides the classic move of escalating the difficulty significantly whilst also being very big and confusing to navigate although I did appreciate the gloomy atmosphere it had and I do prefer it over Thief 1’s ending as this one feels like a test of all the skills Garrett has as opposed to just running towards the end.

Presentation
Even if I didn’t apply a TFix (a highly recommended mod) to ensure the graphics ran smoothly during my game (along with removing a few bugs involving the cutscenes), Thief II still has the same strong graphics than the first one had. Gloomy, dark, lots of attention to detail. As it’s shifting away from the supernatural element, this has more of an industrial look to it so expect less trippy sequences and more machinery scattered across each area. I wouldn’t say either one is bad or superior to the other, but personally I do prefer Thief 1’s gothic look as it invokes the feeling of suspense that this game doesn’t too much of. In terms of sound, yeah really not much has changed between games here. We do have female voices in the game now along with mechanical ones from the robots also so it’s nice to see some variety rather than just the same old guards.

Summary: A strong follow-up to the first entry in the franchise, fun stealth in detailed maps within a steampunk setting makes for a joyous playthrough. However it is far from perfect due to some obvious padding of time and some strange level design decisions towards the end of the game along with a few bugs here and there. If you enjoyed Thief 1, I'm certain you'll still enjoy Thief 2.

Rating: 7/10

Update: I have a flow going at the moment so I'll try to keep that momentum by hopping between the Thief games and the Princes of Persia games (that I own anyway). So by that logic, I should return with Prince of Persia: Warrior Within at some point in the near future! Thank you for reading as always, until next time :)

17/07/2025 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time



Prince of Persia is one of those franchises that I, and maybe other people, recognise by name but doesn't appear too often in the news. I mean its peak was in the mid 2000s, the only recent ones are The Lost Crown (which I heard is quite good), The Rogue Prince of Persia (only know its a roguelike) and a remake to the game I'm talking about today. I'm fairly certain the reason for this was Ubisoft wanting to move onto other franchises and the franchise failing to perform well enough. Whatever the case, we still have the past to play so here's The Sands of Time, considered as maybe the most iconic of the franchise with the only exception maybe being the first entry.

Background
I’m sure this will come as no surprise but The Sands of Time was not the first entry in the Prince of Persia franchise. The first entry, a self-titled one, was a platformer for the Apple II which did very well to start the franchise despite it not being a commercial success straight away. The second entry (Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame) was mostly the same with a few minor improvements here and there, and the third entry (Prince of Persia 3D) concluded this trilogy on Microsoft Windows but was met with a mixed reception.

That leaves us with The Sands of Time, with the franchise license being brought by Microsoft. The original creator of the franchise, Jordan Mechner, aided Ubisoft Montreal (who develop for franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, with Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell being working on at the same time as The Sands of Time) in the development of the game after seeing their work, removing any doubts that it would fail similar to Prince of Persia 3D. There’s quite a lot of information about this development but the team ended up creating 150 different versions of the game such as having nine characters representing different political region. Quite a lot of references too so it does capture that fantasy vibe it’s going for. The game was also developed using a modified Jade Engine so it’s a similar feel to the original Rayman games and Beyond Good & Evil. I could go into a lot more detail but I think I've covered the key points so I'll jump into the game itself.

Plot
The story of this game is relatively simple. The Prince managed to find a magical dagger that controls the flow of time. After being tricked into releasing the sands of time, The Prince and a woman named Farah have to undo the damage before the sand covers the world. There were a few moments that I felt could have been done a bit better, such as the final fight, but overall the journey in this plot is well paced and I’d enjoyed the characters as simple as they were. The character interactions were probably the best part, even just The Prince talking to himself can easily fill in the quiet parts of the game. I did like The Prince narrating his story as it went on also, it really felt like a true tale which not only provides each location with a purpose but also allows the chance to explore his thoughts on things such as his guilt on unleashing the whole disaster and his complicated relationship with Farah.

Gameplay

Platforming in the game is top-tier and shows Ubisoft knew how to make it work before they went into creating loads of open world games. It’s not a very complex thing by any means, but it shows how things like running across walls and jumping between pillars is not only easy but fast when its needed. The ability to rewind time also provides a comfortable safety net for any mistakes made so it’s weirdly a relaxing time for the most part. The small parts where its not is due to the traps such as spinning blades or the walls falling down, these aren’t too annoying to deal with as its just a matter of timing which I think the game provides plenty of. Even if a player was to struggle with the platforming, the game not only provides many checkpoints but also provides visions which grants a sneak peak at how to get past the next section of the game. Quite handy as while I wasn't confused on what I needed to do, it did prevent me from wasting time taking a certain approach to a task such as attempting to jump across a gap when I need to wall run and jump off the wall.

In terms of combat, I think its fine although the age shows itself a bit. It’s quite fast, being able to attack enemies with the sword is easy enough to do with a simple click of the button and parrying attacks tend to do the job quite well, even when knocked down. Dodging attacks is relatively easy to do as well but the enemies can land a combo attack and easily strike the players health down so combat can be quite tense. The one issue I have with the combat is the targeting. Sometimes I see an enemy on the floor and I’m about to finish it off but no let’s freeze the enemy right beside me instead as that special move is binded to the same key as the finisher. If I’m unlucky then the enemy can get back on its feet and if I’m very unlucky then I run out of health and cannot rewind time as I used up that spare time on the freeze attack. Another pain is having to keep an eye on Farah as she tends to fight alongside The Prince in combat and, while she can stun an enemy with a bow, more often than not an enemy will cause damage to her so you have to protect her as well. Fortunately, health is easy to come by as its just a matter of drinking water (I assume magical water otherwise I really underestimate how good water is at healing sword cuts) and the ability to rewind time is restored for every finishing move so the combat isn’t all bad, it just has its frustrating moments.

The game is one long continuous journey from start to finish. Typically, it has one long platforming section and then a few fights in a row and the back to the platforming which is probably the best format you can have in this sort of game as it’s a healthy balance of both. Occasionally a puzzle is thrown in which aren’t too difficult and provide a good change in pace. With both the puzzles and progress, the characters tend to make a few verbal hints at the start of the puzzle and sometimes there’s a short cutscene going “hey, over here”. I think it’s at the right level as it doesn’t make it too obvious on the exact action that needs to be completed but also not confusing the player on what they need to do. I've already mentioned the checkpoints but I didn't mention they are activated by walking into them and its okay? It saves time of having to pause a menu and manually save it and I assume autosave wasn't as commonplace at that time, but sometimes I need to walk back and I accidentally walk into the save point. So I think its a good idea to have but the positions of these save points should be adjusted in some spots.

Presentation
If I told you to imagine an early 2000s game set in a fairytale palace in the middle of a desert then you’d pretty much have this game. It captures it all quite well, having the whole game happen over the course of a day so you can see both the daytime and the nighttime. Each area felt quite unique too so this seven hour game doesn’t have that sense of déjà vu. I’m not sure if its just my PC setup or how the game is stored on Steam but the character dialogue outside of the cutscenes was really quiet, despite the options saying it was at the right level. The music was at the right level and is quite a bop during the combat sections so I always looked forward to hearing them after a long platforming section.

Summary While the combat is weak in this game due to its imprecise movement, this is a fun game that has aged well in its appearance and provides well-executed platforming and puzzles with some good characters.

Rating: 8/10

Update: Life is getting busy for me now so I won't be posting as often as I used to, but I'll do my best to keep post when I can. Thanks for stopping by :)

I've been thinking about replaying the Thief games for some time. The first 3 mainly. Garrett is one of my favorite game protagonists and by extension fiction. If there is one thing that I think could annoy me now is the amount of searching around you have to do, that's fine but since it's a stealth game, it might take a lot longer to know how to complete the objective since there is time spent trying to take out the guards in between the searching. You still might need a walkthrough from time to time.

That and Thief Gold's extra missions just drags things out like crazy. The Theives Guild mission is infamous. I also think the Opera House and Mages Towers just goes on forever. Of course there is also the non stealth horror levels. The zombies sound really annoying without using holy water.

Through my experience with the game, it does strike me as a game where you really need to put a lot of time into exploring everything to get the most out of it. I don't mind doing that as such as there's a lot of little details in each level, but I do agree that sometimes it takes way too long. Personally its with the extra loot you need to find (gems, coins, etc). Trying to find a few more in a large map so a player can leave with x amount of gold can be a real pain, especially when its only one of two things left. I didn't use a guide too much but it was mostly for collecting these things, otherwise I would have spent a lot more time going around in circles. Hope it's reduced in the later entries but I have my doubts haha.

The Thieves Guild is certainly one of those large areas, especially with how they hid the bracelet in such a random place and how difficult some areas are to navigate with its size and it all looking the same. I do agree with The Mage Towers also, completing the objectives was a lot easier but finding all the keys just felt like it went on for way longer than it needed to. I didn't mind The Opera House that much, it was big but there's a decent map and lots of little things to make navigation a little easier, plus I don't think you need to explore everything to complete the level (on hard anyway, not sure about expert). I will say though, some spots in the building were quite nasty with how they placed the guards and how noisy the floor can be so it certainly deserves to be in the second half of the game.

The zombies were ok for the most part as, like you said, the holy water could deal with them easily and if not, you could knock them down or run past them as they are fairly slow. In the level Return to the Cathedral though....that was very annoying especially with The Haunts all over the place and the sheer number of them, not to mention the numerous objectives that needed to be collected. I just ended up knocking them down in spots where I could easily avoid walking past (like behind a gravestone), saving the resources for handling The Haunts.

27/06/25 – Thief Gold



Haven't really played many stealth games, it's nice to deviate from my usual platforming, fps and puzzle route I've been on recently.

Background
Thief Gold is a Looking Glass Studios developed game, the studio known for the first two Thief games along with System Shock 1 & 2 along with the first Ultima Underworld. The company originally under the name Blue Sky Productions but that changed about two years in, and they kept developing games until they went defunct in 2000, primarily due to the lack of success with their projects. A shame the company didn’t last long but it seems they made a good impression.

To focus on Thief, this is an example of an early immersion sim which is basically a fancy way of saying the player can make their own free choice on how to approach a task. Thief went through several iterations, starting as Dark Camelot which was a sword fighting simulator involving communist zombies which then became more focused on a reverse King Arthur plot although eventually it focused on stealth and thieving. Of all places, the idea of being vulnerable when being seen and dangerous when hidden comes from submarine warfare which does make sense thinking about it. There was going to be multiplayer for the game but that financial trouble I mentioned caused some programmers to move to Ion Store to work on Deus Ex, and by some of the programmers I mean half the entire staff in six months. Despite all these setbacks, the game was released in 1997. While it may not have been a financial success that the team wanted, it was critically acclaimed and has been a cult classic since, particular since this is the first 3D stealth game for the PC which would later be seen as an influence on franchises such as Hitman and Splint Cell.

Before developing into the story I should clarify the difference between Thief: The Dark Project and Thief: Gold. Both are the first Thief game but Gold is the expanded edition that contains three new missions, slight changes to the original levels and a few bonuses such as a bloopers level. I’ll be focusing on Gold but I’m certain most of what has been written here can also be applied to The Dark Project.

Plot
The story focused on Garrett, a man who joined a faction known as the Keppers but would later leave to live a life of thievery. Eventually, Garretts work leads him between two other rival factions, The Pagens and The Order of the Hammer, worshipping The Builder and the Trickster respectively. This is all told through cutscenes (which are very gothic and very 90s) and through books found scattered around each level. I enjoyed the plot for the most part, not many characters but its edgy mood and world-building is pretty well-executed. There is one part that I did see coming although it was foreshadowed a bit with some of the books scattered about so I think its more of a sneaky job rather than basic story telling.

Gameplay
I bet you would never have guessed that the main objective in the game is to steal things as stealthily as possible. Avoiding enemies isn’t just about avoiding their line of sight. You have to hide in the shadows, ensuring the light meter on screen is below a certain threshold and I’m fairly certain this is the first game (or one of the first games) to introduce this mechanic! There’s also sound, you cannot walk on certain surfaces or move too quickly if an enemy is nearby, otherwise they will detect you. Usually there is one key item to get although there could be a few extra things to grab too, getting those and some coins can allow Garrett to leave the level. A common yet addicting hook for a stealth game, more impressive for its late 90s release.



Ignore that load failed, just my amazing key configuration striking again. This is taken from the first level and shows me hiding in the darkness and about to knock out the guy with the blackjack.

Garrett himself is alright to control although I do recommend spending some time adjusting the key bindings and installing some fixes to make the game more playable such as supporting widescreen resolutions as the Steam version isn’t too suitable for modern PCs. His move set is quite good, being able to peak around corners and crouch in the darkness is probably one of the key reasons this game is so well-received, it really achieves the immersion it sets out for when the game is like this. The swimming and climbing are fine, they certainly have an early 3D game feel to them so it can be a bit awkward attempting to do those things. Same applies to combat and it is clear some of the sword fighting simulation still survived with how attacks can be parried but that can be more forgiven since the game is not a combat-focused one so this is more of a last resort option.

Garrett also has quite a range of equipment to pick from. The sword is, naturally, for combat and as I said it’s typically a last resort and a bit iffy to use with its speed and deflection. The blackjack is a bat which is ideal for taking out many enemies with one hit, assuming they are taken by surprise. I used this the most as it just handles the “don’t kill anyone” side mission perfectly and keeps Garrett in the dark when equipped. The bow is a suitable weapon, can be a bit noisy but a well-placed shot is good for an enemy or two particular the rare gas arrows that can kill instantly. Health potions and food are great for health as always although cycling through the inventory to get them can be a pain, same applies to all the keys even if it makes perfect sense for each area to have different keys. Lockpicks are suitable strategies for ignoring those keys with the cost of them taking a while to open the door, good job that the guards cannot hear a loud unlocking noise. Flash bombs and mines I barely used, not because they are bad but rather the other equipment works perfectly enough to make them nothing more than a backup plan for tough situations.

Enemies in the game are quite standard. On the human side there is a swordsman who can be a bit tricky to fight making him an ideal target for the blackjack. Same applies to archers too, dangerous only in actual combat but trivial when in stealth. The mages aren't really a threat even in groups, attacking them with a sword pretty much stuns them and they don't usually launch a powerful attack. Stealth is a better option again although its just as easy for normal combat. Zombies are a pain in the ass and require specific equipment to take them out. When I see them, I tend to jump past them if I can because there's no point being stealthy if they will get up if I approach that area again. Spiders also exist although aren't really a problem, can simply be killed with a sword. Other enemies do exist although they are just stronger variants of existing enemies such as The Haunt or rarely appear such as the self-destructing Frogbeast.

Level design can either be really good or horrible. At it’s best it can be quite intense and involves a lot of scheming to try and understand the best approach to a level. Take Song of the Caverns or even the first level, there are NPCs having conversations with each other, many rooms to explore and raid, little details such as a hidden secret in a fireplace. I mean this is how you make a level, a rewarding experience in both ticking off each objective and collecting equipment to make the level a little easier. Levels can be quite large too so be wary that even the best levels can take an hour or two to complete.

The worst levels are the ones that don’t really use stealth at all. People tend to point to Escape! as the main culprit of this although I feel the one just before this (won’t name it as it is a small spoiler) was a lot worst due to the lack of places to ambush the enemy, the strength of the enemy, and how most of them are zombies so they’d just get back up anyway. Other weak levels aren’t as bad but can have tricky moments with how obscure some things are, such as finding five hidden switches that need to be pressed within five minutes to unlock one door. And sometimes it's just confusing to go about, areas all looking the same and trying to find one little thing that is kept hidden in a small area with not too many hints. Surprisingly that last point doesn't happen too much but when it does happen, it is very annoying.

Presentation
I don’t think I need to repeat myself on how great the game looks and how good it is at setting a tone again. It really does capture the unsettling nature of abandoned ruins and guarded mansions very well with its scenery and with its music also. Some areas are very dark to the point where I have to turn the brightness on my screen up to max just to see where I need to go. Hard to say whether thats a problem with the game or a problem with my settings but either way it was a true challenge. At least it made the actual lighting a lot more impactful. Despite me liking it, I do think the soundtrack was a bit too loud during some of the cutscenes but other than that is compliment the game quite well.

Summary
An atmospheric stealth game that holds many creative and detailed levels. Ignoring a few poor levels that don’t really take advantage of these, this is certainly a must-play for those who want to try their hand at a stealth game and enjoy exploring everything a level has to offer.

Rating: 8/10

Update: Will certainly play the other Thief games in the near future, there's only four of them so shouldn't take too long. No idea when my next update will be with life going on but hopefully not too long, thanks for reading :)

21/06/25 – Vampire Survivors



I played and beat this on my phone months ago but I decided to play it on PC also since it was a freebie and I wanted to see the differences. The post will be focused on the PC version.

Background
Today’s game takes us to Italy where Luca Galante, known as “poncle” online, began developing Vampire Survivors during unemployment. Inspired from the Castlevania and a mobile game known as Magic Survival, he began creating the game spending about a £1000 on assets. His knowledge of working in the gambling industry and being an admin for Ultima Online gave him the ideas for the game both visually and mechanically. Poncle didn’t see much success at first, it wasn’t until putting it up on Steam at a low price that he managed to get some attraction which far exceed what he was expective. This led him to quit his job, get freelancers and friends and begin improving the game. At the time of writing, poncle is now a team of 25 and have released a second game. It’s really nice to see stories like these of a solo developer putting in lots of work and seeing it pay off big time.

I should also talk briefly about bullet heaven, a subgenre of bullet hell as this game created the term. So first off, what is bullet hell? Well this is a sub-genre of shoot em ups, where the aim to dodge a lot of projectiles. Typically, this involves a ship or character that can move around the screen to avoid these projectiles and shoot back to destroy these waves. Games like Ikaruga and DonPachi are examples of this, although some elements of bullet hell can be found in games such as Undertale and Enter the Gungeon. Now Bullet Heaven. This flips the script where the character creates the bullets, typically automatically! The player still has the same amount of freedom to move about, can usually upgrade their attacks over time and it certainly doesn’t reduce the amount of enemies on the screen. I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd argue whether this is a reverse bullet hell or that bullet heaven is a bad term or that it's some other genre entirely, I just point this out as the game defined this term so it's worth seeing its influence on games such as Brotato.

Gameplay
I feel like the last paragraph explained most of the gameplay of Vampire Survivors but obviously there’s a lot more to it! A player has to survive usually about 30 minutes by killing all the enemies on the screen. Not much else to it, it is simply a matter of fighting to survive. Killing enemies in the game grants xp which leads to the character levelling up, allowing a player to pick from three rando, items, if the inventory is full or there is a repeat item, then an item can be levelled up. It’s certainly keeps things yet simple opens up possibilities on how a player wants to play the level. Do they focus on offence or defence? Attack close or far away? It’s a really smart way of keeping things addicting without the element of random items making too much of an impact on how a game is played. As for moving about, it’s fairly easy to do as its simply moving a character in a 2D area so it’s usually easy to evade enemies for the majority of the game.



I was trying to think of the best way to explain how the levels look like so I decided to use this screenshot to help. There aren’t too many enemies at the moment and these are mostly melee attacks, I’ll explain more about that a little later. The xp are the blue diamonds on the floor, always important to get and easy to identify no matter the level. There’s even some food for hp at the top right too, you can also find coins, a cross to destroy all enemies on screen, a way of stopping time, a way of attracting xp from all over the map (very useful in later levels), and (my favourite) a flamethrower that lasts about five seconds. Not too much but they can be a big sigh of relief when collected during a fight. Every level also has some obstacles to try and trap the player, here it isn’t too bad as it’s only trees but later levels can throw in some ambushes, so despite the relatively low number of levels each level is unique enough stand on its own. You may also note the blue bat on the screen, that’s a sort of mini boss that can drop a chest containing lots of coins and an upgrade or evolution (combining two weapons in the inventory into one) when defeated. It’s a good example of high risk, high reward as it helped me win each of the levels but was also the reason I died several times, attempting to get the chest that was completely surrounded.

Enemies aren’t deadly by their attack but by their number. The real test in this game is to keep moving away from them whilst also killing them and collecting xp. Almost all the enemies move in large groups and get very close, not too many fire projectiles and those that do tend not to appear in the most chaotic parts of the level (typically the last five minutes). This may feel dull but the enemy attacks and designs keep it from feeling too repetitive, such as a swarm flying across the screen from left to right or enemies that can resurrect on being defeated the first time. Bosses do appear every now and then and can range from a cakewalk to quite annoying. Two of the bosses are mostly just pressing right and avoiding horizontal and vertical line attacks, nothing too bad as long as you keep moving. One such boss is quite nasty, rolling across the screen and getting bigger (both in size and in health) for each enemy it kills. Would have liked to have seen more of the latter bosses but I’m happy with the ones I got and it didn’t take away from any of the levels particular with the rewards from beating them.

Even if you didn’t focus on the DLC, this game has a lot to do. Sure there’s 5 standard stages but what -about the bonus levels and challenges? And there’s about 48 characters to collect not to mention all the weapons and their evolutions, many of which can be unlocked via the hundreds of achievements in the game. I wouldn’t complain about it too much but I’m not a big fan of how vague some of the clues are to finding the more secret items. Hints are provided although I don’t think it’s super clear and if a person wants to google how to get it, they might as well save time and enter the code to unlock the item already. I feel like just focusing on the main campaign is the best but can be ideal for chilling with even after finishing it.

Presentation
Such a fantastic art style. A user on this website, “pretty_jesus”, described it as a “giant 2D love letter” and I couldn’t think of a better description. The characters, the enemies, the environments, all just oozing with 1980s pixel art with a 2020s polish. The music echoes this as well but it tends to flip between old and new, although each track fits in well with the game. Even with the large number of enemies on the screen, the sound effects don’t get too overwhelming on the ears and neither did it slow down the game at any point.

Summary
An addicting game with a cool art style and tons of little secrets and combat styles for replayability. If you want a fairly simple 30 to 40 minute game to pass the time, then this is worth giving it a go.

Rating: 8/10

Update: I wasn’t expecting to finish off the game the same day I finished Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but it was a pleasant surprise. Not sure if I’ll bother with the DLC for this game, maybe one day. But thanks for reading the post :)