Recent reviews by •ShyVortex•

This game is incredibly fun to play, it's an action-packed mayhem that just delivers smiles and laughter.
The PC version is unfortunately quite bad, but nowhere has it given me as many issues as some are describing. If you're wondering, the game also isn't pay-to-win, I don't know why this false narrative is being spread.
Right now Helldivers 2 has solved both server and matchmaking issues, so I fully recommend it.

Black screen after every match. There is NO solution online to fix this stupid issue, which is especially annoying when playing with friends, since it happens to everyone at different times, and we're forced to quit the following match while waiting for each other to restart. It is a shame that this game, while improved since launch, has still such an abhorrent user experience.

Activision is slowly destroying the game more and more with each new update; they are losing players, so instead of removing DMZ pay-to-win bundles or offering more content to Warzone II (just two of the core issues), they are instead focusing their attention on shutting down community projects that aim to keep the franchise alive by allowing everyone to still play old Call of Duty titles, for the sole reason of being a greedy and miserable company that only cares about money.
And I haven't even touched upon the harassments subject which makes working at the company an inhuman experience.

To keep the review short, i'm going to summarize by saying this game does NOT deserve your money, nor your time, as compared to previous titles it's a hot pile of garbage, bloated with too much content but zero effort put into it, showing no love for the fans, nor the developers who are forced to work on this crap. It is so bad that Activision doesn't want you to play any other Call of Duty game that's not this new Modern Warfare II, proving once again that new isn't always better, but can instead be worse.

Major DRM Update*
Nobody is going to care about the new content if you just wake up and randomly decide to add Denuvo one year after the game's release, screwing up your reputation and disappointing your entire fanbase. Even though the game itself is good (but not memorable), I do not recommend it until they revert this change, because no matter your stance on heavy and invasive DRM, it's just something that no company should do, nor be able to get away with it.

This review contains no major spoilers.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection includes two games:
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, fourth official installment to the Uncharted franchise;
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, spin-off DLC to Uncharted 4.
Both are developed by Naughty Dog, renowned PlayStation studio known for producing amazing games, right from the PS1 era with Crash Bandicoot up until current generation, as of now with a strong focus on narrative and characters. Despite the absence of the first three games on PC, full knowledge of prior events isn’t necessary to enjoy the experience offered by these two titles.
Still, I would recommend getting access to previous Uncharted games in any way you can, even through emulator (RPCS3), if you want to explore everything the saga has to offer.

▲ = Positive
▼ = Negative
▲▼ = Neutral


While it doesn’t offer great improvements over the PS5 version, which is a remastered of the PS4 versions, both games still look beautiful and in many instances they can easily compete with much more recent titles. You can expect them to feature stunning vistas, well-crafted environments, and spectacular character models.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2884954525
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2893307811
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
After his prior adventures, Nathan Drake looks to be tired and settles down to a normal life with his wife Elena, working as a salvager in New Orleans. Despite pretending to enjoy his retirement, Nathan misses the excitement of his old life. One day his brother Sam, whom he thought was dead, shows up at work. In full shock and surprise of such an event, Nathan and Sam decide to tell each other their own stories, and Sam tries to convince him to partake in a new treasure-hunting quest which is told to be crucial to his own survival. Conflicted and not knowing what to do, he takes a risky decision: he lies to his wife Elena about what happened and finds a job-related excuse to follow his brother in what will be a long journey across different locations. Whether he succeeds in his quest or manages not to hurt his marriage with multiple lies, it is for now unknown. In his new adventure, Nathan will team up with an old friend and ally to face some villainous competitors, who seek the same goal.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Following the events of Uncharted 4 in what is basically a spin-off DLC, the game presents a shift in location and it now takes place in India, where treasure hunter Chloe Frazer, who’s also an old companion from older Uncharted games, starts the search for the legendary tusk of Ganesh, son of Hindu god Shiva. After both stealthy and action-packed sequences of sneaking and slipping past enemy insurgents, she meets up with mercenary Nadine Ross, her companion for the adventure. Once again, the path for treasure-hunting is not easy and they find themselves hindered by the insurgents group, led by a man named Asav. As they find more trails, follow more leads and avoid more dangers, they meet an unexpected ally who will further help them in their journey.

The gameplay in both games is quite similar but with subtle differences which make one a significant improvement over the other. Let’s start with the “main” game.
Uncharted 4 features both action-packed and stealth-based levels, as well as puzzles of various sorts, some of which are really easy to get while others more complex to guess. My favourite part of the game is in its perfect execution of action: with wider levels compared to previous games, you have a lot of freedom in the ways you can take down all the enemies. First of all, it contains a large enough arsenal of weapons which make encounters feel different each time depending on your equipment, but there’s also lots of freedom in movement: you can run, cover, jump, crouch, dodge, hide in tall grass, and even use a grappling hook! Hand-to-hand combat feels satisfying as well, unless you’re playing at higher difficulties, but that’s another story… (please, don’t do it, it’s extremely infuriating). Stealth sequences, on the other hand, could have been improved. There aren’t any silenced weapons, and the AI is not advanced enough to make stealth play feel like a fun experience, even if it’s still more intelligent than other third-person action games I’ve played.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy fixes almost every issue, by improving stealth with a smarter placement of tall grass and the introduction of a silenced pistol to take down enemies quietly from the distance, without being heard. It also has, in my opinion, better and more fun puzzles than the main game.
Overall, I find both games to be incredibly fun to play, but if you’re a fan of stealth, then you’re probably gonna have a slightly better time in Lost Legacy.

It’s absolutely amazing, with only one nitpick: previous Uncharted games featured main menu themes, which are absent from both the fourth installment and Lost Legacy, where they have been replaced with ambient sounds. Apart from that, the OST is full of awesome tracks that even feel delightful to relisten outside of the games.

Click here for the complete Rating Chart

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves is a collection of two great games of the franchise. Even if they were released for last, they still represent a chance to get into the saga and, at worst, can hold great value as a starting point if you’ve never experienced Uncharted before. It’s unfortunately held back instead by a poor optimization with weird issues that are not consistent, but can appear at random while playing, and force you to restart the game to avoid a frustrating experience.

This review contains no major spoilers.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is the long-awaited and critically acclaimed sequel to Innocence, originally launched in 2019 by Asobo Studio, a game which would eventually lead to an increase in popularity and recognition of the studio itself. Delivering an outstanding narrative with unexpected plot twists, it definitely is a precious, yet underrated gem, victim of being overshadowed by bigger titles released on the same year.

▲ = Positive
▼ = Negative
▲▼ = Neutral


With Requiem, it was the first time in a long while that I felt literally blown away by the impressive visuals it has to offer. It is also the first PC game of the last couple of years of those I’ve played which made me think “Oh, so this is it. This is what next-gen looks like”. The truth is, I didn’t even play the game at max settings, because unfortunately my limited hardware doesn’t allow me to, but even at medium-high settings it manages to look absolutely stunning in every frame, with unprecedented levels of details in every single object in the world. Whether it’s the character models, the environments, or the gorgeous lighting, everything looks like a work of the finest art. Bravo!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882612152
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882614809
The story of A Plague Tale: Requiem begins a few months after the end of Innocence. Amicia and Hugo are living a relatively happy life, going outdoors and playing in nature together with Lucas. One day the two brothers decide to explore a supposedly abandoned castle after Lucas leaves their group to do some commissions. What initially starts as a fun quest driven by curiosity, leads to a dramatic event, causing the Macula to awaken. Amicia, Hugo, Lucas and Beatrice find themselves forced to travel again, looking for representatives of a group called The Order who may help Hugo as suffers from the physical and psychological repercussions of the Macula. However, things don't quite go as planned, since everything they try seems not to work. What will be of Hugo’s fate? How far can Amicia go to save her little brother?
The story of Requiem is about perseverance, love, loss, grief, anger, and the consequences of living in a dark and cruel world, where people lie, betray, and only few can be trusted. Hugo is a kid who always tries to be positive, hopeful and find the light in all people. As he learns more about the harsh reality of the world and how reckless some people can be, something changes in him. His innocence begins to break… and his illness to expand. Amicia, on the other hand, is a girl who’s full of love and affection for Hugo. Long time has passed since the first time she met her brother, and over the course of their journey their bond grew stronger and deeper. She is determined to do whatever it takes to save his life, even if it means taking her own decisions and ignoring her family’s advices. Despite the horrors of the world they live in, she carries forward in pursuing the one goal that keeps her alive.
Amicia and Hugo will meet other formidable characters on their journey, and will help each other in their struggles to reach common goals, albeit with some internal conflicts. If you think Vitalis was a terrible and disgusting character, don't worry, because the villains of Requiem are surely as unpleasant, if not more, as the Inquisition of the first chapter.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926038277
The fundamental basis to have the right appreciation for a product like Requiem, created by a moderate size, indie-like studio, is not to have excessive demands. If you were expecting a radical change, you are off to a bad start. To me the gameplay of Requiem falls into the definition of "revised and corrected". In fact, taking inspiration from other games like The Last of Us Part II, they tried their best to remove what didn't work in Innocence, leave everything that did and expand on it exponentially. The game levels are much wider, and this allows for situations to be much more dynamic, encounters to be always different and never repetitive, and the player to think of the best way to complete a level by balancing their resources to the maximum. Unlike its predecessor, in Requiem it is possible to hide under certain objects, such as tables, pass through narrow walls, use a crossbow and a knife... allowing stealth play to be much more fun and less annoying. Furthermore, the alchemical arsenal available is greater and much more efficient, not to mention that some weapons react with the environment, like burning tall grass where a group of enemies is located. Basic rocks are unlimited to ensure that you could always hit enemies and distract them for a few seconds, just enough to hide and try another strategy. This is especially useful in case of low available resources. In essence, both stealth and action phases have been significantly improved.
Like in "Innocence", there are workbenches to improve your equipment. During the game you will periodically get Talents that are automatically activated upon unlocking, and they enhance Amicia's passive skills, such as the possibility of being quieter when she walks crouched. The AI of the characters has also been revised and, although not perfect, it makes the enemies more intelligent compared to the first chapter of the franchise. In general, if you are not expecting a masterpiece, you will still be very surprised by the amount of improvements featured in this sequel.

I’ve always appreciated Olivier Deriviere’s talent in the making of soundtracks and I was even more impressed this time. On your first boot you will be already welcomed by one of the greatest main menu music I’ve ever listened to. Its beauty then continues ingame, with the OST seamlessly transitioning between gameplay and cutscenes in an almost perfect way. Reflecting the game’s narrative, the music in Requiem is much darker than in Innocence, and even in those sections where more peaceful moments are permitted, the melodies used indicate that Amicia is still afraid of the future and reminiscent of her trauma.

Click here for the complete Rating Chart

A Plague Tale: Requiem is one of the most impactful sequels ever made, and my favourite game of 2022. It builds on the foundations of its predecessor, improves and expands every possible aspect. While not being that different from Innocence in terms of its gameplay loop, its heartbreaking, dark yet strong storytelling and unique bonding moments between the two siblings are something I won’t ever forget. It also features an outstanding visual fidelity and carefully crafted environments and interiors, as well as a magnificent soundtrack.

This review contains no major spoilers.

Portal RTX is NVIDIA’s “remaster” (technically, it’s just a mod) of the original Portal released by Valve in 2007. Using their upcoming RTX Remix AI technology, NVIDIA has not only added ray tracing effects to the game but also upscaled, improved or even changed the vast majority of the game’s textures, despite being on the same engine as the original release, giving it a way more modern and photorealistic look.

▲ = Positive
▼ = Negative
▲▼ = Neutral


What can I say? Portal looks like a completely different game if you compare its RTX re-release and the original side by side. It doesn’t just showcase the difference in technology between right now and last decade, but also makes me wish for more games by Valve that are not VR-exclusive. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is for now.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2906023175
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2906023230
While the game’s story may seem confusing, or non-existing at first, it’s all about connecting dots. For most of the game you’ll constantly hear the voice of robots, whether it’s the main AI GLaDOS speaking or turrets, or other ones. You play as Chell, a young woman trapped within the Aperture Science facility. She is forced to solve tests of different difficulties in order to grant access to the following chambers designed by the GLaDOS AI and proceed with the tests. Not far from the beginning, she is given a device named “Portal Gun”, an equipment that allows Chell to create up to two portals to quickly go past obstacles or traverse normally unreachable areas. One portal acts as the entrance and one as the exit, basically they’re gates of each other. Chell is pushed to keep going by the promise of a cake at the end of the tests, while they become slowly but increasingly harder each time. Your role as the player is to proceed through the various tests while attempting to discover the truth behind the facility.

Portal has always had a peculiar gameplay concept in the panorama of video games, and of course it stays intact in this re-release as well. Your only aim is to pass all the tests, using all means at your disposal, being your own timing and patience, the Portal Gun and an unusual companion you will get later in the game. In no other game the concept of using portals to solve puzzles and travel through different areas has been used with the same level of care or quality as in Portal. Solving these puzzles is not always easy and straightforward, as portals have been designed such that they cannot be placed on every surface, but only selected ones which are usually white-coloured. Then, the fact that you can only use two portal may sometimes make your brain freeze for a moment, as you try to figure out how to correctly place them to reach the next area. It’s all made more fun due to you not being alone all the time. Apart from the companion, there are various turrets that act as enemies in certain places, not allowing you to proceed without taking care of them first. You will also often find yourself just playing with the portals, like creating an infinite loop of free fall, or chasing yourself through them. There are also some out-of-bound areas that can only be reached by carefully examining the walls and placing the portals thoroughly, which are often filled with curiosities and easter eggs.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2906023197
The soundtrack is the same as the original game, so it’s contained in The Orange Box Original Soundtrack. It also has tracks from Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two and Team Fortress 2. Overall, it’s a legendary soundtrack, especially the credits song.

Click here for the complete Rating Chart

While only meant to be a tech demo for their RTX Remix AI project which allows to dramatically improve the graphics of old games, Portal RTX looks like a full-blown unofficial remaster, and a good one as well. Almost every aspect of the game’s original graphics has been masterfully redone while not just untouching the original artstyle, but by making it better. Despite a few technical issues that may impact the experience in some cases, I was genuinely impressed by this re-release and I’d say that it’s a must-play if you have the right hardware to do so.

This review contains no spoilers.

New World is a MMORPG developed and published by Amazon Games, set in a fictional island named Aeternum. Featuring a wide range of both main and side quests in a big and diverse world to explore, it gives players enough freedom to fully customize their character's equipment and skills to suit a personal playstyle, as there are no classes to chose from.

▲ = Positive
▼ = Negative
▲▼ = Neutral


For a game of its genre, it's undeniable that a lot of work was poured into the game's artstyle. While the game doesn't focus on photorealistic imagery, every region of the world looks and feels different, ranging from zones with lots of vegetation, rivers and vibrant colours, to snowy, cold and dead-looking mountains, up until mystic, foggy and horror-themed swamps. Character models do not always share the same level of care put into sceneries, but in general they're okay.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2903701915
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2903701974
You play as the sole survivor of a storm-caused shipwreck in the island of Aeternum, in the 17th century. The captain of the ship was led to the island by rumours saying Aeternum has the potential of offering unlimited treasure. It is believed in fact that the island contains a powerful resource, called Azoth, whom has the ability to enhance everything it touches, including the possibility of resurrecting people. However, there's a catch: it resurrects them in their purest form. That is, if a person is evil, they are reborn with corruption that makes them even more malevolent, until a point of no return. The Corrupted then want to spread their influence to the rest of the island.
While humans should in theory unite to fight them, they are divided. In fact, there are three warring factions in the game, who fight between each other over territory and resources, but also against the forces of Corruption. The player can join any of these factions, which are: the Covenant, the Marauders and the Syndicate. They have differences in ideas and organization that it’s recommended to learn in the game before deciding to join one.
While the premise is okay, as it commonly happens with a game of this genre, it loses itself under hundreds of both main and side quests, resulting in an overlap of repetitive activities and “deja-vu” moments which impact the experience by making the player progressively lose interest in the game’s lore. There’s a significant chance that you will end up skipping dialogues completely after a while, as it gets more repetitive and boring. So, I’d say the focus on storytelling isn’t really a priority.

I find New World’s gameplay to have good ideas, but rethinkable implementations.
First of all, the maximum character level is 60. This means that reaching the final level unlocks the endgame, thus we can divide the game activities in two parts.
Pre-Lv. 60 Activities
There’s a great variety of things you can do. You can follow the game’s main story, build up your character skills and equipment with side quests, join a faction and have even more quests, take part in random events around the map, and also fight opponents and bosses in dungeons to farm experience or find new and better equipment.
Endgame Activities
After level 60, New World forces you into an infinite loop of grinding. You unlock Faction Wars, which is actually a very good gamemode, where a Company can declare war on a territory, that can be won by overtaking its fort. You then have the chance to complete all the remaining side quests, replay already completed dungeons at higher difficulties or a couple of new ones that are lv60 . The challenge is to get legendary equipment and trying to get as best statistics as possible.
Issues
The game is, at its core, quite unbalanced. While it starts off great, it progressively loses its balance as soon as you go off the path of quests. Some dungeons are, in fact, ridiculously hard even when played in groups of five where each player is overleveled compared to the dungeon’s difficulty, which makes it extremely infuriating and you will only think to have wasted your time entirely, increasing the already existent frustration.
Combat
If you’re looking for a good combat system, New World doesn’t miss in this case. There are a lot of weapons and armors to choose from and the way you want to face your opponents entirely depends on the way you are building your character. You can make it more of a tank, more of a ranger, an assassin, or go all-in with magic. It’s your choice, and every path has its own set of fun and reasons to choose it… even though magic may be a little harder to master. Each class of weapons can be leveled up to unlock new skills or improve already unlocked ones.
Traversal
New World has a fundamental issue in its exploration and traversal, which is the absence of horses to go around the map. There are just too many moments in which you will feel forced to use Fast Travel just to spare yourself the boredom of walking hundreds of miles. You can fast travel to the Inn you’re registered to, but only once every twenty minutes, or to a Shrine in another territory, which however asks you to reach the nearest Shrine first, as it doesn’t work outside of their range. The game’s traversal is yet another feature that adds up to the list of limitations which contribute to make it more of a mixed bag, and It’s sad this hasn’t been addressed yet.

The soundtrack of New World is very good, it changes depending on the territory or town you go to, and also on the quest you’re doing; each track sets the right mood. You can expect to like it, especially because it was created by the composers of HBO’s Game of Thrones, critically acclaimed and worldwide known for its outstanding music.

Click here for the complete Rating Chart

New World is a game which could be so much more interesting and enjoyable if some negative points were addressed by its developers. Starting from its technical issues caused by a poor memory management and CPU limitations, problems go deeper and expand into the game’s gameplay mechanics, some of which are at times annoying such that they cause unwanted frustration to the player. This said, it’s still an okay game that can give you hours of fun, especially if played with friends, but also with randoms, thanks to its mostly wholesome community. It’s just, overall, more disappointing than it should be.

Fallout: 76 Crashes Every Hour

This game would be good... if only servers allowed you to actually play it.
I've never encountered so many issues trying to reach the main menu of a multiplayer game.