Far Cry Primal

Post-Launch Review

Far Cry Primal (PC)

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Released: February 2016

Played: story complete, 62% overall in 19h24m

About

Twelve thousand years ago, the fractured Wenja tribe has made its way to the land of Oros, where its people are beset on all sides by the Udam tribe who eat the Wenja and the Izila tribe who burn Wenja in sacrifice. The hunter Takkar, who traveled far seeking his lost Wenja kin, discovers that he can tame and command the vicious predators of Oros and works to unite the tribe and triumph over the threats to to his people.

Legend of Grimrock 2

Post-Launch Review

Legend of Grimrock 2

Developer: Almost Human

Released: October 2014

Played: true ending in 23h

About

Shipwrecked on the isle of Nex, four prisoners can escape only by exploring the island's ancient ruins, fighting and puzzling through perilous dungeons, discovering powerful artifacts, assembling the four elements, and confronting the island master.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Post-Launch Review
Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC)
Developer: MachineGames
Released: May 2014
Played: complete in 11h:24m

About

Suddenly using extraordinary new technology, the Nazis won World War II and took over the entire world. U.S. Army special forces captain William Blazkowicz pulls out of his coma in 1960 and joins the resistance to liberate the world from the overwhelmingly powerful Nazi new order.

Ghostbusters

Post-Launch Review

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PC)

Developer: Terminal Reality

Released: June 2009

Played: complete in 7h42m

About

Original Ghostbusters actors Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson reprise their roles in a new story set in the 1991, two years after the events of Ghostbusters II. The Ghostbusters are successful contractors for the City of New York - successful enough to be hiring. You're the new recruit brought on just in time for a major new paranormal event with ties to old foes Gozer and occultist architect Ivo Shandor. 

Kholat

Post-Launch Review

Kholat (PC)

Developer: IMGN.PRO

Released: June 2015

Played: complete in 3h48m

About

In February 1959, an experienced student expedition vanished on the mountain Kholat Syakhl in northern Russia, and were later found dead under strange and still unexplained circumstances (this is a real thing that happened). Years later, you explore the harsh mountain, attempting to piece together what happened to the expedition... But you're not alone, and there's more out there than just you and the dead.

Assassin's Creed Rogue

Post-Launch Review
Assassin's Creed: Rogue (PC)
Developer: Ubisoft Sofia
Released: November 2014 (X360/PS3) / March 2015 (PC)
Played: 100% sync in 34h

About

Shay Patrick Cormac is a young Assassin rising in the ranks in the North Atlantic around the St Lawrence River when he's sent on a mission that leaves him horrified with the direction and outlook of the Assassins. Left for dead and seething over his feelings of betrayal and abandonment, Shay is taken in by people he used to believe were enemies and sets out to stop his former friends from fulfilling their plans... at any cost.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Post-Launch Review
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PC)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Released: October 2013
Played: 100% sync in 60h; 100% both DLC in 10h

About

Play as Edward Kenway, the grandfather of Assassin's Creed III hero. Edward travels to the Caribbean to seek glory and fortune as a pirate, building up his ship, his crew, and his legend. He stumbles into the struggle between the Assassins and Templars, in a race for the mysterious, powerful artifact called the Lighthouse - which Edward is sure he can sell for more wealth than he could ever want.

Life Is Strange

Post-Launch Review

Life Is Strange (PC)

Developer: Dontnod Entertainment

Released: 2015 (first episode January, last episode October)

Played: 100% complete in 15h (all 5 episodes)

About

Max Caulfield returns to her home town to attend an art school for photography, but when she sees her childhood friend attacked, Max discovers an ability to rewind and alter time. Max initially uses her power to help people in minor ways but soon uncovers a dark secret lurking behind Blackwell Academy and the town of Arcadia Bay - and she believes that solving the mystery is the key to preventing a massive tornado that will destroy the town in five days.

SOMA

Post-Launch Review

SOMA (PC)

Developer: Frictional Games

Released: September 2015
Played: complete in 8h:42min

About

Simon Jarrett gets a brain scan to determine how to help him recover from a car crash. He wakes up a hundred years later, disoriented and alone, in a damaged underwater facility populated only by confused robots and strange hostile creatures. As Simon tries to discover what happened to him, to the people on the station, and to the rest of the world, he's forced to confront questions of who he is and what it means to be human.

The Evil Within

Post-Launch Review

The Evil Within (PC)

Developer: Tango Gameworks

Released: October 2014
Played: story complete in 13h

About

During a call to investigate a disturbance at Beacon Hill mental hospital, police detective Castellanos encounters a hostile, badly-burned man with incredible power. Castellanos finds himself trapped in a constantly-changing landscape full of monsters, gore, and dark memories. The detective sets out to find his missing colleagues, escape the twisted world trapping them, and stop the malevolent apparition in the white hood. 

Shadow of Mordor DLC

This is a follow-up to my review of Shadow of Mordor's base game, reviewing the DLC mission packs Lord of the Hunt and The Bright Lord.

Journey

Post-Launch Review

Journey (PS3)

Developer: Thatgamecompany

Released: March 2012

Played: complete in ~2h:30min

About

A robed pilgrim moves through the desert toward a distant mountain through the ruins of civilization, sometimes alone, sometimes with others.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Post-Launch Review

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (PC)

Developer: Monolith Productions

Released: September 2014 (North America)

Played: ~98% complete in 20h

Note: DLC will be covered in one or more later posts, likely coming in the next week or two. Or maybe three. Whenever.

About

Talion, a ranger of Gondor guarding Mordor's Black Gate, is killed along with his family during an orc attack. But Talion finds he hasn't truly died - instead, he is bound to an elf wraith with little memory. Barred from death, Talion and the wraith set out for revenge on the man who cursed them, the Black Hand of Sauron, fighting their way through the armies of Mordor.

The Walking Dead Season Two

Post-Launch Review
The Walking Dead Season Two (PC)

Developer: Telltale Games
Released: epidodic; December 2013 through August 2014
Played: complete in 8h:24min

About

After the events of season 1, Clementine ended up with Christa and Omid. The three travelled together for some time until bandits broke them up. Suddenly finding herself alone in the woods, Clementine encounters a new group of survivors - who, as it turns out, have problems of their own following them...

Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut

Post-Launch Review

Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut

Developer: Harebrained Schemes
Released: January 2015 (standalone)

Played: complete in 18h:12min

About

What should have been an easy job goes horribly wrong and your crew of mercenaries suddenly finds itself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. A dragon that was believed killed decades ago after a post-Awakening rampage is actually alive, and now that you know, it wants you dead. The only way to protect your teammates and your home is to discover the dragon's plans and put a stop to them.

Bayonetta 2

Post-Launch Review

Bayonetta 2

Developer: PlatinumGames

Released: October 2014

Played: complete in 9h:16min 

About

Bayonetta is on a shopping trip when she's attacked by angels. Her summoning goes wrong - something's up between the worlds - and Jeanne is dragged to hell. At the same time, a mystery man with great power pulls a Lumen Sage from the past with the promise of revenge. Bayonetta sets out to the sacred mountain Fimbulventr to find a way to go to hell and save Jeanne, and along the way, meets an amnesiac boy with great power who seems tied to the trouble between the worlds...

Shadowrun Returns

Post-Launch Review

Shadowrun Returns (PC)

Developer: Harebrained Schemes
Released: July 2013 (PC) / September 2013 (mobile)

Played: complete in 10h:36min

About

Set in a future where magic has returned to the world, you are a shadowrunner, a mercenary operating in the underworld independent of the megacorporations. Your friend Sam has died, and he's left you a message offering you a huge payout to find his killer. You're on the job, but the case quickly grows bigger than you imagined...

Betrayer

Post-Launch Review

Betrayer

Developer: Blackpowder Games

Released: March 2014

Played: complete in 5h:42min

About

You've washed up on shore in colonial Virginia in the 1600s. The colony is deserted; the only people you see are animalistic Spanish conquistadors who attack on sight and a mysterious woman in red who warns you away. As you explore you discover hints of a supernatural force, evil spirits, a shadow world, and the wraiths of the colonists who will slowly lead you to piece together what happened to the colony.

Among The Sleep

Post-Launch Review

Among The Sleep (PC)

Developer: Krillbite Studio

Released: May 2014

Played: complete in 97 minutes

About

It's your second birthday! Someone at the door wants to see you but mommy won't let them in. They left a present, though - a teddy bear! As you play with teddy you realize something is wrong in your house, and that night, mommy disappears. It's up to you to find her, but there's a scary monster following you...

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Post-Launch Review

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux (PC)

Developer: The Astronauts

Released: September 2014

Played: complete in 2h:48min

About

Paranormal investigator Paul Prospero has received a plea for help from Ethan Carter, a boy who gets carried away writing stories. As he tries to locate the boy, Prospero's investigation slowly reveals that Ethan woke up something he shouldn't have, something that slowly turned his family against him one by one...