Is immersiveness necessarily a good thing while reviewing a game?

Usually when I do the things I like, i involve myself deeply with them. In some of them more than others, but for every one at least to a degree to temporarily reduce the importance of every other thing. Playing games is one of the things I like, and I do it whenever I can with great passion.
But onto the question from the title (which essentially is the reason for this post.)

Let’s have an example with a more .. realistic nature. Since not every one likes video games ( although i like to think that the people who visit this blog - all 4 of them, DO :) I’ll make an analogy with everybody’s familiar topic - relationship and romance. So, let’s say I have a partner whom I love very much, I love myself for loving her and I love everything because of that. Let’s say I’m immersed in her. I’m lost in her personality, or I think it’s more suitable to say that I’m *found*. Anyways I like spending time with him/her A LOT. Let’s say I am forced to form an opinion about that person. If I go with my gut, and form an opinion coming from my feelings and state of mind my judgement will be flawed because I’m in a position when the good trhings greatly outweigh the bad. On the other hand, if I try to judge objectivelly, I will have to break the immersive bond and will have to watch over from a distance. But then I will not enjoy myself as when I’m immersed, because I’m into “analyze” mode.

Now let’s take the same example with games. There is a game that you love playing, a highly immersive game, and you wan’t to make a review about it. If we put things graphically, where does the reviewer stand ?

1 - Grants him objectiveness but deprives him from the fun. He studies the game instead of enjoying it.
2 - Vice versa.
Ideally he should be somewhere in between, but is that really possible?
Or maybe he’s supposed to shift between them at certain points. If so, when?

Incubation : Time is running out

Unfinished business is a great motivator. Also one of the main reasons for re-playing an old game that I played and loved in the past. I remember that I bought pirated copy of this game in a compilation CD along with AAA titles like Quake 2 and such, without ever played a ... tactical squad action game before. But the game was corrupted near the very end , and there was no torrents back then so I was forced to quit it.

Anyway, i now got another copy (also pirated :) and had another go. This game is released 1997 so I would not comment the graphics and the quality of textures, I can only say that if you're into that retro style graphics the visuals will appeal to you. At least, they won't be a distraction.

The game itself is said to have a lot of stuff inherited from X-Com (which I can't confirm since I haven't played it) which means that you manage a team of space marines pitted against an alien threat. The game is essentially consisted of 2 phases, team management and combat. In the team management well, you manage your team :) in short : you can buy/equip gear, apply earned experience into several categories and all that stuff, and you can use your team members in the combat situations that follow. It's very simple, yet very addicting combo. The combat mechanics is relatively easy to learn, especially since the concept has been copied and improved over and over (I had the same out-of-the-world locked-in-a-room experience with Jagged Alliance 2 afterwards)

The singe player game has a relatively short campaign (like around 5-6 hours) but the missions offer a great variety and each require different approaches to reach the goal (defend position, reach certain point, survive, kill a certain alien..) so it's packed with fun and in most situation moderate strategizing for succeeding the mission. That's actually what makes it a fun game. Viewing it as a puzzle game.

I think it's ungrateful to rate a game from 1997 fourteen years later, and I also can't really recommend anyone to play a game this old but it was as I said - unfinished business :)

Super Mario is not one of the best games

I'm really annoyed when i see a top 10 or top 5 list with Super Mario in it. I really don't get all the hype. I mean - Yes , I've played it avidly when I was a kid but a top 5 best game ? Really?

It would be like forming a top 5 list of best superheros per se, and put the stuff I was watching when I was a kid like He-Man in there or god forbid - Captain Planet (and yes , I've seen people actually do that :). Super Mario is a great game, really fun platformer, but IMHO it does not have best game material compared to some of today's titles. Especially since there are so much more developed platformers which even for people with different tastes are better than Super Mario in several (if not all) aspects of the game. 
Trine, for example. You can do shitload of things there, with multiple characters, as opposed to mainly  jumping, kicking bricks,collecting coins and stepping on several types of enemies.


Super Mario will always have a special place in my heart, but if we decide about games by heart alone then it's bad judgement. As it is with all things in life. 

King's Bounty : The Legend / Armored Princess

If i can single out the best 3 games ever made, the list will definitely contain Heroes of Might & Magic 3. It's such a perfect mix of cleverly made challenges that always kept me on my toes requiring careful planning strategy and optimizing combat effectiveness to beat the game (which I must say , I haven't done till this day :). It's no secret for me that King's Bounty : TL/AP feeds on the ideas used in Heroes of Might and Magic and the similar games, but actually the game is a spiritual sequel on the 1990's game King's Bounty (which I've never played). King's Bounty : The Legend also introduces some modification of the game segments that improve the overall player's experience.

King's Bounty : The Legend , and Armored Princess have too much similarities for me to make separate reviews for both games so whatever i say here goes for both games.

The player takes control of a hero general who explores the map in real time, and if a combat situation arises the time is stopped and combat is done in turn based manner. The combat itself can be easily described like some sort of modified chess version where the hero's troops take on the ones of the enemy. Of course, there's a billion things to take into account beside the raw combat stats of the unit, the unit's morale, the leadership of the hero, the special powers, strengths and weaknesses of the units, various magic and also randomized combat terrain with power up objects... The mechanism is not really that complicated, but it requires careful planning to make the most of the battle. The units can be of various appearances mostly represented by creatures from various mythologies, divided into several categories/races (Humans, Animals, Demonic, Elves...) but after the first encounter with them it's relatively easy to get to know their ability. That's basically combat mechanics 101. The fun part kicks in when the superb AI shows up. It is so cleverly done that it's designed to react differently to a different approach, so the battles are NEVER boring. Yes, in The Legend the enemy armies were largely consisted of same class (depending of the world/map the battle is taking place), so it's kinda lame to fight the same enemies over and over but it's corrected in Armored Princess.

Army management is just part of the story. The strategy part. The other one is the RPG. The hero can gain experience and level up, gaining talent points in 3 different trees magic, mind and might, each giving bonuses in different categories. The hero can also wear gear that improves his basic attributes (Attack, Defense and Knowledge) delegating the attack and defense benefits to it's commanding troops, and the Knowledge directly influences the effectiveness of the magic the hero uses in combat. Customizing specific gear to fit specific fighting styles or even single battles can be sometimes annoying but it's always fun to beat a challenge using your own intellectual prowess which is actually is a significant part of what gaming means.

This game is definitely among my top 10 games I've played, and I'm not sorry for every minute I've spent. If you're into RPGs and turn based strategies this one will definitely win you over. Just be sure to have some work vacation days available :)

10.0

Mafia 2

I'll just cut to the chase and say that I am very disapointed of this game. This coming from a guy who's played the first Mafia and find it one of the best games on the subject of crimeworks in general, if not ever. The game had it all - the cinematic appeal, the voice acting, the whole "mafia" mood, I can safely say that it was to games what The Godfather was to movies - a jewel.

Mafia 2 is almost like an exact copy of the first game, and it has all the "good stuff" but lacks the "for the first time" factor.

The storyline is best described with the caption of the last chapter "Per aspera ad astra", meaning that it describes the rise to power of a small time crook, to a key figure in the criminal world. Yes, the story has all the suspense, trust and betrayal, power struggles and everything but it's nothing new.

The gameplay mechanics is almost an exact copy from the first game, with a little touch from GTA. City map with various locations to explore, cars to steal, several different weapons and people to run over and everything does not pack much of a WOW, I think everyone would agree. Even the variety of the missions carries over from the previous game, torching the competition, illegal distribution and smuggling to the classic sleeping with the fishes kind. It's not that it isn't substantial , more that it isn't something new.

Also, overall the game is rather short.I finished it for like 10 hours or so, on Hard. I dunno what was I expecting, I guess I wanted something different, but instead i got the original Mafia. I think the "2" in the name is obsolete.

6.5

The world is saved (again)

An awesome youtube video from an IGN blog. There is no better way to put into words, all the feelings of epicness brought by playing video games. It's so great it's hilarious!

Infamous

I must say I was a bit predetermined that this game will be kinda shitty, since I found out that lot of the people who played it compared it to Prototype. I don't have anything against Prototype, just that the fact that after you get the Devastator moves (which is kinda 50-60% of the game progress), the gameplay slides downfall into boredom.

So, with that in mind I was pleasantly surprised. The storyline is just the right mix of situations to keep you invested, though not enough to be the sole driving force throughout the game, but that's mostly because of the marvelous game mechanics. The key characters are nicely brought to life and are pretty charismatic each bringing their own appeal through interacting with the main protagonist. Also, loved the art style of the comic between missions!

The game mechanics itself offers a nice array of moves and powers, and the controls are mapped appropriately so very soon you can make incredible acrobatics with great ease. The terrain of the city offers great variety so it was always challenging to me in finding ways of using it to my advantage. The variety of the enemies is superbly done scaled to the players point in the game progress, just so new enemies will appear even at the near end of the main storyline.

I very much enjoyed this game, but as I said , I dived in with some very low expectations, to find an awesome game.

9.0