Lone Survivor: First Impressions

I've begun to play Lone Survivor recently. I've been putting it off for ages, along with other games I often get on Steam-sale. A travesty, I know, but I'm sure loads of you Steam users do it as well. But that's beside the point. Let me just say, this is pretty excellent so far. I don't want to spoil too much for those whom I hope to convince to try it. First off though, it definitely has a very stylized, retro look to it, which I think is just fantastic. Despite the old-school graphic look, it's able to immerse you into the world and give you all kinds of goose-bumps and willies. The sounds and ambient music also add to the spine-tingling. It's all really well done.

I love the dialogue in this game.

Developed by a Jasper Byrne, it's a rather odd and often surreal type of experience. It even is able to go so far as to spook me at times. It plays pretty well as well, though the weapon mode is a touch awkward. You have to exit it and reenter in order to face your enemy if you happen to be facing the wrong way.. I may have had an issue with that once or twice playing it.. :S
Other than that, you're given lots of different kinds of items that you find scattered about that solve puzzles, satisfies your hunger (you'll find that the protagonist is a hungry bastard), keeps you from going loco, and a plethora of items to craft with. I think this scrounging and what-not adds to the overall mood of the game, which is one of a post-apocalyptic type event. But it's more than that. Lots of strange events, and things to mess with your head happen throughout your survival adventure. I've found that alot of things in this game are not as they appear, so be wary. One last thing of note is that apparently how you play has an effect on the path of the story you experience. I'm curious to see how my experience will turn out in the end, based on the choices I've made thus far. I love a game that'll do that as it makes it more a personalized experience, overall.
But enough of my blabbering. Be sure to check it out on Steam. It's just $10, so if you end up not liking it, no big loss I guess. I really think this is an interesting and unique title though that can be very enjoyable. Excellent for any into survival-horror type games.
If I haven't convinced you about it thus far, be sure to check out my video below.

The Black Mesa Overhaul; Half Life in glorious modern graphics.

Title says it all.. I've been in a Half-Life mood after playing through Episode 2 again, recently. Horrible ending, by the way. Especially considering it's been 5 or 6 years since it came out and neither an Episode 3 or a third Half-Life game has yet to come out and is only hinted at or rumored on occasion. It's truly maddening...
But my post today isn't about that. Rather, it's about Black Mesa. Black Mesa while is the name of the facility in which the events of Half-Life take place, but is also the name of a total overhaul of the original game. Let me just say, it looks freaking fantastic! Holy gerbils it looks great! In case you're unfamiliar with it, the Black Mesa Modification Team took the original game and used the modern Source engine to update and overhaul everything; the texturing, the lighting, effects, soundtrack, et cetera and so forth.

Here's a comparison;

Old (Half-Life)

New (Black Mesa)

Ah, man... Back in the day, I played the crap out of this game and I'm so glad that this was made. It looks gorgeous, sounds gorgeous, and by golly, I love it. I highly recommend trying this out for yourselves. I've only discovered it recently myself, and have only delved into it just a wee bit, but I thought I'd rave about it a little bit. I plan on getting more in depth with it later on.

Here is the Black Mesa site to check out at your leisure; http://www.blackmesasource.com/#/home.


Seriously guys, well worth the very minimal effort it is to click the link and download. Beautiful update to a historic game.
Soon I'll also be revisiting Meteor Madness 3D, Full Throttle, and maybe the original Alone in the Dark (?). And I'll also be launching my vlog, once I get some vital material components.
Well, cheers!