Silent Storm Gold Review

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(More customer reviews)Combining the over-the-top fiction found in some World War 2 based comics and a combat system similar to that of the Fallout games, Silent Storm succeeds in being a very enjoyable experience with a few questionable gameplay decisions.
Silent Storm starts out by letting you customize the central character of your team, in other words your avatar. You can choose to be any of the classes available in the game: Scout, Soldier, Medic, Engineer or Grenadier and what side of the conflict to be in. All classes can partake in combat or perform any of the actions available but only those specialized in a certain area may increase their skills in said area substantially. Skills are raised through use during missions along with the opportunity to earn medals for your actions.
The graphics in Silent Storm are decent, while there isn't much that will impress they are very adequate for an RPG/Strategy hybrid. The missions are varied enough in scenery to keep things from getting monotonous. The sound never stood out much to me, but the effects that are available also feel adequate. The voice acting can at times seem amateurish but the exaggerated accents fit in nicely with the theme. The musical score is the typical military selection that you can expect from any game with such a theme. From pounding drums to solemn melodies, they can all be found among the soundtrack.
The weapons available to you range from guns, knives and explosives to laser weapons available in later missions. This brings me to another aspect of combat, your main source of new armament for you squad will be found during the game's missions. While you can stock up on some basic weapons shortly after your first mission in Silent Storm, you will find that the more advanced weapons are used by the enemy and can be picked up once they are dead or disarmed. During Sentinels things change a bit as you can purchase an ever increasing variety of weapons as you progress.
The expansion to Silent Storm, Sentinels, is included in this package and worth a look. The game takes place after World War 2 and you are now a mercenary that gets an opportunity to work for a peace-keeping organization called The Sentinels. The combat and much of the gameplay remain the same as in the original, but you will not be able to continue using the same character you developed in the previous storyline.
"Sentinels" does introduce some gameplay changes that make sense within the context of the story. No longer will your only opportunity to increase a skill be on the battlefield, now you can train them up for a price while at headquarters. This is not the only major gameplay change introduced in the expansion as now to add additional members to your squad you will have to hire them at an increased cost for the more experienced sentinels available.
One of the questionable gameplay decisions happens to be the addition of Panzerkleins later on in both storylines. The shift in the action is so abrupt that it changes the mechanics of the game in a big way. From having to think ahead and plan out your assault, as well as having plenty of opportunity to use all of your squad's varied skills during a mission, it becomes an exercise in brute force. As soon as you obtain Panzerkleins for some of your squad you can blast your way through any level, the only thing keeping you from blasting through the enemy ranks unchallenged are the opposing Panzerkleins. Another questionable decision was that of making most of the terrain destructible. While in theory a very sound choice given the setting and subject matter, in practice it can become a bit of a hindrance if by chance you happen to blow away certain parts of the terrain and cut off access to the rest of the level for your Panzerkleins, which proceeding without in some cases can be near impossible due to enemy Panzerkleins.
As with most games translated to English there are some typos to be found. I would be willing to forgive these minor oversights if I did not feel that the game was already a quality product developed with some scrutiny, something which is not reflected in the sloppy translation. These minor complaints have become pet peeves for some fans of the game but in no way should keep you from giving it a try. As of this writing the "Gold Edition" is a bargain and its contents are well worth the money.

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Painkiller Pandemonium Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When the original painkiller came out in 2005, it was a great shooter which focused on bringing back the arcade fun of games like Doom and Quake. Even six years later, the game holds up in the fun department despite it clearly showing its age graphically. The weapons still follow the concept of "stupid, but awesome" and killing hordes of dumb enemies doesn't get old. The expansion pack, Battle out of Hell, is a great addition to the original and adds a good few hours to the original game. Not to mention, though the original didn't really need it, an increase in difficulty. The stories in both these releases are forgettable, but the games don't focus on them too heavily and only use them as an excuse to shoot demons. If you want a blast from the past, you got it.
That, however, was just Painkiller: Black Edition.
The fan-mod turned official sequel, Painkiller: Overdose, is a decent follow-up to the original. The level design is a bit hit-or-miss when compared to the original. None of the original weapons return; however, many of the new weapons are reskinned versions, but they do play differently. For example, Overdose's shotgun can not fire immediately after freezing an enemy unlike the original and Overdose's equivalent to the stake gun, which fires nuclear waste, has a secondary fire similar to a flamethrower unlike the grenade launcher of the original. The story of Overdose is actually a step down from the original as it is not only a bit dumber with plot points such as the main character being a half-demon, half-angel, but presented in a worse fashion as it is done entirely in monologues that can last up to five minutes. Thankfully, there are only three cut scenes in the game. Which brings to the next complaint, Overdose is significantly shorter than the original with two less episodes than the original. It should also be mentioned the music lacks the same strength of the original and the one-liners can get old. Overall, Overdose isn't the best sequel, but it'll past the time and it's actually pretty impressive for something that was originally just a fan-mod.
Painkiller: Resurrection, which is also a fan-mod turned official sequel, is significantly less impressive. While the story is a little bit of a step-up in concept, it's implementation is not any better than the original with robotic voice acting and a weak main character. However, the comic style cutscenes are a lot better than Overdose's monologues. That was about all Resurrection did that was anything resembling a good game. It was so buggy that I needed to patch it out of the box to stop it from crashing on the loading screen for the first level. While Overdose's loading could take a while at about a minute at a half, Resurrection's loading screen can go on for six to seven minutes which is even worse when one accounts for the constant reloadings due to crashing. All of the weapons from the original painkiller returned in Resurrection without any alteration which is actually disappointing as it makes this sequel have trouble standing out. Level design can be a bit confusing at times as it lacks clear direction and certain obstacles might as well be puzzles with how hard they are to navigate around. It should also be noted the name of the first level was not spelled correctly which is just sloppy. All in all, Resurrection is the black sheep of the painkiller series as it does nothing to stand-out except for being the buggiest.
For the price, you get a good game and its expansion, a decent game and a bad game. This doesn't seem like a bad deal, but one could buy Painkiller: Black Edition and Painkiller: Overdose separately and only spend half as much as this purchase and, at the same time, avoid wasting hard drive space on Resurrection. As a warning for shooter fans, this is a title for people who are looking for a new Doom or Quake and might not appeal to the shooter fan that enjoys the call of duty or battlefield franchises.

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