Report #37: December + 2023 Afterword

I finished the year by strolling down nostalgia lane with Commandos, which is still fun but definitely shows its age. It includes a lot of game-y design decisions that destroys the suspension of disbelief. It makes little sense, for example, that the marine or driver characters are not able to drag a corpse out of sight, while the spy character can. Or that an enemy officer without batting an eye can pass through an empty camp that during his last walkthrough was filled with soldiers. This game clearly does not compare to newer titles in the genre, like the fantastic Shadow Tactics. Recommended, with reservations.

I had decent hopes for Deadfall Adventures which turned out to be completely missable. Yes, the Indiana Jones franchise owes everything to Allan Quatermain, but making the main character a Quatermain descendant doesn’t make this game any less of a Raiders of the Lost Ark ripoff. Magical treasures? Check. Jungles & pyramids? Check. Evil Nazis? Check. Charming banter between the main characters? Uhh… the banter is actually terrible and completely anachronistic. Add to that simple puzzles and unsatisfying combat - easily not recommended.

Happy New Year, assassins, and thanks, 2023, for the memories.

Beaten This Month

• Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
  

  85.9 hours playtime

  no achievements

• Deadfall Adventures
  

  41.8 hours playtime

  25 of 50 achievements

Also Played This Month

• GOD EATER RESURRECTION
  

  49.5 hours playtime

  18 of 33 achievements

• Max Payne 3
  

  10.6 hours playtime

  3 of 67 achievements

• Wasteland 3
  

  67.4 hours playtime

  27 of 86 achievements

Favorite Gaming Moments of 2023

• Far Cry 3
  

  ? hours playtime

  22/50 achievements

• Don't Starve
  

  32.8 hours playtime

  no achievements

• Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
  

  23.0 hours playtime

  16 of 48 achievements

• Wasteland 3
  

  67.4 hours playtime

  27 of 86 achievements

Steam Library Snapshot

End of 2023

End of 2022

End of 2021

End of 2020