Recent reviews by InsaneMatt

I started off playing this game with a lot of suspicion.
Due to the fact it's barely been marketed, I assumed it wasn't going to be anywhere near "fun". Turns out I was wrong, thankfully.

Let's start off with the story; I've always thought that the Mad Max franchise would work best as a videogame, it just has that "weirdness" and exaggeration that you only find in popular game franchises. This game certainly proves--to me at least--that I was right in this belief.
You play as Max (obviously), a guy who has some mental issues (though not really hinted of much). In the first hour or so, your car gets stolen and you are left for dead. Thankfully, you come across a "Black Finger" (mechanic) called Chumbucket. He's a little weird, to the point of sounding like a religious nut towards Max and the car, he even makes one liners towards... urhh... 'romantically' loving the car!
Anyway with Chum's help, you set out to seek revenge and take your car back. The whole storyline is pretty much "We need a V8 engine to proceed". While it's simplistic, it works fine. Let's just say that the ending is quite obvious though.

The fighting system is pretty much what you'd expect in this day and age from an "open world" action game. It's very much a Batman Arkham system, though not quite as refined (more realistic, for example you're not jumping around the screen to keep your combo going). I had some rare instances that it wouldn't even register my key presses (using a gamepad).
There's not much else to say about it, it's pretty much as you'd expect from such fighting systems now days.

It's the car that is the hook here.
Using the various upgrades available, you can customise both the functionality and cosmetics of your vehicle. Like to go at high speed straight into people? Focus on acceleration, top speed and your ram. Like to get close? Make sure to get spikes to help prevent boarders.
While there isn't a massive amount of upgrades, it's still enough to keep most people interested. Vehiclar 'fights' are quite fun, much more so than the repetitive Batman Arkham fighing anyway.

The area you're in is a very, and I mean VERY, large section of desert.
It would take you anything up to 10-15 minutes to drive from the furthest points, depending on your vehicle's upgrades. Doesn't hurt that the game is somewhat nice looking too.
It has the 'Sync Points' that the Assassin's Creed franchise introduced, but with a twist. Enter a balloon and slowly assend. Now instead of just seeing a cutscene and that's it, you have to find everything with your binoculars. It's an interesting mini-game at first, but soon loses it's welcome.

To unlock upgrades for your car, you need to affect each territory's THREAT level. This is done in much the same way Just Cause 2 did; take over camps and destroy stuff. In this case, you're killing snipers, finding and defusing landmines and bringing down 'scarecrow towers'.
There's 3 territories, plus a no-man's land. Each territory has it's own set of the above things. A couple upgrades require to complete side missions too.
In each territory, you have a 'stronghold'. Do side missions and collect required 'parts' to unlock projects. I'd suggest to always build the Cleanup Crew projects as soon as you possibly can. It's a godsend! Projects include health, ammo and water (which is like your 'medipack') refills.

You upgrade Max in very much the same way as the car.
Instead of territory THREAT levels, however, it's your 'rank' that unlocks items. Right off the bat, you should purchase the crowbar; it's required for a lot of looting. You can even get Max to grow a beard, if you're into that.

Scrap is everything in Mad Max, so make sure to loot destroyed vehicles (Cleanup Crew project is useful for this) and camps whenever you can.
You'll need scrap to level up Max, the car and fully upgrade your Strongholds.

Lastly, do not rush through the main story.
You likely will not enjoy your time playing if you do; instead try and work towards uprading Max and the car as much as possible before moving onto the next territory. Various story missions require you to grind anyway, so you may as well do so between missions!

Mad Max is a game I'd recommend to both fans and non-fans of the franchise alike.
You don't really need to know anything about the franchise due to this game being a standalone from both the original and recent reboot of the movies.
HOWEVER, I'd suggest you wait until a sale of 30% off or more before purchasing due to it's repetitive nature.

"Mine 'aint nothin' special, but it gets the job done" - Trevor

Where to begin?
Let's start out with the "hype" around this game. While no game can truely live up to it all, this game certainly comes close. The Single Player--sorry, 'Story Mode'--is what you'd expect from a GTA game these days; long, fun and somewhat captivating. There's some silly moments in it (not quite San Andreas level, but pretty close) that keeps the more boring bits interesting and some great chase scenes.
While I haven't even came close to completing the game at the time of this 'review', I still feel the game was worth the £39.99 I payed.

Now, GTA Online; Oh boy...
It's hard to explain, or even define, but there's something about Online that makes it addictive. Much like your Skyrims, you're constantly wanting to get better stuff. Be that cars, boats, helicopters, jets, weapons or clothes, you're always after something new.
Yes, there are "lobbies" with much higher level players in there "destroying" us newer players, but they're not that frequent. Even when in one, you'll have some enjoyment getting your revenge (or go into "Passive Mode").

While I brought the game for the 'Story Mode', I'm finding myself focusing more on the Online play.
There's some issues with lobbies randomly being "emptied" (in short, you are moved into your own empty lobby due to the Rockstar Servers claiming your rig or connection can't handle the current lobby), but you can still join "Jobs" with others no problem.

In short, I'd highly recommend this game to pretty much anyone.
It's great fun, has humour and is excellent value for money.

I started playing Sleeping Dogs with a lot of skepticism, believing it'll just be another terrible "GTA clone".
Oh how wrong I was.

The driving controls are well formed, as well as having a some-what interesting story. The main hook for this game, however, is it's awesome fighting system.
It may not be quite as good as the Batman: Arkham series of games, but it's fighting system is still briliant in it's own right. Think of a GTA world with a Batman: Arkham-esk fighting system.
The gunplay isn't nearly as good as it's fighting system, but is still respectable and acceptable.

To think, this game was originally a 'Streets of LA' title before being dropped and eventually picked up by another developer / publisher.
Here's to the possibility of a Sleeping Dogs 2.

In short; Regardless of it being on sale or not, it's a must-buy.

If you're after a stupidly fun FPS which doesn't take itself too seriously, this is the game for you!

Saints Row: The Third is everything GTA IV, or at least a sequal to San Andreas, should of been.
Rediculously over the top senarious and even a dude who speaks in Auto Tune. What else could you want?

Looting and collecting weapons has never been more fun and addictive.

No game library is complete without it ;-)