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Mayhawke (97 KP) rated Elevator Pitch in Books

Jun 28, 2019

Plot, writing style (0 more)

The reveal wasn't the biggest surprise, the characters aren't the most in-depth (0 more)

A nice return to U.S. crime fiction

Crime fiction is my thing. It's what I read most of, most of the time.

Over a decade ago I stopped reading crime fiction from the U.S. because I found what seemed to be a an unpleasant dwelling on the suffering of victims; a voyeurism which I found uncomfortable, and highly unpleasant. It was as though American crime writers were incapable of exploring the darkness of humanity, or giving clarity to events without relishing the pain and terror that must have been experienced by those on the receiving end of them.

Of course this was never true of all U.S. crime fiction, but I couldn't be asked to keep searching for the other kind. It was easier to just stay away from it all.

So, this is the first American crime novel I have read in nearly fifteen years.

What a joy it was. Barclay sets out a gripping thriller, an excellently plotted story which will educate you just a bit more than is comfortable on the ease of hacking lift controls in the technical age, whilst carefully leading you up and down the garden path a couple of times. The reading style is comfortable, the exposition is well paced. Eventually you arrive at a satisfying, and prompt conclusion. Barclay avoids the temptation to draw out the end like a cheerleader pulling gum, something that only works in Golden Era crime, and I always feel is out of place in otherwise fast-paced books of a more recent age.

Against this the characters have a slightly superficial feel, as though they have only been given the complexity they need for the book, and the denouement was not a huge surprise, though it was batted back and forth between two potential subjects nicely. But these really are minor complaints I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be going back and reading some more of Linwood's books on the basis of this one.

Kudos

The Last Express

Games

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App

Step aboard the 1914 Orient Express in this award-winning mystery adventure from Prince of Persia...

Lost Horizon

Games

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App

[ The classic point ‘n click adventure by Animation Arts and Deep Silver FISHLABS comes to the App...

Wrigglezeus (511 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Fallout 76 in Video Games

May 4, 2020

Fallout 76

2018 | Action/Adventure, Role-Playing

6.1

(15 Ratings)

Video Game Rating Watch

Fantastic story adding to the lore (2 more)

Brilliant environments

Wastelanders Update

Broken gameplay mechanics (5 more)

Randomly kicked out or servers

Combat

Bullet weight

Other players

Pay for private worlds

Lackluster

As a lover of all Fallout, there isn’t much I can forgive with this game. Deep within the lore of Fallout you play a vault dweller leaving the vault 25 years after the bombs fell. Hence forth you are the first to venture out and hear from holotapes and letters, and thanks to the new Wastelands update, from characters as well telling their stories before and after the bombs fell.

However, whilst a fantastic lore, world story telling and brilliant story plot can be a saving grace, it’s the lack of gameplay performance that is its biggest downfall. The enemy spawn rate is chaotic, and I have often found myself walking down a barren wasteland to instantaneously become surrounded on all sides from enemies who have suddenly appeared in front of me. This has lead to my near death on several occasions. Furthermore in some dungeon, as other players fast travelled nearby I have found myself often fighting an infinite amount of enemies within one area. It’s not disappointing, it becomes frustrating.

Let’s talk about other players, as I found to my disappointed hunting and gathering throughout the world only to find out a story location has already been raided and looted, meaning those precious chems and materials required have disappeared as you’ve struggled through the enemies spawned as you enter the location. I still believe that Fallout should, and should always remain, a single player game. Now Bethesda have sorted a solution for this issue, after spending so much for a game we are then asked to pay a subscription to allow the use of private worlds, a pay wall behind a pay wall. Something that would’ve saved them face had it been offered to the public.

It’s due to this, that whilst the world is great, with much to do and the story is gripping. Excluding the other players, it’s the gameplay mechanics that brings the whole experience down. However the addition of the wastelanders update has brought to the game what it was severely lacking.