Hogwarts Legacy

I read the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling once back in the day when they were coming out hot off the press. Beyond that I have by happenstance watched maybe one of the film adaptations but otherwise that's where my following of the Wizarding World stopped. In 2023, Hogwarts Legacy by Avalanche Software (not to be confused with the Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios) provided an entirely new addition to the universe in the form of a third person action roleplaying game. It looked cool enough to play and was just recently added onto PC Game Pass.

Gotham Knights

I wonder if Gotham Knights had a development story akin to Redfall in how it was maybe intended to be a live service title but then, for whatever reason, pivoted away from it before release. Perhaps Warner Bros. as a publisher and/or the developer studio in Montreal decided it had no staying power. Or WB deemed the then-still-in-development and now recently-released Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League more fitting as their title for Batman universe microtransactions.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Middle-earth: Shadow of War built upon its predecessor Shadow of Mordor in various ways. However, despite all its additions, Shadow of War treads the same waters so much that I feel its main purpose was selling the same game again -- just with added microtransactions. Shadow of War's lootboxes were received so poorly that Monolith Productions/WB Games ended up removing them a year after the game's release while also retuning the epilogue chapter which players had criticized to be an extremely arduous grind when refusing to engage with the game's real money store.

Batman: Arkham Knight

I remember how Batman: Arkham Knight's PC version was a near disaster at launch. Warner Bros. had to temporarily pause its sales while the game was being fixed by Rocksteady and Iron Galaxy Studios (who did the PC port). I can't say that I'm surprised things didn't work out as was meant after playing the game: it is really pushing Unreal Engine 3's capabilities with the sheer amount of stuff that needs to be displayed and streamed -- the map is five times the size of Arkham City's. I can't name any other UE3 game with as huge of a single map.

Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman: Arkham Origins is the only one of the four main Batman: Arkham games not developed by Rocksteady. My theory (and apparently the official story as well) is that Rocksteady needed more than two years to develop the new features of Arkham Knight but Warner Bros. wanted a new Batman game out sooner. Thus WB put their Montreal studio to make Origins which often times feels like a rehashed Arkham City.

Mad Max

I guess it was again time to play Warner Bros. games I was never going to if a Humble WB Bundle hadn't been too good to pass. As the first one of this bundle to play I chose Mad Max. It's not a game adaptation of Mad Max: Fury Road though it was still released in the same year as the movie.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City takes place half a year after the events of the first game. A whole city district has been repurposed into a massive prison. Bruce Wayne opposes the idea, and during a press conference he voices his opinion in, Hugo Strange's thugs capture and throw him in the said facility.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

It was time to finally beat the first two Batman: Arkham games hidden in my Steam library. I have a code for the third's DLC too but I doubt I will buy the actual game nor continue with the series.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Being hesitant with buying Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor during Steam summer sale turned out to mean couple euros saved as Warner Bros. decided to suddenly drop the base price of the game, making the sale price in turn go even lower. The reduction was actually applied incorrectly at first and some people quick enough got the game for mere 2.50 currency. But even at 10 such a well-received title is a rather good deal.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Evidently War in the North was not a commercial success for Warner Bros. Releasing it a week before Skyrim (and on the same day as Uncharted 3) probably did not help but the game itself also lacks in about every aspect to have even hoped to sell millions of copies. It is still an enjoyable little action RPG that has some added value from the well-established setting it used.

F.E.A.R. 3

F.E.A.R. 3 is the first game in the series that has actual replay value as, after completing an interval as the Point Man who makes a canonical comeback, you unlock his brother, Paxton Fettel, for the mission. (Fettel apparently returned in F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn, a DLC for the second game, which I have not played as it was not included in the WB bundle).

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

F.E.A.R. 2, subtitled Project Origin, introduces a new protagonist, Michael Becket, a Delta Force operator. But as he is mute like Point Man, there is not much of a difference. Somewhat similarly Becket also gets tied to Alma and soon enough you are off to stopping her again. Or attempting to anyway -- how often is evil ever actually stopped in horror games and movies?

F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point & Perseus Mandate

F.E.A.R.'s two stand-alone expansions, Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate were oddly enough developed by TimeGate instead of Monolith who made the first and the second game. Maybe that is why they are not considered canon, and their events are ignored in the sequels.

F.E.A.R.

I'm not sure why I bought the Humble WB Bundle. The Batman games hardly interest me. I guess I now have them ready if I ever want to play them, though. They are game-of-the-year editions and were of course really cheap too. So there is that at least.