INITIAL THOUGHTS-

For those who loved the original resident evil this game is a god send! For those who never played it, even more! The game is new and improved, featuring updated sounds, graphics, lighting and even some new puzzles.

VISUALS-

The game looks stunning, the lighting is gloomy and fits the tone well. This is the type of game I would love to get an art book for. The redone textures look amazing and the player models look great too.

CONTROLS-

When starting a new game, players are given the option to play with the original controls or the remastered controls. People have described the original controls as 'tank like' and I agree, but don't think it's a bad thing. You adapt to the controls and the it puts you on edge during intense situations. The new controls allow for easier use of the joystick and I feel take away from the experience. It allows for faster and more precise turning and overall more accurate movement. However if you were put off from playing because of the original controls are recommend using the new controls, so you can still enjoy the experience.

COMBAT-

Scary. The encounters with enemies are few and far between until later in the game. Making every new room you enter your possible final resting place. You may think you've got the controls mastered, but when you hear the sound of a zombie shuffling towards you, your hands will become a water park of sweat, and the controller will slip and slide around in your hands like no ones business. You will be on edge. And when you think you're safe. Ka-POW! You're dead.

COMPLAINTS-

- The addition of new puzzles might confuse fans of the original.

-Lack of understanding at the beginning of the game can have major consequences later, and this might turn players away.

-Zombie models repeat each other (not really a complaint but could have been easily changed).

OVERALL VERDICT-

Excellent game. Fans of the original will want to replay it, new players will love playing it. Would recommend!

Pre-Word

So it seems like (for me at least) the general consensus about Assassin's Creed Unity is that it was a major hit and miss. All the reviews and message boards Iv'e read through have said similar things ranging from moderate praise to downright hatred. Iv'e even tried talking to people who haven't even played the game themselves and I hear a lot of complaints. As I was blessed with a seemingly perfect copy of the game and never experienced any graphical issues or game play issues whatsoever (Playing on PS4) I think I can give a pretty good summary of the game as a whole!

BRIEF BACKSTORY-

Assassin's Creed Unity is the latest game in the Assassin's Creed series and is set in Paris during the French Revolution. This is a bloody and dark time period, full of strange characters that were really alive during the time period. The main character Arno Dorian is a handsome, young man who after the death of his father was raised by the Grandmaster of the french Templars. Thirteen years after his fathers death, Arno is framed for the murder of the Grandmaster and sent to prison in the Bastile. Arno is accepted into the Assassin's order after being trained by the assassin Pierre Bellec in prison and the plot of the game begins.

INITIAL ANALYSIS-

What sticks out like a sore thumb immediately is the similarity's between Unity and AC:2. Arno and Ezio are very similar, both womanisers, masters of romance and quick to get into a fight. But as the story progresses they become more mature and focused. These similarity's aren't a terrible thing, AC:2 is considered by many to be the best in the series, and I really appreciate Ubisoft's efforts to bring the series back to it's roots. With the introduction of ship battles in AC:3 and then the pirate simulator that was Assassin's Creed Black Flag, the series seemed to get off course (pun intended). Black Flag barely had anything to do with Assassin's and Templars! The side missions are all interesting and hold a lot of content, the Characters you meet are all really cool to look at and have their own identities. It brings the series home and does it well!

THE WORLD-

The world looks beautiful. The colours are all very vibrant and everything is textured well.

 Broad open cities with so much going on in them. Side missions and collectibles that will keep you entertained between story missions. They've introduced random encounters throughout the city. People getting extorted for money, fights between citizens and royalists. These seem to pop up whenever you start to get bored and makes for some interesting scenarios. It's so easy to just zone out and run around Paris, getting into fights and doing side missions.

COMBAT-

The combat in Unity is personally the best it has ever been. Moving away from the one hit kills and chained combos in favour of a brutal, sophisticated combat system. Three buttons are utilised: Roll, Parry and Attack. A bar above the enemies heads represents the timing at which to either roll or to parry (depending on the enemy type). Getting into fights with large groups of enemies can be devastating and only gets harder. Enemies can throw flash bangs, knock you to the ground, shoot at you and parry your attacks. Combat becomes a wild dance as you dart around enemies, picking your targets and desperately trying to hold your ground. Button mashing is a thing of the past.

CUSTOMISATION-

A really neat addition, and the game is better for it. You can customise Arno to look however suits you (using the possible combinations). By adding in this customisation, it's much easier to feel like you're progressing through the game and getting stronger. Weaponry is varied and interesting, and allows for many different styles of play.

MULTIPLAYER-

Multiplayer is excellent when you are playing with your friends or with expierenced players. I advise to avoid the Multiplayer until you are pretty far through the game, as I encountered many players who simply wouldn't cooperate and had little experience with the new elements of the combat. There is no real way of communicating with other players without a mic, except for a Portal 2 style 'Go Here' marker. The Multiplayer missions are really interesting and add alot to the game, definitely play through them all if you have a couple of friends on Skype to play with.

FREE RUNNING-

Not much to say on this topic other than it's been improved simply by adding a 'free run down' feature. This new feature allows you to vertically climb down buildings, giving a lot more control to the player

MICRO TRANSACTIONS-

I have little complaints about the micro transactions. Micro transactions are really only used as a way of getting to content before you have enough in game currency to do so. I personally never felt like they were being shoved in my face or that I needed to spend money to play the game, the option is just there for people who might not have enough time to get all the in game currency required for items.

COMPLAINTS-

- The story goes on for a little too long, and it became a drag to play story missions towards the end.

- Some of the 'Legendary; equipment in the game is locked. You can only unlock it by participating in big multi player events which are confusing and often difficult to complete. 

-Towards the end of the game, almost every enemy can shoot at you and this is a major issue. When you try to run they will never miss, and the only way to dodge is to roll when in a combat situation. Getting shot will take major chunks out of your health.

-Glitches. I didn't encounter any but many people did. Frame rate drops and graphical glitches are all possible while playing.

- One of the major selling points of the game was its massive crowds, but the game doesn't really really pop them into existence until you get really close, which creates a really distracting effect. Major complaint, has been slowly getting better each patch but is still an issue.

OVERALL VERDICT-

I love Assassin's Creed Unity, it is by far my favourite in the series. It does everything AC:2 did and better. I personally don't believe in putting a number to something but I would absolutely recommend at least borrowing it from a friend, if not buying it yourself. With the amount of people trading it in, it will probably be really cheap, really soon!

First review ever really so,tell me if I should never write anything again?

Noble Team are the stars of Reach. The squad consists of Carter, \r their commanding officer, Kat, their technician, Jorge, their explosives\r and big arms expert, Jun, the marksman, Emile, the close quarters \r specialist, and finally Noble Six who is the rookie of the group, and \r the player character. Of course, Six is unnamed for the sake of the \r player's immersion.

The chemistry the group has is done fairly well thanks to dialogue \r that helps the soldiers be more than just their jobs. Carter often\r has to check in with command to get green lights for ideas from his \r squad, making him a very by-the-books kind of leader. Jorge acts as a \r translator for the group, speaking and comforting some refugees they \r find in the story. He becomes the gentle giant. Kat is protective of her\r tech, and often challenges Carter's authority, befitting her name as a \r rather "catty" character. Jun seems to be a bit shady, and maybe a bit \r cocky? Emile appears to be the violent, but silent type. Notice how the \r descriptions of each character got shorter and more uncertain.

The time spent with each character is far too short before they begin\r to be killed. This causes a few problems as well. With how early the \r deaths come, the player already knows what to expect. The player will \r have less interest in caring for the squad if he already expects them to\r all just die for one reason or another. Another issue this causes is \r taking screen time away from development and shoveling it into each \r dramatic moment, which isn't even done thoroughly anyway. And of course \r with the characters being shot down like flies, they don't even get the \r chance to develop enough to care about before they die. You can even see\r the developers and writers trying to compensate for this by giving the \r next person on the list to die some extra screen time.

Jorge had his moment with the refugees, and the scientists before \r dying. Kat had her confrontations with Carter before dying. Carter had a\r confrontation with Halsey, the head scientist before dying. Emile had a\r final stand moment with some powerful enemies before dying. Jun didn't \r even die, the guy just left, leaving his part of the story \r hanging. All these sequences do, is prepare the player for their \r inevitable death, it doesn't make them want to live, just guess when.

But let's get into a bit more detail with the actual deaths.

Jorge sacrifices himself to blow up a starship. There's a wonderful \r scene where he tears off his dog tag, holds Six's hand, and carries him \r to the edge of the ship before tossing Six out. As Six floats through \r space and back into Reach's atmosphere, the ship explodes with Jorge \r still inside. This all occurs while in the first person perspective, as \r well. It's a great scene that's timed so poorly, the effect is drained \r almost entirely. With how early this takes place, it makes it feel \r pointless, and undermined by the idea that there's simply more of this \r to come. The fact that the act of blowing up the ship did little for \r them plot-wise doesn't help either. Of course this could be used in a \r powerful way, a motivation to try and make Jorge's death not in vain. \r But we already know it is, so the whole scene feels hallow.

Kat is the second spartan to die. And her's is perhaps the most \r offending of the lot. As the team is running through a corridor, she's \r shot in the head by a sniper in a ship above them which flies off. She \r falls, the dramatic music kicks up, and there's a long shot of the team \r waiting for a ship to arrive, presumably to take her body away as one of\r them holds her in his arms. The entire sequence is so brief, and sudden\r it makes it feel like the developers simply decided to cut time here \r for the sake of the rest of the game. Even if we did have plenty of time\r to grow to love Kat as a character, we wouldn't even get a chance to \r grieve.

Jun leaves. As one of the two least characterized Spartans, we aren't\r even humored with his death. Jun simply leaves the squad at some point \r with orders to protect a scientist. His part in the story is over, \r nothing comes of that. He just leaves.

Carter is next. The scene starts with an AI the squad has demanding \r he seek medical assistance. Blood is on his armor, and his helmet is \r off. The ship he, Emile, and Six are on is being shot at, and he's \r piloting. Telling Emile and Six to abandon ship, he says he'll draw fire\r and give them air support. There's no real suspense here, the scene is \r set; he is going to die. With as much death as there's already been in \r the game, any idea of tension of him maybe shaking the enemy off and \r surviving is simply laughable. You're just waiting for him to blow up at\r this point. Later in the level a Scarab stands in Emile's and Six's \r path. Without a chance to get around or handle it another way, Carter \r quickly throws himself and the ship into the tank-like opponent. With a \r corny one-liner, and brief encouragement from Emile, he's gone.

To a level, I don't mind the dialogue here, however. They are \r soldiers, after all. They do expect to die and give their lives for what\r they need to do to win. So, instead of making Carter's last moment one \r of hatred, anger, and sorrow, they let it be one of victory and bravado.\r If there's any bones I'd throw at Bungie through this, that's the one. \r It makes sense, it feels right. Too bad the timing and set-up, is again,\r way off. It's just another “there goes another one“ moment for the \r player.

Emile's death is another mix of some good and some bad. The timing \r isn't bad, and the set-up isn't awful. While sitting on a large cannon \r to shoot at incoming ships, he's overwhelmed by some powerful enemies. \r He's stabbed and mauled before taking some down on his own. Six has to \r go to the gun himself to use it just as Emile was, and when you do get \r to the cannon you come across his body. This is important. This gives \r the player a moment to mourn. Despite how little I knew of Emile and how\r little I cared, coming across his body still had an impact. It made me \r stop, and my heart dropped just a bit. And after a heavy sigh, I \r continued. It was so close to being a great moment, stolen by the fact \r that when I did stop, I didn't have much to reflect on when it came to \r him.

After five characters, and Bungie has only scratched the surface of \r the emotional shock a death should have. After Six man's the cannon, and\r the VIPs get away to trigger the rest of the events in Halo, he's left \r alone, his objective complete, and his teammates dead. Reach is lost, \r but thanks to him and his team's sacrifice there's still hope for \r humanity to win the war. Their role in the rest of the universe is done.\r The credits roll.

But Six's own journey hasn't yet ended. Once the credits fade out, we\r find Six standing in the middle of some torn down buildings. An enemy \r ship passes by overhead and drops off a group of aliens. The player is \r back in control and an objective is presented: Survive. With nothing \r left to do, no one left to protect and fight for, Six has only this \r instinct left. He won't make his last stand for humanity, for his team, \r for a future, or a past. He won't fight for Reach, or even just because \r it's right. Six's last stand is for him, and him alone. It's a moment, \r one last moment, to just be who he is: a warrior. A warrior in its most \r purest form.

With enemies coming from all directions, the player is able to live \r and experience Six's last moments of being a solider. The player fights \r for as long as he can, killing as many as he can, and running for as \r long as he can until he's finally overwhelmed. It's a moment of \r catharsis for both Six and the player, to just let loose and kill \r everything just because they can, just to prove how strong their own \r resolve is; counted by bodies.

When the player finally submits to the onslaught we have a scene \r where Six falls to the ground as aliens surround and overcome him. Some \r are shot or hit away, until one is able to deliver the final blow. \r The scene is drawn out, and doesn't provide hope, but instead a point. \r It doesn't try to be dramatic, because you wanted to live. It's \r dramatic, because you want to keep fighting, you want to keep standing, \r you want to survive. And when you die both Six and the player feel the \r sword pierce into their heart, punctuating the end of Halo: Reach.

The post-credits final stand of Noble Six was a perfect example on \r how to handle a protagonist's death. It's a moment where the player and \r character finally meld together. Their motivations are the same, and \r held in fiery passion. Together, Six and the player have one last moment\r to truly test their skills, ambition, and will.

Obviously, I found Six's death to be the strongest part in the game, \r and maybe even one of the best deaths in video game history. It's just \r such a shame it took Bungie five characters to figure it out.

Beyond Earth is what I found easier then V to get a grasp of; the tutorial is just a little bit more user-friendly and it is perfect for any new Civ players. Other then that though I found it not much better then V. It's somewhat shorter and easier to win with only a small amount of corporations and the "large" map not being as big as in the previous game. There isn't much advantage to being one race over another which is okay and the choices you make affect the outcome a lot more then any choices you would make in V but there are no mods, nothing strange like being able to be a facist dick to everyone and that is where Beyond Earth just doesn't shine like the other Civ games. Beyond Earth is V with a fancy coat of paint, different enemies and a more intuitive tutorial. If you're new to Civilization, buy it, but if you're a Civilization veteran and you don't have too much money to spend then leave it be and just get some more mods.

Besides, it's fun being a Nazi Russian warlord on Earth, and you can't do that in space....right?

I've recently learning a lot aboutTurtle Rock Studio'snew gameEvolve. One of the first games that I watched was hunt mode, I thought the concept of hunt mode was awesome. In the game after the monster reaches max level it is able to attack the reactor. After watching about a dozen matches it always ended with one of the two teams dead and the reactor mostly untouched. My first though was entire addition of the reactor was pointless and stupid, but after thinking about it the game can't work without it.

A hunt match takes ten minutes to play max. If both sides are still standing at the end of the matchTurtle Rockmade it so the hunters will win automatically. In doing so there is no reason for the hunters to attack the monster. As long as they can avoid the monster for the ten minuets they are in no trouble and can win without engaging the monster. Because of this they added the reactor so the hunters "avoid strategy" is useless. If the hunters choose to avoid the monster, it can attack the reactor instead.

The reactor itself can't regenerate lost heath and the monster could solely attack the reactor and win knowing every hit he made is permanent and he knows the hunters can't kill him quick enough to stop it, butTurtle Rockwas cleaver in their solution.Whenever the monster wants to damage the reactor they approach it, press a key and let the animation do it for them. If the monster would take any damage during the animation, it would stop. Because of this the monster can't damage the reactor whenever the hunters are nearby, preventing the monster from getting a cheap victory.

The sole purpose of the reactor is to kick-start the final confrontation andto make the hunt meaningful. The reactor draws both sides to it to kill each other. If ether side fails to show they would lose. The high stakes ending that makes the game fun to watch wouldn't happen because the hunters would avoid the monster the entire match and walk away victorious. And the reactor give purpose to the hunt because the hunters don't want to fight a max level monster. The hunters willactivelysearch for the monster while it's low level and try to kill it before they areforced to fight the monster because they need to stop it from destroying the reactor.

Sources:

https://www.turtlerockstudios.com/

http://evolvegame.com/media/images

Image URL:

http://downloads.2kgames.com/evolvev3/images/uploads/markov-hunter-evolve-1024x576-0042.jpg

Having recently played ODST for the second \r time, I can still say with confidence that it's my favorite Halo simply \r due to its narrative. Of course, if you were to ask me the before to \r explain why, I'd honestly be stuck in just saying the structure. I \r couldn't tell you why the structure worked so well, the theme it \r carried, and what it does for the player. I'd almost leave the \r impression that you could impress me with that kind of narrative \r technique despite its use. Now, after about five years, I can do all of \r that. But in doing so, I can't help but see where it fell short of being\r something more than just the beatnik of the Halos.

In ODST, the main character is Rookie, the newest member of the \r squad. He is silent through the entire game, and only becomes a vital \r role to the game's sub-plot at the end. Even then, however, his role is \r to simply act as another gun or driver for the more important characters\r in the sub-narrative.

Early on in the game, the squad gets scattered as they drop into an \r invaded city. The Rookie is knocked out for several hours, and wakes up\r lost and alone in the city. The plot, at this point, is simple: reunite\r with the rest of the squad.

As the game begins, the player, as Rookie, is introduced to the city \r they came to. Being several hours after the initial invasions and \r battles, the city is dark and generally silent. Deep neon lights dot \r along buildings in a jazzy green or red that stand out along a lot of \r black, and dark iron. It's a color combination I can only describe as a \r war-torn poetry club. The music adds to this, by clashing with the tone \r of being alone in a warzone with a dreamy piano tune accompanied by low \r brass and strings.

The low tension, yet mysterious atmosphere almost feels disneyesque. \r There's a sense of wonder that comes over the player- a child like \r desire that demands to slowly stroll through the streets and take in the\r low lightning and dark towers as just another mystery to solve. The \r idea of being attacked or harmed is almost out of sight, and the player \r feels more relaxed. They end up craning Rookie's head around, not \r minding the lack of action or speed as they soak in the world around \r them, a world that's all too inviting to tell you a wonderfully \r fantastic tale.

This is when the theme is starting to get pushed. Rookie isn't a \r desperate, scared, and battle hardened vet looking to find his squad \r and save the day, he becomes something smaller and more naive. Rookie \r becomes a child lost in the expansive and dark woods behind his \r backyard. He's lost, but unafraid. He's focused, yet curious. Little \r trinkets he finds, become artifacts from a great warrior from long ago. \r Shadows are mysterious woodsmen or monsters, hiding and watching him as \r he travels through, but scared and hesitant of the strange thing in \r their woods. Everything he finds tells a fantastic story, despite how \r trivial the object may be, and that's where the rest of Rookie's plot \r comes in.

As Rookie wanders the rest of the city, he comes across items of \r interest that relate to his squad. He uses these items to follow\r their trail and eventually reunite with them. Whenever Rookie does find\r an object of interest, the player is temporarily taken out of the shoes\r of Rookie as one of his squadmates to experience what \r happened to them when they were scattered. This tells the story of how \r they came together, and then accomplished their mission from each \r member's perspective. While this does well to serve the purpose of \r fleshing out the squad, and organically giving players the typical Halo \r experience, this could also be interpreted as a part of Rookie's own \r character.

When Rookie finds an object, his interactions with the object can be \r seen as somewhat childlike. He'll get scraps of metal to poke at a \r hanging rifle, he'll jump on a broken turret and aim it around, as a \r child would play pretend. The idea here is Rookie is drawing his own \r conclusions, and while what the player sees during the flashbacks to the\r teammates could be very well how they transpired, they are also in huge\r contrast to Rookie's own situation. There's a lot more shooting, \r explosions, bravado, and drama. The term unreliable narrator comes to \r mind when thinking of these sections. Like how many children would over \r dramatize an object they find, the Rookie could very well be doing the \r same. Maybe his squad didn't kill that many aliens, or had so many close\r calls. Maybe one just took a fall and got hurt, or tripped and lost his\r gun.

It's a journey of discovery where a person can only understand so \r much thanks to the little they find, and due to these findings, their \r imagination runs wild. The game feels less like a war simulator, and \r more of just a lost simulator. Discoveries carry a lot of weight, and \r constantly bring you towards something familiar that's buried in all the\r mystery the city holds. It's a story that illustrates value on what we \r know, and how it can affect our perception of realities. These realities\r can be very fantastic, and exciting. Maybe not true, but the point is \r they cause us to create our own narrative and expand on what may or may \r not be real. And sometimes we need those fantasies to keep moving, and \r to hold out hope for finding our own familiar security- to find home.

Rookie could have assumed at anytime that his squad had died on \r arrival, or killed in action, but he didn't, because he created \r narratives that kept him motivated. They kept him alive.

Now with all of that said, you might be in agreement that Halo: ODST \r did have quite the story to tell, right? Well, it's all the more sad \r that the game abandons this approach as soon as Rookie does find his \r squad. Nothing is talked about, but the currently front-running sub-plot\r of saving a specific alien due to its knowledge. While this plot \r doesn't necessarily come out of nowhere, it does undermine all of \r Rookie's story before hand. Rookie's experience never truly feels \r complete and concluded, despite him achieving his goal. The focus is \r quickly changed to a very forced and cliche love story, as well as the \r rescued alien. And this focus is so strong, it makes me feel like that \r Bungie only did it to remind the players that ODST was a Halo game.

It's such a shame that such a much more interesting narrative had to \r be sacrificed for the sake of the source material, which did well to \r simply act as a base for the rest of ODST and Rookie's story. It's \r almost offending how quickly Rookie is tossed aside for two much less \r developed sub-plots.

If Bungie had somehow kept to Rookie's story of simply finding his \r way home, I think they would have been able to make ODST stand out more \r in the Halo crowd. It was the first game to not feature Chief, and \r instead emphasized on the struggles of the human characters. This let us\r get closer to Rookie already, and his journey felt much more human than\r anything else in the franchise. Maybe it wouldn't be considered the \r best game in the series, but I believe many more people would appreciate\r it, had it stuck to the path.

It's a bit ironic, and also quite sad, that a game about being lost, ended up lost in the shadow of it's older brothers.

The mechanics can be a bit rough without any prior knowledge, since the game can overload you on information. The tutorial can help, but you may find that it's easier to learn on the go, playing a few practice games is the best way to understand the mechanics. Don't be discouraged right at the start. The game is rewarding to learn, and eventually you'll find yourself managing an entire empire AND an army at the same time with a few clicks. 

Endless Legend possesses a fairly powerful non-player AI at its disposal. Past the normal difficulty the AI expands quickly, and falls into their preferred victory type quickly. You'll find that the more militant AI will expand and build armies quickly while the more political will send you compliments or peace treaties, hoping to win by forging good relations with all other players. The competent AI provides an enjoyable and challenging option for players who cannot play online or chose not to. For those who look towards the challenge of real players, you might find that online matchmaking is poor, so you may have to do a bit of searching looking for players. This is a problem all 4X games possess, the time requirement for games such as these means you cannot knock one out in an hour, games can span days or even weeks, depending on settings. Building up a friends list and setting times to play is crucial, since most evenings will end with a save to be picked up later. 

It would be remiss not to mention the flaws in the game. It contains some minor glitches and bugs, such as quests not working properly or minor crashes, but considering the quality compared to more recent releases, they are only minor inconveniences. Considering this, the overall quality far outweighs this tiny issues. The online works fantastic, and rarely do you experience crashes or internet issues that would impede gameplay. 

Easily a top 5 game of 2014, it was easy to miss Endless Legend if you don't actively monitor alphas or 4X games. But I highly recommend anyone interested in joining the 4X genre or just looking for a fresh start try out Endless Legend. The developers are still actively patching and updating the game with new content, and I see a bright future for the series. 

But I can hear your clamor, "It has a seamless storyline, so what? It's a video game, there's more to it". I couldn't agree more my hypothetical straw-man gamer, but would you believe me if I told you that wasn't all there is to this game? Gamers of old had to have started playing somewhere, and if you were like me it was with Jumpman 'Mario' Jumpman; And if you remember playing that game, don't worry, we're not that old yet. The controls of this game are as clean and simple as they get, you can jump, you can dig and hit things with your shovel. Gathering treasure is still important to shovel knight apparently because there's a tonne of it wherever you go, and you'll want to pick it all up; because who doesn't .There's some extra power ups, but otherwise there are no combo's you need to memorize. It feels clean, plays like a charm on any platform (and every platform). Shovel knight has made it to pc on steam, to the 3DS, to OS X, Linux and will be coming to playstation 3, 4 and vita (I'm looking at you xbox one).

These days, platformers have made a return through indie games. A strong return too, as well as pixel art. So if you like that, this will blow your mind. The art is easily one of the games strengths. Each level is crafted with awesomeness, from the plague infested castle of the aptly named plague knight, to the icy landscapes of polar knight. It's glorious in all it's pixely splendor. The music on the other hand, is amazing. Every tune is beautiful, and the best thing is their collectible. They really set the atmosphere for every level, its like actually being there; and if you stayed for the retro art style then you'll stay for the chiptune goodness that is crammed into every second of this game. The music is easily my favorite aspect of this game and I think Yacht games hit this nail right on the head.

So if you find yourself with a couple of hours with nothing to do, and have an affinity for retro games and a flair for odd weapons. Then you'll love digging yourself into this game.

November 4^th marked the release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the most innovative of the franchise, and in turn one of the worst of its series. Sledgehammer Games has made some changes to how players move in Call of Duty via what is called an Exo Suit, but have failed to tap the potential of these new movement options.

Before in Call of Duty games, players could only walk, run, duck, crawl, jump, and climb. Advanced Warfare expands on these movement options by giving players what is called an Exo Suit. The Exo Suit more or less acts like a jetpack, reinforcing the futuristic setting the game is in. On top of what has already been stated, players can now slide in any direction, double jump, hover, and dash in the air.

• By expanding the movement players have by so much, the rest of the game should be built around these new movement options. Maps should include more verticality, be wider, and give players several paths both vertically and horizontally to encourage the use of the Exo Suit. The size will also allow players to plan their approaches. However, the maps in Advanced Warfare feel as small and congested as ever.

• The Exo Suit seems only allows players to find each other and kill each other even faster than they already could before. While maps have generally lower buildings now for players to jump up to for vantage points, they are also very open. Teams can move across the map, getting around and behind defensive positions so quickly that players are more inclined to keep running in circles to try and keep up with the chaos rather than hold back and let it come to them. Also when players respawn after dying- spawning being the act of being replaced in the map after being killed- they usually are immediately greeted with more conflict, having no time to strategize their next move.

• Despite how conflicting the elements are, the goal is more or less achieved. The Call of Duty franchise does highly value constant high impact action. The Exo Suit makes conflicts almost impossible to avoid, appealing to audiences who love the constant engagements. However, this can also turn off a lot of players who want to take the military genre more true to its name with tactics, strategies, and a playstyle that emphasizes survival over kills.

• After several hours of trying to adapt to the new movement and ever increasing speed of the game, I find myself turned off by the emphasis on reaction and lowered value on strategy. Due to this, I believe Advanced Warfare's addition of the Exo Suit was bold, but hardly considered when creating the rest of the game. I just hope that Sledgehammer will make maps in the future that will better utilize the changes they've made.

I'm typically not one to review games, or to read a whole lot of reviews unless they're from people that I value the opinions of. These are people that play a lot of games and know when something is good and well, when it isn't. 2014 was a slow year for video games in my opinion, and Titanfall stands out as one of the few "diamonds in the rough" that we were gifted last year.

Now, let's get on with the actual review. The multiplayer, (which is all this game is) is an overall solid experience with a nice amount of variance in weaponry and loadouts, albeit reminiscent of the "Call of Duty" franchise that the dedicated gamer community loathes. But hey, in a game that literally boasts "Crafted by key developers behind the CALL OF DUTY franchise..." on the back of the box, what more can you expect?

Game Modes

Titanfall has a number of different Game Modes to pick from when you initially load up the game, some of these are well known, such as "Capture the Flag" and "Hardpoint Domination", but others are a bit more unique, such as "Last Titan Standing", and "Pilot Hunter". Attrition, which is the main mode that you'll see played, is very simple and basically "Team Slayer". Using your standard loadout weapon or Titan mech, you kill enemy pilots, grunts, or titans to earn points. These points go towards your overall team score, and the first team to reach 300 is the winner.

Another Game Mode featured is "Campaign", although it hardly lives up to the name. Campaign mode consists of cooperatively playing with other players as well as against enemy players. You play as one of two teams, The IMC, or The Militia. This is where the story really shows its thin, underdeveloped plot. Basically, the IMC is the big-bad government that wants to have control over all of the colonized planets, and the Militia is primarily made up of those on the frontier that want to have their own independence. Not much more to it than that, unless you attempt to externally dig deeper for the lore. All I could think of while playing was the Insurrectionists vs. the UNSC from the Halo franchise, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, Campaign places you into a battle on one of these two opposing sides, as well as giving you a very brief explanation of what purpose the battle holds. For example, one assault by the Militia on an IMC refueling depot was to prevent the IMC from having the capacity to refuel their warships, thus being unable to make the jump into the frontier effectively. Hardly anything new or inspiring, but hey, it is what it is.

Gameplay Mechanics

Gameplay is where Titanfall really shines. Your pilot is given a standard loadout at the beginning of each match. This can vary from your Automatic Carbine or SMG, to a Semi-Auto Rifle or Sniper. You're also given a sidearm, explosive ordinance of your choice, and a pilot ability, which range from increased running speed to cloaking. Perhaps the unique part of this loadout is your Anti-Titan weapon, such as a massive homing rocket-launcher or a slow-yet-deadly laser. These are the weapons that give you a fighting chance against the behemoth mech-suits called Titans that fall out of the sky when you've earned enough points to acquire one.

Speaking of Titans, this game is called Titanfall, and the real reason anyone evem bothered to play this at all.

Titans

Titans are large, mechanical suits constructed for pilots to battle in. There are 3 basic chassis in which Titans can be built from. Atlas is the All-Around body, with a balance of both maneuverability and durability. The Ogre is a slow moving tank, able to take massive damage before going down. Finally, the Stryder is the fast-moving hit-and-run mech, able to dish out serious punishment, but is taken down easily with concentrated fire due to a lack of armor. Which you choose is up to you. Titans can also be custom-built to suit your playing styles with main weapons such as electricity-cannons and rockets, we well as abilities like nuclear ejection and temporary shields.

Overall Judgment

There's more to this game than I can personally fit into this review. To experience what Titanfall really has to offer, you're gonna have to play it yourself. The Game is available for Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC This gives you a wide array of platforms in which to enjoy the title. Overall, Titanfall is a solid title that will give you hours of mind-numbing entertainment, but at the end of the day, what is does is cool, but not revolution. It feels like a recipe with all of the ingredients taken from other existing titles like CoD, Halo, MechAssault, etc. Still, it's fun to play, and that's what I truly value in a game.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10. Fun to play. Lack of campaign story and originality are drawbacks.

The game plays almost exactly the same as the God of War franchise so if you know how to play those games, you'll be able to pick up and play this one without much trouble. However, while the game is virtually the same as God of War in terms of gameplay, the environment and atmosphere is vastly different and where this game really shines. The music is one of the most atmospheric details about this game. It has a very demonic feel to it and it sends chills down my spine when it starts to crescendo at the right time and place. And don't get me started on the environment. The depictions of the various levels of Hell and the eldritch horrors that occupy them is extremely detailed and imaginative, ESPECIALLY with the fight against Cerberus. I have never seen such a unique interpretation of the 3-headed hellhound in my life.

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun with this title mostly from the atmosphere alone, but if you want to play it for yourself, I highly recommend that you get one of the console versions as the PSP version has quite a bit of content cut from it in exchange for a digital comic which really isn't worth the amount of game that was removed. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Console Score

PSP Score

As the title suggests, rupees play a very large part in the game's mechanics, so much so in fact that they also act as your health. Because of this, the standard shop system from the normal Zelda titles was removed in favor of a haggling system which punishes you for going too high or too low with your offer. An easy way to get large sums of rupees is to find a map and fill in the landmarks that are missing from it. Selling the completed map back to the old woman at the end of the town strip will net you some easy money. Extremely large sums of rupees are also needed as offerings to Uncle Rupee who will open up the way to Rupeeland and also gradually opens up the new areas of the world which contain progressively stronger and more annoying enemies and increasingly more difficult dungeons.

Now since Tingle isn't exactly a fighter (with the exception of Hyrule Warriors), he can't really defend himself effectively, so to protect his hide, you need to go to these taverns called "Salons" and hire a bodyguard to help you fight and collect treasures. Bodyguards range in 3 different sizes and 3 different AI patterns and as such, their fee for hiring them also differs significantly. Bodyguards also have unique abilities dependent on their size: Small ones can enter tight places that Tingle cannot enter, medium ones can open locked gates, and large ones can break boulders. Almost all areas that only a bodyguard can access usually guarantee a Rupee Good of which there are 30 to collect.

Now the combat system is extremely simplistic. You walk into an enemy to engage the fight and the entire ordeal is played out in a cartoon dust cloud. You can round up more enemies to fight and even your bodyguard for help while the battle is happening, but the way to win is to rapidly tap the cloud on the screen to help tip the scales in your favor. The more enemies you run into and defeat at once, the better your rewards are after the fight, many of which can be sold or used for cooking in Tingle's kitchen which in turn can be placed in empty jars for use on the field or to be sold for some extra cash later.

Now come the words of warning: This game was rated PEGI 12+ when it was released in Europe. The reasoning behind this is because of the suggestive and somewhat homosexual tone a small handful of characters emit. If this might damper your decision on getting the game, then I would suggest you watch Vinesauce's stream of the game on YouTube instead before you make a final verdict. If it is the region where it was released that is causing a problem with your decision, then I should probably note that Nintendo DS games are region free meaning they will play on any DS regardless of the country you bought it in. If it some other reason, then I honestly think you would be missing out because I had a lot of fun with this game and I think you all would have fun with it too if you gave it a chance. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Game Score:

Minecraft is a powerful sandbox video game that has really impacted gaming history.The game was conceived by a Swedish programmer by the name of Markus "Notch" Persson, who founded the game. The idea was to allow player's to build anything they wanted out of 3D textured cubes among neat things. The possibilities are endless,  such as slay zombies, ride pigs, make mansions, even make music. 

The game Is widely popular and very well known for its capabilities. Like fun with friends, real life building designs, and just to play when you're bored.  Some schools even use Minecraft as a way to teach kids about design and creativity. This game can and has been used for many different purposes.

There are many Blocks, items, and resources in this game, also including several modes that can be played. Survival mode is the most basic, that you can play.  The player will get a health bar, hunger bar and an experience bar where the player can level up and use those levels to enchant his or her weapons and armor. This help increase the destruction they inflict upon their mortal enemies. A key mechanic is the hunger bar, which slowly depletes as the player does actions such as running, mining, chopping, fishing, or even walking, all except for just standing still.  This can easily be filled back up by making food such as bread from wheat, steak from cooked cow, cooked pork chop from the pigs you kill, and many other wonderful dishes.

The next game mode is the Creative mode which was made for players who don't want to spend hours on end mining and collecting resources; and  instead want everything handed to them for easier and faster building.  The player also gets the power to fly and instantly break blocks which players do not get outside of this mode.  All this for the main purpose of testing designs and building things quick and easy.  But of course using this mode is less prestigious due to the fact that everything is just given to you.  

Lastly the Adventure mode where the player is in a survival type game but has many restrictions to their player.  This mode was made for the purpose of playing on adventure maps that other people have made such as Mario party in Minecraft, or an arena game, or perhaps some Zelda related games.  This mode helps give the player a lot more to do since they can experience.  More than just vanilla Minecraft.

Minecraft is a wonderful game in my own opinion and in the eyes of millions as well.  This game has grown from such a small place and has grown a long time into something so beautiful its almost blinding.  Overall this game is very fun and needs to be played, at least for the experience. Having played the game and seen what it can do, I give Minecraft a  9/10.

Brutal Legend is the criminally underrated game created by Tim Schafer and his development team, Double Fine, and published by Satan...or their preferred name; "EA". What makes Brutal Legend different from every other hack and slash game is it's Heavy Metal inspired themes and it's use of RTS in typical hack and slash gameplay.

Eddie Riggs is voiced and modeled after Jack Black. Eddie is such a damn good roadie that he is able to create just about anything out of thin air to help him and/or his allies. As well as being the greatest roadie of all time, Eddie, is also an extremely skilled guitarist that can play certain guitar riffs to kill enemies in different ways. He also acquires an axe early on in the game that serves mainly as a primary weapon. It also cuts stuff like an axe. Which is pretty neat.

As soon as Eddie is resurrected by Ormag√ɬ∂den he meets his love interest, Ophelia. Ophelia is just as metal as Eddie so, of course, he falls for her. She is voiced by veteran voice actresses, Jennifer Hale. Ophelia's role in the game seems so unimportant, like a forced love interest. That is until about 3/4 of the way through the game when things start to get even crazier, but all starts to make sense...kinda. 

            "Too much metal!"

                                                                                  "I claim this land for Ironheade!"

On top of Brutal Legend's hack and slash gameplay and RTS elements it is also and open world game. And a damn good one at that. While roaming around the world your main mode of transportation is " The Deuce". The Deuce is a hot rod Eddie builds at the beginning of the game to escape from The Temple of Ormag√ɬ∂den with Ophelia. Enemies clutter the land trying to turn the beautiful Heavy Metal inspired landscape into something more akin to Glam Rock. Glam Rock is the main enemy of the game with it being led by General Lionwhyte. A play on words of the band White Lion, a Glam Rock band. To defeat lower tier enemies, Eddie, must use a combination of The Separator, his axe, and his flying V guitar, Clementine. For more important battles and usually boss battles, Eddie must use his powers of RTS. Now the RTS elements in the game are something very strange for a hack and slash game and that's one of the reasons why some people passed on the game, but surprising they work pretty well. At first I hated the RTS parts of the game because I don't much care for RTS games in general , but like I said, they work.

Eddie is able to summon two types of allies to assist him on the battlefield during Stage Battles. Melee fighters and Ranged fighters. Stage Battles are pretty unique. You are tasked with taking back parts of the Heavy Metal land via a "Battle of the Bands" type showdown. Heavy Metal vs. Glam Rock. Eddie has to set up and defend "Merch" booths in the name of Ironheade whilst destroying the Glam Rock's Merch booths. Overall, the RTS elements work and have their place, but some people may be turned off by them.

Tim Schafer did his homework on the icons of Heavy Metal. I can not stress it enough that this game as a whole is just a huge love letter to the fans of the genre, but it also isn't afraid to joke around about some of the stereotypes of Heavy Metal without blatantly insulting it. Unfortunately, that's one of the reasons why the game flew under the radar is because fans of this genre of music were either not gamers or that the genre has been declining since the early 2000's. Some even regarded this game as a "Relic of another time". Sadly, there is truth to that statement. 

  Rob Halford as "General Lionwhite"

Lemmy Kilmister as "The Killmaster"   

In the end, it's sad to see just how under appreciated this glorious game was. Taking a tired old genre of hack and slash, incorporating some good RTS elements, and wrapping it all in a beautiful Heavy Metal world inhabited by the men and women who actually help define Heavy Metal as a genre. One good thing to come out of this though is that if you were to pick up this game now (on consoles at least) you can get it for dirt cheap. I picked up my copy for the PS3 about a year ago for $5! It's almost criminal to pay ONLY $5 for it. On Steam, Brutal Legend, is only $15 and even then that's a steal. There's enough content in the game to hold you over for about 9 hours at the minimum without doing really any of the side quests. So if you a fan of hack and slash games, RTS games, Heavy Metal music, or Tim Schafer and Double Fine games then do your self a favor and pick this one up.   9/10 

Story:

In Life is Strange you play as Max Caulfield. A socially awkward girl that has a passion for photography. While in her photography class, Max discovers that she has the ability to rewind time. but only so far. Max is the definition of socially awkward and is constantly shit on by other people who go to her school; which brings me to the first problem of the game.

Everybody is either a bully or a socially awkward victim. There is no in between apparently except for Max's friend Chloe who is introduced later on in the episode.

Writing:

It's blatantly apparent that the developers have no idea what real schools in this day in age are like. It genuinely feels like tumblr's idea of high school is. And unfortunately, that's what this game feels like. Tumblr: The Video Game.

Now, you could chalk this all up into "Maybe it's only this one school that is like this." Well if that were the case I wouldn't have a problem with it, but the dialogue is written so poorly that all the bullies' dialogue might as well have been written like "You're dead meat. I'm gonna pound you." And on top of that, the acting is just as poorly executed with the exception of one character. All the dialogue is acted out in such a stale manner. Like all the voice actors wanted to go home or something. Lip syncing is just as bad. Not one piece of dialogue matched up with any of the character's lips.

Decisions:

Just like in Telltale's TWD, Life is Strange, contains an actions and consequences element that happens through actions and dialogue. In addition to this, Max's rewind ability lets her change a decision she made on the spot. Saving you from a second play through. I actually like this because, more often or not, you're going to fuck up a timed event and with this you can save yourself the frustration of loading a previous save.
One problem I have with this actions and consequences system implemented is that so seem comical. Like, in one part of the episode, if you water a plant in your room you will get the notification that "Your action will have consequences." What's the worst that will happen? The plant hunts down and kills your mom for not watering it properly?

Graphics:

The graphics confuse me. Scenes like this one in the picture can look pretty pretty (?), but I still can't tell if the devs are going for a stylized approach like TWD or if they are trying to be realistic. It's like the developers stopped half way through making the decision and said "Fuck it. Just do both."

Opinion piece:

One thing I'd like to add that really bothered me (but probably wont bother you) is Chloe's step dad, David. Obviously this dude is going to be a huge antagonist further down the line and he's just a huge asshole the entire episode. Bulling people on campus and the lot. But it's his background and the way he's portrayed that bothers me.
David was in the military and is a huge asshole. Which I don't mind, but it's the way that his and Chloe's dialogue is written that bothers me. "I was in the military." "He was in the military." "You're paranoid." "War does that to you." It's like the developers are trying to imply really negative things about the military. And they just keep going on and on about how he was in the military and he's an asshole. But that's just me. So if that doesn't bother you, then more power to you.

Before I wrap up this review I'd like to talk about Max's friend; Delsin Rowe... I mean Chloe. Chloe's voice actress sounds like the only one in the entire episode actually trying. You can tell that she has some pretty intense demons under her tough punk exterior. She's genuinely interesting and I want to know more about her and her missing friend Rachel Amber.
Why the fuck aren't we playing a game about her?? Max is so stale and boring. It would be a lot more interesting to see Chloe change into the rebellious punk she is in Life is Strange. But that's just me.

I tried so hard to like this game. I really did. I brushed aside all the preconceived notions I had about it before playing and tried to get invested, but in the end I just couldn't. To me: the only one redeeming factor in this game is Chloe's character. I'm probably going to buy the rest of the episodes when they come out just to find out what happens to her.
Overall, it's lackluster to say the least. I was hoping for a deep story which game like from the likes of Telltale, but what I got was Gone Home meets The Walking Dead. Sound on paper, but was executed poorly. I wasn't going to recommend this, but given that it's only $5. So if you have the extra cash and have already bought every Telltale game; you should try it. Maybe you will get engrossed in it. Unfortunately, I didn't.
And if you want a numerical score: 6/ 10

*This review is written improperly because I originally posted it on FunnyJunk. The reason that I basically copied and pasted it from their is because I'm really proud of this piece. I've never had anyone else read my writings so constructive criticism is much appreciated so my writing will improve in future articles. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Metro 2033 is where the bulk of the remastering went. It looks almost as if it were built from the ground up using the updated 4A Engine similar to that of Metro Last Light, but a more realistic idea is that the textures and placements of some objects were given a fresh coat of paint that still looks absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately though, the best comparison image I could find was a compressed YouTube image that doesn't do it as much justice as I would have hoped it would, but I think it still gets the point across. 

As well as a graphical upgrade, Metro 2033, also gets an upgrade to it's HUD and menus. Now it's exactly like Metro Last Light where you hold down a button or key that brings up all your tools. This is a million times more convenient than the older Metro 2033 HUD and menus though I can see why some people may not like it feeling like the same game, but i like it being two different games feeling like one huge video game ride. 

Some times you will be given a small side quest for money or a karma point towards the good or bad though it doesn't really matter because Last Light will always pick up after the bad ending. I can not say enough good things about this game. It's really more like an experience because even after you've finished the game you will never forget the experience you had with it. Since you can buy each game separately I give this game on it's own merit a 9/10. 

Metro Last Light picks up right after the bad karma ending to 2033 where Artyom launched the missle strike against the Dark Ones' nest, but only after it's revealed to him that the Dark Ones were actually good and mean't no harm to humans and actually wanted to help them rebuild humanity. Khan, from 2033, visits Artyom and reveals to him that one Dark One survived so now it is race to get the last remaining Dark One. You will fight against the Fourth Reich, the Soviets, and bandits as well as everybody's favorite mutated dog things; Nosalises. 

Artyom also gets a love interest named Anna whom the developers spent more time modeling her boobs than her face (you'll see what I mean in a minute). Anna actually goes through a bit of a character arch. She starts out as a real bitch to Artyom then through a set of events she respects and becomes attracted to him. Anna isn't given a lot of screen time though. She's at the beginning of the game then disappears for more than half the game to show up towards the end. Artyom still only speaks during loading screens and remains silent during gameplay which makes me wonder how he ever gets Anna. 

This is what I meant when I said that the developers spent more time modeling Anna's boobs than her face. I have to note that the breasts and nipples are the most realistic I've ever seen in a video game (which is warrant enough for a 10/10 amiright, guys??) The nudity is kind of strange in this game though. Both times it happens you are in a really intense fire fight then less than 5 minutes later you get boobs in your face. I'm not really complaining for that reason, but it did hurt some of the pacing for two really intense parts.

The first time you on a raft with another survivor fighting off mutated water monsters called "Shrimps" to get to a nearby station then you get a bare breasted lap dance. It is optional though. The second time you shooting your way through a metro station that is burning down and are trying to get to Anna because she was captured by the Soviets in the last mission. At the last moment the enemy breaks you gas mask and you are exposed to a biological weapon that the Soviets tested on the metro station with. You and Anna are then both saved and quarantined by Khan and his men because the biological weapon was Ebola. In the face of uncertain death Anna gets partially naked and Artyom and Anna make a baby. 

There are less side quests to do in most of the stations though. You'll still see your typical bum in the corner asking for a bullet and you can still give him one for a good karma point. Metro Last Light also has the ability to get a good ending and a bad ending except this time one of the endings implies a sequel to this game and the other ends the series. You'll see which is which depending on the ending you get. 9/10.

So, I'll stop gushing for a moment and get down to it. Metro Redux isn't flawless. Stealth is some times way too easy. There are some minor animation hiccups here and there. Last Light has minor pacing issues, but overall these games are amazing. The story is well told, the atmosphere is incredible, the gameplay is rock solid, boobs, and you get to kill Nazis. What more could you possibly want. Both Metro 2033 and Last Light have both been remastered and it shows (more in 2033). You also get both games for the price of one. I highly recommend you pick this one up on any platform of your choosing. I know that it should average out to about a 9/10, but I'm taking into account you get two games for the price of one. Overall I give Metro Redux a 9.5/10. It's that good. 

I have a bit of an unconventional taste when it comes to video games. I'll play almost anything as long as it plays well and how it looks is often unimportant. Yoshi's Story falls under that category. Sure, it looks like it was designed for younglings, but looks can often be deceiving.

All in all, I had a lot of fun with this game. While the music is overly happy and cheerful and the environments literally look like cardboard and felt, the gameplay is what really matters and I think it plays extremely well for what it does. If you want to legally play it for yourself, the game is available on the Wii's Virtual Console service. You may find that looks aren't everything as well. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

• Unite Hand can turn gears and ignite itself to throw fireballs
• Unite Sword can cut cables, unlock diamond shaped keyholes, repel lasers and act as a lightning rod
• Unite Gun can hit distant and unreachable targets
• Unite Hammer can pound switches, break floors and protect against arial fire
• Unite Whip can be used to swing from certain points and can rip spikes from their mounts
• Unite Claw can be used to scale walls, pry open doors and can occasionally freeze enemies
• Unite Bomb can temporarily slow time to a near standstill in a given radius

Now my favorite part, the Boss Fights. Each of these fights are unique and interesting, sometimes even being dramatically overdone to the point where it keeps trying to top its own wackiness. A couple of these fights even play homage to the Punch-Out!! series of games which amused me to the point of laughing. I just wasn't expecting anything like that at all. All of these fights also start with a cutscene of Wonder Red initiating his suit's Infinity Form which greatly increases his power and endurance for the duration of the fight. Whenever this scene happens, I always find myself mimicking Red's movements. It's just one of those things that made me feel like I was a kid again sitting in front of the TV watching Power Rangers and eating some sugary cereal.

All in all, this game has been an invigorating experience for me. The controls were great, the music was fantastic and each level was extremely well made and had something unique to offer from it. The camera's isometric view might cause some viewing issues during close up shots, but it can be zoomed out in some cases where that happens. Still, I highly recommend you pick up this game because this underrated title has been one of the most fun games I've played in years. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

Now, unlike the show, the game actually has a plot. Because of how good Arino had become at classic games, he becomes a god-like demon called the Retro Game Master and sends the player into the 80's where you must complete gaming challenges in his domain. Now because of the licensing issues with making a game like this, eight brand new NES styled games were created instead. These titles replicate the look and feel of of the era they represent extremely well and could even be considered legitimate individual titles in their own right.

• Cosmic Gate (a space shooter inspired by games like Galaga and Space Invaders)
• Robot Ninja Haggle Man (an arcade platformer styled after Ghosts 'N' Goblins and the many ninja themed games of that time)
• Rally King (a racing game modeled after titles like Super Off Road and Bump 'N Jump)
• Star Prince (a space themed shmup designed after games like Gradius and Star Soldier)
• Rally King SP (a more difficult reskin of Rally King meant to parody "special edition" games given out as contest prizes)
• Robot Ninja Haggle Man 2 (the sequel to the first Haggle Man, it has the same gameplay, but levels are much larger and more difficult)
• Guadia Quest (an RPG inspired by games like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy)
• Robot Ninja Haggle Man 3 (the sequel to Haggle Man 2, this game parodies how many games underwent a drastic redesign for their sequels. It is modeled after Ninja Gaiden)

All in all, this title replicates the games and magazines from the 80's extremely well. Each of the eight games are responsive, the music is well designed for the games they are made for, and after all of the challenges for a specific game are finished, you can play the game in its entirety from the title screen without any of young Arino's commentary. If you buy the game and happen to like it, I would also recommend the show from which it is based. Most of the episodes have been getting subtitled by fans and are being posted here. I think you might enjoy them too, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

Scott Pilgrim Graphic Novel

Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Film)

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game

Well, that's all I can say about this. If you wish to buy the books or the movie, you can get them from Amazon for pretty reasonable prices and if you wish to buy the game, you can download it to the PS3 and XB360 for about $15USD. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Graphic Novel Score:

Film Score:

Game Score:

The controls for the game are fairly simple, but also complex enough to require a fair amount of skill to be good at it. B is Jump, Y is Shoot, A is Dash and X cycles through your weapons. Holding L locks the position of your gun in place so you can move without readjusting your aim. Hold R to use your shield and this is quite critical to know as your shield can block almost everything in front of you. If this control scheme doesn't suit you just right, you can change the controls in the options from the title screen.

All in all, while the game is hard, it is also very rewarding. Since the controls are tight and responsive, it is YOUR fault if you mess up, not the game's. Its music also gives the game a sense of actual accomplishment if you happen to do well. I personally felt very pleased with myself when I finally beat the game almost fifteen years after getting it as a child. So, if you want a difficult but rewarding game with tight controls and badass music, then Cybernator is your game. It is also available on the Wii's and Wii U's Virtual Console service. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

The Cat Lady is a point and click adventure game developed by Harvester Games and published by Screen 7. This is genuinely one of the creepiest games I've ever played. The atmosphere and art style are so spooky that this feels like one of those haunted games in Creepypastas. Most point and click games in this day and age are underrated, but The Cat Lady takes the cake for the most underrated point and click game.

The story is very well told and you a genuinely begin to care about Susan and the people you encounter on your journey. Though, some people may not be who they say they are; thread lightly...

Other developers really should take notes from this gem on how to tackle depression in video games. The Cat Lady is really an emotional roller coaster that will leave you in tears during more intense moments of the game. Two things I got from this experience was a new found appreciation for life and a stronger will to live. You know when a game can do that to you that it did something right. That wasn't until I had finished the game though so if you don't finish it quickly while you're depressed it may make you even sadder so head my warning.

The Cat Lady is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It manages to capture the horror atmosphere of the earlier Silent Hill games and what made point and click games like The Secret of Monkey Island. There really isn't another experience like the one found in The Cat Lady. Even if you aren't a fan of point and click games you will still get enjoyment from this game. Same goes for people who aren't fans of horror. Another thing to note is that there aren't any damn jump scares which is as rare as Gearbox making a good game that isn't Borderlands.

In the end, I can't say enough good things about The Cat Lady. Horror and point and click adventure games have never mixed together so well before. The Cat Lady is not for people with weak stomachs though. There are some pretty intense moments and imagery. That same, "What the hell am I looking at? All I know is that it's horrifying and I want nothing to do with it" imagery that you got with early Silent Hill games. Play this gem in the dark and with headphones. 9/10

I have a soft spot for this game. Not because it's a Sonic title, but because of how unusually engrossing it was for a fighting game. It was fairly well balanced considering it was the first (and probably only) game of its kind and its lengthy story and addictive minigames kept me busy for hours on end. If you want to get this game for yourself, you can likely get a pre-owned copy of it for fairly cheap on eBay or Amazon. If you lack the money, then an emulator could also work, but I don't really condone that unless you have absolutely no other options. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

Monkey tries to get into an escape pod, but Trip takes it and ejects it with Monkey hanging on for dear life. After they crash land, Monkey wakes to find that Trip has fitted him with a slave head band that will inject him with a neurotoxin if she either dies or he tries to escape. Making him Enslaved. Monkey now must help Trip get home. The story is fairly simple and easy to follow. At first you dislike Trip, like Monkey, because she essentially makes him her slave, but as the story progresses you begin to care about her just as Monkey does. It's very similar to the likes of BioShock: Infinite and The Last of Us, but Enslaved did it before them.

....at least for about half way through the game. Then the developers completely forget about this interesting piece of gameplay and just stick to the hacking and slashing and shooting and covering. It's sad that the distraction part of gameplay eventually disappears because it's the only thing that keeps the gameplay fresh. Even the platforming is really scripted. Monkey can only climb on certain objects in the environment. It's definitely apparent after playing games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted. Enemies are also pretty stale. Just rush-in-and-melee mechs and annoyingly-shoot-from-afar mechs. There is a few boss fights, but they are only with 2 or 3 of the same bigger mechs.

After clearing out an area of mechs you can walk around the environment and see a once booming city now nothing more than dying buildings and streets. Even being 5 years old this game still looks pretty good. Obviously, it's not on par with games like Metal Gear Solid V and The Order: 1886, but it still looks pretty good. Especially when Monkey and Trip look off into the distance.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is very underrated. The story is good and the graphics are really good. It's a shame this game was overlooked because it sets up a sequel fairly properly, but due to low sales the idea was scrapped. Yes, I will admit that the gameplay was interesting at first, but about half way through they disappear in favor of VERY safe and rather stale gameplay. But overall, I still very much like this game. Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw give it their all and it shows because it is very convincing. You should definitely check this one out 8.5/10

All in all, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale tries too hard to be something that it's not. The visuals and music are great, but that doesn't forgive the fact that the gameplay gets drawn out for too long due to the fact that the only way to knock out your opponent is with a finishing move. The game isn't great, but this doesn't automatically make it a bad game either. I enjoyed the time I had with it, but the novelty of the game started to wear thin after a while because it felt like it was desperately trying to be Smash Bros instead of trying to be its own thing. Overall, the game is pretty average, but that shouldn't stop you from playing it a few times in your life. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

Unfortunately, I can not say the same for the plot. It's the common consensus that nobody plays Battlefield games for their story. So I went into Hardline with my brain "off" to try and enjoy the story to it's fullest. Even that didn't work. Even with my brain "off" I still saw every twist and turn come from a mile away. I'm more impressed with how Visceral was able to fit every cliche from every crime drama into Hardline.

The main hero is a new goody-two-shoes cop, His partner and friend turn out to be dirty and both stab the main hero in the back, main hero tells captain cop but turns out that the captain is dirty too, main hero is blamed for all the dirtiness, now main hero has to team up with dirty friend and a criminal to take down dirty captain.

And that's just a brief synopsis. You should count just how many more cliches the story is riddled with. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but I wouldn't be surprised either way.

You can level up Nick, our main hero, by playing certain ways, though playing stealthily rakes in more experience points. There is even a neat feature that allows Nick to raise his badge, announce he's a cop, and arrest the enemy. This is vital if you want to arrest enemies with warrants for an XP boost. The gameplay is the best that I've seen in a Battlefield game to date. Take notes Battlefield 5 (or Hardline 2, which is inevitable.)

I was surprised how much I actually felt like a cop (aside from the Michael Bay explosions). You don't just feel like a guy running around shooting people that happens to have a badge. I also found it fun to use Nick's phone scanner to analyze evidence, put together clues, and learn back story on this fictionalized take on Miami and L.A. and the enemies with warrants.

Environments can be such a pleasure to look at, but these are mainly for scripted events. So that may be a turn off to some people. The games run at a pretty solid 60 FPS on Playstation 4 and Xbox One. It's the resolution that's different. On PS4, Hardline, runs at 900p and on Xbox One it runs at 720p. Whilst, Hardline runs at 1080p and 60 FPS on PC. But doesn't every game?

The graphics did have to get toned down a bit in multiplayer on all systems to accommodate the large maps and frantic action. It's not THAT noticeable it's to be expected with how chaotic the multiplayer can get. So I can't knock off points for that.

What you won't find is Battlefield 4's large assortment of weapons. Hardline trimmed the fat of the guns in BF 4's multiplayer, but at the same time made the selection of guns feel really restricted. You also can't use all of the same guns on each team (unless you get over 1,000 kills with each gun). Cops have their own selection of guns and so do the criminals. Only the primary weapon and pistol you start with can be used on either team. This is a huge let down for an otherwise extremely fun multiplayer.

The destruction also feels lacking in multiplayer. Other than a few small buildings that can be blown up, the destruction feels even more heavily scripted than Battlefield 4. You can blow up a giant crane in one map that crashes into a building and changes the map a little. Wow...whatever happened to the days where destruction felt dynamic and you really feel like you are blowing up buildings like in Bad Company 2?

Now some may argue that cops and criminals wouldn't be causing the same amount of destruction found in Battlefield 4, but Visceral and EA are marketing this as a BATTLEFIELD game. If it were just "Hardline" then I would understand,but gamers know Battlefield as almost a destruction simulator. Why take that out?

The story coulddefinitely use work. And I don't mind the crime drama cliches, just don't use them as the main story. Use them in an entirely new and unique story ironically. Also, if it couldn't hurt, drop "Battlefield" from the title. The game would be better without it.

I would not recommend that you pick this up at full price, but rather pick it up when it is down to around half that price or even cheaper. You will enjoy it for that much. 7/10

Storyline/features:

          Mark of the Ninja is a 2D platformer that focuses on stealth and otherwise being ninja. The story is set in the modern day, where ninjas have perhaps become slightly outdated. You play as a ninja (go figure) who's clan was ruthlessly attacked by mercenaries. Your task is to strike back at the man who ordered the attack, and regain your clans honor. However, to do it you accept the burden of the mystical Mark, giving you mysterious abilities; but these powers come at a horrible price. The marks powers hail from a mysterious plant, who's origins I will later discuss. Besides giving you superhuman abilities, it turns whoever accepts it mad, in time. Turning on anyone and everyone, killing with the only intention to end lives. To ensure the safety of the clan the bearer of the mark kills themselves, turning themselves in before becoming to powerful to stop. 

        One thing that you catch on quite quickly is that the game strives to keep elements of the ninja authentic, point in case is that you don't know who you are. Your name, and anything about you is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps the only information you have is Ora, your companion throughout the game, and the name of your clan, the Hisomu. This approach to a character, especially a main character is not a common thing. Even in other games where the main protagonist is a ninja, it's more common that his/her name is one of legend (or infamy). However the fact of the matter is that the identity of a ninja was completely secret. So much so that it would be quite common that ninja's from the same clan would confront each other in battle (1). This was the case because ninja families were born to serve lords, for honor of their lords and clan.

      I will admit that the storyline is not the most complicated, nor is it a epic that spans several hundred hours; but for the narrative it tries to tell, it is well done. Not only from what happens during cut scenes, but during the game too. Now in most cases I don't really enjoy collecting, running every which way to find small things that give you an arbitrary 100% that don't really affect the game and its story. In Mark of the Ninja there are collectibles in the form of scrolls, and artifacts. Artifacts only give you points that count towards your final score, where the scrolls contain Haiku's. There are three a mission, and together they tell a short story about the clans history. Here's an example:

       On a starless night,  An unkindness of ravens,  Lands along a wall

Drunken, laughing guards ,  Spill outside with joy to meet ,  The eyeless faces

A thick liquid drips ,   Down a silken thread that hangs ,  Above a pillow

This particular set of scrolls tells of a mission. One that brought the Hisomu clan into legend. Reading through them really gives you an idea of how things were back in the day. When ninjas were feared, for the unknown power they wielded with deadly precision, and how it has all changed in the modern day. This is a major theme in the games storyline, and drives the majority of the plot. The death of the Baron, who ordered the attack on you from out of nowhere. To the well kept, dark secrets of the ink plant. These events simply act as a story, a children's tale. Because the whole game leads to its finale quite literally, and figuratively. 

       Throughout the game, it feels like you are alone in your mission to save the clan. Like you have been knowingly abandoned to your death, and the only 'light' is your one companion in all this. Ora, who is that companion seems to follow you through the thick and thin. Through the castles, deserts and back home. During development, it was decided that Ora would have a big speaking role. Which is hard to imagine in a game about stealth. So what you'll notice is that she only shows up at select times during a mission. Most often at the beginning and end, with some exceptions. So she's a constant factor in how you see the different situations, always lending a couple quips to give you some perspective. One thing I don't like, is that it's a narrative you have to listen to, and her reasons are never explained. All you know is she's a 'friend'. It feels like she has no other use in game than to push an idea. Thankfully, or at least true to the games varying gameplay, you make the finale decision. Figuratively and literally.

Game play:

Mark of the ninja is a particular game in the sense that its a 2D stealth platformer with emphasis on lighting dynamics. It uses a number of small mechanics to make the game play .It also uses sound quite effectively in its design. Stealth is often based on being able to see the mark and in some cases hearing them move, there are also some instances where you can sense the unseen. Mark of the ninja's game play makes use of them all. In general game play, not standing in a spotlight's or flashlight's gaze means you are in the shadows. 

       The lighting system is really interesting, and I'll explain. All light in this game comes from a source: lights, chandeliers, spotlights, floodlights, flashlights etc. Each has a one of a few 'gazes', as in it propagates outwards from the source in a particular way. Chandeliers give light out in about a ~150degree radius, and the light reaches as far as the outline shows. Flash lights have a smaller ~25 degree radius but can be shown anywhere the guard points, so are flexible in their direction of gaze. However if the guard is looking for you it's much harder to move around. So being caught out by them will happen more often. Another example of a source are the floodlights. They are similar to the the flashlight and ceiling light, in that it is staitionary and has a smaller AOE; but it has a protection from another small game mechanic, which i'll get too soon. Being able to skirt light sources is key in staying hidden, and you'll have too look out for a number of different types too. Because as soon as you step into the light you'll know. If you take a look at the photo to the side, paying particular attention to the to left you'll see a small icon of the ninja. This is your stealth indicator, and the icon will become lighter, as well as your character model if you step into the light.

       This is when you know you can be seen. Which is interesting because it doesn't mean you will be seen. The guards that populate each level have a small area in front of them that they can 'see'. This is indicated by a light outline that propagates out their eyes. If you come into this area they'll see you, and being sighted is its own little mechanic. You can in fact stand right in front of them, if your in the shadows, without being noticed. Get too close though and you'll be spotted out from the flashlight. So here two mechanics come together to create a game play experience. If you're standing in the light, and a guard happens too look towards you, he or she will instantly spot you. Which means a light source effectively extends the guards sight range. I think this is a really cool because of how it mirrors real life, as light tends to help you see stuff. In game play it keeps you on your toes, as just because there aren't any guards on screen to spot you doesn't mean one won't. As far as I know the range is pretty big, but not infinite. So avoiding lights becomes immensely important if there are guards around, especially if they are looking towards you.  

       The other way you can be found out is by sound. Being a ninja, you were trained to be as quiet as possible, so moving around generally makes very little noise. Running however will make quite a racket, and anyone nearby will hear it. In the first play through of the game you can see how far the sound travels out from its source. The game indicates this by a transparent white circle that moves outwards from the source. So its omnidirectional, but in a 2D space (if that makes sense); and I think it does because if you think about it, the idea feels right. It makes sense when you play the game and hardly needs explaining, it's easy to grasp. Which is a recurring theme around Mark of the Ninja's game play, and this why I think the game does very well.

       Now its all well and good that you can see the sound visibly, but how does it affect the game play? I'll use an example; in the image to  

the left. Here you'll see two guards, and our ninja protagonist perched on a hanging platform just above. By the feet of one of the guards is the source of the sound (I'll explain later what it is). Now you can see by the outline how far the sound went, and that the guard is in that area. The smaller yellow circle around the guard indicates that he has heard something, and the fainter yellow circle is where he thinks he heard it. So you can imagine how this works now. Using something that makes sound you can get a guard to turn away, so you can slip by, or murder him.

         One thing you'll have to remember though is how much sound you make, because if you noticed, the sound in this game travels through everything. Its one of the slight gripes I have with the game but its fairly minor, and actually makes game play better. In the picture above you'll see the outline goes into the floor. In another case perhaps its at a wall; the sound would go through it and into the next room for anyone to hear. Thus the real life physics of sound absorption is omitted (its not the only time this game does that). You'll find though that this has very niche but effective game play uses. For example getting the attention of a guard behind a door, so that he comes outside and you can sneak into the building without being spotted. Its a peculiar interaction, but its quite cool to think about.

       Now for actual gameplay, the how do I ninja bizz. Controls in Mark of the ninja are really quite simple, left analog for moving and right for looking around. A button for jump, X to punch/kick, and Y to use your tools (if you haven't noticed I used a xbox controller). Other buttons do things but i'll get to that in time. In the beginning of the game you don't have much, in fact you have nothing. So everything is 'vanilla' and as the game progresses more tools are added, more powers tapped, and techniques learned. Each level is story driven so there's no generic kind of mission, but I'll use the first level as an example. The first mission is to free your ninja brethren from the mercenaries, and is quite simple as most first levels are. In order to do so however you need to stay hidden, or you get caught and there's no one to free anyone else, logically. 

        So you have to hide, and there are a lot of places to do so. Much of each levels design is centered around how you can move through them. For example a hallway will have doors that you can hide behind. Allowing you to avoid detection by sensors and patrolling guards.  Simply done by pressing A next to one. There are many other things to hide in and on, trash dumps, garbage cans, pots, statues etc. For a normal person, hiding behind one of these isn't too hard, if whoever is looking for you isn't trying very hard. So a ninja with superhuman abilities should have no problems. 

      Suppose however you can't hide. There's a guard who just won't look away long enough, what do? In Mark of the ninja you have to often think about 'how can I get past this, and what can I use to do that?' In most cases your tools are immensely helpful. They allow you to distract and kill, depending on how you feel. Historically a ninja would not kill anyone but his/her mark, to avoid being caught; and it is possible to end every mission without killing anyone (save a select few). If you do choose to kill, there are many ways to do it. A wide variety of tools, and death blows are at your disposal. Assassinations are sometimes necessary, and they work like a combo. Input the combo correctly and the mark dies silently, but mess it up and whoever is dying will make a lot of noise.  It's oddly satisfying to flawlessly take down an entire task force alone. But it also comes at a cost. A cost to your score.

       Now it might be odd to think, there's a score system in a ninja stealth game. What the diddley doo for? To create balance, and options for the player. You could kill everyone and hide their bodies (for extra points, plus safety) or just leave them be. Not killing them is harder to do, if your plan is to stay unnoticed, but also gives greater reward. At the end of each mission your score is tallied, and the points come from how you interacted with the guards. Either he/she never noticed anything, got distracted by a noise or something you did, or died at your hands. For the system to be balanced, each has a different point value. Untouched give the most while dead give the least. Additionally extra bonus points come from not killing anyone, and distracting no one. They are much harder to achieve but are possible. 

      Most of the fun in the game play for me was being able to choose. It felt like I chose my own path. If a particular area was too hard to get by without killing, then I would go find a different way past. And my favorite thing about the games is its vast array of possible plays. There is absolutely no reason to play a level the same way ever, if you wanted to. It was also a lot of fun to be a ninja, in the way ninja's really were.

Audio + visual:

The game looks like a cartoon, there's no denying this. The visuals are bordered with a small out line to make it easier to see, which is nice in the relatively small amount of light. Only the foreground, and things you can interact with have these visible outlines. The rest of the scenery though is very much beautiful. Mark of the ninja makes use of multiple layered backgrounds, and I think its a cool way to depict a city. There are 5 different areas, with completely different visuals, and its a treat to just look at them sometimes. 

It's not generally a thing to do, but if you stop and look once in a while you can see how much detail goes into this game. Especially when you listen a bit. In a game with patrolling guards, most of their dialogue is simple and repeats over and over. In mark of the ninja the guards have a huge repertoire of lines, and they hardly ever repeat something you've heard before. I mean they don't exactly say anything that has any particular importance to the game, but its that level of detail they put into the little things that count.

     The music is also quite dynamic. Each level has some ambient music that's played in the background, but there are many occasions where it transitions out. For example if you get seen and the alarm goes off, the music becomes energized and really helps give that atmosphere of panic. And generally I enjoy the music, and how atmospheric it is.

      The art style in this game is amazing and is definitely one reason you should play it.

Final Thoughts:

      For me this game is amazing. There's so much option, and each play play through can be different from the last. There just so many small mechanics that just mesh together so well, and its clear the developers really spent a lot of time building the system. Plus the finale is just amazing, the atmosphere is just amazing.

     This game definitely for me deserves a spot in my top 10 favorite games, and I highly recommend anyone playing it regardless of whatever type of games you enjoy. 

If you asked me i'd give it a  9.5/10

Like every other game in the series, Dr. Mario Miracle Cure keeps the series tradition of eliminating viruses by matching them with like-colored pills (called Mega-Vitamins) in rows or columns of four or more. The pills can be rotated to better fit into certain areas, and if the entirety of the pill isn't vaporized, the remaining half will drop down toward the bottom of the bottle if it isn't blocked by an obstacle in its path. As you play, the bottle will fill with more and more viruses in each subsequent stage, with the drop speed of your pills increasing in later stages. Now if this were just a simple game of Dr. Mario, then I'd be done with my review right now, but it's not, and now I'll explain why.

This iteration of the series actually includes quite a few features from previous games in the series and even throws in a few brand new gameplay elements in order to keep things fresh and exciting. Starting by order of additions, we have the game mode called Virus Buster which actually first made its appearance in the DS game Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day as a bonus minigame. Virus Buster still goes by the same gameplay staple of connecting four viruses and pills of the same color to remove them from play, but the major difference is that the game is played with the stylus and two or even three pills can be dropped into play at once, although they fall at a fairly slow pace. Next is the Online mode which was introduced in Dr. Mario Online RX on the Wii. All it does is let you face a random player from somewhere around the world, or play against a friend on your 3DS's friend list. Then we have the game mode Dr. Luigi, which was introduced as the Operation L game mode in Dr. Luigi on the Wii U. This game mode drops two pills at once in the shape of the letter L with the long side of the shape often being comprised of all one color. This forced the player to think of new strategies as the unusual pill configuration and its large size made it difficult to maneuver in the confines of the bottle.

All in all, Dr. Mario Miracle Cure is a great entry to the franchise. It includes enough game modes to keep you busy for a long time to come and its new Miracle Cure power-ups make for a fine addition to the series. Hopefully we'll being seeing more of them in future installments, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

• Shooters: Continually sprays ink as long as the fire button is held down. Comes in several different varieties that have different firing patterns and effects.
• Chargers: Long range weapon that fires further the longer the gun is charged from holding the fire button. Some of these also come with scopes for more accurate aiming.
• Rollers: Paints the ground with ink as you run as long as the fire button is held down. Can also throw ink a short distance in front of you so you can get higher platforms.
• Sloshers: Hurls large quantities of ink in an arcing pattering an average distance in front of you. Can be used like a mortar to aim over barriers that an opponent is hiding behind.
  
• Splatling: A gatling gun type weapon that rapidly fires ink an incredible distance in front of you after a short wind-up period. Not all that effective at spreading ink, but very useful for crowd control.
  

• Splat Bombs: Tetrahedron-shaped ink grenades that explode shortly after landing.
• Burst Bombs: Ink filled water balloons that explode on impact.
• Ink Mines: Explodes when in close proximity to an opponent.
• Disruptors: Hinders the speed and abilities of the affected target.
• Point Sensors: Tags an enemy with a tracking marker for a short time.
• Splash Walls: Acts as a wall and shield that only you and your teammates can pass through unaffected.
• Seekers: Can lock onto a target and chase them down trailing ink of your color behind them.
• Suction Bombs: Works similarly to the Splat Bombs, but can latch onto walls and ceilings with its suction cup.
• Squid Beakons: Gives you up to three one-time-use jump points so you can quickly get back into the fray.
• Sprinklers: Sprays a small area around it with ink until it is destroyed or until a new one is thrown.

• Bomb Rush: Allows you to throw bombs repeatedly without spending ink.
• Bubbler: Activates an impenetrable shield that can be shared with your teammates if they touch you.
• Echolocator: Tags ALL opponents with a tracking marker no matter how far away from each other they are.
• Inkzooka: Powerful rocket-launcher type weapon that fires mini ink tornadoes that plow through multiple targets.
• Killer Wail: Spreads no ink, but obliterates any opponent in a straight line in front of it.
• Kraken: Transforms you into the invincible Kraken which lays ink behind it as it swims and changes its jump into a strong attack.
• Inkstrike: A powerful nuke-like weapon that creates a towering cyclone of ink at wherever you tap on the Gamepad's screen.

• Regular Battles (For Fun)

1. Turf War: The purpose of this game mode is to cover the ground with as much of your own color of ink as possible in three minutes. Any ink sprayed onto walls and any opponents knocked out do not count toward your final score and your win/lose ratio is not recorded at the end of the match. This game mode is also the primary way to gain money for purchasing clothes and weapons, and experience that levels up your currently equipped clothes and your character allowing you to equip higher-leveled weapons.

• Ranked Battles (For Glory)

1. Splat Zones: This game mode is much like a territories match where you and your teammates try to take control of an area (or two) by spraying the enclosed area with ink and keeping control of it until your timer runs out or whoever has the least time left when the match timer runs out. Losing control of a zone to the enemy team adds a penalty timer onto your main one and it must run out before you can start lowering your time again.
2. Tower Control: This game mode is more like King of the Hill, but with a twist. You need to take control of a tower in the center of the map by standing on top of it, but once you gain control of it, it will start to slowly make its way to a location near the opposing team's spawn point. You win once the tower reaches its destination, or whoever got the tower closest when the time runs out.
3. Rainmaker: A Capture the Flag style game mode where you need to free a powerful dragonfish shaped weapon called the Rainmaker from an orb in the center of the map and carry it to a designated platform near the opponent's base. As long as you are carrying the Rainmaker, you cannot super-jump, your running and swimming speed are reduced, and you are visible while swimming. You are also subjected to a sixty second timer in which if you fail to deliver the weapon to the opponent's base before the timer runs out, you will explode in the opponent's ink color. However, you can use the Rainmaker like a stronger, chargeable Inkzooka to help you get to the opponent's base a little more easily. Secondary win conditions are the same as in Tower Control.

Two maps for each mode are only available to play at any one time and are rotated out every four hours according to an online clock that the game pings when connected to the internet. While the Regular Battles are a lot of fun to be had, the Ranked Battles (which can only be played after you reach level 10) are more geared for hardcore players as your rank will go up or down based on your wins and losses. The cash and experience you receive if you win the match is based on your score in the match and much better than in the Regular Battles, but if you happen to lose, you receive absolutely nothing. This game mode would probably best be played after you max out your inkling's level and equipment so you would have less to ultimately lose. Also, once your level reaches 20, you can add more bonus slots to weaker pieces of clothing that you like by talking to Spyke and paying him 30,000 in cash, or with a Super Sea Snail that you can win from Splat Fest.

Overall, Splatoon was a very nice surprise from Nintendo. They don't make many new big-name IP's any more, but when they do, they never seem to fail. Everything about the game is so perfectly polished and well designed. The gameplay is easy to pick up, the music is unique and fun to listen to, the game modes are varied enough that it rarely gets stale, and in order to improve the pacing and to artificially inflate the length of the game, content locked away on the disc (like new weapons and stages) gets released for free at specific dates along the game's lifespan via an online calendar. While this is a bit unorthodox, it is a smart way to keep the game from getting stale early in its life. SO, now I have one final question to ask you.

ARE YOU A KID, OR A SQUID?

But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

For today, I bring you The  Plan, by Krillbite studio. You may recognize Krillbite studio as the makers of Among the Sleep. If you've played Among the Sleep you probably have a pretty good idea of what this game is like and whether or not you will like it. Nonetheless I bring you the very first Free to Play Sunday: The Plan

Gameplay

To be frank, the gameplay is lacking. You need nothing more than wasd to play and there is no strategy or thought required to reach the end of the game. In fact, you could likely just hold w (while occasionally switching it up and going for d) and successfully reach the end. There are a few events, if they can even be called that, that lead you to believe that there are going to be more obstacles in your way, but I found myself disappointed when I realized that failure was not an option. Playing as a fly, I expected to have to handle a few tricky spiders, and while there were spider webs, there were no enemies to be seen. There is no way to lose this game and so technically there is no way to win this game; your only real options are to complete it or to quit.

Story

In all honesty I am not sure how I feel about the story of this game. I am stuck somewhere between "this is deep (I think)" and "that was boring." It makes me think back to high school when an English teacher of mine would insist that there was some deeply significant meaning behind the presence of oranges before all of the death scenes in The Godfather (maybe Francis Ford Coppola just had a thing for oranges). I won't give any spoilers, just in case you really want to play this game, but if I were being forced to write a paper on the meaning of this game I'm positive I'd get an "A" for discussing mortality and the finite nature of life. Though I have to admit that the ending made me chuckle, and then briefly question whether or not I was a bad person for finding humour in the situation when surely the feeling I was supposed to have was one more akin to melancholy.

Aesthetics

Despite the disappointing lack of gameplay, and my mixed feelings on the story, I found both the visuals and audio in this game to be spot on. I'll start by saying that the visuals were nothing entirely special. The art style was basically the popular artsy-indie-shadowy style, similar to what you would see in Limbo,  or Grimind, or even Never Alone, that being said the graphics suited the game well and I believe that any impact that this game has would have been lost if another style had been adopted. My favourite part of this game was hands down the audio. It was altogether lovely, relaxing, and atmospheric.

Final Thoughts

Once again I find myself with mixed feelings towards this game. I'm not sure if it's brilliantly or boringly simple. This game has very little replay value, but it takes under 10 minutes to complete and you can even get an achievement (if you're into that sort of thing). If you enjoy laid back games that are more like poetry than like epics then you may genuinely enjoy this game, but all in all it's a free game available on Steam so at the very least you should give The Plan a play and see for yourself. You don't have anything to lose after all!

Blues and Bullets is a story driven episodic adventure that puts you in the shoes of Elliot Ness, a retired cop that gets dragged back into the life he thought he left behind. Developed by A Crowd of Monsters, Blues and Bullets is a unique blend of Telltale's The Walking Dead's gameplay and L.A. Noire's tone and themes while still maintaining it's own identity.

Blues and Bullets' story is very well executed that takes some of the common cliches found in Noir drama and adds a new spin on it.

The overall plot deals with the heavy subjects of murder, mutilation, torture, and revenge – topics that can only make a good story if executed perfectly.

The story follows Elliot Ness, a former cop and now diner owner, as he gets pulled into a job by Al Capone. The story isn't as straight forward as it seems with curveballs being thrown at you to keep you on your toes.

Elliot himself is surprisingly charismatic and likable with realistic motives and the personality of a retired law enforcement officer just trying to live the rest of his days happily. Though, not everyone's life can be so happy and it seems Elliot's can't be either.

The developers have done a fantastic job of keeping the Noir story in balance with the tone and atmosphere they have created with the soundtrack and visual style. This looks to be one of those stories that sticks with you long after you've experienced it all the way through.

The graphics in Blues and Bullets are rather impressive considering the engine it was made with, but boasts an even more impressive art style.

If you are a fan of the Sin City films, then you are going to love the visuals in Blues and Bullets. The game mainly features a black and white art style, but with accents of red to show off smaller details – and blood, lots and lots of blood.

The graphics just ooze with Noir mystery that will make you want to investigate every item of the environment to unlock back story and reveal more about the world the game takes place in, but the graphics aren't without their own flaws.

Some of the animations within the game are stiff and robotic, and lips won't always match up to some character's dialogue. Blues and Bullets isn't very well optimized either, with only 4 changeable graphical settings; Resolution, Full Screen, Quality, and Visual Effects. Because of this, I had trouble playing through Blues and Bullets at a stable FPS.

Don't expect to be just walking around and talking to people like similar games of this genre. Blues and Bullets does a fairly well job of including exciting action set pieces that don't feel tacked on with no rhyme or reason.

On top of investigating and shooting, you will also piece together a gruesome murder to figure out how to proceed with Al Capone's task. This was a gameplay element I was pleasantly surprised to see and I hope it is used again in future episodes.

There are also quick time events with Blues and Bullets. It's understandable to be turned off by this element, but there aren't many and they are fairly easy to accomplish once you've encountered them.

The soundtrack of Blues and Bullets fits the tone of the game perfectly.

Ranging from more lively upbeat songs to more quiet and somber tracks.

The same can be said for the voice acting. No one phones it in here and all the actors make this feel like you are actually watching a Noir film drama.

Also, the voice of Geralt from The Witcher series voices Elliot Ness, which is a great addition. Elliot's sort-of-not-really sidekick who accompany's him throughout the majority of the game has a more softer and down to Earth voice which is a great contrast to Elliot's gruff monotone voice.

Overall, I very much enjoyed my time with Blues and Bullets and will eagerly await the release of episode 2. The developers were able to succesfully blend everything great about Noir mystery dramas and turn it into a fantastic game.

The story, the graphics, and the gameplay tied up neatly with great voice acting and a stellar soundtrack make for an incredible experience that I won't be forgetting anytime soon, regardless of it's minor flaws.

Submerged is minimalistic "relaxporation" adventure developed by Uppercut Games that puts you in a post-disaster world where you mosly scavenge for supplies to save a dying boy's life. Submerged is completely combat free and, instead, focuses all it's efforts on story and gameplay. With the post-apocalyptic art style of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and the beauty and relaxed gameplay of Journey, will Submerged sink or swim?

Submerged begins with Miku and her wounded brother, Taku, arriving in a flooded and abandoned city in order to find supplies to keep Taku alive from his injuries.

The story seems simple enough and it remains that way until you begin finding story art cards that provide backstory on Miku and Taku before arriving in the city, and the flooded city as well.

I never really found myself caring all that much about Taku, but I did find myself very much caring about Miku and the city itself. I cared more about Miku's safety than Taku's, but that's probably because Taku spends the majority of the game lying on a bench and not doing anything. Though, to be fair, he is dying, but Miku's safety came first in my eyes.

The city's story and what happened to the people is also quite interesting. It's also quite interesting with how these stories unfold. You have to boat around the ruined city and collect story art cards that piece everything together, but you won't find them in order of story events. The story won't become completely clear until all the story cards have been collected.

Also, the developers created an entirely new language to further emphasize just how far society has fallen. If that's not impressive then I don't know what is. Though, I do have a gripe with the story. (The next tidbit isn't REALLY a spoiler, but rather, a broad statement with no specifics.) [spoiler]Over the course of Submerged, the game, begins heavily implying that there's going to an emotionally devastating ending that will leave you in tears, but there's a complete cop out. I wish it had gone with the course it was going because it was shaping up to be one of those endings you're going to remember forever; like Telltale's The Walking Dead and The Last of Us.[/spoiler]

Made with the Unreal 4 engine, Submerged, can look downright beautiful. The beauty is especially realized when the day becomes night and rain begins to pour down.

It's clear the developers knew just how beautiful the game is because there's a "Make Postcard" option that allows the player to stop time and rotate the camera around Miku and create absolutely gorgeous screenshots.

Allow me to put it like this: Submerged is so beautiful that I ended up using the "Make Postcard" option to take beautiful screenshots every time I was in game. Every time I started up the game; I saw something new and beautiful. Unfortunately, though, the graphics aren't perfect.

Upon closer inspection, some noticeable textures seem blurred and a bit dull. The framerate will even drop quite frequently and, seemingly, out of nowhere. At one moment, the framerate dropped so low that the entire game stopped and I thought it had crashed but, fortunately, it came back in a split second.

The gameplay in Submerged mainly consists of climbing and navigating the city streets with your boat. This creates a strong sense of relaxation.

Watching waves roar around as whales and dolphins swim by feels so relaxing. From an artistic standpoint, it's great, but from a gaming standpoint; not so much.

Sadly, the gameplay in Submerged gets redundant pretty quick. Gameplay in Submerged can be summarized in this order: boat, climb, collect ration; rinse and repeat. This was something I was afraid of and my fears were realized.

At first, I didn't think this would be an issue, but it slowly began feeling tedious and I realized that I wanted to do was sail around and admire the beauty. You can do just that, but you have to boat, climb, collect ration to progress the story. Once you complete the game, you unlock an "Explore" mode that allows you to explore the game world and collect missed story cards and boat upgrades free from distractions. This was my favorite aspect of gameplay.

The soundtrack is where Submerged REALLY shines. Composed by BAFTA-Award Winner Jeff Van Dyck, Submerged's soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful and intensely elevates the sense that you are alone in this post-apocalyptic world.

From somber melodies to more uplifting tracks, Submerged's soundtrack is one I hope to purchase and listen to whenever. It's quite amazing to stand on the edge of a decaying ruin with nothing but the wind and a quiet song playing evoking many emotions.

Submerged is just one of those games that help further the proof that video games are capable of becoming high art, but the redundant gameplay and weak ending hold Submerged back from realizing it's true potential. This beautiful apocalypse accompanied by gorgeous visuals and a haunting soundtrack makes Submerged an experience I won't soon forget.

If you care for the artistic nature of Submerged then I highly recommend it to you, but if you don't care about any of that then this may not be for you. Otherwise, Submerged is an experience worth checking out.

Sigma Star Saga is a dual genre RPG/Shoot-em-up developed by WayForward Technologies and released for the Game Boy Advance in August of 2005. In it, you play as Ian Recker, a skilled fighter pilot for Earth's forces, who is tasked with infiltrating the ranks of an extraterrestrial species known as the Krill who attacked Earth by boiling away its oceans killing almost all life on the surface. While undercover, Recker meets Psyme, a female Krill that outfits him with a parasite suit that gives him enhanced strength and speed and allows him to interface with the Krill's living spaceships, which is where the game's main mechanics come into play.\r

The RPG part of the game works in a very unusual, but surprisingly logical way. In order to make sure the Krill (and Recker by extension) are safe during a mission on another planet's surface, the Krill scramble the battleships in low orbit above the planet to scout for intruders, but because the ships are unintelligent living beings much like cattle, they scare very easily. As such, they warp in a nearby pilot to help them rid of whatever is causing their distress a la Random Encounter. While piloting a ship, the game plays like a side-scrolling shmup much like Gradius or Sky Kid, but once all of the enemies in the battle are destroyed, you are rewarded with some experience points and the ship will quickly warp you back to the overworld shortly afterward.\r

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The overworld map on the other hand plays VERY different than what I was expecting for an RPG endeavor. Unlike most RPG's, your character does not engage in battle while walking around the map. Any and all enemies shown in the overworld are nothing more than obstacles that block your progression forward and most can easily be taken out with Recker's gun. Another thing that makes this very different is the fact that Recker can find permanent power-ups on the map for both himself and whatever ship that may beam him aboard. While Recker's abilities stack in the fashion of Metroid, your ship's power-ups are customizable allowing you to better fit your play style.\r

All in all, I had fun with this game, but it isn't for everybody. It is a very nice change of pace for fans of the shmup genre, but RPG fans may have a hard time getting into the battle segments due to them being much more action oriented, and the fact that the story can be overly complicated at times. But if you're the kind of person that plays through a game multiple times, then you'd probably enjoy the multiple endings and New Game +. It even has an extra secret ending if you manage to complete it 100%. If you have the time, you should definitely check this game out, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

When I first opened up the box, I noticed that the console itself is extremely lightweight; it feels like it could break very easily. Although, it looks very nice with its glossy sheen and it is well put together. The controller has a very unusual design however; it doesn't feel quite right in my hands and it has a digital joystick instead of a standard directional pad. Now as I went to boot up the system, I found that the controller wasn't synced with the console by default. Luckily I had a spare SNES controller that I could use to access the menus which allowed me to sync up the controller that came with it. After syncing, I browsed the menus and discovered that the system could be updated with a new version of the existing firmware. So, I grabbed an SD card, plugged it in to the back of the console, followed the onscreen instructions, took out the card, went to the official site, downloaded the update onto the card, put it back into the Retron 5 and finished the update. THIS is an egregious flaw in the system's design as this could easily have been done via WiFi. That being said, this tediousness was the biggest problem with it and everything else flows a little more smoothly.

The first game I decided to test on this thing was EarthBound for the SNES. Everything worked really well and the controls did what they were supposed to. Plus the system saves a state the first time you start a game up. So I played for a little while until I got far enough to save my progress and I discovered that the system has the ability to save a backup of your progress to the internal memory or the SD card if you so wish. So I did, and quit the game, but this is when I ran into my second problem: the Retron 5 doesn't have an eject switch for any of the five cartridge slots. While this usually isn't a problem in and of itself, but it was in this case because the console had one helluva death grip on my game. I'm sure that if you need to use excessive force in order to remove a game from its slot, then that is an indication that an eject button would have been sorely needed. It wasn't until later when I found out that the games come out more easily when you gently pull them out from one side at an angle.

Now because of how much force it took for me to remove my game from the cartridge slot, I feared that I might have damaged my precious copy of EarthBound. So as a second test, I tried out the game again on my SNES, and (unfortunately) I saw that my save file had been wiped clean. This pissed me off until I remembered that the Retron 5 saved a backup of my save file. So I reluctantly put the game back into the system and had the Retron rewrite the file onto the cart. Then came the moment of truth; I CAREFULLY removed EarthBound from the Retron 5, booted the game back up in my SNES and lo and behold, everything was all peachy-keen. Despite the problems I had, this is an extremely nice feature that I think all future cartridge-based consoles should have.

Next thing I tested was the built in Game Genie with the NES game Little Nemo: The Dream Master, at least, that's what I would like to say. As it turns out, the Game Genie codes had to be downloaded separately from the firmware update. I had to do all of that downloading crap again and it doesn't even work when there are too many cheats active at one time. There were some games that weren't even compatible with it as it was an early version of the list. At least the process is much more user-friendly than the firmware updates. The last thing I tested was the screenshot tool with the Famicom game Summer Carnival '92 RECCA. Not really much of big feature, but it is nice to able to save screenshots as a jpeg or png file.

Now I bet you're wondering, "This sounds a lot like a glorified emulator that can play cartridges," and well, you'd be half right. While it does emulate the console specs of the NES, SNES, Famicom, Sega Mega Drive and Game Boy Advance (and the Sega Master System with the help of Sega's Power Converter), it CANNOT play ROM files of any kind. "Then what's the point when I can just download an emulator and connect it to my TV?" you may ask. Well, my valued readers, let me ask you this: Can you backup your cartridge data from an emulator? Well no, but honestly, that feature of the Retron 5 (while nice) really isn't all that worth it since it can't even use any hardware features that might be built into the cartridge. If you get it as a gift, great. If you buy it with your own money though, don't spend more than $100 on it. I guess the new firmware update that allows you to patch games with ROM-hacks or translations might be nice. I would need to test that first though, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

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Super Mario Maker is not your conventional Mario game. While it still has all of the familiar gameplay elements of past 2D entries, this title is allows you to make, customize, and save up to 120 of your own stages in one of four different styles based around past games in the series's history. These styles all also have their own unique play mechanics that make the game play a little more like the game that the theme originates from. For instance:\r

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• Super Mario Bros: Has the most basic control scheme and you can't grab or hold objects.
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• Super Mario Bros 3: Gabbing objects is possible and has a power meter to use for flight.
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• Super Mario World: Same as Mario 3, but adds a spin jump and the ability to throw grabbed items upward.
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• New Super Mario Bros U: Flight and upward throwing are absent, but adds wall jumping and the ability to ground-pound.
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Each of these themes adds a subtle level of variety that perfectly encompasses most if not all of the 2D main series games. There are also sixty different objects that you place in each theme and six different theme sets that you can use for each overall style, but you have to unlock them over continued use of the stage maker; this will take around 2.5 to 3 hours. Most of these objects (specifically enemies and platforms) also have alternate forms that you can access by shaking them. This allows for even more variety than what was initially thought, especially since that many enemies can be altered even further by stacking them on top of each other like totem pole, powering them up with a mushroom or wings, placing them in Lakitu's cloud or a Koopa Clown Car, or even by having them launch out of a Bill Blaster. This has sparked a lot of creativity as I was making stages of my own. I even spiced things up further thanks to the sound effects that can be applied to just about everything.\r

Also, each game style has their own unique power-ups. While Mario 3, Mario World, and Mario U all have a flight themed power-up like a Super Leaf, Super Feather, or Propeller Mushroom respectively, the Mario 1 theme has three special power-ups designed specifically for it:\r

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• Weird Mushroom: Makes Mario very tall and lanky, but greatly increases his jump height.
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• Mystery Mushroom: Gives Mario one of 99+ special costumes based on amiibo and various other Nintendo characters. Pressing Up while wearing one will make Mario pose. Most of these costumes also have unique sound effects, death music, and victory jingles.
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• Big Mushroom: Turns Mario into Big Mario which is kind of like a cross between Super Mario and Mega Mario. His increased size and weight can destroy unbreakable blocks and bricks and can even break them from the side or from above, but it can only be accessed with the help of one of the two 30th Anniversary Mario amiibo.
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Well, say you don't want to make any stages and just want to play the game. Well Nintendo has that covered too. There are sixty-four pre-made sample courses you can play via the game's Coursebot or from the game's 10 Mario Challenge mode. Replaying through 10 Mario Challenge repeatedly unlocks more and more sample stages that you can play or edit and once you unlock them all, an additional four stages become available as a bonus. These four stages are the same stages that were shown off in the 2015 Nintendo World Championships. How's THAT for a bonus unlockable?\r

Now, if you ever get bored of any of the sample stages, you can also play the courses uploaded to the game's server via the Course World where you can find specific stages by using a 16-character code, follow your favorite creators, or even download your favorite courses to save for later. You can also play the 100 Mario Challenge game mode here. "Now what is the difference between the 10 Mario and 100 Mario Challenges anyway?" you may ask. Well, the 100 Mario version only picks the user created stages that have been uploaded to the servers and are set to specific difficulties depending on the stage's clear rate percentage. Also, each time you complete this game mode, you unlock one additional costume for the Mystery Mushroom.\r

There is just so much that can be done with this game's robust editor. When online, I have seen stages that build themselves as you progress, stages that completely invert when you enter a pipe, stages based on other games, and stages that even play themselves. There is even a hidden mini-game that you can randomly access while fiddling with the objects in the editor. This is by far the best thing Nintendo could've done to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros and I HIGHLY suggest that you get it, but until then, I'll be seeing you.\r

Score\r

Having been the inspiration for the Fallout series and given a new chance at life with a sequel on Kickstarter, Wasteland 2 is back again with the "Director's Cut" that includes a number of new features and improvements on top of the Wasteland 2's original game.

Developed by inXile Entertainment, Wasteland 2: Director's Cut is an open world turn based RPG that sets out to improve on many of the issues players had with the original release of Wasteland 2. These improvements overall affect the graphics, gameplay, and sound design.

Wasteland 2's story begins with the death of a fellow Desert Ranger named Ace. The circumstances of his death are very suspicious, so General Vargas tasks a team of recruits, under the code name "Echo", to investigate Ace's death and figure out who was really behind it.

Nothing from the story has changed since Wasteland 2's original release, but what has changed is the amount of voiced dialogue. Over 8,000 lines of new dialogue was recorded for the Director's Cut and it shows. Not every line of dialogue was voiced, but it is still a welcome addition to hear exceptionally more line spoken. All the new spoken dialogue sounds just as believable as the voices in the original release of Wasteland, so there are no poor performances to speak about.

The visuals in the original release of Wasteland 2 weren't bad by any means, but weren't anything special either. With the upgrade to Unity 5.0, inXile were able to improve the visuals.

All the textures in the Director's Cut look much sharper and the frame rate seems to be much more stable as well. It's clear a lot of hard work went into reworking the visuals and that this isn't just a quick port job to consoles.

Unfortunately, despite the clear upgrade, the visuals for the Director's Cut still aren't anything special which is a shame because the game itself is special. Though, if you are coming off of the original release of Wasteland 2 then you are going to notice the visual upgrade and appreciate the game even more.

On PS4 and Xbox One, Wasteland 2: Director's Cut runs at 1080p 30fps and remains stable at that; for the most part. I briefly stated that the frame rate seemed to be more stable in the Director's Cut than in the original release, which isn't a lie, but there were a few time I ran into a drop of frames when enter a random encounter. They were few and far between so it wasn't anything that hindered the gameplay.

The thing I was most worried about for the Director's Cut's journey to consoles were the controls. It was going to be tough for inXile to pull it off, but they did it. These are some of the best controls from a PC ported game that I've ever seen. The face all do what you would expect (X for interacting and O for canceling), but the triggers are where the magic happens. When the left trigger is used it brings up all of the skills you can use at that given moment, and when the right trigger is used it brings up all of the combat options you can use for the given situation.

If I did have a complaint regarding the controls, it would be that the map is still somewhat difficult to navigate and I could never really tell if I was heading in the right direction when I was trying to get to a new undiscovered location.

Gameplay in the Director's Cut remains largely the same, but with the exception of one feature that makes Wasteland 2's gameplay feel even more involving.

During combat, you now have the option to bring up a "Precision Strikes" menu that allows you to pick individual body parts of your enemy to attack. If you are familiar with the original Fallout games then you will feel right at home with the combat.

There are a lot of variables to consider when using this Precision Strikes mode though. Things like weapon level, elevation, and cover can either make or break a successful strike. I just wish that this system would factor into damage a little more. Rather than, say, shoot at a raider's arm so they can't hit you as properly, the Precision Strikes mode really is only for increasing the likely hood of you connecting a shot.

To further add to the feeling of role playing, inXile have added a "Quirk" system. This system is similar to perks, but this gives your players a "quirk" that usually has a great benefit and an equally impactful drawback.

Of course, this isn't necessary and you can choose to forgo a "quirk" altogether, but I wouldn't recommend it if you are trying to role play.

The character creation also remains untouched from the original release of Wasteland 2. Being able to create your basic look and giving yourself a decent starter outfit is nice, but I can't help but feel this feature to be lacking. I suppose I've been a bit too spoiled with other RPGs and their robust character creators.

Never did I find did I find a face (or "head") that I liked and same goes for hair style. This is a game that could have really benefited from an in depth character creator since you are encouraged to make your 4 person squad by creating each member individually.

Usually, I can never get into turn based games. I want to like them so much, but for some reason, I can never just sit down and play them. Then Wasteland 2 came along and changed that for me. Wasteland 2 was already a fantastic game in it's original release. Now with the release of the Director's Cut, it could have only gotten better, and it did. Wasteland 2: Director's Cut is a truly unique experience that you won't find elsewhere in the PlayStation Store or Xbox Live Marketplace.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

How would I describe it?

Liberating? Definitely. Engaging? Absolutely. Flawless? Not exactly, but I'll discuss why in a moment.

The graphics are stunningly beautiful. The gameplay is smooth and feels almost luxurious in how well crafted it is. The finer details are there all there and everything meshes well. There are just a few key points that I feel deserve to be elaborated on.

I’ll start with the term “liberating“. Not your average description for a game like Metal Gear Solid, in which the previous games were all very linear in their storyline. This game, despite its humble beginnings, manages to execute what dozens of other triple-A titles can only dream of.

With a myriad of options for every mission, from tailoring your load out, to your play style, or choosing the best way to infiltrate the enemy base, the game gives you everything you could wish for in-game customizability. I found my gameplay experience constantly changing, even after only a few hours in. In the beginning, I played very aggressively at first, but I slowly settled into a very nice niche playstyle that I felt comfortable executing. It might not be the way most people go about with doing missions, but it was what I wanted to. In the beginning, it may seem intimidating, but as the game progresses everything becomes a well-planned choice – should you blow that guy to the moon or leave him be?

One point worth stressing about the game is that the player is not punished for not being stealthy, which is a surprising development from the game that comes from a long series of "tactical espionage". Of course, there are some lines drawn in the sand that can’t be crossed, like killing a child. Of course, that’s a pretty big no-no in real life too. As I said, the game allows for many styles of play, which does allow for a lot of room for replayability. Part of this comes from the fact that many memorable experiences are not scripted or planned out in any way. You are set with a very realistic set of instructions √¢‚Ǩ‚Äú eliminate this guy, we don’t care how you do it √¢‚Ǩ‚Äú and you carry it out however you choose. You can go in guns blazing, call in air support, and fight your way through it or you can stealthily make the guy disappear. Whatever your choice, the mission will be however you make it out to be. It needs to be noted, however, that you do get a limit to your rank depending on some choices, but it's very reasonable. You don't call in aerial bombardments to kill everyone and still get a perfect rank.

About it being liberating, I would say so not just because of the open world aspect of the game, but that it is so hard to create a game like MGSV:TPP. Taking aspects of making the game one with a deep and convoluted storyline as brilliant as its predecessors while also maintaining the ability to undergo a truly open world experience? Very few games pull this off effectively. From the top of my head, I can only list a handful (with titles such as Fallout or Mass Effect being the most acclaimed).

On the subject of Metal Gear Solid’s storyline, I decided it was noteworthy because of how engaging it is. In some other games that implement an open world environment, the story is often lost through the player’s own intentions. Sometimes for other games, it doesn’t feel like the story is all that important. One game often criticized for this fact would be Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs, where missions start getting repetitious and things get stagnant. In MGSV:TPP, between getting new gear of discovering new things, the game seems to be able to hold the player at the edge of their seat, wondering what’ll next happen to their beloved one-eyed protagonist. Or alternate protagonist, of course √¢‚Ǩ‚Äú remember, MGSV has a lot of options.

Speaking of options, sometimes the game give too many. No, not in the way that there's no reason to have your gold-colored helicopter over your gold-colored tank with your gold colored robot because there's every reason in the world for that. The game gives you too many options in that, for example, because the game is free roam, sometimes you might accidentally stumble into a mission. As my friend described an encounter, he accidentally found a crucial plot point, in which he then got shot in the head. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (the open world, not getting shot in the head), as it does allow for a more realistic opportunity to go from place to place. It needs to be noted that it's very unlikely for what happened to my friend to happen to you, because only side missions are in the open world environment. There are only rare occasions when a side mission becomes more than just eliminating a skilled soldier.

[Spoilers not related to main story below]

About there being many possibilities, there are some just awkward situations. In the side ops to “Capture the Legendary Brown Bear“, my friend and I had different experiences. His experience with subduing the bear was to run up to it, empty every round of his tranquilizer pistol as the bear charged him, and die to it. He was only able to defeat the legendary bear after several tries and a prosthetic arm punch to the bear’s face.

Meanwhile, hearing his advice to bring everything I had, I hijacked a truck from the enemy, good, old-fashioned style, and I brought it to the place. Only after seeing the bear was at a location inaccessible to my truck, I got out, shot it with seven rounds from my tranquilizer pistol, and the bear fell asleep. Apparently my friend had not been waiting for the rounds to make their effect, but it proves the point of gameplay deviating per person, in not necessarily a bad way (though my friend may testify differently, because bear punches hurt).

[End spoilers]

The one big flaw about Metal Gear Solid V, in my opinion, is a result of the game being so free and open world. It’s a fair trade-off, but in my time playing the game, I’ve begun to notice(d) that characters and some moments seem detached from the story. It’s almost to the point that some missions from the main story can be removed entirely to no major consequence. This might not be a complete downfall though, as every mission is interesting in its own way, but in the overarching scheme of things, they are easily forgotten.

Regarding the point about characters seeming detached from the story, very often it can be seen that they only appear when necessary. You only seem to hear Ocelot and Miller when they pop in to tell you some information crucial to your mission, and that leaves a lot to be desired in their character development. The resulting game seems like it almost has this hole in it: everything else is so perfectly weaved together, but you yourself as Big Boss feel like you're in solitude. The same also can be said about Mother Base, in some fashion. It’s not entirely important to the game except for some key points, but for most of the beginning one could just not visit Mother Base. Of course, Mother Base offers supply drops or intel, but that all is compressed into that little idroid of yours.

The only character I think that avoids this problem is Quiet, the main reason because she’s a buddy. She stays with you on your missions depending on whether or not you decide to take her, but when you do you can see subtle changes that Kojima managed to sneak in. Almost unnoticeable, Quiet can be seen to slowly grow on the player, becoming more open to Big Boss. While other buddies offer more commands when their bond level goes up, the same goes for Quiet, but she also has interesting quirks. When in the helicopter, she starts off very timid, sitting feet together and staring forward. As your bond level goes up, she stretches, walks around, and even poses in some positions that some may consider a little lewd.

Because of how the game is open world, however, MGSV can’t be blamed for lack of character development. It already does it better than most other story-driven, open-world games, especially for a game that is set between two other prestigious games in its own storyline. A game that does it right would be Grand Theft Auto 5, but it is notable that GTA5 doesn’t take on the same tone as MGSV; characters don’t have to fulfill roles that are almost larger than life, they don’t have to go through what the characters in MGSV do, and they don’t have the same drive that the characters in MGSV do.

In the end, MGSV is unlike any other games. No game has the same ambition to fulfill the Metal Gear series, yet change its entire basis of gameplay. No game allows for the serious and grim story yet a lighthearted and silly gameplay. No game is quite like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

I will be ranking this game, but I don't think it's entirely accurate. Like many of the other Metal Gear games, the overall impression is one to be experienced by the gamer themselves. Because of this, I don’t think whatever ranking I give can support it, because I myself am a gamer, so my views on the game may be entirely different from someone else's opinions of the game. Nevertheless, I believe I can still firmly recommend the game because of its merit alone, and that anyone who wishes to play it, whether they are an avid Metal Gear fan or the first time player, they will enjoy the unique experience.

After mixed fan reactions from Halo 4 and the rocky start to the Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries have released the second entry of Halo's "Reclaimer Saga" in hopes of reigniting the franchise into a new age. Do they succeed? Let's find out.

Developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox One, Halo 5: Guardians was looking to be one of the biggest entries in the Halo series due to the sheer volume of marketing and advertisement. With a seemingly heavier emphasis on story, multiplayer, and gameplay as a whole, what could possibly go wrong?

Fans and newcomers alike will feel right at home with the gameplay, but hardcore Halo fans will be more in for a shock. The controls remain ultimately the same with the except of buttons like crouch and grenades being default mapped to other buttons.

Now, by default, you are able to press the B button and thrust out of harms way. You are also able to sprint and melee boost yourself into an enemy. Keep in mind though, your shields and health don't regenerate while you sprint or use your thrusters.

Remember when I said fans were in for a shock? Well, if you haven't heard already, you now are able to aim down the sights of almost every gun. This definitely does change up gameplay a little bit. It works similarly to how aiming down the sights for the magnum and sniper in previous Halo games did. Once you are shot when looking down the sights, you are forced back out into hip fire. It's just as jarring when it happens as it was before in other Halo games.

Aiming down the sights was something that I, and most veteran Halo fans, were most worried about in fear of Halo taking another step closer to Call of Duty, but it actually works well. On smaller Arena maps you probably won't find yourself using the "smart scope", but on larger Warzone maps you will be constantly using them since players could be entire Arena map sizes away.

This is the most refined Halo gameplay we have ever seen. We can only hope that the gameplay stays as near perfect as it is here for future Halo titles. Further "innovation" to the gameplay may only harm the gameplay as a whole.

Normally, I'd talk about the story before the multiplayer of a game, but this time I wanted to talk about the positives before I get into the negatives; since the negatives are pretty serious.

Halo 5's multiplayer is one of, if not the, best multiplayers in the Halo series. While, not all the modes are in yet, Arena and Warzone are still absolutely fantastic on their own. Almost all the game modes feel fast paced and you always feel on edge since you almost always feel exposed. The absence of beloved game modes like Big Team Battle is a shame, but they should be patched in future updates.

Arena feels like a compilation of Halo's pure, uncut classic 4v4 multiplayer at its finest, whereas Warzone is brand new to Halo and is a very welcome addition. In Warzone, you and your team are dropped on a large map with a list of changing objectives for you and your team to complete before the enemy team does. The goal is to garner more points than the enemy and the first team to reach 1000 wins. Taking over bases and defeating bosses can shift points drastically in the heat of battle. Warzone feels a lot like Planetside 2, but on a much smaller scale.

Halo 5's multiplayer isn't perfect though. Now, there are new features such as REQ cards and REQ points. After leveling up or completing challenges, you get points to buy REQ packs that allow you to use certain weapons and vehicles in Warzone. After completing certain objectives and getting kills in Warzone, you rank up your REQ points to use said guns and vehicle cards. What was wrong with having vehicles scattered around the map and having loadouts? REQ cards just make everything needlessly complicated and sometimes makes Warzone a grinding chore to be able to use certain cards.

Only two Halo multiplayers have ever made me genuinely feel as if I were really a Spartan fighting along side friends. The first was Halo: Reach, and now the second is Halo 5. Warzone especially exasperated this feeling. Another welcome comeback is the return of Spartan armor customization. While, not as deep as Reach, the armor customization is still rather deep. You have the ability to change your Spartan's helmet, armor, and visor color with over 100 options each.

Now here is where things begin falling apart, the story. Where Halo 5 has one of the best multiplayers in the series, it also has one of the worst stories in the series. Promotional material and other advertisements would lead you to believe that Halo 5's story is about Spartan Locke having to hunt down Master Chief for one reason or another, but that isn't it at all.

Without getting into spoilers, it's confusing, but the actual story is Spartan Locke and Master Chief going their own ways to stop a certain villain from continuing to do villainy things. It's that simple, but 343i try to make it needlessly confusing to make it feel deep and force players to become emotionally invested. 343i also completely lie to players by advertising Halo 5 as this "fall of a hero" and "hunter becomes the hunted" story, but it isn't at all that.

Halo 5 features 15 story missions (all playable in co-op) with only 3 of those missions where you play as Master Chief. That's like having a Batman game where you only play as Batman for 20% of the game. This would be excusable if Spartan Locke was a likable character, but he's not. Locke is the same gruff and tough character that we've been playing as in every military shooter since 2005. During Halo 4, you could see that Chief was becoming human again. It would have been nice to see 343i add more to that, but they don't. Instead, 343i seem more focused on trying to force Locke down our throats as the "newer and cooler Master Chief".

I tried my hardest to care about the story, but I found that to be incredibly difficult. Especially because you are almost required to read and watch separate media to understand the story in Halo 5. How Locke and Buck become Spartans and what happened to the Didact aren't explained unless you watch Halo: Nightfall and read the comics. Want to know why Master Chief seems to have a long history with his Blue team? Well, too bad. You have to buy the Deluxe Bundle of Halo 5 to watch "The Fall of Reach" to know all the characters because they aren't fleshed out in the slightest in the game. This was probably the biggest shock to me because Halo has always had great stories and the only prerequisites you needed was to have played through the previous installments.

How long were previous Halo stories? About 8 - 10 hours depending on the difficulty, wouldn't you say? Well, Halo 5's story takes, on average, 5 hours to complete on Normal. That is absolutely unacceptable for a campaign length, let alone a Halo campaign. I played through Guardians on Legendary (the hardest difficulty) solo and managed to complete it in 5 hours 37 minutes, and I was taking my time.

If it's any consolation, Chief's missions are much better laid out with more open levels for flanking and organized co-op take downs. Whereas, Locke's missions are much more linear with little alternate paths to take. But the overall campaign feel of Halo 5 gives me the vibe that 343i were more interested in making a Call of Duty game rather than a Halo game.

Ever notice that solo Marvel movies (solo Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America movies) only exist to set up the next Avengers movie? That is exactly what Halo 5 feels like. Halo 5 seems to be the "filler" game in the Reclaimer Saga to set up Halo 6.

I wish I could talk more about the villain and why it ultimately hurts, not only the story of Halo 5, but the stories of almost every Halo game prior to Guardians, but those would be spoilers and that's a discussion for another time.

Can an amazing multiplayer save a incredibly underwhelming and sub par story? Well, the choice is up to you, but I don't believe it can. Before you say anything, yes, Halo has always been more multiplayer focused, but the story has also always been a strong point of the series. It makes you wonder why 343 Industries seemed to be so proud of the story they created when it's really just a story Bungie could have written in an afternoon on a bad day.

The multiplayer is really what saves Halo 5 as an overall package. 343i were lucky enough to refine Halo's gameplay and craft a multiplayer that is definitely worthy of your time, but at the sacrifice of a good and enjoyably story. If you feel comfortable paying full price for an enjoyable multiplayer experience then, by all means, pick up Halo 5, but if you are a veteran Halo fan and wanted more from the latest entry in this genre defining series, then you may want to hold off.

Remember when Quantic Dream actually developed video games rather than glorified movies that let you walk forward on occasion? I know it sounds crazy, but that actually happened. Granted, the later games Quantic Dream developed had intriguing and involving narratives, but they still were too akin to films with little gameplay. In the wake of David Bowie's unfortunate passing, we've decided to go all the way back to 1999. Which saw the release of Quantic Dream's first video game that had story input, cameos, and original game tracks by the man, the myth, the legend, David Bowie; in Omikron: The Nomad Soul.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul may have the strangest story in video game history, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Nomad Soul begins with our protagonist, Kay'l 669, directly speaking to the player. Kay'l 669 asks the player if they can help save his dimension, but first, the player must "transfer their soul" into the body of Kay'l so they may control him. Things only get stranger from here. After the player "transfers their soul" into the body of Kay'l, he is then transported into Omikron; a dark cyberpunk city on a world called Phaenon. Once the player enters Omikron as Kay'l 669, they must continue his investigation into a string of serial killings with his partner, Den. This quickly escalates into anti-government conspiracies, demons, and an ancient religious order led by David Bowie himself (as a character known as "Boz").

The plot initially feels overwhelming and convoluted, but once you trek further into The Nomad Soul's narrative and begin to understand what exactly is going on, you will quickly become engrossed in this world's story. Admittedly, to me at first, the story felt too strange and awkward at first.

This almost got me to completely give up on The Nomad Soul, but I was glad that I sat through until the end because my initial feelings soon went away. The Nomad Soul's story isn't perfect though. While the overall plot eventually gets more engaging, the characters always feel so one dimensional. You never care about their struggles or how their fates play into the overall scheme of everything. That is with the exception of one character.

I'd be going too deep into spoiler territory if I said too much, but David Bowie's performance as Boz is absolutely fantastic. Although Boz has odd motivations and isn't around long enough to become likable, David Bowie portrays him in a way that intrigues you every second he's on screen. I even purchased Omikron: The Nomad Soul again on Steam to play through to his part.

For 1999, the graphics are fairly good. The darker shading and non-reflective surfaces help bring the dark Blade Runner-esque world to life. Granted, the graphics were good, but they weren't anything to write home about.

Sadly, this is a poorly optimized game. The only settings you are given to tweak are resolution, clipping distance, display sky, display shadow, street activity, and detail level.

This may not sound like an issue since most of our computers were built after the dinosaurs died off, but there is also a 30fps lock that hinders your experience with the game. I even had an issue running at a framerate above 20fps due to an issue with the 30 fps lock.

The Nomad Soul also happened to be one of the earlier games to use motion capture technology for some actors, including David Bowie. The technology was still fairly primitive back in 1999 for games, but it was still nice to see slightly more animated faces on some characters.

Decent gameplay and Quantic Dream usually get along together about as well as Anakin Skywalker and a group of younglings. So, is it different in this case? Yes and no. Yes, there is a lot more gameplay in The Nomad Soul than what you will find in Heavy Rain or Beyond: Two Souls, but it feels pretty awkward and clunky. I can't really blame the game for that because a lot of older games played in modern times feel clunky and awkward. Times change and so does player accessibility.

There are two types of combat gameplay. First, we have hand to hand combat. Hand to hand is also the less awkward of the two. Once you've engaged in a fisty cuffs battle, you control kicking and punching with the WASD keys. I never could get a good pattern so I just mashed them until I won. The second is gun combat. Once you are given a gun, you are put into a first person perspective. While serviceable, the gunplay in The Nomad Soul feels stiff. Especially when you have enemies from all sides and you have to work with the Resident Evil style tank controls. Overall I've had better, but I've also had much worse.

With the inclusion of David Bowie, you would think that the soundtrack would be absolutely amazing, right? Well, it certainly is great, but it falls short of perfection because of the lack of David Bowie sung songs. There are a few songs sung by Bowie himself, but the rest from him are purely instrumentals and you would have to be a diehard Bowie fan to notice. The other side of the soundtrack comes from Reeves Gabrels. His additions are also good and add to the dark cyberpunk vibe. Gabrels' additions also sound akin to Bowie's genre of music.

Voice acting in The Nomad Soul is also convincing with an exceptional performance from David Bowie himself as Boz. The distorted computerized effect to his voice is also a great addition. A lot of expository dialogue is, unfortunately, just in text. This is most similar to examining an object in Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Along with the fixed camera positions, you will be right at home to many of the features of The Nomad Soul if you are coming off of Resident Evil or Silent Hill.

With the inclusion of many strange features and elements, one would think that Omikron: The Nomad Soul doesn't always know what it wants to be. And you may be right with that conclusion, but that doesn't make it a bad game. In fact, The Nomad Soul does just enough different from other games to remain entirely unique. This is an Underrated Gem in every sense of the word. Just as I did for the late Lemmy Kilmister with Brutal Legend (which was uploaded before his passing), this Underrated Gems article is dedicated to David Bowie.

I suppose it's understandable to see why many people forgot about this gem, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. It may take some extra hoops to jump through to get this to run on modern machines, but you can still buy Omikron: The Nomad Soul on both Steam and GOG for less than usual microtransaction. I highly recommend you give this game a try.

This is arguably Quantic Dream's best game. An intriguing story, David Bowie, a great soundtrack, AND actual gameplay? It feels like a dream, but it's not. It's a Quantic Dream.

Rest in peace, David Bowie (1947 - 2016)

Video Game

This game is fantastically good and a helluva lot of fun, even if the difficulty on the Normal setting is a little unforgiving. The music is fantastic as well and the character and enemy designs are extremely creative and fit the theme of the game superbly. The story can be a little confusing at times, but it all comes together nicely in the end. However, depending on which version of the game you get, it can be either an extraordinary experience, or torture for the eyes. If you decide to get the game, go for the Xbox 360 or Wii U version of the game as the PS3 version is plagued by terrible frame-rate issues making it look awful to watch, let alone play. Plus as a bonus to those that get the Wii U version, Nintendo themed costumes for Bayonetta are also available which alter some minor aspects about the game without affecting the gameplay. All in all though, just avoid the PS3 version.

"The Eyes of Bayonetta" Artwork Book and DVD

Now despite how interesting and informative the artwork books was, the "Making of" DVD actually was what I more interested in. The development process was quite a sight to behold. As it turns out, the main character, Bayonetta, was designed by Mari Shimazaki with the only instruction that she should look feminine. Needless to say that this gave her a lot of freedom and she rolled with it. She wasn't the only one that was given a lot of freedom in her work, just about everyone involved in the game's creative process was allowed to let their imaginative juices flow freely. The way everything meshes together really shows that love and care was put into the game's creation. The DVD is definitely well worth the watch; the dev's personalities show in both their commentary and their work.

Animated Film

Closing Statement

No matter what medium you enjoy Bayonetta in, this first entry in the series definitely had a very strong impact. Bayonetta as a character is probably my favorite female protagonists of all time as well. She is strong, independent, knows that she's sexy and casually exploits that fact in her work, which she also enjoys. If you can get any of these things, definitely go for it, just remember to avoid the PS3 version of the game due to a very shoddy porting process. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Game Score

Book Score

Film Score

Speaking of gameplay, this game is a rogue-like hack 'n slash that sometimes breaks out into a bullet-hell style game. The character you choose also affects the game. Feel like running around dealing tons of damage? Barbarian is the class for you. Feel like playing a shoot 'em/bullet-hell? Pick the archer.

This is a great rogue-like hack'n slash with some awesome RPG elements, and even though it isn't finished, it's already an amazing game, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Originally posted on Steam on 7/24/15

(Originally posted on Steam on 1/9/16)

Many Hitman fans have been waiting for a true sequel to Hitman: Blood Money for years. So with Hitman 2016 still a short wait away, is Alekhine's Gun the worthy spiritual successor to Blood Money and Death to Spies 2? Developed and published by Maximum Games, Alekhine's Gun is a 3rd person, stealth action adventure set during the height of the Cold War.

I'm a firm believer in saying that the quality of a game's graphics does not reflect the quality of the game as a whole, but just how bad the graphics are has to be addressed for the people that do care. Textures are flat, animations are stiff, and the lighting is jagged and all over the place.

This is a game that looks like it could easily run on a PS2, but has trouble running on a PS4. Not even a minute into actually playing the game, the frame rate tanked below 20fps as soon as I moved the camera. It's clear that the frame rate isn't capped, so one second you are at 60fps, then the next you are chugging along at 24fps. There are other games on the PS4 that have superior graphics, but still never drop below 60fps. The fact that this game does though makes no sense.

What technically counts as a story for Alekhine's Gun is a thinly spread doomsday plot that only exists to have you travel to various locations from the 1940's through the 1960's. You must travel to many different environments around the world, over the span of 3 decades, in order to eliminate targets, destroy sensitive information, and gather intel in order to keep the Cold War from boiling over. This story is primarily played out with single frame, black and white drawings with voice overs. For some reason, even these cutscenes suffer frame frequent frame rate dips.

Alekhine's Gun would have benefited greatly from a "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."-esque spy plot. You already play as a Russian spy, and there is an American CIA agent you save that is suspicious of you. Instead, we're stuck with a game that takes itself much too seriously. Which wouldn't have been bad if the story was actually engaging.

The bits of story that are actually fleshed out are the backgrounds of your targets and how they connect to real world events of the time. It's clear that the developers spent a lot of time studying the world's history during the Cold War. It's genuinely interesting to see how these fictional events would have fit in the real world.

Here is where Alekhine's Gun shines bright, the gameplay. Maximum Games were able to take the best elements of Death to Spies 2 and Hitman: Blood Money and put them into one game. As you progress through Alekhine's Gun, you will be given more and more unique ways of disposing of your targets and completing your objectives.

Simple ways of eliminating your targets, such as choking and poisoning, will eventually turn into electrocution, accidental chandelier positioning and BBQing gone wrong. Admittedly, not as unique as the ways of killing your targets in the Hitman entries, but Alekhine's Gun still offers a vast array of elimination and opportunities. Although, performing the same kill over and over will probably burn you out, so make sure to either take breaks or change up your play style from time to time.

Loadout and gear customization isn't as in depth as, say, Blood Money, but it certainly comes in handy with the 11 open levels you are tasked with completing. All the environments feel distinct and fun to play in. From a Nazi castle, to a busy hotel in Switzerland, to a mob boss' huge villa in New York The entire level is open to you from the get-go as well, so there's no need to wait for the other half of the map to unlock when the game deems you are worthy to proceed.

One welcome addition is the ability to save and load whenever you want. This may seem like something that isn't praise worthy, but it's a feature that is seemingly omitted from almost every faux mainstream stealth game nowadays. What may irritate many more modern gamers is that Alekhine's Gun lacks a basic autosave feature. So make sure to save before you do anything risky, or else you will be forced to replay from your last manual save point.

Is Alekhine's Gun a bad game? No, a bad game is a game that fails to achieve what it was aiming for. Maximum Games aimed for a fun, Hitman-esque stealth game in a Cold War setting, and they succeeded with that. Many people seem to forget that not every game needs to be Citizen Kane or a work of art to hang in a museum. Some games just want to be games. Although tripping over a few graphical and narrative hurdles, Alekhine's Gun core experience is a fun stealth romp that hearkens back to the days of Hitman: Blood Money.

Momodora: RUtM (Reverie Under the Moonlight) is a game about a small priestess named Kaho who comes across the lands to a foreign kingdom where a dark magic has been slowly encroaching into hers. Kaho is no ordinary priestess though; she wields a small maple leaf that doubles as a sword/fan/thing? She also wields a bow, of which she is seemingly a master at. Her travels bring her to Karst City, the home of the kingdoms queen and hopefully an answer to where the curse is coming from.

Don't Ask me to explain. It's magic, there is none.

The games art style is obviously pixelized, but it makes the game look very charming. Combined with the music it can be very atmospheric at times. Mechanically the game works very well, combos feel satisfying to land, multiple times in a row with a few shots from the bow for good measure. But the thing to tie it all together is the dodge mechanic. A short and simple roll in one direction is by no means exciting on its own, but with a quick paced combo'em up style combat system it makes everything feel tighter. Granted your i-frames won't always save you. The game also packs a few upgrades/items that make things a little bit spicier. As well as the staple healing item in the form of 'Bellflowers' that work on a charge system (reminds me of orange juice for some reason).

Its obvious that Momodora: RUtM pulls inspiration from several sources, being a metroidvania, but packs quite a unique feel that sets it apart. It is however fairly short, and is possible to finish in one sitting (including all item collection, if you really wanted to). But has an NG+ system along with several hard to get achievements for those completionists out there. If you're experienced with metroidvania styled games you'll find this one easy enough to progress through, with just enough challenge to keep you trying again and again. If its too easy you can ramp up the difficulty all the way to hard, you masochist.

Beware amazing chest, in short try attack.

In my opinion the game was a blast; a short little gem packed with action and some good ole-timey exploration. However I feel like it could have been so much more. More enemies, more bosses, more challenge, more areas, more more more! But having played the previous iterations of the series I can say for damn sure that this is by far the best, in every way.

The story however for me is the most lacking aspect. Characters in the game operate similarly to those in Dark Souls where you'll encounter them at certain points of the game if you aid/interact with them. Dialogue is sometimes weird in English (likely a byproduct of translation), and the story arcs are a little confusing sometimes, but it's a minor gripe.

Whatever you say, Sans.

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is now available in the Steam Store for 8.99 Euro, 9.99 USD. A reasonable price when you consider its replayability.

Recommended? Yes, definitely for those who enjoy the metroidvania genre. And for some if their looking for a game to pass a couple hours with and not have to get completely stuck in.

A solid 7/10. Hopefully enough incentive for another one to be made.

http://www.bombservice.com/momo4.html - Dev's Website.

The Game is set at the foot of an expansive estate, owned by a anscestor of the player's.The player soon learns that the ancestor has been secretly excavating beneath his manor releasing a great evil upon the world. Horrified and broken, the ancestor took his own life, leaving his hamlet in ruin. And so, the player steps in, inheriting their relative‘s lands and are set to undo the corruption that was unleashed. Controlling a group of four heroes, and a force of many more, the player is tasked on exploring and clearing wide variety of areas, ranging from undead infested ruins to twisted and cavernous coves. Each successful expedition into the the ancestor‘s lands uncovers more of its dark past and brings the hamlet closer to its former glory.

Darkest Dungeon delivers an unique and powerful aesthetic feel combining a grotesque Gothic art style, robust soundtrack and well-crafted sound effects. Although, what really sets this game from others is its great narration. Mechanically the game is very satisfying, each attack, spell and action feel like they have great import to a missions sucess. Obliterating the enemy front line with one well placed crit is indescribably fun. A unique game mechanic that makes Darkest Dungeon's absurdly difficult combat less impossible is the death's door mechanic. Once a hero reaches zero health, they do not instantly die, but rather, are put to death's door, where each hit on that hero has a chance to kill them. Having a hero brought to death‘s door is always terrifying, as the player is trying desperately to try and save the hero, delaying their inescapable end.

Another particularly striking aspect of this game is its stress mechanic, which introduces a psychological aspect to the game. Throughout the quests heroes will accumulate stress during battles and through object interactions and once they've had enough of the horrors, they will become afflicted. These afflictions greatly hinder their combat ability, stresses out their party and are overall unpleasant to have. Thus, stress relief comes into place taking up a huge part of this game. After the quest is over, a stressed hero could be sent to one of the many stress relief activities inside the tavern or the abbey, for a small fee, of course. However, if an afflicted hero fills their stress bar for a second time, they are treated with a heart attack, which immediately puts them at death's door, or if they are at death's door- instantly kills them. To sum, this mechanic is in place to make the heroes more human, it shows what inner turmoil a hero would actually face when traversing grim and harsh dungeon halls, forced to fight for their lives.

Darkest Dungeon is a brutally punishing and difficult game, that‘s what it‘s famed for. In the very start, right after the opening cinematic the player is treated with a little disclaimer warning you about the perils they will face ahead, stating that their favorite heroes will indeed succumb to the evil therein. But there's still an option for more casual players to disable a few hard game mechanics in the options screen, making the game so much easier.

To add, the game has a lot of riveting content, plentiful of fleshed out bosses and some replayability with NG+. For completionists, there are quite a few hellishly difficult and rare achievements to be had on steam.

In the end, I find this game worth all the time I had spent on it, even though the game felt a little bit grindy and repetitive at the end while preparing my expeditions to the final quest. Still, I had many really memorable moments while playing this game.

Also, there‘s an argument to be made that the game is too RNG based. That may be true to some degree, a good player is more than capable of keeping their heroes alive, no matter how grim things look, there is always the retreat button, which is often overlooked by most players. Having over two hundred hours of experience in this game I managed to beat NG+ only losing three heroes. RNG is not that terrifying and can be easily countered by good party compositions, equipment and planning, if you asked me.

8/10, Atmospheric, memorable and challenging game, yet a bit grindy at points.

Darkest Dungeon is available on steam for 22.99 Euros, 24.99 USD. The price may be a bit steep, but you‘re getting a lot out of this game.

The game still gets occasional updates, you can find out more about them before they get released on the game‘s website www.darkestdungeon.com

I would most definitely recommend playing this game for anyone who enjoys a challenge and appreciates a grim, Lovecraft inspired aesthetic. This game will definitely keep you engaged for weeks.

For years, Remedy Entertainment have been pioneers of storytelling and gameplay. From Max Payne to Alan Wake, Remedy have started trends and awed viewers with their unique stories, and with their newest outing on Xbox One, is Quantum Break also able to hold a candle to Remedy's legacy?

Developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft, Quantum Break is a third person action adventure with an all star cast. Quantum Break was actually the first game ever announced for the Xbox One all the way back in 2013. So let's see if that long wait was worth it.

The end of time is rapidly approaching due to a time travel experiment gone horribly wrong. Starring Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Gillan, and Dominic Monaghan; Quantum Break follows Jack Joyce (Shawn Ashmore) as he attempts to stop the end of time with his new founded time manipulative powers while his once best friend, Paul Serene (Aidan Gillan), uses his powers to let the end of time to take it's course.

Time travel isn't exactly an original story basis, but Remedy have found an exceptional way of making it fresh again. Typically, whenever a story has the involvement of time travel, you can expect countless plot holes and "scientific" elements that make absolutely no sense. You won't find any of that here. Quantum Break features the most realistic depiction of time travel you will ever experience in a form of media. It's apparent that Remedy spent years researching the plausibility of time travel and how it could be applied to the real world. It's difficult to describe without experiencing it for yourself, but even with limited knowledge of time travel, Quantum Break displays the most true to life use of a time machine and the consequences that would inevitably follow.

Anyone who has witnessed a Hollywood actor in a video game knows the worry that follows. Hollywood actors phoning in their performance and waiting for their checks to clear is a common practice with video games, but not here. Everyone brings their best performance and every character feels real; Aidan Gillan as Paul Serene and Dominic Monaghan as Jack's brother, Will, being stand out additions. There is one problem though, and it's that you will never really feel that attached to anyone. Sure, they're well rounded characters, but you never really feel the same desperate need to help or save another character in danger like you would have in Max Payne or Alan Wake.

Quantum Break is further proof that true to life graphics are just around the corner. Remember how amazing the facial capture of L.A. Noire was back in 2011? Well, I'm glad to report that the technology behind Quantum Break manages to not only look better than the facial capture found in L.A. Noire, but also make you question if you are watching the accompanying live action show or an in game cutscene. Every detail of an actor's face is captured in shocking detail and each of their animations are captured so well that it looks like you are finally playing as a human being and not a plastic doll. It's also quite humorous seeing Aidan Gillan aged 17 years in reverse at the beginning.

Texture detail on everything from firearms, vehicles, walls, and the ground; to even little details like posters and TV/computer monitors are some of the best that I've seen in years. Even the time distortion effects are great and original. Every time Jack uses his time powers or the entire world freezes in time, the effects are neat to look at. Polygons are ripped apart and objects appear to look as if they are in two time periods at the same time. Like a broken mirror displaying an object from different angles. If time did begin to break down, this is what it would look like.

The only problem with the graphics lies in its resolution on Xbox One. This is the first time I was ever able to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. 720p is the base resolution for Quantum Break, but it also hosts 4x MSAA to present high pixel quality and complex shading/effects. While this is nice, sometimes the picture just isn't that clear and it's a shame because Quantum Break is a phenomenal game in every other regard. We can blame hardware limitations on this one.

Going into Quantum Break, I expected Alan Wake with Max Payne-esque bullet time. While that is, in a sense, what I got, that would be a huge oversimplification of the entire product. Unlike the first two Max Payne games and Alan Wake, Quantum Break is a cover shooter. Before preconceived notions of Gears of War cover shooters come to mind, know that Quantum Break is not at all like that.

Those who played the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider will feel right at home with this cover system. Unlike, say, literally every cover shooter on the market, you don't tap a button and become instantly glued to a chest high wall to shoot at enemies. Instead, once you are in a combat situation, Jack will immediately duck behind any cover he can fit under, but you can still move around freely. While this is an option, you will hardly ever find yourself doing this because of your borderline overpowered time abilities.

Within the first couple acts, you are given almost all of your time powers. Standouts include: being able to see through walls, the ability to dash across the room and slow down time to pick out targets to shoot, and creating a stasis bubble around enemies and firing into it so that a hail of bullets flies into them when the bubble dissipates. Even on the hardest difficulty, I dare you to die once outside of the tricky time manipulated platform puzzles. As long as you hide behind cover and give yourself time to heal when you are low on health you will probably never see the death screen.

The problem with giving the player almost all of the powers the game has to offer is that you will find yourself doing the exact same thing all the way to the end. It sounds like it becomes repetitive or even boring, but that's where the show comes in. Once you begin to tire of the gameplay, you have finished the act and unlocked a new episode, but I never found myself bored. In fact, I had to break myself away from the game so I wouldn't finish too quickly. Even after taking my time to enjoy every little detail Quantum Break had to offer, I still clocked in at a little over 9 hours (not including the TV episodes). This is a little on the short side for a purely single player experience, but the game is built around multiple replays so you can change your decisions and see how the story ends differently than your last play through.

Where Shawn Ashmore as Jack Joyce is the star of the game, Patrick Heusinger as Liam Burke is the star of the Quantum Break show. Shawn Ashmore is reduced to a mere cameo in each episode, but that's okay because Patrick Heusinger absolutely steals the show as Liam Burke. Blurring the lines between good and bad, the Quantum Break show mainly focuses on Liam Burke as he discovers the truth about Monarch Solutions and what is really going on with time ending.

The show features almost an entirely new cast from the game (with the exception of Aidan Gillen), featuring: Patrick Heusinger as Liam Burke, Lance Reddick as Martin Hatch, Marshall Allman as Charlie, and Mimi Michaels as Fiona. Although given less time than their in game cast mates, the cast of the show also have just enough time for all their characters to become three dimensional and feel like real people.

The way the show works with the game is that at the end of each act of the game, you are given control of Paul Serene as he makes a decision that will affect the next episode of the show and, consequently, the rest of the game. At first, the choices you make as Paul seem purely cosmetic in nature, but soon you will be making choices that affect the locations you visit and which enemies you will face. Each episode only runs for about 30 minutes; which is plenty of time to cool down from all the action you played through. You are also able to skip each episode, but that is not recommended if you are paying attention to the story.

The way Remedy interjected the show into the game without it feeling forced is impressive, but one thing almost kills it. The show is streamed rather than being on the disk. This may not sound like a huge problem, but one slip up in your internet connection (or no internet connection at all) will cause the show to buffer and will force you to watch in a resolution that can dip below 360p at times. The one saving grace to this is that you have the option to download the offline episodes as free DLC, but the download is 75GB, so get ready to clear up your hard drive to avoid the pesky "Content Buffering. Please Wait..." icon plaguing your viewing experience.

There are some genuinely impressive shots in the show and the action seems like it could have been intense to watch, but someone seems to have forgotten to tell the director that filming close up to the action and using a shaky cam is awful and (or should have) died off in the mid-2000's. Although small, it was still a bit disappointing that the show wasn't standalone. Say you have a friend that would love the story of the show, but doesn't play video games. You wouldn't be able to have them watch the show because the show depends a bit too much on the narrative only seen in the game. Like I said, it's a small annoyance, but it doesn't detract from the overall exceptional show that could rival the likes of Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Let's hope for a season two.

The number one killer may be time, but you will have a killer time with Quantum Break. To this day, Remedy has never disappointed with their incredible writing and storytelling abilities, and Quantum Break is no exception. Despite a few odd graphical problems and streaming issues, Quantum Break is a definite contender for game of the year and a worthy successor to Max Payne and Alan Wake.

Developed by id Software and published by Bethesda, Doom is a first-person shooter with a nostalgic feel. This is the fist major installment in the Doom series since 2004 and has been anticipated by the loyal community. After playing the early access Doom beta, I thought the newly releasing game has a lot of potential but still isn't quite there. What I mean by this is that there were a lot of aspects of the game that didn't quite seem fully developed. Obviously this is a beta so the game isn't finished, but it still is a good representation of what it could look like when the game launches on May 13. Here were my initial thoughts after playing the beta for a couple hours:

Pro Features:

-Graphically looked absolutely stunning

-Movement felt very smooth and fluent

-Lots of customizable features for your character and weapons

-A brand new game that contains a nostalgic feel when playing

Possible areas of improvement:

-The guns seem VERY week and take a ridiculous amount of shots to kill an opponent

-The demon is extremely hard to kill and quite rare to obtain

-Weapon choices are very limited (most likely due to beta stage)

-Only 2 maps and 2 game mode (also most likely to to beta stage)

If you have not played the beta yet I recommend you download it and play it while it is open. The beta is open from April 15-17 and the full game launches on May 13. If you want to learn more check out my gameplay video on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF1BVKVnGbnZNwItlH50I2A

The music certainly fits the theme of the game very well and it can be pretty catchy at times, but unfortunately it is hardly what I would call memorable as I hardly ever remember how any of the tracks go, especially when the fights sometimes drown out the music. Also, when playing I've noticed that the pokemon don't use their 4Kids officiated voice overs and instead use their original Japanese VA's. In all honesty, this is probably a smart move as hearing those obnoxious American voice overs in a competitive fighting game would drive me nuts. That's not saying there isn't any English voice acting though. On the contrary, there is English dialog spoken from the trainers and key characters shown in the Single Player campaign, although you're going to want to turn it back to Japanese or even completely off as the "voice acting" (if you want to call it that) is absolutely abysmal; No personality at all. It's like they were just blandly reading their lines from a script and waiting to get paid. But that's beside the point.

Now the game has sixteen playable fighters (two of which that need to be unlocked), fifteen pairs of support pokemon (only three pairs to start with), nineteen arenas (eleven of which need to be unlocked), and six "cheers" that Nia, your guide, will use to boost your support pokemon and/or your synergy gauge (only one to start with). Just about all of the locked content can only be unlocked by playing through the single player campaign and it gives you a decent idea on how some fighters would play online, but at a much more beatable skill level. Now each playable pokemon plays very differently from each other as many of them have various combos that naturally link into each other, but the game does offer much more complex combos for more experienced players. I've been victim of these harsh combos when playing online. Needless to say I'm not very good against fiercely competitive players. But alas.

Now, where this game really shines (in my opinion) is the Phase Mode mechanic. During battles, when you take or deal enough damage, the phase of the battle will shift between Field Phase: where you roam around the arena in 3D space and combat is mostly ranged; and Dual Phase: where combat is restricted to a 2D plane and most of the fighting is done in close-quarters. These two phases drastically change the attacks and combat mechanics so mastering the constant shifting between phases is crucial to winning a match. In addition to this, pokemon can also gain experience and level up which in turn can be used to increase their stats such as attack or defense. You can turn this feature off in Versus mode if you wish, but I'm still uncertain if it is possible to turn it off during online play.

All in all, this game is an excellent first entry in what I hope will be a permanent spin-off series for the Pokemon franchise. While it's a bit light on playable characters (and it pushes this fact in your face as there is VISIBLE space on the roster for at least four more fighters), they all play very uniquely and each stands out as a whole. And if they wanted to, they could always add more through updates and/or DLC. Also, if you have the extra cash, definitely get the fight pad to go along with it, even if only works with one Wii U game. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

Ratchet & Clank is the recently released movie based on the 2002 game; Ratchet & Clank, it also has a tie-in game called Ratchet & Clank and is part of the long running Jak & Daxter series. Oh sorry, I mean Ratchet & Clank.

So admittedly this film has been out for a while now, I only got the chance to see it this Wednesday due to life getting in the way, which the exact same reason why I was only able to get this article out recently.

So a week ago I started out my √¢‚ǨÀúUpcoming Video Game Movies’ article by stating that Ratchet & Clank is the type of property that has great potential to make the transition to film. The fact that Insomniac Games and one of the official writers from the games was working on the project raised my interest and the inclusion of the actors from the games also showed to me that the film-makers were willing to cater to the wants of the fans by not sacrificing the personality that the canon voice actors have given them, presenting a project where all the pieces can be assembled into a film that encapsulates what people love about Ratchet & Clank and presenting it to a wider audience.

It blew.

Not only was the humour flat, the characters dull and the plot resembling the form curdled milk might take if it was being fingered by a Swiss man, but the action was oddly subdued. So be prepared as I eat my own words as I tell you why this film isn’t worth your time.

None of the action sequences in this film were exciting; there’s a bit where Ratchet flies around with a magnet to stop some robots, a bit where Ratchet and Co run away from some robots, and an underwhelming final battle. That’s it. The direction of the action is done in a way that everything seems slow; a far cry from the series origins where you can rush around making use of any weapons you have to defeat enemies. Speaking of which, the weapons are never given priority or focus upon in this film, they’re just there and could honestly have been replaced by anything. There’s a training montage and sometimes weapons are used in big set pieces, but it doesn’t add anything to the substance of the film and seems to just be there for fanservice.

“Oh but this is a film! And in your last article you said that films have to put more focus on plot and characters than games do!“

Yes, that is true Mr. Mysterious Speaking People’s Person. But R&C doesn’t do that right either.

So the plot. Chairman Drek is destroying and harvesting planets to rebuild his own one. The concept of a giant space station that blows up planets might be interesting if there weren’t three Star Wars movies with that exact same plot device. Ratchet wants to help the Galactic Rangers defeat Drek because he wants to be a hero, but he gets rejected by Captain Qwark. The problem with this is that it’s clear the writers were trying to make us empathise with Ratchet for being rejected, but at this point in the film, Ratchet has done precisely nothing heroic and has at worst tested my patience for waiting for something interesting to happen throughout the runtime. Then he meets a robot dubbed √¢‚ǨÀúClank’ who has information that might be useful in defeating Drek. And then the adventure happens. Eventually.

Yes, the plot has various issues, namely that it can’t decide on whether it wants to remain faithful to the source material or take the story in a new direction as this so-called √¢‚ǨÀúre-imagining’ attempts desperately to appeal to a new audience, failing to make that balance between fans of the original or new fans. The film doesn’t seem to know what it’s audience is either. As mentioned, the plot is largely based on the 2002 game and I believe it since the script reads like something conceived from that era. With obnoxious quips such as √¢‚ǨÀúSweet’, √¢‚ǨÀúWicked’ and other words that are being thrown about in a non-ironic context scattered throughout the film.

The underdeveloped characters and meandering story leave you bored while you watch the various colours flashing onscreen and questioning how close to the climax the film actually is. The film is only around 90 minutes long yet it feels so much longer since there is little to feel invested in, even the climax of the film involves protecting a planet we’ve never seen before and don’t care about since the stakes are so low, this is because apparently the last planet that Drek blew up was evacuated. As in Everyone got off on time. There’s a fine line between suspension of disbelief and pure Fantasy you know.

In the run-up to the release for this film you may have seen this video clip:

You may have noticed the annoying Qwark fanboy from this clip. He’s annoying. But you may have also noticed that Clank makes use of a speech recorded to call out Ratchet’s lie about being friends with the Rangers. A well written story would have used this as a √¢‚ǨÀúChekov’s Gun’ effect where this would be used later in the film for a different purpose, but it never has any effect on the film at all, nor does Ratchet’s lie put any strain on his relationship with Clank (I’ll go into some more detail about that later).

Indeed several elements such as the one mentioned appear throughout the film yet have no impact on the plot later on, the inverse it also true. You may have seen the use of the √¢‚ǨÀúSheepinator’ in several of the Trailers and TV Spots, this gun is retained from the games and is used to turn enemies into sheep, likely a piece of fanservice to appeal to its prior audience. Bad news, it appears a grand total of once in the entire film, is never mentioned before that point and is never used again, ultimately making the presence of a fantastic weapon in a story that otherwise wants to be taken seriously seem extremely out of place.

Speaking of fanservice, there are several nods to previous games in the series that feel extremely out of place. An example is when Qwark is using a computer and the start-up tune for the original PlayStation plays (Ratchet & Clank never appeared on the PS1 by the way, making me question why it was added); it’s extremely jarring and takes you out of the movie. Another example is when we see one of the rangers training using a game. Eagle eyed viewers will notice that game is clearly Ratchet & Clank 3 played in First-Person mode. What may have been intended as an innocent piece of fanservice will be really out of place to fans of the series and will probably make common viewers do a double take upon what they’re seeing.

The characterization is a mess as well. In the original 2002 game (I haven’t played the 2016 reboot game admittedly, for all intents and purposes I hear it's great), Ratchet was a loner and a jerk to pretty much everyone and had a dated late-90s surfer dude attitude. I never liked his characterisation in that game, but upon seeing this film I realise how important that characterisation was to the Character and the overall appeal to the series. 2016!Ratchet is presented as dorky wannabe hero who is clumsy but has a good heart, I know this because throughout the film several characters literally say he has a good heart.

Even though I don’t like 2002 Ratchet, I do acknowledge that his transition from abrasive jerkass to the lovable Hero of the sequels is a great factor to the Characters lasting appeal and personal strengths. 2016 Ratchet is presented as a bland hero who is not interesting enough to get invested in.

Clank’s role in the film is completely superfluous. Considering his name is in the bloody title of the film that’s a pretty big misstep. In the 2002 game, the relationship between the two title characters was a big part of the development and appeal of the game, one has to wonder why this important element was omitted from the film. The two leads barely interact with each other and even when they do there is no meaningful conversation between them.

The new characters that have been added to the film are a bunch of the most forgettable supporting roles I’ve ever seen. A group of heroes known as the Galactic Rangers have been re-imagined as a superhero team led by Captain Qwark for this iteration of the franchise; they are all boring and forgettable. I don’t remember a single thing about any of them. Not one.

Ratchet gets a mentor early in the film played by John Goodman, now I like John Goodman but his role is literally any generic mentor type character you can think of. Imagine Obi-Wan if he didn’t die and just told Luke to be good. That’s the role. What a complete waste of your John Goodman.

Chairman Drek returns as the chief baddie for the film, this time played by Paul Giamatti, now for what it’s worth, Giamatti probably gives one of the best performances in the film outside of Jim Ward as Qwark and David Kaye as Clank, he does seem like he’s having fun with his part for what it’s worth and he does encapsulate the characteristics of the villain fairly well. Drek’s motivations have changed this time round to make him slightly more sympathetic, whereas 2002 Drek was a complete monster through and through, I won’t fault the filmmakers for wanting to make him more sympathetic. Both incarnations of the character have their strengths and weaknesses.

Dr. Nefarious is in the film as well. They screwed up big time with this character, the Nefarious of the games in my opinion, is one of the funniest characters put in a game. Film Nefarious is incredibly boring. He does nothing funny in the film and his status as a Mad Scientist has been flanderized into a Jerk who just happens to be a scientist. How the hell do you make Dr Nefarious boring!? I can accept applying him into the story but if you’re gonna do that, then at least make him fun to watch!

And finally we have Captain Qwark. He betrays everyone. I hesitate to call this a spoiler since this happened in the original game as well, so I apologise for spoiling a 14 year old game for you. I won’t fault Jim Ward’s performance since he definitely knows the role he’s been playing for the past dozen years through and through. But his characterisation makes no sense.

In the 2002 game, Qwark was working with Drek from the start because Drek was sponsoring him and making him loads of money. 2016 Qwark betrays everyone about halfway through because he was jealous of Ratchet getting all the hero attention. That’s a bloody weak excuse. It doesn’t even make any sense why he stays with Drek until the Climax either, Qwark’s betrayal is uncovered by Ratchet who is captured by Drek’s forces, so instead of killing Ratchet, Drek decides to let him go because... I have no idea. Why doesn’t Drek just kill him? By letting Ratchet live, Qwark's betrayal becomes public, so why the hell would anyone accept him as a hero now? This makes no sense; why doesn’t he just turn Drek in there and then!? Their deal is broken!

A similar thing happens later on after Sylvester Stallone’s character (who is clearly phoning in his role) gets anticlimactically killed off, when one of Drek's lackeys ends up turning good for some inexplicable reason.

“Well aside from everything negative that has been stated prior to this point, is it at least funny?“

Nope. If they can’t even make Nefarious funny then what else is there? The aforementioned training montage involves lots of prat-falls and stuff going wrong, but it isn’t funny, There’s a running gag where Drek’s minions are seen texting their stereotypical Jewish-sounding mothers during his speeches, it isn’t funny though. I will admit that I did chuckle a few times at scenes that I have already forgotten, and the payoff for the unfunny texting gag was the one time in the entire film that I laughed out loud. But other than that, it fails in the humour department.

Animation-wise, there really is nothing spectacular about it, the animation is fine in most parts of the film, but the use of animation never factors into making anything more exciting, a competent film would have used the fluidity of animation to improve the direction of the action, but that never happens, Ratchet runs to this place and fires a gun. There are no non-stop action moments throughout this film, like the whole film is taking a breather from doing nothing.

Some things that are legitimately bad relating to the animation however; there’s a moment when a planet is destroyed and the debris looks like it was rendered in 2002. There’s an image of the President of Planet Whatever which looks unaltered from his appearance in Ratchet & Clank 3 way back in 2004! In all Crowd shots there are dozens of identical clones present, because apparently the phrase √¢‚ǨÀúVariety is the Spice of life’ just meant throw as much of the same thing into the product and hope that people don’t notice how bland everything tastes.

The soundtrack is forgettable as well.

So aside from the poor direction, clueless writing, boring plot, forgettable characters, mediocre animation, generic soundtrack, weak humour, average performances and awful dialogue, is there anything worth recommending in this film?

Nope.

Nothing about this film works. In my last article I stated that this film would likely be the best video game movie in years. Oh how wrong I was. It’s not completely awful, I don’t think that it will make anyone’s √¢‚ǨÀúWorst of’ lists, but as a film that had a lot of the crew behind the over the top zany action of the games behind it, it’s depressing to see how safe the film is trying to be, appealing to the lowest common denominator and offering little of substance in return, ultimately creating a boring and forgettable product that fails to do justice for the great game series it’s based on.

I also stated in my last article that the film would have to make its budget back quickly to avoid competition with Captain America 3. According to the-numbers.com the film, as of this writing has made around $8million on a $20million budget^[1][2] (although I question how much of that money was left over from the undisclosed budget of the game).

Nobody is interested in seeing this film. In fact the cinema I went to see this film at only had 3 showings a day (for a film which at the time hadn’t even been in cinemas for a week!) and there were a grand total of four people in the theatre: Me, my R&C-savvy friend (Who hated it even more than I did), some kid and her dad, and even they seemed bored by the film at the end of it all.

Somewhere among this 90 minute train ride of tedium and generic sci-fi slop is the film that I wanted to see, but what we ultimately have is a film with no ambition to be anything more than a promotion for a vastly superior game. And it feels very alien to me as well considering that this is the ONLY thing in the entire Ratchet & Clank franchise to receive universally negative reviews from critics (Yes, both those puns were deliberate).

So I guess Warcraft is the film that people are gonna be hyping as the first great video game movie (because I refuse to live in a future where people praise Angry Birds as a cinematic masterpiece), and for what it’s worth, Warcraft does have a good director behind it. Also considering how the upcoming Sly Cooper movie features the same Director and I was initially sceptical about that one, so I guess we can list that film as a premature dud.

Go watch Zootopia (yes, it’s still in Cinemas after all this time) or Captain America 3 instead as this film fails to do justice to the game franchise it’s based on or to entertainment as a whole. I myself will likely forget the entire film by the end of next week.

References:

[1] http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Ratchet-and-Clank#tab=summary

[2] http://www.awn.com/animationworld/kevin-munroe-talks-ratchet-clank

JUST A HEADS UP
Unlike my past reviews, this one contains major spoilers to the game's rebooted story.
If you do not wish to be spoiled on the game's altered plot, please stop reading now.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Now as I was saying, Star Fox Zero has been completely rebooted and everything in it was re-imagined from scratch. Shigeru Miyamoto has even described it has being neither a sequel or a prequel, so I guess that would be an apt enough description. The game for the most part has the same design as the previous games where you would either fly down a predetermined path and shoot anything that impedes your progress, or have free-range flight where you need to actively hunt down your targets. But an additional level element was added to the game to make it feel a little more cinematic: Target Mode, where the target enemy is always the focus on the TV screen. This is where the game's new control gimmicks come into play.

Unlike Star Fox 64 or Star Fox Assault, Star Fox Zero has a brand new control scheme that tries to take advantage of the Wii U GamePad as much as possible. The GamePad's screen always has a first person view from the cockpit of the Arwing, the radio transmissions from your squad-mates and enemies only come from the GamePad's speakers, and aiming the targeting reticle is primarily done with the GamePad's gyro sensor. In addition to these GamePad gimmicks, the controls were mixed up a bit as well in an attempt to try and emulate the controls of a fighter jet (all steering is on the left stick, thrusters and rolling is on the right stick, and the ship's guns and bombs are on the ZR and R buttons respectively). And if that wasn't enough, there are three vehicles that each have different controls with two of them having the ability to transform which alters their controls even further. With these new controls and gimmicks, it makes the game feel a bit awkward and confusing to play, especially during the Target Mode segments where the camera focuses entirely on the enemy. It all makes it feel not fun...AT FIRST.

You see, this game had a very unusual form of Stockholm Syndrome on me. After I did a few missions in the game (about 2 hours worth) and played through some of the alternate paths, it all suddenly clicked for me and the controls finally started to make sense. From that point on, I was starting to enjoy the game much more than I was previously. The action was fast and exciting, the varied gameplay styles were a nice change of pace, and the environments were creative and colorful. I was even able to finally enjoy the music as well as most of them were remade from Star Fox 64. The amiibo features were also quite fun; playing as the Retro and Black Arwings gave the game a new challenge to it I was hoping for. It's just a shame that after I had gotten used to the controls that there is no multiplayer (local OR online) outside of the local Co-Op Mode (which is basically a Han & Chewie mode where one pilots the ship and the other mans the guns).

Now the story and level progression is where this game takes an unprecedented turn. Unlike Star Fox 64 which is where Zero gets most of its inspiration, the game is mostly linear with branching paths having little to no impact on the ending of the game. This is a rather big oversight as Star Fox 64 had a great reward system where in most stages if you did an unknown additional task during the level such as killing a certain number of enemies before the end or by keeping a certain character alive, you were given the opportunity to take a harder path which would lead to the true final battle and the canon ending of the game. Because that is no longer the case, there is now a lack of motivation to unlock the alternate paths (even though I did it anyway). In addition to this, many of the stages from the original game have been renamed, removed or completely changed to fit the new story. The Nebulae Sectors are now Alpha, Beta, and Gamma instead of X, Y, and Z; Area 6 has been replaced with a new Sector which appears to be a black hole called Sector Omega; Aquas, Katina, Macbeth, and Bolse are completely absent; and the biggest offender, Venom has been reduced to the size of a small moon and remodeled to be a Death Star like device. This last bit right here is why I can safely say that Zero is a reboot and not a re-imagining; it makes the plot of Star Fox Command completely null and void. That being said, I still really liked the level design and I loved the boss fights.

Now the post-game content is probably where a lot of players will get the most enjoyment assuming they stuck around long enough to beat the game. Finishing the main story once will unlock Arcade Mode which is a one sitting play-through of the game with no system map, and only ONE life. You can collect three gold rings to store an extra life for later, but they unfortunately don't stack. That means, one extra life is all you can keep at any one time. This, and the fact that the game keeps track of your high-score and all of the different flight paths you take during a single run is what Miyamoto was talking about when he and Platinum were trying to make the game as replayable as possible. And every time I beat it, I can't help but shed a tear whenever I see that dedication to Iwata in the credits.

All in all, Star Fox Zero is quite fun, but only after you get the hang of the controls. As such, I will not be giving this game a star score like I usually do since it is very much an acquired taste due to the steep learning curve. The remade story completely changed the timeline for the earlier made games, but if Nintendo were to continue the series, I'm sure they could figure out how to reintroduce old characters and worlds. Now the physical version of the game also came with Star Fox Guard as a bonus, but I'll cover that another time. But until then, I'll be seeing you.