Reviews – Page 8

Xenoraid Review [Nintendo Switch] – A Fun Vertical Shooter To Take On The Go

November 21, 2017November 21, 2017 by Jordan Scott, posted in Reviews

At the exact time that you read this, there will be fifty-three billion vertically scrolling shoot’em up games out on the market available on every system and platform you can think of. I might have just made that up, but after several decades in existence, the vertical shooter has seen a multitude of titles, most disappearing into the nether realm after a brief existence. Xenoraid by developer 10tons, now available on the Nintendo Switch, may have its faults, but the game is a surprisingly fun addition to an excruciatingly crowded genre.

Does anyone actually pay attention to the story in these types of games? Do you sit down and hope for a Game of Thrones level of drama and intrigue? In the case of Xenoraid, don’t expect Battlestar quality of writing as you battle your way through dozens of baddies, hell-bent on destroying you. Simply put, the game revolves around the first space war between Earth and a “superior” alien race. Your new alien enemy would like nothing more than to see you dead, but humans have been playing vertical shooters for years, so we got this.

To help ward off the incoming alien raiders, players control four fighters at the start of the game, which you can instantly swap out throughout the course of a mission. As the game progresses, players have the option of buying new ships in varying styles, as well as a wide array of weapons, bombs, upgrades, and boosters. New ships, as well as the aforementioned upgrades, are purchased with credits you pick up in battle.

After each mission, players can repair their damaged ships in addition to the upgrades. Between the repairs and upgrades though, I feel the game doesn’t yield enough of the credits for everything you would want to do. At one point, I needed to buy a new ship, but couldn’t afford to also repair the damaged ones. I had to go into the next mission with one good fighter, and three that were in various states of disrepair. The fact that you need many credits for upgrades, ships, and repairs, but don’t get nearly enough during a mission, was something I felt hampered the game throughout.

Xenoraid utilizes a randomization tactic; ensuring players can’t “memorize” a level, making it easier to beat. Ships enter the viewing screen at random points, exit, and reappear in different locations. It reminded me of the classic arcade game Asteroids in the way the ships fly through space. I was impressed with the shooting mechanics of the game, which allow you to tilt your ship, shooting enemies at an angle who might be entering the playing field on opposite sides of the screen. Your ships do have a max angle in which they can turn however, which I found slightly frustrating at times when an enemy was just out of reach; I wished they allowed for full 360 firing.

When I first started playing Xenoraid, I felt the game was disappointingly easy. I am not sure if this was in order to give me a false sense of security, but after a few missions, I found myself struggling to stay alive. If anything, I would say the game is a tad uneven in the level design. Sometimes you’re begging for something to shoot, while at other points it gets a little too crowded.

The game also features a laboratory, which will allow players to research new weapons and technology to add to their respective fighters. These features can be unlocked/bought using different types of credits, which are picked up during missions. I highly recommend players pick-and-choose what to research carefully, since you have a limited number of special credits. With a lack of credits aside, customizing your ships works really well in Xenoraid. With four ships, players can modify each to best suit their needs. Having a ringer in your corner makes it easier to defeat harder enemies and bosses throughout the over 40 missions.

Another small feature that I thought made the game more challenging was its focus on shooting. In so many games of the like, you simply hold down the trigger button and destroy anything that wanders into the bullet’s path. With Xenoraid, they don’t make it so easy. Holding down the fire button will only result in your guns overheating and shutting down for five seconds as they recharge. At this point, you either have to put your flying skills to the test and avoid everything or switch to a backup fighter in the interim. I found the most effective way of dispatching enemies was short and highly focused bursts, making sure not to overheat your guns in the process.

Xenoraid is a good looking game with pretty decent sound design. If you have some friends, all game modes are playable with two to four players in local co-op. I haven’t been able to try this out due to a lack of friends, but I can imagine this feature is fun – though I can also see players getting in each other’s way.

Arelite Core Review [PC] – A World Only A Blacksmith Can Save

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 by Chris Wheatley, posted in Reviews

Arelite Core invests players into a journey in which a master blacksmith embarks on an adventure to witness the secrets of other master blacksmiths based around the world. Played in traditional RPG fashion with gorgeously rendered sprites, established turn-based combat, unforgettable characters and a timeless musical score wrap it all tightly together.

In Arelite Core, a master blacksmith – Karden – from the small village of Arreal undertakes a journey to travel around the world to learn the secrets of his trade. From village to village the legendary blacksmith will meet and greet with other master craftsmen, accompanied by his savvy and egotistical battle buddy, Baeme. Picking up other companions throughout your journey and uncovering truths about the dangerous ancient Arelite stones, players will swiftly grasp the mechanics of this familiar looking RPG.

Traversing through dungeons may lead to hidden paths containing helpful items, as well as more monsters.

A Colorful World

As the simple story progresses about the dedicated craftsman and his cocky companion, the lurking dangers of Arelite – an ancient resource used to make absurdly powerful weapons – is now falling into threatening hands. Knowing the power of Arelite, increasing your knowledge and skills as a blacksmith is now crucial in stopping the evil forces and bringing peace back to the world.

The aesthetics of Arelite Core brings back the early years of the adventuring/RPG genre, with colourful and unique sprites, text-based narrative and an enthralling musical backdrop. Exploring, developing your characters/parties and easy-to-learn turn-based combat all provide for a thrilling ride atop the compelling story following the master blacksmith and his faithful and colourful companions.

The open areas and dungeons to roam are familiar in almost every sense of the word when compared to the 16-bit fantasy titles the gaming community remembers so fondly. Unraveling bits of lore and dialogue by talking to the wandering villagers, or bartering with charismatic business proprietors for useful items, armour and weapons are still the standard when entering new areas. Though the game doesn’t offer much difference when it comes to the traditional RPG mechanics, Arelite Core still manages to produce an immersive story full of role-playing tactics and a plethora of evil monsters.

Traditional turn-based combat mechanics bring common tactics found in a heap of other RPGs.

Classic Combat Mechanics With A Few Quirks

The turn-based combat tactics involve all of the strategic – both defensive and offensive – manoeuvres, including physical strikes, magic, healing and special moves known as Blitz. Battles break out once the player (or the enemy) has made contact, spinning players into a bout filled with a number of powerful monsters. Standard strike attacks deal damage using whichever weapon is equipped by each character. By gaining levels and upgrading your characters, new skill points and weapons will increase the strength of these strike attacks.

Other tactics like parrying and the ultra-powerful Blitz moves offer unique abilities to raise defence, recover health or deal massive blows to tough opponents. Parrying acts as a form of defence to prepare the given player a stance against any incoming attacks, but also adds a touch of health to the character as well. With every landed blow or damage taken, each characters’ blitz bar begins to fill. Every time the blitz meter fills, a point is acquired and may be used to initiate a special blitz skill. Powerful elemental attacks, magic abilities like summoning monster allies, or healing/buffing your companions in battle are only a few of the unique tactics available through the blitz system.

The world is in turmoil against a devious threat using the powerful resource, Arelite.

Strengthening Your Stance

Strengthening your party comes in a variety of useful skill and blitz upgrades. Adding skill points earned through multiple levels, three different categories known as Stances – one for each of the three combat moves – are available to increase in a manner of different ways. Increasing the Strike, Parry and Blitz skills provide a number of buffs, percentage increases in strength or defence, more effective blitz encounters or the ability to stun enemies more frequently. These skill categories act as the main form of character development giving each character a unique twist in combat and strategy.

Blitz, strike and parry moves are all vital stances in overcoming the odds, but having a strong weapon equipped can be just as important. Finding weapons happens, but more often players will find more success in forging their own weapons from resources and metals found throughout their journey. Taking gems and metals to blacksmiths will allow players to forge new weapons and armour for each character, also increasing your Smithing level in the process. The higher the Smithing level, the greater the weapons that can be forged at blacksmith shops.

Tons of foul monsters loom in the vast world of Arelite Core.

Arelite Core Review

While traditional RPGs come a dime a dozen nowadays, it’s refreshing to embark on a journey from a different perspective. Playing as the blacksmith with unyielding determination to become the best at his craft is inspiring and charming. Dragon Slumber creates a riveting tale with intuitive perks, skills and useful upgrades. Tons of vile monsters and a cast glowing with interesting dialogue and deep character traits all fit neatly inside this tightly wound RPG. An experience rivalled by so many, yes, but it still brings its own identity to the saturated genre.

Little Nightmares – Secrets of The Maw Episode 2: The Hideaway Review [PS4]

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 by Tanya Laolapha Pettersen, posted in Reviews

Even though the universe of Little Nightmares has created a tendency to play with fears (some I did not know I had) I nevertheless jump into the second episode of the Secrets of The Maw DLC with both arms and legs, ready to take on whatever it might throw my way.

In the new episode, appropriately titled The Hideaway, the story of The Runaway Kid continues. Just by looking at the promo picture, it already tells us a lot of what the episode is about; and as you can see, we encounter the Nomes once more. If you’ve played the original game (if you haven’t: what are you doing here? Go and play all the other stuff before reading this!) you might be familiar with the Nomes: tiny, white creatures that hide in every nook and cranny. When we played as Six, they were pretty much only functioning as huggable collectibles. Now, they serve a much greater purpose. As we have done repeatedly in these two episodes of the DLC, we encounter familiar rooms from the original game. As before, I believe they are filled with nods to how the old story might connect with the new. In addition to that, Mr Long-armed-grabby-hands is back. Yes indeed, with even longer and grabbier hands than before… Or, at least, that’s what it feels like.

Even though the nomes aren’t much larger in size, they certainly are in numbers this time around. Upon encounter, you hug them (as we are familiar with from the original game) and they start following you – and actually being your adorable little companions for this episode. They are important to the different puzzles – which is new, unexpected and a good surprise. And they also serve a purpose in the bigger picture; which is the heart of the ship, the engine. They remind me of the soot-creatures from the movie Spirited Away, the way they are loyal and hard-working in order to make everything function, because that is their role: they bring coal to the furnace that drives the ship. This is how we, perhaps, learn their function, as we all were probably wondering about earlier in the storyline. At the end of the episode, I feel like I turned The Runaway Kid into The Lord of the Nomes. Which was pretty cool.

Continually, this is where my major problem arrives: the graphics and textual bugs. The nomes would get stuck on things, even though they were moving. Because of this, they would automatically stop following me which is central to progress – it’s a very frustrating bug.

The Hideaway continues the story of The Runaway Kid with minor succession. What I thought would be an interesting episode with more of the elements I love in this universe would turn out to be a rather disappointing affair. However, it offers some intriguing elements like the opportunity of travelling different roads to reach your goal

Very early on in the game, I encountered an audio bug too, which made the speakers on my TV sound as if they were broken (they weren’t). However, restarting the episode made the bug go away and it didn’t reoccur. Apart from that, the sound feels much more intense and powerful in this episode, which leads me to the use of the horror elements – they were not as present as in the first episode, but this episode definitely used the contrast between darkness and light to its advantage. It’s a creepy touch and creates a sense of paranoia we all know so well from this universe.

Even though I am still a bit confused when it comes to the story, the ending of this episode was… Intriguing. Let’s just say that my interest is piqued, and I’m excited to see where it ends. So, grab some popcorn and sit down with me for the last episode of Little Nightmares: Secrets of the Maw – this is going to be juicy.

A final score will be given for Secrets of The Maw at the end.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Beta Review

November 13, 2017November 12, 2017 by Guest Writer, posted in Reviews

Star Wars Battlefront 2 was originally released in the PS2 era of gaming – it was an amazing game. You could play as some of your favourite Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader… Now in 2017, the game has been remade with updated graphics, sounds, and a completely new story.

The Details

Battlefront 2 features 4 different classes, Assault, Specialist, Officer, and Heavy. The Officer, in comparison to the other classes, is the least desirable when you first play the game – but can be quite enjoyable after spending some time with them – after playing the three game modes of Galactic Assault, Strike, and as I call it Starship Shooter. By the way, the Empire looks way better and cleaner in comparison to the ‘Rebel scum’.

The Dark Side Is Better

There has always been this idea that the Dark Side of the Force has a better gym than the “Light” side of the force. This is definitely true for Battlefront 2. In the beta, you can unlock 4, as I call it, champions from the Star Wars series through the dreaded star card system. On the Rebel side, you get Rei (why Rei of all people?), Han Solo (ok a little better). However, on the Dark Side of the Force, you get the mighty Darth Maul, and the best bounty hunter of all time, Boba Fett. You can’t tell me you would rather play with the Rebels when you can get a character like Darth Maul.

Did I Mention The Dark Side Is Better?

Not only are the champions of the Empire/Dark Side more fleshed out but the overall classes you play as and the starships you fly are better too. The Empire may not have advantages in the actual game besides who has the better star card and aim but, 8/10 I would rather play for the Empire. Visually speaking, the Empire looks shinier and more attractive than the Rebels who have been redesigned to look more like an actual army.

Galactic Assault Is Way Too Long

Taking cues from Battlefield 1’s Conquest mode, Battlefront 2 has a similar mode: Galactic Assault. Honestly, it’s not that great. It holds true to the original Battlefront game by being a third-person shooter, sure, but this doesn’t mix well with the long-range exchanges with the enemy team. The shorter version has the third-person option too, but you can go into first-person – the maps are smaller, however! I believe the shooting style should be flipped for these game modes.

But Starship Shooter Is Beautiful

The Starship Shooter mode wins the Silver medal out of the game modes. The controls are awkward at first, until you learn how to use the right analogue stick to move your ship around. The left analogue stick helps with manoeuvrability, but I only really use this when I’m being shot at. Again, the Empire ships look and feel better than the Rebel ships.

Final Thoughts

Battlefront 2 has a lot of potential to be a great game. No doubt. How patient players will be to grind star cards and how much DLC EA releases for this game, however, is the key point here. Star Wars fans deserve a lot more character and map variety in this version of Battlefront 2.

Why Not Join The Dark Side? We Have Better Ships

Want to know why this game will cause you to join the Dark Side? Check out my YouTube video where Yoda goes into the step by step process of how he joined the Dark Side of the Force. I will see you in the game! Thanks for reading.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Review [PS4 Pro] – An Icy Return for the Nora Warrior

November 11, 2017December 19, 2017 by Chris Wheatley, posted in Reviews

Enter the dangerous lands of The Cut

Earlier this year, Guerilla Games launched their new IP set throughout a vast and gorgeous postapocalyptic world in Horizon Zero Dawn. The adventure/RPG took players on an enduring journey 1,000 years into the future where humanity has devolved back to tribal living conditions – only to find themselves an outcast in a world overrun by the many ravenous and hostile machines. Months later, the gaming community uncovered the sacred hidden truths about the ancient world before the fall of civilization and craved more from the Nora warrior, Aloy. Meet The Frozen Wilds.

The icy region of The Frozen Wilds glitters the screen with heavy snowflakes and tundra-like conditions. The Banuk tribe has settled up north in Song’s Edge, a village just before The Cut – a snow-covered territory ravaged by never-before-seen machines, frozen peaks, mountain ranges, and the looming threat known as Thunder’s Drum. A billow of smoke suffocates the sky on the far edge of the map, but reaching the volcanic mountain comes with its own string of both physical, and spiritual, challenges.

The snowy peaks of The Frozen Wilds is an impressive sight, even with the billowing smoke of Thunder’s Drum.

Within the frigid lands of the Cut, Aloy will spend her time completing various tasks and objectives, similar to what she accomplished in Zero Dawn. Along with a new area of the map to explore, new weapons, outfits, characters and, of course, tribe-slaying machines, all await in the sizeable expansion to one of this year’s top releases. Adding more depth to the complex and driven personality of Horizon’s protagonist, Aloy will dive further into the truth surrounding the confusing relationship between the rationally intelligent machines, and their curious, and otherwise unstable, human creators.

The looming threat of Thunder’s Drum

Through the main line of quests featured in The Frozen Wilds, you’ll be introduced to the Banuk settler’s striving to survive in the snowy regions. Led by the chieftain, Aratak, Aloy finds her determination to discover what made the machines so hostile at the feet of the stout and fearless Banuk chieftain. With countless Banuk warriors lost to Thunder’s Drum in previously failed missions, very little hope rests in the dwindling tribe too proud to give in. Luckily, the fierce and persistent Nora warrior sheds any doubt that may inhibit her natural instincts to discover what lies in the depths of the scorching bowels of Thunder’s Drum.

Aloy finds new companions – Chieftain Aratak and Shaman Ourea – in the Banuk settlement, Song’s Edge.

The weapons earned from proving your worth to the Banuk reflect the growth and perseverance our beloved heroine so faithfully exhibits throughout her encouraging story. The Forgefire relentlessly engulfs targets in a rage of flame dealing severe, close-range fire damage, while the Icerail freezes enemies with crisp ice damage in a short-distanced stream of frosty mist. Jolts of electric energy launch from the dominant Stormslinger, adding a useful long-range weapon to the list of cutting-edge weapons found in the treacherous wilderness of The Cut.

In addition to an arsenal of elemental weapons, a fourth skill tree has been added to accommodate the increased level cap. Focused on various travelling aspects of the game, players are now able to grant Aloy with a variety of new skills and abilities. Gathering loot while mounted on an overridden machine, or striking from the back of your travelling companion with the Dismount Strike attack are only a few examples of the added perks to Aloy’s skill tree. Many of these new abilities provide useful and tactical approaches to increase travel time, storage space and repairing your hard-earned, overridden machine mount.

The new Tallneck viewpoint in The Frozen Wilds will first need to be reactivated before climbing atop the roaming machine.

Persevere against all odds

At the core of The Frozen Wilds Aloy finds herself in the midst of a lopsided war between the Banuk warriors, and another corrupt, machine-controlling virus, known as Daemon. Located in the depths of Thunder’s Drum, the Banuk have made their courageous run to infiltrate the mysterious plume of smoke, only to retreat empty-handed, and under-manned. Aloy will be put to the ultimate test of strength and will to determine if she has what it takes to uncover the secrets that lay within the volatile mountain. With the help of the spiritually obedient Shaman, Ourea, players will traverse the frigid lands in search of the hidden mysteries that make up the world Aloy so tenaciously pursues.

The frozen regions of The Cut opens players up to a new cast of keen and colourful characters eager to task Aloy with adventurous missions and reward her with extravagant loot. New hunting missions, side quests including an exciting new Tallneck viewpoint errand, as well as new bows and outfits crafted from the rare and exclusive resource, Bluegleam, are scattered throughout the snow-covered tundra. However, with improved weapons and skills comes new enemy machines, the likes that no warrior has faced before.

Scorchers and the virus corrupted Daemonic Machines are weak but persistent adversaries, while Fireclaws and Frostclaws are enormous and agile machines that deal corresponding elemental damage, often in rapid succession. All of these machines are capable of receiving healing waves generated by the new corrupted Control Towers, which must be destroyed or carefully overridden to reverse its healing effects. These towers are sprawled across the frost-riddled Cut, typically guarded by hordes of hostile machines.

A handful of puzzles await in the Cauldron that rests in the belly of Thunder’s Drum.

Survive. Prevail. We are Banuk.

Horizon Zero Dawn has proven that the courage, confidence and determination of a young, fierce woman, who is overwhelmed with curiosity and under-appreciated by the culture around her, is enough to overcome even the most perilous odds. The Frozen Wilds expands heavily on the brave and righteous protagonist, bringing with it a tale revealing a spiritual Shaman devoted to bringing peace back to the lands in the name of her God, a chieftain too proud and mentally resilient to give in, and a sole survivor achieving everything she can to unravel the mysteries of a world overrun by unpredictable threats, and a dark, catastrophic past.

Time Recoil Review [Nintendo Switch] – After The Battle Comes Quiet

November 10, 2017 by Stephen Carter, posted in Reviews

When it comes to the time travel genre, why is it that the inventors always focus on world domination or wreaking havoc? They never put their inventions to good use or help solve world problems. If they didn’t, however, we wouldn’t find ourselves here in the presence of Time Recoil; a twin-stick, top-down shooter on the Switch.

If this sounds familiar then it’s no surprise as Time Recoil is brought to us by the folks at 10tons; the brains behind JYDGE and Neon Chrome. The indie scene is thriving on Switch at the moment and 10tons seem keen to capitalise on this. The big question is, though, does this deserve a place in your Switch lineup?

Short answer is maybe, and the long answer is it all depends on how accepting you are of the games shortcomings. For all it offers, Time Recoil could be so much more and follow through with its premise of time travel. It shows its hand early, reels you in with a promising story but it all drops off far too quickly.

You’re a rescued scientist who has been exposed to time travel experimentation with few side effects. You worked with the now dictator, Mr Time, in the past and have been brought forward into time to prevent him taking over Europe. The problem now being that his whereabouts are unknown, resulting in you flitting between 70’s and 80’s to track him down and put an end to his reign of terror. This suddenly gets a little convoluted, with the missions being a sequence of fetch quests.

The saving grace of these being the challenge behind reaching your objectives and utilising your time manipulation powers. A consequence of time travel here is that you can’t travel laden with equipment, restricting you to a pistol at the start of each mission with limited ammunition. This pushes you to be both creative and accurate with your shots in order to not waste ammo and build up your powers. Each kill slows down time, and every consecutive kill grants you an ability such as a powerful dash or to cause an explosive rift. Eight consecutive kills will grant you a short bonus of stopping time, with bullets hanging until time resumes and hitting their targets once it has done so.

The problem is, however, being accurate is easier said than done as the sensitivity of the sticks is so high. You often find shots miss their target or that or they embed themselves into a civilian whom you are meant to be rescuing. With relatively few checkpoints, this can easily see you tearing out your hair following numerous deaths. The key to success is through repeated attempts, remembering enemy patterns and placements and remaining relatively unseen. The element of surprise and firing first is of great benefit here.

Time Recoil does look rather nice in both docked and undocked modes with relatively few performance issues in either. It has a charming soundtrack and appearance that is reminiscent of the time periods which you hop between as part of your task. I’d say the same about Time Recoil that I would about JYDGE, however; at a price of £11.99, it’s hard to recommend given that it’s likely to have a short life on your Switch. That’s not because it’s not a good game, it is, but you’ll likely rage quit whilst playing it and mean to come back to it but never do. There are so many other titles out there jostling for your attention that it’s inevitable that this could happen.

Party Hard Tycoon [PC] – A Strategy Game Sorely Lacking In Strategy

November 6, 2017November 6, 2017 by Matt Parker, posted in Reviews

Party harder

Some of the best ‘tycoon’ games put you in tough spots and force you to make decisions. Theme Hospital and Theme Park would ask you to make choices about what items you wanted to buy and where you wanted to place them whilst also asking you to take care of hiring staff and dealing with events, like flu pandemics or broken down rides before they got out of hand.

Party Hard Tycoon is aiming to capture that Theme Hospital vibe here. It asks you plan a party, get the right equipment, food and entertainers into the right venue and then place them accordingly so your bash goes off without a hitch. Sadly, the game is littered with problems, the worst being that there’s no interesting decisions to make and throwing parties isn’t as fun as curing someone of ‘Bloaty Head’.

Some positives firstly though. Party Hard Tycoon sure has a style to it, similar to the developer’s previous game ‘Party Hard’. The characters are tiny, pixelated caricatures that are pretty recognizable even though they’re barely larger than 20 pixels tall. Punk rockers, the members of The Village People and a whole host of pop culture icons are recognisable as they rock up to your rocking party.

Throw a party that’s ‘hype’ enough and you’ll eventually have Darth Vader turn up.

The loading screens also contain some lush visuals and the music is pretty good too. Which is handy given that this is a game all about partying, where music is vital, and also given the fact that you’ll be hearing the same tracks quite a few times over.

It’s a setup

So the setup is that you’re a party planner, new to the scene, and you’re looking to make a name for yourself. You set about doing this by… planning parties, obviously. You’ll start with small venues, like houses and rundown squats where only 10 or 20 people will show up.

Along the way, you’ll get some messages from random people who are all about partying and will want you to throw a shindig that meets their certain criteria. For example, some woman wanted me to throw a party that had 2 laser projectors installed at the venue whilst another time a Rastafarian chap wanted me to throw a reggae-themed party that had 4 dining room tables placed for the party goers.

You see, these challenges aren’t really complicated and they don’t force you to do anything ‘exciting’. Placing laser projectors and dining room tables is all about clicking twice and making sure you have enough money to buy the items in question. They don’t really change anything.

Which can be said of pretty much every decision you make in this game. Sure, you’re tasked with hiring a venue, selecting a theme and then hiring three members of staff to help you with the party, but these decisions aren’t interesting. They all make basic sense – if you’re hiring a rundown squat, a punk theme will be good. If you’re hiring a fancy country house, maybe a more ‘classical’ theme would be better suited? The obvious answer is yes.

You’re then also asked to place some decorations if you want, but I couldn’t see any tangible benefit to this. Green lines were drawn between the two palms tree I just plonked down, which I assumed was good, but I honestly had no idea.

Buying better gear means you can throw better parties. Which isn’t really much of a strategy, is it?

More importantly, you need to place music equipment and food stations. This is also a boring decision to make because it’s not much of a decision at all. If you can afford a better speaker and if your venue has enough electricity to power it, then you buy the better speakers. If you can buy the fancier food table, do that. The more expensive lasers are more ‘effective’ so grab them. There’s no trade-off, no tough dilemma and no engagement from doing any of this. The better things are better, so it’s better to use them.

Let’s get this party started

After you’ve placed all this stuff you click ‘start party’ and watch as those nicely drawn pixel partiers strut into the venue. This is where a frantic game of plate-spinning kicks off as you try and keep the party running smoothly, right?

No.

The party takes care of itself as whether it goes well or not has been decided already. Remember those ‘better speakers’ I mentioned? They add to the ‘hype’ of the party, with more hype leading to happier revellers. So if you could afford the better gear, your party will be better and if you couldn’t then it won’t. Simple as.

You can do a bit of fudging to make your party go better by telling your staff what to do, but this is, again, a totally unfulfilling series of clicks.

There’s just no reason not to keep telling your photographer to keep taking photos as soon as his cooldown stops. There’s no strategy to ‘using him at the right time’. None. Keep snapping away, Mr Photographer. Keep dancing for everyone, Mr Dancer. Keep refilling the tables, Mr Waiter. Keep on keeping on.

After the party’s finished you get told how many people ‘liked’ it and as a result, you can ‘level up’ as a party planner. This means you can unlock a new venue, a new theme or a new member of staff to use at your next party. This could be interesting, but whilst the venue, theme and staff members differ from party to party, the game never changes.

Does it matter what day you throw a wild party out in the middle of the woods? Yes.

On top of the throwing parties, part of the game has another layer where you stare at a calendar and a map. The idea is that on different days there are different ‘types’ of partier ready to have it large in different parts of the town. So this would be an exciting chance to plan just where you’re going to throw a party and just what sort of party to throw, right? You can see that all of the rich kids are going to be up for it on Tuesday, in the Upper East side of the city. Time to plan a big bash!

Nope.

Waiting to throw the perfect party isn’t actually a part of this game at all. This is because the ‘hot spots’ of where people are actively are pretty random, meaning there’s no planning and no decision making. Also, the venues you have at your disposal don’t move about, meaning that if there’s a large crowd of punk rockers looking to mosh in the South of the city, that’s tough luck. Because the ideal venue is located in the North. So there.

In the end, you’re left with a game that’s really repetitive and doesn’t ask you to do anything of real consequence. There’s no strategy, no decision making and very little impact to your actions. You simply throw bad parties until you can afford better speakers.

Assassin’s Creed Origins Review [PS4 Pro] – A Fine Piece of Ancient History

November 2, 2017December 19, 2017 by Chris Wheatley, posted in Reviews

The Assassin’s Creed series has covered a broad array of historical time periods, numerous revolutionizing civilizations and provided fans with plenty of towering platforms plunging you headfirst into shallow haystacks. Year after year, Ubisoft released the next entry in the series for the past decade, only acquiring a small number of stand out titles from the Assassin’s franchise. After a year off from the constant barrage of AC titles, Assassin’s Creed Origins relieves fans from the drought with a massive world to explore, set in the earliest days of the brotherhood.

Discover ancient Egypt through the eyes of a Medjay

Our newest (or shall I say earliest) assassin goes by the name of Bayek and dons the presence of a Medjay – a sort of royal officer serving the majority of the populace found in Egypt. Acting as protectors not only of the people but of Pharaohs as well – often looked upon as hired mercenaries – Medjay listen to the people and help bring peace and safety to the lands of ancient Egypt. Soon, the death of his son enrages Bayek to chase down the masked ones responsible, in turn learning more about the ancient lands then he may have anticipated.

The world of ancient Egypt is sprawling with enemy hideouts, dozens of viewpoints and tons of sidequests.

The arid scenery of the desert landscape is stunning, and the vastness of the map is daunting, to say the least. The open lands run through countless villages, ancient prospering cities and boundless desert climates reach as far as one can see. It’s no secret the team from Ubisoft took their time on Origins, but the sheer level of detail put into the living and breathing world is far greater than anything we’ve seen from the series. To say the vibrant world of ancient Egypt looks astonishing is nothing short of an understatement. Origins lives and breathes with the ebb and flow of life surrounding the civilization it so graciously clings to and does so brilliantly.

As you run through Egypt and its many territories found in Origins, many new features will begin to surface. The parkour technique has been simplified to one button, while the “marionette” style of character control scheme AC had so faithfully made claim to a decade ago has been completely abandoned altogether. But the true difference from the series doesn’t sit at the controls of Bayek outside of combat but is found in the overhauled mechanics during combat.

Big steps forward in revamping the combat system

To say the Assassin’s Creed new and improved combat system may have been influenced by outside sources beyond Ubisoft headquarters may become evident to most who have played other titles with similar combat experiences. Ditching the relentless style of attack where assassins would bounce between a dozen or so enemies, parrying each attack one after another in a flashy, ultra-bloody finish. Instead, Origins has the player focusing more on one enemy at a time with combat similar to that of The Witcher 3, or perhaps the Dark Souls series.

The revamped combat system brings a brand new approach to brawling with enemies.

Striking with either a light attack or heavy attack, blocking with your shield, using ranged attacks from a variety of different bows and, of course, pulling off stealth assassinations with the elusive hidden blade; the weapon to which made the assassin brotherhood so deadly. The combat in Origins will have you dodging around your enemy blows while counterattacking with one of many melee weapons to choose from. Be it mace, club, sword or spear, tons of thrilling weapons can be found in the massive world of Egypt.

While older systems and battle mechanics had players swinging their weapons at the perfect time to execute precise and deadly counterattacks, the combat would become stale quickly. Over and over we saw the same enemies, with the same predictable attacks, timing our counterattacks just right to squeeze off as many finishers as possible. Though the system saw tweaks here and there throughout the series, this is the first time it has actually been completely overhauled. And, while it takes away from one of the few aspects that separated the Assassin’s series from other titles in the dense genre, it fits well with the new mould the franchise has taken.

A hint of RPG elements

Skills that Bayek can learn throughout Origins are divided into a three-part skill tree. After each level up through gaining experience points, Bayek is granted one ability point to spend on one of the many enhanced skills and abilities. Becoming a stronger warrior with fierce, new attacks, discovering new skills for the helpful companion, Senu or acquiring various bombs equipped from Bayek’s tool belt are just a few examples of useful skills found from the skill tree in Origins.

A dash of other useful RPG elements have been added to the game’s weapons system, now with tons of options from heavy, blunt weapons to ferocious attacking swords. No longer must players discard favourite weapons simply because they’re out-levelled and weaker compared to newer finds with the help of the weapon upgrading system. Upgrading your weapons at local blacksmith shops, be it melee or bows, will bring the weapon to Bayek’s current level, for a fee of course. In some cases where players may discover a particular weapon, they’re comfortable using, instead of replacing it down the road, the upgrading system allows them to continue using it effectively at higher levels.

Tons of weapons, upgrades, unique skills and abilities are discovered, rewarded or learned in the massive world of Origins.

Though, in many instances, it may be wise to switch to newer weapons. Coming in three different colours of rarity (similar to the colour coding found in other RPGs, i.e. Borderlands, Diablo, etc.) weapons will be labelled blue if they’re common, purple if rare and gold if legendary. There are tons of different weapons, each with various stat boosts, and all may be dismantled for precious crafting supplies.

While crafting, Bayek is able to enhance various pieces of equipment, which in turn upgrade important stats permanently. There are a total of six different items to enhance through crafting, including the bracer for stronger melee attacks, the breast-plate which raises Bayek’s health or the quiver which increases the number of arrows one can hold. Other pieces raise range attacks, the amount of bombs or other tools held and the power of Bayek’s hidden blade. Each piece of equipment requires a certain amount of crafting materials, typically found through hunting wildlife, or grabbing loot off of enemies. Finding the loot would be rather difficult if Bayek did not have the help of the scouting eagle, Senu.

Scout the endless skies with Senu

Using Senu is another big change in the series, replacing the eagle vision from previous AC games. Additionally, while flying with Senu, the map icons appear, as well as icons for any nearby crafting supplies, within a certain proximity of your soaring eagle’s sight. Senu has an unlimited distance to scout, and the more viewpoints synchronized, Senu’s sight range is slightly expanded. Aside from pointing out various activities, loot, side quests and crafting materials, Senu is also helpful to provide the player with guard activity and numbers when raiding enemy hideouts.

Explore the skies as Senu and scout for additional quests, important events and necessary items like crafting materials.

Throughout the enormous map that makes up Origins, plenty of side tasks and extra content lay at the feet of Bayek. With the addition of actual side quests, and tossing out the unoriginal and repetitive objective challenges from all of the other releases in the series, Origins stands as the most unique and rewarding Assassin’s title to date. Each sidequest – and there are tons – has a different and interesting storyline, which most are based on real-life instances, legends or myths from the ancient Egyptian era. Many may have players performing simple, and sometimes similar tasks, but all have unique backstories, and plenty of surprises to help ease the gameplay from becoming the same, worn-out cycle of events.

Overview

The massive lands of ancient Egypt sprawl past any other Assassin’s Creed title that has graced the gaming community since its debut in 2007. With a storyline that includes yet another rage-driven protagonist fueled by vengeance and hatred towards Templar forces, the start of the Brotherhood of Assassins is an impressive one. Gorgeous visuals compliment the astounding world of the mysterious Egyptian civilization.

With tiresome gameplay mechanics stripped away and replaced with new and exciting features that show Ubisoft is paying attention to what fans of the series want, Origins gives a lot more than it takes away. The all-new combat system is a delight to master, and gives players a true sense of accomplishment. The crafting and hunting system is an excellent way to continue to strengthen Bayek, on top of the expansive skill tree rewarded through experience points.

Dustbowl Review [PC] – A Point-and-Click Apocalypse

November 1, 2017November 1, 2017 by Alisa Hail, posted in Reviews

Just as one should be careful of judging the contents of a book by the cover art, anyone who grew up in the early days of gaming knows it also isn’t wise to judge a game by its pixel count. Dustbowl, developed by The Pompous Pixel, might look like a blast from the past, but don’t let first appearances fool you. This post-apocalyptic RPG boasts a challenging quest for survival and surprisingly fleshed out gameplay along with the old-school overlay.

Aliens have invaded the Earth, leaving the surface a dust-covered wasteland filled with nightmarish mutants and anyone crazy or desperate enough to remain above ground. You are the son of one of the survivors who helped establish a colony under the earth known as the HUB. Your father is sent out on an important mission that might affect the future of your little, underground community. Not one to wait for your fate, you decide to join the militia and hopefully locate your father and help bring him safely home.

Navigating the world is as simple as clicking on the direction or location you’d like your character to go. Scrolling over a given item, container or location will let you know if you can interact with it. Clicking on a door will either move you in or out or inform you if entry is blocked. Though I was never a particular fan of point-and-click adventures, this works well, especially when investigating your surroundings. You can also toggle walking speed under settings to help make moving around the world map or strolling across rooms a little quicker.

Survival will be your highest priority and the greatest challenge you will face in Dustbowl. There are separate meters for water, food and health. Another meter keeps track of the day and night cycle, ensuring you remember to get enough rest or face the negative consequences. This, of course, means you will need to make certain you have enough supplies as you wander, including basic essentials, health items, armour repair kits, weapons, and tents so you can rest when not back at the HUB. Eventually, this becomes a balancing act between what you need and what you can carry.

You will have a limited number of items you can keep in your pack based on overall weight. Later in the game, this becomes the biggest challenge to your survival. Thankfully, you can buy and sell items when encountering a vendor, or craft certain items when at a workbench,

Crafting is simple and surprisingly robust. When you reach a workbench you will see a list of items that can be made and which items will be needed to complete the task. It actually feels quite a bit like something straight out of Fallout 1 and 2, an impression I carried with me throughout the game.

However, while the crafting system is intuitive, the only downside is, as with all the items you collect, scrolling over an item does not provide a description of what it does. For instance, you don’t really know how restorative one health item is over another except through trial and error. This means when crafting, especially initially, you have to make a best guess with some items rather than going off of stats or descriptions.

The only other complaint regarding items, aside from lack of descriptions, is an inability to sort items by function. Instead, all items are displayed in a way that does feel very much like digging through a backpack. The ability to sort items based on function would have helped me track what I had more efficiently, But, perhaps that is more a matter of preference than necessity.

Enemy encounters are randomly generated and combat is simple, but a challenge to perfect. Anyone who played PGA Tour for the SNES will be somewhat familiar with it. Choosing to attack sets off a line that scrolls quickly over a meter marked by three colours: grey (miss), blue (normal hit), and red (critical hit). You can select what body parts you would like to target. The three areas shrink or increase based on the body part you select for attack. For example, the head has a much smaller critical hit area than the torso.

Combat is turn-based and aside from using different types of weapons that allow for higher or lower hit points, it has little variety. That is not to say it necessarily gets old quickly, but the turn-based system does not work quite as well for this type of combat. Once you have the timing down, there is not much of a challenge left. Adding a more tactical approach or changing the combat style to quick turns and adding a block/parry function would add an additional challenge. Adding pros and cons to the weapons would also allow the player to make more informed decisions regarding which weapons to use, particularly if enemies displayed certain weaknesses based on type of assault.

Thankfully, the survival elements overshadow and outweigh anything the combat lacks. But, the major driving force behind your decision to take one more step into the dangerous unknown is the thrill of exploration which Dustbowl captures perfectly.

The world of Dustbowl is rather large considering the game’s engine and is divided into six different quadrants, each having their own style. Aside from the overarching story, you will also have the option to accept quests from NPCs throughout the world, some more outlandish than others. For instance, one of the first requests you are given is locating four stuffed bunnies misplaced by a small child. Complete the quests, and you will receive loot and experience points.

Due largely to the fact your character initially seems rather run-of-the-mill for an adventure title (and looks a bit old to be in his early 20s), it took me a little bit to be able to put myself into his shoes. The dialogue can sometimes fall a bit flat and occasionally suffers from spelling and grammatical errors. Nothing anywhere near as memorable as “All your base are belong to us,” but something that needs to be taken into account for future studio endeavours.

After spending a short time with the game, however, I found myself getting sucked in. Dustbowl manages to tap into the most basic instinct of any curious gamer: I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I wanted to see how far I could go, what new places there were to explore, and what new characters I could meet. Each new character seemed to have a backstory, even ones with whom I spent little time. I could tell the developers invested great amounts of time into considering how these people had lived in this world up until the moment we met, who they were, and what their motivations are.

The game also does a fantastic job of conveying a sense of isolation, particularly in the sound design. Most of the time, you hear only wind or white noise interrupted only by the sound of your own footsteps. Among the old, worn down structures and amid the dust-strewn landscape, the sense of loneliness is palpable.

From the numerous sci-fi easter eggs to the obvious inspiration from games like Fallout and Metro 2033, and the clear level of care put into making Dustbowl a robust and engaging survival/adventure experience, there is no doubt the developers know their audience and are themselves fans of the genre.

Sure, Dustbowl isn’t perfect. A world map would have been handy, but at least the game marks out places you have already explored. Adding item and weapon details, the ability to sort items in the inventory and perhaps greater use of the crafting system regarding weapons would be a welcome addition. A more robust combat system would add a great deal to the game’s overall enjoyment simply due to the fact that you have to engage in it so often. But, the areas Dustbowl gets right (story, a sense of exploration, interesting characters, and a complex survival system), adds up to an impressive entry into the RPG/survival genre.

Dustbowl is available on Steam.

Super Mario Odyssey Review [Nintendo Switch] – Pure, Unabashed Joy

October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 by Nitchigamer, posted in Reviews

Let’s get this out of the way: Super Mario Odyssey is the next true 3D Mario game. While the Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World was largely impeccable, there’s no denying it catered towards a more casual audience with its multiplayer-centric focus. The same can be said about New Super Mario Bros. U, and Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. With those titles, Miyamoto and co. were looking at ways to make Mario more accessible, while retaining the staples that defined the series. They achieved this outright, but some of the core audience wanted that focus to shift back onto them. Enter Super Mario Odyssey then, a game specifically designed for veterans of the series with a single player-centric focus. It’s fair to say that Mario hasn’t been this good for quite some time… around 7 years in fact.

Super Mario Odyssey Review: Marrying The Princess

Odyssey’s story quickly becomes one we all know and love… Can you guess? Yes, Peach has been kidnapped by the King Koopa but this time there’s a twist: Bowser is now intent on marrying the princess as well, presumably to anger Mario more than anything else. After a crushing defeat then, the plumber finds himself in the Cap Kingdom of Bonneton, a moonlit, fog-shrouded land inhabited by ghosts in hats who speak in old British English – jolly good show, old bean. It’s here that Mario befriends newcomer Cappy and the duo set off to rescue Peach and Cappy’s sister Tiara. That’s pretty much your story. You didn’t expect anything else, did you?

The first thing we were pleased to discover upon controlling Mario was that he has all of his classic moves in this adventure. We mean all of them: the long jump, triple jump, side and backward somersault, the spin jump, the dive forward, you name it, it’s here. The new roll move is a welcome addition too that helps you more easily traverse the larger environments. Most importantly, he feels good to control as he “wahoos!” his way around, with even the pitter-patter of his feet, in some odd way, gratifying. There’s no doubt in my mind that Charles Martinet had a lot of fun with the new material as well – brace yourself for more ravioli-fuelled, dream-dialogue.

Sublime Platforming That Innovates

As for Cappy, he’s much more important to the gameplay than the story, as you’d expect, and adds a range of new moves to Mario’s arsenal, including the cap throw. The cap throw, as you’ll get accustomed to over the course of the game, enables you to attack enemies as well as possess 52 different entities – some of which we simply must not spoil. And it’s superb. The new capture mechanic effortlessly breathes new life into the series, making Odyssey feel fresh, wacky and full of vigour without overshadowing the sublime platforming the series represents. Frogs, Goombas, tanks, Bullet Bills and even a T-Rex, almost everything around you can be captured in the Kingdoms you visit, which serve as the ‘power-ups’ in the game.

The sandbox-style Kingdoms are magical. Tightly packed, and beautifully designed with secrets galore, they house the Power Moons you need to fuel your eponymously titled ship, the “Odyssey”. Collecting enough Power Moons in each Kingdom allows you to travel to the next one in pursuit of Bowser, and is the central objective of the game. You earn these Moons by completing tasks, often small, which range from helping the locals to completing 2D, 8-bit sequences (damn good), to taking down one of the many bosses – there are superb platforming sublevels in every Kingdom to boot. You’ll also notice elements from 64, Sunshine and Galaxy in there.

The gameplay is so varied that none of this ever feels like a chore. It feels immensely rewarding, but deftly balances that sense of challenge as well, ensuring that it’s not a walk in the park either; those that go the extra mile are always rewarded for doing so. The Kingdoms change based on your actions too, which evokes an ongoing sense of progression that beckons you to continue; you will want to explore every nook and cranny. The sense of discovery rivals that of Super Mario World back on the SNES.

Brimming With Creativity

Odyssey is easily the craziest Mario title to date. We know during development that Miyamoto had a hands-off approach, instead offering advice about certain elements, but never fully taking charge. It’s as if the new captain of the ship, Yoshiaki Koizumi, (producer of both Galaxy games) told his team: “Go wild. We can do what we want here – as long as it works.” This unparalleled creative freedom can be felt, and it creates an abundance of ideas, some of which could be used for full games on their own. Yes, the series has always brimmed with creativity, but Odyssey takes it even further. Certain points of the game will genuinely surprise you, and things take place that you wouldn’t necessarily expect in a Mario game, in the best possible way.

Odyssey does have a slight niggle though. The motion controls generally compliment the on-screen action very well and are satisfying to use, but every now and then they’re not as precise as they could be.

It’s also worth noting that every single motion-controlled move is not compulsory, you can complete the entire game without them, but they do add extra power to moves. A few of these ‘powered up moves’ are required to get all of the Power Moons. This means that when holding the Switch in handheld mode the motion controls, and a few Power Moons, are off limits unless you shake the entire system. It’s not even close to a serious issue, but isn’t particularly practical out and about and means that playing in tabletop or docked mode is the way to go if you want to get every last collectable. Considering the otherwise flawless production here then, this seems to be overlooked. A minor update turning off motion controls completely could fix this, however.

A Masterpiece

There are so many positives things to say about Odyssey that you couldn’t possibly fit into a single review, but here’s an effusive list of a few of them (no big spoilers, trust me): the pause menu that Mario reacts to, the increased, and highly detailed expressions on his face that further the relationship between the both of you while playing (Nintendo specifically worked on this), the holiday brochure-style maps, the costumes, the assist mode that guides younger, more inexperienced players, the stunning soundtrack full of whimsy and heroism, the fact that it’s the best looking Switch game to date running at a rock solid 60fps, the satirical humour, the bonus mini-games, Pauline, that particular festival, that particular Kingdom, the better than expected two-player mode where one of you controls Cappy – really fun. I could go on…

That’s without mentioning the incredible post-game content: if you want fan service and more to do after seeing the credits roll, you’re in luck. Odyssey may finish at around the 10-hour mark, but what comes next will keep you playing for days on end.

It’s worth buying a Switch for alone. As for being better than Galaxy, well, I’ll be having an internal debate about that one for quite some time. Simply put: this is why we play video games.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Review [Xbox One] – Bold New Heights?

October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 by Tom Buxton, posted in Reviews

Cast your minds back a few years – not to the Third Age, but instead to 2011 – and you’ll undoubtedly recall the release of a licensed superhero epic going by the pseudonym of Batman: Arkham City. Developed by British studio Rocksteady and published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, the follow-up to 2009’s Game of the Year award-winning Arkham Asylum set itself quite the audacious task, aiming to better its forebear via a larger yet densely detailed open-world, enhanced combat mechanics, a wider array of enemy types and above all a canon-eschewing but captivating core storyline.

An Unenviable Challenge

If this unenviable challenge seems vaguely familiar, then it’s with good reason. Fast forward half a dozen years and we find Monolith Productions – again with WB’s stalwart backing – taking much the same approach with their latest project, and surely hoping to reap similarly copious critical praise to that which Rocksteady received upon succeeding in their endeavours. Just as Arkham City took every element of Asylum which worked – the gratifying Freeflow combat, the fascinating exploration of Batman’s psyche and countless other USPs – and expanded upon them tenfold, so too does Monolith’s second action RPG foray into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien up the ante on every front.

Whereas 2014’s largely acclaimed Shadow of Mordor confined the escapades of its half-Ranger, half-undead Elf protagonist, Talion, to a couple of grimly-lit cities based within the titular region, Shadow of War takes us from Seregost’s snow-capped peaks to the precipice of Mount Doom in Gorgoroth, from Minas Morgul’s sinister cityscape to Núrn’s open forest plains. Whereas Mordor’s intoxicating Nemesis System showed huge signs of potential, War develops this intricate mechanic exponentially, adding dozens upon dozens of extra enemy classes, arenas where victorious Orcs can become spies for your army and seismic fortresses in dire need of new management.

Elevating The Middle-Earth Saga?

But can this unquestionably ambitious follow-up match City’s next-to-universally renowned success in taking its franchise to bold new heights, elevating the Middle-Earth saga to the video game industry’s Hall of Fame? Not quite, yet one can’t possibly accuse Visceral of resting on their laurels either. For instance, aesthetically speaking, some of the human character models – including that of Talion, along with the courageous soldiers he encounters – appear bland and unfinished in cut-scenes, their facial animations a little undercooked. Yet the open-world regions themselves brim with graphical pizazz, Seregost’s snowfall a mystifying beauty to behold and Mount Doom a pitch-perfect copy of that seen in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film adaptations.

Missions prove equally mixed when it comes to variety and unpredictability. On the one hand, many of the main campaign’s quests prove disappointingly mundane, centring on generic follow-the-AI-leader, stealth antics with none of Metal Gear Solid’s scope for anarchic chaos should the player get spotted or repetitive Nazgul boss battles. On the other, venture off the beaten track and you’ll discover electrifying side ventures such as Balrog showdowns, voyages into Mordor’s past and future via the visions of spider-turned-temptress Shelob or attempts to wrest back control of Middle-Earth’s status quo with its equivalent to Mother Nature (yes, really), to the point where one craves for the core campaign to offer the same level of structural creativity at times.

Simplified Narrative Approach

Indeed, while we’re on the subject of the campaign, the eagle-eyed readers among you might’ve noticed that this reviewer hasn’t dedicated much time to War’s narrative as of yet. Suffice to say that in the wake of having forged a new Ring as the credits rolled last time around, Talion wastes little time – barring a frustratingly inconsequential detour to meet Shelob early on – kick-starting a Mordor-wide resistance to Sauron’s rule, rallying hundreds of possessed Orcs to his side in order to take back each of the realm’s lofty fortresses before overthrowing the Dark Lord once and for all. Now, that might sound like a premise for the ages, particularly to the Tolkien avids here, but unfortunately said plot receives scarce attention throughout War, largely taking a back-seat while you influence the foes of each region, topple its Overlord, rinse and repeat for hours on end.

This simplified narrative approach – or indeed the obvious constraints placed upon Monolith by having War take place within reaching distance of The Fellowship of the Ring – wouldn’t matter so much if the script at least dedicated more time to fleshing out the supporting characters like Gondorian soldiers Idril and Baranor, returning fan favourite Gollum (whose needless cameo barely registers), or even the head Orcs whom Talion possesses like the hilarious Bruz. Instead, those looking to see their relationships with the similarly soulless – no pun intended – Talion developed had best look to the aforementioned side missions for further meat. Acts III and IV reveal how our hero’s antics factor into the events of LOTR, in what frankly comes off as one of the most ridiculous fan faction-esque retcons in recent memory, but little else of note actually happens to any of War’s ‘key’ players, protagonistic and antagonistic alike.

A Dense Open-World

Perhaps story depth isn’t what many fans hoped for here, though, with War’s main draw of course being its overhauled Nemesis System. If LOTR fanatics want to immerse themselves in Middle-Earth, then here lies the most substantial means by which to do so, with the contrasting Orc cultures, fortress defences, enemy weaknesses, tribe dynamics and Warchief challenges of each region providing more than enough of an excuse to plunge hundreds and hundreds of hours into this sprawling RPG’s rich world and become its eventual commander-in-chief. For reasons we shan’t spoil, there’s ample incentive to become an expert in these minutiae by Act IV, where further conflicts mounting in each of your conquered domains put that knowledge fiercely to the test.

With Shadow of War, then, Monolith have largely fulfilled their lofty goals, delivering a dense open-world filled with aesthetic and enemy variety as well as numerous opportunities for total immersion via its staggering Nemesis system and engaging array of side quests. That said, whether its immense strengths on a technical and replayability level are enough to compensate for the disappointing lack of focus paid to crafting a layered fantasy storyline, or multi-faceted characters worthy of Tolkien lore, will depend on what you look for first and foremost out of your gaming experiences; personally, this reviewer could’ve done with more of the latter in order for the second and likely final Middle-Earth outing to stand a chance of topping his Game of the Year shortlist.

It would appear, then, that one developer cannot simply walk into Mordor without struggling to balance the competing elements which they bring along for the ride. Nevertheless, if Shadow of War’s promising improvements upon Mordor’s already potent gameplay formula are any indication of what’s next for Monolith as a studio, then should they choose to return to the world of men, corruptive Rings and cave trolls in the near future, the LOTR franchise’s Arkham City equivalent could lie just around the corner.

JYDGE Review [Nintendo Switch] – Your Gavel Is Your Firearm

October 27, 2017October 31, 2017 by Stephen Carter, posted in Reviews

Things seem to be getting quite busy in the world of the Switch with big games aplenty heading its way and the eShop also becoming more heavily populated. It’s quite nice to see and, for small games like JYDGE, the Switch is a perfect playground to find its feet and gather a steady following.

Robotic Terminator-Style Bots

10tons are the creative minds behind JYDGE and previous games such as Neon Chrome, another top-down shooter. This, one of their first forays into the world of Switch, comes off the back of many outings via Steam and other outlets. So, what’s the situation?

JYDGE is a top-down shooter set in fictional city Edenbyrg and you control one of many JYDGEs which are part of the wider JYDGE initiative. These robotic terminator-style bots patrol the city fighting crime, causing carnage amongst the local criminal organisations. The key hook here being replayability and the ability to tailor the game to your favoured play style.

As any self-respected judge will know, you need to have your own trusty gavel with which to exact your justice. JYDGE delivers here as your Gavel is your firearm which is fully customisable, suiting any situation or favoured approach. Upgrades and modifications are unlocked periodically as you progress granting you different perks such as increased fire rate, increased range or indeed a civilian-friendly no damage function. These can also be purchased using the money obtained from looting deceased enemies and confiscating their loot crates.

Exacting Judgement

Each level you play has four difficulty settings with the second being unlocked when you complete the first, this being the Hardcore version. The third being Grim mode and the final being Nightmare mode which is only available once you complete all of the missions once over. All of them have medals to obtain based on your performance and certain unlock criteria, and each is increasingly difficult. These hold the key to progression as each concurrent level requires a certain number to be achieved before you are granted access.

This certainly increases the game’s replay value but only because you are being forced to go back in order to progress. That being said, I do like going back to previous levels once I have spent money on upgrading my JYDGE to show those old crims a thing or two; exacting judgement on them once again.

shot-07 — Upgrades and modifications are unlocked periodically as you progress.

Sneaky Perks

Whilst JYDGE appears simplistic in its appearance and playstyle it can actually be quite tactical should you favour that approach. The run and gun approach can see you turned into a series of giblets all too quickly especially when your stray fire decapitates an innocent civilian waiting to be rescued. Instead, you can equip some sneaky perks (cyberware) such as invisibility whilst standing still and also decreased detection whilst standing in the shadows. The co-op mode also allows you to tackle Edenbyrg’s crime problem as a dynamic duo should you have someone to share Joy-Con duties with.

All-in-all I found JYDGE quite entertaining if a little short-lived. In the space of an evening’s worth of play, I had progressed to the penultimate string of levels with relative ease and little difficulty. It looks rather nice in handheld mode (my only method of play for this review) and my only frustrations were down to my own stupidity when I mistimed a shot or blew myself up. Its art style is also rather appealing with a futuristic neon inspired backdrop your playground for destruction.

My closing thoughts would be surrounding the cost of JYDGE which is £12.99. Is it worth it? I’m not quite sure as it’s the sort of game which you’ll pick up and play for a few days, then potentially abandon. The grind element will put a few people off as they won’t expect this from a top-down shooter, which is a shame as this is JYDGE’s main hook. And, if you were wondering, it is pronounced ‘judge’ the conventional way, albeit spelt incorrectly. You know, because why not…