Reviews

Bermuda Triangle – Playstation minis Review

Published By: SNK, Developer: SNK Playmore, Genre: Shooter, Release Date: Jan 24, 2012, Rating: E, Systems: Playstation Portable, Playstation 3 (minis).

Presentation: Bermuda Triangle is an old school SNK vertcal shooter for the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3 as a minis game. Growing up during the 1980′s you couldn’t visit a arcade without seeing a vertical shooter. I played so many different scrolling vertical shooters so I kinda felt at home with Bermuda Triangle. So what makes this game special? Nothing really, its just an old school vertical scrolling shooter at its core. The overall presentation is decent featuring challenging gameplay that becomes repetitive, decent visuals and sound design.

Remember this game was released back in 1987 so don’t expect any new tech. The controls via the Dual Shock 3: X-fire, O-missile, LS-rotate left, RS-rotate right, Triangle-coin. The conrols are simple and for the most part accurate. I had initially thought using the Dual Shock 3 for Bermuda Triangle would complicate gameplay but that wasn’t the case. Moving and using the 360 degree cannon was pretty seamless. You can choose different difficulties to play on. I choose normal. Bermuda Triangle performed nicely, no glitches or lag issues of any kind. Navigating the menus was pretty easy. Its difficult to get lost while navigating the menus in Bermuda Triangle.

Story: No real story to speak of. Your just a pilot in a cool flying ship and your taking out waves of enemy forces.

Visuals: Textures are decent in Bermuda Triangle. The atmosphere had some imagination along with enemy design. The game has a good look to it. The protagonist’s ship looked really nice. The bosses looked really menacing. The clouds and green land flowing with rivers under you looked the part aesthetically.

Sound: Lots of pew pew pew what did you expect? What I thought was neat was the voice commands from headquarters as you play. The guy says things like “Land on Deck” or Emergency” when I taken too much damage. For an 80′s game I thought that was pretty sweet. The rest of the sound design was mundane. The music along with practically everything else fits the 80′s.

Gameplay: Bermuda Triangle is a vertical scroller. You know that. What you didn’t know is that gameplay scrolls backwards too. When you move forward shooting baddies the screen stops, then shuffles backwards changing gameplay. You can’t turn your ship around which totally diversifies gameplay. You have to dodge mines, traps and enemies going backwards. Its more challenging for sure. Power-ups come in the form of small green objects that latch onto your ship and giving you weapons or shield boost.

Bermuda Triangle is challenging make no mistake. You can’t take many hits. Boss battles are pretty challenging. The enemies are diverse in speed and attack power making the gameplay challenging. The screen HUD shows Standard Safety-top left and bottom left shows Green Orbs and Shield Levels. The initial novelty of Bermuda Triangle’s gameplay wears off pretty quickly. You can only go forwards and backwards so many times before it gets repetitive.

Replayability: There aren’t any elaborate unlocks in this game. You just play it and that is it. There is two player co-op for Bermuda Triangle which should add some replay value.

Final Verdict: Bermuda Triangle gives you an initial feeling of captivating gameplay but runs its course into repetitiveness and the mundane soon after.

5/10

Homefront – Review

Published By: THQ, Developed By: Kaos Studios, Genre: First-Person Shooter, Release Date: March 15, 2011, Rating: M, Systems: PC, Playtstation 3, Xbox 360.

Presentation: Homefront paints a dark a dreary painting of  a crippled America under the occupation of the Greater Korean Republic. Homefront as a game and presentation is a classic rough around the edges first-person shooter. By no means is it a bad shooter as I will point out many of the game’s strengths during the review. Its just that it has that “lets copy and paste some great aspects from Call of Duty and Battlefield on our game” presentation which works for and against Homefront. Homefront’s best attribute should of been its single player story campaign. It should have been longer than 5 hours and had a richer narrative and characters. I mean this is Red Dawn basically. If you grew up during the “80′s” you know about Red Dawn. Homefront’s story was written by the same author John Millius so in hindsight I was expecting a much more captivating single player campaign then what I received.

I played Homefront through STEAM on my PC (obviously). For the most part minus the last sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge the game ran smooth for the most part. Explosions did slow down my frame rate. My PC is based around DX9, 4870 graphics card, quad core and 6 gigs of RAM. Specs: 1280 x 960 resolutions, overall quality was custom. Anti Aliasing 2x. Everything was set to High such as texture detail and shadow quality. The game did stutter during the campaign and slowed down some during big action sequences. During multiplayer when trying to connect to matches the game froze quite a bit. For the most part Homefront’s presentation is good thanks to the unique and unorthodox setting it takes place in.

Story: Although the story might appear to be out there it does paint a decent picture for Homefront. In the not so distant future due to America’s crippling economy and the emergence of The Greater Korean Republic. America’s defenses were wiped out by a satalite that the Greater Korean Republic used. Immediately America was overtaken and now under KPA occupation. The game picks up in Montros Colorado. The year is 2027 and you’re Jacobs an ex-pilot who the resistance breaks out of KPA clutches in the nick of time. The Resistance is comprised of a few members who serve as AI partners throughout Homefront’s campaign. You first hook up with Rianna and Connor Morgan. You soon meet Boone (the CO) and Hopper who is a Korean American and just might be the most interesting character in the game (he’s from Oakland).

Boone would be killed by KPA forces early into the campaign which leads the rest of the team on a mission to hijack a couple of fuel tankers through Utah, Nevada and finally San Francisco where the final battle plays out. The Resistance’s goal is to meet up with U.S. Military Forces and give they’re vehicles the fuel. The story of Homefront had potential written all over it and the beginning to mid-game was captivating. The setting of America really appeared as much. You fight in White Castles and a Tiger Direct.com Discount Computer store. You see a Hooters in one chapter. There are many Full throttle Energy Drink dispensers knocked over that you can take cover behind. The mass graves scene in a baseball field really let you know the brutality of the enemy and the importance of the Resistance. Like I aluded to before, I saw a lot of potential within Homefront’s world but didn’t see it consistently throughout the campaign.

Visuals: Not that good by PC standards. However Homefront does look ok even with its washed out look. One aspect I found weird regarding Homefront’s graphics were the silver glowy glazed faces of NPCs most notably Connor and Hopper. They looked like ghosts. The gun models and settings are probably the most impressive consistant visuals this game offers. One section has Jacobs piloting a  small attack chopper to provide air support for a caravan. The explosions in that section were nice. The Golden Gate Bridge section featured Jets flying over and  tank battles. Near the end a enemy Goliath boss fight takes place on the bridge. Static and washed out with decent art imagination can describe Homefront’s look.

Sound: The orchestra score was good. It gave you that total fight for freedom vibe which is what this game is all about. The writing and voice acting should have been better especially considering the game’s setting and circumstances. Connor would say the same line in-game over and over. It got annoying. The guns had a unique sound design. Some guns had a semi-sci-fi sound emanating from them.

Gameplay: Homefront has that move up to stop spawning enemies linear gameplay much like in Call of Duty’s single player. To my surprise was how good the actual shooting and gameplay is. Homefront doesn’t try to do anything unique. If anything it seems to copy other elite first-person shooters which is fine. The Goliath is a rolling mobile vehicle of destruction. During certain sections in Homefront’s campaign you can use a targeter to take out tanks, attack choppers and enemies which Goliath will do accordingly. This might sound weird but Goliath almost appeared as a character to me. They had to sacrifice it midway through the game to knock down a wall that led to Utah.

Replayability: The single player campaign barely lasts 5 hours which is ridiculous. Luckily for me, or should I say Homefront  this game has a full-blown multiplayer to explore. Homefront features typical menus for multiplayer like Quick Match, Armory, Challenges and Practice Map. There are more but those are the important menus in my opinion. Classes are all fully realized with gadgets, perks and unique weapons. They include: Assault, SMG, Heavy, Sniper, Tactical and Explosive. Depending on which lobby you will have to unlock Tactical and Explosive. Battle Points or (BP) are Homefront’s in-game credit system that lets you unlock items and vehicles in matches. You can unlock stuff like spawn in vehicles etc. You can use Battle Points to unlock your gadgets in-game. Its a very simple system to use and understand.

The matches on PC were 32 players total. Maps I played on which were all ripped from the single-player campaighn: Farm, Cul De Sac, Angel Island, Crossroads, Green Zone and Bridge. Matchtypes included: Team Deathmatches, Battle Commander, Ground Control and Battle Commander (TDM). Battle Commander is similar to Conquest on Battlefield. The multiplayer is fun and will keep you entertained for a while. The gadgets, vehicles and unlocks do sorta remind me of Battlefield games. The quick twitch gunplay reminds me of Call of Duty which is a good thing. The problem is that everything doesn’t mesh well like Battlefield or Call of Duty. But hey, that is the price  you pay when your trying to be something your not.

Final Verdict: Homefront is your classic mixed-bag good at some things bad at others shooter. it does borrow some great ideas from other successful games within the genre. I just can’t get over the single player campaign. It was chalked full of potential unrealized.

7/10 

F.E.A.R. 3 – Review

Published By: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Developer: Day 1 Studios, Genre: Shooter, Release Date: June 21, 2011, Rating M, Systems: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360.

Presentation: Back in 2006 the original FEAR released and with it a horrifically graphical shooter emerged. The original FEAR was more about fear (no pun intended) than FEAR 3 is. FEAR back in 2006 also set the bar high with its graphics and slo-mo effects. Times have changed since then and FEAR 3 is more shooter with a few slight scares along the way. When I analyze Fear 3′s presentation I see good and bad. The good has to do with the atmosphere and world that is being teared apart by Alma’s contractions. There is also plenty of content in this game. You can play the entire campaign in a competition style co-op. There is a multiplayer that features some good ideas as well.

The bad has to do with the glitches, AI and static visuals. Like I alluded to earlier, FEAR was known as one of the greatest looking video games. While FEAR 3 doesn’t look bad it definitely doesn’t set any benchmarks in the visual department. The AI seemed mindless throughout the campaign. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Armacham forces just standing around while I was in front of them about to shoot. FEAR 3 is a linear corridor shooter. The level design throughout was pretty boring however each unique setting kept the game fresh enough. FEAR 3 is clearly a game that is good. Its just rough around the edges in a few spots. As far as navigating the game goes its not complicated but could be better regarding menus and definitions.

Story: FEAR 3 reunites Pointman (from the first game) and Paxton Fettel (the main badguy from the first game). Did I mention Pointman and Paxton are brothers who were experimented on in a secret lab by a crazed Doctor? The two boys were being engineered to become super soldiers. The poster child of FEAR is Alma and although she is back she isn’t as big of a story aspect unless you want to count the fact that she is having a baby. The story gets weird during FEAR 3. Alma’s contractions are literally ripping the world apart and turning the sky blood red. The two brothers work together reluctantly to seek out Alma and kill the baby.

During your search to reunite with Alma you rescue Jin (original member of FEAR unit). After helping Jin you search for Delta squad member Michael Bennett who is captured by Armacham forces. If you don’t know about Armacham, they are the bad-guys in FEAR games. The focus near the end of the game is clearly Harlan Wade. Harlan is the boy’s old Doc who turned them into killers. He is also known as The Creep and the final boss fight in FEAR 3. the final boss fight wasn’t very good. Just throwing that out there. As far as the story goes it isn’t Shakespeare folks. Its sporadic and all over the place regarding plots and focus. The in-game atmosphere was the saving grace regarding the story. Without that the story would have been even worse since the cutscenes and voice acting weren’t very good.

Visuals: Like I said in the presentation snippit. FEAR was once known as a graphical powerhouse. The slo-mo effects, textures and art design was something to behold back in 2006. FEAR 3 is a good-looking game. What I enjoyed was the diverity in the settings. You had creepy houses and basement settings. You had a daylight suburban setting that changed things up. You had a shantytown area. You had a big metropolis setting. Texture work was decent on buildings and character models. The lighting during certain areas of the game was impressive. The kill animations were impressive. Overall FEAR 3 isn’t as jaw dropping as its previous games but it gets the job done.

Sound: The creepy sound effects have always been good in FEAR games and this one is no different. Atmosphere in FEAR 3 is mostly created by sound effects to create cheap fear tactics. For the most part the game keeps you on your toes while navigating dark passageways. Each type of enemy and gun makes a unique sound effect that stays in your head. Paxston’s voice actor did a good job in-game with his lines. As far as music goes all that I remember is the Danzig song that played during the credits.

Gameplay: FEAR 3 is a first-person shooter through and through. There is a true cover shooting element as well. You can lock-on to objects and peek side to side. Many objects in the environment  can provide adequate cover. Playing on the hardest difficulty you will have to use cover the entire campaign. New to Fear 3 is the slide kick move that has been done in other games. You can still use slow motion while your gauge is filled up. The guns and shooting in this game was satisfying. Gibbing headshots with a sniper rifle felt good. Every gun felt powerful and unique but not overpowered.

Power Armor are mechs and there are two kinds you can use during certain sequences in the campaign. My favorite sequence was the bridge scene as you make your way to Port Authority Airport. Power Armor are fun. Taking down choppers other Power Armor units and Armacham soldiers was fun. The gameplay was actually fun it was just that the AI of the enemies was fail. I also didn’t like the level design. Although linear I found myself backtracking and getting lost due to the game’s lack of direction and map design.

Replayability: The story campaign can last over 6 hours. Furthermore it can also be played in full co-op (network). I unfortunately didn’t get anybody to play the campaign online with. PSN didn’t have any players online when I played. I tried to set up a few rooms for co-op but no one showed up. FEAR 3 has four player co-op multiplayer that is actually fun and novel in some ways. Contractions is a gamemode where you and four players have to build and fortify a building and fight waves of enemies. There is also Soul Survivor, Fucking Run (that is the name) and Soul King. All gamemodes provide a different style of gameplay for the user. I pretty much enjoyed all gamemodes but some did get older faster than others.

Final Verdict: FEAR 3 is more shooter than horror game that much is certain. The inclusion of unique multiplayer gamemodes and the co-op campaign makes FEAR 3 a good game.

7/10

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare – Review

Published By: Microsoft Game Studios, Developed By: Remedy Entertainment, Genre: Action, Release Date: Feb 22, 2012, Systems: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade), Price: 1200 msp.

Presentation: The Champion of Light returns to take on his evil doppelganger Mr.Scratch in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. I am a fan Alan Wake. They are quality games. I beaten the main game as you would expect. I also completed Alan Wake: The Signal and The Writer DLCs. So rest assured your review is in good hands since i fully understand every aspect of Alan Wake. As far as presentation goes Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is pretty good. Alan wears a new outfit and is in a completely new setting (Arizona). New enemies, new guns and a really impressive new arcade gamemode called Fight Till Dawn rounds out the immediate positives.

All of the psychological Steven Kingesque weirdness is in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare’s story The visual presentation isn’t quite up to snuff but the sound design delivered. The weird animations are back. The content is deep with important collectibles to collect. As far as game glitches goes I did catch some strong frame-rate dips on occasion. I also died due to the camera locking too close to Alan when dodging enemies close to you. All in all nothing serious but noticable. The title screen showed a bevy of menus including: Story Mode, Arcade Action, Leaderboards, Achievements, Collectibles, Download Content, Help & Options and Exit Game. The menus interface is streamlined and was very easy to navigate.

The button layout via the Xbox 360 Gamepad: LS-move, D-pad-select weapon, LB-dodge, LT-boost flashlight, RS-rotate camera, A-jump, B-use, X-reload weapons, RB-throw and RT-shoot weapon. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare for the most part controls and feels quite similar to its past games. Dodging seemed to be tweaked just a little and felt more visceral. Jumping still looks and feels wonky. As far as aiming using your flashlight and guns auto-aim seems stronger. For the record i played the game on normal difficulty. So to conclude the controls are tweaked some. They are a little better overall but just barely.

Story: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare involves a bunch of cliche Steven King style story elements like time-loops, suspense, bending of reality from fiction etc. In some ways the story was pretty good. The game starts off with Alan Wake reliving a time-loop in the game’s Rest Stop section  which has your typical desolate motel, diner and gas station setting. Here Alan meets Emma Sloan who manages to get killed a few times in a Groundhog Day like sequence. Alan blows up a oil drill with a satellite by collecting bits of information,  Alan’s trail for “The Signal” eventually leads him to the Mount Redtooth National Observatory where he utilizes the help of Dr. Rachel Meadows for another lead on The Signal.

Lastly Alan ventures to the old Drive-In where he meets Veronica (i think that was her name). Here Alan finds the last piece of info to turn The Signal on at the Drive-In projector. The story from here starts to loop (your first time but ends here also) two more times. You end up playing through different and consecutively shorter versions of the Rest Stop, Observatory and Drive-In chapters of the game. Each time you revisit each NPC remembers the last meeting they had with Wake. And as a bonus each visit they end up doing more of the heavy lifting and you spend less time as a reward. But most importantly each time you revisit Alan Wake gets a bit more info for The Signal. Alan Wake ends up rewriting reality with The Signal and ends up destroying Mr.Scratch as so it seems. The ending cut-scene which is real shows Alan and Alice (his wife) in an embrace.

The voiced narrator throws a comment at the very end to imply Alan Wake’s American Nightmare might not have ever happened. Some other tidbits regarding the story. Alan throughout is presumed dead or missing. If you played Alan Wake you would know why. Barry Wheeler now manages those two old rock & roll Asgard guys. You can get plenty of info regarding the story from the Radio, TV and Manuscript collectibles. Manuscript collecting also rewards you with more powerful weapons, i’ll explain later. The story is good. At first i thought the loophole story would ruin the gameplay but it wasn’t the case.

Visuals: The Arizona setting was a very nice change of pace from the previous games. I loved the colors of the red canyon rocks against the nighttime sky. Some action set-pieces such as the oil drill explosion showed some nice fire and particle effects. Alan Wake adorns a plaid shirt and jeans this time around. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare’s strength is in its lighting and its ability to create atmosphere. Its weakness was clearly the textures. Practically every texture in this game had a washed out look. Alan Wake just hasn’t aged well in the texture department.

Sound: Good music and good voice acting. The sound design surrounds you with atmosphere in this arcade game. The in-game music when The Taken are about to attack gets your blood pumping. I enjoyed some of the old rock and as well the new tunes that Mr. Scratch danced to on the TV.

Gameplay: The core of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare rests with Alan using his flashlight and shooting The Taken. There are a great assortment of guns and weapons that you can unlock special crates with using specific numbers Manuscript pages. The weapon list includes: 9 MM Pistol, Revolver, Nailgun, Flare-gun, Pump-Action Shotgun, Carbine Rifle, Crossbow. Special powerful weapons are found in weapon crates and you need a set number of Manuscripts to unlock them in-game. They include: SMG, Magnum, Hunting Rifle, Assault Rifle, Sawed-Off Shotgun and Combat Shotgun. Very useful combat items include flares, flash bangs and grenades.

My favorite weapons were the Crossbow (you don’t need a flashlight), Sawed-Off Shotgun and Assault Rifle. So why do you need all of that heavy firepower for? The enemies in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare were really imaginative to say the least. I enjoyed the enemies more in this DLC than i did in the full game. New enemies include spiders that gang up on you. You also have a enemy who can separate himself when you shine the flashlight on him making himself weaker but increases his numbers. You have a huge tyrant sized Taken who carries a huge motorized saw. There is also a grenade throwing Taken. And lastly a Taken who can swarm down in human form and then turn back into a flock of darkness like a vampire.

The mini-map located in the top left on the screen did a good job of keeping gameplay flowing. You can see where secret Manuscript pages are hidden and where your next goal is located. For the most part missions were centered around snatch and grab type, locate this or that and kill Taken who gets in your way. Is the gameplay different than past Alan Wake games? In some ways it is. The change comes in the form of new enemies and how you defeat them. In my opinion the gameplay in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is solid. The only complaint i have is the camera sometimes got stuck while dodging in a corner and trapping you in (camera angle). Oh, you do not drive any vehicles in this game like in Alan Wake.

Replayabilty: I wasn’t keeping track of the Story Mode length, my guess it lasted around four hours tops. There are many collectibles that have importance for the story and arcade mode (Manuscripts). There are 53 manuscripts to collect. You can unlock avatar items and achievements (of course). The best addition that adds legitamate replay value is the Arcade Action mode called Fight Till Dawn. This wave style game puts the action and focus on survival. Your goal/objective is to survive the night (there is a timer). You gain multiplier points from killing The Taken and dodging attacks perfectly.

The maps are pretty big and designed nicely. Maps include: Cemetery, Ghost Town, Oil Filed, Caves and Trailer Park. Depending on how many manuscript pages you collected you can unlock those special weapon crates in Fight Till Dawn.  You fight alone as Alan Wake. Let me just say its really fun and highly addicting. Its also challenging near the end as time winds down throwing many of the most powerful Taken at you. There are lights that come on that can heal you. There are plenty of ammo/item re-spawns as well. The atmosphere is just like the regular game which i liked. Your scored on: Overall Score, High Score, Undamage, Streak, Highest Multiplier.

Final Verdict: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare gives you just enough new gameplay action to make it feel like it’s its own game. The setting of Arizona along with the story was good. The Fight Till Dawn gamemode is fun and addicting. Alan Wake’s Amercan Nightmare isn’t perfect but it is a great Xbox Live Arcade game and if you’re a fan of the Alan Wake gaming franchise do not hesitate, buy it!! Thanks for reading.

8/10

Dead Nation – Review

Published By: SCEA, Developed By: Housemarque, Genre: Action, Release Date: November 30, 2010, Rating: M, Systems: Playstation 3 (PSN).

Presentation: I originally started playing Dead Nation soon after the whole PSN fiasco happened last year. You remember you could pick two PSN games and two PSP games? Well finally i am now getting around to writing  review for this twin-stick zombie shooter. Dead Nation upon start-up evokes a strong George A Romero vibe. If you seen any of his zombie movies Dead Nation has a similar vibe. The presentation regarding Dead Nation is a mix bag overall. On one hand you have a dark challenging zombie shooter with good content. On the other hand you have a shallow story and a gang of problems relating to its online component.

While waiting to sync with random Dead Nation players for co-op online can get frustrating. Most times you except the person you connect to. When the game starts up it either freezes or you loose connection to the player. Asides from that, no mic support in Dead Nation. When strictly talking atmosphere Dead Nation does the zombie thing good enough. The game takes place mostly at night. The visuals evoke an apocalyptic vibe and the sound design adds a visceral touch of its own. The main menu screen featured menus of Solo Game, Co-Op Game, Online Game, Global Status, Rankings, Options, Online Store and Gallery. Navigating the menus and interface wasn’t a chore and featured good menu music.

At the bottom of the Dead Nation’s menu screen features a news feed of updates and fictitious info. Dead Nation really pushes its world rankings alote. Every country is scored on how many zombies it killed and shown on the news feed. The controls via the Duel Shock 3 gamepad: R1-fire weapon, L1-throw item, R2-close combat, L2-rush, LS-move, RS-click (reload)/aim, D-pad-previous item/weapon. For the most part the controls are decent. Dead Nation naturally is a challenging game. Its difficult even on Normal. Upgrading and using all of your flares, mines, grenades can only help you.

Story: Dead Nation’s story centers around two protagonists Jack McReady and Scarlet Blake. You can play Dead Nation with either character. The stories of each character aren’t so different in the end. They both are trying to get to the same location. Jack McReady and Scarlet Blake both have their reasons for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Dead Nation never really explores how, why or who is responsible for the outbreak. Its story is more focused on the two main characters and their struggle for survival. Cutscenes with narrating at the start of each chapter fleshes out the story.

Visuals: Dead Nation is a decent looking game. Good lighting accompanied with decent artstyle brings out the atmosphere. Levels and settings are diverse featuring hospitals, carnivals, rail sequences and even snow covered landscapes. My only complaint is that the game is too dark all of the time. There were many times i just wanted to see dusk or a glimmer of sunlight.

Sound: I did like the sound design in this game. The zombies pretty much all had unique sounds attached to them. The music sounded as if it was ripped out of one of the newer zombie movies. The sound design really fit this game like a glove.

Gameplay: Shooting zombies in a top down view has been done before. I played so many Xbox Live Indie Games where you’re in a top down view shooting waves of zombies. Does Dead Nation set itself apart from most twin-stick zombie games? Not really. However the co-op, armor upgrades and stores do help the gameplay. Dead Nation isn’t an easy game to walk through, its difficult. Some of the weapons i used were assault rifle, smg, rocket launcher, flame thrower, a gun that shoots electricity, a gun that shoots blades and the shotgun. Each gun is upgradable at stores at each major checkpoint. You can also buy and upgrade, grenades, flares and mines.

Upgrading is important especially for tactical items like the latter. For guns you can upgrade stuff like ammo, power, rate of fire etc. As far as zombies go they really range from all types. You have your normal grunts that move slow. You have big swarms of faster moving zombies. You have fat zombies that spit and giant zombies that jump and leap towards you. Some zombies do take strategy to destroy. Many areas in the Dead Nation has you pres a button and wait for a lift or door to open. At which time you have to fend off mass amounts of zombies. The gameplay at times did get repetitive and predictable.

Replayability: The single player campaign will last you upwards of five hours. You can play in co-op (if people still play it on PSN). You can collect armor sets to strengthen your character. As you play Dead Nation you can venture back to the Gallery menu to see artwork you unlocked. There is also Road to Devastation DLC if your tired of the main campaign. Overall the content is good in Dead Nation. But be warned the online component does have issues.

Final Verdict: Dead Nation is a good, challenging top down zombie shooter that features online co-op. There are some glaring issues with the online componant but doesn’t take too much away from the gameplay. Thanks for reading.

6.5/10

Bastion – Review

Published By: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Developed By: Supergiant Games, Genre: Action Role-Playing, Release Date: Jul 20 (Xbox 360), Aug 15, 2011 (PC), Rating: E10+, Systems: PC, Xbox 360.

Presentation: Led by narrator Logan Cunningham Bastion’s presentation oozes with style and substance. For this Gamer Blog article i played Bastion on PC via Steam. The only modifications i did to the game was raise the resolution up to 1680 x 1050 and anti aliasing to 4x. The game ran great. I played Bastion on normal difficulty for the review with a gamepad. The Xbox 360 gamepad worked wonderfully for this game. Bastion’s quality is throughout. You can pick any aspect of it whether its visuals, sound design, story, gameplay and content, Bastion is solid from top to bottom. My entire experience was flawless. No bugs, no glitches no freezes. The game ran great throughout its entirety. The atmosphere of Bastion is cool. Its a extremely cool game to play. I actually felt cool  playing it.

Story: Bastion stars “The Kid” as the narrator calls him. The Kid has white hair and swings a Cael Hammer and shoots with a Fang Repeater. The world was recently rocked by a science experiment gone horribly wrong. That experiement was called the Calamity and it wiped out practically all man kind. The Kid with the help of Rucks (the narrator) must hunt down Cores and Shards to build Bastion. Bastion is a special land that holds special powers along with many secrets including a way to reverse and prevent the Calamity from ever happening. Along the way The Kid rescues survivors in Zulf and Zia. Zulf ends up betraying The Kid and Rucks and kidnaps Zia. Zulf learns the truth of the treachery behind the Calamity after reading a rare diary. Zulf unites his people against The Kid which is another story angle in Bastion.

Visuals: The graphics in Bastion’s three quarters top down gameplay view setting popped out of my screen. The use of colors and imaginative art design was diverse and impressive. The cutscenes and character designs told a story within themselves. When you visit the Skyway and venture out into the many stages you witness great as well diverse artwork on each stage. The texture work and anti aliasing really shined on my PC. Bastion truly is a goodlooking little arcade game.

Sound: The proactive/reactive narrating done by Logan Cunningham was superb and added a cool vibe to Bastion’s already cool presentation. The music throughout was supurb. There was not a single moment during my plathrough where i wanted to turn the volume down. The music coupled with the reactive voice narrating gave Bastion a great atmosphere while fighting Gasfellas and Scumbags.

Gameplay: Bastion’s gameplay is standard action-RPG fare. You hack’ n slash, roll to evade, use range weapons and melee weapons to get the job done. You collect XP for defeating enemies and level bosses. Much of Bastion’s gameplay  is centered around rebuilding specialty shops within Bastion. As you build the Bastion you can unlock the Forge where you can upgrade weapons. The Distillery lets you assign a special ability to a slot. You unlock slots as you level up. You can move and switch special abilities anytime when your in the Distillery. The Arsenal lets you choose a long range and melee weapon. It also lets you assign special attacks in one slot that consumes Black Tonics. Special attacks come in the form of Hand Grenades, Whirl Wind and Mirror Shield.

You can build a Shrine in Bastion which pays respect to the Gods. But what is cool about the Shrine is that as you collect idols of Gods while out hunting for Cores and Shards. You can bring those back and set them in the Shrine to activate gameplay modifiers. Think of Halo Skulls. You can activate a God Idol and the entire gameplay of Bastion will slightly change in some aspect making it more difficult. The first idol i collected was the Pyth bull. When you build the Lost and Found in Bastion its  basically a general store. Here you can buy materials to modify all of your weapons.

You can also purchase Mementos and Spirits at the Lost and Found. The currency in Bastion are fragments. They are little blue shards that appear when you defeat enemies. You can also destroy objects and parts of the environment to get fragments as well. The Bastion is the main hub in this game clearly. Over time as you rebuild it and ask Rucks, Zulf and Zia questions about items, you add them to Bastion. Not only as decorations but as potential gameplay sequences like Zulf’s pipe for example. You can add a baby Squirt a baby Ankle Gator, a mailbox and Pyth statues.

Combat in Bastion is great. Countering, blocking and evading just adds the iceing on Bastion’s gameplay cake. Weapons i collected in Bastion: Cael Hammer, Fang Repeater, Breaker’s Bow, War Machete, Rusty Musket, Duel Pistols, Army Carbine, Galleon Mortar and Fire Bellows. But wait! The most powerful and my favorite weapons come at or near the end of the game in the Calamity Cannon and Battering Ram. The Battering Ram is such a powerful weapon that you have to choose to help Zulf and leave the weopon or keep the weapon and leave Zulf behind. I left Zulf behind. On a side note there are a few times near the end of Bastion where you have to make gameplay decisions. What’s most important is that the gameplay in Bastion felt visceral. Its fun and addicting. The enemies are diverse and bosses like Queen Ann provided challenge.

Replayability: Bastion’s stellar campaign lasts a good five hours. After you beat the game you can play New Game Plus and Score Attack Mode. You can also activate idols in the Shrine for more variety. If you’re an achievement hunter you can clean up on those as well. Bastion has no co-op or multiplayer which it doesn’t need since the game is primo as is.

Final Verdict: Bastion is a great action-RPG thats big but is wrapped up in a small arcade package. I tried to nitpick this game to see if it had many glaring faults, it doesn’t. Its as quality as quality gets in regards to videogames. Thanks for reading.

8.5/10

Forza Motorsport 4 – Review

Published By: Microsoft Games Studios, Developed By: Turn 10, Genre: Driving, Release Date: Oct 11, 2011, Rating: E, Systems: Xbox 360.

Presentation: Upon release Forza 4 and Kinect were suppose to revolutionize the driving genre with its hands-free gaming. In other words it was suppose to be the main draw of Forza 4 and the main show if you will. Well as it turns out from using my Kinect with Forza 4 its more of a watered-down sideshow than a main attraction. Sure you can examine cars from the inside and out in Autovista mode with Kinect. You can also race hands free with head tracking enabled. At first it was pretty neat to put your hands at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock as if you’re holding a racing wheel to steer. It was neat to turn my head and see it reflect on the screen. However after one race, I literally felt like Kinect was tacked on and didn’t look back. I was done with Kinect with Forza 4. Besides you can do everything that Kinect does much easier with a gamepad. Navigating menus with Kinect was decent.

Forza 4 is a robust driving game. This time around Turn 10 added a few new tracks including the famous Top Gear 1 mile long track, Ingineon Raceway, Hockenheimring and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a fictional track in the Bernese Alps. There are over five hundred cars with not one manufacture that makes up the bulk of the number. You won’t see over one-hundred Nissans in Forza 4. Rivals is a new multiplayer mode that takes some aspects from Autolog via Need For Speed games. In Rivals you can compete against friends or stranger’s ghost cars. Types of races include Top Gear Rivals, Autocross, Open Time Attack and Track Days. You can also except spontaneous Rival Challenges.

Autovista is a virtual garage mode i like to call it. Narrated by Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame. While in Autovista you can inspect some of the world’s most exquisite automobiles in fine detail. Expecting motors, interiors while starting up the engine was visceral.  The history and stats of each Autovista car is explained by Jeremy Clarkson as your checking things out. They’re only a select handful of cars for Autovista in Forza 4. You can unlock more vehicles like the Halo Warthog (not driveable) by completing Challenges with cars. The challenges are mostly you using a fast car to past a bunch of slower ones.  You can’t talk about Froza 4′s presentation without talking about the AI and physics. Afterall this is a driving game and its very important.

First off i did experience some weird physics mostly having to do with car hitting a barrier at high speed and flipping over instantly. The AI counterparts sometimes drive eradic when i used the Rewind Feature often times crossing into me erratically. I seen cars ahead of me magically drop out of a race when they ran into a barrier as if they were not looking where they were going. There are many difficulties to choose from including Easy, Medium, Advanced and Expert. Braking, stability control, traction control, shifting and suggested line are all adjusted accordingly. You can custom adjust any one trait if you want. I played at medium which was easier than i expected. Even as i made my way into the more challenging events Medium added alote of  ”help”.

Visuals: It looks better than the last game thanks to the new lighting engine. The cars have a semi photorealistic look in Forza 4. Details are in the pudding and as they say. You can see sun glare bouncing off your hood and windshield. Cars do look and sound better in Autovista mode but that is expected. For a game that features 16 car races and split screen Forza 4 performs and runs buttersmooth at all times. I never got tired of looking at cars and the tracks in this game. Sure you can spot faulty blurry textures on cars and see a 2D tree in the background but it doesn’t take away from the entire package regarding the game’s visuals. I can’t say Forza 4 is the best looking driving game my vote still goes to Gran Turismo 5. I will give second place to Forza 4 which isn’t chopped liver.

Sound: Turn 10 outdid themselves recreating car’s sounds. The exhaust tunes and motor at times had me thinking the car was real. While in Autovista nothing was better than listening to a car start-up. The latter sounded like your really inside a car and the motor sound real. So kudos to the sound design in Forza 4 as it was impressive. As far as the music go in-game its ok. Its mostly fast beats and techno stuff.

Gameplay: Forza 4 initially granted me a car and credits from Forza 3. I received 13,000 credits and a Fiat Aberth 500. When you first start playing Forza 4 your gonna spend most of your time in the Play Career section which is like a single player RPG for your career. There you will level up in XP, earn credits, unlock new cars, earn badges, gain affinity bonuses and learn how to play.  You start out playing the Clubsman series then Sports Man then Semi-Pro series etc. Each series has ten separate races that range from one on one cat and mouse chases to full 16 car races on big tracks. Each time you gain a level you can unlock different class cars from S, A,D and C ranks. I never felt like i had to go out and use Microsoft Points to buy tokens to buy a supercar.

You win plenty of cars to use for these events. As you make it up the ranks in the world tour your going to have to upgrade and modify your car to compete. Adjusting suspension, brakes, gearing and tire pressure helps alote. Buying weight reductions, engine upgrades can and will raise your car Class level so keep track of the numbers. Lets say your car is a Class A 599. If you mod it to 600 its now a Class S car and your competition will be tougher. There are so many upgrades you can do to all of the cars. You can pay nothing by earning Affinity points by using a specific manufacture for races over and over. Who doesn’t like free parts? For the most part each event depends on the car you pick, Sometimes you will have to switch your car but not often.

Replayability: The Career Mode in Forza 4 is robust let alone the the Multiplayer. Turn 10 made sure thye wanted you to stay busy with this game. Lets start with DLC. You have The November Speed Pack, December IGN Pack, January Jalopnik Pack and Free Hyundai Veloster Bonus Pack. There is a February Pack but i forget its name atm. There is a Season Pass if you want to save some money on all of Forza 4′s DLC. The multiplayer side of things was deep as well fun with many gamemodes and daily credit bonuses keeps you logging in. In multiplayer you can access your club where you share a garage with freinds full of great cars.  Race modes online included: Rivals,The Playground, Drift, Drag, Turn 10 Select and Circuit. Each category has a deep list of different types of races to take your skills online to. I personally really enjoyed the online for Forza 4. As far as replayability goes you can play this game everyday till Forza 5 releases.

Final Verdict: I can’t compare Forza 4 to its past games much since i really didn’t spend alote of time with them. As far as Forza 4 goes, its a great driving game. The physics and AI could be better but what it does do great outweighs all of the negatives. You have a great library of diverse cars. You have alote of replayability. And most important the game is just fun to play and addicting. Thanks for reading.

8.5/10

Hungry Giraffe – Review

Published By: Laughing Jackal, Developed By: Laughing Jackal, Genre: Puzzle, Release Date: Feb 7, 2012, Rating: E10+, Systems: PsP, Playstation 3 (minis).

Presentation: Hungry Giraffe is a lighthearted puzzle game featuring what else, a giraffe. When strictly dissecting this game’s presentation its a pretty good minis puzzle game. You have good atmosphere thanks to the visual and art design. The music also helps out. The gameplay at first seemed pedantic but would soon grow on me and became a challenging yet addictive puzzle game. During my playthrough of Hungry Giraffe i experienced no bugs, glitches or any significant framerate issues while playing on my Playstation 3.

The main title screen of Hungry Giraffe includes: Feed Me, Stats, Awards, Credits and Options. The Stats section keeps track of gameplay statistics like Fast Food Eaten, Times Vomited, Dumbbells Eaten and Calories Consumed. The Award section is basically an achivement/trophy section. Here you can unlock various in-game awards such as “Fast Food King” – Eat 3,000 Fast Food Items. Hungry Giraffe’s menus were easily navigable however the menu screen looks big and didn’t fit my TV like it should have.

Story: If there is a story to Hungry Giraffe i guess it would go something like the following. Its a story of survival. You must keep the giraffe fed or else he/she will die. There is no vegetation in jungle so you must steer the giraffe to eat fast-food, strawberries and stay clear of harmful substances and objects in the process. Gamers, there really isn’t a story here, its just a puzzle game.

Visuals: Hungry Giraffe has a light-hearted artstyle when it comes to visuals. Colors and texture work make there presence felt immediately upon playing. The design of the giraffe i thought really fit the game’s presentation. There isn’t alote to dissect visually in this game. You have a long winding giraffe neck and head eating food for the most part. The background designs do add some variety to Hungry Giraffe’s visual presentation. Although small on screen you can clearly see what your eating and what you’re suppose to avoid.

Sound: I enjoyed the orchestra music while playing Hungry Giraffe. I can’t help but feel i heard that music before. Maybe its just my mind playing tricks on me. As the giraffe eats yummy food he/she makes a soft “nom” sound. When the giraffe eats a bottle of green poison he/she pukes which sounds accordingly. Overall i like the sound design in Hungry Giraffe. It never overdoes it and every sound plays out accordingly.

Gameplay: Hungry Giraffe is a puzzle game. You have to steer a giraffe’s head with its long windy neck. Your main goal is to eat foods such as french fries, sandwiches, strawberries, apples and chili peppers. When you eat food you stay above the fold on the screen. Not only that you rise higher. If you drop below the fold of the screen you die. You gain points for gaining height. The higher you can make the giraffe’s head go the more points you get. The more points you get, the better chance you can unlock the next level. When you consume hardhats  they are stored in the bottom right of screen. You can collect three. What’s important about hardhats is that they can give you a massive surge of height, like a boost if you will.

You press X to activate hardhat and steer the giraffe with LS (Duel Shock 3). Hungry Giraffe has a challenging gameplay element to it. You didn’t think this puzzle game would be easy did ya? The challenge comes in the form of avoiding objects on screen to eat the food that gives you height. They are anvils, dumbells, green bottles of poison and psychotropic  pill bottles. Each hazard item has its own unique effect on the giraffe and must be avoided. Anvils immediately knocks the giraffe’s head downwards which makes it difficult to regain momentum upwards. Remember only good food gives your giraffe height and momentum. The dumbells are eatable and also knocks the giraffe’s momentum downwards.

Your probabaly asking why not just avoid all of the bad stuff and eat the good stuff. That is the addicting gameplay of Hungry Giraffe, its difficult avoiding the bad stuff. You also have green bottles of poison that are eatable and makes your giraffe puke a big glob of vomit that covers the screen. Not only is this semi gross but it hampers your vision greatly when trying to navigate for food. And last you have the psychotropic pill bottles that are eatable. These things literally make your giraffe trip and your controls are instantly switched to oppsoite. You go right you turn left and vice versa. The screen also has some weird trippy effect with wild colors and flashes disorienting you even more. The gameplay is challenging yet addicting. I didn’t expect to put so much time into this game but i did.

Replayability: Not much. You do have 10 different stages that offer alote of challenging gameplay. You also have the awards system that keeps tracks of in-game achievements. You also have a stats page to look at which doesn’t add any replay value.

Final Verdict: Hungry Giraffe acomplishes what it needed to do. It is a small yet addicting and challenging puzzle game. The presentation was solid regarding the game’s atmosphere, visuals and sound design. Its a solid little minis game. Thanks for reading.

7.5/10

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Review

Published By: Bethesda Softworks, Developed By: Bethesda Game Studios, Genre: Role-Playing, Release Date: November 11, Rating: M, Systems: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Price: $59.99

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT

Presentation: You can’t review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim fairly without talking about its perfomance issues, bugs and glitches. I did play Skyrim on my Playstation 3 for this particular Gamer Blog review article. To say Skyrim is an ambitious game is an understatement. The game is visually stunning and its scale is equally as impressive. Skyrim is an open world game with day and nightime cycles. Animals of Skyrim such as deer, mammoths, elks, trolls and walruses inhabitant the northern mountain land of Tamriel. With Skyrim’s ambitious beautiful huge world came many glitches, bugs, freezes and sometimes hilarious physic effects.

During my playthrough i encountered bandits that float in midair and walk without moving. Anoter glitch happened when i called and captured the dragon Odahviing in Dragonsreach. The trap magically pops up and Odahviing starts dancing (looks like he was dancing). Anyways, i talked to the guard to let the dragon go and in which time the dragon attacks and kills everybody in Dragonsreach. The second time i played the scene Odahviing ends up taking me to Skuldafn on his back. Another glitch happened when i attacked a giant and he hit me so hard i almost flew into orbit.

The latter glitch was actually pretty funny and omg worthy. The game breaking glitches come in the form of freezes and one in particular really really upset me. The final battle with Alduin in Sovngarde. As i took the last of Alduin’s life the game frooze. Keep in mind this was my first time fighting him so i was very upset. How can a game lock-up as you defeat the final boss? It was a coincidence i know but very bad timing on Skyrim’s part.

Apart from the performance issues Skyrim pretty much nails all aspects of presentation. The atmosphere is organic and brimming with detail. The orchestra score is amazing and the visuals are topnotch and were very impressive for an open world game with so much going on. The menus had a nice navigation system for quick access to magics, weapons and anything else for that matter. For the amount of content and detail of each object in Skyrim. For a game that is so layered with options and content i never felt overwhelmed or confused the entire playthrough. Skyrim is ergonomically built for gamers.

Story: The story of Skyrim puts you in the shoes of the Dragonborn who is the one true soul who can defeat the eldest and most powerful dragon in existence “World Eater” known as Alduin. In the beginning of the game Dragonborn was awaiting execution till Alduin showed up which sets off a chain of events all over Skyrim. Alduin immediately started resurrecting dragons to fight along side him. To defeat Alduin Dragonborn has to learn the way of the Voice which is called Shouts. In Skyrim dragons speak through powerful thu’ums which can have all types of  powerful effects. With the help of the Greybeards and Paarthurnax (dragon) on High Hrothgar the Dragonborn learns the way of the voice and Alduin’s source of power and why he’s in Skyrim.

The reason Alduin is in Skyrim was due to him being cast while in the past with an Elder Scroll. Many years ago Skyrim’s greatest heroes Haken One-Eye, Felldir the Great and Germliaith Golden-Hilt battled Alduin. The problem is the three of them couldn’t actually kill Alduin so Felldir the Great banished Alduin to the future which is Dragonborn’s time in Skyrim. You actually do get to fight Alduin in Dragonborn’s time once before going back into time to fight him alongside the three great heroes in Sovngarde. With the help of the Dragonborn’s Dragenrend shout the four of them were  finally able to kill Alduin. When i look back on Skyrim’s story i think its average. You could tell very early what the plot of the game might be about.

The details of Skyrim’s story are drip-fed through moments with NPCs such as Septimus, Paarthurnax and Esbern. Asides from the main story of killing a powerful dragon you have a raging war going on between Ufrec Stprmcloak (Stormcloaks) and General Talius (Legion). Before being able to use Dragansreach to trap Odahviing you must get a treaty done with the two warring factions on High Hrothgar with the Graybeards. My personal opinion is that the best stories i experienced came in the form of random NPC encounters and just playing the game. There are so many natural and memorable moments to be had in Skyrim’s world.

Visuals: Skyrim features a gorgeous world littered with sweeping mountains, forests, caves, waterfalls and even antarctic like settings. Its a vast and very detailed world. Even the thousands of objects you find each have detail you’d never expect. The NPCs are nicely detailed. The wildlife in Skyrim such as Frost Spiders, Ice Trolls and Mammoths all featured nice texture work and imaginative design. The design of some enmies such as the Mechanical Guardians showed off the diversity in Skyrims graphics engine. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great looking open world game.

Skyrim isn’t perfect however nothing is. I can nitpick how the ground textures look blurry at times but why? The overall game is gorgeous and organic.  The lighting and fog effects while in dungeons and caves created a thick atmosphere as you fight Draugrs, bears or trolls. The special effects from shock, flame magics and dragon shouts were always fun to look at. I also enjoyed the brutal melee finishers. Even the third person viewpoint finally looks good in a Elder Scrolls game. I would switch to third person many times on foot when exploring Skyrim. I also enjoyed riding my horse around and looking at the gorgeous mountain vistas from time to time.

Sound: The Nordic themed orchestra music reminded me of Conan when i was a kid. Its really amazing stuff. When dragons attack the music oftentimes shifts from its calm tranquil melody into a more thunderous beats that got my heart pumping. The music while in castles and villages was atmospheric as well. The sound effects of the dragons were impressive. Many of the voice actors did a fabulous job. I really enjoyed listening to Paarthurnax speak.

Gameplay: Skyrim at its essence is a Role-Playing game. Sure you earn XP for doing practically everything in Skyrim from lockpicking to enchanting your weapon. There are so many areas and stations to hone and level up your abilities. You can use alchemy labs to create potions. Use workbenches for weapon smithing that will improve your weapons and armor. Use cooking pots to create new foods that improve your stamina and health even further. Reading books can open new quests and level up skills. In Skyrim you level up accordingly. What i mean by that is take by Redguard class build for example. For much of the game i used a enchanted melee weapon in my right hand and destruction magic in my left.

My one-hand melee and destruction magic skills ended up being the most advanced skills in the game. For the most part whenever i used a new skill albeit restoration magic, bows or conjuration magic they would level up automatically over time. You do of-course have the ability to choose perks and special skills as your entire class build levels up in Skyrim. You can pick one attribute for Health, Stamina and Magika. You then pick one perk point to unlock a special ability whether its for combat, armor, magic etc. The latter takes place on a nice looking constellation screen that was easily navigate and shows you exactly what skill you unlock does.

You can assign all food,  magics, shouts, potions and scrolls to a quick access menu for use in-battle. Skyrim has a great amount of flexibilty regarding its combat. I duel wielded magics and weapons. I used a sheild in left hand and melee weapon in right. I used a bow. You can upgrade your skills to make duel wielding magics and weapons much more powerful. The problem was never with the diversity and content of Skyrim’s combat.

The problem is with the combat itself. Its just not visceral or engaging and for the most part its not challenging. The only challenge if you can call it that was the boss fight with Nahkriin. The highlight of Skyrim’s combat should of been dragon battles. They weren’t because they weren’t challenging. Dragons just flew around in circles depending if you have Draganrend you could knock them down and just beat them to a pulp. The attack patterns of each dragon was virtually identical and predictable.

Replayability: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim took me 49 hours to complete. For the most part that was with a few side quests completed but mostly the 18 main quests. As far as replay value take your pick. You can play the game with different race build or continue playing in Skyrim’s sandbox after you killed Alduin. The goreous world of Skyrim is charming enough to keep you playing long after you completed the main story.

Final Verdict: Skyrim is a great Role-Playing game make no mistake. Its big, ambitious and filled an unbelievable amount of content. But like with many ambitious games there are problems. those being bugs, freezes and glitches.

8.5/10

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – Review

Published By: Ubisoft, Developed By: Ubisoft Montreal, Genre: Action/Adventure, Release Date: Nov 15/29 2011, Rating: M, Systems: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360.

Presentation: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations makes an attempt at what every good fourth game in a series should do. It added new gameplay elements, combat elements and spiced up its action with more  set pieces. Don’t worry the open world platforming of Assassin’s Creed is still intact and still the best gameplay this game has to offer. When examing the entire presentation of Assassin’s Creed: Revelation a couple of things stood out from previous games. The flow and structure of main missions regarding locating the Masyaf keys was actually fun. Its not your typical dungeon crawling exploration like in past games. There are more action set pieces and diversity when locating the keys.  Whether they are puzzle based or tracking down a group of Templars on a boat the action was ramped up.

The settings are different, no more Italy hello 15th century Constantinople. Constantinople made a very nice change of pace from previous Assassin’s Creed games. Its as if i was transported back in time running around the legendary The Grand Bazaar market while tracking down would be Templars. Not all is good with Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. I seen quite a few NPC glitches in-game coming from groups of patrolling Templar soldiers mostly. Most of the time they either walk into walls uncontrollably or stutter/vibrate so fast you wonder if they are going to blow up. Combat and platforming has been diversified with the addition of the hookblade weapon Ezio carries.

Story: Considering this is the fourth Assassin’s Creed game i was pleasantly surprised at how good the story was. The character development of Altair and Ezio as they bid farwell to the series was handled well. You almost even feel a little sad to see them go. As far as the main plot of Revelations goes its mostly a story of Ezio finding secret keys left behind by Altair. The keys are called Masyaf keys and with the help of Ezio’s new love interest Sophia, he is able to track down all six. The Masyaf keys opens a secret library that holds the Apple of Eden.

Ezio near the end of the game realizes he was a conduit to relay a message to Miles Desmond. Desmond soon gets a vision of a future-like utopian world being destroyed by forces unknown. Desmond Wakes up to his father and the other assassins after being in a coma the entire game. He says, “I know what we need to do”. He shows his arm and the Apple of Eden has activated something in his DNA. It makes a better cliffhanger story-wise compared to Brotherhood. Most of the characters in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations were fleshed out due to great voice acting and writing. You even see a different side of Ezio as he dresses up as a performer singing at a party to distract crowd goers. Whether it was Sophia, Altair or Yusef they were all believable characters.

This is Assassin’s Creed: Revelations right? So where is the whole “Revelations” tied into this game? Everytime Ezio finds and decripts a Masyaf key you are transported back in time to a gameplay sequence telling Altair’s story. Altair’s story takes place over his entire life which was really cool to see. You relive Altair when he was in his 20′s, 62, 82 and then 92 years old. Altair spent his entire life protecting the assassin’s creed and held the Apple of Eden from the world for many years. Altair’s journey is another reason why i enjoyed Assassin’s Creed: Revelation’s story so much. It added a deep layer to Ezio’s journey of enlightment.

Visuals: The engine showed its age alote during my playthrough. However the settings of Constantinople and Cappadocia brought new flavor to the art department. The texture work was ok for stone structures and rocks. The lighting was decent as well. There where a few wow moments pertaining to action set pieces. The in-game cutscenes featuring some of the character’s faces was clearly subpar from a visual standpoint. I must admit i never got tired of exploring the vast city of Constaninople, it was gorgeous and open city featuring many great views. So all in all i would say great art but average textures.

Sound: The orchestra did a great job. Then again all Assassin Creed games feature great music and this one was no different. Voice acting and writing was superb throughout as well. I enjoyed how the music would ramp up and slow down in-game accordingly.

Gameplay: You can platform, use Eagle Sense, train and recruit assassins. You can buy real estate and earn money. You can send assassins on missions and rank them up. What Assassin’s Creed has been good at gameplay-wise returned in Revelations. Since this is the fourth game there were quite a few big additions to gameplay. You can  join assassins on missions which was fun at times. Missions vary from finding traiters to snatch and grab missions. Finding and rescuing political prisoners etc. Most of the classic random missions are also available. Another new feature is that Ezio can be attacked from anybody out of the blue. You can also reverse your secret attacker’s attack and kill him.

Bomb making while new and seemingly wanting to appear important from all of the various ingredients and combos isn’t really a “must” gameplay factor. There are times when you will need to use bombs but they are few and far between. Bombs come in three types of pouches Lethal, Tactical and Diversion. You can pick various shells, gunpowder and special ingrediants to create practically a hundred different bombs. Some bombs kill, some explode blood on enemies causing panic and confusion and some are just smoke bombs. You can contruct bombs practially all over the game even in restricted mission areas where bomb making stations are present. You can always buy ingredients from black market venders for bomb making parts. Like i said, for a deep system for making bombs its just not that important in the grand scheme of gameplay.

The hookblade is the new main weapon of Ezio in Revelations. Not only can you traverse higher and slide across zip-lines but also use it in combat. You can throw enemies with the hookblade which is a nice combat mechanic. It takes a little getting used to but once i did i welcomed the hookblade entirely. New collectibles came in the form of Animus Data Fragments that unlocks a gameplay sequence for Desmond on Animus Island called “Desmond’s Journey”. Desmond’s Journey is a first-person Portal-type game where you have to listen to voice narration of Desmond’s past as you change and place blocks to navigate a matrix like room. I didin’t like it, it seemed pigeonholed in and just wasn’t fun in my opinion.

And last but not least we have Den Defense. Whenever you kill a Templar Captain you gain a Assassin’s Den in its place by lighting the fire tower. Most times the Templars will attack your Assassin’s Den in retaliation and Den Defense ensues. To make a long story short Den Defense is a tower defense game inside Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. Although wonky i actually thought they were fun and a good change up from the normal gameplay. In Den Defense you are on rooftops overlooking streets where mindless templars will run in trying to knock down the Assassin Den’s door. Your job is to assign units and stop the attack by any means neccesary.

Pressing R2 (on DS3) you can bring up the unit wheel and pick units like Crossbow Man or Assassin Leader and put them on rooftops. Assassin Leader (units) raise morale of soldiers near them. As you gain more money you can unlock more rooftops and more ground level and place more units accordingly. Placing Barricades on the street slows down the attackers. What i did was place mostly Riflemen on rooftops and Cannons and Barricades on the street. I always had plenty of Assassin Leaders around my units on rooftops. If you manage to stop the attack your scored after on such stats as Assassins Called, Assassins Lost, Duration etc.

Replayability: The single player story campaign lasted me just over 14 hours. There are plenty of collectibles to collect for the achievement/trophy hunters. Multiplayer is back with some new gamemodes and a tie-in story featuring Templar training at Abstergo. The multiplayer does have a light story to it as told through voiced cutscenes. As you level up you will see more cutscenes detailing more of the Templar’s secrets. You can customize your character in a bunch  looks and abilities.

Some perks and abilities for more adnvanced players kinda take the steam out of newer gamers sails. I personally like Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. They do have a capture the treasure type gamemode as well. More so than anything the multiplayer is niche and fun at times. Its about stealth and blending in using knives, no guns. And as far as replay value goes with the map packs and DLC being pushed out i say Assassin’s Creed: Revelations has solid replay value.

Final Verdict: Hey its the fourth game in the series so some things seemed worn out. I must say the additions of the hookblade, bomb crafting and den defense really spiced up the gameplay. I didn’t like Desmond’s Journy side missions but enjoyed the Masyaf key missions. The story was the most surprising aspect and just might be the best in the series. Farewell Enzio and Altair, it was fun while it lasted.

8/10