Weapon Up! Borderlands The Pre-Sequel

Pandora's most lovable warlord, Handsome Jack, is no more after Borderlands 2 so someone has to invent a new storyline. Enter the Pre-Sequel. 

To cut to the chase, all you need to know is that the whole game happens on the moon of Elpis, which brings us to the evolution of the entire gameplay. Here you have zero gravity and no air, so for air-breathers, you are pretty fucked when you don't have a canister of oxygen on hand. 

Fortunately, there are plenty to be had in the form of enemies. Picking one up is as easy as killing them. Well, that said, you gotta kill quite a number of them to shore up your oxygen supplies. 

Now, the characters aren't new. All of them featured in this game were Non-Playable in previous Borderlands titles. Athena, Nisha, Wilhelm and, Clap Trap the Fragtrap (no it doesn't kill only gay enemies). This time round you play the role of the bad guys, who aid Handsome Jack in his quest to control Pandora...well on the way to control is as he's nothing but a lowly programmer working for Hyperion. 

How do you kill?

Each character has a special ability and for Athena, she has a shield which can absorb damage and used as a killer frisbee. Nisha is by far, the least gifted as she is just a sheriff with a taste for hunting (reminds me of Zero in BL2 with a totally useless talent). Wilhem has the ability to summon drones, Wolf and Saint. Now Wolf attacks enemies while Saint heals and protects. Lastly, you have Clap Trap. If you ever choose this character from the beginning to play with, the game will ask you "Are you sure?"...TWICE just to deter you from taking it on and there is good reason. Claptrap is the best and most powerful character in the Borderland universe. Its ability range from not having to worry about breathing oxygen (fuck yea...I am a robot) and can summon various subroutines to deal damage to enemies like having a missile turret back you up in a firefight to a Doppelganger Victoria Secrets model of himself with fiery wings that flies against and damages enemies. It can also go into a 'berserker' mode where you do combat arm to arm with a sickle. 

Gameplay

No gravity and no oxygen. Those are the two biggest changes to the game. Aside from that, everything is the same. You get the same open world concept of play, and the game story is like a puzzle where you complete each mission to reveal more of what is ahead of you. 

Along the way, the game is spruced up with a wicked sense of humor. Entertaining nonetheless and a huge distraction when you make your way around Elpis (which rhymes with Elvis...the inspiration for Brick from BL1....geddit?)

Is it fun? Well only if you play with a pal. Most of the missions require you to kill someone or get something. Playing alone will take time and it is far more difficult to do this alone. What's more, you start off with only two weapons on hand and you have to get points to increase the number of weapons you can have at your immediate disposal. Weapons classes are the same, you have pistols, assualt rifles, sniper rifles and sub-machine gun so those familiar with this have no problems selecting what works best for you. 

What are you In for?

Those of you who hated Borderlands previously will not like this one bit. This FPS shooter isn't linear. It's not COD or Halo. It's not about going from point A to point B but rather exploring the terrain to find your mix of missions. The gameplay remans one of the most unique and there is no reason to doubt that 2K Australia could not have pulled this off. 

Story scripting is nothing sort of remarkable, and the whole game will keep you playing for hours on end. 

Of course there are the same annoying aspects of the game such as having the same enemies pop up whenever you re-enter an area which you had previously cleared. This deja-vu gaming is probably the most distracting but you have to remember that every single enemy you kill is rewarded through points and once you get enough of it, the skill-tree opens up many upgrades. 

Co-op play is best. I can't think of a better way to take on this game as some of the missions are very difficult to complete alone. There are no levels of difficulty to choose from as everyone starts off as a neophyte with puny weapons and a immature skill tree. Working your way up to the point where you have access to better weapons is probably the only goal you have in your cross hairs as you take on the big bosses in later missions. 

Borderlands is a great game. It might not be the billion dollar hit of COD but as an FPS, it deserves a place in the top 3. 

rating

Categories: 2K, Borderlands, fps, PS3, Xbox 360

Sniper Elite 3 is as mediocre as it gets

So you like to play a sniper who goes after his enemy without them ever knowing you were around. Sounds like fun but did you play any of the Sniper Elite games? You have? Then there is nothing new to tell you. Let's get to the jist of this before my fingers fall asleep. 

Sniper Elite 3 takes place in Africa during WWII. Not a fun place to be but it has its moments. There are no rogue camels to shoot or recalcitrant Arabs wanting to declare Jihad on you. All you get are Italian and German troops. I have nothing against Italians or Germans in Africa. I am here to kill them so let's get on with it. 

Now I didn't know that I had completed the game after playing it. That's how bad it was as you meander around the desert landscapes hoping your enemies won't hear your gun shots. The game is surprisingly short for starters. You could order a pizza and finish the game when it's delivered to you. Ok, I am being cynical. I hate the game. 

Why I hate the game is clear. It offers nothing new to the third person shooter genre. What's more it suffers from sloppy story telling. Like the part where you go out to rescue a bunch of English servicemen, and instead of running out of their jail cell, they just stay there and tell you to move on while the have a wank. The lost transitions that connect the story together is very badly written. The cut scenes are no better, it just feels very messy. 

Another problem I had was the load outs are restricted to just your sniper rifle, a Welrod bolt action pistol and a Stern gun. God sakes, those were the guns I got in the previous Sniper Elite. Where is the variety? This has to be a joke. When you up your experience points, you get to choose only from three types of weapons for first, secondary and third. There is no knife for you to melee your enemy so walking close to them would only lead to more fart attacks. 

You are allowed to carry one rifle, which can be upgraded once you have scored enough points to take the Gewehr 43, which remains my favourite rifle of choice. The game hasn't evolved but devolved since the last instalment.  Completely dumbed down for an idiot. You can't melee your enemy while being confronted head on and the only choice is your guns. If you ran out of ammo for all three weapons, you might as well do a river dance to distract them. 

Enemy A.I hasn't changed either. The lot of them you face up to are tone deaf. If you pack a Luger 08, and took a shot at them, it has the same effect as a silenced Welrod. Go figure. 

If you care to look around, the gameplay borrows heavily from Hitman. You crawl around hitting your targets in the most silent manner but even if you don't play that way, the tone deaf enemies you are facing won't know the difference. You can blow up a truck nearby and the guys won't even hear a whisper or bother to check out what the loud explosion was all about. Which lead me to think either they are very lazy or Buddhist. 

The slo-mo sequences where the bullet enters the heard, heart or balls are all there. I don't know why people get turned on by such fetishes but it is a utter turn off for me. And this gets extremely annoying in a action packed sequence, the last thing you want is to see how you blew that guy's left kidney in slo-mo when there are heaps more shooting at you. 

Trusted that you should play this game slowly or risk dying quickly doesn't really apply at all. Instead you have morons who shoot when they are shot at and even if you created a ruckus outside their camp won't even ring a bell for them. 

There are so many ways the game could have improved over Sniper Elite 2 but Rebellion, the coders behind the game didn't think you want them. The lack of firearm choices is one deafening omission. You get to pick a Panzerschreck as a secondary weapon which you know won't work against troops. Creative liberties like this spoil the game experience for the gamer. Also missing from the equation is the anti tank sniper rifles used during WWII. These can be used effectively against a half track but in the game you need the Panzerschreck to snuff out a truck. I do like the idea that mines only damage a Tiger tank, but should dynamite be used to blow it up? Hey, I could write a better game outline than that mute they have who produced this crap. 

There is also the use of trip wires to blow oncoming enemy. Stupid really when they don't really come after you in the first place. The idea of this game is that you shoot them from afar and even if they do come after you. You won't be expecting a huge onslaught. They come at you one at a time, as if ordering pizza.

Ammo is another problem as you pick it off the dead. Now as far as I know, you can't possibly pick off Welrod ammo from a German but in the game you can. I would have preferred that the player discharge all his ammo or pick up Axis gun and ammo instead. There are very few intense moments and your only fear on the field is another sniper with his sights on you. But in the game, even an enemy with a MP40 machine pistol will do you damage from a long distance. Come one! Can't you throw in a Stg44? Was this famed assault rife so difficult to render to the point you had to reuse the old design of the MP40 from the previous Sniper Elite?? 

Conclusion

Being a realist, and an avid vintage gun fan. More attention should have been given to gun dynamics and gameplay. The game's landscaping is beautiful and breath taking, you can't help but admire the talent behind them but the game itself is a huge disappointment.

How many ball busting shots do you have to make before you get tired of the shooting? Or for that matter, the morons who you battle with who have the IQ equivalent of their shoe size?

Morally, the developers have done a huge injustice to the game and they can't deny this rushed effort just to appease the crowds who were happy with their previous instalment. Sorry but I don't buy such crap.


rating

Categories: action, snbiper Hitman, third person shooter, WWII

Call of Duty: Advance Warfare

With a billion dollar franchise to boot, you can hire just anyone so why not a two time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey?

However the question everyone has on their lips is does the game deliver? Does it in any way revitalizes the FPS genre? It's got a spiffy new HUD for display....wow.

After COD Ghost, every terrorist organisation has been done to death. Thus COD Ghost was a sharp departure from the previous COD storyline as it does not in anyway resemble old world sensibilities. We are introduced to modern warfare where technology plays a part in deciding the fate of man.

So here we have Advance Warfare, a sci-fi take on the FPS genre that has no invading aliens but man's greatest enemy...himself. Activision has hired Kevin Spacey, to reprise his "House of Cards" role in the form of a power mad Jonathan Irons. As for you the player, you get to play a loser soldier without an arm called Jack. That's all you need to know buddy as you sit back to take the ride.

Iron's character borrows heavily from post-911 CIA/NSA self deluding goals. He's the power behind the intelligence and he lets things happen so that more wars are fought.

So what does Advance Warfare bring to the FPS genre? Plenty. No more puny weapons, we now have Exo Skeleton suits and Gundam like armor. The war is not fought in space but on Earth. The weapons have gotten way more intelligent to appeal to the typical iPhone owner. Thus the game pad experience is somewhat limited to pushing this or that button at the correct moment. Beyond that, it's just aim and shoot.

Advance Warfare copies the skill tree from Borderlands to poor effect. Each level you complete gets you points to which you can redeem to up your capability. More grenades, and even more battery power for your exo-suit. Everything is good to go and there is even a cloaking device which you can become invisible. Spiffy. Now is there a story behind this? Well yeah. It reads more like Michael Bay movie.

The game play doesn't change, it has very intense moments and a blockbuster feel to it. The action is fast...gets almost as boring as COD Ghost but avoids it by proper story pacing. I hated flying the jet planes, and the drone controls don't make sense. I happen to use RC controllers in Mode 2 and there is no choice for taking that up. You just have to relearn the controls.

With the FPS concentrated on technology, it does get monotonous. Unlike Battlefield 4, you don't have a choice of load outs before every campaign. And the guns in Advance Warfare, feels very artificial. The gun play itself is pretty boring. It has none of the challenges of COD: Modern Warfare 2 in terms of repeat play. You can pare down the recoil in the Skill Tree and that might sound awesome but trust me, it's no great shakes.

The token black dude in a block buster game is back!

The game's sandboxing is very annoying to say the least. There are times where I want to hide in a corner only to find that outside the boundaries of the sandbox. It was as if the programmers got careless and didn't bother with gamer's experience. There are places where you can jump which they don't allow you to and for the Exo-suit's varied capability, the features are locked before the start of a new level so you don't get to choose the features you want.

The story telling is better this time round. The COD Ghost borders on the ridiculous so with a sci-fi storyline thrown in for Advance Warfare, it paces very well. I must say that in the end, when Jonathan Irons tells you why he has declared war on the US for all its excess, you can't help but rally in and support him. Politically speaking, he might just be right but your job isn't to support him but to kill him in the end. How I wish I had a choice of which side to take on because I really do feel for Irons by the end of the game. That is probably one reason I won't chase him down in the end. The other reason is that you don't get to use your good arm to beat him into a pulp as your Exo suit is disabled. This takes the fun out of fighting and to some extent, poor story telling from the producers. Your character is nothing more than a one arm gun slinger at this point. Once you expend all your ammo, you have a knife. Enough said.

The entire COD franchise suffers from Deja Vu. You have seen it all before an for some reason you can't help but think if there is life on Mars half way through the campaign. It certainly be more fun if we invaded them for a change. So who knows? That might just be the case for the next instalment.

Conclusion

Advance Warfare is a polished piece of work and though lacking in repeat play, it would satisfy the FPS player immensely. The graphics rendering has improved by leaps and bounds and if you are in for a ride, there is no going wrong on this. I didn't have the chance to check the multiplayer mode's side features as I felt it was a waste of time. Multiplayer options will be nice if you have a good internet connection but mine just pure sucks.

I must say Advance Warfare has none of the excess of COD Ghost. It still is a bit way off from Battlefield 4 in terms of repeat gameplay. For me at least, the repeat play is inherently destroyed by the sand boxing of the levels. You step out a bit too far you get a warning that the game will end if you don't return to it. The concept of repeat play is lost among the designers who like to pigeon hole your gameplay to a strict route. This takes the fun of having a go again with a different tactic or weapon, hence you don't get a choice of weapon loadout.

As a stand alone game, Advance Warfare is a much better game than COD Ghost. If that is the only motivation you need to buy the game, then you will enjoy it.

rating

Categories: advance warfare, call of duty, Co-op, fps

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil Edition

'We each are our own devil, and we make this world our hell.'.

When the initial news of Diablo 3 appeared, I was highly skeptical that Blizzard could deliver a product that would exceed the greatness of the previous 2 games.

Lets face it. Diablo 1 created a brand new genre that took the very best elements from some of the greatest games and fused it into an awesome success. The sequel didn't just take things a step further, it transcended all expectations and took the game to an entirely new level.

With all the improvements and innovations delivered in Diablo 2, it was exceedingly hard to imagine being able to top such a monster hit. And with the advent of so-called 'new gen' games which saw some of the worst titles ever released for more than a decade, one would be forgiven to pass judgement on Diablo 3 even before it hit the stores.

How wrong I was.

I was ashamed to make such a hasty call on a company that only had 3 franchises on their portfolio. And all three were immensely popular due to Blizzards minute attention to detail & creative innovations.

Diablo 3 was, in fact, a highly addictive romp through familiar plots and landscapes. The oldest story ever told, didn't seem to get gamey after all these years.

Reaper of Souls is a long anticipated expansion set that follows the grand tradition that started with Diablo 2. This expansion brings forth a slew of improvements, additions and tons of fun.

First is the addition of a whole new act which continues the story after the end of Diablo 3. Act 5 introduces brand new territory along with a new collection of demonic denizens.

Next is the introduction of a new playable character class, the Crusader. This holy warrior bears some resemblance to the Paladin class of old but is designed for medium and long ranged battle.

The voice acting for the Crusader is rather exceptional. Its skill tree a balance between aggression and buffs. The Crusader is a lone warrior who makes a fabulous addition to co-op game play as much as it can fend on its own. It also has a range of class specific weapons that are a thrill to play with.

New locations are strewn across all 5 stages in the new Act. There are no assets being reused from the vanilla edition. Overall, the graphics have been improved and everything simply looks better.

In addition to the awesome additions in this ultimately evil edition is the inclusion of a new mode of play. Adventure mode allows gamers to play in randomly selected maps with specific goals to meet. Some maps may require for players to defeat all enemies or fight with a special boss. The rewards are more than worthwhile but its best left for the players to find that out.

A new loot system has been included. Now players are awarded valuable class specific drops after defeating a certain number of enemies or boss fiends. New souped up monsters will make their appearance after certain conditions are met introducing a brand new element of surprise for the returning stalwarts.

The challenge has also been overhauled with the inclusion of new levels of difficulty that will tax even the most battle hardened veterans. The Paragon system has also been revamped with a new level cap to accommodate the new degree of challenges.

Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls is indeed a massive expansion that delivers more fun, action and an excuse to be whisked away to that old twisted,  menacing world once again.

I, for one, shall never again be so quick to pass judgement on Blizzard. They have truly outdone themselves.

Categories: blizzard, Diablo 3, reaper of souls, ultimate evil edition

WAGS : Shadowrun Returns

A return to Fallout's Turn-Based Tactical Combat 

Currently on a Midweek Madness Sale on Steam is Shadowrun Returns for only RM7.75* (around USD 2.39. Normal price RM31 or USD 9.56)! Originally I was going to post a review for another game, but this mad deal took precedence. Honestly, the things I do for you people even though I'm not getting paid.

If you've missed turn-based tactical combat simulators like the original Fallout series, or the much less gritty Final Fantasy Tactics, Shadowrun Returns is, well, a return to form. Quite a simplified one too, as it turns out.

Graphics and Sound

Shadowrun Returns is clean and simple from top to bottom, except for the maps which are appropriately gritty and generally unclean - you are, after all, in a dystopian setting. Neon bright colours are the norm and clear iconography makes it pretty clear what each button does. 

It's like Vegas out there

In-game, the information you need is laid out clearly for you to find, and all else is found by pressing the giant power button on the top-left or pressing the Escape key. In it, you'll find your character screen, inventory, and menu functions.

The background music is pretty standard stuff. It sets the mood appropriately with an unobtrusive synth and fade of dark rock. Most times you won't even notice it, and even if you do you could do your laundry or cook a meal with it playing in the background. You might even be more attentive and wary while doing so and not miss the piece of paper in the back pocket of your jeans that will eventually get shredded by the washing machine.


Character Creation

The game is honest enough about the fact that what you choose isn't set in stone, with a "meh, I'll pick my own skills" option. Each class is really a low-level preset that you can override later in the game anyway.

Character creation is almost purely cosmetic (except for race that gives you a small perk for each), and you'll even be given an option as to what sort of demeanour you portray. Letting you choose between options such as academic, cop, or gang member does next-to-nothing to your dialogue choices except for specific instances where it might be useful (helpfully greyed out so that you'd just wish you had chosen to go at it like a cop. As far as I can tell there aren't any side quests or missions that become intensely tricky without the right attitude, so go ahead and choose something you'd likely find useful once or twice in the game.

My choice of character stems from my desire for a glorious beard

Abilities are a lot more useful, and don't fret at the amount of Karma you get at the beginning, Karma is quite generously given to you as the game progresses. Contrary to it's name you do not get (much) more Karma from being nice as far as I can tell, so go ahead and do feel free to be a dick to the few NPC's that you meet.

Gameplay

Perhaps referring Fallout and Final Fantasy Tactics at the beginning was a little misleading, because Shadowrun Returns is not an open-world for you to explore, it's a story that you play out. As such there is no back tracking to previous stages or places so that you can fully explore the place or complete side quests, not that there are many. It's quite a shame because the maps are decently sized and full of graphical detail.

One day I too will open a bar called Tail and Ale

It's rare that you will find open lockers or random rooms where you find extra cash or sellables to pick up and hawk to the merchants you'll find along the way. In fact there is no sell function at all. Bought something you regret and there's nothing you can do but let it rot in your stash where it'll live out it's unfulfilling life till you visit it again (probably 2 minutes after never). Thankfully your stash is infinite. Most of the pickups you'll find come from the handful of pick up points (helpfully highlighted with an icon so that you can't miss it) or from wearing out dialogue options in things you'd need to look through anyway.

Turn-based combat is almost exactly as you'd expect it to work, except in general most actions cost 1 AP and most turns you get 2-3 AP. So firing a rifle and smacking someone in the head costs the exact same amount of AP. As such, I haven't found a reasonable advantage of having a handgun except to save on reloads (which, admittedly, is actually great tactical advice).

Perk - ammo is unlimited. The downside is that melee combat is effectively advantageless. It costs the same amount of AP and there is no minimum range for ranged weapons so you can unload your clip into an enemy right in front of you and not worry about losing accuracy.

Narrative

The main story is a film-noir crime solvency with guns and magic, a recipe for potential disaster and nerd-gasms alike.  Thankfully, the people who wrote it knew to tread lightly.

Unlike Fallout, there is no false-pretense for sex, because there isn't any, period.

The writing of the franchise is solid, especially so for this game. If you're not the reading type this game may not be worth the full price of admission to you, but if you are be prepared to be immersed. Characters are believable and somewhat endearing as much as they are sometimes stereotypical, but the melting pot of cultures is quite something to behold. It's not an epic thriller, but it's engaging.

Plot wise, however, it's somewhat simplistic. While I'm not suggesting that it's weak, it isn't anywhere close to the bone-chilling revelations of Andrew Ryan. It's not terrible, just linear enough that your cries of "I totally saw that coming" will be met with "everybody else did". The reveal is also quite lack lustre, but at least the story is believable and entertaining in it's own right.

Replayability
That being said, re-playability is not necessarily an issue with a thriving online community of modders and writers. The Steam Workshop and shadowrunners at large create downloadable content that seem to be of pretty good quality. It obviously takes a bit of time and an eye for these sorts of things, but considering that most, if not all, of these additional stories are free, I'd say Shadowrun Returns is definitely a very replayable medium that storytellers can make use of.

"How could you not like a girl like that?"

Verdict
If you're a fan of narratives as I am, Shadowrun Returns is certainly something you could use to pass more time than you could possibly imagine. Despite certain gameplay quirks and a lack of any real trade I could see this being a worthwhile purchase even if you miss the Midweek Madness sale.

4 Stars

Vinsant Huang is every bit your hardcore gamer, or at least he was until corporate life tied it's bitter noose around his neck. His highest achievement is attaining Ambassador in World of Warcraft, and it involved countless hours of grinding and coffee. To be honest, he's not that proud he did it.

* Steam recently introduced pricing in Ringgit Malaysia, and I've not been able to figure out how to change it back to see if they round up or down. It doesn't matter either way. In general  USD 5 hovers around the regions of RM15, so a little give or take doesn't and shouldn't mean too much.

Categories: 2013, fallout, Shadowrun, turn based, Vinsant

WAGS : Project Root on Steam

(Weekly Affordable Games on Steam)
A game of lasers, reflexes, and a story that you won't care about

I discovered Steam through their incessant sale pitches, indie games, and a wide plethora of cheap games from new and small developers to the big boys of the gaming business.

For this ultimate gaming exercise I will (try to) be buying and reviewing games on steam that are under 5 USD (about the price you'd pay for a pirated game DVD) so that you can figure out if you should buy it or spend it on a Grande frappucino at your local Starbucks.

And off we go!
We kick off with Project Root (was* on sale for USD 2.49, normal price USD 9.99 – which is still not a lot) a top-down, side to side scroller arcade shoot-em-up similar to Raiden and Skyforce, married to a freedom of mobility to explore and shoot up the available maps in each quest.

Graphics and Sound

Project Root is pretty. Graphics are neat, menus are spiffy and created clearly with consoles in mind. PC Gamers don't lose out much in the looks department, although the game will graphically show that you should press the ABXY buttons. Pressing these on your keyboard does nothing but make you question your life's choices.

Start the mission and the ugliest part of the game appears, the cutscenes that deliver the dialogue. At best it is the fuel and catalyst that inspires each of us to hit skip as many times as necessary to never have to read it again.

How do you fit those boobs in that outfit? Science.

Once you're in, though, the game rapidly fixes your perception of it's graphics. It's not gorgeously rendered, but it looks good and is smooth on my budget rig. Lasers, bullets, and missiles are colourful and pleasant to look at (until you remember that you're supposed to dodge them). The music doesn't change much and soon just gets lost in the heat of your dog fighting.

If you ever have quiet moments in the game, the repeating music will simply make you want to hunt down more enemies to kill, anything to take your mind off it - which may have been the point.

Have I mentioned the explosions? They're glorious. Even Arnie movies should take inspiration from these Bayesian wonders.

I don't even care that it's unrealistic. It's pretty!

Narrative Quality (or lack thereof)

To be honest, I still have no idea what the background of the game is. Remember the monologue? Well I don't. Something about a big corporation and you - the badly drawn man with vengeance on his mind. The story is given to you in the afore-mentioned flatly coloured story panels and unnatural facial expressions, and you're supposed to read the boring dialogue that comes up for a sense of it. I'm normally intrigued by narrative and will read to understand the characters. I gave up after the first mission to preserve my sense of self.

A lack of voice acting also means that you're given contextual dialogue in a small box in the lower right of the screen. Mostly comprising, "come back to base. No wait, go check out that odd reading on the radar", or "His death won't be in vain". Thing is, most of this dialogue happens in real time, which means you have to choose between reading the torrid dialogue and surviving (hint: It's not a hard choice, honestly).

"Not now, woman! Holy Fuuuuuu-"

You know what? All this doesn't matter, I assume, as your objectives are always clearly presented to you in the top right. Plus, story isn't why you're buying this game – action is.

Gameplay

Controlling your craft is a little bit of a science. Since it's a top-down shooter you have to master strafing and changing direction in a similar fashion with the old school game Asteroids to avoid the deluge of bullets that will be trying to murder you from all sides. This is confounded somewhat by the fact that you can't see what's behind you, which I don't have too much of an issue with considering that in an actual craft you can't really see behind you either.

Another realistic aspect is the difference between shooting down aerial foes and ground targets. The game assumes most enemies that are engaging you in the air are level with you, so accuracy isn't paramount. Once you've gotten the hang of aiming where the bullets should be vs where the enemy is, it's quite easy to just strafe and pray it eventually hits something.

Once you get to ground targets, that becomes a little more tricky. Since you're not level with your ground targets, accuracy becomes more important. Your bullets (missiles? lasers?) will hit only where you aim, and since you and your target could be moving at differing speeds, it becomes more challenging to nail them down. It adds a level of difficulty to the gameplay that you won't get in many other games.

I died at least twice to take this screen grab. The tank was fine. You're welcome.

This is further confounded by the fact that most of the special weapons you can pick up are Air only weapons. So you could clear the skies around you with a couple of charges, but unless you have the missiles that hit everything, ground enemies can still shred you to pieces.

So far, I've clocked 2 hours of game play and I've died more than my fair share. You get a set amount of lives each round and there are powerups that grant you extra lives, repairs, and energy shields to prolong your life just enough. A small annoyance is the insistence that you can only have one special weapon at a time, but it's negated by the fact that they appear fairly often.

Addictive Replays?

It's a little hard to be talking about replayability considering that I haven't even come close to finishing the game, but with increasing difficulty, repetitive movements (there really are only so many ways you can dodge bullets on a 2D plane) and very little by way of ship upgrades for you to choose from (there aren't any other ships you can buy, you can't buy different weapons, you can't even opt for a different paint job), I can't see this being a game you'd come back to on a daily basis if you have finished the game. Get your achievements, if you can**, and maybe you'll pop in once or twice a month for some gloriously exploding fun.

Verdict

Project Root is a decent game to pass time. It's visually attractive (except for the story panels), and very certainly a challenge you'll find yourself eager to power through, at least for the first few missions.

Rating

*Apologies. Due to this being my inaugural post, some delays were to be expected due to editorial constraints. At 2,.49 USD, this wasn't a bad purchase. For USD 9.99 there are better games out there.
**At the time of writing, Project Root has problems communicating your achievements to Steam. You'll earn them in game, but Steam won't know about it. I hope they fix that soon.

Vinsant Huang does Business Development from day to day when he's not being sucked into a narrative in some way or form.

Categories: Project, Root, Steam, Top Down, WAGS

Star Wars Commander: May you be Forced into a Rip Off

I have a deep fondness for Star Wars. As a kid, I loved it and even if Lucas was a dufus when it comes to making engaging games, I felt that he could have at least played some before licensing his name and universe to the highest bidder. Now that he's out of the business, makes you wonder what will Disney do to it.

Playdom, a mobile game developer, launched this game app to tap into the deep pockets of iOS users before it heads out to the Android platform but is it worth your time playing it?

It really depends on how you mean by playing. If you enjoy being ripped off by a Clash of the Clans clone then by all means, yes!

Let me digress. Many moons ago, a company named SuperCell thought of this medieval strategy game where people can battle one another all over the world. It was a freemium hit by some measure and loads of would be clones grew out of it. Playdom licensed the creative concept behind Star Wars and copied virtually everything about it in a aptly called strategy game called...you guesses it...Star Wars Commander.

In the game you get to play the rebel side or the Imperial side. No diff really except that you won't have any access to the heroes of the game which by far reside on the rebel side. If you side with the rebellion, you get Luke and Han Solo, Chewbacca and maybe even Obiwan. But the heroes from the dark side are some bold mechs, which are designed from the the Star Wars Imperial lore.

The game itself is based on the first installment of the series, which is on Tatooine. In it, you get to kick Tusken Raider ass and lay waste to anything remotely Imperial or Rebel.

Why Freemium is a Rip Off

There are three resources you need to complete the game...crystals, alloy metal and credits. Sounds like a plan but wait till you hit the paywall. Alloy and Credits can be easily harvested but not crystals. These you can only gain from the side missions. Crystals are useful for extending the length of protection on your ranch out in the desert and speed up deliveries of buildings and ordnance. The protection period is basically for you to ante up on should you fear some attack from a paying fool. To attack someone, you need to ante up with a payment of crystals so this in itself isn't free.

If you do get attacked, you will sustain minimum damage. However if you chose to revenge attack, then your protection is withdrawn and you can get hammered in the process. You could face a string of attacks, wave by wave but players so far are wary about paying those hard earned crystals for less than two minutes of mayhem.

There is also another caveat. If you attack someone to rob them, well they have a right to revenge attacks.

The crystals are costly to purchase. You can spend 100 bucks on it and that's way more I would pay for a game on a console. Worst of all, there is no completion level. The game soldiers on even if you stop paying to play. So your outpost in the desert will be a stark reminder of what sort of rancher you have been. To avoid being attacked, you can also choose to stay online busy building or doing something in the game screen. This will ward off any attacks. Such tricks mean that the attacker can never be revenge attacked.

There are periodic campaigns which offers you a chance to earn a different currency to redeem a different line of robots and troopers with a bazooka for the imperial army (god knows what you get on ther rebellion side, mini Yodas?). There are even more stuff along the way during the campaign, like the use of Hero characters to complete your campaign. This in itself becomes very murky because of a bug.

You can't select a hero for your squad all the time, and this hero is virtually useless in some of the side missions. The Hero can be used during attacks on another player but beyond that, it's uses are limited. Selecting a Hero character is a miss affair generally. If you have two Heroes on standby, the latest one made is offered up for battle without a choice.

What I don't like about the Game

You can't use the full resource of your army to attack. That's basically the one thing that disturbs me. I have a slew of forces but you don't get to choose the fighters you can use for an attack. Instead you have to 'manufacture' them for the mission and you need to plan ahead instead of just hitting the buy button.

The one thing that really stuck out was that when you get attacked, your own troops are busy wanking in the barracks and refuses to come out to fight. WTF? Instead you are encouraged to join a group of similar minded players. These players will donate troops to your outpost and you don't get to choose which troops either. Once you get attacked, these donated troops will do the defending. If they are 'pussy' ranked, they will get whipped. So you have been warned.

In any strategy game, you leave you worst troops behind and take the best one out to fight for you. Your poor quality troops are cannon fodder, with the outpost defences kicking in to destroy the enemy. This element is missing. So does it make sense to play a strategy game with your feet and hands tied behind your back?


What's more, your troop's AI are at the level of 'retard'. Instead of attacking buildings, they can be often seen shooting at barriers and taking a scenic route to their next target. You don't get to instruct them to attack which target at all. This makes for a difficult gameplay as the retards within your rank will rush out to get destroyed by cannon fire. The same goes for tanks and AT walkers, even though they are by AI program more attracted to certain types of buildings within an outpost and will not go after more valuable targets because that to them...does not 'compute'.

Lastly the game itself is riddled with bugs. There has been times when the revenge button doesn't even work, as it gives you Yoda like answers like....'Player cannot be found' alerts.

This is not a stable game to play with and you should not invest in anything more than your time on it. The bugs have caused Playdom to reset its servers and deliver a new update, which at this time is still bug ridden. I have had my own troops destroy my own tanks in a wonton act of rebellion...thanks to a bug in my system.

It might sound funny but I never thought a Star Wars remake of any kind would turn out to be a comedy. Make of that what you will.

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Categories: Android, ios, mobile, star wars, strategy

Ultra Street Fighter 4

'Handsome fighters never lose.'

Capcom's digital demi-DLC of sorts for Super Street Fighter 4 (SSFIV) is a stand alone piece of software much in the vein of SSFIV Arcade Edition.

For those who spent their youth at smoke filled video game arcades in the late 80s blowing bus fares for some serious throwdowns on Street Fighter 2 and the plethora of SNK beat em ups. Its highly likely that they will get this latest Capcom offering. I know I did.

Being an expert in the good old days at a few 'fighters' as we called it, I still remain attached to the sagging genre.
This Ultra-cized version does have multitude of tweaks & treats that actually changes the game in such a way as to offer gamers new play styles to mix up the tired of combo system that really hasn't changed since Street Fighter 2.
An additional 5 new characters have need added to the already burgeoning roster. 3 characters from Final Fight & one from Street Fighter 3rd Strike. The 5th addition only made a short cameo appearance in Street Fighter Zero/Alpha 3 as a member of the Shadoloo female fighting force. Each new character is fun enough to play and will hopefully be seen in some VS fights online rather that the Ryu's and Akuma's.

USFIV also brings along a new system that allows gamers to use both Ultra Combos but reduced the damage from them.

There is also an additional ability to delay the recovery after a knock down. This has obvious advantages designed to mess up the attackers follow up strategy on a downed opponent. It certainly can turn the tide of a fight in some situations.

Finally there is the rage gauge style Red Focus Attack that takes multi-hits. Certain moves have been tuned up as well as refined. Unblockable setups are gone for good and the online play has a 3vs3 knock out bouts much in the same fashion as King Of Fighters.

As with all beat em ups. USFIV is meant to be played versus other gamers online or off. That is when the game really shines. Although I am a tad disappointed that there is no turbo speed. The sluggish pace is designed to pull of focus cancelling but adding a variable speed selector would have added a new dimension to the fun. Only those who have played the old modded SF 2 arcade machines will know just how much fun Capcom's long surviving franchise really can be.

USFIV is the last variation to the 'fourth' incarnation to the main series of the game. Thankfully Capcom have made it a worthy addition with a lot more skills & technique to master as well as new play styles. I am particular happy to see Hugo return to the arena. The last time the old Andre the Giant cosplayer fought anyone was way back in SNK vs Capcom Chaos. Glad to see he is as lethal and as unpredictable as before.
As a beat em up fan, I can only recommend this game for everyone to play. It is really quite excellent in almost every aspect. So take up the challenge because 'there are many guys like you all over the world'.

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Categories: capcom, super street fighter iv, ultra street fighter iv

Burning Down The House?

A band of mercenaries hired to protect a secretive occult organisation desperate to turn the tide of war against the nefarious Ice Lords who are hellbent on destroying all life. During a fervent magick invocation under the threat of imminent attack, the occultist unwitting unleash an ancient entity who possesses the living body of a mercenary. And so the tale of fire and death begins....but do we care?

Well, this Spiders offering enters the annals of gaming history, being the first RPG on a 'new gen' console. However, with all things new, there are flaws. But on the plus side, there is a pretty good game hidden beneath the numerous low ratings and unfavourable reviews from all the commercial video game review sites.

Bound By Flame is an action RPG very much in the vein of Witcher 2 and Dark Souls. Although far from polished, this game isn't as bad as its made out to be.

Firstly, let us get the horrific script and lousy voice acting out of the way. The games attempt at humor fails miserably and the candid banter sound like it came of the typewriter of Michael Bay. In a word, this is the stinkiest part of the game which is a pity because RPGs rely on good story telling to move the plot along.

The heart of the game lies in the combat system. Our protagonist is a proficient killer. Skilled in two distinct fighting styles that can be switched on the fly to deal with threats of all kinds. On top of this, there is a spell casting ability that vastly improves offensive and defensive manoeuvrings.

Bound By Flame is by no means an easy game. Expect to be overwhelmed by mobs of foes who can shred our hero in no time. Survival only comes through the strategic use of combat techniques like blocking, parrying along with evasion, counter attacks and riposte.

As the characters level escalates so will the scale difficulty and hardiness of the enemies. Power leveling will get you absolutely no where. However, diligent tweaking of armor and equipment will provide an edge filled with stats boosting goodness which can tip the balance in a fight.

Bound By Flame has an excellent crafting system that is easy to use and can be done at anytime and anywhere, that includes in the midst of battle. Cheap, yes. And why not? Being ambushed by a herd of giant ticks is equally cheap.

While the graphics are nothing to shout about, the music deserves special mention here. Pieces composed by the maestro who worked on Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Remember Me will delight one and all with an audio sensory assault that dictates the atmosphere and adds tension through out the game.

Bound By Flame isn't going to win any GOTY awards, but it is clearly obvious the developers wanted to provide the best experience within their means and capabilities. While it may not be good enough for some, it is, however an above average effort that will appeal to hardcore RPG fans and casual players might find it to be a pleasant surprise. It will provide a entertaining challenge while we await the much anticipated emergence of Dragon Age Inquisition.

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Categories: bound by flame, dark souls, focus entertainment, rpg, spiders, vulcan, witcher 2

It is a Dog's Life for all it is worth

Its a Dog's life...someone once said, if a game can hold the players complete attention for 30 seconds, it means that the developer has succeeded in delivering something special that went far beyond aesthetics & hype. That some went on to conceptualize & develop Destiny, one of the most hotly anticipated game of this year.

Of course that observation hold true in todays gaming scene. So many developers have begun churning out demo sized games with shallow concepts & ill devised plot topped off with horrendous programming that are hardly ever tested & more often than not riddled with bugs that eventually start bombing other subroutines & under severe circumstances results in a game breaking error.

Watch Dogs has been in development for quite sometime which doesn't actually have any impact on the quality of the game whatsoever. However, Ubisoft has earned the distinction of making above average entertainment (now called AAA). Watch Dogs takes on a controversial plot & story to apply the padding to the complete gameplay, providing a highly interesting play style the combines the best ideas from Ubisofts previous titles. The controls allows for ease & concise play which never bothers the gamer again with button combos & such. As the anti hero protagonist (told you it was controversial), the player must navigate a massive sprawling city utilising advanced hacking, phishing & unlawful skills to tip the balance & reap from the advantages of these abilities.

Its a story of revenge but not exactly an interesting one. The old 'people vs the man' scenario is once again put through its paces in rather spectacular style. If you bought & played Grand Theft Auto 5, then its highly likely that you saved up to by this game or threw tantrums enough time to get your folks to buy it for you. You will not be dissapointed. There's just so much in this game that I refuse to delve into it & spoil the thrill of surprise & discovery.

I will however touch on the gameplay which is finely tuned to give players an astonishing degree on control that allows players to precisely time specific sequences that result in some of the coolest action which incidentally makes players feel the euphoria of pulling it all off like clockwork. There's some much in Watch Dogs waiting for the player to discover & explore & eventually exploit. The game world is massive & filled with the kind of non player denizens that seem to have lives all of their own which becomes apparent once players start stealing banking info off those NPCs.

The moral dilemma of cleaning out some poor saps measly savings account is left entirely up to the player. To steal or not to steal, that is the question. Ubisoft have really gone from strength to stength & reach the pinnacle of being fondly known as the best game developers on earth along with the likes of Rockstar, Bethesda & CDK Projeckts. In fact if tomorrow every other publisher & developer was liquidated with only these four supreme software houses left, I would be glad the good guys survived & focus on finding out whats for breakfast & the continue playing Watch Dogs where I left off.

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Categories: aidan, dogs, hacker, pearce, Ubisoft, watch