Reviews

Got To Catch Me A T-Rex

I've always had a bit of a penchant for survival games, they seem to be a genre of game that I get quite addicted too. While going through all of the titles that I own on Steam, I have discovered that the top 3 games in my collection are all survival-based and that I have sunk over a thousand hours collectively into them. Alongside Rust and 7 Days to Die, there is Ark: Survival Evolved - but we certainly didn't get off to the greatest of starts. I bought Ark as soon as I could after seeing the announcement trailer, this looked to be a Rust clone with an additional element of PVE against Dinosaurs!! I mean, who in their right mind could ignore that. If you want to check out the trailer then click here to see it in all its glory. I got the game on release back in June 2015 and loaded in, excited at the prospect of learning to survive on 'The Island'. But... it ran like absolute crap on my PC, which at the time was still a fair beast of a machine. So, it got turned off (Steam didn't do refunds back then) and I forgot about it, until about 2017. 2017, I get a brand new rig with a high-end GPU meaning that it didn't run like ants through syrup and I could actually play the game. This time, it was the grind that got me. Playing on official servers meant that everything was set to default, including the speed of your XP gain, the amount you harvest and how long it took to tame a dino. To get anywhere near being technologically ready to take on a 'Boss' would take thousands of hours! Thousands of hours of smashing down trees and running the two stacks of wood you had to a safe place. Oh... my... lord... I couldn't take it anymore and I once again switched it off. Jump forward to 2020, a friend of mine picks up a server and customises some of the features. Great respect to Studio Wildcard here, as the amount of things you can tweak serverside, is mind-boggling. But we have an increased harvest rate, faster XP levelling and much, much more. What I like though is that we the players still don't feel OP in comparison to the wildlife. The game has progressed and we are working diligently towards the endgame. At the time of writing this, I'm about 80 hours into this particular game and am still trying to get myself to a standard where I can take on the End Bosses and stand a chance. I don't think I'm anywhere near that yet. The way the game works is simple... and I'll try and break it down into a typical fresh session: • Spawn at the South of the island. The easier side. • Collect resources in the form of wood, thatch, fibre, stone, flint and berries. • Begin to level up. Each level allows you to learn new Engrams (recipes of items) • Build a small hut, this is your starter home. • Work towards taming a Dino • Level up • Learn new Engrams • Build a bigger and more technological home (maybe stone) • Level up • Learn new Engrams • Tame bigger Dinos • ... well, you get it I think. The game is like a cookie clicker, it's addictive as hell and each level brings you new and exciting things to play with. So you just keep doing it... I'm still not ready to take on the bosses, and I've taken down a rainforest worth of wood. But, it still has me enthralled. Pros • Graphics aren't mind-blowing, but still great for a 5-year-old game. • Dinosaurs are cool AF. Seeing a Bronto or T-Rex for the first time is incredible (and scary). • Level progression means that there is always something else to aim for. • The Island is varied and vast • Bosses are hard as nails and means everyone has to work towards the end game. Cons • Not much character customisation. • Hearing the thwack of hitting trees, rocks etc. is driving me slowly mad. • Sometimes just need to turn it off because of how repetitive it is. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 8/10 • Sound Design: 8/10 • Gameplay: 7/10 • Longevity: 8/10 • Fun: 7/10

One Of The Best Ever?

There are not many games that I have played where I can say that they are worthy of a 'perfect' score. But Super Mario World is as close as they come! Released at the same time, and bundled alongside, the SNES console, I remember pushing the cartridge in and firing it up for the first time around my grandma's house. She only had an old and small tv, but that's all I needed. The now-iconic catchy Super Mario World theme tune began to ring out, and I became transfixed. The beauty was the subtle differences between 8bit and 16bit Mario that you don't initially notice. From the subtle shading on the character sprite to the lift of the hat when Mario jumps in the air, everything had been refined, perfected and it made all the difference. Levels were far more vibrant and varied, with the first level showcasing what was going to become the norm, with a great level design that straight away got you in on the action and familiar with the controls. Mario had a few new moves up his sleeves, but the first real surprise was when you once again slammed your fist into a block and something new emerged. Right from the get-go, we were introduced to the now-iconic green dinosaur, Yoshi. This cute little creature becomes not only Mario's soul mate throughout his journey to once again save Princess Peach but also his saviour in many a situation. He can run across the spikey little enemies or the Munchers without so much as taking a scratch of damage as well as lick up and use Koopa shells. Yoshi became such a popular character after the release of Super Mario World that he has since spawned many games dedicated to him and his kin. <more to follow> As 2D platformers go, this may be the ultimate showcase. The level design was something to behold, with obstacles perfectly placed to allow for the newbie to get to grips relatively quickly, while still offering a challenge to the seasoned professional who is trying to perfect their speed run . The sound design was incredible, with music that still sounds great today and little flourishes of sound effects whenever something happened onscreen. Graphics were ahead of their time and still great today in a world where pixel sprites are making a comeback and the gameplay... Was simply sublime. Pros • Incredible level design • Great graphics • Brilliant (and often Iconic) Sound Design • Introduction of worthy heroes • A vast and varied world Cons • Just want it to keep going ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 10/10 • Sound Design: 10/10 • Gameplay: 10/10 • Longevity: 10/10 • Fun: 10/10

Definitely Not DOA

One of the sleeper hits of 2015, Dying Light took everything that was good with Dead Island, tossed away the bad and created something special. I remember purchasing Dying Light and not really holding out too much hope for it, I had previously bought and played both Dead Islands and while entertaining in their own right - simply didn't grab me. I just thought the parkour in Dying Light looked cool, and anyone that knows me will understand I'm quite quick to buy a game on a sniff of a mechanic I like. Playing as Kyle Crane, you enter the world of Harran as an agent for some agency that resides somewhere in the world. Your mission, to find out information about a mysterious virus that is currently wreaking havoc on the city and its population. Upon entering this world you find out that the virus has decimated most of the population, turning them into mindless (apart from the hunger) zombies that just want to tear you apart, limb from limb. Luckily, apart from a couple of special types, these are the slow and lumbering zombies like 'The Walking Dead' series, rather than the fast and relentless zombies from '28 Days Later'. Still, in the early game, you are woefully underpowered and even these slow ones can kill you quickly if you get surrounded. The city is vast, with lots of areas to explore. A high-rise dominates the slum area of the map, with shacks and small shops making up the outlying area. A small coastline gives you the opportunity to do a bit of swimming and a motorway over a bridge can give you a sense of vertigo as you leap from the top of it. The addition of the 'Old Town' in the standard game and 'The Countryside' in the subsequent DLC means that the space to explore is vast and varied. I personally love Old Town for the aesthetics and feel, with far more verticality to explore. The gameplay is top-notch with the skill tree allowing you to level Kyle up to be both far more athletic and far more deadly. Personally I would level up anything that allowed me to carry more in my Backpack, or to extend the reach of the (oh so satisfying) zipline. Lots of the skills are centred around the crafting side of Dying Light, the ability to make and customise your weapons! Dying Light is one of the only games that I can think of where melee weapons are better than the guns. In fact, to clear some space in my backpack I'd often just clear out any weapons that fire bullets. Baseball bats, Sickles, Axes, Oars, Pipes and Bows are all fair game, and the ability to customise these with items such as circular saw blades, flamethrowers, electrical charges etc gives plenty of options to kill the Z's. Apart from some mild mouse lag, I thoroughly enjoyed this game from start to finish. Playing mostly in co-op with a friend (@Skillet), we found it a perfect for team play, we were each other's medics, guides, mules and traders. Swapping weapons when we found something better, ensuring both of us levelled equally. Night times were particularly fun, with the special infected coming out to play. The sense of dread and trepidation that occurred when you had a 'Volatile' on your heels as you desperately seek a safe room was incredible. Throughout the game, you find many different types of infected, Volatiles are potentially the most deadly - fast-moving, powerful and plentiful enough that it makes night time an exciting time to be alive. But then you have the powerful, and armour laden Demolishers who smashes you with one hell of a (Charger-esq) shoulder charge. Over the period of the game main missions, you slowly get more adept at dealing with these threats. By the end, you will not only be able to defeat things with relative ease but will be hunting them down much the same way they did to you earlier in the game. There aren't many games that can really stand the test of time, but I find myself drawn back to this game time and time again. It's a game I recommend to anyone that likes the open-world style gameplay combined with a great combat system and interesting story. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 9/10 • Sound Design: 9/10 • Gameplay: 8/10 • Longevity: 9/10 • Fun: 10/10

A Positive Retrograde Step Back To Better Times

Thirteen long years ago, Infinity Ward unleashed what turned out to be a game-changer in the world of Multiplayer - a game where progression meant something, the chance to unlock weapons and additional perks. Where everyone on the battlefield had the opportunity to have totally different load-outs, which meant varying tactics. The Camper, the Run-n-Gunner, the Demo guy, the annoying Martyr, and so on and so forth. But in the following iterations, things just became bland, the franchise ran a bit stale, and Call of Duty lost its shine. Jump forward to 2019, and Infinity Ward hit us with 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'. Like someone using Martyrdom, it took everyone by surprise. The engine has been totally overhauled, and at last, we have a decent looking game with significant lighting effects upgrades, excellent sound and even better gameplay. But this is a game of three parts, so I want to break it down into each piece. The Single Player I don't want to give too much of the story away, as if you've played the single-player in other 'COD' titles you'll know that there are some fantastic moments. Sometimes shock based like "No Russian" in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, others are fairly poignant, but the story ticks along quite nicely. The premise is simple, you learn of a plot involving chemical weapons and needing to deescalate a situation between fictional Urzikstan and Russia (always the bad guys!). There is a lot of exposition as you jump between characters, finding out backstories, learning of motivations and seeking resolutions - through each part of these stories it kept my interest, I did find them a bit boring compared to previous versions. One level, in particular, grabbed me as much as 'All Ghillied Up' did way back in 2007 and it has definitely become one of my favourite levels in Call of Duty history - it's called 'The Wolfs Den' and involves a night-time raid on a Safe House in the heart of London. The whole thing is incredible, start to finish as you have no idea what to expect! I'd recommend playing through the single-player, even if it's to unlock a few of the multiplayer characters. It's interesting, it has some great performances in Farah and Captain Price, and it has some great set pieces. Multiplayer The multiplayer aspect of the game is where it really shines (for me at least). Out are the pay to win items, peer to peer matchmaking, loot boxes and in, are free DLC maps, free additional game modes being introduced regularly, some new game modes such as the fantastic 'Gunfight' mode, cross-play and dedicated servers. In terms of value for money, not a single person should quibble as the amount of content they have crammed into the game is insane for the price. Yes, there are some gripes, things like your 'Double XP tokens' counting down while you aren't even in a game, or some of the guns not being balanced correctly (the now fixed, sniper 725 shotgun was great fun though), or a new lobby on every-single-game. But, these are getting addressed regularly by Infinity Ward, and improvements are happening. Personally, my biggest gripe is the inability to host our own dedicated servers as with COD4. This enabled us to create our own 'clan' before and had people join us regularly and form some excellent friendships. The sheer amount of ways you can now play in multiplayer is too much for me to really go into but needless to say, you won't run out of modes soon. The ability to play with friends on different platforms is a real boon, as getting my brother and his friends into a private lobby with me and my group was great. They were all playing on Xbox Ones, and we were all PC based, so we thought we would decimate them. Turns out that they were all pretty good (or we were terrible) and they could hold their own against their PC siblings. So Crossplay is most certainly a winner in my eyes, if you don't like it, then you can quickly turn it off in the settings. One of my personal favourite modes is 'Gunfight'. This mode is a fast, 2v2 based, quick thinking, small map, blast of a mode. With your opponent just out of sight on the other side of the arena, getting into an engagement can be done in the first second of the match. Working out the best tactic for your opponent becomes something akin to - should you push and play offensive, stay back and be defensive, or split with your teammate and play one forward, one back. Matches are played in a best of 11, and we've often seen games push back from 5-0 up to a 6-5 loss. Trust me when I say that this leads to some tense and anxious moments in the game! Other fan favourites such as Gun Game, Team Deathmatch and Domination are back, so gamers can get their fix any way they choose, with filters to pick their preferred game mode. Choosing a weapon has become a lot harder with some really great additions, and some notable subtractions. The Kilo is a great weapon and one I have stuck with since the beginning of my game, with the right attachments (you get 5 per gun) I have made it super fast to ADS, and it suits my playstyle perfectly. This is all done through the Gunsmith, a new way of updating your gun, adding cosmetic items and changing the attachments any way you see fit to make it the way you want. Conclusion Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is a tour de force of what can be crammed into a single game. Yes, it is by no means perfect, but it is improving month by month. With many new additions to the game, it feels at last that rather than rehash old mechanics, they (Infinity Ward) have gone back to the start and redesigned and reimagined everything that made the original COD4 great. I heartily recommend it. Pros • The new engine finally updates the look and feel of the game. • New game modes such as Gunfight increase longevity. • Crossplay finally enables us to play with friends on other platforms with no noticeable loss in fairness. • Specific single-player story missions are gripping and interesting. Cons • No ability to host a dedicated server. • Bit of a balancing issue with some weapons. • Certain gameplay items need some work (XP Tokens) ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 9/10 • Sound Design: 8/10 • Gameplay: 9/10 • Longevity: 9/10 • Fun: 9/10

Death of the Machines

I so wanted to like this game, when I saw the initial launch trailer it went straight onto my wishlist. An open-world survival romp with machines that have a striking resemblance to those found in Horizon Zero Dawn, made by the people behind some other great games like the Just Cause series and Mad Max. What could possibly go wrong? Set in an alternate reality in Sweden around 1980, I began my story by trying to find out what was going on, so I just headed to the nearest building and my quest began. The landscape is totally devoid of humans and the only things lurking around are these mechanical machines. Machines that just want to kill anything around them that has a pulse. This is where the problems began for me, the scenery, while quite pretty at times is generally fairly bland and repetitive. The machines are actually quite dumb and going inside a building pretty much put you out of harm's way. Finding items is just looking in the back of cars or searching the odd building and the gunplay is just dull. I really wished this was going to be that perfect marriage of DayZ, Horizon Zero Dawn and Rust, but it just wasn't! The ultimate disappointment for me was when I had just had enough and, after 20 or so hours, turned it off, where it has remained to this day... Dormant ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 7/10 • Sound Design: 6/10 • Gameplay: 4/10 • Longevity: 3/10 • Fun: 3/10

Cute, Quirky and Stuffed with Character

There aren't many games out where both my girlfriend (@KaipoNat) and I have wanted to complete it as much as we did Luigi's Mansion 3. We sat down one evening to give it a go and to begin with it is solo play only. So I watched in amusement as she tried to get to grips with the control method (Left stick moves Luigi around, right stick swivels his body and makes him look up and down!). I found it hilarious that she couldn't hoover up the gold bar directly behind her without spinning wildly on the spot - until I tried! But that is where the frustrations ended. All of a sudden Gooigi (Luigi made of Jello) became available for me to play, and I jumped in to help out. Instantly we began having a great time, her blinding me with a flashlight and me sticking Googi's plunger onto the top of her head. We set out to take on the many levels of the mansion, with every level featuring totally different and interesting themes. With different abilities between Luigi and Gooigi, both parties had a role to play in the success of each level. Having not previously played a Luigi's Mansion game, we were both taken aback by just how great the level designs and puzzles actually were. We thought it might be a little bit of a dumbed-down Mario Odyssey game. But, it turns out, this sidekick really does have the means to stand out - to the point where when we finally see Mario again in the game, he just annoyed me. We played the entirety of the game story in roughly 15 hours but will be back to try and complete the collection of the treasure gems over the next few weekends! ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 9/10 • Sound Design: 6/10 • Gameplay: 9/10 • Longevity: 8/10 • Fun: 10/10

Silly, Fun, Sometimes Toxic Survival Romp

You wake up naked, bits swinging freely in the breeze! Somehow stowed on your previously prone body are a rock, and a torch, where these were kept is probably best left to the imagination. How did you get here? What is your name? How do you get off the island!? All of these questions and more will never be answered, but it doesn't matter, you're here now, best make the most of it. Wandering the island, you come across a similarly sparse character, you shout over to say hi... Thwack! An arrow to your cranium... You wake up naked, bits swinging freely in the breeze! Somehow stowed on your previously prone body are a rock and a torch... And so it continues, you soon realise that you need to avoid these encounters early on. Bide your time, build yourself a small wooden hut, get some essential mining tools and find yourself some grub to tide you over. Throughout the next few hours, you'll slowly discover blueprints and other items that will assist you against the bullies of the server. Your basic wooden hut will become a reinforced armoured palace of worthiness, your bow and arrow will become a fully equipped rifle or AK-47 complete with scope and high-velocity rounds. Now you become a target for another reason entirely, you're too well equipped, and others are now worried about you. This rinse and repeat formula could get tiresome very quickly, but on a nicely populated server of people you know it is a good laugh. Encounters may or may not end with the conflict, people can and will sometimes help you out with a drop here and there, it's great fun! The great thing is that FacePunch studios, led by Garry Newman, is always evolving the game. I may disappear from the game for a few months, but I always look forward to seeing how it has changed on my return. With new balancing, plentiful and varied 'monuments' and different gear all around. ##Pros • Constantly evolving • Huge player base • Mod enabled ##Cons • Sometimes toxic servers (find another!) • Not overly noob friendly ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 8/10 • Sound Design: 7/10 • Gameplay: 9/10 • Longevity: 9/10 • Fun: 8/10

The Force is Strong with this one

It's been a long time since I can honestly say that I enjoyed a Star Wars game. The original Battlefront II being the last one that I can remember, and even that was due to the large scale multiplayer battles and the nostalgia trip of using familiar characters. Seeing that Respawn Entertainment were the developers gave me some hope, their previous releases Titanfall and Titanfall 2 were incredible games that sadly underperformed in sales (as an aside, I recommend 'Titanfall 2' if you like good single player campaigns). You play as a Cal, a Jedi Padawan who's master was slain five years earlier in the 'Order 66' purge. In hiding on the planet Bracca, Cal uses his force powers to rescue a colleague of his - but inadvertently attracting the Second Sister. Rescued by Cere Junda, Cal goes on a journey around the galaxy trying to figure out more about what has happened, who he is and how he can have an impact against the 'Galactic Empire'. The game itself plays well, with a cross between Tomb Raider for the exploration, Uncharted for the various climbing sections, God of War for the squeezing through crevice loading screens and Dark Souls for some of the combat sections. My most significant criticism is the back-tracking that you need to do With the maps being reasonably large, but also quite linear, no matter how much they try and hide the fact you need to go back over the same ground, you do, a lot. With Cal having to return to planets once another Force power has been 'remembered'. It means that you see the same section of level over and over again. The combat is what makes this game shine, and apart from the odd janky camera angle and locking onto the wrong target, the combat feels good. Fighting Storm Troopers is relatively easy, and they are dispatched with relative ease, but come up against some of the elite enemies, and you'll find yourself respawning over and over until you get a grasp of their various tactics and moves. Respawn locations are often in a convenient location, giving you the chance to take Cal right back into the thick of it within 30 seconds. Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone who fancies a single-player adventure in a Dark Souls kind of way, with fun combat and a decent enough story to keep you hooked. Pros • BD-1 is my favourite droid now within the Star Wars universe • Fun combat with a real sense of swinging a lightsaber • Force powers are fun to use in combat • The story is interesting, and you meet some familiar characters Cons • Bit of back-tracking involved with exploration • Some boss fights are a little deceptive Graphics could be a bit better (PC Version) ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 7/10 • Sound Design: 8/10 • Gameplay: 8/10 • Longevity: 8/10 • Fun: 9/10

Get Off Your Horse And Drink Your Milk

Let’s start by saying that I owned this game on the PS4, but due to having thumbs as agile as two age-old pensioners, I was unable to shoot anything with any degree of accuracy, and the game succumbs to sitting on my digital shelf gathering virtual dust. RIP RDR2 Move forward a couple of years and Rockstar made the sensible move to finally release their game on PC. With the possible increase in grunt my PC could give over my PS4, I was curious to see how well things would run? Well, upon initial release, not very well! Booting the game up I was met with frequent glitches and a pause/map screen that would slowly eat itself up leaving nothing but a slither of the overlay at the top of my monitor. But... quick to react Rockstart released a patch and, now, these release bugs and issues have been quashed. With Red Dead Redemption 2 we are introduced to a band of outlaws who, down on their luck and on the run, are looking for a new beginning to lay low and get settled. Your character, Arthur, is a disgruntled middle-aged fella who you can either play as an honourable and fine gentleman or someone who has a chip on his shoulder and wants to rob, murder and plunder everybody he comes across. I have chosen the more honourable route and am enjoying my journey around the vast, vast map checking out the vistas and helping out the poor folk that are being held up by the rival gangs and thugs that quite obviously littered the wild west back in the day. Using the mouse and keyboard has given me far more accuracy when it comes to the shooting side of things, allowing me to rush into battles far more than I did with the Playstation controller. I find that I am moving through the game far quicker than I did on console and enjoying the game far more than I previously did. I'm currently about 45 hours in but would like to come back to this review after I have completed a few more quests (including the main storyline). ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 10/10 • Sound Design: 9/10 • Gameplay: 8/10 • Longevity: 10/10 • Fun: 9/10

A Game of 3D Factorio?

Satisfactory is one of those games that once you begin to get a grasp of the game and make headway, it's very hard to stop playing. There is always one more thing you can do before retiring from the game for the day. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 8/10 • Sound Design: 6/10 • Gameplay: 8/10 • Longevity: 9/10 • Fun: 9/10

Awful Dialogue, Alright Game

Days Gone was one of those games that piqued my interest with the original E3 announcement. Seeing the hordes of zombies sprawled across the screen eagerly running to eat our protagonist Deacon really whetted my own appetite for the game. I'd never seen this many characters on display in any video game (except maybe Gauntlet!), and it was running like a dream. The game was a day one purchase but did it live up to the hype? You play as Deacon, a man who has lost his wife amid a Zombie outbreak. He's devastated, heartbroken and just wants to head north with his best friend, Boozer. The story is a little bit mish-mashed and all over the place, but I'm just about able to follow along with it. The voice acting is generally on point, although some choice lines made me cringe a little, "Promise to ride me as much as you ride your bike!" bleurgh! What sucked me into this game was the scenery and the vistas of the vast Pacific Northwest. My love for in-game photography has made this one of my go-to video games. Exploring and finding new locations, be it just scenery or the rugged handsomeness of Deacon, I don't care! The graphics, especially running at 4k with the Sony PS4 Pro, are some of the best I have seen on the platform. When it comes to the game, it's a slightly different matter. It looks great, it sounds good, but it can become a bit tedious and infuriating. For instance, trying to find supplies has you turn on 'survivor vision', as with many video games at the moment this is a way to scan your surroundings. No problem, no? Well, yes, there is, everything highlights, from doors to places to hide, to items to pick up. The most infuriating thing here is if the item is within a vehicle, every single time you sit through the same 'breaking in' animation! Combat is generally excellent, although I wouldn't have thought a baseball bat would break after cracking someone around the noggin with it only a few times. But, let us escape reality for a bit, considering said someone is a Zombie. Gunplay is alright, with decent booms and bangs - I'm so rubbish at aiming with a controller though! Thank goodness for the hordes, where I can literally spray-and-pray. These hordes are so much fun, with the first one I stumbled across literally making my heart beat out my chest as I ran for my life. A great addition to the game and one that makes the hordes in World War Z look pretty rubbish! Overall, I think this is a slow-burner, one where you just stumble across story missions as you explore the exemplary surroundings of the Pacific Northwest. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 8/10 • Sound Design: 5/10 • Gameplay: 6/10 • Longevity: 7/10 • Fun: 9/10