GET OUT OF HERE STALKER.
Before I begin, I'd like to apologize for the late post - it's been a busy, busy week; I've been hanging out with old friends, some of whom I won't see again for a long time. Thank you all for your patience.
The background:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is the first game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, developed by GSC Game World and published by THQ (video game God rest their souls) in March of 2007. It is an atmospheric first person shooter/survival horror set in 2012 in the area surrounding the nuclear disaster site of Chernobyl. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was recently rated one of the top 25 greatest shooters of all time by PC Gamer magazine.
Oh, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., in case you were wondering, stands for Scavenges, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers, according to GameSpot. Which is something I just learned a few minutes ago. Neat.
The plot:
The plot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (boy I'm getting tired of typing that) is as follows: You are the Wanderer, one of many Stalkers in the area surrounding Chernobyl. Your job is to go into the heart of the Zone (Chernobyl and the immediate surrounding areas) and recover artifacts and data about the Chernobyl incident. However, it's not as easy as it seems; the Zone is filled with deadly radiation, mutants, and has been quarantined by the military, who will shoot anyone foolish enough to get too close on sight.
But something's happening.
Strange new artifacts brimming with unusual energy are starting to turn up, and you are one of many Stalkers interested in them. You must fight to survive the wrath of whatever the Zone has cooked up - and sometimes, the mutants aren't your worst enemies.
The gameplay:
So S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first person shooter cross survival horror, blending elements of both genres well. Ammo is limited, health is scarce, aiming is tough and stealth is key. The atmosphere is insanely tense and oppressive (as Russia should be) but maintains an almost eerie beauty about it. As it's difficult to accurately describe the beauty of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., here are some examples.
Sound wise, the game is hit and miss with me. The voice actors are either really good, or they try too hard. The gunshots sound weak for some guns, and too powerful for others. The monster/mutant sounds are great though, and I find in the heat of things I kind of forget about the tinny gunshot sounds.
So I'm not gonna lie, this game is BALLS hard. Playing it on normal difficulty alone is a challenge. There's realistic gun physics, and apparently your character can't hit the broad side of a barn while all the enemies can destroy you in 0.2 seconds flat. When you get shot, you take bleeding damage (as is to be expected) and you bleed out fairly quickly, so be sure to have your bandages ready. Honestly, I suggest finding a mod to fix a few things or playing it on an easier difficulty, otherwise you may not get to enjoy the game at all.
The verdict:So I know this review's kind of short, but it's 1 AM and I just got home.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R., despite its difficulty and not-so-good sounds, is an amazing game that I would recommend to anyone who likes FPS games, survival horror games, or a challenge. It gets a 3.8/5 from me.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
F2P of the Month: Warframe
Only the Tenno can wield their power...
Background:
Warframe is a free to play game released on March 25th, 2013. It was published by Digital Extremes Ltd. Now let's get past the boring stuff.
The plot:
The plot of Warframe is pretty much as follows: There are ancient weapons created by the inhabitants of the Old Earth - the Warframes. These Warframes are so complex and hard to master, that only well trained warriors can wield them. These warriors are known as the Tenno. However, the Tenno are nearly extinct. The Grineer, a bloodthirsty alien race, seek to find and destroy all of the Tenno and take over the galaxy. Only a few Tenno are left... and they're not going down easily. Guided by the mysterious Lotus (think Borderlands 1 and Angel, it's similar to that), the Tenno seek for an ancient location that beckons them to come.
So naturally, you play as a Tenno, and you fuck things up. Obviously. I mean, there's a pretty good story here for a free to play game, but that's probably not why you'll be playing it. No, that'd be the gameplay...
The gameplay:
Let me start by saying this - Warframe is badass. It's a third person cover based shooter, but it's really so much more than that. Yes, there is a lot of cover shooting. But you're also a fucking cyborg ninja. So naturally, you wield a sword. And yes, you can do all kinds of crazy stuff with it. You can run up and down halls slicing enemies up and down, left and right. You can do a crazy dash move that is basically right out of an anime (as in, you dash past your enemy, and they get cut. It's great). There's jump slice attacks, down thrusts, and so much more. Except it takes a million years for you to really unlock anything without paying for it.
Here's my problem with free to play games - microtransactions. Yes, I understand they have to make money off of their game somehow. But that shouldn't mean the game is super limited unless you buy experience boosters, weapon unlocks, and other things that shouldn't be difficult to unlock by just playing the game. Microtransactions should give you a boost, or cosmetic stuff (skins, hats (lol TF2) and the like). It shouldn't be the main way for you to play the game. Rant over.
The game handles pretty good; I never really found it hard to hit an enemy with my gun or sword, which is always pretty nice. Honestly, I was really surprised and taken aback with how well the game controls. I'd say if you enjoy playing PC third person shooters (because I know sometimes they can be a little wonky to control with a keyboard/mouse combo), you'll feel right at home.
Visually, the game is fairly impressive, but my computer sucks ass so I can't really say too much about it. However, even at low settings it looks nice, taking into consideration that I didn't have to pay for it. It looks better than games I've paid for in recent years, which I feel says something about triple-A releases, but let's not get into that (soon it'll be "pay $15 bucks and receive the HD texture pack!"). The audio aspect is alright, but I find that the music gets repetitive after a while, and the guns sound kind of weak. But again, free game, so I can't gripe about it too much.
The game IS multiplayer, but either I'm unlucky or no one really plays it because I had trouble finding games with other people. However, it's still fairly easy to play by yourself.
The verdict:
For a free to play game, Warframe isn't bad. I'd give it a 3.5/5, and I'd say try it since it's free. It's on Steam, and isn't a very large download.
Background:
Warframe is a free to play game released on March 25th, 2013. It was published by Digital Extremes Ltd. Now let's get past the boring stuff.
The plot:
The plot of Warframe is pretty much as follows: There are ancient weapons created by the inhabitants of the Old Earth - the Warframes. These Warframes are so complex and hard to master, that only well trained warriors can wield them. These warriors are known as the Tenno. However, the Tenno are nearly extinct. The Grineer, a bloodthirsty alien race, seek to find and destroy all of the Tenno and take over the galaxy. Only a few Tenno are left... and they're not going down easily. Guided by the mysterious Lotus (think Borderlands 1 and Angel, it's similar to that), the Tenno seek for an ancient location that beckons them to come.
So naturally, you play as a Tenno, and you fuck things up. Obviously. I mean, there's a pretty good story here for a free to play game, but that's probably not why you'll be playing it. No, that'd be the gameplay...
The gameplay:
Let me start by saying this - Warframe is badass. It's a third person cover based shooter, but it's really so much more than that. Yes, there is a lot of cover shooting. But you're also a fucking cyborg ninja. So naturally, you wield a sword. And yes, you can do all kinds of crazy stuff with it. You can run up and down halls slicing enemies up and down, left and right. You can do a crazy dash move that is basically right out of an anime (as in, you dash past your enemy, and they get cut. It's great). There's jump slice attacks, down thrusts, and so much more. Except it takes a million years for you to really unlock anything without paying for it.
Here's my problem with free to play games - microtransactions. Yes, I understand they have to make money off of their game somehow. But that shouldn't mean the game is super limited unless you buy experience boosters, weapon unlocks, and other things that shouldn't be difficult to unlock by just playing the game. Microtransactions should give you a boost, or cosmetic stuff (skins, hats (lol TF2) and the like). It shouldn't be the main way for you to play the game. Rant over.
The game handles pretty good; I never really found it hard to hit an enemy with my gun or sword, which is always pretty nice. Honestly, I was really surprised and taken aback with how well the game controls. I'd say if you enjoy playing PC third person shooters (because I know sometimes they can be a little wonky to control with a keyboard/mouse combo), you'll feel right at home.
Visually, the game is fairly impressive, but my computer sucks ass so I can't really say too much about it. However, even at low settings it looks nice, taking into consideration that I didn't have to pay for it. It looks better than games I've paid for in recent years, which I feel says something about triple-A releases, but let's not get into that (soon it'll be "pay $15 bucks and receive the HD texture pack!"). The audio aspect is alright, but I find that the music gets repetitive after a while, and the guns sound kind of weak. But again, free game, so I can't gripe about it too much.
The game IS multiplayer, but either I'm unlucky or no one really plays it because I had trouble finding games with other people. However, it's still fairly easy to play by yourself.
The verdict:
For a free to play game, Warframe isn't bad. I'd give it a 3.5/5, and I'd say try it since it's free. It's on Steam, and isn't a very large download.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Bioshock Infinite
Hallelujah.
Background:
Bioshock Infinite is the third game in the Bioshock series, created by Irrational Games and published by 2K. It was released in March of 2013, and is highly praised.
The plot:
I'm going to avoid spoilers here, mostly because if I tried to describe the whole plot it would literally take hours, and I still wouldn't have explained it all.
So here's the spoiler-free version:: Set in 1912, you are Booker DeWitt, Pinkerton agent. You've amassed a large gambling debt, and you are given a way to rid yourself of it - "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt". The girl? One Elizabeth Comstock, daughter of Zachary Hale Comstock, leader of Columbia. Sounds simple? Yeah... Columbia is a floating city. Literally flies about the clouds. Oh, and there's a catch too - Elizabeth has powers, weird ones. Ones that let her rip space and time. Sooooo.... good luck!
In all seriousness, I can't really say much more than that without spoiling the story, and this is a story you really, really need to experience without knowing what's going to happen next.
The gameplay:
Bioshock Infinite is heavily praised for its story, which is great and all, but I'm going to say it here and now: this game does NOT deserve a perfect 10/10 like it's been getting. Yes, the story is amazing, the graphics are amazing, the music is amazing, but the gameplay... the gameplay is bland and repetitive. The developers purposely dumbed Bioshock Infinite down to "dude bro shooter" levels - enemies are bullet sponges, you can only carry two weapons, your weapons don't have special ammo types (like they did in the first two games, I don't understand why this needed to be removed), there are considerably fewer plasmids (or vigors as they're called in Infinite), there's no gene tonics. Weapon upgrades are boring and uninspired, and don't actually show on your guns (like they do in the first two games). Unlike in Bioshock and Bioshock 2, there are no medkits or Eve hypos - you have a regenerating shield, you find health and Eve (or Salts as they're called in Infinite) on almost every enemy. There are choices, like in the first two games, but they have exactly 0 impact on the story. Remember the multiple endings of the first two games? No such thing in Infinite... it's just really sad to see such a good game held back by dumb mechanics.
Now that my rant about the mechanics is over, let's discuss the audio/visual department - the game looks absolutely amazing. Jaw dropping. I literally started crying when Columbia enters the picture. Not even joking. It's so beautiful and awe inspiring that I can't stop singing its praises. The audio is very well done too; the music selection is great, and hearing an acapella version of "God Only Knows" was... amazing. Just amazing.
Replayability is pretty decent; the highest difficulty setting, 1999 Mode, is locked until you beat the game once (or if you're lame and use the Konami Code (no I'm not kidding)). Also, there ARE things that you're going to miss your first time around, so a second playthrough is a pretty good idea.
The verdict:
3.5/5 from me (quick edit here, I forgot I use a 5 scale). The game is amazing, but I really, really wish that they hadn't dumbed down the mechanics. Bioshock 1 and 2 had pretty great mechanics (except for the hacking in 1, that was retarded), and it bothers me that they thought they needed to dumb the entire game down just so it'd sell better. Because you know what that does? Pisses people off. Buy the game anyway, it's pretty good.
Background:
Bioshock Infinite is the third game in the Bioshock series, created by Irrational Games and published by 2K. It was released in March of 2013, and is highly praised.
The plot:
I'm going to avoid spoilers here, mostly because if I tried to describe the whole plot it would literally take hours, and I still wouldn't have explained it all.
So here's the spoiler-free version:: Set in 1912, you are Booker DeWitt, Pinkerton agent. You've amassed a large gambling debt, and you are given a way to rid yourself of it - "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt". The girl? One Elizabeth Comstock, daughter of Zachary Hale Comstock, leader of Columbia. Sounds simple? Yeah... Columbia is a floating city. Literally flies about the clouds. Oh, and there's a catch too - Elizabeth has powers, weird ones. Ones that let her rip space and time. Sooooo.... good luck!
In all seriousness, I can't really say much more than that without spoiling the story, and this is a story you really, really need to experience without knowing what's going to happen next.
The gameplay:
Bioshock Infinite is heavily praised for its story, which is great and all, but I'm going to say it here and now: this game does NOT deserve a perfect 10/10 like it's been getting. Yes, the story is amazing, the graphics are amazing, the music is amazing, but the gameplay... the gameplay is bland and repetitive. The developers purposely dumbed Bioshock Infinite down to "dude bro shooter" levels - enemies are bullet sponges, you can only carry two weapons, your weapons don't have special ammo types (like they did in the first two games, I don't understand why this needed to be removed), there are considerably fewer plasmids (or vigors as they're called in Infinite), there's no gene tonics. Weapon upgrades are boring and uninspired, and don't actually show on your guns (like they do in the first two games). Unlike in Bioshock and Bioshock 2, there are no medkits or Eve hypos - you have a regenerating shield, you find health and Eve (or Salts as they're called in Infinite) on almost every enemy. There are choices, like in the first two games, but they have exactly 0 impact on the story. Remember the multiple endings of the first two games? No such thing in Infinite... it's just really sad to see such a good game held back by dumb mechanics.
Now that my rant about the mechanics is over, let's discuss the audio/visual department - the game looks absolutely amazing. Jaw dropping. I literally started crying when Columbia enters the picture. Not even joking. It's so beautiful and awe inspiring that I can't stop singing its praises. The audio is very well done too; the music selection is great, and hearing an acapella version of "God Only Knows" was... amazing. Just amazing.
Replayability is pretty decent; the highest difficulty setting, 1999 Mode, is locked until you beat the game once (or if you're lame and use the Konami Code (no I'm not kidding)). Also, there ARE things that you're going to miss your first time around, so a second playthrough is a pretty good idea.
The verdict:
3.5/5 from me (quick edit here, I forgot I use a 5 scale). The game is amazing, but I really, really wish that they hadn't dumbed down the mechanics. Bioshock 1 and 2 had pretty great mechanics (except for the hacking in 1, that was retarded), and it bothers me that they thought they needed to dumb the entire game down just so it'd sell better. Because you know what that does? Pisses people off. Buy the game anyway, it's pretty good.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Future changes?
Hey guys.
No review right now, sorry. I just wanted to put this out there, I might try to do video reviews from now on. With a full transcript, of course, so you all can still read my reviews if you don't want to watch them.
Look for a review next week! I'll try to get up a video, but if not, I'll definitely have a text review up.
Thanks!
Weiss
No review right now, sorry. I just wanted to put this out there, I might try to do video reviews from now on. With a full transcript, of course, so you all can still read my reviews if you don't want to watch them.
Look for a review next week! I'll try to get up a video, but if not, I'll definitely have a text review up.
Thanks!
Weiss
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
I got the touch! I got the power!
The background:
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is an "expandalone" DLC for Far Cry 3, meaning you don't actually need Far Cry 3 to play it. It was released late April 2013 by Ubisoft, and is based on the Far Cry 3 engine (hence the name). That being said, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a very, very different game from Far Cry 3 in almost every way.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is an "expandalone" DLC for Far Cry 3, meaning you don't actually need Far Cry 3 to play it. It was released late April 2013 by Ubisoft, and is based on the Far Cry 3 engine (hence the name). That being said, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a very, very different game from Far Cry 3 in almost every way.
The plot:
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE STORY BEFORE YOU PLAY THE GAME, DO NOT READ THIS SECTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Now that the warnings are out of the way, let's discuss Blood Dragon's complex and convoluted plot: kill stuff. Of course, it's a little more complicated than that, but really, Blood Dragon boils down to simply killing stuff. The story goes a little something like this: You are Rex Powercolt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando sent to stop your old commander, Sloan, from destroying the world. The entire game takes place in the futuristic year of.... 2007. Yes, 2007. But not 2007 as we know it; no, this is 2007 as people in the 80's would have seen it. So... lots of neon, robot soldiers, force fields... the works.
The story kicks off with you and a fellow Mark IV commando, Spider, being dropped into a heavily guarded base in order to stop a nuclear warhead from launching. Things quickly go south (go figure), and Rex barely escapes with his life. Spider, on the other hand... not so lucky. In the process of getting captured and nearly killed, Rex discovers that Sloan, his former commander, is the one behind the nuclear threats; Sloan has been driven mad by the blood of... the Blood Dragons that roam the island (whom I'll explain later). Rex vows to stop him for good ol' Lady Liberty. Yes, it's as cheesy as it sounds. Throughout the process of stopping Sloan, Rex has to blow up bunkers, assassinate key scientists, and recover the only weapon that can possibly stop Sloan - the KillStar.
It's as awesome as it sounds.
There's one more plot element I want to point out, that's not really terribly important to the story, but that I'm still laughing at - near the very end of the story, Rex gets to ride an armored Blood Dragon. Who talks. And shoots lasers from his eyes while yelling IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR. Also, cheesy 80's power metal/inspirational music plays during the entire sequence. That was literally the most amazing thing I've ever experienced in a game to this day. Anyway, moving on.
The story kicks off with you and a fellow Mark IV commando, Spider, being dropped into a heavily guarded base in order to stop a nuclear warhead from launching. Things quickly go south (go figure), and Rex barely escapes with his life. Spider, on the other hand... not so lucky. In the process of getting captured and nearly killed, Rex discovers that Sloan, his former commander, is the one behind the nuclear threats; Sloan has been driven mad by the blood of... the Blood Dragons that roam the island (whom I'll explain later). Rex vows to stop him for good ol' Lady Liberty. Yes, it's as cheesy as it sounds. Throughout the process of stopping Sloan, Rex has to blow up bunkers, assassinate key scientists, and recover the only weapon that can possibly stop Sloan - the KillStar.
It's as awesome as it sounds.
There's one more plot element I want to point out, that's not really terribly important to the story, but that I'm still laughing at - near the very end of the story, Rex gets to ride an armored Blood Dragon. Who talks. And shoots lasers from his eyes while yelling IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR. Also, cheesy 80's power metal/inspirational music plays during the entire sequence. That was literally the most amazing thing I've ever experienced in a game to this day. Anyway, moving on.
SPOILERS END HERE!
The gameplay:
As I mentioned, Blood Dragon is built in the Far Cry 3 engine. Meaning it plays exactly like Far Cry 3, with a few minor differences. There are no skill trees; Rex can level up, but there is a straight level progression that gives you skills at certain levels. Now I didn't mind this, it just meant I could focus more on playing the game, but I could see where it'd be a problem; some people like choices. There are considerably fewer weapons, and the island is only about the size of the second island in FC3 - that's alright too, though, as Blood Dragon is only a quarter of the price.
Stealth returns, and is pretty much the same as Far Cry 3. Crouch, sneak up behind people, and execute them. Chain/grenade/knife (actually cyber shiruken)/gun takedowns are all there. You don't have to use stealth if you don't want to, naturally, except for certain sidequests. Personally, I love the stealth in FC3/Blood Dragon, and I used the hell out of it. Anyway, moving on...
Let's talk weapons. You have your average arsenal to begin with; a pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, bow, grenades, molotovs, mines, and C4, and you acquire 3 other weapons throughout the story that I won't mention here, but I'll say you won't be terribly surprised at 2 of them. Weapon upgrades do make a comeback, but the way you acquire them is considerably different; instead of purchasing them outright, you have to unlock them through various tasks before they become available for purchase. The trade-off here is that you can have many more than 2 weapon upgrades on your guns at any time. Some of the upgrades are standard; semi-automatic action for your sniper rifle, bigger clips, more carrying capacity... but the harder to obtain upgrades are really something great. Laser bullets for your assault rifle, fire rounds and a quadruple barrel for your shotgun, explosive rounds for your rifle, the works. So now that we're talking about unlocking things, let's move on to...
The sidequests! Yes, sidequests are back from FC3, as are outposts (now called garrisons). Let's talk about the garrisons before actually getting into the sidequests. Remember the outposts in Far Cry 3? Those tiny shantytowns with two or three guards in them? Yeah, fuck that. Garrisons in Blood Dragon are these enormous pseudo-castles that are chock full of guards. They're easily one of my favorite parts of Blood Dragon; I had tons of fun clearing out each and every one of them, because they're all somewhat unique. For example, there's an oil rig, a boat, a two-tiered arena style building, and much more. I believe there's 13 in total, but my mind eludes me at this point, and I'm sans-PS3 for the next few days so I can't check. Now, on to the sidequests - every garrison you clear unlocks one or two sidequests, and they're all pretty similar; go here, rescue the hostage, or go here, kill the targets with this gun, or go hunt these animals that are plotting to overthrow the government (I'm not kidding). And while they're all pretty bland for the most part, they're short enough that they don't really feel like a chore. They're also your primary means of unlocking weapon upgrades, except for the special upgrades - those are acquired through collectibles... yes, everyone's dreaded collectibles. Don't worry, they aren't too bad - only four sets in total. 32 TVs for you to find and switch off, 12 VHS tapes (lel) for you to collect, 10 scientists' notes to find, and my personal favorite... you have to find and kill one of each type of animal. Honestly, it's not all that bad; it didn't take me nearly as long as I thought to find everything, and you can buy a couple of maps that will show you the locations of everything.
So, you might be thinking, "'Blood Dragon', what's that about?" And I'll tell you. Fucking Blood Dragons. They are literally dinosaurs with laser eyes. If that doesn't excite you, I don't know what will. LASER DINOSAURS. They're a major part of the game; you can rip out the cyberhearts of your enemies to lure the Blood Dragons to areas, so they can wreak havoc on your enemies. Many squeals of joy were had as I watched a dinosaur blow up my enemies with their laser eyes.
Visually, the game is very... odd, I suppose. There are scanlines present on your screen at all time, simulating an 80's TV screen. There's lots of neon. The cutscenes are done in an almost NES-esque style; they're very 8-bit and cheesy. Honestly, it fits Blood Dragon's style very well. There is no day/night cycle per se; the sky is pretty much red and or purple the whole game. It works though. Another interesting visual effect that I found is that if you look at the horizon for a period of time, you can see nuclear bombs exploding, leaving giant mushroom clouds...it really gives off the feeling that you're in an oppressive nuclear war, cause that's what the future is like.
Audio-wise, the game sounds pretty good. The music makes you feel like you're playing a Sega Genesis sometimes, which I'm down for. The guns all sounds like... guns, as is to be expected. My favorite sounds are the lasers, I think, especially your assault rifle's laser bullets - they make a very distinct PEW PEW sounds that I love. Also, your character is voiced by Michael Biehn, who was in movies such as The Terminator and Aliens. Which is 80's as hell. And amazing.
Audio-wise, the game sounds pretty good. The music makes you feel like you're playing a Sega Genesis sometimes, which I'm down for. The guns all sounds like... guns, as is to be expected. My favorite sounds are the lasers, I think, especially your assault rifle's laser bullets - they make a very distinct PEW PEW sounds that I love. Also, your character is voiced by Michael Biehn, who was in movies such as The Terminator and Aliens. Which is 80's as hell. And amazing.
So now that I've gotten all the important stuff out of the way, I just want to gush about things that I really liked.
- Michael Biehn's one-liners are cheesy, and that makes them amazing.
- Blood Dragons are literally laser dinosaurs. Fuck yeah.
- PEW PEW laser guns.
- When you hit the melee button and there's nothing around to melee, your character just flips the bird at things. So great.
- Another thing that I mentioned in the plot that I can't mention here because SPOILERS!
BUY BLOOD DRAGON. It's only 15 bucks. It's one of the most amazing games I've played this year, maybe only being topped by Bioshock: Infinite. And it's only a quarter of the price. BUY IT. 5/5 stars easily.
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