Review Category: Games

GAME REVIEW: RISEN 3 – TITAN LORDS / DEVELOPER: PIRANHA BYTES / PUBLISHER: DEEP SILVER / PLATFORM: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, XBOX 360 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

How Risen can remain a successful ongoing franchise is a mystery. While the first instalment was entertaining in its own way, its sequel was a buggy, ludicrously written mess of a title which rivalled Two Worlds at times. Yet here we are with an unwanted threequel. Sadly, if you weren’t impressed by previous outings, you’re not going to like this one either.

Following on from Risen 2, the game sees the land abandoned by the gods and ravaged by the Titan Lords, and to cap it all a new threat is arising from the shadows. A lone warrior, stripped of his soul by this mysterious force, may be the only hope of stopping it before all is lost.

One extremely notable problem very early on is how much is reused from Risen 2. While it’s not uncommon for a series – Assassin’s Creed for one – to recycle assets for its sequels, the sheer quantity of elements copied and pasted by Piranha is astounding. Characters would be one thing, but dialogue, environments, loot, monsters and progression are all taken from the last title and used again here. You see more original material in an Elder Scrolls expansion than you do in this entire game. Strip away the second-hand bits and players aren’t left with very much for their money.

Combat has reached an entirely new level of preposterous insanity, with the new animation failing to add anything of real interest. Plagued by the same issues as with previous titles, difficult camera angles and cheap deaths still mar what should be a solid system. While it’s harder to get stuck in a loop of enemies relentlessly knocking you down and killing you on your back, it’s just not enough of an improvement upon past failings.

What really sinks Risen 3, however, is the quest system. Within just a few hours any player will be drowning in quests as they splinter off, fragment and multiply exponentially. This might seem like an odd criticism of an open world game, but you’ll be so swamped by new stories that it takes hours to get a real payoff for your efforts. Like everything else in this game, they’re relentlessly drawn out beyond the point of being any fun.

Even at its best, Risen 3: Titan Lords offers elements we have seen done better elsewhere, and it is marred throughout by muddy graphics, dull writing and major issues with the combat system. It doesn’t go far enough to pull a full Two Worlds and reach “so bad it’s good” status, and instead it seems like a missed opportunity. There are flashes of a good game here but, given all of its problems, even diehard fans may want to skip this one.

REVIEW: GODS WILL BE WATCHING / DEVELOPER: DECONSTRUCTEAM / PUBLISHER: DEVOLVER DIGITAL / PLATFORMS: PC, OS X, LINUX / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

“By the sixth day only myself and the soldier were left. The bandits had taken the life of the doctor, and what little ammunition we had. Food is gone, and with it what little remains of our sanity. The radio is dead. Everyone is dead. We failed.”

Looking like something spawned on an especially dark day at LucasArts in the ’90s, Gods Will Be Watching is a game of failure. In this grim survival sim, you play a leader of a group of colourful characters and try to bring out everyone alive, only to watch your comrades picked off one by one as everything goes to hell. Some scenarios have you commanding a marooned starship crew; in others you play as freedom fighters trying to maintain a hostage situation.

With a maximum of five actions per day, you have to choose between basic necessities and keeping your allies alive/sane. With every failing, morale will be shaken and with every turn delirium will set in. By the end you will only win by the skin of your teeth. The very act of trying to speak to someone, just to learn their thoughts and keep them sane wastes valuable time. Even killing your allies is a move you sometimes need to take, either as an act of mercy or if they are too close to fleeing and taking others with them.

Unfortunately, for all this genius, Gods Will Be Watching’s greatest failing is that it doesn’t get why high risk games such as Dark Souls work. Everything here is set up to ensure it will take countless replays, much effort and concentrated focus to finally reach completion. However, unlike FTL: Faster Than Light, far too often key elements boil down to random chance. Rather than allowing the player to retain a moderate degree of control and the ability to manage risks, far too many variables and choices are a blind gamble.

Those which are not based upon sheer good fortune come down to trial and error. How close a person is to breaking point isn’t judged by any measurable stat, and even the animation showing they are getting twitchy is frequently unreliable. A number of chapters feature rapidly moving goalposts or randomised elements; problems which only enhance the issue of the game being incredibly luck-based rather than allowing for skill to overcome situations.

If you are after a game where slow methodical planning will allow you to overcome staggering odds, Gods Will Be Watching is not the game for you. For all its promise, it proves to be a sad disappointment which cannot unlock its full potential. Skip this one and save your money for something else.

 

 

REVIEW: BATMAN AND THE FLASH – HERO RUN / PLATFORM: APP FOR ANDROID / PUBLISHER: GREE, INC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Poor Flash. If there was one DC Universe-based superhero you’d think a perfect candidate for his own endless runner type game, it’s the scarlet speedster. Hot on the heels of Temple Run, Minion Rush and countless other rip-offs/tie-ins of the format (Bear Grylls even has his own app), the game is finally here. Will Flash finally get to show these treacle-toed impostors how it’s done? Well, actually, no.

Poor Flash doesn’t even get top billing in his own game – he shares the title with Batman, his partner in crime (fighting) in Hero Run. Never mind that running is Flash’s entire gig and that the pair aren’t even nearly comparable in terms of ability (Superman would have made more sense) – Batman and Flash run endlessly through the streets of Gotham and Gorilla City, respectively, neither breaking a sweat. They’ve added speed lines to Flash’s design, but the pair seem to run at exactly the same speed (Batman faster, if you choose to level that character up first – as we all will), with negligible difference in gameplay. Not content with hogging the limelight in Superman’s own Man of Steel sequel, the Bat has done exactly the same here. It’s the app equivalent of the legion of Frank Miller imitators having Batman beat up Superman in almost every single comic book in which they appear together.

And even then, Batman isn’t very fast. Hero Run is one of the slowest games of the subgenre I’ve played, feeling sluggish and unresponsive from the start of the run to its end (never far apart). There’s something very depressing about watching the Dark Knight run face-first into a parked truck, or the Flash struggle to avoid an oncoming boulder. Rarely have I felt so un-heroic playing a video game as I saw Batman and the Flash trip and land face first on the pavement; or worse, stumble backwards and land flat on their asses. Still, Hero Run is good for a couple of hours’ entertainment. Running head-on (like a bat-tering ram, geddit) into your foes sends the poor goons flying out of your way, while there are gadgets, power-ups and occasional boss battles (the Joker and Gorilla Grodd) to enliven the experience. Extra costumes and characters (Joker, Catwoman and Grodd) are unlockable, but they’re unaffordable, unless you fancy playing the same two levels over and over and over again until you earn the requisite in-game currency. Of course, you can always buy them outright, with your own real-world money. You know what they say, about a fool and his money.

A free download available now from the app store, Batman and The Flash: Hero Run is a competent if repetitive time-killer. It’s not among the World’s Finest, but comic book fans should appreciate the (bare minimum of) effort, at least.

 

REVIEW: THE WOLF AMONG US – EPISODE 5 – CRY WOLF / DEVELOPER: TELLTALE GAMES / PUBLISHER: TELLTALE GAMES / PLATFORMS: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, WII U, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Closing out the events of The Wolf Among Us, Episode 5 sees Bigby finally face to face with the Crooked Man, mastermind behind the game’s events. How Bigby will approach this foe is yet unknown but with so much of Fabletown under his thumb, neither he nor his associates are likely to go quietly.

Above all else, Episode 5 delivers an explosive finale to the game’s events, serving up scenes of extreme tension aplenty. That should come as no surprise after the conclusion to Episode 4, but the game one-ups itself with two specific sequences which deliver answers thick and fast. The first is a final encounter with Georgie, finally confirming the identity of the murderer, and the second is a trial in front of Fabletown’s residents. Each is masterfully delivered, with the strong voice acting, sharp dialogue and excellent presentation drawing you in. And then at the end there is an excellent stinger moment which puts much of Episode 1’s events, and the entire case’s beginning, into question.

Even the combat – the most obvious shortcoming of the games – actually works here. Following the Asura’s Wrath approach, the concluding chase sequences and fight boil down to a massive series of QTE events; all of which aim to make up for its problematic, relatively uninteractive interface with a sense of scale and style and visual display.

This said, the game does suffer from a few notable shortcomings. The fates of several major characters are left in question, notably with no follow-up to Crane’s flight from the city. What’s more, as many people feared, choices do not carry nearly as much weight as it first seemed. Players have a definite impact upon how the game ends and the community views Bigby, but it’s hardly calculated by every single last decision made. In fact a lot of it comes down to how you handle events in this specific episode.

For all the times previous instalments have informed the player “X Will Remember That” very little of that comes into play here. As such it seems more like an addition to the games to keep players on edge than a true mechanic.

This said, The Wolf Among Us still goes out on a high note. It’s a solid end to a great game and even if it might have lacked some of the impact players would have wished, there’s enough choice for a few replays. Definitely pick this one up if you enjoy titles with a strong narrative drive.

REVIEW: TRANSFORMERS – RISE OF THE DARK SPARK / DEVELOPER: EDGE OF REALITY / PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION / PLATFORMS: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, WII U, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Continuing where High Moon Studios left off, Rise of the Dark Spark serves as both a prequel to Fall of Cybertron and Age of Extinction. Flipping back and forth between the two universes, the game features the Autobots facing the threat of the dark spark, antithesis of the Matrix of Leadership, along with both Megatron and Lockdown. Rather than being a step forwards however, the game rapidly proves to be a shadow of Fall of Cybertron brimming with lacklustre mechanics and poor design choices.

While elements and design ideas from High Moon remain here and there, this only goes so far towards making an adequate title. The shooting and most basic combat mechanics are taken from past games and remain serviceable, but they are severely undercut by terrible NPC A.I. More often than not you’re going to be more worried about your allies blocking your path than any one of the enemies actually managing to take you down. Furthermore, no truly memorable set-pieces or major boss battles are ever introduced to truly hold your attention, and enemies rarely transform themselves.

The levels suffer from the texture quality of a Playstation 2 era release, with murky visuals and frame rate problems which ruin combat. Even menu screens are afflicted by this failing, and the game is plagued by juddering, slow loading screens which somehow manage to almost always rear their ugly heads mid-combat.

Things only get worse on Earth where these failings are magnified tenfold. Robbed of High Moon’s design aesthetics and environments, the game offers nothing here of any worth. It’s little more than a cancerous lump tacked onto the game to try and further capitalise on the recent film, robbing time which could have been spent creating a coherent campaign. Instead it’s mashed in as if Edge of Reality had to cobble together a single title out of existing assets from two separate ones.

While The Dark Spark does retain a few quality elements, these boil down to occasional moments of nostalgic Easter eggs and the quality of the voice actors. The only gameplay-related bonus proves to be the option to play as the Insecticons, which is not nearly enough to warrant playing.

Ultimately The Dark Spark is little more than a cynical crash grab, pillaging elements from talented studios to try and create some sense of quality and failing all the while. Strip-mining assets from previous games only serves to remind players of how much better the past releases were, and there is nothing of real value to justify the high price. Ignore this one entirely and save your cash for something better.

REVIEW: XENONAUTS / DEVELOPER: GOLDHAWK INTERACTIVE / PUBLISHER: GOLDHAWK INTERACTIVE / PLATFORMS: PC, OS X, LINUS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Initially created in answer to 2K Marin’s XCOM first person shooter, Xenonauts serves as a spiritual successor to the original UFO: Enemy Unknown. Retaining many design elements streamlined in Firaxis’ remake, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the game sees the return of mechanics fans of the original have been crying out for.

During the late 1970s, the Cold War is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a massive alien fleet. Resisting all attempts to repel them, their initial strike is suddenly brought low by an unknown interceptor. After many long years in silence, the clandestine Xenonauts organisation created to defend the world against alien attack reveals itself. Seeking the backing of both NATO and Russia, its handful of troops, scientists and engineers are all that stands between humanity and potential annihilation.

Much of the style and presentation of this game emulates UFO as closely as possible. While the interface has undergone a significant upgrade and certain processes have been programmed to take place automatically, it retains the complexity and level of detail of the original. Action points now allow for multiple overwatch stances, multiple bases can be created across the world, tailor-made to suit certain purposes, and your forces respond to UFO incursions in real-time. Atop of this, players are at far more of a disadvantage, unable to respond to most threats beyond radar range and with a far higher mortality rate among troops than in modern XCOM games.

What helps the game stand out from its predecessor is that it is more than a mere replication. Relying far too heavily upon previous trends from XCOM games, especially research, will bite a player hard and there is a general sense of a new twist being put on an old idea. The very fact that there is now a ticking clock with the aliens preparing for full-scale war adds a great sense of urgency to events, as does the growing budgetary limitations and problems thrown at the player. Plus, even when all this becomes far too familiar, the game actively supports a number of player made mods which drastically alter the battlefield.

However, Xenonauts isn’t perfect. Despite now having left Steam Early Access, the game still retains a number of bugs which range from odd graphical errors to leaving troops stranded on certain levels of buildings. What’s more, it doesn’t explain itself very well, requiring new players to read through and memorise a PDF explaining many elements such as the new dogfighting system. As a result it’s a harder title to learn than Enemy Unknown. Beyond this, there are very few failings.

While it might lack the flashy graphics and budget of Firaxis’ game, Xenonauts can easily hold its own against it. Offering complex mechanics, higher stakes and control over your choices, Xenonauts is easily one of the best turn-based tactical games of 2014 so far. Definitely give this one a look if you’re eager for a fantastic game to sink a hundred hours into. Xenonauts can be found on Steam and GOG.com.

REVIEW: WATCH_DOGS / DEVELOPER: UBISOFT MONTREAL / PUBLISHER: UBISOFT PLATFORMS: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE, Wii U / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

After repeated delays, to the frustration of console owners and manufacturers alike, WATCH_DOGS has finally arrived. Set on the streets of an alternate Chicago, WATCH_DOGS’ premise is very much a Grand Theft Auto-style excuse to leave a path of destruction across an open world. Months after his actions against another hacker inadvertently led to the death of his niece, Aiden Pearce is out for revenge. Determined to hunt down the true culprits, Aiden will fight through whoever is in his path to bring them to justice.

This quest for justice takes place in a free-roaming world filled with police, gangs and guns – all with the bonus of hacking any ATM machine you want and even being able to arm the enemies’ grenades (whilst still attached to them!). With Aiden unable to take the same punishment as characters in the GTA or Saints Row series, combat is far more methodical, and even vehicular rampages allow for far more control over the environment, helping WATCH_DOGS stand out from the crowd. The option to hack traffic lights alone is a godsend for anyone with a high wanted rating.

Even ignoring that main gimmick, the game still stands up well with fantastic cover based shooting and a level of detail which brings the city to life – even whilst employing the graphical downgrade the game still looks fantastic. Unfortunately the enemy AI rarely fails to present a challenge far above the cannon-fodder, law-enforcers, of other open world series. 

The game suffers from other problems despite these good elements. Along with police forces running to assist heavily armed gangs fighting Aiden, immersion-breaking elements involve WATCH_DOGS’ attempts to present Aiden’s crimes as heroic. In an effort to avoid presenting him as a criminal, acts such as stealing from charity workers and other abhorrent behaviour are dressed up as justice. It’s very off-putting, even more so than playing as a true villain in any title.

Even accepting this, the game is hamstrung by an astoundingly close pop-in distance. Not only is it very distracting to have buildings suddenly teleporting into existence only a short distance away, but this can easily lead to you ruining your reputation within the game, after all,  accidentally running over civilians by the dozen during a high speed chase would be enough to turn public opinion against anyone…

WATCH_DOGS certainly has a few problems, but it’s a solid release nonetheless. If you’re after an outstanding open world experience and GTA 5 failed to interest you, give this one a look.

REVIEW: THE LAST TINKER – CITY OF COLORS / DEVELOPER: MIMIMI PRODUCTIONS / PUBLISHER: UNITY GAMES PLATFORMS: PC/MAC/LINUX (STEAM), PLAYSTATION 4 (PSN), XBOX ONE (XBOX LIVE ARCADE) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Video games are the youngest type of medium in the world and one that is still developing its potential. Ancient arts such as theatre get to play with their rich history, drawing upon techniques that have been finely honed over the centuries. Video games, on the other hand, are still struggling with basic storytelling and the constant pressure of innovation. Often this means that certain subgenres are abandoned before they truly get a chance to shine. The Last Tinker – City of Colors is a game that owes a lot to an older generation of games and wilfully snubs its nose at the current batch of grey and gritty sandbox games, simply by being a brightly coloured 3D platformer.

As you might expect, it’s filled with cutesy characters and a strange yet child-like world. The plot focuses on a chap called Koru, an ape-like creature who is conveniently nimble and strong. He lives in a world where everything is made from paper, paint and glue. The creatures that inhabit this world were once made of a diversity of colours, but something awful has happened and colour is being leached from the world. Even worse, the emotions of the inhabitants are becoming more extreme the more monochromatic they become, with the red creatures getting angrier and so on. Koru discovers that he’s the only one able to put things right again, and mostly this requires the player to run round solving various 3D puzzles.

The controls are smooth and straight forward; there’s no pixel-perfect jumping needed here so it’s just difficult enough to keep the player engaged. (Old hands may need to play the whole thing on hard mode, however.) Combat is straightforward and pretty streamlined, essentially boiling down to button tapping and timing. This combined with almost no penalties for falling off things or getting beaten up means that the player is rarely discouraged; the game design is deliberately skewed towards being just challenging enough, meaning that even the most ham-fisted of gamers won’t throw the controller down in frustration. The soundtrack is also very sweet, though a little samey after a while.

Graphically it is very, very pretty. They are plenty of things to interact with and plenty of beasties to talk to. This, combined with the ease of play ,makes the game a bright shiny toy; perfect for adults to relax with or for children looking for the next distraction. The Last Tinker – City of Colors is a fun game suitable for gamers of all ages. The storytelling is strong enough to keep most players happy and the gameplay is simple. Those who are addicted to the likes of Banjo Kazooie or yearn to return to an age when games like Pyschonauts were around will get a buzz from this.

REVIEW: WOLFENSTEIN – THE NEW ORDER / DEVELOPER: MACHINEGAMES / PUBLISHER: BETHESDA SOFTWORKS / PLATFORM: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Serving as a soft reboot for the series following the commercial failure of Raven Software’s 2009 release, Wolfenstein: The New Order puts a new spin on things. Sergeant William Joseph Blazkowicz finds himself in a nightmare 1960s where the Axis forces have total control over the world. Eventually making contact with the resistance, he sets out on an impossible do-or-die mission to find a way to break the regime’s hold on Europe, and perhaps even turn their own weapons against them.

A schlocky setting to be sure, the basic story reflects the mechanics involved. Breaking away from the usual modern military shooter format, The New Order opts instead to integrate run-and-gun ideas from the classic era of first-person shooters. Along with being able to dual-wield just about everything but turret weapons, Blazkowicz can soak up enough ammo to equip a small regiment. This is in part thanks to a semi-regenerating health system akin to Resistance: Fall of Man, but also the welcome return of an overcharge system to the modern era of video games. You can briefly go over the maximum health limit only for it to drop a point every second until it is back to normal. Were this not enough, the game encourages exploration of its wide levels with hidden secrets and branching gameplay paths which offer fantastic replay values.

The enemies themselves also offer an exciting variety of foes to fill with bullets, from stomping mechs to the more common goose-stepping stormtroopers. While many can be fought in the open, MachineGames thankfully opted to give some variety with a perks system and rewards for the occasional stealth takedown. While it might be a throwback to classic shooters, at the same time it is not entirely ignoring the developments of modern gaming.

The only real misstep with the game comes with its tone. With an utterly insane plot, and a villain worthy of Tarantino, The New Order does unfortunately take itself a little too seriously more than once. While it is all well executed, it is hard to go from mowing down small armies of foes to seeing the horror of the ongoing genocide of indigenous peoples and “subhuman” patients being forcefully taken from doctors. It instead feels like a game of two halves, neither of which fully match up with one another, leaving it with something of an identity crisis.

Despite this problem, whether or not Wolfenstein: The New Order is a game for you can be decided by one simple question: do you like fighting undead cyborg Nazis armed with Tesla coils with more firepower than God Himself? If the answer is yes, then you needn’t hesitate.

REVIEW: BOUND BY FLAME / DEVELOPER: FATSHARK / PUBLISHER: FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE / PLATFORM: PC, PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX 360 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Catching onto the ongoing fad for dark fantasy media, Bound by Flame is set in a world on the brink of annihilation. Reduced to a handful of dwindling pockets of resistance, humanity has been all but exterminated by the Ice Lords, mysterious beings commanding the legions of the undead. Humanity is willing to try anything to ensure its survival. So when one mercenary by the name of Vulcan accidentally becomes possessed by a demon of fire, it is seen less as an abomination and instead as their last best hope for victory.

If that description gives you mild Game of Thrones vibes, that’s likely to be intentional on the developer’s part. Sounding like a near-future version of Westeros with less politics and more White Walkers, Bound by Flame seems to be trying to emulate GoT at every turn with antiheroes, blood and endless profanities. Unfortunately this is a poor substitute for characterisation and history, and despite a brilliantly grim visual aesthetic the world soon feels very shallow. This is a problem not helped by severe tonal inconsistency, with everything trying to convince players to take things seriously only to throw goofily cartoonish story elements their way. It’s hard to take any Ice Lord as a dire threat when they have someone called The Chiller among their ranks.

What does make up for the story’s failings is the core gameplay elements of combat and the crafting system. Along with offering warrior, rogue and mage options without the usual class restrictions, combat is extremely fast-paced and surprisingly tactical with no encounter ever becoming too easy. Enemies will happily turn on you to exploit flaws just as fast as you can them, and any skirmish can provide a great challenge. Crafting meanwhile provides all manner of armour and items to customise Vulcan’s equipment, with an extremely broad range of raw materials offering a vast multitude of different modifiers. Modifications can go from basic stats modifiers to additions which change your fighting style entirely.

These elements might have been enough to save Bound by Flame were it not for a number of crippling bugs present on launch, which ranged from disappearing terrain to a problematic quest system. It’s hard to really appreciate how well done combat is when a battlefield mysteriously turns into a bottomless void.

While it certainly has its moments, Bound By Flame might as well be the second coming of Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning – vibrant, bright and exciting, but with an unenticing story and major flaws which hold it back from greatness. Give it a look once it’s on sale, but don’t waste your money on a full price purchase.