Review Category: Games

Review: BioShock Infinite – Burial At Sea – Episode 1 / Developer: Irrational Games / Platform: Various / Release Date: Out Now

After exploring the civil war of skyborne Columbia, this first episode of a two-part DLC set sees the series returning to submerged Rapture. Playing as alternate versions of Booker and Elizabeth, the DLC is one squarely aimed at fans. Shortly before the Rapture civil war, Booker is made an offer he cannot refuse in his search for his missing daughter. However, despite sounding like a very familiar beginning for these characters, they’re soon sent tumbling down a different rabbit hole.

Despite returning to the setting of the original games, the title is still very much BioShock Infinite with many core design elements remaining. Elizabeth still lobs consumables at you, the resuscitation method is identical, there’s even the odd skyrail, but many have been tweaked in some way in a response to criticism. While still linear, the areas have been opened up somewhat, allowing players to wander about the Art Deco, noirish landscape of the seabed city. Furthermore, for the first time ammo feels genuinely scarce. Rather than lugging sufficient bullets to equip a small regiment, you’re left scrambling to find enough to keep fighting.

The combat itself is slightly tighter than people have come to expect from the series, due to the aforementioned lack of ammo and much heavier reliance upon plasmids. Admittedly, the inclusion of a microwave gun and a few previously unseen toys definitely helps in that department. As does a particular boss, which finally addresses one criticism of a certain enemy being far too easy to bloodily murder. Beyond him though, the splicers themselves prove to be your common-or-garden variety. Most sprint about toting guns, with only one or two bothering to use the drugs they are addicted to as weaponry.

So is it worth it? Yes and no.

Only lasting a few hours, its overall value ultimately comes down to how much you love the universe – especially given the hefty price and the fact it’s half a story. You also won’t get much replay value out of this one, and while its tribute to fans is its greatest strength, it also proves to be its Achilles heel. Many audio diaries will only be meaningful to those who played BioShock, while the overarching plot and outstanding twist will only mean something to fans of Infinite. You need to have played both to fully enjoy what’s on offer here.

It’s fantastically designed, excellently written, and improves upon what came before, but will ultimately only be valued by fans of the overall series. Think carefully before you get this one.

Review: XCOM – Enemy Within / Developer: Firaxis Games / Publisher: 2K Games / Platform: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 / Release Date: Out Now

Those still stinging from the waste of time which was Slingshot will be happy to know XCOM’s Enemy Within expansion more than makes up for Firaxis’ past failing. As with their Civ V expansions, XCOM’s overall story and direction remain the same with this expansion even while it adds a new dimension to the title.

Playing upon themes brought up in the previous campaign, Enemy Within expands upon the idea of better utilising alien tech for self-enhancement. Along with gene-modded marines, added to your roster now are eight-foot-tall MEC Troopers armed and armoured to the teeth. While the former offer largely passive buffs discovered by dismembering the corpses of aliens, the more tasty additions are the Troopers. Serving as an entirely separate class of soldiers, they stomp about wielding the sorts of things usually reserved for Interceptors. While unable to headbutt Sectopods to scrap and vulnerable to the hyper-accurate Thin Men, they make a joke of both the weaker aliens and EXALT agents.

EXALT are the other side of this coin. With XCOM’s troopers becoming more like their enemy, some of Earth’s populace begin to agree with the aliens’ transhuman ambitions. While far from threatening to your newly beefed-up forces in a gunfight, their ability to steal funding, sabotage research and raise panic levels makes them a threat which cannot be ignored. Even the aliens themselves have had a few buffs with their own Mechtoids and buffed units, along with squid-like Seeker stealth units which make life hell for your snipers and assaults.

With many major bug fixes and desired improvements such as actually making your multi-cultural task force sound like they’re from outside the USA, there’s no arguing it’s a major improvement over last time. Also, for the cheap shots out there, save scumming has been made viable once again. This isn’t to say the game is perfect however.

While the gameplay itself is buffed considerably, don’t expect the story to actually address any of the themes it brings up. Hearing your support staff go on and on about their many concerns only for it to amount to nothing makes much of the potential threat in what you are doing feel empty. Furthermore, while overall balance has been maintained, there’s little to disguise the fact your gene and MEC Troopers have an easier time during end game – far more so than just the generic grunts you commanded last time.

Still, when the biggest criticisms are story-related and the new toys are so powerful, this has to count overall as a fantastic expansion. It might be pricey, but if you enjoyed the last one, you’re going to love Enemy Within.

Review: Chucky – Slash & Dash / Publisher: Slimstown Studios / Platform: iOS / Release Date: Out Now

The horror world’s most diminutive star makes his videogame debut in Chucky: Slash & Dash, a version of Temple Run with knives and glitches. These days, the Temple Run template is a common design for many a movie tie-in – everyone from Oz the Great and Powerful (which actually lends itself really well to the format) through to the Minions of Despicable Me and Iron Man himself have had a go. Now it’s Chucky’s turn.

69p doesn’t seem like too much to pay for a game which purports to be an official Child’s Play tie-in. For that price, how bad could it be? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘I want my damn 69p back.’ Not only is Slash & Dash ugly, unimaginative and derivative of better games, but it’s glitchy and impossibly difficult too. Gameplay is identical to other Temple Run games, except in this case, it doesn’t work. It’s unresponsive, annoying and a mess. Set in what looks like an industrial warehouse, we see Charles Lee Ray jogging his way from kill to kill, jumping over barrels and ducking under low-hanging pipes as he goes. Innocent security guards and construction workers are the prey of the day, although all it takes is a limp kick to the head to put Chucky out of commission.

At times, it feels like it’s at complete random whether Chucky decides to respond to your touch, often choosing simply to run into a wall or right into that security guard you were trying to cut up. Choice quotes have been snipped from Bride of Chucky, but they get old fast. If I hear Chuck say the words “I like killing” one more time, I may break out into a not-so-minor killing spree myself. Never before have I found myself wishing that Brad Dourif would just shut the hell up, but that’s the case here. Alternatively, you can play as Jennifer Tilly’s Tiffany, but she’s just as bad.

It’s a shame, since there’s real room for a good game based on our horror icons. This just isn’t it. It’s cheap, ugly and, well, broken. It’s playable for the first fifteen minutes, but after that, it quickly becomes a chore.

At least this is one game where you won’t be scammed into buying extra credit for unlockables and special features. They are available, for a cost, but there’s no chance of anyone ever wanting more of this mess enough to pay for it. ‘Hi, I’m Chucky,’ goes the famous psychopath’s catchphrase, ‘Wanna play?’ Actually, no.

Review: Curse of the Assassin / Author: S.P. Osborne / Publisher: Tin Man Games / Platform: App for Android / Release Date: Out Now

Tin Man Games lead the world in bringing the old school concept of adventure gamebooks into the modern day, and are the go-to people for gaming adventure that can be downloaded onto a smartphone. In addition to adapting the classic Fighting Fantasy novels, they also produce their own series of games. As their own work is specifically written for the digital format, this new material tends to be very good indeed.

Curse of the Assassin is a direct sequel to the highly popular An Assassin in Orlandes (though it works very well on its own) , and picks up where the previous book left off. You start off as the local hero of Orlandes City, having not only saved the place, but also having successfully wooed the Duke’s daughter. The mysterious murder of an old friend leads to a relatively labyrinthine series of investigations and the like. There is a lot of running through alleys avoiding danger and fighting rogues. As this is a gamebook simulation, the app contains its own artificial dice-rolling mechanic, and the underlying game mechanics seem smoother than those available in the Fighting Fantasy games.

The game is also much denser than your typical Fighting Fantasy novel; this is much more a novel than a game, though it features plenty of game-like elements. On the one hand, this is great; we get a real feel for the world and S.P. Osborne’s writing is slick and interesting, as is his twisty plot. On the other hand, the density of the work means that you’re unlikely to replay this app immediately upon completion, though we thoroughly recommend that you do as there will be something that you have missed. This is another great game from Tin Man, and will delight fans of city-inspired fantasy adventures.

Review: U.S.S. Enterprise Pack – Star Trek Attack Wing / Designer: Christopher Guild / Publisher: WizKids / Release Date: Out Now

The core set for Star Trek Attack Wing disappointed a certain sort of fan by focusing solely on Star Trek: The Next Generation starships. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the Original Series got some well-deserved love, and U.S.S. Enterprise Expansion lets you answer the question the Internet has been asking for decades; who would win if Picard fought Kirk?

The expansion pack comes with a Constitution Class version of the Enterprise, counters, cards and other associated tat. It may look like a slightly measly booster for the game; all you get for your cash is a tiny little model of the iconic space ship and some cards. However, looks can be deceiving.

The extra cards and rules for the game are very nice indeed; not only do you get a choice of captains (a generic Starfleet captain, Pike and of course, Kirk), you can happily man your ship with the classic Enterprise bridge crew. Each one works exactly how you’d hope they would; Scotty is a miracle worker, Spock’s insight will save your life (and probably win the game) and so on. The set also allows you to downgrade the ship to a simple Constitution class ship, and it’s still a very flexible addition to any Federation force.

They are some disappointments; there’s only one mission in the set (The Kobyashi Maru) and the ship’s firing arc is a little confusing (it’s 180 degrees, so it looks like a straight line rather than an arc). The ship is tiny, and though the rules do their best to make up for this, it does feel like the least important component is the model. Gameplay-wise, the ship is a lot of fun to use and when used as the classic Enterprise, it lends itself to clever and odds-defying fun, just like it does in the Original Series.

Review: Batman – Arkham Origins / Developer: Warner Bros. Games Montreal / Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U / Release Date: Out Now

In 2009, developers Rocksteady revolutionised the superhero gaming genre with Batman: Arkham Asylum, a taut, reverent love letter to the Dark Knight and his world. That game’s sequel, Arkham City opened up the floor to an open-world Gotham City and an even larger roster of heroes and villains. With Rocksteady handing over the reins to Warner Brothers for this prequel, could Arkham Origins keep up the high standards set by its predecessors, or has the magic left, along with stars Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill?

The Batman of Arkham Origins is a younger, more brusque detective than we’ve seen in previous iterations (although videogame Batman has always seemed like an angrier, nastier bastard), his perma-furious chin covered in stubble, his Batsuit a massive set of armour plates. Looking at the back of his head is like watching Christian Bale’s bull neck in Batman Begins. The game may be set at Christmas time, but there’s no festive cheer to be had for everyone’s favourite grumpy vigilante. To be fair, he does have a lot on his plate here.

Sinister crime boss Black Mask has heaped a massive bounty upon the Bat’s head, and a whole host of assassins have come to claim the prize – among others, Deathstroke, Deadshot and Bane. Then there’s the likes of the Penguin, Mad Hatter and the Riddler to deal with, before we even get started on the fact that there’s a brand new villain on the loose. Anyone special? Oh, just some chap calling himself ‘the Joker’. So much for a quiet Christmas with Alfred and the bats.

At first glance, not much seems to have changed since Arkham City. In fact, it all feels very familiar. Opening with a riot in Blackgate Prison (looking suspiciously similar to Arkham here) before heading out to a pre-asylum Gotham City (which, it must be said, doesn’t look all that different either) it would appear that the new management are planning on playing things very much within their comfort zone. Remember that feeling you got as you walked the Joker into Arkham? Or as Bruce Wayne was captured by Hugo Strange and led into Arkham City for the first time? There’s none of that here. Aside from a couple of nifty few gadgets, a fully explorable Batcave and new enemy types, there’s no sense of innovation or experimentation.

However, what we’re left with is the best combat system since Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster, and a rogues gallery that remains impressive no matter how many times you have to beat up the same old villains and their goons. Boss battles have been improved again, becoming a much more tactile experience than we’ve seen in previous games. Origins opens with Batman unleashing an almighty beatdown upon Killer Croc before setting you loose upon the rest of Gotham’s criminal underworld. The story is smart and engaging, the voice acting surprisingly decent, given the departure of the now-iconic Conroy and Hamill. The Christmas setting is a lovely touch, with goons bedecked in Christmas hats, the tinsel and gaudy baubles sitting ill at ease with the city’s gargoyles and gothic architecture. With spooky Christmas carols and festive tunes murmuring away in the background, it’s like a retooled Batman Returns (prior to Arkham Asylum, the best Batman videogame ever made – and still a lot of fun on the SNES). It makes one feel very sorry for poor Alfred, spending Christmas Eve alone in the Batcave, with broody Bruce barely able to wish him a happy Christmas. And a ‘thank you’ every now and then wouldn’t hurt, either.

In addition to the challenge rooms and Story Plus mode, Arkham Origins sees the introduction of a perfunctory online mode. This sees players split into two teams – Joker’s gang vs Bane’s gang – with two lucky players taking on the roles of Batman and Robin. The gangs try to wipe one another out, while our heroes pick off the villains as and when they can. It’s functional enough, although the novelty is bound to wear off as quickly as that of the disappointing Gotham City Impostors. Expect a swathe of DLC and unlockable costumes to follow, including playable Deathstroke rooms and all-new Batsuits. The absolute best thing about Arkham Origins: the addition of the Adam West Batsuit. Beating the absolute snot out of a room full of heavily armed thugs is made infinitely more entertaining by having your angry, stubbly Batman dressed like the mighty Adam West as he does so. Sadly, the ‘biff’, ‘pow’ and ‘sock’ is not included.

There’s no hiding from the fact that Batman: Arkham Origins is a disappointment. It’s repetitive, derivative and unwilling to take risks. There’s still no driving the Batmobile or Batwing. It feels more like a set of add-on missions or DLC than a prequel in its own right, like a longer version of Harley Quinn’s Revenge. That said, it is tremendously addictive fun, full of action, Easter Eggs and incredibly satisfying super-heroics. Stepping into the boots of the Bat remains as exciting as ever – it’s just a shame that there’s not a little more originality to his Origins.

Review: Deus Ex – Human Revolution – Director’s Cut / Developer: Eidos Montreal / Publisher: Square Enix / Platform: PC Game, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U / Release Date: Out Now

Originally released in 2011, Eidos’ acclaimed hit returns with a director’s cut consisting of the improved main game and the original DLC. Playing as professional Batman impersonator Adam Jensen, it is your job to investigate a crime that ended with you horribly scarred and your lover kidnapped. With new revelations at every turn, and political emotions boiling over from the use of cybernetic enhancements, Jensen finds the world is far from a safe or simple place…

Ultimately a touched up version of the original game, Deus Ex remains a very solid FPS with RPG elements. The art direction, mechanics and plot all worked to a great degree and remain strong points here. The setting, art direction and abilities system are all expertly designed, as are the rewards for scouring through areas for items. You’re normally working with limited supplies, but it’s what you choose to unlock which ultimately works the best. With abilities covering a broad spectrum, you can easily customize Jensen to everything from a sneaky hacker to a bullet sponge of a fighter.

One of Human Revolution’s major improvements relates to these abilities. The much-criticised boss battles are now much more open and offer angles beyond mere direct combat, with areas having been completely redesigned to offer things beyond just an outright brawl. Fighting against Barrett especially is infinitely more interesting, with options from hacking gun-turrets to hit and run assaults available to the player. All of them now allow for far more control over how you approach the problems of the Tyrants.

While bosses are improved, the AI isn’t so much. Despite being touted as a feature, there are few apparent differences with the original beyond one or two fewer goofs. Expect them to show less stunning incompetence, but more squad-based survivability. There are also few graphical improvements over the original, with some of the facial animations beginning to look stiff even only a few years after release.

This isn’t to say Human Revolution is a bad title, and many other new additions do enhance it. The commentary especially is well worthwhile, giving great insight into the game’s environments and stylised look. Another enhancement, unique to the Wii U, is the use of the gamepad for hacking, making one core element infinitely more enjoyable to play. The inclusion of a New Game+ is similarly fun for those wanting a massive power trip, giving you the chance to waltz around with full upgrades and a plasma cannon.

Human Revolution – Director’s Cut is an outstanding title and enhances one of the best Square Enix products of this decade. While offering little to those who already own the original, it tweaks enough of the criticised problems to warrant a look and is a must-buy to anyone yet to purchase any incarnation of the game.

Review: Star Trek Catan – Federation Space / Designer: Klaus Teuber / Publisher: Mayfair Games / Release Date: Out Now

One of the surprise hits of last year was Star Trek Catan, a branded version of the popular geek classic, The Settlers of Catan. For those of you who don’t know it, Catan is a resource management board game that is all about building roads and cities by trading and collecting cards. The Star Trek version swapped roads for starships and cities for starbases, but stayed true to the spirit of the original game. It also added additional depth to an established classic by providing ‘support cards’, each one named after a character from the Original Series.

Star Trek Catan – Federation Space is the first expansion for the game, and it takes a great idea and improves on it. The set comes with some extra counters, an almanac and two new boards. In the core game, the planets you built starbases around were simply anonymous worlds that looked vaguely Trekky. In this new expansion, each planet on the board is based on a world Kirk and chums visited on the show. The set also comes with a thick almanac that handily tells you which world is which and why it’s included in the game. (Such information is not required to play; it’s just a bit of geeky fun.)

The boards are much better designed than the set-up in the core set. For a start, the larger the planet is, the more likely that world is going to pump out resources on a turn. This is a handy visual guide for new players, and makes one of the game’s core concepts very easy to grasp. In the core game, starbase placement is a bit of a free-for-all and it’s very easy to put a marker in the wrong place; in this expansion, those problems are solved as the places where you can build starbases are clearly shown on the board. Areas that can be used for trade (a crucial part of the game) are also made understandable at a glance. In addition, certain key locations on the board can be captured in order to make winning more likely, and this drives conflict forward quite neatly.

This results in the game playing faster and much more smoothly even with new players; as everything is marked out, there’s less delay from slower players. Some of the randomness is lost in the process, but as it makes the game speedier and more fun, it’s a reasonable sacrifice to make. Overall, this is a great little expansion for an already very good game.

Review: Batman – Arkham Origins / Platform: iOS / Release Date: Out Now

With the release of another high profile superhero videogame comes the now-inevitable handheld mobile phone tie-in. After the entertaining Arkham City Lockdown, Injustice: Gods Among Us and Man of Steel side-swiping beat ’em ups (these days it’s either that or a Temple Run style dash ’em up) we have Arkham Origins, which pits a young neophyte Batman against the might of Black Mask, Deathstroke and a whole host of other Arkham assassins.

Arkham Origins closely follows the template set by Lockdown, Injustice and Man of Steel. The Dark Knight enters one of Gotham’s many combat arenas, happens across a goon (and occasionally, a boss character) and the two of them stand there trading blows until one of them falls over. If you’ve played any of the previous games, you know the deal; kicks and punches are dealt with frantic finger-swipes across the touchscreen, occasionally throwing a batarang or special move into the mix to shake things up. There are challenges to challenge, points to be earned and shiny new Batsuits to be bought. As usual, the game would love for you to spend your own real-world money on unlocking some of the shiny new things (well, I would love a Long Halloween Batsuit) but it’s perfectly playable without doing so.

The graphics are astonishingly good; with the (i) phone we were playing it on having no trouble at all, even in the heat of combat or during the introductory animations. A variety of upgrades and unlockable Batsuits (including Red Son, The Dark Knight and Batman Beyond) should keep players entertained, while the battles are short and sweet enough that you can dip in and out of gameplay whenever you feel like it. Sure, it’s a little repetitive, and this writer wasn’t too keen on Bat’s Arkham Origins suit, but there’s no beating the totally Batman-like feeling of accomplishment you get, when literally headbutting an opponent into submission while bedecked as the goddamn Batman. There’s even a mission where the Caped Crusader has to ‘save Christmas’ by rescuing orphans’ Christmas presents from a gang of thieving goons. We don’t get to see the orphans or their Christmas presents, but it’s a cute touch.

Prior to Arkham Asylum, good Batman games were hard to come by. Now we get them for free on our handheld mobile telephone devices. Truly, we are living in the golden age of video gaming.

Review: GoD Factory – Wingmen Review / Developer: Nine Dots Studio / Publisher: Nine Dots Studio / Platform: PC, Mac, Linux / Release Date: Beta Available Now/Full Release TBC

As a whole, the space flight simulation genre is one, which has seen resurgence in recent years. Between the release of a fan-made Wing Commander instalment and Chris Roberts’ return with Star Citizen, interest is picking up once more. Another addition to this genre is GoD Factory: Wingmen, a team death match title with an extremely distinct visual look and vast customisable options.

Looking like the illegitimate child of Freelancer and Asura’s Wrath, the game’s main mode consists of two carriers facing off against one another and four player teams making up each side. The fighters engage one another as they attempt to take down various sub-systems on the opposing ships, and blast their enemies out of the skies. A major incentive for doing so is to temporarily deny a foe use of a customised ship. Each player is permitted to enter matches with two vessels of their own design, which cannot be used after being wrecked, limiting them to inferior drone vessels.

A superior version of the starship combat of Star Wars: Battlefront II, Wingmen’s fast-paced combat is well designed and relatively well balanced. It’s easy to pull off slides, full 180 turns and utilise wing weapons both with and without the joystick, no matter which design you utilise. Speaking of the designs, the game offers a fairly extensive customisation system for each vessel, which is balanced via a series of stats: Weight, Power and Heat among others. While allowing significant customisations to the basic designs, it prevents one version being innately superior to others. At least in theory, as there are some designs which do have a distinct edge over others with the right ad-ons and designs. It’s an issue that is being ironed out with updates, but it’s also the title’s biggest weakness: it’s still under development.

While truly game-breaking bugs are rare, basic flaws remain. You can find yourself and other players being frequently kicked from matches on bad days and the UI interface for ship selection/customisation can be overwhelming at first. The in-game manoeuvres and mechanics are explained by an extensive tutorial, but that desperately needs to be broken down into shorter segmented lessons. Furthermore, matches can be infrequent what with their being only a small community at the moment. This said frequent updates and a recent tournament are helping these problems. 

For all its issues, the game is still fun. With constant updates and even an Occulous Rift addition being touted as a key feature, it is the single most promising game we have played this year. Does it have problems? Definitely, but even in an unfinished state and one gameplay mode it’s still solid.

The beta of GoD Factory: Wingmen can be downloaded from the game’s Kickstarter page with further details on Steam Greenlight.