Review: The Deer God (Xbox One)

G'day there guys and gals!

There have been many Indie games over the last few years that I have come to utterly love and enjoy countless times: LIMBO, Bastion, Transistor, Five Nights At Freddy's, the list can go on. The Deer God once started as a Kickstarter project from the minds and hands of a few Indie developers with a dream to "challenge your religion and platforming skills". I have nothing but respect for all Indie Developers, but as a gamer, while they've definitely hit the mark they have fallen short of their goal.

You are an unnamed human on a hunting trip with a buddy when the character spots a deer. As he takes the shot, wolves descend from the shadows, knocking his aim and shooting a baby deer instead. As the character dies and dissolves to ash from lightening, a deer god tells him of his crimes against her kind and how he must learn what it is like. And thus, the character is reborn as a deer.
This is the point where you take control of the character.

Gameplay is simplistic enough; a 2D sidescroller, your platforming skills will most definitely be challenged as every nook and cranny will become a godsend. While the areas do vary (green fields and forests, deserts, wetlands, graveyards, caves, etc), they very quickly become repetitive, almost within the first ten minutes of gameplay, and often repeat as you run. The saving grace of this is how the game loads almost seamlessly (bugs are frequent during this however  - we'll touch on that later) and the enemies are never lacking. While there are dangers from drowning in water, falling on spikes and starvation, plentiful enemies are there to try and kill you: foxes, saber cats, bears, ghosts, skeletons, wild hogs, snakes, spiders, etc. It is a little ridiculous how bats, hedgehogs and spiders also pose a serious threat but I digress; killing these enemies will give you good karma while killing friendly deer or harmless animals will result in bad karma. There is also a large amount of collectables as you play that can give you a useful boost in your playtime or against bosses. Players can also learn an abundance of abilities from the gods, from fireballs to making it rain hail, even some passive ones such as light conjuring and tree growth, these abilities must be obtained by solving statue puzzles (which some are glitched where unnecessary blocks need to be placed in specific areas just for the ability to unlock), while other main abilities you gain as the storyline progresses.
Graphics are plain, but beautiful enough; there aren't any "wow" factors from the look, but the lighting and scenery is definitely well worth the pause in running, but these moments only truly happen during the more open areas where the camera pans out. Musical score, what's there, is lovely and peaceful but also repeats quite often as well, never really changing until the final boss fight.

This brings me onto the more disappointing areas of the game, beginning with storyline. While there is plenty of storyline, the story itself is...sadly lacking. As a deer, you must aid those seeking your help or those offering guidance; while some can give you items (some useful, others not), main story missions give you relics, fulfilling the prophesy of the transhumant deer. However...none of this is explained in game. The prophesy isn't even mentioned until near the end of the game, nor do we actually see it until then as well. The main reason I mentioned the quote from the developers of "challenge your religion" is because this actually took me back when I first read it: at no point during my gameplay time did I make any sort of connection between this game and a religion at the time. There is a single deer story in Christianity, but nothing holy-like (other than the obvious deer gods) as this game presents. I digress.

Bugs are plentiful in this game unfortunately, with many invisible walls when speeding through regions, which leads to taking damage for no reason (even with full hunger) or outright dying. There are some glitches on the final boss (which I should mention killing the other bosses isn't necessary to finish the game), including simple graphical glitches on the walls of the pillar, the baby birds not dying and being forced to refight the final boss if you die before reaching the deer statue.
Speaking of deaths, there is no consequence for dying over and over on Normal Mode (on hardcore you lose your gamesave): when you die without a baby deer with you or without and deer skulls (a collectable to help you respawn), the deer goddess will say "One life left...". However if you die again, the screen will fade to white, you'll respawn as a baby deer and nothing has happened. No inventory loss, no abilities lost, no nothing. Also mentioning losing gamesaves, *SPOILER ALERT* at the end of the game you're left with two decisions - one leaving you with the ability to continue playing your game, the other erasing your save after a 10 second cutscene and a cut to a single credits scene! That ending leads to dialogue (with no voice despite having it in the short cutscenes) and the character talking to a deer while seeing a gravestone named "Tim". Who the hell is Tim? Is he that other guy we saw? Why was he sacrificed? Why did he become a deer? What is he in relation to our character? Was he a bad person too? None of this is answered in the game! *END SPOILERS*
One achievement is also frozen for me (ironically "Put Them On Ice") but for the majority, you can earn a decent amount from multiple playthroughs, but only if you can tough out the endless repetitiveness.

My final gripe with the game is also the asking price and play time. While the game is free for Gold Xbox Live users, it's current asking is $20. During one playthrough of the story, you can manage to finish the game in a hour! One hour, for $20! You can start the game again for both endings (one of which doesn't even lead to a end to credits or a cutscene at all!) but if you play it twice, 2 hours for $20. At least on Steam it's $15!

I want to be kind to this title and express to the developers that they have made a great game with a lot of promise, but in all honestly, for whatever fun I had playing this game, I cannot get past its bugs, its glitches and the issues I've presented above. Technically speaking, the game plays fantastic, there was no issue I could find with the gameplay controls, but that cannot excuse the major issues I've experienced. My experience, overall, is sadly mediocre. 

Try it while it's free (if you can), but I'd still suggest wait for a price drop at the very least.

Out of 10, I give The Deer God 5/10

Review: Gears of War Ultimate Edition

G'day there guys and gals!

In the year of 2006, when flip phones were still cool and mine came from a Coca Cola bottle, it only took me a few weeks after launch to hear the news that was flying around my small town: Gears of War is amazing. Being only fourteen at the time, I begged my parents to let me buy it, fell in love with the game, the story and their characters and ever since, it has held a special place in my heart. Here we are nearly 10 years later, and I'll be the first to admit to my growing disapproval of HD remakes, but I have been so pleasantly surprised by Gears of War Ultimate Edition that I cannot praise it enough.

For those who have never touched the series, Gears of War is a Third Person Shooter over the shoulder of Marcus Fenix, a COG soldier released from prison to fight alongside his friends Dom, Baird and Cole against the Locust Horde army; a brutal, scale-covered humanoid race living deep below the surface of Sera and waging an all out war on humanity. Back at release, the game was well received and won a few awards, critics only being the lacking storyline and its plotholes and the lack of depth in characters. With all that aside, we now turn our attention to the Ultimate Edition.
Gameplay is superbly done: despite the shiny new overcoat, the game plays nearly exactly like the original Gears of War, the controls being smooth and easy to use and the gameplay even smoother than that, while including mechanics from the newer editions such as roadie running and spotting. Storyline is just as good as before, with the addition of five new chapters (further explaining how Delta escaped the Brumak and how they got to the train) from the PC version that never made it to the console. Seeing these chapters brand new brought a lot of fresh air into the game itself and added a further 2-3 hours of gameplay on top. Voice acting was ripped straight from the original game and sounded to be somewhat enhanced, it did sound off at times (especially the beginning sentences - beautiful graphics, smudge-y audio).

I cannot continue without mentioning what stood out most in my eyes, or better case, ears; the audio quality. The sound effects were new and beautifully done, especially the slicing of Locust and the weapons, but the soundtrack was were the game began to shine. New pieces into the cinematic and the gameplay itself truly brought in the hopelessness of the COG and humanity as a whole, revamped originals were also present as well as original score straight from the first game. It was an utter joy to hear it remastered.
And obviously we're brought to the graphics and to put it in a single sentence; much more than just a reskin. The team at Epic and The Coalition truly brought out the beauty of the Gears world with completely new scenes, new character models and changes to the look, adding much more detail to the characters while keeping them in their original forms. With many HD remakes, developers simply re-render the scenes in a higher setting, Epic and Coalition animate completely new cutscenes, remake the old ones and give the game a whole new paintjob! It's clear that this was a work of labour and not one for a quickie cash grab.
Finally, multiplayer. Nothing too big to report on the multiplayer side; players can now choose between social and competitive gameplay, with a wide array of modes from all across the series (and yet does not have Horde Mode! That is a definite negative). Players can choose which character and skins to use for their weapons. I personally haven't experienced any bugs in multiplayer and matches with all the new modes and maps (also redone as well!), however I have experienced a few bugs in the single player: being stuck in an invisible floor, enemy (and NPC) AI standing still or never moving for cover, not to mention an abundance of glitching through walls. The biggest would be with the additional chapters: cinematic freezes, off audio-to-visuals and of course, the weird audio I mentioned before.

While none of these were game breaking overall, it would be wrong of me to give this game a perfect score (especially without Horde mode), but that does not mean it's a terrible game! In truth, Gears of War Ultimate Edition is by far the best remake for any game I have ever seen. Epic and The Coalition have truly paved the way to what remake games should be (minus their skin pack DLCs - however not promoted in game!); adding most/all DLC and a HD render does not suffice for a remake in my eyes anymore. I have been spoiled by this glorious Gears game, and now I'm left wanting more!

Out of 10, I give Gears of War Ultimate Edition a 9/10

Gears of War Ultimate Edition is out now for $40!
And you can read my original review right here.

(Fair warning, I wrote it when I was just starting out, it's fairly bad!)

I'm back! (kinda)

G'day there guys and gals!

It has been four months since I've last written anything on this blog/review page and let me tell you; you have not been forgotten.
I still stand by my original statement that University must come first. HOWEVER, while I'm not saying that I'll be making a full 100% comeback, (with their blessing) I will be reviewing whenever I can!

For the moment, there'll be no schedule or updates into when I review but all followers will naturally be updated when I post, so check back here often.
I will be reviewing Rare Replay asap, so you can look forward to that at the very least.

Take care and game on!

Al

Review: Fallout Shelter (Android)

G'day there guys and gals!

For the first (and probably last) time ever, I'll be reviewing a mobile game, one that has taken the world by storm since the release of E3 2015. While originally released for the iOS during E3, its release on the Android has been a welcome one and rightly so!

I'll admit to it now; I have never thought (or praised) highly of any mobile game, ever. Generally I disapprove of many of the standards of mobile game development, but the people at Bethesda Studios and Behaviour Interactive have gone above and beyond any current mobile game.
To put it simplistically, Fallout Shelter takes place in the world and lore of the Fallout universe (I wonder what the first clue was...) and players take control of their own customisable Vault. You are the Overseer, the person in control of a Vault and it's up to you to control, manage and protect both the population inside the Vault and its resources.
Gameplay is reminiscent of SimCity, where players must gather humans (or make their own the old fashioned way) and their three key resources (Food, water and power) through building rooms. Players can also build rooms to up the stats of their dwellers, create Stimpaks and RadAway, radio stations to call for more citizens, living quarters, storage rooms and so on. Players can also choose to kit up their dweller in clothing and arm them with weapons to survive gathering resources from the surface; all of this done while fighting off raiders, radroaches, room fires, radiation and more. All gameplay is 2.5D, where the Vault and its dwellers are all viewed side on. Players control their movements, where there go and what they do by tapping and moving them to each destination.
This is not even mentioning the stats of each individual dweller, how they're used in each room, how players need to keep every resource level, etc. 

Storyline is little to non-existent; each character often remarks on how great/terrible they feel, or jokes about what they'd do with their own vault, even down to how great their Overseer is! However the meat of what little there is comes to dwellers who venture out into the Wasteland; often remarking on how scared they are, finding injured people, sneaking past Raiders, ect. These do repeat incredibly often but that's to be expected.
No voice acting or musical score is present in this game (I won't be counting the main menu music) but the musical cues during rushing a room for its resources is as close as you'll get. While it has a great Fallout-esque style, if you refuse to pay the microtransations, prepare to hear it often, but again, to be expected.
Graphics, for a mobile game, are very diverse and unique, while still retaining the Fallout features and look. The game itself is incredibly detailed (especially when zooming in on a room and the characters) but retains its own personal feel and vibe to the series.

The only major issue with the game is the purposeful slowness at specific points of the game. When resources are full but Caps are low, the game's fun and energetic style does slow down to a halt as you wait for your dweller to find decent items out in the Wasteland. To this gamer, it seems that this is the point some will buckle for microtransations but this is where the game shines. Another small issue are the game's few glitches (such as the game's options disappearing when entering a game when a baby's been born), but these tend to be only temporarily and rarely game breaking.
As gamers, let's face the cold truth; microtransations are here to stay. To be fully honest, without them, games would cost a lot more than they currently do (and as Australians tend to pay $90-$110 already, that would be a tremendous issue). But what Fallout Shelter does better than any other mobile game is the they don't shove microtransations or ads down your throat. In fact, for a Free-To-Play game, there are no ads at all! The only ad I have seen so far is a "rate this game" ad and that was after the first time I just created a Vault!
Microtransations are constantly there if you wish to pay $5 for a stack of Cards (cards being a sort of random chance gamble at resources/new items) but they're off to the side and aren't ever thrown onto the gamer as a quick-fix to their Vault's issues. While I would like to have a Caps for Cards exchange in the game, at its current standing, the game works perfectly.

As I said earlier, I have never been a big fan or supporter of mobile phone games, but the people behind Fallout Shelter have done such an excellent job, I cannot praise it any higher. Officially, Fallout Shelter will forever be my benchmark in mobile phone games. Kudos to the entire team!

Out of 10, I give Fallout Shelter a 9/10

You can find it now on Android and iOS appliances for free!

TEMPORARY HIATUS

G'day there guys and gals.

I know I haven't reviewed much in the last few weeks and I've been meaning to for a long time, but at this point of time, I need to focus all my time on my university studies and my personal health, as both have been neglected for some time. 

With that being said, I won't be going away forever! After university is done, I will be returning to everything that I've been working on. I started this page and began reviewing games right after high-school and I intend to start again after university.

So now, I shall take my leave. Take care folks, I'll be back!
And as always, have fun and game on!

Review: Telltale's Game Of Thrones Episode 2

G'day there guys and gals!

*Please note: Since Telltale games are originally released in episode form, this review will be rated in my DLC form (A through F) until all episodes are released.
Also, spoiler alert for anyone unfamiliar to the show/books or episode one! Tread carefully!*

Putting aside the current issues with the episode with Xbox users, currently I have bitten the bullet and continued on with the game, playing against my choices from episode one. What I found was a great new part to the growing series, even if a little off at times.
The gameplay has been upgraded ever so slightly with the new addition of timed Quick Time Even, waiting for the proper time to press the correct response, as well as a return of First Person firing view from the first season of The Walking Dead. Sound effects are standard and repeat often (especially when at the Wall or Castle Black) but at least voice sounds such as grunts and groans are improved on (a small mention I made from episode one).
Graphics are just as great as ever, each scene looking like an old fashioned oil painting, although those who succumb to motion sickness easily may wish to tread carefully, especially so during action scenes as the fast moving characters can often revert to pixelated blurs.

So let us get down to the real bulk of episode 2; storyline and voice acting. Bringing in Episode 2 brings everybody's favourite bastard who knows nothing, Jon Snow, voiced by the Kit Harrington and while he does do a fine job, oddly at points he sound...dull and flat, bored if you will. Peter Dinklage and Natalie Dormer return to their respected roles and knock it out of the park (admittedly I was sad to see so little of Natalie) and the rest of the cast does well, the new addition (for spoiler reason I won't say who) does awesome and adds real depth to the Forrester family as well.
Storyline wise, there isn't much to say without giving it away; while not as shocking as the first episode, the game does offer a lot of plot twists and surprises, your choices from the first episode barely making a mention most of the time but well on their way leading up to a huge conflict between all involved, even those ever so slightly touching on the matter.

That being said, the ending itself is gorgeously done and quite meaningful, especially to House Forrester and the choices both of Ethan and those you play. While not overly impressive as the first episode, The Lost Lords does well to build up the coming fight, the building tension and set the scene for the future episodes.
Like chess pieces on a board, episode 2 is decent set up to a winning strategy. Just shy of greatness.

Telltale's Game Of Thrones Episode 2 - The Lost Lords: B-

Review: Dying Light

G'day guys and gals!

*Warning: This review features the first 10 minutes of gameplay and mentions gameplay mechanics for the ending*

The creators behind Dying Light once brought us the zombie hit Dead Island many years ago, a game renown for its moving, incredibly heart breaking trailer but being much less impressive. Although the game itself had quite good gameplay and mechanics, it had very little else to offer and the games that followed have been a tragedy ever since.
This is not the case with Dying Light; there are some small similarities in the animations (especially small knives) between the two games, Dying Light is much more dynamic, impressive and downright addictive, with very little holding it back.

Let's begin with the storyline: players take on the role of Kyle Crane, a hired operative of the GRE (Global Relief Effort) sent to the fallen city of Harran to retrieve a document from the rogue Kadir "Rais" Suleiman that can lead to the cure of the infection plaguing the city. On your decent into the city however, you are beset on by Rais' thugs and attacked by a zombie, bitten and left for dead. With the aid of the sudden appearance of Amir and Jade, you are taken to the Tower to begin your search for Rais and discover the location of the document.
The story itself is brilliant and dynamic to the situation, the cast of people you will meet becomes huge and stretches from the Slums to Sector 0 of Harran, all the while meeting people aiding you in the Tower's survival and your own, as you desperately try to secure Antizin (The only known deterant of the infection) for your people and yourself, all the while fighting back the spasms of turning. The voice acting in the main cast is superb; one of my favourite voice actors Roger Craig Smith takes the role of the protagonist and utterly dominates the role, easily switching from the seriousness as a GRE operative to compassion with the Tower's struggle and at times, being incredibly witty and realistic. Outside the main voice cast it does range from melodramatic to dull but interaction with them usually lasts little under thirty seconds. Musical score, for the most part, is great and adds tension, shock and sympathy to the right moments. Overall during gameplay however it does seem to fade out for the most part, but is made up for the gorey, terrific sound effects of the world around you.

This brings me to the two biggest strength points; gameplay and graphics. While as a reviewer, I believe graphics aren't a huge necessary deal but here I make the exception for the utter beauty that is Dying Light. The scenery is as dynamic as the plot as sunsets glow red and wild, the days clear or pouring down rain and thunder, or the night as dark as a tunnel with the screams of zombies all around you. Playing during the day is more leisurely than it is at night as the slogan for the game takes its words quite literally. I promise first time players that you will most likely die some time during the night (especially during one particular zombie hunting mission) as the Volatiles, Bloaters and other beastly creatures skulk the night. While I will admit the graphics do tend to repeat with crates, already killed zombies, NPC's wearing masks and the insides of buildings (as to be expected), I still take my hat off for the developers for making it as brilliant as this is, truly giving gamers plenty of areas to explore and visit.
Now, gameplay. The gameplay is by far the biggest asset this game holds. Freerunning (or Parkour if you're fancy) completely dominates any other like it before, the feel almost as if you are the one performing the moves. Customisation with Survivor, Power and Agility Points will greatly increase your odds of survival, whether it be killing or avoiding zombies. Crafting also is excellently done, giving a plentiful option for players to choose whether to favour a loud or quiet approach, a tactical or "run and gun" stylised dash during the night as well. The money mechanism is also handy to those who use it, especially running drops back to the Quartermaster, however destroying items for parts it a little one sided in giving (mostly) only metal parts. While they are crucial, I have never run out of them, especially when you can run out of pretty much everything, even when fully upgraded and decked out to the halls full of inventory. 
This doesn't deter from the fun of the game; killing zombies by smashing their heads open, burning or blowing them up is still as fun as ever, with the terrifying zombie look of olden days definitely there in some of the bulkier kinds.

My few small issues with the game have been minuscule but still noteworthy; I did find one glitch unfortunately near the end of the game, where after killing a mini-boss and dying right after caused the game to lock me in the area in which the fight took place, leaving me unable to leave. This was quickly fixed by reloading the checkpoint but caused audio lapping.
Another small issue was the ending itself being...a Quick Time Event. There were many missions before the final one that would have served as a decent send off to the game. The mission itself was fun and challenging but the last 5 or so minutes of QTE is a mark of shame on the ending of a game; QTE's to end a game is as cliche as the plot-twist in melodramatic soap or "The Good Guy is the Bad Guy" reveal in any action movie.

Due to those reasons, for me at least, the game does miss out on a perfect score but regardless of that, Dying Light is an incredible game that any self-respecting gamer should check out, especially zombie fans. As odd as it sounds, a quote from Game Of Thrones is the perfect metaphor for this brilliant game.
"For the night is dark and full of terrors".
Terrific gameplay, 18+ hours storyline and double that number in side missions. If you want a bang for your buck, Dying Light is your answer.

Out of 10, I give Dying Light a 9/10