G'day there guys and gals! I have been a long time fan of Telltale Games and have long since sang the praises of many of its other work such as The Wolf Among Us and especially The Walking Dead. And with the announcement of a Game of Thrones style Telltale game, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon and prepared to have my soul destroyed. Telltale, sticking true with the series, have retained what has made the books and show both incredibly addictive and fascinating; no character, not even the protagonist, is safe from death. Warning! Some slight book/show/game spoilers ahead! Without diving headfirst into spoiler territory, Telltale's Game of Thrones starts (in the show's timeline) at the end of Season 3 with the Red Wedding and ends roughly at the start of Season 5. The main focus of the story revolves House Forrester; a Northern house which resides roughly south east of Deepwood Motte. The protagonists you will be playing as are as follows: Gared Tuttle, Ethan Forrester, Mira Forrester, Rodrik Forrester and Asher Forrester. While the game does center around the North and Ironrath. the home of the Forresters, players will also see many other exotic locations such as Meereen and Essos in general, The Twins, King's Landing, The Wall and more. As I mentioned earlier, Telltale has perfectly captured the meaning of "no character is safe" by the ending of the first episode, however it does not stop there. Player choices can well result in the end of a character in question and choices made earlier on, even those slight ones, will have horrible results by the end of the game. Even telling you this much is well into spoiler territory so for now, that is where I'll leave the info behind. The storyline itself is utterly fantastic, once more Telltale as written a perfect set of characters who are unique to their own attributes and morals, even siblings are vastly different yet share some similarities, even with Gared Tuttle. The inclusion of more well known characters such as Tyrion and Cercei Lannister, Jon Snow and more, while including their actors as the voice roles, was a brilliant nice touch to the series overall and added a definite air of magnitude to your actions. Bits and pieces were a tad cliche at times but is easily overlooked by how much depth of character they have by the end of their screentime. Gameplay is, what we can now call, classic Telltale: basic point and click. However by episode 2, the gameplay is improved with well designed Quick Time Events. While ordinarily we as gamers groan at quick time events, these quick times almost always managed to bamboozle me with their speed, as they would slowly fade in or quickly appear. The constant change between these did indeed keep me on my toes, so for this, I do praise the change. Players can also experience some FPS, Hold and Move and QTE joystick movements from time to time. Musical score takes a nod to the show, especially by the end of Episode 6, but creates its own for the Forresters here and there, which gave their home and struggle a much more earthy, desperate feel to the game overall. Sound effects were also good, human grunts and groans do tend to be repeated oddly at times (especially in episode 1) but in the midst of an action scene, you won't notice it unless you pay close attention. Graphics are extremely well done, especially on the character models; the detail to each character (especially in the eyes, facial expressions and hair) looks exquisite. Areas and objects during gameplay can often give off the feel of an oil painting at times, almost as if the characters you're playing as are moving inside a painting. To me, at least, I enjoyed this look overall and liked the art direction, as it truly did well to match each area of Westeros and beyond: King's Landing was colourful, bright and warm, using many bronze and gold colours, while The Wall maintained is dark blue, and faded white look, the sense of a cold place was well captured. Finally, voice acting. In the past, we have seen many voice actors find their full careers ahead of them in previous Telltale titles and this time is no exception. The vocal cast did an absolutely beautiful job in bringing the world to life inside the world of Game of Thrones. I absolutely hated Gryff as a character, thanks to his voice actor Sasha Dhawan. The choices in every game were made easy or near impossible thanks to my love or hate for every character in this game. I will admit, Kit Harrington as Jon Snow was a teeeeeensy bit off at times (Almost as if he was reading the lines after just been woken up over the phone), but even the actors inside the show did a brilliant job in enhancing their characters through a video game, especially Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage and ESPECIALLY Iwan Rheon. I highly expect that man to go on doing more voice overs for many games in the future, as he has a definite talent for it! Overall, it's easy to say that I am deeply impressed and enthralled by this game, but those words use too little description to how much I've come to love these characters. The ending itself teases at so much and gives so little into what we see and hear that a Season 2 is a definite must and I pray to the Old Gods and the New for a return for this series. Once more, Telltale has made a storytelling masterpiece in a gameplay style that anyone can play, book, show or new fan alike. Bravo! Out of 10, I give Telltale's Game of Thrones a 10/10 PERFECT SCORE! Telltale's Game of Thrones is out now for the standard price of $30
G'day there guys and gals! By now, you're probably wondering where my review for Fallout 4 is, and I'm here to tell you that it is most definitely on its way! This is my first absolutely fresh Fallout game and I'm trying to be as wide range with my experience as I possibly can to give you folks a better understanding. And yes, don't worry, I'm keeping track of my bugs so far. As for Telltale's Game of Thrones, I did originally write pieces for the first two parts but I decided against writing more due to my hiatus for University. I'll be doing a full review and score after the final episode is released in a few days. Past those two...I don't really have any other plans for the moment, but I'll be reviewing what I can, when I can. Don't forget to check out my twitter page for updates, news and just general tweeting. Otherwise, it's business as usual. I'll still be chugging along with University. I hope to be finished shortly after my next birthday, which is coming up in a few months. Speaking of birthdays, The GameCave will make its 5th birthday this coming Thursday! Despite beginning as a hobby, I'm so glad to see people still take an interest in this site over so many years. Perhaps one day I can make a career out of it, or better yet, someone could review one of my games for a change! All that aside, thank you for your continuing support and well wishes to you all. And as always, have fun and game on!
This has been a long time in the making, thank you all so much for your patience! For all links, check them out in the YT page. All disclaimers also in the video and the description. Enjoy!
G'day there guys and gals! Shortly before the year of 2002, I happened to win a competition from an Australian tv show called Cheez TV. The prize? A brand new Xbox. I received the console a few weeks before the Australian release date, and one of the games inside was Halo: CE, which I still have today. In my entire country, I was the first to play Halo publicly. By now you are most definitely asking yourself "Why are you talking about this? Review the damn game!" and to that, I will reply to you with all you need to know: the gameplay, the musical score, the multiplayer, all of these things are improved dramatically and if these are all you need to buy this game, go for it. But the fancy graphics and the choppy and the lack-there-of in depth story is definitely a major turn off for long time fans. For those unfamiliar with the upcoming plot, Halo 5 Guardians takes place a year after the events of Halo 4 and begins with Fireteam Osiris taking place on a rescue and assassination mission, which somewhat wraps up the events of the Spartan Ops (I say loosely because if you don't read the books, didn't play Spartan Ops or anything else secondary to the main games, you will be immediately lost). Soon after we also finally meet Blue Team and take control of Master Chief attempting to retake a facility, and it's here that the entire story takes over. (SPOILER ALERT) But it's in this that the massive faults begin to show; in playing as Chief, you discover that Cortana is alive and kicking and you being Chief, naturally, you go off in attempt to find her. In the game itself, the reason to why she's alive is barely glossed over further on in the gameplay. What makes this worse is that you'll have a total of THREE missions as Chief. I'm all for new characters and storyline but if you're going to advertise for a two sided story, make it half and half! Also worth mentioning is that a further three missions with Fireteam Osiris are nothing but two minute talking missions! You begin, you run to your objective, talk to a person, talk to another person and get on a Pelican. This happens three times (two in the same area!) followed by either a cut to black or a short cutscene. Another major annoyance is the advertisements of the game itself have very little affect to the actual gameplay and story. Do you want a showdown between Loche and Chief? Well, I hope you like a cutscene cause that's all you'll get. ALL other moments between them are cutscenes; their conflict begins in a cutscene and is over in a cutscene? The advertisements of Chief or Locke bleeding out in front of their opponent? Never happens. Chief supposedly killing civillians? Never happens. The CLOSEST you'll get to that actually happening is due to another force entirely, one outside the Chief's control, which is irrelevantly obvious from the start. To see the advertisements for this major conflict, for Chief to be the bad guy, now it's clear that it was to hide who the real antagonist is. And for your sake, I will save you from that spoiler. (SPOILER END)
What does this all mean for the storyline itself? Well you're going to get lost. A lot. Many things are glossed over or barely explained, to the point where you'll be doing some major research to to understand what exactly is going on. All previous story development from Halo 4 and the Spartan Ops are dropped and basically ignored except for the pivotal plotpoint from the previous game and in classic Halo sequels, the game ends in a cliffhanger. Gameplay itself is excellent, despite it's brand new elements. Halo 5 introduces many new elements into the gameplay such as advanced melee and ground pounds, zoom in for all weapons, etc. The four player based co-op is also an incredibly nice touch, playing with friends is a definite bonus to breezing through the main campaign missions (15 in total) in ease. If you prefer the lone wolf style, you can still play on your own with AIs helping you out. Their movement and recovery can be a bit off at times (often getting stuck or killed, they have no sense of self preservation), but otherwise provide a decent amount of damage or distraction. Musical score and sound effects are typically what you'd expect out of a Halo game, the score definitely outshines the sound effects themselves, sometimes to the point of what's happening on screen. It does lack in a few areas but it is otherwise appealing. Voice acting for the most part...is acceptable. The main cast had strengths and weaknesses; Jen Taylor and Steven Downes are once more brilliantly done and add an incredible atmosphere into the game, while many of the additional characters tend to sound a little forced or out of place at times. Graphics are stunning, simply said. The world and scenery are especially breathtaking, while all character models look incredibly detailed. Spartans in armor do tend to look like a spotlight is constantly shining on them, but this helps show the added detail into the game. Finally, onto multiplayer; for anyone who read my Beta notes, you know I had a LOT of issues with the Beta and I'm happy to report many of them has been fixed! Players dying doesn't equal a killcam and a swell of music every time and no longer trap players in them, I've had very few issues with connectivity and playing overall and what is presented is well polished and maintained. I would be remiss to ignore my slight disappointment in the lack of many, many options for multiplayer (With most being variations of Team Deathmatch and Free For All), but I will admit the new mode Warzone (Where two teams of 18 people battling over a large area for control) is incredibly fun and addictive! Multiplayer also introduces the usage of bonuses, boosts and equipment for Warzone, some which you can unlock by furthering your experience or completing tasks, but the option to outright buy these boosts are there for those who wish to indulge. Overall, what the game presents is good from a technical standpoint; the game play beautifully, it runs excellently and overall it's had a smooth launch. However, while the campaign itself is fun to play, the storyline and the lack of plot movement is truly a massive disappointment. I've been struggling to give it an accurate scoring based on my experience, but I've manage to come to this conclusion: if you love multiplayer type games and can waste days playing them, you'll find little fault in this game. If you're wanting a deeper story for Chief, Locke and the continuation from Halo 4, what you'll get is a cut and dry, need-to-know only basis story to advance the plot with nothing explained and everything open ended, especially if you don't read the books, listen to the audio "Hunt The Truth" clips or anything else outside the main games. A good, although unsatisfying, addition to the Halo series. Out of 10, I give Halo 5: Guardians a 7/10
G'day there guys and gals! With the high standard and want in the current gaming community for Point and Click games (especially from Telltale), many were skeptical of Life is Strange, myself included. I shall admit, I was incredibly judgmental of the game before I played it! However, for the five years that I have been reviewing games, I have written them with one rule; you, the reader, receive a 100%, unbiased review. And if no one has told you yet, let me be the first to say thus so: Life is Strange is one of the best games of 2015 and more than worthy of the Game Of The Year position. For those unfamiliar with the storyline and to save you from too many spoilers, you play as Max Caulfield, an 18 year old girl attending Blackwell Academy for her remarkable skills with photography, with an odd obsession with selfies and old technology. Yet after taking a photo of a blue butterfly in the bathroom and witnessing a girl's murder, she soon discovers she has obtained the ability to control time through herself and her photos, and this ability is one that will change the destiny of everything and everyone around her. Gameplay basically boils down to point and click gameplay, with the addition of button control time travel to reverse or speed up time. In doing this, you may capture Optional Photos (for your diary, and extra Achievements) as well as aid your fellow students. As the episodes go on, you will face various other puzzles, from conversations and codes to opening new areas. Graphics wise are well done, there are some bulkiness to the characters, however the vibrant colours and the settings help to create a perfect mood, especially during small cutscenes or times when players lose control. Sound effects are great and give a definite modern feel to the overall games wheras the soundtrack is perfectly placed. Each song captures the mood, tension and emotional state of Max perfectly. Voice acting is one of the greater aspects of the game, the portrayal of young adults of today's era is done exceedingly well. It was clear from the first "hella" to cross my ears that the developers at DontNod have definitely done their research into Western Culture. But what makes this game as brilliant as it is is the storyline. While the game admittedly starts semi-slow with many promises and Max discovering her powers, if the ending of Episode 1 doesn't intrigue you, Episode 2 definitely will, and from there, it will snowball as it did for me. The game covers incredibly sensitive topics such as teenage pregnancy and abortion, sex tapes and drugging, suicide, murder and more. The way DontNod has handled these topics (even offering aid to those with depression and suicidal thoughts via their website and game itself) is also something to be applauded for. The game's choices, admittedly, do feel slightly like Telltale's choices of "selflessness or selfishness" but do it in a way that you won't notice until you're completely finished with the game and debating over the choices you should make. Choices can be simple such as bacon and eggs or waffles (no I'm not joking, that's in the game) or choices you don't even realise you're making, such as multiple ways to complete a task. What leaves my jaw dropping from this is how the game both handles them and uses them to bring out pure, raw emotions; the slightest similarities to your own high school life/experiences can be seen in this game. It's worth note that during all five episodes, I barely had any issues, the only being the standard achievements not unlocking via the 48 hour refresh issue as well as the slight delay of episode 5. However I found no game breaking and glitching issues of any kind. Being a episodic-release title and having no issues on release is an incredibly brilliant feat. Huge amounts of nerdy references, a beautiful setting with horrible outcomes and plotlines, incredibly hard choices and all tied off with brilliant acting, sound effects and musical score. This game will bring you to bliss then immediately to tears. In a world today where mobile games are the rage and Online Only titles matter, it warms my heart that the tradition of video games is still alive and well; the era of incredibly written, made and executed games is not over yet. With the Holiday season upon us and the onslaught of AAA games to come, if there is any game you would consider adding to your list, make Life is Strange one of them. Sublimity in its purest form. Out of 10, I give Life is Strange a 10/10!
Kudos to all at DontNod, Square Enix and all others involved in this excellent game! Life is Strange is out now, with all Episodes out, for the standard price of $30
G'day there guys and gals! (Please note: the final score of this review will not affect the original scores of the original content/DLC present in the Definitive Edition. To read the original reviews, click here for the game review, and here and here for the DLC) Since the very first reveal trailer, I have had a passionate love for Dishonored; the steampunk setting accompanied by a rich world full of lore, assassination and a brilliantly made storyline. I'll be the first to admit my disdain for HD remakes: the current standard of remakes is not one I would approve of in the gaming industry today, especially so as my University studies have opened my eyes to the process of how they come to be approved of and made. So far this year, there has been only one remake I have praised for being remade into the current gen consoles. Unfortunately, I would not add Dishonored Definitive Edition into that list. For those who have never heard/played the game, the storyline goes as this: you are Corvo Attano, the Royal Bodyguard to the Empress, Jessamine Kaldwin. The story takes place in a Steampunk-like world called Dunwall, which is riddled with the Rat Plague, a plague where rats infect humans into zombie-like walking flesh, riddled with the plague. After searching for a cure known to the other kingdoms, Corvo returns to the Empress and her young daughter Emily. But upon returning, the Empress is assassinated by Assassins, lead by a man named Daud, who also kidnaps her daughter. In doing this, Corvo is left behind and is wrongfully blamed for the Empress' murder and the kidnapping of her daughter. Left to rot in prison for six months, Corvo is visited by The Outsider, an all seeing god-like man who lives in the Void. In watching Corvo, he gives him the gift of his mark, which besets Corvo with abilities unlike any other. And thus, Corvo sets off to seek revenge against those who killed his beloved Empress. The gameplay and controls are as good as ever (although strangling people only to block is still a massive annoyance), sound effects and the voice acting audio appear to be improved ever so slightly whereas the music and the score are still as great as ever. I barely mention these because due to my 23 hours (so far) of experience in the Definitive Edition, none of these aspects appear to be upgraded at all. By now you may be asking "What about the graphics?". To me, these are the most disappointing feature of them all; Textures are still blurry, the frame rate is still locked at 30 FPS and screen tears are still present in the game! In all honesty, the best way to describe this re-release is that it's PC specs with all the issues of the console versions. The settings and the tone seem at the very least a little brighter and less "smudgy" than before, but in a city where a plague is infecting your populace and the city is falling into ruin, doesn't that seem more likely than bright blue skys? The character models seem to have improved ever so slightly (especially Corvo's hands and mask) but other than that I cannot tell much difference from the PC/360 version and the updated game. The same can be said about the additional "free" DLC Knife of Dunwall, Brigmore Witches and Dunwall Trials on the disc. What saddened me the most was the presence of glitches: my game froze four times due to the saving and loading screens, screen tears were ever present, especially in loading screens (The Knife of Dunwall and Brigmore Witches also seemed to pixelate the most during this), while I also got stuck in walls several times, the weirdest being while swimming underwater at Daud's hideout. Load times were also incredibly slow, so much so that I started timing my loads! When you start doing that out of boredom, you know something's wrong. For the record, my longest time was 1 minute and 42 seconds. While more hilarious than annoying, I can also mention the numeral amount of times I had corpses/unconscious people glitch through the walls and map itself. These only became annoying if they died in doing this. More often than not, they didn't, but it's still worth mentioning. As this review is to be treated as a DLC review, I cannot in good faith give it the same score as I did the original, as the issues present here weren't there to begin with. There is the bonus of having $20 knocked off the pricetag if you own the game digitally (I cannot find any info on if you need the DLC too), but for people like me who prefer still buying discs, you're paying full price. And full price in Australia is basically five bucks short of the minimum full price for a brand new title game. Overall, with deluxe AAA titles coming out in the coming weeks, especially another Bethesda title (Fallout 4) in consideration, once more I have been baited for my love of an (semi) old game being re-rendered for new consoles at a sub-par rate. Even regardless of the upcoming titles and other games such as Gears of War Ultimate Edition offering so much more quality at a lower price, I would suggest waiting for a price drop. As a diehard fan of this series and someone eagarly awaiting the sequel, it truly pains me to be incredibly negative towards a game I love. Is the game itself bad? No, absolutely not.But I wouldn't be able to call myself a reviewer if I did not bring these issues to life. Forgive me Bethesda and Arkane, but this left more than a sour taste in my mouth. Final score for Dishonored Definitive Edition: D+ Dishonored Definitive Edition is out now for the standard price of $75
G'day there guys and gals!
