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

Review: Saint's Row Re-Elected/Gat Out Of Hell

G'day there guys and gals!

(Please note: Re-Elected and Gat Out Of Hell will be rated by my DLC rating system *A through F* and will not affect the overall score of the original review, found here)
*This review is 100% spoiler free!* 

Overall, while Saints Row IV was a fun game, personally I found it tedious and quite dull at a lot of points throughout gameplay. I've never hidden my affection for the Saints Row series, my very first 360 title and one I spent countless hours playing. And while I do miss the serious plotline, the insane, crazy, fun gameplay is still a welcome one.
However, Re-Elected has made the same mistake Square Enix did with Sleeping Dogs; picking a recent title and moving it forward to current gen consoles. The game still includes the fun of super powers, kicking some alien arse and the witty dialogue but retains many bugs and glitches from the old game. This is not a HD remake, this is a port. 

There isn't much I can't say that I didn't say in the original review; the gameplay is still simplistic and quite fluid, however of course the super powers make you completely OP once you upgrade them a few times but this is to be expected. DLC weapons make an appearance, much to my delight; with the inclusion of a heavy metal Dubstep gun, it was my go to weapon. Sadly the tune repeats over and over but again, this is expected. All old and new weapons do make a reappearance but it seems the Australian Classification Board has done some tweaks to rename the The Penetrator to The Dildo Bat. 
Vehicles are there for you to enjoy but with unlimited sprint, flight and high jumping, there isn't much point to them at all. The voice acting is still excellent, the sound effects and musical score is still as good as ever. To the nugget of the point; with every port or HD remake, the main focus usually with older games brought back from the dead is the graphics. Sadly, this is where the main issues remains. High amounts of screen tearing (usually when accessing the main menus), several odd glitches with explosions distorting the screen, not to mention the four times the game froze and kicked me to dashboard, or twice how a dead controller swap deleted my autosave, my progress and unlocks. 


By the end, the only saving grace is a cleaner, better Co-Op to enjoy with friends. At this point I wanted to give up, and that brings us to Gat Out Of Hell.


To be perfectly honest, I went in with low expectations and while in some areas they were met, the DLC itself is quite excellently done.
For those interesting in the storyline; with the voice of a familiar narrator, the Saints begin to celebrate Kinzie's birthday when a mishap with a Ouija Board brings Gat, Kinzie and the Boss down into hell. It's up to you to free the Boss and put a bullet in Satan's eyes.

The gameplay is excellent; while still more or less the same SR IV, the DLC features new powers, new abilities and some old ones, not to begin to mention the new weaponry, hellish monsters to battle and some familiar faces for you to see in the game itself.
Sound effects are quite well done although the musical score does suffer slightly in gameplay but is otherwise noticeable only in combat or cutscenes. Graphics look incredible and each area looks significantly different amongst the deep red lava. 
Voice acting, at times, is quite well done by the main cast. At points it does sound quite monotone and dragging; the disappointing thing about this is these lie in the tutorials, the main commentary or the missions.
Speaking of missions, Gat Out of Hell takes a step back to Saints Row 3 style and makes 80% of the main storyline nothing BUT mini-games, which of course are nothing but rehashes of Saints Row IV games. There are plenty of twists on the classics and new ones to accommodate your new powers, but it's really disappointing to see this in this series continuously. While it is (sort of) explained as a pun mid-way through the game, it makes it abundantly clear what this port was made for. Don't get me wrong, the game modes are fun but many are too short, repeated too often in main missions and after a while, become too boring as your powers grow.

Other smaller mentions would be the change to Clusters (Although a better name would have been "Souls" or something, you are in Hell after all!) and your abilities make it WAY easier to collect them. Each Loyalty mission is basically the same; several mini-game, a take over mission and done. Last the loading times are incredibly fast so that is definitely a plus, not to mention the Deus Ex HR type ending. But I digress.

My main goal for this entire review was to determine whether or not Re-Elected was worth your time and the high asking price. And this is my summary:
Saints Row Re-Elected is perfect for old and new fans, achievement grinders and those looking for a wacky game to Co-Op in with friends. Otherwise I do advice caution in buying this game; this game is furthering the standard of shoddy console ports for a quick buck by companies and the addition of the DLC won't keep me on this title for much longer. There are plenty of hours to waste but too much old content or improvements for it to be truly called a HD Remake. 
And while there is one major hint towards a sequel, the Gat Out Of Hell ending brings it into question; Saints Row IV was originally made as a April Fools joke. Hopefully this is the punchline and we can all move on.

A fun but disappointing start for 2015.

Saints Row Re-Elected: C-

Gat Out Of Hell DLC: C+

Gamer Rant: The Future of Games

G'day there guys and gals!

After a short rant on Twitter last night, I feel as if I have to talk about a very real problem in the gaming community today and that is how far the games, companies and our future itself is falling.
To put it plainly, our future looks bleak.

First off, you may be asking yourself "What fall? What do you mean?", well let me give a short explanation: as short of a time as 10 years ago, games that were released HAD to have perfect controls, up to date mechanics and be perfect itself in order to get attention. This is how games such as Call Of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and more were able to make comeback after comeback in our community. However, for the last two years, AAA titles and major companies have been releasing digital messes, remakes barely remade and games that simply didn't work whereas indie developers and even one-people crews have released timeless classics that are now revered in our community. Do you see now what I mean by fall?
Companies are beginning to rely too hard on old titles to make a profit: Call of Duty "sequels" are seen as a joke online as each year brings a new game. Assassin's Creed hardcore fans have been more and more disappointed with the titles released as years go on and way too many remakes have been coming out - games made two or three years ago getting ports into the new world or older games with a dying fanbase given life once again. It's January 2015 and we've already had THREE AAA titles given a HD remake (Duke Nukem 3D ME, Saints Row Re-Elected, Resident Evil Remastered) and three more coming in the next couple of months. 
And don't get me started on Mobile games. Personally, King is the devil of video games; rehashed old titles made "new". They spit in the face of our community.
But regardless, moving on.

I'm currently in the middle of reviewing Saints Row Re-Elected and already I've experience multiple bugs, issues, a few KTDs and even where changing a CONTROLLER lost me my autosave! Is this what our future holds for video games? Where games are SOOOOO buggy that I can't even change a controller without losing my data, my autosave or my character?
As a young lad, games released with bugs were dead in the water; there were no patches, there weren't any DLC or fixes or apologies. It was a $100 piece of junk that wouldn't work and its games like those that have long since been forgotten about. But these days, too many companies are being pushed by their corporates to dish out games faster and this is why they're failing to the little guys out there.
Take for example Scott Cawthon; you're probably wondering who he is?
He's the creator of this:   

And that is why he's been so damn successful; with the internet in a state that it is, the popularity of a game depends on five different things -  Simplicity, creativity, new mechanics, positivity in product and word of mouth. Have all five of these things in a game and players will be drawn to it like moths to light. This is where FNaF has succeeded where others (Like Slender) has failed; Scott is currently cranking out the third game in the series and while that is ambitious, he has created an interesting world, storyline and of course, a terrifying set of characters of something so universally creepy in its normal state that naturally is shocking in a horror setting. Slender, while successful overall, was stuck in development much too long, became way too complicated plotline wise and by the time it came out, most interest had moved on.
And that is why plenty of Indie Developers are starting to take wing while AAA titles and their companies are failing -  because they LISTEN to their demand. Because FNaF has simple mechanics, fine but not overbudgeted graphics and relatively shortness to game style, the only things that need alterations is characters, storyline, audio cues and setting! 
In other words, graphical look.
FNaF 2 had more characters, a developing storyline, tweaks on the gameplay and kept linear to the original work. Slender The Arrival complicated the plot, gameplay and became different to the original piece leaked online.

HOWEVER, you're thinking "Hang on, but that's every game ever. Things need to change and they have to advance!" and I agree with you: playing the same thing over and over is boring.
But not to the majority of gamers and the majority is Casuals.
As much as it pains me to say it, Casual Gamers have the majority control of what becomes popular, what goes viral and what people play; this is how games in the past became popular. People who stick to the franchises of old soon become hardcore gamers: achievement grinding the same game over and over, playing through each alteration repeatedly and then moving onto the next new franchise while Casuals will hear from a friend how "insert title here" is amazing and they'll play it, stop and move on.
Take me for example: I have been a Saints Row fan since the beginning, I played SR over and over, especially since it was my first 360 game title and now, nearly 9 years later, I'm playing the remake of its 4th "sequel" just for the achievements. 

So why am I writing this down like this? What is my point about all of this?
This is my point: too many companies are giving out glitched, buggy or rehashes while Indie Devs are thriving, which personally I find awesome and gives me hope for the future. But as a future game dev, I personally don't know whether to work for a big company or myself. Australia has very few game companies and many of which are either Indie companies that I've never heard of or the big guys that dominate our consoles. Do I chance working for them for Call of Duty 31 or do I follow my own creative passion? Do I travel overseas and work on several titles of games at once, passed around from project to project, or do I apply myself to become a story-writer and see my own passions become a living, breathing game for generations to come?
With the way company after company treats their projects, the choice is simple at this point; too many companies are facing the way of THQ while their bosses pushes a game underdeveloped out the door while Indie Devs are rising to the top through passion, hard work and sacrifice. 

That is where our future as gamers is coming to; old titles taking $100+ out of our pockets while smaller titles as for $5 or less for a game they spent years making. 
Don't get me wrong! Many companies are willing to fix their titles, whether their buggy, unfinished or failures, but it shouldn't be us who tell them this. It shouldn't be gamers and consumers telling them the issues of their games. 
And so I speak to all coporates: delaying games to make them better will not cost you money. Even a bad looking game can still be played by millions. Give your developing team more time.

Forgive me, but this needed to be said. Make your choices well.
And as always, have fun and game on!

(Dedicated to all gaming companies forced to be shut down before their time)