G'day there guys and gals!
***This review is 100% spoiler free. Some words have been removed to avoid spoilers.***
Whenever a fresh game comes into the mix of each year's latest sequel, it's always nice to - in simple
words - "give the new guy a chance". Remember Me has only recently made it's debut into the gaming world and even so, it's already making a splash.
Remember Me is set in 2084 in a futuristic Paris called (Wait for it) Neo-Paris and follows the story of Nilin. She is a Errorist (A gang of rebellious youths) who has dedicated her life fighting Memorize, a company that has harnessed the ability to record the memories of a person inside a device at the back of their necks called a Sensen. With this technology, Memorize have complete control over everything; from the media and advertisements up to the military and government.
The game begins with Nilin waking up in the Bastille Fortress, near everything forgotten except her own name. Confused, dazed and with nothing but the voice of Edge (the leader and fellow Errorist) to guide her to freedom, the game and the story begins.
Let me begin with the storyline; while it does start out rather slow, the eventuality definitely a decent payoff. While the name "Neo-Paris" is a cringe-worthy, unsettling name, it doesn't deter to the fact that world around you is one filled with story. Remember Me is one of the only games that comes to mind that fleshes out the stories of even the lowliest NPC. With Nilin's special ability to write new memories and re-write old ones, the game definitely takes you on a twisting tale that the voice cast tries to bring a more meaningful depth.
"Tries" is such a big word for the voice cast, yet the proper term would be "attempts". The voice cast, which consists of generally newer actors in this profession, I'm being extremely generous when I say half of the cast was mostly successful in their roles. Nilin (Voiced by Kezia Burrows) has mostly a flat voiced expression when it comes to a large majority of the game. Unless an extreme emotion is being expressed, her voice is flat and straight to the point. Granted, as her first video game role, it is terribly hard to express many emotions with just voice but a teeny bit more emotion would have been appreciated. Whereas her helpful partner Edge (Voiced by Nathan Nolan, NOT to be confused with Nolan North), while brings much needed lightness and definitely helps set the mood to each new Episode, can tend to be a teeny bit Melodramatic at points while the rest of the cast does help to ease into both the feel and development of the game, storyline and plot.
Gameplay is a great mix of some of the more modern games of this generation. The best way to describe it would be this; with the combat style of Arkham City, parkour and free-run of Assassin's Creed and leveling system similar to Prototype, the game is familiar to the touch of gamers, especially with controls that are simple and easy to remember. This being said, the controls can tend to do you over with the camera angle changing with each step and move, being very similar to the issues with Assassin's Creed. That being said, many of the in-game moments such as rewriting memories are something to look forward to and become more frequent as the game rolls on. This truly is an innovative type of gameplay, allowing the gamer to rewrite and replay a single moment how they choose it to happen.
The leveling system allows players to shape the way they like to play the game and I absolutely love that feature. With healing, extra damage, chain fighting and more as you fight onward against the enemies. Combat is fun and addictive but it can be quite so frustrating against the few enemies that the game presents. With the main three, two specials and the few varieties that the game presents, each are easy in their own accord or simply frustratingly overpowered, with much emphasis on "frustratingly" as there is now a permanent crack in my controller.
The only true issue was the sound effects and musical score. Running and movement was simple enough but when it came to the grander moments it seemed almost lacking. The Leaper monsters to the mechanical kind, sound effects seem to fade or distort almost as if an ending for one wasn't possible. The musical score wasn't much to shake a stick at either sadly; while staring at this beautiful and gorgeous recreation of Paris (with graphics similar to Deus Ex Human Revolution), the slow and stiff classical music was beautiful in itself but did not suit the mood, tone or severity of the game in a whole. The more meaningful and deeper moments are captured perfectly by the music but these moments are few and aren't seen until near or right at the end of the game. A clean classical music score doesn't truly suit a boss fight without heavy trombones, tuba or bass line.
With graphics to follow a story and immersive world to lose your head into, Remember Me will bring you a world where everyone's memories are just fingertips away. Despite all it's faults and failures, Remember Me is a game you will definitely remember for years to come.
Out of 10, I give Remember Me a 8/10
+ Fleshed out story and characters
+ Rewrite memories as you see fit = gameplay genius
+ Controls are simple and very similar to the touch
+ Customisation in fighting style is a massive plus
+ A believable and gorgeous looking world.
- Acting was lacking in place
- Sound effects weren't too great
- Musical score even less so
- Some enemies are harder than boss fights
- Forever a crack in my controller = Not happy Jan.
Remember Me is out now for the standard price of $70
Howdy folks, prepare for a rant.
If you'd like to follow along, here's the link I'll be talking about.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/06/microsoft-is-removing-xbox-one-drm/
For the people who have yet to hear, Microsoft have released a statement that, simply put, they are removing the DRM in their upcoming console, Xbox One. In their statement, they've also announced that game can be resold, traded and borrowed. 24 hour log in has been removed and the console now allows offline gameplay, even on downloaded titles. Mainstream games can also be downloaded on day of release and regional restrictions are removed. And with all of this the internet is celebrating like the Ewok party at the ending of Star Wars VI. And while I see this as a positive thing, there are certainly negatives when it comes to this.
Microsoft is pretty much saying "Okay Internet, you win." While I support this change, it's just disappointing that it took hundreds of anger filled Youtube, Tumblr, Twitter, Blog, Forums, Petitions and other forms of online media content to reach this easy and simple decision. While they made the right move, the company has definitely caved, making them look even more weak than they already appear now.
Personally, I didn't care about the 24 hours thing, I'm on my Xbox once a day anyway to check messages or to play. I didn't mind about the Kinect issues, there's an off switch on the side you can use when your Xbox is off. I didn't even care about the DRM, I only have one second hand game anyway out of the 105+ hard covers that I own. To be perfectly honest, to me the internet was complaining for the sake of complaining; even if they kept the DRM in, most people were going to buy an Xbox One anyway. It's... almost like the gamers who complain about COD's unoriginality yet still buy the newer game every year. As a user commented after reading the Kotaku post: "We're not getting the Xbox One, we're getting the Xbox 360 V2". Microsoft, the internet will never be happy. You now appear weaker and more susceptible to caving in to change. Even if you were the losing horse of this next-gen console race, you have to back your horse, no matter how much criticism or hatred comes your way. Even though you've changed the Xbox One for the better, the views of history will forever see the Xbox One as the horse the company simply shot in the back of the head for the sake of profit.
As my dear friend Mr. James Mills once said to me: "You can't question how something is made in the eyes of the developers. It's almost as if you buy a CD, not like some of the songs and then throw it back to the band, demanding them to remake those songs."
Internet, whether you're a fan of Xbox, Playstation, Wii, PC or whatever else is out there, simply put - we're all gamers. Playing games is what brought our community together and this console war is tearing us apart. The average age of a gamer worldwide is 28 and yet we're fighting like nine year olds over the favourite toy in the playground. It's time we got back to doing what we love the most: Play games for the good times with our friends, family and simply to escape reality into a great story.
Whether or not you play games for a campaign or multiplayer, to have fun doing silly things or wanting to have a meaningful playthrough, we're all gamers looking for a great time, it's time that we band together for our love for gaming then tear into each other.
Long live gamers!
G'day there folks!
***WARNING: Some minor plotlines are revealed. Read at your own caution!***
With the world being in crisis, heroes will step forward to save the damsel in distress and defeat the bad guy once more. With Army Of Two, the story has always followed the tale of Rios and Salem, one of the best T.W.O. teams the company has to offer. But in time, all men age and grow weary of the fight, with this it leads to the next and possibly last game in the series. The Devil's Cartel follows the story of T.W.O. recruits Alpha and Bravo who are under the guidance of Rios and Salem. After the tutorial, the game begins with the four men heading off on a hostage mission, and of course as cliché as it is, the plan eventually goes horribly wrong. With only one hostage still alive, Salem abandons the mission as near hundreds of enemies surround them. After fleeing in a car he dies in a fiery crash, the other men and hostage Fiona barely escaping themselves after a failed attempt to save Salem from his burning wreck. Five years later, T.W.O. agents are hired by Mayor Cordova, a Mexican politian who wants to rid his town of La Guadana (The Scythe) and their leader, to which you find out his reasons for this later. As the convoy rolls on and the sharp commentary continues, Alpha and Bravo (quite like Rios and Salem), continue the witty banter about how nothing can go wrong. As if just like out of a cliché Shoot-Em-Up Hollywood movie, the convoy is thoroughly attacked, leaving many T.W.O. agents dead and Alpha and Bravo stranded in the heart of Mexico.
It's no secret that the game has always supported Co-Op and The Devil's Cartel is no different. What is different is the gameplay even in single player mode. The predecessor, The 40th Day, was hounded by critics about it's buggy AI system during single player but DC has greatly improved from this with a more smooth system. Speaking of which, Gameplay is still as fun as ever, even more so with the more diverse and different enemies to fight. While Shield-Hogs (As I like to think of them) and Heavys make a reappearance, Melee fighters, snipers and other variants make an appearance and can truly spice up a more dull area in the game. What truly makes it more as fun is the customisation.
EA has truly gone all out on customisation; in the predecessor, players were able to customise masks through their website. DC allows in-game mask creation, changing a characters clothes and even tattoos. Weapon customisation also returns to a greater degree, with more options and colour pigments and even down to shading. Speaking of shading, the game's graphics were of top notch quality; the mission placement was truly clever and enjoyable to look at. From missions in dark and damp basements to night time skies with flames all around you, this add truly needed atmosphere to the game.
The storyline itself is a decent and amusing one, but doesn't carry much other than that. While there are a few jaw dropping moments in the game, there isn't much there to keep you glued to your seat the entire time as the storyline drops harshly often, especially so when you'd like to customise your gear (Which forced you back to the main menu) or do anything in that regard. Other than personal choices however, that can be avoided.
Sound effects and musical score are of decent quality but don't add much into the storyline. While the music swells around large fights, bosses and cutscenes, the game is generally quiet when travelling even down to the sound effects. If Alpha and Bravo are not creating some witty banter, this can be extremely dull and downright boring.
Joe Flanagan and David Sobolov bring in new light with Salem and Rios while Zack Ward (Alpha) who makes his first video game role here and Emerson Brooks (Bravo) joins along side him do create quite a good duo during the gameplay. It's hard to warm up to the pair until late into the game - as the characters seem cold and uncaring during most of the gameplay. Until they truly start opening up to each other about their fears and dreams, it's hard to form a bond with these two like Rios and Salem.
The Devil's Cartel is a game with fun gameplay, decent acting and a bearable storyline and even without the game's glitches (such as the Ending glitch with told me over and over that Bravo had died midway during the ending cutscene), it's still a decent game with customising your character to your heart's content, playing together with a friend and so much more. While the game is a decent addition to the Army Of Two world, there are just too many places it lacks to ignore them.
Out of 10, I give Army Of Two: The Devil's Cartel a 6/10
+ Fun Gameplay/Enchanting graphic-work
+ Storyline was decent
+ Customisation = LOVE
+ Waaaay better AI and NPC characters/movements
- Sound Effects too standard/lacking musical score
- Solo/Co-op gameplay tends to glitch
- Loading screens are frustratingly long
- Many points in the storyline are too cliché
- Not a lot of replay value...
- Ending, while meaningfuly, is rushed and forced
Army Of Two The Devil's Cartel is out now for the standard price of $60
G'day there guys and gals!
This is a little late due to my internet being down all last night and me being generally busy all day but...THANK YOU SO MUCH!
12'000 views? That's incredible! All my work over nearly three years has definitely been worth it and I have you to thank you for it!
So many people have helped me on my way, close friends (You know who you are) to people I've formed friendships with such as LittleVMills and RickkMurray. Not only have you and these people helped me develop my YT content but also my content here for you folks.
To show gratitude to you folks, I started my Competition a few days ago but it was over within two and a half hours! That's how dedicated you folks are towards me and I really do appreciate all the help you willingly give.
So just for you, I'm gonna work on my reviews as quickly as I possibly can and I have a bit of news for you folks!
1: Gaming Tales is a new Youtube content I'm going to be bringing onto here also, where I retell some of my memorable gaming moments in my life and also feature some of yours.
2: FIVE EASY ACHIEVEMENTS IS MOVING TO YT! I'm going to be bringing back a fan favourite, now in YT form! It'll be a little less scripted than usual but hopefully it can be a bit more informative.
Well, other than that, things have been normal here in the ol' Fatman stead. Enjoy this random doodle I drew of myself when I was bored during the internet downage.
Thank you all so very much, and as always, have fun and game on!
G'day guys and gals!
*Mild spoilers for The Gunslinger ahead! Read cautiously!*
While the first game in the series set the game in the history books, the second truly remade the Old
West genre entirely into the today and now. Cartel was a modern set and was a true backfire and failure to Ubisoft, leaving Old West and Ubi Fans alike jumping ship from the series. Call of Juarez finally made a return back to its roots with The Gunslinger, a completely stand alone storyline that follows Silas Greaves, a man with only a single goal left in his life and to do so, he reflects on his past and what he's done to reach this goal.
Gunslinger sends the CoJ series to the Arcade but in no way lessons the experience.
Gameplay is much of the same with the old classic weaponry returning, such as Revolvers, Six Barrels and so forth. Fighting, climbing, melee also makes a grand return to the series as well but what makes the gameplay even more so is the unique style of storytelling and graphics. While CoJ has always praised itself with realism, the modern telling of Silas' stories (in his old age at the bar) are still portraits, his listeners gathering around him to hear his tales. This theme also stays in the stories; the look of enemies and killing them stays in a comic book style theme, much like The Darkness. Killing enemies will suspend them in time for approximately three seconds then fall dead, whereas the scenery is still the classic style. Storyline is just great writing, sober, drunk, cheeky, insane - only a few words that can describe the game from start to finish. Silas (John Cygan) brings a gruff feel to the character and easily creates a bond with the player.
Sound effects are much of the same from the original game but the musical score really ties in that section. Each new town and mission brings a different tone - being surrounded, all alone, in a ghost town, having a spiritual journey and even down to the trailers, the musical score is truly something to enjoy. On a side note, collectables return in the form of Nuggets, featuring info about the old west and even some of your targets, while the McCall brothers from the main series gets a small mention through this process.
While this game doesn't feature a multiplayer option, it does feature an Arcade and Duels feature. Arcade is simply a Star system, fighting against multiple enemies as quickly and as efficiently as possible while reaching your goal within a time limit. While the Arcade can be fun, playing it in so many other games has sort of made it generic. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun feature but a little difference or change would have been welcome. For me, the Duels is most appealing; throughout the main storyline you will duel against your enemies. In Duels, you get the chance to do that again and also against other classic outlaws such as Jesse James, Billy The Kid and other massive names from the West.
Gunslinger brings the Juarez series much justice by returning to its roots and to give the fans what they've been craving for. While the online debate still continues if Red Dead Redemption still holds the #1 spot for best Wild West game, I'm casting my vote for Gunslinger. With a warm or dark ending that leaves you satisfied with how everything ends, Arcade and Duels to keep you still entertained afterwards and plenty of collectables to keep you busy, Gunslinger is definitely a game that you won't turn a nose up to.
I give Call of Juarez Gunslinger a 9/10
Gunslinger is the next game in the list of Fatman's Choice!
My thumbs up of approval!
+Excellent Storyline
+Gameplay is great
+Artwork and storytelling is well done
+Addictive musical score
+Duels and Arcade is great fun
-Opening credits issues
-Seems to be missing that special something
Gunslinger is out now for 1200 MSP
G'day folks!
*WARNING! During this review there are possible spoilers for both Metro 2033 and Last Light. Please read at your own caution!*
To the readers who don't know, I am a massive fan of the Metro series. I've read the original novel
and played the first title, Metro 2033, many times. When THQ first announced the game's development, I was instantly enthralled with the thought of returning to the shoes of Artyom and back into the world of the survivors in the Metro. But here, on this blog, I am a reviewer and no matter how much I love a series or a particular game, I must look at the newer titles fresh and with a neutral mind. And even so, I must admit that THQ, 4A and Koch have taken what made the original great and made something even greater.
Here's a quick summary for those unfamiliar with the series; Metro Last Light follows Artyom, a young man from the station Exhibition with one goal - save his station. After bombing the home of the Dark Ones, homo-sapiens who feed off radiation and can control humans with a wave of their hand, Artyom returns to the Metro as a hero but full of doubt and guilt for killing so many creatures. He becomes a Ranger, a neutral protector of the citizens of the Metro, and begins his life anew.
Metro 2033 and Last Light are based on the novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky and to which THQ originally began creation until Koch Media took over after the company's collapse.
Back to the game!The original Metro was well known for its alone/horror factor along with being one of the only games to feature little to no HUD. Metro Last Light builds on that and makes its better. Gameplay is the same yet much different. The HUD has even less features for players and yet so much more. Navigation through this is much easier this time around, more options for changing filters and charging your lights is changed but still very simple. One of the little features is mask wiping; while wearing your gas mask, with a simple swipe, you can interact to clean any blood splatter, muck, grime and water. Never before have I played a game that allows that much HUD interaction and while it's still such a small detail, it's one that I oddly find enjoyable. With new weaponry, to which all are customisable, more responsive grenades and throwing knives and newer enemies, gameplay has definitely become more addictive. Watchmen, Nosalis, Lurkers, Rhino, Spiders, Prawns and a whole lot more, many enemies live in the newer areas that you can now explore.
Speaking of exploring, the graphics and area is just perfect - the ruins of Moscow are now captured within the swell of black clouds, rain, massive gales and the sense that you're constantly being watched while underground in the Metro you feel safe in the cities, like life is being brought into the dark grey walls and murky green water from the melting snow. Sound effects and musical score is something that I just cannot describe in a single paragraph; a single step of a foot can set off a chain reaction of both people and echo becomes a huge counterpart of this - one misstep can send enemies searching off in your area. This along with the mood of each city within the Metro is set perfectly from the bustle of the people and the soft guitar or piano playing in the background whereas battling Nosalises on the surface can have booming instrumental score blaring as you fight to survive.
All this aside, when you come down to the core of what makes this game great, it's the vocal acting and storyline. Artyom is searching for the secret that holds the key to survival to the people of the Metro and while he still does not speak, the vocal acting truly improves this time around. While there is no confirmed voice cast (Other than the one on IMDB), the acting is quite improved from the same voices station to station in the original. Pleading prisoners, begging for release, the roar of a Bear as it charges at you with a group of Watchmen attacking you and her, Last Light takes you by the collar and drags you down into a story of redemption, regret, love and loss, where any small decision from listening to a conversation to sparing a mutant creature can mean the difference between life and death from beginning and end.
While some are complaining that the game isn't as dark as before, there is a gamma option to darken your experience. Most are complaining about the Ranger mode but that is only a choice, the game works perfectly well without it, while Achievement hunters will just have to suffer the 400 MSP to download it, while we wait for the upcoming DLC to be released. I went into this game with a level head and finished it out of breath, jaw-dropped and damn near crying. THQ may be gone but Last Light definitely deserves a place on your shelf and a place in your heart.
Out of ten, I give Metro Last Light a 10/10
PERFECT SCORE!
Last Light is also the newest edition of Fatman's Choice! I highly recommend anyone to give this game a go.
-Stunning graphics
-Fleshed out storyline
-Gameplay is extremely well done
-New areas to explore
-Fun and addictive gameplay
-Easy to play and challenging too
-Teeny bit buggy during ending mission
Metro Last Light is out now for the standard price of $78
G'day folks.
Take a look back twenty years ago, just after I was born; video games and gamers themselves were seen as nothing more than kids in an arcade, trying to beat the highscore master, usually with the initials "A.S.S.", or simply kids gathering there after school to waste away their pocket money in the course of a day playing on all the new games that had just been released. Back to reality here in 2013 and not much has changed; Arcades are near, if not already, dead and can only be found in theatres, children themed fast food places or an expensive plaza in some godforsaken area in the city. Video games evolved from the Arcade, to the living room and even now to the bedroom, where gamers will spend hours if not days mastering moves, conquering the first-time players (quickly adapted from newbies to noobs) and as Online came into play, beating the other teams with a bunch of friends screaming in joy in your ear. But that's not the point of this rant. Simply put, gamers or simply "nerds", have become so popular in the mainstream that simply just to act like one can be considered cool, especially with girls. Women online are "foretold" to be a rarity online, while the truth is much more understandable. In Australia alone, 47% of registered online users are women, the average age for a female gamer being the ages of 22 - 24. What you're seeing to the right is something I came across a few weeks ago; unfortunately I'm unsure who the original artist is but they do have a valid point. "Gamer Gurl" is the slogan to a young woman who claims to be a gamer but in truth, only does
so for attention. Claiming to be one is simply the buzzword of the year as being a nerd or dork becomes the norm and standard of society; if you will, take The Big Bang Theory as the example. While I do know a few women who exceedingly play on a console or PC, it seems that as the term of "Gamer Gurl" becomes more well know, the sexism and stereotypes become more insulting. Women have been labeling this term and women who abuse it as "hurtful, offensive and misleading" and to this I agree, however some young men online do take it too far. The stereotypes of women tend to lead to the dismantle of many online gamers while the men winge about their bachelorhood.
Men, on the other hand, haven't changed much in the last twenty or so years. Many male gamers still disband as the Console wars rage ever onward (but I'll get to that in another rant), and the youth that are joining the gaming world online is becoming younger and younger each year. While the standard overall is at the age of 32, young lads will be heard (Quite clearly in fact) online, generally in first person shooters, gun games or anything adhering to violence. In this gamer's view, the youngest person I had confirmed to be online was six years old. At that age myself, I was only just starting to get into gaming with the Nintendo 64, but with kids games such as Diddy Kong Racing or Super Smash Bros. Young men are exposed to things they shouldn't know for years and years into the future
and because of the Live online community, children learn words they don't even generally understand. While young lads or teens control most of the online scenarios, the older generations are either sticking together to avoid the squeaks of puberty, the unintelligible insults such as "You're a queef!" (To which I was called several times last week; when I questioned the young man if he knew what that meant, he tried to claim that it was the sound of male urination) or simply unable to stand the idiocy of the online community (Such as Trolls, AFC players, the annoying ect).
What is my point to all this?
Gamers over the years has made a lot of process both in the community and in the media but because of this, the true gamers are left in the shadows while the stereotypes are becoming the norm. Women gamers are becoming a sexist symbol to reject and become disgusted with, leading to the eventuality of women gamers being looked down upon from enjoying a game now and then to spending hours trying to unlock Achievements for hours. It's sad how men's situation in this genre of entertainment hasn't changed much at all; whether you play them, develop them or like me and review them, nothing much has changed in our time. Eventually, and hopefully, things will change for the both of us and soon enough, gamers and nerds alike will be looked down for being themselves once the buzz goes down. And hopefully I'll still be doing what I love.
