Call Of Duty: Advanced Nowhere, Review

Call of Duty: Advanced warfare, the latest installment

in a gaming franchise that represents everything wrong with games today.

The issue with Call of Duty is its economy of scale. The franchise has grown exponentially to be one of the most popular games franchise in history. The franchise has however just become a bloated cash cow with the likes of Activision in a frenzied state of cash grabbing, manipulation and pure market penetration and saturation.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is like a pyramid scheme, only there to make as much money for those at the top while offering as little as possible to those at the bottom (the customer). Call of Duty has been the same copy and paste job for the last 6 years offering a limited campaign, broken peer to peer multiplayer with no signs of actual dedicated servers appearing anytime soon.

For a franchise that has been going for a while, one would think there would be enough experience among developers and publishers to give us an evolved game that improves on the last with some original game play mechanics, not just last minute jet packs, to appeal to 8 year old children.

The game was absolutely imbalanced from day one with an overwhelming majority of players

using the Bal-27 and the ASM1, that’s two guns out of approximately 20. What this shows is the disregard for common sense and lack of respect they have for consumers. These mistakes only end up with the community voicing its anger,
resulting in various “Nerfs and Buffs” to make the game a little more playable, if you chose not to be a Bal-27 sheeple. The best part of the entire game are the rendered cut scenes in the campaign where great visuals and voice acting offer a glimpse of the technology should give us.

The fact that Call of Duty still hasn't provided dedicated servers is unbelievable as Battlefield can do it, a direct competitor. Too often the host ‘rage quits’ and the game ends prematurely, or you experience players lagging yet somehow always managing to come out on top! The multiplayer is just a shooting gallery of mindless Rambo style players in it for themselves with little appreciation for team work.

It’s time the Corporation of Duty: Money Warfare remind themselves of their duty to have a little respect for their consumer base and give a little more than just explosions, jet packs and lasers! Those who played Call of Duty 10 years ago are not still 12 year old kids!! 

Alien Isolation, Review

Alien Isolation

Alien Isolation, for me, was my favourite game of 2014. Alien isolation is bursting with atmosphere with environments faithfully recreated in a retro fashion in keeping with the original movie by Ridley Scott. The soundtrack to the game is absolutely brilliant, dynamically changing when you encounter the Alien itself and calms in moments of respite. Rarely has a games musical fruition played such an integral role in raising my heartbeat or lulling me into a false sense of security just to be pounced on and killed by a Xenomorph.

There was an overriding sense of genuine care taken by the developers The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. After the disgrace that was Alien: Colonial Marines, it seemed as though fans of the franchise would never get the game they deserved. That was however, until, Alien Isolation arrived! The game itself has some of the best graphics of any available on console and PC with some of the most visually stunning and immersive environments offering a claustrophobic 25 hours of gameplay that had me glued to the TV, in the dark with my Headset on full. When you find yourself walking slowly through the medical station with bodies lying torn up all around you, with beep of your motion tracker ticking and suddenly the Alien crashes from a vent in the roof and you’re suddenly forced to hide. These moments gave me more than my fair share of scares, which is unusual.

What makes the Alien such a menacing obstacle is the non-scripted AI, meaning the Aliens movement can’t be predicted and you can try and second guess it at your own peril. There were many times I thought the Alien had gone round a corner and through a door just to do a 180 turn and come charging at me, resulting in the inevitable death scene.

The game has no automatic saves, relying on the player to reach static save points (modules on walls). This save mechanic, I feel, really added to the experience as it forced me to take my time and plan strategically, what route I planned to get to the next save point. The game does punish players for not following the rules. Running is an option but attracts so much noise the Alien will appear and will be more aggressive and actively hunt the source of noise (the player), making progression slow and painful at times. The trusty motion tracker gives an idea of distance and direction of danger but even your one saving grace has a drawback, the beeps attract the Alien and it will again hunt and kill you if not used with caution. 

The game itself was met with generally good reviews except a few stating the games length as an issue as well as the difficulty. I find it ridiculous a review would site a game being a few hours too long as an issue, that's more value for our money as far as i'm concerned. As for the static save points, that manage pace in a game where pace and planning is everything, I see no issue there either. The game is meant to played in a way that is faithful to the original movie, not some Rambo/Call of Duty fest where running and gunning like headless chickens wins the day!!

Fatalities, Brutalities....FINISH HIM, Mortal kombat X review

Mortal Kombat X

The words fatality and "get over here" are synonymous with everyone's favourite violent beat 'em up and violent is an apt description for the franchises latest iteration, Mortal Kombat X.

The improvements span the entire game, and for the most part, the game feels fresh, new and a genuine attempt at bringing Mortal Kombat to the next Gen. The graphics are great for a beat 'em up, the game play is smooth and flows well. The campaign is good fun, but not nearly as lengthy as MK9’s brilliant story mode. NetherRealm studios do a good job with introducing the story, with quick time events and contextual fights thrown in for added fun. The story however didn't hold up in my opinion as I found all the old characters that I really care about, Baraka, Night wolf, Rain, The cyborgs (to name a couple) were rarely seen, if at all, throughout, only for one of them to be killed off half way through by my new favourite D’Vorah.

Too much of the game was spent focused on the four new generation of fighters, Cassie Cage, Jaqueline Briggs, Kung Jin and Takashi Takeda. While the characters are interesting enough, I felt as though the other characters that make the franchise memorable for millions were not given enough time to be fully fleshed out. More time playing as Sub-Zero or Kotal Kahn would have been great, especially as the new Bad guy Kotal Kahn seems a bit of a wimp getting slapped about in all his engagements, it just felt loosely put together on occasion and would probably have benefited from an extra 2 hours to fully make the campaign a worthwhile experience.

The multiplayer is expansive with every game mode you’d expect from a fighter, plus more. Online and offline modes offer plenty to stuck into, including the new faction war, where players pick one of five factions to fight for. Points earned through wining matches, meeting specific targets and faction specific challenges all contribute to leveling up your profile as well as your faction. There is however little incentive to compete fully after it become apparent you've picked the losing faction while Lin Kuei have an overriding majority of players while Special forces around 6%. There is nothing stopping players from switching to the winning faction to get a reward then simply switch to whatever one is winning next. 

The faction war concept initially  got me excited but after waiting over 45 minutes to play a single faction match it quickly seem a good idea on paper, not fully realised, and that is a shame.

Bloodborne, Review PS4

Bloodborne

I recently purchased Bloodborne and though I would talk a little as to how I found the game to be, what I liked and what I disliked. Bloodborne is an action role playing game by fromsoftware. The devlopers who brought us the souls games. Anyone who played the Souls games would already know what to expect, but that's where Bloodborne's greatest triumph is achieved.

After the relative disappointment that was Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne offers a completely fresh take on the epic fantasy worlds we have come to love from Demon souls and Dark souls. The premise of the game is familiar to those who have played the souls game but what surprised me the most is how different it was while still feeling familiar. Unlike Call of Duty, where the games are released on a yearly cycle by three different developer's, the games still feel fundamentally the same just a little prettier. Bloodborne has been able to keep most of what fans of the souls games enjoyed but by offering a completely knew format from which to enjoy.

As opposed to 'Souls' the player has 'Blood echoes', which serve the same purpose, you find them hidden around the world, collect from enemies and can even sell items and then are used to level up or reinforce weapons. The biggest gameplay change comes from the user not having shields, the 'Souls' games allowed you to block incoming attacks with a shield, mitigating some damage at the expense of stamina. Bloodborne arms the player with a firearm which is used to interrupt attacks leading to a stagger and visceral attack for added damage.

I have heard that die hard fans of the souls series were irritated by this and some felt the gameplay was to focused on fast paced Far Cry 4 on release, being a fan since the first one on PC but have only got half way though as there just wasn't enough different to keep me interested.
action combat and dodging. Personally I found the change to be great fun and always kept in mind this was not another souls game but something knew. I can appreciate developer's taking the best mechanics, story telling, fantasy and style from one series and incorporating these into a knew franchise. It is something I wish was achieved more by other developers. I bought

The only thing I didn't enjoy about Bloodborne is it broke my PS4 controller constantly using charged attacks, that's £54.99 wasted. Luckily I have a back up.

Exclusivity Wars, Xbox One VS PS4

Who wins,who loses?

Exclusive,  is a phrase being used more and more often within the gaming industry. The industry, as they would have us believe, is that making games exclusive to one console format is offering us (the consumer) more choice or an 'exclusive' right to play certain games. I'd argue the exact opposite! Exclusive; adjective, excluding or not admitting other things / restricted to a person, group, or area concerned. Exclusivity by definition means that by offering one person exclusivity, another will miss out, so how is this good news for the average gamer? 

As a gamer, the options are Xbox One, PS4, Wii U or PC and with console exclusives (unless you have spent £2500 on all four), you're going to miss out. I understand the premise of offering exclusives but in a market that should be driven by choice, leading to healthy competition, excluding as much as half the consumer base by way of a single format exclusive, I feel to be nonsense.

The reasoning (I believe), behind exclusives is that consumers will choose to buy one console over the other based on the upcoming exclusives that's on offer, and according to Sony and Microsoft and various publishers, exclusives are a warranted and valid reason to sway your purchasing decision! I would argue that if the last two years in the industry has taught us, is that exclusives generally haven't lived up to the hype. Sony's The Order 1886 was too short and irritated just about everyone with its limited campaign and vague story line, while Microsoft's Masterchief collection had completely broken multiplayer and that's what everyone who bought the game was interested in, the nostalgia of playing blood gulch in HD graphics with servers better than what the original Xbox could offer.

I myself have both consoles and have for the most part been pretty disappointed with games and the industry as a whole. I've been gaming since the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and fondly remember the days of connecting two or three Xbox's together at a friends house in a way that brought people together, was a personilsed experience with nothing like it now a days. 10 year old's are on Call Of Duty, Asymmetric multiplayer games such as Evolve where a mic is absolutely necessary and no one uses one or FIFA's pro clubs drop in matches where everyone is out for themselves and try to score from 80 yards out!

As a faithful gamer all I want is my £50 pounds to be enough, I want the game to live up to the hype as promised, I don't want to be lied to or manipulated and left with a feeling of dissatisfaction after finishing a game or realisng it's so blatantly obvious content has been withheld and I've just dropped£50 on half a game!

 As supposed gamer's themselves, the developers of the games we play, do they not remember the days when you would unlock weapons, characters and skin models by just playing the damn game! I would like to know where their sense of pride is when they believe people should pay for, what use to be standard practice, and add value to the experience, but now demand £3.50, £4.99, £9.99, £19.99. £34.99 up to as high as £79.99  just to get the full experience?!

What is happening is worrying and again as long as people buy into their schemes these bad practices will themselves 'Evolve'.

The Order 1886, PS4 Review

The Order 1886

I recently purchased Sony entertainments ‘supposed’ benchmark PS4 exclusive, The Order 1886. The Order 1886 was one of my most anticipated games of 2015, but how glad I am that I decided not to pre-order the game or buy it digitally at £54.99! I say this because the game, although good, took me 6 hours to finish and in one play through. I bought the game pre-owned from my local store for £34.99 which is a £20 price drop of a game that is barely a month old.

The game itself was ok, the best graphics seen to date on a console game and the voice acting was on par with The last of us. Remastered (undoubtedly one of the best PlayStation exclusives ever) and the story was enjoyable if not a little vague. The real issue with The Order 1886 is that it was inexcusably short, for a game that was in development for over 5 years, there just wasn't enough to do, with absolutely no replay ability or multiplayer.

There are around 15 chapters in the game but some last only a few minutes and are all cut scenes, only emphasising the developers attempts to fluff out the length of the game by an illusion of more chapters. These illusionary tactics of subterfuge and not so clandestine padding, only left me feeling cheated out of a chapter that I should have had some part in, rather than watching a cut scene. This feeling could have been avoided if the Sony ‘devs’ had cut the game down to 10-12 chapters with the cut scenes an extension or a prologue to a playable chapter.

What the current gen games industry is repeatedly showing us is they are on a cash grab mission, doing less and demanding more. The games culture has been growing for 30 years and it saddens me to see what gaming has become. When consumers buy products in a market where there is plenty of choice, value for money springs to mind.

There are games like The witcher 3, Dragon Age Inquisition and even FIFA 15 offer 100’s of hours of gameplay with multiplayer. So why is it that The ‘devs’ of The Order 1886 thought a game that limits almost everything you do to a linear story, no multiplayer, zero replay ability and a campaign that can be completed in 6-7 hours, charge £54.99 and expect people not to be irritated. There is absolutely no value for money when comparing it to other games.

I have a video from YouTube showing all the cut scenes from the game its 2.30 hours long (feel free to fast forward) . Even less actual game play offering for an extremely pricey movie!

Digital Game Downloads, Good News or Bad News?

Digital game downloads, good for us or good for them?

Since the current generation of consoles, the PS4 and Xbox One and their respective updated live digital marketplaces,  Digital downloads of games has become more prevalent. Essentially, what is happening is the powers at be (Sony and Microsoft) are attempting to increase their stranglehold on the buying and selling of pre-owned games at local gaming stores. They would argue it damages the games industry and its counterparts (publishers and developers) when in fact it seems completely beneficial to the everyday gamer and ill explain why.

For anyone who has a current generation console will be aware of the standard retail price of games these days, £49.99 and that's without season passes and various DLC packages! Games are a form of Art and like other media formats such as movies and music production costs demand a price. The issues lies with comparing production costs to other forms of media and what you pay to experience a movie or buy an album. The average cost of a 'AAA' title can be between £10 million to £50 million and we pay upwards of £50-£100 over a games life cycle. Compare this to a block buster movie with production costs of £300m and you pay £10 to see it at the cinema or can buy it for £15 on Blu-Ray.  A movie with between 10x to 30x the production costs is costing upwards of 5x less to access. It seems to me that the industry should be doing fine??

Some may argue that Games sell in less quantity but at the same time game studios tend to be smaller and have less employees. The industry has landed on this £50 benchmark for current Gen games, £10 more than last Gen games (which many are still in production). Digital downloads can even be pre-ordered and actually cost £54.99, that's £5 more than a physical copy. That makes no sense! The issue with digital copies is that they cant be returned if the game is short, bad or bugged, where as physical copies can be sold back to shops for cash or credit and used to trade for other games after you have completed it. 

People need to remember that these companies are a business and any new trend they try and invest in, like digital downloads, is in their best interest and not the average gamer. Games are the same as any other purchase, especially if you're expected to pay £100, an investment that can bring a return if you need to trade it or sell it for whatever reason. The industry will continue to find ways to get as much out of people as possible, as long as consumers are foolish enough to buy into it.