Paulmichael Contreras's Reviews
This is the game rally fans have been waiting for. DiRT Rally boasts a simple title that reflects its deceptively simple goal: to be the best rally game, or even the best racing game, released to date. While they may fall a little short of being the best racing game ever made due to its purposely limited scope, DiRT Rally is by far the best rally game we've ever seen. DiRT Rally sports world-class visuals, visceral, challenging racing, and true-to-life audio design. This is really a complete package for rally fans the world over.
It almost goes without saying, but MLB The Show 16 knocks it out of the park yet again.
Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault is a safe tower defense game. Its rotating zones of units is a novel approach to changing up the gameplay a little bit, but at the end of the day this is yet another tower defense game in a genre full of them. But it does have anime-inspired cutscenes and characters, so it will appeal to a certain niche of gamers. Outside of some blocky textures, there’s nothing terribly wrong with Aegis of Earth — but there’s also nothing groundbreaking here, either.
République has a story to tell, one that will make most players empathize with Hope while laughing at Cooper's dry sense of humor (especially when told through your phone's TTS engine). A lot of thought and care went into this game, more so than expected at first glance. While République can be a little rough around the edges at times, its flaws are never so pronounced that it ruins the experience. If you can power through the occasionally awkward controls and camera cuts, this is a cheap, thought-provoking, and perhaps more than a little terrifyingly realistic view of a possible future for our society. Pick this up if you want a neat take on the stealth genre, and especially if you bought it on mobile and want to experience controlling Hope directly.
It’s been several years since the Western countries last saw a Samurai Warriors Empires release. It appears that the core of this entry is solid, with a few new strategic elements thrown in. Samurai Warriors 4 Empires is definitely an entry for hardcore Empires fans — with the same repetitive combat, and even reused graphics and audio assets, this release will not do much to convert anyone who isn’t already heavily invested in the series.
Io Interactive has taken a different approach to Hitman's release schedule, and if each mission is as fleshed out as what we've seen in Paris, then there is much for fans to be happy about. There's so many ways to take on this single mission, part of the fun will be seeing other players' creative ways that they assassinate the targets. If you've ever wanted to play the part of a super agent in a large sandbox, this is as good as it gets. With a fairly robust content creation engine, and future missions promised throughout the coming year, it looks like Hitman will be the weapon of choice of stealth gamers for the foreseeable future.
If you're a huge fan of Nippon Ichi's games, then this is the game for you. However, the same reasons that fans enjoy their games are the same reasons to avoid them if you've not liked their work up to this point. The story is absurd, bordering on nonsensical at times. The graphics are disappointing at best, laggy at worst. Combat has a unique multi-weapon approach, but still mostly boils down to mashing the Square button until you can occasionally use a special ability. But by now, you likely know what to expect from this developer. Nippon continues to show that they really understand their demographic. They even have a decent combat system. This is, however, still the same game that released two years ago, with the same flaws and blemishes as before. If you really wanted the game on the PS3 but missed it, then go ahead and grab this. However, if you already own the PS3 version, then there is little reason to pick it up.
Street Fighter V feels like a gigantic tease for the hardcore fans of the franchise. If Capcom can stay true to their word, however, then it sounds like this is just the tip of the iceberg. It'll feel strange playing a fighting game for hours on end in order to unlock a character, which is a sad statement of the current state of the video game industry. Short campaigns and a lack of meaty content aside, the important part of this fighting game, namely, the combat, is solid. Yet the net code, at least at launch, is not stable. With the lack of fighting game basics such as a proper Arcade Mode, Street Fighter V feels like an appetizer, rather than the main course that it should be as a numbered entry in a venerable franchise. Capcom's DLC plans also leave some questions up in the air: will the pricing be fair with the game's "free" currency, or is it going to be more like a freemium game? Can they really deliver the planned content on-time? As of the time of this review, Street Fighter V is a showcase of potential, but little else.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia is the best entry in this mini-series. The story is the most intriguing, and there are finally some new mechanics that add to the gameplay. The core of the game, however, is still unfortunately flawed. Enemies are hilariously stupid, chase/escape sequences require timing that is too precise for such a clunky control scheme, and checkpoints can be frustratingly sparse. While the stylized look and feel is a standout for this entry, ACCR doesn't do quite enough to its core to improve by much. If you've enjoyed your time with the Chronicles series, then let Russia serve as a nightcap: good as a finish to the evening, but too much of anything is liable to upset you.
Amazing Discoveries In Outer Space is a charming game, with a some flaws. What we have here is a deceptively challenging game wrapped in a slightly sarcastic package, with a few rough edges. Gameplay can be slow going at the start, and casual gamers will likely lose interest relatively early on. But then, casual gamers probably have little or no interest in such a quirky game as ADIOS. If you've been pining for a procedurally generated space survival game while you wait for No Man's Sky, then by all means plunk down the cash for ADIOS. At reasonable asking price of just $11.99 ($8.39), your expectations should be met for this indie game. Now, try not to die too many times on your way home, lest you annoy your ship's AI too much.
AIPD is a competent twin-stick shooter that lacks true depth. Local cooperative play is always appreciated, however, and the inclusion of such a rare feature is something that newly-minted developer Blazing Badger absolutely deserves commendation for. But with only one level layout, gameplay can become repetitive fairly quickly. You'll have seen everything the game has to offer in one session, easily. Mixing up guns with ship abilities helps to add some variety, but at the end of the day only twin-stick shooter fanatics will find AIPD truly worth their time and money.
Anyone looking for a good family game to play with their kids should pick up LEGO Marvel's Avengers without delay. It's certainly cheaper than that other LEGO game that came out not too long ago, and with a playtime of 6-10 hours for just the story mode, and perhaps dozens more to obtain 100% completion, it's likely any kids you have will play this for months on end. The story is straight from the movies, and is enjoyable for kids of any age – indeed, fans of the Marvel universe will likely have fun here too. Some technical hiccups and the occasional unclear objective can hamper your progress, but these can all be overcome in a game that exudes a fun-loving attitude throughout.
If you're a big fan of Assassin's Creed, or enjoyed ACC: China, then you can pick this up without hesitation. It's more of the same gameplay-wise, but completely different story and setting-wise. Platforming fans may also want to pick this up, because there are not too many new platformers coming out on a regular basis. However, casual fans need not apply, since the game has somewhat clunky controls, hilariously stupid enemy AI that presents little challenge, and those terrible tailing missions that players of regular Assassin's Creed games hate so much.
If the thought of losing at a game over and over until you finally understand all of its nuances does not sound like a good time, then you can safely pass on Tharsis. If, however, you love tabletop games, or enjoy the challenge of micro-managing several scarce resources at a time in an almost vain effort against nearly insurmountable odds, then by all means buy Tharsis. There's a great challenge to be had, and some replayability in the form of chasing an ever-higher score by not resorting to cannibalism so easily, taking less damage, and keeping ship morale high, as well as new characters to unlock. This is not a game for everyone, but for those who know what they're getting themselves into, Tharsis is well worth the effort.
Among the Sleep would be a good buy at $9.99 or under. As it stands now, $14.99 is a bit too steep a price to ask for a game that is very short, and not particularly emotionally investing. A game that deals with alcoholic parents is supposed to get you to care about all the people affected by one person's addiction, but Among the Sleep ignores that, instead opting to be yet another game where you're defenseless against the enemy and must run and high whenever you're found. Between the average presentation, short play time, and predictable story, Among the Sleep is a game best purchased on sale, and is, perhaps ironically, only recommended for horror game junkies.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege serves as a breath of fresh air against an overwhelming fog of twitch shooters.
It's such a shame that this is the only expansion that is going to hit Bloodborne. With a great attention to detail, and meaningful changes to single player, we can only wonder what other sort of innovative ideas From Software had in store for us before their plans changed. Still, The Old Hunters enables Bloodborne to go out with a bang, and a challenging one at that.
If you ever dreamed of recreating some classic battles or sequences from the Star Wars movies, and are okay with the lack of any sort of campaign, then there is a fair amount of content to keep you occupied. Especially if you are a completionist, expect to sink at least 100 hours to unlock everything in that diorama. You can tell DICE has a bunch of Star Wars fans on staff, and Star Wars Battlefront feels like a loving "welcome back" from a developer who has missed the franchise as much as us gamers have.
I enjoyed my time with Need for Speed. Ghost Games is onto something seriously promising with this franchise reboot. However, being unable to pause the game as well as no option to play offline may prove two obstacles that are not surmountable for some players.
[W]ith solid combat, a very fun grappling hook gun, a wonderful recreation of Victorian-era London, and a pure focus on the single-player campaign, Assassin's Creed has returned to its roots, and hopefully this has set the stage for something epic as the series used to be known for.