Chandler Wood's Reviews
StarBlood Arena is VR’s Overwatch. Oozing with personality, it explodes with a style and grace that one might not expect to come from the scrappiest corners of the galaxy. The tight, frenetic combat takes some standard shooter ideas and literally turns them on their head, putting you in the pilot’s seat in a way only possible with virtual reality. If you haven’t taken the plunge, StarBlood Arena is a damn good reason to get PSVR. If you already own one, I’ll see you in the arena.
LEGO CITY Undercover is and was a step in the right direction for LEGO games, seeming to offer a little bit more freedom and gameplay than the typical destroy-and-collect fare that LEGO has offered in the past. This step has come a bit too late though, as games around it have advanced to a point where even the distinctive open world styling feels outdated. Undercover is a fantastic LEGO game with all the right humor and obsession inducing collectibles, but hints that maybe it’s time to take a long hard look at what can be done to fundamentally change the LEGO franchise to build the new evolution they need brick by LEGO brick.
PaRappa the Rapper Remastered is a great throwback aurally and visually, but the frustratingly tight timing required and delay of PaRappa’s audio samples make it a chore to play. It’s a shame that the menu wasn’t reworked to highlight the additional arrangements or to take advantage of how control schemes were updated over time, and I’d rather just listen to the songs than hear PaRappa freestyle his own messy groove over the tracks for the sake of a high score. Still, as frustrating as it can be visiting an old friend that never grew up, there’s something endearing about playing PaRappa the Rapper almost exactly as it played 20 years ago, with a fresh, vibrant coat of paint on its audio and visuals.
I previously told all Vita owners that they owed it to themselves to play the Danganronpa games. With the move to PS4, I urge the same of all console owners. It’s really exciting that non-Vita players are finally getting a chance to play this series with Danganronpa 1&2 Reload. Even having played them through multiple times before, I found that I couldn’t put the controller down as I experienced them again on PS4, and not just because of my review. Though they start off a little slow, the pace at which they begin to move is exceptionally thrilling, and you’ll find yourself drawn in until the very end, especially if it’s your first time through. My hope is that you’ll give in to the despair that is Danganronpa.
With a lot more polish and focus on making VR a primary component of the game, DYING: Reborn VR could have been a great room escape experience for the platform. Instead it feels like its a hasty cash grab intended to capitalize on VR hype by being sold as a separate, pared down experience and not adapting the full extent of DYING: Reborn. This is the epitome of cut content being (poorly) repackaged and sold as a separate product, a truly bad move that disrespects the very audience it is trying to impress.
There are a few boxes that you ought to check if you are thinking about Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin. As a fan, it would be all too easy for me too lose myself and say that this is amazing and a must have, but for anyone that hasn’t played it, they might only find an amusing, yet scant VR experience. As great as it is to revisit Raz and the charming Double Fine writing before the sequel debuts in 2018, Rhombus of Ruin is replete with the very things that have plagued early VR titles: short length, lack of replayability, and being so accessible that it requires little skill or thought to complete. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is a game made specifically to appease the fans as Double Fine dips their toes in VR development and prepares the world for the second coming of Razputin Aquato, but this level of immersion is like psychically diving into the mind of Tim Schafer himself, and that alone is worth the trip.
Sabotage is a great map pack that improves on much of what Infinite Warfare’s base game offered. The maps are getting better at not promoting excessive flanking or being shot from behind, but Dominion is a huge step backward. Everything in each of the maps looks visually stunning though, and Rave in the Redwoods is a worthy follow up to Zombies in Spaceland, upping the ante on Zombies, and really making me curious what kinds of ideas they’ll explore going forward.
Dexed employs plenty of great ideas that could have been expanded on since its game jam concept. It can be completed fully in under a half an hour, with score chasing and trophy requirements being the only things to bring players back for more, many of which provide quite difficult challenges such as clearing all enemies on the highest difficulty and reaching certain score thresholds. The launch price does match the content, coming in at under $10, but I desperately wanted more, even if it drove the price up. Dexed is worth getting some time with for the unique ideas it provides, but don’t expect to spend a ton of time in Ninja Theory’s VR world.
Altogether it’s a sharp crossroads between horror films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, and the classic slow paced survival horror of Resident Evil. The grotesque cunning of the murderous backwoods family is decidedly scarier than mindless creatures, and there are many moments that reminded me of those in the Spencer mansion, like things crashing through windows and creative massive scale boss fights. By the end, Resident Evil 7’s place within the Resident Evil franchise is definitively confirmed, and it marks not just a clear uptick, but a new beginning for a flagging series that was in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Add in that it’s one of the best VR experiences to date, and the PS4 version of Resident Evil 7 biohazard is not just a great Resident Evil game, or a great horror game, it’s a great game in general.
Lethal VR fails to dial up the phasers from stun to kill, a decidedly less lethal experience on PlayStation VR than its original Vive counterpart. It has a really fun arcadey core that could make for some great quick VR shooting gallery moments, but is hamstrung on PSVR by a tightened field of action and piss-poor accuracy using the Move controllers. Lack of any real stats outside of local high scores limits replayability and I was happy to delete it off of my PS4 after only an hour and a 100% trophy list, feeling no real desire to revisit the range. I’m a huge supporter of VR, but Lethal VR on PlayStation VR feels like the kind of rushed and gimmicky experience that could end up doing more harm to the medium than good.
This review will contain spoilers for all previous episodes and the current episode of Batman The Telltale Series. Here are our previous reviews for episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, and episode 4.City of Light isn’t a disappointing ending by itself, but it’s a ham-fisted conclusion to an unfulfilling take on an overplayed hero. Batman in the traditional sense just isn’t interesting anymore. He’s expected. And the unexpected is also expected, to the point that we’re looking for those things that will be different. We’re looking for the younger Cobblepots, the surprise villains, and the Wayne family twists. We’re expecting everything that any new Batman can throw at us, whether it’s the same or a twist. If there is a season two, there need to be some serious refinements to the structure and approach to make it work, and if Telltale doesn’t do something about their failing engine, it won’t matter what type of Batman story they try to tell next. Engine trouble may just end up leaving them stranded.
I Expect You To Die isn’t just stirring up the field of virtual reality. Like a Bond martini, it’s thoroughly shaken.
At the end of the day, The Little Acre is a fun, albeit bite-sized, adventure with some beautiful animation work that seeks to re-explore how point-and-click adventures are handled on consoles, but its short length doesn’t leave any room to explore some of the more interesting plot points. As an initial foray for Pewter Games, it makes me excited to see what they’ll follow it up with. I don’t fault The Little Acre as a bad game, but rather as something that comes up short and fails to explore its full potential.
Werewolves Within is an incredible social experience and the first online game to really make it feel like you are sitting around the campfire with seven other people. The character animations are emotive and quite literally come to life through the voices and head movements of each player.
This review will contain spoilers for all previous episodes and the current episode of Batman The Telltale Series. Here are our previous reviews for episode 1, episode 2, and episode 3.For everything that Guardian of Gotham does right, it makes all the wrong moves to get there. The story reaches a precipice of intensity after a very slow burn over the last three episodes, and the dire situations at hand seem impossible to resolve within a single finale, with far too many threads left open after the conclusion of this penultimate episode. I really wish that the story had built to this level of intensity much earlier instead of waiting this long, but it’s great to finally see this Batman tale coming to fruition with real stakes for the dark knight, even if it has to come through forced storytelling and a poor use of the engine.
Forgotten.
Robinson provides an incredible adventure that meshes the future with the past and allows players to walk among prehistoric greats in an immersive experience unlike any other on the platform. Sony’s got a real feather in their cap with this PlayStation VR exclusive, just remember to take breaks for the sake of your head and stomach.
Outside of the innovative campaign, Infinite Warfare plays it safe by cloning and tweaking what’s worked in the past with multiplayer and Zombies, which makes neither really seem like products of Infinity Ward. Gameplay imbalance in multiplayer, with arguably more powerful weapon variants available in loot boxes, is a real concern, as is current map design and spawn logic promoting far too many instances of being shot in the back. Depending on where you place your weight, there’s a dichotomy of value from this package. The campaign and Zombies are definitely worth playing, but the multiplayer is as likely to leave people feeling frustrated as it is to see a fair and fun match, especially with so many other shooter options that have upped the ante out there.
New World Order continues the slow burn of events that Batman: The Telltale Series has presented so far, only ramping up the intensity in the final half of the episode.
Carnival Games VR shouldn’t be counted out because of its simplicity. In fact, it’s that very nature that makes it one of the must have experiences on PlayStation VR. The 12 games each provide distinct experiences that are addicting in their own ways, some more than others. Instant gratification keeps me hitting retry for just one more throw, one more minute, one more ride, and before I know it I’ve lost time to the coalescing of those primal parts of myself and the presence of virtual reality.