Basement Crawl is not only a broken, unfinished game -- it's also a poor one. It's sad that given the situation with Hudson Soft and Konami, the chances of a PS4 port of a Bomberman game are slim to none. It sounds weird to be asking for yet another Bomberman game in 2014, but given the circumstances, anything would be better than this.
With a few more tweaks, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare would be a must-buy for pretty much any shooter fan out there. But even with its blemishes, I was incredibly surprised by the amount of depth the game has to offer on top of all of its charm. Hopefully EA will ease off the microtransactions in the future and even more content will pile in, because with the right moves and support, Garden Warfare will be something special for quite some time.
The problem with Chaos Rising is that while it offers up something unique compared to the other two DLCs, it suffers from a weak, unengaging lead character and uninteresting sidequests. What Capcom should have done with these add-ons is meld all these ideas together for a massive single campaign for $10. As it stands after three middling parts, I can firmly say that spending the full $30 for the Season Pass is a waste.
I don't mind on-rails shooters even in the modern era, but there are certain concessions that should be made to ensure that they're not shallow. The fact that Rambo: The Video Game is being sold for almost full retail price is insulting, not to mention the fact that it feels mostly unfinished and uninspired. If you need a Rambo fix, you're better off just watching the original trilogy and acting like this never happened.
Thief is a great escape for those of you who yearn for more stealth experiences, but it doesn't really offer up anything exciting. The story and characters are somewhat forgettable, most of the missions are straightforward, and the locales tend to blend together after a while. Having said that, there's a lot of potential here if you dig deep down into the game's ingenious difficulty sliders and challenge modes. In that sense, Thief succeeds as a bold stealth game, despite its bruises.
Double Helix has really come into its own. Strider reminds me of a Shadow Complex with a much better combat system and a scaled-down exploration element. And that's perfectly okay with me.
I didn't think it was possible, but Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has topped Returns. It's an incredibly crafted platformer with an HD sheen and an insane attention to detail, and any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to experience it. With the addition of control options to the already proven formula, Retro Studios' rendition of Donkey Kong is pretty much flawless.
Fallen Angel still ties into main game's progression gameplay wise, which means Angel shares the same level, stats, and collectible status as Nick and Adam. There are a few unique extras on offer like the chance to burn propaganda posters and destroy security cameras, but it's nothing new or exciting. New weapons are in tow, most notably dual machine guns that allow you to relive your innermost John Woo fantasies, and a cool-looking pulse gun, which is a combo weapon. As always, all of the DLC weapons unlock for use in any mode by way of the weapons locker.Fallen Angel is a much better effort than Broken Eagle, but the Lost Chapter DLC saga still isn't quite there, and certainly hasn't justified the Season Pass cost yet. It needs a lot more pizzazz to really rise to the bar that the core game set, and I hope Capcom follows through with the remaining two chapters.
If the presentation wasn't so horrible, One Piece: Romance Dawn would be a decent way for a JRPG fan to spend an afternoon after they've exhausted their library of other more innovative titles. If you've always wondered what the fuss was with One Piece, you'd be better off watching the show or playing the fun, but flawed Pirate Warriors series.
By the time I finished Jazzpunk, I was both left wanting more of its crazy world and feeling slightly underwhelmed. Many of the jokes felt a bit too random for their own good, and the story kind of just ends with no real resolution. If you're not the type of person who likes to roam around miniature sandboxes and locate every single hidden secret, Jazzpunk may not be for you. But for everyone else, you'll revel in the ability to play a completely missable game of Fruit Ninja with Jim Sterling.
The biggest accomplishment with the new episode however is the fact that your actions have more consequences on a personal level. Bigby ceases to be a construct of Telltale and starts to become an extension of yourself, causing hesitation on more than one occasion. Having said that, there aren't really any "big, freeze-the-screen" choices throughout this roughly one-hour tale like in Faith -- just a lot of little ones. Not a whole lot of big choices carry over from your previous story either, as the only major connection is tied to whomever you decide to capture at the end of Faith. It remains to be seen if future episodes will employ more connections.Whereas the first episode of Wolf Among Us had me intrigued, Smoke and Mirrors has me hooked. Although it's not nearly as explosive as its own The Walking Dead series, Telltale has managed to craft a world full of interesting characters, and with the fairytale setting -- the sky is the limit. Let's just hope we don't have to wait so long for part three.
The new map is also much brighter and more open ended, allowing you to drill various alien nests at your own pace with up to four players. All of the same progression oriented gameplay is here, including the ability to choose between an assault, tank, mechanical, or healing class, to augment your party's abilities or buff your own. Although it's not nearly as robust as Zombies and doesn't feature half as many tricks and secrets, I feel like Extinction has really proved its concept in Nightfall, and I'm legitimately looking forward to seeing what the next three episodes can offer.I was pleasantly surprised by Onslaught, especially considering the fact that Ghosts was so underwhelming. Although it won't do too much to change your mind if you're an adamant Call of Duty hater, the new Extinction episode is promising, and there are three solid maps here for the taking.
Sadly, there are no worthwhile extras to entice you to get Broken Eagle in particular. For starters, there is no multiplayer allowed within the DLC -- period. Capcom says this is because they want to isolate the stories as a single-player experience, but after playing the first offering, my response would be "what story?" Thankfully, there are five new weapons and a vehicle (which can be used in the core game), with the standout of course being the minigun, which should please a few of the die-hard fans out there who want more sandbox goodies.As it stands, there is literally no reason to get Broken Eagle. It's criminally short, you can't enjoy it with a friend, there are no real benefits if your character is maxed out from already playing the core game, and it doesn't add to the overarching lore in any meaningful way. Hopefully the other Season Pass offerings will be an improvement, since we still have three to go.
Outside of Virus Buster, Dr. Luigi is very much a no-frills game mostly for fans of the Dr. series. If you don't find yourself getting excited at the prospect of L-shaped blocks or GamePad play though, you might as well just stick with Dr. Mario Online Rx. Either way, the Wii U's newest entry in the Dr. series is a nice cap on a great first Year of Luigi.
World of Warplanes has a studio that prides itself on supporting its games long term, so I have no doubt that Wargaming will continue to improve upon the formula. In the meantime, it would be a good idea to give both Warplanes and War Thunder a try and see which one you like best.
Let me make this clear -- if you find yourself playing any of these games yearly, whether it's for nostalgia or because you think they're genuinely good games, you will love NES Remix. It lacks a lot of bells and whistles that newcomers may find inexcusable, but I had a smile on my face almost the entire time, and experienced the same controller throwing moments (although a GamePad against a wall would be more disastrous) that made me persevere until I got it right.
If you wanted more Assassin's Creed IV, Freedom Cry will do just nicely. Although it doesn't offer as compelling a narrative or even close to as open of a world, it manages to capture the spirit of Black Flag in most of the right places. This is a much better effort than AC III's pointlessly episodic Tyranny of King George DLC, and a great model for Assassin's Creed add-ons going forward.
The Walking Dead: All That Remains surprised me, although when I saw the initial reveal of Clementine's return I had little doubt that Telltale would deliver in some form. They still even know how to sell a "next episode" preview, as a casual "I thought you were dead!" line is delivered by Clementine upon a mysterious off-screen figure. Yep, I can't wait for the next episode.
Samurai Gunn will no doubt have a more limited audience due to a lack of modes, but for those of you who appreciate a deep fighting game, you'll get hours of competitive entertainment out of it. Every time I play it I feel like I've mastered a new piece of the physics engine, or a new nuance to wall-jumping. It's one of those games that keeps on giving years later due to a solid foundation, so long as you have the company to enjoy it with.
There's also a peculiar "store" button on the main menu that is currently closed at the time of this writing, which implies some form of DLC is in the works. While we don't really know what that could entail, there's the distinct possibility of new characters and levels on the horizon, which could be a good way to extend Peggle 2 in the same way Peggle Nights did -- I just hope microtransactions don't creep their way in eventually.Peggle 2 is ultimately the same basic concept as the original set of games, but it's still most definitely worth playing if you're a series fan. PopCap could have done so much more than they did, especially when you consider the generational leap, but the good news is Peggle fans will eat this up and fall in love all over again.