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I love a well done noir film styled game. This one has perfect sound design, shocking and unique visuals, and integrates the gameplay with those visuals. Every aspect of the game fits the theme, from the mini tutorials in the beginning, to the sultry piano of the menu, to the way your character is always narrating what you do in true noir film form. The story is always one step ahead of you, with tons of additional information that enhances the insanity, if you are keen enough to find it. The length of the game is slightly shorter than what I expected, but I understand that a good mystery can be hard to draw out with gameplay if it isn't already written into the story. And honestly, when I was done, I was proud to have figured it all out and survived. The controls can be a nuisance, and the way the puzzles have to be solved can be trying, but I would urge you to play through this game if you like any aspect of what you see. I can see myself in the future fondly remembering White Night, that one scary game in only black and white.
This is certainly not Rebellion Developments' best effort as they have proven in the past that they can release a quality product. Zombie Army Trilogy may only be a patch or two away from being a decent co-op affair, but in its current state it is a mess of a game. With the increasingly busy release schedule, there is no shortage of high quality games tugging away at your wallet — Zombie Army Trilogy is not one of these.
The continuation of the story a single week after the first episode released is a welcome change of pace compared to most episodic releases. Picking up right where you left off, after the events of the previous episode are still fresh in your mind, is a bit more pleasant than waiting an entire month or longer for new episodes of other games to release (I'm looking at you, The Walking Dead!). If you bought the first episode, nab the second. If you haven't bought any episodes and enjoy horror games, ponying up the cash for the season pass can be assumed to be a safe bet by now.
Cinematic in name and in nature, OlliOlli 2 nails everything that a sequel should aspire to be: iterating on the core concepts of its predecessor by offering a more refined and enjoyable experience. Not only that, Roll7 has crafted a second album to be proud of, one which takes seconds to learn and possibly an eternity to master.
Helldivers brings a fun and intensity to cooperative play that I have not had in a long time. Single players may want to skip this one, but if you have some friends to sit down with, either on the couch or via the PSN, I highly recommend getting your squad ready to defend Super Earth from impending doom. Just watch out for that turret.
If you game in groups, pull the trigger on this one. It's absolutely nuts, but it's easy learning curve, wealth of content and humor make Starwhal a blast for group play.
Without the heavy emphasis on strategy, Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires would be a fairly dull game. With its poor character AI, bland environments, and underwhelming visuals, actually fighting in Empires gets repetitive and old pretty quickly. But, because of the vast number of customizations one can make to their character, and the numerous strategic and political decisions to be made, the game ends up being not bad in the end. It's hard to say if it's worth $50, but if you are a hardcore fan of the franchise then you might want to give it a look.
If this first episode is a sign of things to come, I think most Resident Evil fans have a lot of good times to look forward to. While the graphics in Penal Colony are pretty disappointing, the atmosphere, pacing, and amount of content are easily worth the price of admission. You'll want to grab a friend to play with in order to enjoy this game to its fullest potential. It'll be interesting to see where Capcom is going to take the story, and those looking for a couple of scares should download a copy of Penal Colony today.
All in all, Pillar is a very good game. It's pretty, charming, original in its execution and its obvious from the get-go that it was designed with a love for video games and a passion to do something different with them. Basing a game around the Myers-Briggs test (a test I had to take in my day job when I first started) and the personality types associated with it was an interesting idea and I think Mr. Hicks should be applauded for his inventive spirit and his want to make something that stands out from the crowd. We need more things like this in the gaming world.
So, while fans of the series will find a great deal of content to keep them entrenched into the world of Dragon Ball, anyone who hasn't had a history with the seasoned mechanics will undoubtedly find themselves button mashing their way through the confusion and hoping for the best until things make sense. While anyone who doesn't know anything about the history of the series, or just been away from it for some time, will be completely in the dark through most of the experience, as it does rely wholeheartedly on your understanding of who is who, but, also given that the story is far from the reason anyone is going to want to play this, I guess that doesn't matter all that much either way.
Despite the occasional freezing, I enjoyed my time with Dead or Alive 5 Last Round. Its updated visuals, huge character list, and numerous costumes set it apart from previous versions of DOA 5, and the fun and interactive environments really kept me interested in the core gameplay. While the story mode was confusing and the characters felt somewhat bland, Last Round is a game that fans of fighting titles should probably check out. If you're still on the fence about it, remember that a free version — called Dead or Alive 5 Last Round: Core Fighters — can be downloaded on the PSN Store or the Xbox Games Store right now.
It's easy to recommend Q*Bert: Rebooted to both returning fans and new ones alike. The PlayStation release allows for choice of play either in its classic mode or the more modern version for those who want something a little easier on the eyes. The additional challenges in the Rebooted mode do provide some extra game time, but if you're looking for something a little deeper this isn't quite it. Q*Bert: Rebooted may be a simple game from another era, but its pick-up and play nature can certainly still be relevant today.
The Order: 1886 flaunts its interactive cinematic presentation, and it plays that card well. Despite this, it will continue to incite debate about overall length, being story heavy, and not allowing much freedom for the player. If these are things that bother you, then The Order was not developed for you. The decision will need to be where each player places value in their video games. This is an immersive game for people who want to sit back — or on the edge of their seat — and let themselves become engrossed in the story of a Knight in turmoil fighting against a supernatural force. Give The Order a go yourself, and perhaps you'll find yourself diving back into it as much as I've rewatched Jurassic Park over the last twenty years. It may not be perfect, but The Order: 1886 is an immersive cinematic experience and a damned good ride worth going back to.
Fortunately the missteps in the combat do little to impact my overall enjoyment of the Hand of Fate, and my spats of bad luck did little to deter me from playing further. I was hard pressed not to immediately start up a new session right after I would die, just to see. Just to check what the deck might have in store for me. Some sessions would last less than ten minutes before my health was drained. Some would nearly see the hour mark before a stupid decision sent me cavorting to my death. And sometimes, just sometimes, I would successfully make my way through to the boss and defeat it, each victory feeling like a true triumph and another chapter closed on a tale that I was creating for myself, all with a mysterious man in a mask and a deck of cards. Hand of Fate may not be that game that is shoving the visuals and story down your throat, but Defiant Development is allowing my imagination to be a part of their development team in order to help craft my own tales of failure, success, and luck, and that right there is a fantastic hand to me.
Overall, The Lost Lords is a bit of an improvement over the first Game of Thrones episode. Although the character transitions are a bit confusing and making decisions doesn't seem as impactful as it should, Episode Two is by far more political and more interactive, giving players a chance to both think critically and have some QTE fun. As with the end of the first episode, I left this one wishing I could jump into the next episode right away, but unfortunately, players will have to wait another month or so for that to happen.
We're still in the early days of Evolve. There are still free characters, weapons and abilities to unlock for most of us. While the lack of a real story mode may upset some, most people who purchase this game are doing so for the multiplayer, plain and simple. On that front, Evolve impresses when things go as planned. Get a group together, work as a cohesive unit, and have fun blasting those ugly aliens to hell and back. Or play as a Monster, alone but oh so badass. Evolve has a hint of greatness, but a lack of content at launch and a jarring amount of premium launch and planned DLC hold it back. What we have here is an evolution of the Left 4 Dead formula, not a revolution.
There is a lot to like about Minutes and its most egregious flaw is that it ends so soon. Thankfully, due to daily challenges and multiple goals in each level, Minutes has a lot of replay value that helps the game justify its price-point. Red Phantom Games has managed to put an interesting spin on a genre that has fallen in popularity. While it may not be the title to bring bullet hell shooters back to prominence, it has delivered enough interesting ideas to be worth the time to anyone looking for a pick-up and play title.
Like watching a classic old movie, Grim Fandango Remastered feels like a hearkening back to the golden days of gaming, when PC adventure games ruled and games didn't have difficulty settings so easy that it seems like the game is playing itself. This is as much a history lesson as it is entertainment, lest we forget the roots of great gaming. Sure, the backgrounds and cutscenes are untouched, but remember the fit everyone threw when they edited the original Star Wars trilogy too much (Han shot first…)? Grim Fandango Remastered has been put together with care as a passion project from Tim Schafer, and is sure to delight both players new to the game and long time players of Grim Fandango and the LucasArts graphic puzzle adventure genre. Perhaps most important to this release will be the potential effects that bringing this game back into the limelight will have on the future development of adventure titles, and the thought of a merging of great classics and new technology really excites me.
Overall, my time with Dying Light has been incredibly exhilarating and entertaining. The ability to play with friends, but still improve my character without having to worry about losing out on any progress I have earned keeps me coming back for more and more. Tying this into a wonderfully designed climbing system, combat system and crafting system, Dying Light is easily going to be one of my favorite games of 2015.
In the end, the only thing I can truly say is that Life is Strange is a must-buy. With its artsy graphics and music, relatable and realistic characters, and numerous mysteries and choices, the episodic adventure easily sucked me in and had me wishing I could dive directly into Episode 2. If the future episodes are anything like this first one, then I think Life is Strange is set to be one of the best games of the year, if not the best one.